COMMENT | Finishing our reunion dinner, it took me only 10 minutes to wash up this year.

It is not because we have installed a new dishwasher or hired an Indonesian maid (both untrue) but because our dinner was nothing but a simple steamboat meal which my wife had prepared.

The ingredients were the standard items such as fish balls and crabsticks which my wife had bought at the nearby supermarket.

In the past, Mother would prepare a whole table full of Chinese delicacies and the entire family came together for a meal.

This year, it was just my wife and two young children and we had to tighten the belt. The only consolation I had was when both kids said, “We love Mummy’s cooking. It is simply the best!”

And when prodded further, they added: “And Daddy’s cooking as well!”

After dinner, the kids had some games of fireworks of what was left over from previous years. We did not even buy new ones for them this year.

For one, I hate fireworks; secondly, I see it as being simply wasteful. Thirdly, fireworks are dangerous for kids.

Usually, by the evening of Chinese New Year Eve, the whole housing estate would be like a war zone, with the loud bangs from the firecrackers all over. This year, it was quiet. Everything was, in fact, very quiet...