SINGAPORE - Teenagers will take visitors down memory lane at this year's River Hongbao, serving as guides at an exhibition about festive traditions going back to the 1960s.
The exhibition - the first indoor one at the event - was put together by 18 students, along with the Sun Yat Sen Nanyang Memorial Hall, and came after seven months of research and interviews.
Titled My Home, My New Year, the exhibition features full-sized displays of a kampung house, an old Housing Board flat and a modern home dining area.
Some of the students also shared their thoughts and feelings about festive traditions in write-ups displayed at the exhibition.
Catholic High student Lennon Chua, 15, for instance, wrote about waking up early to bake festive goodies, such as pineapple tarts, with his mother.
"I started to help just two years ago," said Lennon, who is in Secondary 3. "It's been fun to listen to my mother's stories of how she also used to bake with her own parents as a child, and it makes me happy to give out the goodies to our relatives and friends," he added.
The 32nd edition of River Hongbao, which opens on Wednesday (Feb 14), will be held at The Float@Marina Bay.
The event will feature giant inflatable figures, the tallest of which stands at 15m, or the height of three full-grown giraffes stacked one on top of the other. On display will also be more than 500 lanterns handmade by 35 craftsmen from Sichuan, China.
There will be 11 nights of fireworks, light shows, food, games and performances.
River Hongbao 2018 is organised by the Singapore Federation of Chinese Clan Associations, Singapore Press Holdings, the Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Singapore Tourism Board and People's Association.
The event is open from 2pm to 11pm daily from Feb 14 to Feb 24, except on Chinese New Year's Eve on Feb 15, when it will be extended to 1am. Admission is free.
On Saturday, student guides had their first rehearsals at the site of the exhibition.
In total, there are nearly 70 student guides from five schools, namely Catholic High, CHIJ St Nicholas Girls', River Valley High, Chung Cheng High School (Main) and Singapore Chinese Girls'.
Ms Fong Lai San, a Chinese language and literature teacher at St Nicholas Girls' School, said Chinese New Year was the one time her family brought out precious jewellery, some being heirlooms passed down from generations before.
"It was a huge deal back then. Now, it's easy to buy clothes, shoes and even order food online. But back when I was a child in the 80s, I had a lot of excitement and anticipation for the celebrations - wearing jewellery and buying new things were a yearly affair," she said.
She said festive traditions have changed with technology, but family bonds are still being maintained, and perhaps improved, citing a "Lo Hei" app as an example.
Lo hei refers to a Chinese New Year practice popular in Singapore, of tossing a raw fish salad for good luck.
"The younger kids love it because it's fun to do it on their phone. Even older relatives like my mother enjoyed playing it. It turned out to be a good bonding tool for them," Ms Fong said.
