This year, Chinese New Year begins on the 17th of February and lasts until 3rd March – a period that’s unfortunately largely eaten up by the school term. It being my first Chinese New Year out of Asia, I’ve already started to notice a distinct lack of cheer and excitement in comparison to this time back home in Malaysia and Singapore (though it may also be due to the weather and the usual dejection of coursework deadlines). Usually, this time of year for me is filled with shopping for decorations and new year clothes (as it’s good luck to wear a new set of clothes on the first day of the new year) in malls constantly playing upbeat ‘CNY songs’. Personally, my favourite part was always stocking up on traditional snacks like pineapple tarts, almond cookies, mini pork floss rolls, kueh bangkit and bak kwa – everything would be celebratory and joyful.
Heralded months in advance as red and gold banners, lanterns and signs begin to go up in the wake of Christmas, CNY songs will be playing in malls all over the country throughout January and February. As an ethnic Chinese in Malaysia (and then Singapore), these cliché songs have been part of my holiday experience ever since I can remember. From performing the most basic songs as part of school celebrations in my first few years of primary school (decked out in a pink cheongsam and pigtails, shaking my clasped hands to the rhythm of ‘恭喜恭喜’) to applauding my friends in the Chinese Orchestra of my pre-university as they finished their performance of ‘喜洋洋’, these songs mean so much to me. Though I usually wouldn’t listen to them outside of these occasions, I find myself missing those upbeat, chorus-heavy songs, most of which use the usual well-wishing idioms and phrases that children learn from a young age to beg for angpao (红包 – red packets / envelopes filled with pocket money):
恭喜发财 – wishing you happiness and prosperity / wealth
万事如意 – may all your goals / tasks progress smoothly
心想事成 – may all your wishes come true
年年有余 – may you always have a plentiful year
This year, spending Chinese New Year in Scotland, I most definitely won’t be hearing CNY songs in the Dundee malls or getting any angpao, but there’s always people I know to have my reunion dinners with, and Chinese music on Spotify for me to listen to. If you’re like me and missing the CNY songs you’ve heard annually in malls (or just someone interested in knowing what they sound like), here’s a list of the popular tracks that are always on loop around this time:
恭喜恭喜 – Congratulations / Wishing you happiness
天天好天 – Every Day is a Good Day
大日子 – The Big Day
福气 – Blessings
For a more traditional set of songs that you wouldn’t hear in malls, but you might in school performances where they have a Chinese Orchestra, there are:
喜洋洋, composed by 刘明源
金蛇狂舞, composed by 聂耳
Of course, other than these, there are also the Lion Dance songs, but I can’t in good conscience let anyone’s first experience of these be electronic – the best part of watching a Lion Dance is hearing the cymbals ring in your skull, the drums resonate with your heart, and feeling the intense, overstimulating atmosphere. Yes, children may cry, but once I hit primary school, I was begging my parents to bring us to the Buddhist temple near our house just to watch the Lion Dance troupe that came every year. If you ever get the chance, I highly recommend watching a Lion Dance performance in person at least once – even if it’s just for cultural exposure.
All in all, though we may be stuck in dreary St Andrews for the school term, I hope these CNY songs can either help resurface happy memories and ease homesickness or just bring a splash of brightness and novelty to your day if you’ve never heard them before. Happy Chinese New Year, 新年快乐!
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