A Sea of Red and Gold

After dinner on Monday, the whole family took a 10-minute leisurely stroll from Amoy Street down to the Chinese New Year Festive Market at Smith Street and the 5 streets around it. This annual CNY market is THE place to go to get into the spirit of the “Spring Festival”. People come from across the island – grandparents, young families, couples, professionals still in their work clothes, toddlers, babes in arms – they all come to shop, to browse, to eat, and to simply soak up the festive air.

During the run-up to Chinese New Year, this small pocket of Singapore is like no place else in the country. While the rest of the nation continues to hum to its usual clock-work efficiency, this place is sizzling with chaotic excitement. Festive goodies pile up in every direction… smells of sweet meats being roasted waft into the air… stall-owners shout out to the waves of passer-bys, enticing them to stop and savor the goodies they have on offer… a crush of human bodies, many laden with bundles and bags of precious CNY treasures, surges through the narrow streets. This is a side of Singapore not normally seen. This is the side of Singapore I love!

Even on a week-night, the market was bustling and the atmosphere electrifying…

First though, a disclaimer… the photos in this post and the next 2 posts are very much “rough-and-ready”. In the surging crowds, all I could do was point and shoot. Framing shots? Forget it. Camera angles? I wish. Adjust exposure? Get real. The goal was to shoot before I was pushed along again by the crowds or to snap the picture before 5 other human bodies crashed into me! So, it means that you will, unfortunately, see some blurred shots, the backs of heads, and maybe even a couple of rear-ends . My apologies in advance. I’ve kept these shots as I hope they can still capture and convey at least some of the excitement, energy and “buzz” of the festive market.

It is not just the Chinese who throng the market. Indians, Malays and Caucasians flock to share in the festive mood...

This year’s market is supposed to be the largest to date, with almost 500 different stalls plying all manner of festive goodies. It runs through 5-6 streets in the heart of Chinatown. In the narrow streets, between the rows of restored traditional shop-houses, make-shift stalls have been set up.

Decorating the home is a very important part of preparing for CNY. For the Chinese, red is the most auspicious of colors. Red symbolizes joy, happiness, prosperity, abundance, blessings and all manner of celebratory good tidings. Gold also holds a premium position. It was, in ancient times, the Imperial color, worn only by the Emperor, and no one else. And so naturally, in anticipation of the Spring Festival, the most important celebration in the Chinese calendar, homes are filled with all things red and gold.

Many stalls in the market are selling different decorations for the home, ranging from auspicious couplets to be hung on the walls, little red and gold decorations to be hung on pussy willows or other plants, to small decorative table displays with auspicious symbolisms, and red and gold cushion covers for the sofas.

It is a sea of red and gold…

Decorations in all shapes and sizes are piled high on display tables, hung on the walls and hung from the ceiling. Each bright red item screaming out for attention around me, above me. It is dizzying to be in the presence of so much red!

These decorations range from cardboard “plaques” of auspicious words (such as the most right round “plaque” with the black rim, which has the word “fu”, meaning blessings/prosperity), to decorative paper dragons (top right hand corner), and bright red lanterns (uppermost right hand corner).

Some decorations are for displaying on tables or cabinets. Each stall owner has dozens and dozens, some have hundreds, of different designs to choose from. (This stall owner is almost completely obscured by a screen of dangling decorations!)

These can be hung on walls, doors or plants.

And yet more red and gold decorations! Notice all the auspicious symbols used in all the designs. The fish (second from left) signifies abundance. Note too that single numbers are not used. The symbol is of a pair of fish. The golden ears of corn (third from left) and the huge “jin bao” (gold nuggets) of course symbolize riches, wealth and prosperity.

Hanging matching couplets is also very important for most homes, and these are usually hung on either side of a doorway. They may of course also be hung by themselves on a wall. These auspicious sayings always come in pairs (never on their own), and for some (the Hokkiens I think), they may add a third saying which runs across the top of the paired couplet. A good knowlege of Chinese couplets is needed to be able to select the appropriate pairings!

More wall hangings! (There was so much gold that they were reflecting off my flash like crazy!) Again, all the pictures are of happy, fortunate symbols.

Here’s a close-up (albeit not a very clear one)…

On the right, a sea of swimming Koi fish are depicted. Kois are a very popular symbol of wealth and prosperity, water ("shui") is another symbol of wealth, and swimming/movement signifies progress and advancement. On the left, young celestial children are seen playing with a huge pot of gold.

Another very important thing to have in the home in large quantities is fresh flowers or green plants. They are the perfect symbol of the arrival of Spring, of life and vitality.

