Finally, the Chinese New Year mood has arrived.

The children in my neighbourhood are already making tentative attempts to set off mini fireworks in the evening. Their shrieks of laughter gladden one's heart, heralding yet another season of joy and rest.

Fire-crackers and fireworks used to be strictly banned during the New Year for security reasons. The ban was part of the legacy of our past when a State of Emergency was in place. I think those few declarations of State of Emergency ware never revoked, so technically we are still at war with the now non-existent terrorists. In any case, it was believed that the communists in the jungle could make ammunition out of the powder in the fire-crackers, so their importation, sale and distribution have since been strictly controlled.

Nowadays, the ban on fire-crackers and fireworks is still in place, for the purpose of protecting children from injuries caused by wayward explosions of those mini-bombs. I am ambivalent on the issue. I truly miss those early years when you could set off as many fire-crackers as your father could afford to buy. It was the essence of childhood joy.