Dancing to Súbeme La Radio by Enrique Iglesias. The song was released 24 February 2017 by the label RCA Sony Latin.
Text & Photo © JE Nilsson & CM Cordeiro 2020
This weekend marks one of several Lunar New Year celebrations across the Far East and Southeast-Asia. The Chinese Spring Festival was celebrated this year on 25 Jan., ushering in the Year of the Rat, with 15 days of celebrations in China. In Singapore, it is most likely one of the rare times of year where Chinese food stalls at hawker-centres and food courts are closed.
The Chinese Spring Festival was a tradition I grew up celebrating. As a child, I looked forward to putting on a new dress, (preferably in an auspicious red, symbolizing happiness in the Chinese culture), and going out with my parents to visit relatives with red packets and Mandarin oranges as symbols of good fortune and prosperity to give, as well as to receive. The staple Chinese New Year biscuits and cakes found in Singapore households, from pineapple tarts, peanut cookies and the sticky nian gao were considerable bonuses for relatives visiting, making more bearable, the mandatory and mundane comments of “Wah! You grew taller ah!” (for when I was between the ages of 5 and 16), “Where´s your boyfriend?” (between 17 and 21 years old), “When you getting married?” (from 19 years forwards), to “Wah, you still studying ah!” (from 23 years old forwards).
This festive lunar new year´s weekend found me dancing to a song released on 24 Feb. 2017, performed by Enrique Iglesias, titled Súbeme La Radio. For a combination of reasons, this little dance, in this little dress, which is neither red nor new, felt as it is, sparkly.