Monday 26 January is Chinese New Year: all over the world, Chinese of whatever religion will be celebrating by having a Reunion Dinner on the eve i.e. on Sunday night with family. Then on the day, there will be visiting of relatives and friends, giving of Ang Pows (red packets with cash) by the married folks to the young and unmarried, and eating of cookies and mandarin oranges and all kinds of food.
Year by year, however, as the children grow up and leave home to study, work or marry, the family reunions and gathering become smaller, and evolve as all things do with time. Some people take the long holidays (in Malaysia the 1st and 2nd days of the CNY are public holidays) to travel overseas or around the country. Some don't mark it altogether and continue working or doing whatever they enjoy in their free time.
This year, one brother and family will not be here, and one niece and nephew too. The patriarch is also absent, having gone to his home in Heaven, his real home as is ours. And we're missing Ethan for the 1st time. He's on the other side of the globe, in Denmark, and I doubt he'll miss the CNY traditions and festivities.
Monday 26 January is also the day "the survey to determine if Logos Hope is ready for the Passenger Ship Safety Certificate (PSSC) is scheduled to begin... With that day rapidly approaching, work has gone into overdrive aboard the ship! People are working into the night to ensure that everything is finished in time and with excellence. One of the biggest jobs is the generator, but many other jobs need to be done by next week. The deck department is renovating the steering gear room, which contains the rudder and the emergency steering controls. The project team is welding up any holes in bulkheads (walls) and checking that every wall can withstand fire for specified lengths of time...." (Logos Hope News)
He has been working hard in the galley, and hopefully, God willing, the ship will be able to start its maiden voyage from Koge soon.
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