Chinese new year. The economic recession.

So from the last time I posted something on this blog I was looking forward to the weekend when I would finally see my cousins in Malacca again, which was the cny weekend.

But before i start rambling on about anything regarding that holiday, i just wanted to bring up a pattern which i found along my many years in the singapore education system. you know the kind of feeling that u get when the hols just ended and school's startin again? For the 1st few days u just cant get into the school mood and u feel like sleeping in, then walking out of your house in a hot red tshirt and jeans to find some entertainment and later coming back home at 7pm after realising how much time has passed and u have only 1 pack of chocolates in ur shopping bag. Well, news flash, its called the holiday mood.

So, what happened was during the entire period in jan before cny, which was about 25 days, i realised that well, not to say that i slacking off... but to put it nicely, i wasnt too focused on my studies

dat wasnt any better. but because these few years i've not been going to m'cca for a long holiday *without my parents xD* due to theolo as i used to back then (2001 - 2006), i always looked forward to the cny mcca visit as a substitute. And yes, the month between the dec hols and cny becomes a holiday too.

i.e. i probably should get more focused on studies now.

so. after a month-long wait, on 24 jan, the cny weekend came and i got to get up at 2am, sit on a car for 3 hours in the dark, and at long last (lols its only been 3 months but it felt like years) see my gor and jie.

Now that was all cool and exciting. especially the car trip. u get to sleep the whole way and once u wake up... VIOLA! you're where u wanna be. Now, we could've left the night before, but we decided not to due to a massive traffic jam at the checkpoints. yes, both of them. BUT HEY... the traffic jam decided to last the entire night and on the morning of 24th of january we got caught at the customs for 2 whole hours!!! And guess why? the customs decided to open only one counter -.- (i mean, its kinda obvious that ppl will wanna go on holiday during cny, right?) this just lacks some common sense la...

Following, we all know about the economic recession and how it has been a horrific time for the businesses, coporations, employment etc etc. But what really struck me about the recession was its impact on cny. Last year, when my parents n i were hanging out at tiong bahru (near the mrt station) to do cny shopping, the entire stretch of pavement from the exit of the mrt station all the way to the entrance of Tiong Bahru Plaza was filled with stalls set up selling cny goods, food, drinks and it was bustling with activity. But this year, it became desolate, quiet and empty. From the mrt station, we only saw the 1st cny goods stall more than 1km away from the station.

so much for a prosperous new year, huh?

As a result, many ppl would expect their angbaos to be much smaller this year. So one question i would like to ask the ppl who read this post is whether their angbaos (if they are still getting them) have shrunk this cny as compared to previous years? And how does that make u feel?

- Do u feel ok, since its the recession and all?
- or do u feel like "Hey, why has my value in ur eyes decreased just because of the recession"?

If u r willing to share with me, u can drop me a comment, tag or email.

I'm very touched by my family members, because they decided to give me the same amount they have always given me. :D

well... most of them, just to be fair.