My Family

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Tracing one's roots is essential to one's identity and meaning in life. In a family, there comprises of 2 broader families - paternal and maternal ancestors. Tracking back to my paternal ancestors, they originated from Jieyang, a city in the Guangdong Province of China. My grandparents were the 1st generation who arrived in Singapore in 1946, after WWII. Due to poverty, overpopulation and poor natural conditions, they decided to leave Jieyang. With the increase in the number of children bore, there in an increase in the number of mouths to feed too. Also, poor natural conditions further exacerbate the hardships they were facing as flooding led to the destruction of their rice crops. Hence, there was not enough money and food to sustain the…show more content…
Chong Pang Combined Temple consists of the former Chan Chu Kang Tua Pek Kong Temple my grandparents used to pray to. For Qingming, my family would pray at the Kong Meng San Phor Kark See Monastery and the Pu Ti Buddhist Temple where my grandparent's urns and altars are located respectively. Ancestor worshipping is our major family tradition that was passed down for many generations. My family will pray to our ancestors during all the Chinese festivals to honour and give thanks for all the blessings. On some festivals like the Winter Solstice, my family would prepare and offer handmade tangyuan to our ancestors. Chinese New Year is the time of the year for families to gather and celebrate ties of kinship. My family will start the 1st day with a bowl of red date tea to symbolise a sweet year ahead. Every year, my mother will cook traditional vegetarian dishes for breakfast, passed down from my grandmother. Visiting will then start off with my father's family first then my mother's family after breakfast. For the 2nd day, my family will eat Mcdonald's for breakfast, a tradition created by my father. After which, my family will worship Tai Sui at Loyang Tua Pek Kong if any of our zodiac conflicts with Tai Sui. Consumption of the 7 assorted vegetables is a must on the 7th day. The 15th day marks the end of CNY where my family ends it off with

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