Birthday (Part 3)

Lee Kok Liang in this short story shows the fate of a 25-year-old unmarried girl. In just one paragraph, much can be gathered as shown in the following:

Twenty-five years old today, she thought. No one remembered her birthday. But she again crept up to the loft when she had cleared the table, and took out a dark coconut box. At the bottom there were pieces of red string. She took them out and counted twenty-four. From the pocket beneath her blouse she drew out another piece. Now there were twenty-five.

Answer the following questions based on the excerpt above:

1. Why is her birthday not remembered, even by her grandmother?
2. What is usually prepared for a traditional Chinese who's celebrating his/her birthday?
3. What do you think is the significance of the red string?