No more CNY 'back home' for mixed-race couple
For years, Chong Ban Aun and Dewi Budiman would make the trip back to Kampar to celebrate Chinese New Year with his family, but financial constraints have made this impossible anymore.
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Seventeen years ago, Chong Ban Aun and Dewi Budiman tied the knot, brimming with confidence and hope for the future.
Although they came from different ethnic backgrounds, they happily embraced each other's cultures, making the trip back to Chong's home town in Kampar, Perak, for Chinese New Year each year.
For Dewi, this journey was always a treat that she looked forward to. Chong would purchase bus tickets for the family several weeks in advance, and their children would wait in eager anticipation, counting down the days until they could reunite with their grandparents and cousins.
Dewi would spend happy hours in the kitchen with her mother-in-law, who never ran out of recipes to teach her.
![CNY_Chindian_Ampang3_Mnow_270125 Despite the cautious optimism from Dewi's new job as a cleaner, this year, once more, Chinese New Year will be quiet.](https://cdn.malaysianow.com/uploads/images/media/2025/01/29/d45c2a9d-f12b-4043-b34a-7851a62ec09a.jpg)
The reunion dinner, an important part of Chinese tradition, would feature a medley of dishes from both cultures, with curry and rendang served alongside the customary Chinese fare.
But two years ago, there was a break in convention due to financial constraints.
This year, for the third time, Dewi, Chong, and their children will celebrate Chinese New Year on their own.
"I know that the children really miss going back to their home town," Dewi, 49, told MalaysiaNow in the living area of their small two-room house in Ampang.
"I have to explain that this is our financial situation, so that they can understand."
The money problems began after Chong, now 63, noticed a drop in the number of requests for odd jobs. Although he started out as a manual labourer at the age of 15, by the time he was an adult, he was adept at repairing houses and buildings and doing jobs such as painting and fixing pipes, so much so that his friends would refer to him as "the expert".
Over the years, though, he found fewer and fewer jobs.
![CNY_Chindian_Ampang4_Mnow_270125 Dewi tries on a traditional Chinese dress for her daughter at their home in Tasik Tambahan Ampang.](https://cdn.malaysianow.com/uploads/images/media/2025/01/29/8c18b9a1-d5f6-45b3-9648-2bd9b639a504.jpg)
"Sometimes, I would have to wait months for something to turn up," he said. "The last time I went out on a job was two weeks ago, to repair a house in Klang."
Although he hurt his leg in an accident last year, he said he was still in good shape and well able to continue working.
"I have seen the doctor, there's nothing wrong with me," he said. "I can still work."
But jobs have been few and far in between, and in their small house, the only sign of Chinese New Year this year is the red banner or "chai" hung over the front door.
There are no cookies or Mandarin oranges to be seen – just household items and stacks of school books.
They have a little money from Dewi's new job as a cleaner, although all of it goes towards paying the rent – RM700 a month – and covering household expenses and pocket money for the children.
"We don't have a car, just a motorcycle," Dewi said. "I take the bus to work and back every day."
And despite the cautious optimism from Dewi's new job, this year, once more, Chinese New Year will be quiet.
![CNY_Chindian_Ampang1_Mnow_270125 'Reunion dinner' this year is whatever food they have on the table – some vegetable curry to go with their rice.](https://cdn.malaysianow.com/uploads/images/media/2025/01/29/aee0988f-02cb-4d62-9a7e-2933e9602e45.jpg)
But Dewi and Chong tell their children that celebrations are not measured by how many possessions they have, but the love in their hearts.
"It doesn't matter what we have. The important thing is that we can eat together," said Dewi.
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