KOTA KINABALU, Malaysia: Many East Asians celebrated the Lunar New Year beginning last weekend, and as an ethnic Chinese, I also flew back from Kuala Lumpur to my homeland of Sabah to join my family in the celebration. This is the Year of the Dragon according to the Chinese zodiac, and as the dozens of auspicious animals take their turns in 'reigning' over a year, it occurred to me that my late father, who was born in a dragon year, would have been 96 years old this year.