This is the first time that I am spending CNY (Chinese New Year) overseas. Spending the New Year in Dunedin, NZ is quite different. It is not a public holiday here and there are hardly any special mention of it. However, we are fortunate that Dunedin itself has quite a long history of Chinese migrants who came here in the 1800s to work in the gold mines. Hence, there is a Chinese Garden and we get to enjoy some CNY atmosphere and celebration.
We do miss the fellowship with friends and relatives, and of course the sumptuous reunion dinner, conveying well wishes and catching up with relatives that you seldom have the time to meet.
In a conversation that I had with the caretaker of the motel that I stayed in, we talked about some peculiar issues in our countries. In NZ, many young people tend to leave the country for better lifestyles and salaries. As a result, NZ has to depend on immigration to sustain the local economy. In a way, Singapore is similar. We depend on immigration to make up for the low birth rate. In both issues, there are causation factors peculiar to each country. However, it also demonstrates the interconnectedness of the world and the demand for skilled labour in all developed countries.
