It’s Christmas eve today
KUCHING: It’s the time of the year when jingle bells are ringing while Christmas carols fill the air.
Here in multi- ethnic and multi religious Kuching, I have to say that signs of the festive season are most visible at churches and shopping malls which are brightly lit up at night in various Christmas themes, though I think churches and shopping malls shouldn’t be on the same sentence as Christmas is much more than presents, decorations, carolling and food.
Heavy traffic was observed around shopping malls here with last minute shoppers rushing to buy gifts and whatnots to celebrate Christmas.
Even the supermarkets and butchers are pretty busy. Last Friday, when I went to a neighbourhood fresh chicken outlet, chicken drumsticks were already sold out at 8am, with only a few birds, some breast and wings left. Apparently, customers were waiting for fresh chicken to be delivered as early as 6am.
Supermarkets are going to be packed today as it is Christmas eve – time for a big ‘makan’.
We Asians enjoy our food and any celebration or reason to celebrate centres around food. Turkey is probably beyond the means or not favoured by the majority here. Curry, whether chicken, beef, mutton or vegetarian seems to be regular fare locally not only for Christmas but also Hari Raya, Gawai, open house and even weddings!
When we first moved back to Kuching, my daughter called her nanny and told her that she was having curry chicken for Christmas because her Chinese ‘ah mah’ didn’t cook turkey. By the second year, we were laughing at our local way of celebrating Christmas.
Christmas in my family means family reunion centred around a big feast ala Malaysian style complete with fried mee hoon and such. After all we siblings from our big family seldom get together especially with children and grandchildren in tow.
Gifts are exchanged and it’s always a delight to watch the reaction of little ones when they open their presents; from squeals of delight to sometimes looks of disappointment at not getting what they wished for from Santa Claus.
Anyway, I’m looking forward to indulging in local fare but first I have to head to the nearest supermarket. Last minute shopping lah.