Tue, Jan 02, 2001 page4

• Millennium babies celebrate first birthday

  RITUAL Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou joined the festivities as parents and babies returned to Taipei Municipal Women and Children's Hospital, where they were born last year, for a ceremonial first birthday party

  • By Ko Shu-ling / STAFF REPORTER
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  Fourteen one-year-old babies born on Jan. 1 last year at a Taipei municipal hospital celebrated their first birthday yesterday with Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九).

  Twelve babies -- seven boys and five girls -- returned to their birthplace at Taipei Municipal Women and Children Hospital (台北市立婦幼綜合醫院), along with a set of twins born elsewhere, to celebrate their first birthdays and take part in the traditional Chinese ritual of chua chou (抓週).

  During the chua chou ritual, which means literally "to grab something on the first birthday," a baby is presented with 11 items from which to chose.

  

  A mother tends to her crying baby, born on the first day of the new year, at the Taipei Municipal Women and Children's Hospital.

  PHOTO: LIAO JUI-HSIANG, TAIPEI TIMES

  Each item symbolizes a possible future for the child.

  If the child grabs a pen, for example, the child may be a writer; or if the child chooses a needle and thread, then he or she may enter fashion design.

  Other items include a handful of soil to represent a career in agriculture and a chicken leg to represent a strong and healthy person.

  Picking the gift of an abacus indicates a career in business, while a bundle of green onions is supposed to symbolize a smart person ("green onion" (蔥) is a homophone for "intelligence" (聰) in Chinese).

  After the chua chou ritual, the adults wipe the baby's mouth with a slice of steamed stuffed bread, to indicate that, from that point on, the baby is able to eat solid food.

  The parents and the babies took turns posing for photos with Ma.

  Each family also received a gift of a box containing the symbolically auspicious steamed stuffed bread, a red egg, a chicken leg, and green onions.

  Chen Li-shan (陳立珊), the youngest of 15 babies born at the hospital on Jan. 1 last year, looked set to embark on a career as an author. But, then she dropped the pen and picked up a toy papaya, which symbolizes a possible career in the fruit business.

  Her mother, Chou Su-ju (周素如), said her main wish for her first-born daughter is good health.

  "She weighed only 2.620kg when she was born. Now she's over 7kg thanks to breast feeding," she said.

  Liang Chiao-wei, won the first prize for the healthiest baby. Liang was the largest of the Jan. 1 babies last year, weighing in at a hefty 4.035kg at birth.

  At yesterday's party he grabbed a pen and a book, signifying a possible future career as a writer of some kind.

  His mother, Wang Li-kuei (王麗貴), said that she would not interfere with her son's future choice of career.

  Although the twins, Ying Yuan-wei (應元偉) and Ying Yuan-chieh (應元杰), were not born at the hospital, their mother, who preferred to be identified as Mrs Ying, jumped at the opportunity to meet her long-time idol, Mayor Ma.

  "I'd like [the babies] to grow up to be like Mayor Ma, who is healthy and honest," she said.

  The hospital yesterday welcomed the birth of three newborns, all of whom were girls, which is far fewer than the hospital's daily average of 10 births.
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