On 13 Feb 2026, NERI rang in the Lunar New Year with a lively pre-festive celebration that brought together staff, researchers, and NUS Principal Investigators for a time of tradition, creativity, and plenty of good cheer.<\/p>\n
The program opened with a warm welcome by Assoc. Prof. Sanjay Swarup, NERI Director, followed by Huichun (\u6325\u6625) – auspicious calligraphy brushed onto bright red paper – led by Prof. Ong Choon Nam, former NERI Director. With ink and brush in hand, participants took turns crafting festive well-wishes, soaking up both the artistry and the meaning behind each stroke.<\/p>\n
From there, the mood turned playful with an origami creation challenge that gave old red envelopes (ang bao) a second life. Participants folded, shaped, and competed to see who could transform the humble ang bao into the most imaginative creations – a simple, cheerful way to highlight repurposing and resourcefulness. Congratulations to the winners of the Ang Pow Origami challenge!<\/p>\n
The highlight, as expected, was the energetic “Lo Hei” (\u635e\u8d77) – the classic tossing-up-for-good-fortune ritual popular in Singapore and Malaysia. Colleagues gathered around the colorful Yusheng (raw fish salad), calling out auspicious phrases as they lifted and tossed the ingredients high into the air. By tradition, the higher the toss, the greater the hoped-for prosperity and abundance in the year ahead – and judging by the height (and laughter), NERI is set for a very lucky year.<\/p>\n
The celebration concluded with warm wishes of \u9a6c\u5e74\u5927\u5409 – blessings and good fortune in the Year of the Horse – and each attendee received mandarin oranges, an enduring Lunar New Year symbol of wealth, luck, and prosperity.<\/p>\n
Thank you to the event emcee, Dr He Zhengyao, for creating a wonderful Lunar New Year celebration atmosphere throughout the event.<\/p>\n
A festive reminder that at NERI, the new year is welcomed not only with tradition but also with community, creativity, and shared optimism for what’s ahead.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
NERI Chinese New Year Lo Hei Lunch On 13 Feb 2026, NERI rang in the Lunar New Year with a lively pre-festive celebration that brought together staff, researchers, and NUS […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":0,"parent":418,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"no-sidebar","site-content-layout":"page-builder","ast-site-content-layout":"full-width-container","site-content-style":"unboxed","site-sidebar-style":"unboxed","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"disabled","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"disabled","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"default","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-8554","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\n