A few years ago, an aunt came up to me during one of those Chinese New Year family visits and said: "So when are you getting married?" I replied: "The moment I find myself a good man." Hell ain't that the truth. Good men are so hard to come by these days, I better marry him the moment he appears or someone else will get to him before I do.
Yeah, I can become a little testy after answering too many of those when-are-you-going-to questions during Chinese New Year. I mean, if they come from distant relatives who do not know, telling it like a joke and then making them realise I'm serious can be fun. But coming from people who already knew but still wanted to stuff me back into the closet, I get a little testy.
What makes me uncomfortable is when these questions pop up when my parents are around. One Chinese New Year at their friend's house, before I could even answer that question, I saw them already cringing from the corner of my eyes, like they are ashamed that I'm not ashamed of being gay. You know how parents are sometimes, they take it so personally. But that does make my usual flippant remarks seem inappropriate, so I just had to tell it straight: "You see aunty, I'm a homosexual and prefer to date men than women."
The saddest time is when my granddad cried because he thought it meant I will be alone and would never have my own family, and there was no way I could convince him that even if that were true, I was and still am very happy to be gay - he simply couldn't fathom the possibility of gay marriage and parenting, etc., so I didn't go into it. It was such a beautiful and poignant misunderstanding that I still think about it often during each Chinese New Year, and know that he really loved me.
And then one year, a younger married cousin gave me an angbao (small red packets containing money given to children and singles during Chinese New Year), I guess getting a kick out of the role reversal of a more junior family member giving a more senior member an angbao by virtue of his marriage to a woman. Since I have been the over-achieving grandson in the family and the eldest one to boot, it must have been difficult growing up under that kind of shadow. So I was very happy to accept the angbao from him to let him feel at least a little more on par. If he does it again this year though, I will have to be more demanding. After all, putting only $2 in the angbao to get that kick is a little cheap, don't you agree?
The most touching time though is one year when an uncle quietly told me to bring my boy friend to visit at his open house. That made me feel more part of the family than I had ever felt for a long time.
Chinese New Year can be that time of the year when your relatives' feelings about homosexuality bubbling up on to the surface and become expressed. For me, it is a time to get to know my family in a way that is harder to do during ordinary times.
When each of these New Year rituals encounter homosexuality, a choice needs to be made, and possibilities open up. Who gets to eat at the New Year's Eve dinner? Who gets acknowledged? Who gives and receives angbao… Through the choices that you and people around you make, you start to know them and yourself a little better.
I am not talking about knowing who is accepting and who isn't, although that is very interesting to observe, and some people really do surprise me. What is even more interesting is getting to know what someone chooses to do when they feel uncomfortable; and how I respond when I sense their discomfort.
In my younger days, Chinese New Year brought out my inner bitch. The attitude was: I'm gay, deal with it. That tough guy attitude meant I was still grappling with being comfortable with it myself, and was trying to shield myself from possible disapproval. It was an important stage to go through though, because it gave me time to build my self-esteem by sending a very clear message to everyone that there was nothing wrong with being gay. Subsequently, no one has ever said anything derogatory within my earshot, except my brother, but then, he has issues. In fact, it was those who couldn't deal with my revelation that looked a little silly. After all, if you think a good-looking well-educated guy in his 30s and, later his 40s, who all these years is never seen with a woman, is single because he couldn't find a girl friend, then you can't be very bright.
Seriously though, can you imagine coming out to your whole extended family at Chinese New Year and not have it degenerate into melodrama? Now you know it can be done.
Fast forward to 2007 when I'm older and hopefully mellower, I wonder how I will answer these when-are-you-going-to questions. Maybe I'll still crack a 'the moment Schwarzenegger signs gay marriage into law' joke (it's true, the latest gossip from Sacramento is that he is viewing the upcoming gay marriage bill in California "favourably." Go Terminator Go!). But maybe, I would allow myself to be vulnerable, and say: "you know, I don't know. I have dated so many guys, and I know I will marry the man I love one day. I only wish I knew when."
You know what's so funny about Chinese New Year after I came out? It is still about eating too much and non-stop gambling with the cousins. Some traditions you can never change.
Dr Tan Chong Kee will be conducting a Dating and Relationships Workshop on Mar 1, 7.30pm at Mox Cafe and Bar. Admission is free. The workshop is organised by Safehaven, a gay and lesbian Christian fellowship. For more info and to sign up, visit www.oursafehaven.com.