Soon, we will celebrate yet another Chinese New Year. Amongst the things that characterize CNY are reunion dinners and fish.
Reunion dinners are cultural events not unique to ethnic Chinese. People all over the world gather to celebrate similar cultural events. However, unique to the Chinese is fish (鱼), which has the same pronunciation as 余 (surplus). Hence, fish symbolizes surplus or abundance, and we cannot have CNY celebrations without “鱼生” (a dish with raw fish).
Class reunions characterize the later years of our lives. When we were younger, our focus was on our careers and families. We were just too busy. As the years pass, friends drift apart because of jobs, family commitments, or migration. As elderhood approaches and takes root, nostalgia sets in, and we yearn for the days we spent with our friends in the bygone years.
We had our 2023 class reunion in Kota Kinabalu. It was also a perfect opportunity to visit places we had never seen before or to renew our acquaintance with them. We (my wife and I) scouted the city waterfront and chanced upon a fish market. We were thrilled by all the seafood, strange-looking and colourful, and the size of some! They were incredibly cheap by Singapore standards. And the fishmongers showed a range of expressions: tired, absorbed, serious, and cheerful.
Kota Kinabalu fish market reminded me of the poem “The Fish Crier”, set on the other side of the world, Chicago. Carl Sandburg (1878 – 1967) was an American poet and journalist. He had the distinction of winning three Pulitzer Prizes and was fondly called “Poet of the People” for his daily-life themes resonated with the people. In “The Fish Crier”, he likened an ordinary Jew plying his trade of routine (mundane) selling fish with the artistry and grace of a dancer.
“The Fish Crier” also portrays hard-working, working-class people who take pride in their work. And they find happiness through resilience and the dignity of “mundane” work. The poem encourages us to appreciate the small moments in life and cherish their connections with others, a reminder of our transient human existence.
Enjoy your reunion with family and friends! There is a lot of happiness in small moments of connections and reconnections with loved ones.
Vince
Dr Vincent Chong is a retired Professor of Radiology at Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore.
