A Chinese Mandarin Tree
Always day-dream to see a Mandarin tree. Now, no more a desire. As a kid of the past, when my town was labelled a sleepy-hollow, Mandarin oranges was my Number 1 favourite fruit of the year. We've got the chances to eat mandarin oranges a week or so before Chinese New Year. However, we didn't peel a single mandarin orange until di kow arm or sha chap mi, pronunced in hokkien. Our mum would approve her children to peel the mandarin oranges only after pie te kong (prayer) during the night on the eve of Chinese New Year.
We saw woodened crates of mandarin oranges piling along Jalan Bunga Raya, Jalan Bendahara, Jalan Kee Ann and Jalan Kampong Pantei. To have one crate at home was considered lucky then, while having two crates was kind of merry. More than two was luxury. Each day we would take a few looks at the crates at home after coming back from school. The school had justed started the first term of the year. Each orange was wrapped with a soft pinkish paper.
When the family members were busy setting up the table for pie te kong, one of us would need a hammer to open the crate with its hook. We'd to hammer to bend the nail for safety purpose. Repeated like was said days before, some senior members of the family would post some comments. ' These mandarin oranges are juicy and sweet because they are called Teo Chew Kum, since they sailed from the Teochew province in China. ' Others might add that ' Eng Choon Kum is better. ' Now, we have Lo Kum and what not in addition to the varieties of the previous millenium.
While waiting 12 midnight, at least 2 oranges would have been eatened. The mandarin oranges of the previous millenium were large in size and juicy and of course fresh. BUT, it has become small and dehydrated in red translucent plastic bags packed no longer with woodened crates but in carton boxes. Maybe, other countries are still enjoying large, juicy, fresh ones.
We eat durians and we know they drop from trees but we do not know how the mandarin oranges hang onto the tree. So, kids of yester-millenium would imagine the manadarin oranges tree since television technology wasn't like today.
It is as if I have seen a Mandarin Orange Tree when my brother saw one on his trip to China last month.
Gong Xi Fa Cai. Happy Chinese New. 马到成功. Ma Tau Chen Kong.
May the Year of the Horse bring fortune, and prosperity to my country and my town. May the Horse deliver wealth to everyone in town, to all Malacca High School friends who embraced the festive, to all bosses and to all workers.
We saw woodened crates of mandarin oranges piling along Jalan Bunga Raya, Jalan Bendahara, Jalan Kee Ann and Jalan Kampong Pantei. To have one crate at home was considered lucky then, while having two crates was kind of merry. More than two was luxury. Each day we would take a few looks at the crates at home after coming back from school. The school had justed started the first term of the year. Each orange was wrapped with a soft pinkish paper.
When the family members were busy setting up the table for pie te kong, one of us would need a hammer to open the crate with its hook. We'd to hammer to bend the nail for safety purpose. Repeated like was said days before, some senior members of the family would post some comments. ' These mandarin oranges are juicy and sweet because they are called Teo Chew Kum, since they sailed from the Teochew province in China. ' Others might add that ' Eng Choon Kum is better. ' Now, we have Lo Kum and what not in addition to the varieties of the previous millenium.
While waiting 12 midnight, at least 2 oranges would have been eatened. The mandarin oranges of the previous millenium were large in size and juicy and of course fresh. BUT, it has become small and dehydrated in red translucent plastic bags packed no longer with woodened crates but in carton boxes. Maybe, other countries are still enjoying large, juicy, fresh ones.
We eat durians and we know they drop from trees but we do not know how the mandarin oranges hang onto the tree. So, kids of yester-millenium would imagine the manadarin oranges tree since television technology wasn't like today.
It is as if I have seen a Mandarin Orange Tree when my brother saw one on his trip to China last month.
Gong Xi Fa Cai. Happy Chinese New. 马到成功. Ma Tau Chen Kong.
May the Year of the Horse bring fortune, and prosperity to my country and my town. May the Horse deliver wealth to everyone in town, to all Malacca High School friends who embraced the festive, to all bosses and to all workers.
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