Halloween 2007

I read briefly a few days ago that there seems to be a trend for locals to celebrate Halloween these days. The article also carried some observations made by some people that this is not a surprising trend since youths these days are very much exposed to the western culture. There were also some comments that it is sad and ironical that the younger generation would rather celebrate Halloween than to attend getais and other celebrations of the traditionally Chinese equivalent - the 7th Lunar Month.

Personally, I think this is an inevitable trend. I guess it will be very much like Valentine's Day. Gradually, it will become just another commercial-driven excuse to don some scary-looking gothy gear and throw parties. So long as nothing is over-stretched and nothing becomes too extreme, I think it is ok.

It will remain important to remember our own culture and traditions, of course, including the 7th Lunar Month.

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We received a note from the CH teachers a few days ago that the children will be having a mini-Halloween party on the morning of 31 October 2007. As usual, they requested contribution towards the potluck party, and asked that the children be allowed to attend school in their Halloween costumes (as if many of us own such costumes, hor?!) or home clothes that day.

So, to cut long story short, I spent my lunch hour yesterday scouring for suitable contribution. Eventually, for the potluck party, I got 24 mini-muffins for both WF's class and WY's BASC group. I hope the children like these - they taste so-so only lah, when I tried them. But they were of the 'correct' size, hence my choice.

For the Halloween gear and props, the party-supplies shop near my office was a natural choice haunt. Before lunch, I stole a few minutes to take a peek into their website (see, I do my homework 1st, no matter how 'rushed').

But that didn't help to prepare me for what I saw at the shop itself when I went there shortly afterwards. Woah! So many ang-mo's (real ang-mo ladies, hor!) selecting their masks and costumes and gloves etc etc!! It was quite impressive, leh! And they were buying the pumpkin buckets by the dozens, wow!

Then, to my surprise, there were also many non-ang-mo's who were paying for an assortment of Halloween props such as Count Dracula fangs, capes, witches' hats, spears etc etc!! Some were even enquiring about make-up face paint etc!!! Woah!

What a Brand New World, man!!! This Halloween business....

But I must admit, all the props and ornaments displayed were so novel to me and they all seemed so exciting! Some props were also so incredibly authentic-looking that I wondered if people would get them confused with the real thing! Some ornaments and displays also came with motion-detectors and would start making a scary 'wh..i...r...rr....l....ing' ghostly sound as we clap our hands or pat them.

It was fortunate that WF had told me earlier that he would want to put on his 'Spiderman' t-shirt for the Halloween party. So, to match this t-shirt, he would like to bring a spider to CH that morning. "Ok, I will try to look for a great spider and bring it home for you," I promised. "Thank you, Mama," WF said.

Yesterday morning, to both R's and my surprise, WF reminded me, "Mama, on your way home today, you must remember to get a spider for me, ok?" "Ok, I will catch a good one for you," I replied. "And you must put it in a box so it won't get out," WF added.

So as I stepped into the shop, I zoomed right into the range of spiders available. I was pleasantly surprised that many of the spiders were going at 50% discount. And so, I didn't need a lot of persuasion from the salesgirl as I selected 'the obvious choice' spider.

Although I had initially set out to get only a spider (which was what I told my colleague N), I finally ended up with several more items. For 'completeness' sake, mah. Heeee heee... this kind of 一不做，二不休 mentality.....

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Yesterday, we told Mother that we would have dinner at her place so that she need not bring up to our place the tingkat. We thought this would be a well-deserved respite for her since she has been painstakingly helping to pack our dinner into the tingkat and bringing it up every evening for some time already. (I will probably update onlysonsmatter later regarding that dinner.)

Soon after dinner and washing-up, I told WY and WF that we had to go home quite soon because we would need to 'feed' WF's spider. "Ha?! What spider?!" WY asked incredulously, with a curious frown on his face.

"Did you really get a spider for me, Mama?!" WF asked with wide, sparkling eyes. "Yes, I caught one giant one on my way home," I said as I tried hard not to laugh.

Turning to WY, WF said jubilantly, "Yeah! I will bring the spider to scare my friends!"

Then, there were a few seconds of silence. Suddenly, WF asked in a concerned tone, "Mama, did you remember to put it in a box? Can the spider escape? Where is it now? Is it in our room?"

Confused, WY looked at me, too. Then, as I burst into laughter....

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When we reached home, I quickly 'fed' the spider (it feeds on 3 AA-size). On seeing this, WY intuitively started to help me prise open its legs to let it stand on the floor. Then we took all the other gear and props out to the balcony.

After fiddling with these for a few minutes, the boys obligingly agreed to pose for some photos before we re-packed them properly for easier transportation the following morning.

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This morning, when we brought in WF's spider to CH school, it caused a stir amongst the children especially the girls, many of whom were dressed prettily as fairies and angels.

Then, as I got the school cleaner lady to help hang up the skeleton in WF's classroom, the children became so excited and started to chat so enthusiastically amongst themselves that the teachers had to come and 'shoo' them all back into the dining area for their breakfast. Hahhaha....

From the school's webcam, I saw some of the Halloween actions this morning. Nothing really very dramatic although the teachers took turns to put on different masks and costumes to 'parade' before the children.

But it was obvious that WF's props came in very handy. I guess most parents remembered/bothered to have their kids dress up in nice costumes but never thought of props that are not 'put on' their children. I am not surprised.

I hope WF has remembered to distribute to his friends the packs of raisins and candies (leftover from WY's birthday goodie bags but all still at least 6 months away from expiry) which we had placed in the pumpkin bucket last night. And I hope WF has a great time 'scaring' his friends with his mask, spider, skeleton and all!