Hello there!
Welcome to my Blog! I’m Jun Yu, a Year One student from the National University of Singapore, where I’m currently pursuing a Bachelor of Environmental Studies. This is my first time writing a blog, so I’m excited to be sharing this experience with you all. I hope this blog will be an interesting journey of reflection and learning for all of us.
This blog will be about the environmental impacts that come with Chinese customs and traditions. What led me to arrive at this topic was my personal experiences. I am Chinese and have been following many of these customs from a young age. Back then, I rarely questioned these customs and blindly followed what my parents told me to do. But as I grew older, I started to think more about these customs and how they could be affecting our environment negatively.
I will begin this journey by looking at the Chinese New Year (CNY), the biggest Chinese festival celebrated in the world. For me, CNY was the only time of the year I would see some of my relatives. I am Singaporean, but my father is Malaysian and his hometown is Tawau, Sabah. As Tawau is in East Malaysia, it meant that the only way to get there was by plane. And so every CNY (up until I was 19), I would fly to Tawau with my parents to celebrate with my relatives.
Celebrating CNY in Malaysia was a very different experience from celebrating in Singapore. The celebrations there were way more…explosive! Laws in Malaysia were less strict, so it was common for households to be setting off their own fireworks and firecrackers.
But behind all the celebrations, hide certain ugly truths about wasteful consumption and pollutive behaviours. Food & clothing waste, carbon emissions & air pollution. These are not the terms that would come to one’s mind when CNY is mentioned. But these are precisely the environmental issues that are cause for concern due to some of the customs that are being followed. These are customs that I too, have been ‘guilty’ of. Therefore, I wish to dive deeper into these issues in the upcoming weeks.
That’s all for now and I hope to see you next week!
Jun Yu