Not Fun Anymore

There are many stories regarding the origin of the dumpling and the tradition of eating it on this certain day. The most commonly repeated one was something about a scholar(Qu Yuan) who was upset(well, maybe saddened, or hurt or pissed, or any other similar adjectives that rocks ur socks yea) when the emperor refused to take his advice and instead listened to some allegedly evil bigshots. Qu Yuan then wandered to some lake or river or sea (or other bodies of water, I can’t really remember the story) and dunked himself in. Possibly tying his body to a huge rock beforehand so that his body won’t float up days later(this is probably dramatization in my part). Villagers were concerned and pitied this tortured soul, so they made loads of dumplings(changs) to throw into the spot where he nose-dived. In hope that the fish and whatever else in there won’t nibble on his body. I’d say, those fishies were certainly having a feast those few days, all those changs and the body itself to boot.

Me?

I just eat my dumpling quietly. And enjoy it slowly.

But I have a feeling, dumplings are heading the same direction as mooncakes. Commercialization is the only way to go nowadays. It will not be long before you see taut little bunches of changs in a glossy and funkily designed paperbags, meant as gifts for friends and families. It doesn’t matter anymore whether tastes good or not, whether it’s machine-made or lovingly wrapped by a gross fat man.

Just like it’s mooncake brother(or sister, in case u’re a feminist), it’ll serve its purpose as long as it’s prettily wrapped. Some smartass will eventually come up with some brilliant idea to infuse it with some quirky flavors, good for your health gimmicks and sell it off tenfold the price of the humble bak chang now. He(or she, godamn u feminists) will very certainly reap profits because we consumers are suckers for those shit.

Thank God they can’t find a machine to wrap those bak changs at this moment because I just hate the thought that my bak chang is just one of the many clones lying on the conveyor belt, waiting for the next component to put a stamp on it or something, in a sterile environment, like a science experiment. I’ll have those gross fat hands wrap them anytime.

But it won’t be long before a machine is perfected just for this purpose. You and me, probably graying, will reminisce how much better the chang tastes back in those days. Before you know it, another smartass will come up with the idea of a franchise selling hand-made bak changs. And we will unwittingly pay a higher price for a product of this ‘new’ concept because we will always be suckers like that(look at all those kopitiam cafes).

Rinse and repeat.

It’s so predictable that it has lost its flavor.

And did I tell you what’s my favourite chang?

It’s those little ones with red bean paste inside. But I don’t get them often, I dunno why.