Gong Xi Fa Cai

Once, I overheard an older Chinese man commenting about the surname ‘Ng’ which sounds ‘negative’ and one has to be careful when choosing names. For example, ‘Fatt Choi’ (prosperous) preceded by “Ng’ becomes ‘not prosperous’!

With this in mind, I have to be careful as my blog’s name is Kosong (acronym of my first name and surname). Would people feel offended if Kosong Café wishes ‘Gong Xi Fa Cai’? Does it sound like an empty greeting?

But I can think of many examples, which are meaningful with the word ‘kosong’, like when in my regular phone shop, one of the girls will ask a customer who wishes to re-load his phone, “Kosong apa?” as in 012, 013, 014, 016 or 017.

Then, there are those ‘Jawatan Kosong’ (Job vacancies) advertisements on shop windows, and ‘Tapak kosong’ (vacant site), which sounds like belonging to me!

Anyway, I wish all my relatives, friends and visitors who are celebrating the Chinese New Year, ‘Gong Xi Fa Cai’.

My thanks to BH for his interesting greeting which I managed to open but still unable to reply using my usual email (due to settings and my poor knowledge of IT). Believe me, I am working with a lot of constraints and which require lots of patience. Bear with me till Cheng upgrades her notebook and I use hers, provided it is still working then! Welcome to the new meaning of ‘hand-me-down’!