Sin Chew Daily

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, this year's Chinese New Year is very different from what we are so much used to. This is the first time Chinese Malaysians celebrate their biggest festival of the year in the new normal way.

Balik kampung to celebrate the festive season has been a norm for as long as we all remember. Each year, our highways are always jam packed with cars a couple of days before CNY, often with miles and miles of standstill traffic. But this year, thanks to the ban imposed by the government on interstate and inter-district travels, many are unable to go back to their hometowns to celebrate the big day. They are forced to celebrate wherever they are and convey their festive greetings to their loved ones at home with the help of sophisticated communication technologies.

Friends and relatives from near and far have been able to shatter the geographical confines and stay connected through an array of modern communication apps.

Indeed, the coronavirus has upended people's normal day-to-day lives, but it will never sever our age-old traditions nor close-knit bonds with our loved ones at home.

In a similar manner, many CNY open house events are now taken online. In the past, we used to have throngs of people at CNY open house events organized by various associations and community groups, but this is not going to be repeated this year, as people resort to brand new ways of celebrating the festive season.

Political parties such as PKR, Gerakan Rakyat as well as local Chinese associations have held online open house events this year while an online CNY celebration was staged by the Selangor state government.

That said, a new normal way of CNY celebration still pales in festive mood when compared to a traditional way of celebration with crowds of people in elated spirits offering their sincerest festive wishes face-to-face.

Malaysians, nevertheless, know very well that in order to flatten the infection curve and stop the virus from spreading further within our community, they have to make some sacrifices. As such, many willingly comply with the SOPs and refrain from big and small gatherings during the festive season so as to deprive the virus of any slightest chance of spreading in our community.

Health minister Adham Baba has said we are now past the peak of the third wave infections and the situation is under control, as evidenced by the marked trend of slowing daily new infection numbers.

While this is indeed a heartening piece of news, daily new infection numbers are still staggering and we still need to work hard with the hope the daily numbers of new infections will drop significantly through strict SOP compliance on the part of the rakyat as well as effective measures introduced by the government.

According to science, technology and innovation minister Khairy Jamaluddin, Malaysians can register to participate in the vaccination program beginning next month. It is believed that the outbreak will be further contained following the rollout of the country's vaccination program.

No doubt the virus has dealt a severe blow on the Malaysian society and disrupted the progress of our economic recovery, threatening the survival of many local companies and upending the day-to-day lives of millions of people.

In order to defeat the virus, many are forced to celebrate the festive season without their family members around.

It is hoped that we will flatten the curve as soon as possible in the Year of the Ox and the local market will regain its vibrancy and the burdens upon the shoulders of Malaysians will be drastically relieved.

Hopefully when everything is back to normal again next year, we all can go back to our hometowns to celebrate with our families.