SINGAPORE: A “prosperity toss” video went viral over the Chinese New Year holiday weekend, showing a large group of people at a hawker centre enjoying themselves, shouting and laughing loudly as they threw a big food dish into the air.
One of the diners even opens an umbrella to protect himself from falling food. The short clip, posted as a reel on the Facebook page of a netizen who goes by Isk Gor on the platform, has been viewed over 1.8 million times and shared by many netizens with some people online were less than approving, decrying it as a waste of food.
Mr Melvin Chew, the founder of the Hawkers United – Dabao 2020 Facebook page and owner of Jin Ji Teowchew Braised Duck and Kway Chap, was among those who posted Isk Gor’s video clip, writing, “1 of the reason(s) I don’t like lou hei with lot of people is because of this reason.
I don’t like to waste food, it’s not easy to prepare lou hei. You see those doing traditional ways of slicing the cucumber, raddish and carrot, you will see injury all over their fingers. It’s easy for us to pay and eat, but for the one who prepared the food is sweat and blood.
I mean everyone for their own opinion on this but for me I’m against wasting food like this. I saw hungry kids starving for a meal and that’s made me feel bad when wasting food.”
On Isk Gor’s video, many also shared Mr Chew’s sentiments and disapproved of wasting food.
“Wasting food like that won’t bring u luck and wealth,” wrote one.
“My heart hurts to see it. This waste of food, workers still clean up,” chimed in another.
“It’s not a good time to waste food on the holiday,” wrote another, encouraging everyone to “think more about those who go… without food!”
Lo Hei
Lo hei, which is Cantonese for “tossing up”, is a reference to people tossing together a dish of yusheng, which is made up of diced bits of fish, vegetables, spices, and other ingredients, each of which has an auspicious meaning.
For example, raw fish symbolizes abundance throughout the year, pomelo means luck or auspicious value, and spices indicate a wish to attract wealth or treasures.
Tossing the dish is meant to bring on great prosperity, good fortune, and good luck, and yusheng is traditionally served during the Lunar New Year period.
When all ingredients are added to the dish, the diners at the table all stand up and throw the ingredients into the air with their chopsticks. As they do this, they give auspicious wishes or just say “lo hei, lo hei” (scoop it up, scoop it up).
The higher the toss, the greater the prosperity, probably why people do so with so much energy and gusto. /TISG
Read also: KF Seetoh: Abundantly clear there’s a depressed mood this CNY season