Mooncakes

Since moving to Bukit Mertajam more than two years ago, I've discovered that the Chinese population on the mainland - especially the Teochews and the Hakkas - tend to go overboard with their religious practices, more so than almost everyone else in Penang. A religious occasion is simply the right cue for them to pray more intensely and provide more offerings at the altars. The ritual is almost like an obsession.

My family is not like that. It could be because we are Hokkien, so we have always prayed with moderation. Maybe this is also because of my family's leaning towards Theravada Buddhism instead of Mahayana.

But being Chinese means that no matter what you believe in, there is no escaping the observance of some taboos. That's why in my earlier post on the Month of the hungry ghosts, I did not deliberately use any photo of the Tai Su Yeah or the God of the Underworld. I didn't want to upset any of you with such photos. But you can see what The Star had written about the Tai Su Yeah here and here.

Similarly, I won't be showing anyone the single snapshot I took at my aunt's funeral in Kuala Lumpur recently. My wife was rather upset that I had done so and insisted that I erase the picture from the camera and my computer. That's taboo for you. But I guess it was alright with her that I should write about the Ven Suvanno's passing last March.

Anyway, the Chinese seventh lunar month is about to come to an end on 10 Sep 2007. There's slightly more than a week before we go full swing into the eighth lunar month and you know what? It's time for the moon cake festival. Sweet, sweet moon cakes. How can you ever resist the taste of lotus paste moon cakes or moon cakes of just about every other flavour?


When I was very young, moon cakes were only sold during the eighth lunar month itself unlike today when companies mass produce moon cakes as early as the start of the seventh lunar month. That's commercialism for you. Packaging has also improved by leaps and bounds, and consumers are enticed as much by the packaging as the moon cakes themselves.

Back then, there was nothing adventurous about the flavours. In fact, when I was young, I hated moon cakes because of the blandness. But I've just finished one filled with chocolate and cream cheese and started on another tasting of expresso and chestnuts. Exotic tastes. The other day, my family was enjoying a double egg yolk lotus paste moon cake. Wahh!


Well, there are three weeks to go until the 15th day of the eighth lunar month (25 Sep 2007). Three more weeks for these moon cake bakeries to fleece consumers of their money (or haven't you noticed that the price of moon cakes seem to be going up every year because of "increasing cost of raw materials"?) And then, suddenly, on 26 Sep 2007, it'll be over. Everything ends. No more moon cakes on sale. No more moon cakes on offer. Just like that.