Nothing says it like a card
How many greeting cards did you receive this Lunar New Year? I remember how we used to get so many cards that it was often long enough to string up into festive decor.
But the truth is, the number of greeting cards we received last Christmas and this Lunar New Year Festival is at an all-time low.
Giving and receiving is part of our culture and even in primary school, my Chinese classmates and I used to exchange Chinese New Year cards with each other.
I remember observing how these cards, distinguished by their pink coloured envelopes, were sometimes left under books or slipped inside desks.
The joy of sending and receiving a card or letter is universal and in the days before electronic technology, the postman was my favourite man-in-uniform because he delivered our mail.
I derive much pleasure from receiving cards and letters and am sure others do so too. I make it a point to send out cards even when there is no particular reason to do so.
When Hallmark and Memory Lane cards became too expensive, I bought cards which were blank inside so that I could use them for any occasion. My sister in Britain, who collects postcards, is often the happy recipient of interesting postcards that I send her from every destination that I travel to.
In our family, we have a tradition of sending greeting cards to friends and relatives for each festival, particularly at Christmas and during Chinese New Year.
Every year, I will buy cards for dad to write on before I affix the stamps and post them.
Dad had several mailing lists that he uses as a reference during the festive season and he keeps them safely in boxes for easy retrieval the following year.
Taking into account the amount of time needed for letters overseas, my father had a method of writing the cards to be sent abroad first followed by the ones with local addresses.
Every year, the sending and receiving of greeting cards kept us in touch with family and friends and we were always excited to hear from them, even if it was just once a year.
If we received a card from someone who was not on dad's list, dad would add him to the list and reciprocate by sending him a card.
A few years ago, I posted the first batch of lunar new year greeting cards to relatives abroad.
About a week later, dad received a greeting card from a grand-uncle in Singapore who wrote a note with a stinging rebuke for causing him the inconvenience of paying a fine for insufficient postage.
When dad showed it to me, I was quite mortified that I had inadvertently put the wrong postage stamp on his card, and ever since that embarrassing incident, I always pay close attention to the card to ensure that such a mistake is never repeated.
While I have embraced the use of modern technology, there is nothing like the feeling of opening an envelope to view a card that someone had taken the time to choose, write and post to me.
Granted that there are cute icons and easy apps for sending electronic greetings, social media messages and emails but nothing can replace the joy of receiving a traditional card.
We can say that we want to "save the trees" but something is definitely lost when we join the modern trend to send e-cards or group emails.
Handmade or personalised cards are works of art and unique gifts that I will always treasure.
A friend in the UK sends me greeting cards with his family photo on the cover so every year I get to see how the children have grown and what they look like.
A greeting card we received last Christmas from my nephew Quinlan Maling who designed his own card will definitely go into my collection of mementos.
This lunar new year also marks another milestone as my father who is getting on in age wants to retire from this and has now handed the responsibility over to me.
Using dad's mailing list as a reference, I sign off the cards with mum and dad's names along with mine as I'm aware that their contemporaries who receive my cards, may not recognise who the sender is if my parents' names were not there.
There is a bittersweet feeling as I write the cards and read with a tinge of sadness that at least five name should be dropped from the list because they are no longer with us.
Memories of a bygone era, the writer’s father’s mailing list.
~News courtesy of New Straits Times~
How many greeting cards did you receive this Lunar New Year? I remember how we used to get so many cards that it was often long enough to string up into festive decor.
But the truth is, the number of greeting cards we received last Christmas and this Lunar New Year Festival is at an all-time low.
Giving and receiving is part of our culture and even in primary school, my Chinese classmates and I used to exchange Chinese New Year cards with each other.
I remember observing how these cards, distinguished by their pink coloured envelopes, were sometimes left under books or slipped inside desks.
The joy of sending and receiving a card or letter is universal and in the days before electronic technology, the postman was my favourite man-in-uniform because he delivered our mail.
I derive much pleasure from receiving cards and letters and am sure others do so too. I make it a point to send out cards even when there is no particular reason to do so.
When Hallmark and Memory Lane cards became too expensive, I bought cards which were blank inside so that I could use them for any occasion. My sister in Britain, who collects postcards, is often the happy recipient of interesting postcards that I send her from every destination that I travel to.
In our family, we have a tradition of sending greeting cards to friends and relatives for each festival, particularly at Christmas and during Chinese New Year.
Every year, I will buy cards for dad to write on before I affix the stamps and post them.
Dad had several mailing lists that he uses as a reference during the festive season and he keeps them safely in boxes for easy retrieval the following year.
Taking into account the amount of time needed for letters overseas, my father had a method of writing the cards to be sent abroad first followed by the ones with local addresses.
Every year, the sending and receiving of greeting cards kept us in touch with family and friends and we were always excited to hear from them, even if it was just once a year.
If we received a card from someone who was not on dad's list, dad would add him to the list and reciprocate by sending him a card.
A few years ago, I posted the first batch of lunar new year greeting cards to relatives abroad.
About a week later, dad received a greeting card from a grand-uncle in Singapore who wrote a note with a stinging rebuke for causing him the inconvenience of paying a fine for insufficient postage.
When dad showed it to me, I was quite mortified that I had inadvertently put the wrong postage stamp on his card, and ever since that embarrassing incident, I always pay close attention to the card to ensure that such a mistake is never repeated.
While I have embraced the use of modern technology, there is nothing like the feeling of opening an envelope to view a card that someone had taken the time to choose, write and post to me.
Granted that there are cute icons and easy apps for sending electronic greetings, social media messages and emails but nothing can replace the joy of receiving a traditional card.
We can say that we want to "save the trees" but something is definitely lost when we join the modern trend to send e-cards or group emails.
Handmade or personalised cards are works of art and unique gifts that I will always treasure.
A friend in the UK sends me greeting cards with his family photo on the cover so every year I get to see how the children have grown and what they look like.
A greeting card we received last Christmas from my nephew Quinlan Maling who designed his own card will definitely go into my collection of mementos.
This lunar new year also marks another milestone as my father who is getting on in age wants to retire from this and has now handed the responsibility over to me.
Using dad's mailing list as a reference, I sign off the cards with mum and dad's names along with mine as I'm aware that their contemporaries who receive my cards, may not recognise who the sender is if my parents' names were not there.
There is a bittersweet feeling as I write the cards and read with a tinge of sadness that at least five name should be dropped from the list because they are no longer with us.
Memories of a bygone era, the writer’s father’s mailing list.
~News courtesy of New Straits Times~
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