Fine vintage furniture retailer Lynette Wong still reminisces about the Chinese New Year celebrations in 2020.
“That was our last big celebration, where we had 20 people staying with us and it was a tad crowded but so much fun,” she recalls.
It was just before the Covid-19 pandemic hit, when her relatives from Kuala Lumpur and her daughter’s friends from England came over for the festivities, and there was no limit to the number of visitors one could have.
“Chinese New Year is always a family affair, so if not for the pandemic, we will always have friends and family staying with us,” says Lynette, who lives in a black-and-white house off Alexandra Road with her husband and three grown children.
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Like last year, this year’s celebrations will be a muted affair, but that hasn’t stopped her from keeping traditions alive.
For a start, decorating the home is a must, says Lynette, who owns 1B2G Important Design along Henderson Road.
She takes charge of the decorating and, with her eye for style, she’s managed to deck out the home tastefully.
“It is easy to go over the top and pile on lots of red. I don’t want that,” she says.
“It is easy to go over the top and pile on lots of red. I don’t want that.”
Lynette Wong
It also helps that her home is filled with vintage furniture that complements the festive decor.
To welcome visitors, there are pots of chrysanthemums outside the home. Chrysanthemums signify longevity and are also a symbol of nobility.
Lynette has these floral blooms instead of the typical mandarin orange because “the squirrels living in the neighbourhood will eat them and make such a mess”, she says.
In the foyer, the massive Astral bench by Per Borre for Fredericia takes centre stage. This provides another seating space for guests when they come to visit.
On a side table, Lynette has placed pussy willows, a box of oranges and firecracker decorations on it. A large Chinese knot hangs on the main door, and there’s more decoration on the walls to add colour to the foyer.
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For her living room, Lynette takes a more subtle approach to decorating, since the space is already filled with lots of iconic, mid-century furniture that she pairs with contemporary art.
There are vases of yellow and orange festive blooms, such as chrysanthemums, peonies and orchids.
Here the space is filled with designer icons including 1960’s Artichoke lights by Poul Henningsen Papa bear armchairs by Hans Wegner and sofas by Illum Wikkelso
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Over in the dining room, Lynette puts together a centrepiece using plum blossoms and peonies. The dining room with a mix of vintage furniture and modern art, is one of the key areas in the home for family gatherings.
Besides the decorating, Lynette also takes charge of ordering the snacks. Her must-haves are pineapple tarts, which she has been ordering from the same home baker for the past decade, kueh bangkit, and nian gao which she gets from the Chinese New Year fair at Takashimaya.
“And of course, we cannot forget bak kwa, because this is the only time during the year that we have it,” says Lynette.
For meals, her mum does the cooking, but Lynette helps with the marketing.
Her mum cooks up a special menu for reunion dinner and also for the first day of Chinese New Year. The table would be heaving with dishes such as mee siam or assam laksa, glutinous rice, braised beef shin, pig stomach with abalone soup, pengcai and yusheng.
Lynette declares with pride: “Mum makes every dish from scratch.”
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A specially commissioned veneer screen of the London skyline from Linley provides a backdrop to a couple of festive blooms
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Lynette , who grew up in Kuala Lumpur, fondly remembers that when she was younger, Chinese New Year meant driving down to Singapore to catch up with her paternal relatives. “We would stay with an aunt who was living in Singapore,” she says.
The tables have since turned. Since her home is spacious, Lynette’s home is now the venue for the festive meals.
Some other traditions have not changed. The family still makes it a point to wear new clothes in festive colours for the first day of Chinese New Year. “And ang paos are still given to the kids and also to our elders,” says Lynette.
She will still be throwing her doors open to visitors and, as with previous years, will be visiting a group of close friends too.
“We will make do with smaller groups of visitors over the few days, unlike the big celebrations we would have before,” she says.
Despite the muted celebrations, Lynette still considers Chinese New Year one of her favourite times of the year.
“I like it better when it falls in mid-February, so that the festivities can go on longer,” she says. “It is always so much fun celebrating Christmas, New Year’s, my husband’s and my birthdays, and then Chinese New Year.”
This article first appeared on The Business Times in 2022.
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