Tikoy & other ‘sticky’ superstitions

There was a time when we were most superstitious during Holy Week. But that has changed. We now go to Boracay on Holy Week and superstitious beliefs are buried under white sand beaches during this last stretch of this season of Lent.

If my observation is correct, I think there are more superstitious beliefs observed today during Chinese New Year, an occasion that wasn’t really all that popular here in the Philippines until about 20 or so years ago. (I believe it was Julie Yap Daza and the late Paul Lau who popularized the observance of Chinese New Year here in the country – and probably the tikoy-makers, who make a killing around this season.)

For most Filipinos, however, superstitious beliefs are practised all year round. A lot of us believe in carrying lucky charms with us (Mel & Joey had an interesting episode on this last Sunday) – not necessarily amulets in the tradition of Nardong Putik, but little objects that we believe bring us luck.

In my case, I have lucky shoes, shirts and even underwear. But you can heave a sigh of relief because I am not about to discuss that last item in this column.

Those who watch Startalk and are observant enough must have noticed that I wear the same pair of rubber shoes week after week, because I believe that this pair brings in the ratings. Call me crazy, but I do!

A few years ago, I also wore every week what I thought was a lucky pair of walking shoes. I only stopped wearing this pair when our director, Floy Quintos, threatened to cut off my feet if I wore it to the show again. No, he wouldn’t accept the fact that I was doing it for the ratings – for our show. He just didn’t want to see me wear the same pair of shoes.

The obedient soldiers that I’ve always been, I tossed this old pair right at the back of the shoe rack – for retirement. I was thinking of giving it away, but it’s so ghastly looking I don’t think anyone would want it. After that, I went on another search to find another pair of lucky shoes. I’d like to think that I’ve found it because – knock on wood – we’ve been doing quite well in the ratings game. Now, Floy Quintos hasn’t noticed yet that I’ve been wearing the same pair of shoes every week for almost half a year.

Actually, this superstitious belief about me having a lucky pair of shoes works well for me because I don’t have to buy so many pairs. Imagine how much I get to save on my shoe budget.

When it comes to shirts I wear in Startalk, I always try to come in red. No I don’t even like this color that much – unlike my mother who wants everything red. I remember when we moved to one house many years ago and we opted to have the entire staircase wrapped in carpet, my mom insisted that it be done in red. The interior designer who had been so accommodating with all our suggestions had to put his foot down on this one because he was afraid that guests who come and visit may just mistake our house for a Chinese restaurant and start ordering dimsum and dumplings.

In my case, I wear red because I feel that this color – very lucky among Chinese – protects me from bad elements. I wear it at the start of the year in the hope that it would give me good luck in the next 12 months. And today, Chinese New Year’s Eve, I won’t be caught dead wearing any other color, but red.

There are other superstitious beliefs that affect my way of life – like freaking out when a black cat crosses my path. When this happens, I recite the Our Father to drive away bad luck and I’d like to think that it works because what could be more powerful than the Lord’s Prayer.

One time the family of a very close friend of mine decided to keep a black cat in their house to drive away rats. I stopped coming to their house and told them why. But they didn’t want to believe that black cats bring bad luck and thought I was crazy – I am I don’t deny it. In the end, I was vindicated. The cat turned out to be a black version of Garfield. It ate their food, scratched furniture, peed on their newly-upholstered couch and, worse, was voted Miss Congeniality by the neighborhood mice. Hah! The cat got booted out and I was soon back in the loving arms of this adoptive family – until they noticed that although I didn’t scratch furniture and didn’t pee on the couch, I still ate a lot of their food.

I plan to send tikoy to this family as my way of repaying them for their generosity. I also plan to keep a box of tikoy for myself for good luck and look forward to celebrating Chinese New Year’s Eve tonight. But next week, I plan to see a psychiatrist who can help me ward of these crazy superstitious beliefs in my head.