Gong Xi Fa Cai! Happy Chinese New Year to all Chinese friends and members! Geri’s World wishes all of you good health, good luck, prosperity and wealth. For those who are working, may you have a smooth-sailing year ahead. For those who are studying, may you get good marks for all your exams. Most importantly, I hope happiness will always be at everyone’s side in the New Year.

Friends from around the world, if you do not know what Chinese New Year is all about, do not fret. Let me share with you its origin and traditions. The Chinese Lunar New Year marks the beginning of spring. It started from the legend of "Nian". "Nian" (which means "Year" in Chinese) was the name of a monster that terrorized people every new year. One day, the Emperor sent a man to subdue "Nian". Using his wits, he challenged "Nian" to prove its real power by destroying other monsters on earth instead of killing humans who were of no match for it. Nian took up the challenge and after killing all monsters, he went back to terrorizing mankind again. Upon its return, some children were playing with firecrackers and "Nian" was afraid of the noise. From then on, firecrackers and fireworks are used every New Year to scare away the last remaining monster on earth – Nian. And therefore the tradition of "Guo Nian" (surviving the monster or celebrating the New Year) was passed on generation by generation too. Well, this is a legend so how true it is, we never know :-)

Different countries celebrate Chinese New Year differently. In Singapore, we went to Fresh Auditions the climax of CNY lies from the Eve to the second day. On CNY Eve, everyone in the family gathers for a Reunion Dinner which usually consists of a scrumptious dinner of various delicacies like sharks fin, roast chicken, roast duck, abalone, scallop and more. After the dinner, the family usually spends the night watching New Year programs on TV, plays poker or does some last minute bargain shopping at Chinatown.

The first day of the CNY starts with youngsters greeting their elders with auspicious words & mandarin oranges and receiving "Ang Baos" (red packets with money) in return. Only the married gives red packets and only children and singles are eligible to receive. The joys of being single! Haha! Next, the routine visiting of relatives’ and friends’ houses follows. More gatherings and feastings!

Here are some interesting taboos we also took some Fisting Lessonsand superstitions to take note too during CNY. Before the start of CNY, every family is supposed to do a thorough spring cleaning of the house to "get rid of the old and welcome the new". During CNY, the usage of brooms "sweeps away good luck" whereas sharp objects "cut your wealth" so these stuffs are usually avoided. We are not supposed to say inauspicious things or scold people during CNY too because it will bring us bad luck. The list simply goes on!