Before she had children, Ms Eunice Liuu did not decorate her home for Chinese New Year as she usually spends the festive occasion at her grandmother’s place.
But now that she has two sons – Noah, three, and Nathan, two – the 37-year-old primary school teacher decorates her five-room HDB flat in Punggol even if nobody comes to visit.
“The decorations are mainly for my children.
I want to create a festive atmosphere and remind them of their Chinese roots.”
While simple, her decorations are charming and creative.
The centrepiece is a 45cm-tall white metal birdcage with two stalks of artificial peach blossoms.
Two long-tailed birds – one red, one yellow – stand on the branches and three butterflies are nestled among the blooms.
Ms Liuu made this herself.
The birdcage, which was bought for $20 from a shop in Bugis in 2012, was originally part of her wedding decorations when she married engineer David Lee that year.
She says: “During our wedding dinner, we placed the birdcage next to a display of our family photos as part of a ‘memory lane’ showcase.
After the wedding, I did not want to throw it away because of its sentimental value.”
She kept the birdcage in the storeroom.
But since three years ago, she has been bringing it out every Christmas and Chinese New Year.
For Chinese New Year last year, she filled it with Mandarin oranges.
During Christmas last year, she filled it with gold, silver, red and blue baubles.
She says: “I prefer putting together my own decorations as they are more meaningful and the birdcage is very versatile.”
For this year’s design, she bought the flower stalks for $5 from a shop at the nearby Punggol Plaza earlier this month.
She also bought the birds ($8) and butterflies ($5) at another shop in the mall.
She recalls: “At first, I was not sure how many birds to buy.
But at the store, the owner told me that a woman before me bought three birds because she had three children.
So I bought two birds because I have two sons.”
Setting up the birdcage took 11/2 hours and Ms Liuu secured the stalks to the cage with cable ties.
“I wanted the flowers to look like they were growing out of the cage and it took a few rounds of trial and error to achieve this effect.”
The birdcage is not the only sentimental item in her decorations.
Holding the pineapple tarts and chocolate squares is a 38-year-old circular plastic container (above) with a beaded design, a gift from a relative to celebrate Mr Lee’s birth.
It has been used to hold snacks every Chinese New Year.
She says: “Many people like to have new things for Chinese New Year.
But my family prefers to hold on to things that others gave us because these are meaningful gifts.”
Rounding up the decorations are wall decals, a platter and basket of oranges as well as tins of Chinese New Year snacks.
“Our decorations are simple, but they really reflect who we are as a family.”
This article was first published on January 28, 2017.
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