On the last day of the Year of the Metal Ox, I spent hours cleaning my small flat, vacuuming, dusting, washing linens. Out with the old, in with the new. My husband swept dead leaves off the pavers of our small courtyard: away with ye, old year, away with ye. We were almost ready to welcome in the Year of the Water Tiger.

Back inside the flat, I asked for his help, and together we strung up two leeks in our living room. In Mandarin, leeks are a homophone for ‘to count’, and in Chinese culture, symbolise wealth and fortune during the new year. Both of us have been working from home for the better part of two years due to the global pandemic, and so I bought two pineapples, ‘ong lye’ in Hokkien, one for each of our businesses, so luck may arrive at our doors.