No matter what, still "Kung Hei Fat Choi!"
(thoughts after people celebrating Chinese New Year in Manila
despite COVID19 pandemic)
Despite new normal procedures and advisories, of mandatory wearing of face masks and face shields, what more of trying to enforce social distancing, that people from all walks of life continue to enjoy the festivities in Binondo, Manila in celebration of the Chinese New Year.
For last January 29, Manila Mayor Francisco "Isko Moreno" Domagoso ordered the cancellation of all Lunar New Year celebration activities to avoid new COVID-19 outbreaks and to not put to waste the local government's efforts in containing the spread of the coronavirus.
Quite reasonable the basis for canceling the usual fanfare, but this doesn’t stop the folk from celebrating- this time with the promise of a return to normalcy if not the usual bringing joy and luck; and these folks, no matter how many they are, been looking for things providing them luck as the charms displayed in the sidewalks of Ongpin if not enjoying the mouthwatering dishes served in every Chinese restaurant in the district. Some did even visit Shrines such as the Taoist Kuang Kong temple in Kipuja st., or for Christians like the Longos Cross, offering incense, as well as prayers for thanksgiving if not for the hopes of letting the pandemic end and enjoy their normal lives back.
That somehow for this writer would say it doesn’t matter that there’s no Lion nor Dragon dance being shown and played, for still, the celebration goes on with the folk walked in the streets of Binondo searching for luck and hope out of that “Year of the Ox.” Usually, Filipino-Chinese family gatherings during the Lunar New Year celebration are usually big, especially when clan members of up to 100 persons hold feasts to ring in the new year especially in restaurants like “President”, “Yingying”, or even “Shangrila” and “Kowloon House”; but due to the pandemic the ordinances brought by authorities only allowed families to celebrate the turn of the new year in their own homes by themselves, celebrating online via Zoom if possible.
But this doesn’t stop the rest from going to Binondo or Banawe and really celebrate that occasion, even without the sound of the drum and the cymbal, of dancing lions and dragons (except on one occasion in a shopping centre also in Manila), what more of popping firecrackers that made the occasion memorable. "Tikoy", the rice-based delicacy synonymous with the occasion, continues to be sold in every Chinese delicatessen or at the sidewalk along with trinkets, and shrines like those said earlier opened even without fanfare or the ginger brew that's serve during the Lunar New Year. Only joss sticks and candles, prayers and hopes for a "better normal" to happen, and that includes the awaiting vaccine authorities promised to these needy folks.
Perhaps, to cut this note short, that despite this ever-looming pandemic, may the folk bid blessings and hopes that COVID19 may suffice so that everyone would reclaim their normal lives and lost luck.