These flowers are especially popular in Singapore. I have no idea what they are called, even though I see them every year. I asked the lady minding the stall, and she didn’t know too! But these flowers come in vibrant red or yellow, and are rather fragile and vulnerable to Singapore’s hot and humid weather. They require quite a lot of loving tender care, and very often, don’t last very long after the 15 days of New Year.

[Update (28/01/04): Just found out today that these blooms are called Celosia. Erm... that's the botanical name I would imagine. Still no idea what they are called informally. And I'm sure there must be some auspicious sounding name that makes them appropriate for CNY.]

This is one of the most recognized and most popular symbols of CNY. The kumquat bush (it’s not quite big enough to be called a tree). “Kum” (Mandarin orange) sounds like the word for “gold” in Cantonese. The bright orange coloring also evokes auspicious connotations. This is a “must” in a lot of homes. They are placed at the door to symbolize the arriving of wealth at your doorstep.

Pots and pots of kumquat awaiting new homes. It’s a beautiful sight… this field of bright orange.

These are the smaller variety of kumquats, where each fruit is about maybe 3-3.5 cm in diameter. There are some varieties where the fruit are the size of a human fist. The latter normally cost a lot more than the former.

These are again temperate plants, imported from China and Taiwan, and require a lot of care to survive our much warmer climes.

This is another “must-have” for many people…

This is a fairly recent custom adopted by Singaporeans (and now Malaysians too) from the Taiwanese. It is probably only in the last 7-8 years that this “tradition” has been practiced. These are very poetically called “fu gui zhu” or “prosperity bamboo”. These are evergreen bamboos, and are very different from the common bamboo that is associated with making chopsticks and furniture! Outside of CNY, these same green bamboos are known as “guan yin zhu” (Goddess of Mercy bamboo).

These pots are essentially many, many small stalks of “fu gui zhu” bound together into several tiers. They come in many sizes, with different number of tiers of bamboo. There is always an odd number of tiers, never even. The above picture shows one of the larger ones – 9 tiers and probably about 12-14 inches in diameter. The larger and taller the assembly, the more expensive it is.

When this tradition first started, these “fu gui zhu” were eye-poppingly expensive, especially in the run-up to CNY. Outside of CNY, they may sell for only S$2-3 a pot (for a very small one). The same pot, just prior to CNY, will easily sell for S$18 or S$28. The larger pots will fetch prices in the hundreds, and previously, in the thousands! This year, the prices seem a lot lower than in previous years. One can get a very good-sized one for less than S$100.

You will find that during CNY, prices are awash with “8s”. Everything is priced with an eight! $8, $28, $88, $388, $888, $1888… You get the picture . And sometimes “3s” and “2s” will be thrown in for good measure – three in Chinese sounds like “to live”, “to grow” or “life”, and two sounds like “easy” or “smooth”.

Yet another “must-have”… the pussy willow. (Yes, I know… all the shots are out of focus. It was crowded at these stalls! I’ll post clearer pictures once the pussy willow in my home is up and ready.) These stalls are always one of the more popular ones. Almost everyone, regardless of whether they buy anything else in the market, will more often than not, be seen toting a bundle of pussy willows.

Why pussy willows? I’m not sure. It’s a seasonal plant – only seen at the end of Winter/beginning of Spring. Once the brown husk covering each “blossom” is removed, a soft, fluffy, cottony white bud is revealed. With each bud uncovered, it becomes a tree of shiny white “blossoms”. Very pretty. And usually, each family will hang many small red and gold decorations and tie red ribbons onto the branches. This is very much the Chinese version of a Christmas tree!

And so that was a quick tour of just some of the more important items for the decoration of the home in anticipation of CNY.

* * * * * * * * *

Despite giving many stalls a cursory “look-see” only, we were only maybe about two thirds through the market before it started to drizzle fairly heavily, and we had to make a quick scurry back to our car at Amoy Street.

It was a magical night. I was dizzy with trying to do half a dozen things all at once. My senses were wild with trying to absorb all the sights, smells and tastes. I was browsing and discussing with my mum what to buy, and which stall to buy it from. I was busy tasting all the tasty morsels offered to me by the stall-owners. At the same time, I was trying to remember to take pictures, to find a clear opening without human bodies to get my shot, and to hold a steady hand and not get pushed or shoved whilst trying to take the picture. What a night! But it was so much fun! I was on a high from the festive sizzle. I LOVE Chinese New Year!

There’s more to come… after we’ve made sure the home is well-decorated, what’s next? Food, glorious food… of course…

[The market is on everyday until New Year’s Eve, 21 January 2004. It is open until 12 midnight on week-nights and 1am on weekends]

Copyright © 2004 Renee Kho. All rights reserved.
Please contact me for permission to copy, distribute or display any of the images and text contained in this article.