Last Sunday was Baby Ezekiel's "Mun Yuk" (or First Month) party. Chinese believes that the first month of a baby is important. Some of the interesting cultural rituals that Singaporeans observe include:
1) The first haircut for the baby (*good grief* some parents go to the extreme and shave their babies bald, yes, even their eyebrows are not spared)
2) The parents of the newborn will distribute to close relatives: red hardboiled eggs, butter cakes, and Ang Ku Kuek (literally "Red Shell Tortoise", these are red colour oily and sticky nonya cakes, that are shaped like a tortoise, and contain green bean/peanut fillings. I am a sucker for the peanut flavour one). As usual Everything in red is auspicious to Chinese.
3) The proud grandparents will present significant presents to the newborn. Popular items include gold jewellery of all sorts. Anklet being the most popular. Other items I hear of include necklace, earrings, bracelet.
My parents bought Baby Ezekiel a cross and a necklace. An interesting fact: You cannot get a yellow gold cross (ie one that has no gemstones) from the popular jewellery chains in Singapore (read: Goldheart, Soo Kee, or Lee Hwa). My mom had to visit a ulu shop at Bt Timah to get the traditional yellow gold cross that matches the occasion. (To traditionists, yellow gold brings more luck than white gold)
Oh well, obiang things are usually found at obiang places, I guess.
Here are some pictures of Ezekiel taken last Sunday.
Ezekiel: "Kuah Si Mee?"
Ezekiel knew he wanted to be an ultraman when he grows up!
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