The golden angel playing the harp has lost its lustre. The carrot nose on ol’ Frosty is chipped. And those tiny giftboxes you were always tempted to unwrap while Mum wasn’t looking have lost their shape. Yet for many of us, each one of these Christmas tree ornaments we spent hours admiring as children still holds a special place in our box of ornaments, never ceasing to rekindle memories of the past.

This December, we dig into the treasured ornament boxes of four personalities, all from different cultural backgrounds. They share their favourite childhood memories of Christmas, what the season means to them and reveal the long-held Yuletide traditions in their family. Indeed, with the increasingly diverse potpourri of nationalities that make up Singapore, you wouldn’t find a more colourful Christmas anywhere else in the world. Happy holidays!

 

Alvin Tan

Founder/Artistic Director, The Necessary Stage

Age: 50

Nationality/Ethnicity: Singaporean/Chinese (Peranakan)

 

1. What does Christmas mean to you?

It marks the end of a period, a kind of a punctuation mark.  I take pause and look at what the year was like for me.  I feel the pull towards a kind of hibernation as if I’m reminded that I need some period of deep rest so that I can be renewed and re-emerge ready to live life again when the new year comes around.

It’s a time when I feel one with all the shoppers and merry holiday-makers and the next moment, I can feel intense isolation, as if watching snow fall through a window pane from a cozy comfort of warm living room.  There’s always a paradox about the Christmas period.  It’s like a huge mood swing in slow motion.

 

2. What are the sights, smells, sounds, tastes and sensations you look forward to at this time of year?

I keep smelling good food cooking in the kitchen although it’s not like that in recent years.  It’s just a ghost of a memory of what used to be Christmas at home.  My parents are now old and serious cooking has ceased.  I buy the turkey, the roasted chicken and the honey baked ham.  At least we still find time to eat together on Christmas eve and Christmas day.  The smells are just around the table, not in the air following me up the stairs into my bedroom.  But the memory of it still lingers, triggered by the anticipation of opening up the presents that are still neatly arranged under the tree. 

 

3. Describe a Christmas tradition that is unique to your family (preferably something that reflects your cultural roots; it could be an activity, a must-have homemade food or drink, a certain ritual, etc).

The usual assembling of the Christmas tree.   We will play Christmas carols.  Traditionally, carols from Jim Reeves, Platters, Carpenters and Ray Conniff Singers fill the air  whilst my mum goes about baking cookies or cooking special peranakan dishes such as babi pongteh.  The fragrance of the dish makes the whole house festive.  I will start writing my list of Christmas presents.

 

Alvin (left) and his brother in their younger days

 

4. What is the significance or symbolic meaning of this tradition?

It’s always been for me about renewal.  That re-birth of the self, an opportunity to correct a part of the self.   So as I soak in the blessings of Christmas, knowing I have a roof over my head, my parents are still alive, I get home-cooked peranakan food, joyous Christmas carols coming from my stereo, I usually find myself thinking of those who have less fortunate and what can I do about it next year.  I think of those I have not got along with and what should be done to improve the situation.

 

5. What’s your best Christmas memory from your childhood days?

We had a small Christmas tree with cotton swabs and decorations on it.  Below the tree were lots of presents.  I remember getting comics, a toy aeroplane and lego.  I remember feeling very excited and feeling ecstatic.  Then I saw my younger brother, and I recall thinking I would have to share these presents.  It was quite sobering.

 

Hamming it up for the camera

 

6. How will you be celebrating this Christmas?

Dehoarding my room.  It’s been long overdue and I owe it to myself to make time to do a proper clean up.

 

7. Singapore TatlerChristmas isn’t Christmas without …

Christmas carols!

 

 

Images: Alvin Tan