It Will Be A Good Year Ahead

The weather was particularly fine that afternoon as Kim Tian made his way back from the food court to his office, which was nearly ten storeys above. As he made his way to the lift lobby, he couldn't help but notice the crowd that was gathering outside the lobby. His curiosity piqued, Kim Tian loitered around amongst the gathering crowd and waited.

At the centre of the throng of people was a clearing, and in it a lion dance troupe that was in preparation. Two pairs of performers wore frilly pants and were fussing with their costume lion. In the corner, where the drummer, cymbal player and gong player were, was another person in a fancy outfit---he was in a traditional Chinese garb, complete with fake beard, tall hat and high platform shoes, the attire that Kim Tian recognised as the Chinese God of Wealth.

`Ah,' Kim Tian thought to himself, `these are a part of the caiqing group.' The caiqing group was the traditional lion dance troupe that performed the ritual caiqing lion dance, often performed during the Chinese New Year time period as a means of securing good luck while nullifying the bad, and in many ways a means of providing entertainment while fulfilling a tradition that was as old as civilisation itself.

Kim Tian watched bemusedly. Despite being a native, he had never really taken part in any caiqing activity before---the Chinese New Year period was one where he would actively avoid as a rule; he just didn't like having to deal with his obnoxious relatives. But he supposed that it would be interesting to at least see a real caiqing performance for once.

With a rousing beat by the drummer, the percussion instrument players sprung to life as the lion dancers nimbly got into place with their props and danced ritualistically to the beat. The rhythm was addictive, and Kim Tian found himself unconsciously tapping his finger to the tempo as the lions pranced their way within the clearing. At this point, the God of Wealth sauntered around carrying his golden ingot container filled with red packets, symbolic of prosperity and wealth, which he magnanimously gave out to the audience.

Kim Tian started to feel bored after a while---the lions weren't really doing anything much---and was about to head for the elevators to his office when he noticed the sudden change in the drum beat. Refocusing himself once more on the lions, he found that they were hunched on top of a pile of mandarin oranges which had been laid out in the centre of the clearing earlier while the troupe was in preparation.

The percussive beat was much subdued, and Kim Tian felt that something was about to happen, though he knew not what. The anticipatory nature of the beat kept the audience on edge, and it was no different for Kim Tian.

`Geez,' Kim Tian thought to himself as he nodded in appreciation while accepting a red packet from the God of Wealth. `Shouldn't they be done with whatever they were doing already?'

The audience was visibly restless by now, but the dimunitive hypnotic drum beat was ever present and the lions seemed content with just sitting there and doing absolutely nothing. Just as everyone was hesitating to leave, the beat picked up quickly and the lions leapt out of the pile, to the amazement and surprise of everyone around. The percussionists played the tempo with gusto, and the lions were back to their original lively form, to end up moving forwards and eventually releasing two red scrolls with auspicious couplets.

A grateful audience applauded the troupe. Kim Tian sighed contentedly to himself as he looked at what was the original pile of mandarin oranges. In their place were the peeled pieces of fruit arranged into the characters of one of the auspicious couplets.

`It will be a good year ahead,' Kim Tian thought to himself as he made his way towards the lift lobby.