新年快乐

Seriously, you know the year has flown by when you receive the annual Chinese New Year missive from a far away friend and realise the last time you heard from her was the Chinese New Year before. All of a sudden your knowledge of her life fast forwards to include a death in the family, a new date and a sojourn to Mount Kinabalu and some new strokes for a badminton stunt.

It makes you think, these en masse letters or e-mails that try to sum up one's life of the past twelve months into one or two sheets of paper. It makes you see with alarming clarity that life after all, is quite brief when it comes down to it.

I sat down to think if I should do the same, at least for my friends who are in distant lands and whom I probably will not see until the end of the decade or so. And I thought of what I would say to them. Suddenly, the daily dramas of mom and dad, bro and me at home seemed all too trivial while some other dramas much too intimate to be dropped on to a page so nonchalantly without raising concerns. No point talking about those things. Storms that have passed are bygones. Mentioning them now will only raise belated worrying that is more bothersome than welcome.

Suffice to say, I will most likely forego the idea for myself. Not that there is nothing worth mentioning in my life. But the upshot of it all is that I guess I am happy where I am now today. I still dream of having a size 25. I still wonder what it would have been like if I had not quit pursuing my music degree. I still remember what it is like arguing with nonsensical people and I sometimes realize that loved ones look older when you glance at them unexpectedly.

However the final conclusion I always come to is that there are still many things that is capable of making me laugh. And everyone I love most is still alive and healthy. Which is a miracle in itself these days if you think about it.

I don't have any new clothes this year but I have received quite a few invitations for reunions. In the end I will only probably manage two or three and enjoy them tremendously. If you see me at one, please say hello.

Until then, have a safe holiday season and be with your loved ones. It really is the only way to celebrate.