Over the weekend, Speaker of the Parliament Tan Chuan-Jin kicked off the Year of the Rabbit by reminding Singaporeans to do what they can to stay healthy, saying, “Do stay active, less salt, less sugar.”
Mr Tan shared a video message with Singapore on Saturday (Jan 21), with a candid yet important message for Singaporeans to keep healthy. “Happy Chinese New Year, everyone,” he said. “This is the morning of the first day. I hope everyone had a great reunion dinner with their loved ones and that in the next few days, do have a great time resting or, I guess, feasting and just spending time with people whom we care about. And do take care.”
In his post, he said that he had just finished an intense workout at a local park with a group of people who gather on weekends to exercise. “But meanwhile, do stay active,” Mr Tan said. “Less salt, less sugar wherever we can… stay healthy where we can… but more importantly, spend our time with our loved ones as well.”
On Sunday (Jan 22), Mr Tan, in another post, shared his yearly tradition of spending the first day of Chinese New Year with residents. “Every year for the past 11 years, I’ve been spending the first day of CNY paying respects to our residents here at Blk 23A where we had lunch with over a hundred of them, gave out oranges and angpows!
In Chinese culture, ang pao is a money gift kept in a red envelope.
“I’ve known many of them for the whole time I’ve been here,” wrote Mr Tan. “We were reminiscing about past events and when we last met etc. A number have also sadly departed. But that’s life… we celebrate the little mercies and be grateful for what we have.”
At the end of his post, Mr Tan also shared, “As with our usual practice, everyone chipped in to pack up the chairs and tables after the event.”