Inclusive Employers How to celebrate Lunar New Year
Nozomi Tolworthy 雷希望 Inclusion and Diversity Consultant discusses Lunar New Year (Chinese New Year) with Amy Phung 馮金薇 one of the founders of grassroots movement and community organisation besea.n about Lunar New Year. In this blog, they share what Lunar New Year is, some traditions, and how we can all be more inclusive during this time of year, and beyond.
As a Mixed East Asian person from Hong Kong, Lunar New Year is an important holiday to me – possibly the biggest deal of the year for me and my family!
Like many festivities across cultures, Lunar New Year is a time for family reunions and gatherings with friends. It’s also about hope and is a time to set aspirations for the new year ahead.
What is Lunar New Year?
The Lunar New Year celebration marks the first day of the year in a traditional lunisolar calendar and the start of spring.
Take a look at our awareness day page Lunar New Year to learn more.
Why do we call it Lunar New Year?
The name “Chinese New Year” tends to erase all of the East and Southeast Asian cultures that shape the festival, and overlooks the variety of different traditions celebrated during this time . In the spirit of inclusive language, we generally refer to the time of year as the “Lunar New Year”
Amy Phung adds to this:
I’d add that everyone’s relationship to Lunar New Year is personal and it’s absolutely okay to call it Chinese New Year if that’s what is most natural to you, your culture and how you celebrate. I say “Happy New Year” to my family because that is what I grew up saying (in Cantonese we don’t add “Chinese” as there’s no need to emphasise it). However, in public settings like at work, schools or at celebrations, I call it Lunar New Year to recognise those around me who celebrate the festival differently.
When is Lunar New Year?
The festival marks the start of the new year of the lunisolar calendar, which is based on moon cycles. This is why lunar new year falls on a different date on the Gregorian calendar each year. In 2023, Lunar New Year day is on Sunday 22nd January, starting the Year of the Rabbit.
Celebrating Lunar New Year
When back in Hong Kong, our family celebrations revolve mostly around eating. Pre-pandemic, we would spend New Year’s Day visiting my aunties, uncles and extended family at their homes. Every place we stop at, we wish everyone 新年快樂 (san1 nin4 faai3 lok6) – happy new year, and 恭喜髮菜 (gung1 hei2 faat3 choi4) – wishing you good fortune and prosperity!
Everyone’s relationship to Lunar New Year is personal
Amy Phung
Each visit is about spending time with family and enjoying good food together – mostly homecooked but occasionally some bought from local businesses that are famous for their dishes! Some of my favourites are dumplings, steamed fish and snacking on oranges (symbolising fullness and wealth), which are all popular in Cantonese Lunar New Year traditions.
Speaking with Amy, she shared with me how she celebrates Lunar New Year:
Our family celebrations involve food, a lot of red packets for the kids (I no longer receive them!) and the smell of incense as we remember our ancestors.
At home we eat steamed fish, dumplings, tong yuen and zong zi. Every dish has a meaning but if I’m honest, I didn’t grow up knowing what it all meant, all I know is that it tastes good and to eat it quickly! I’m the youngest of 6 kids so every mealtime feels like a race to make sure our tummies are full.
Last year, I went to the Lunar New Year celebrations curated by Vietnamese Family Partnership and Have You Eaten Yet Collective, where dance and music performances highlighted rising anti-ESEA racism, objectification of Asian women and remembrances of those known as the Essex 39 – Vietnamese people who were exploited by human traffickers and died in October 2019 enroute to the U.K. It was a powerful moment to convene with those who feel like my family in another sense- perhaps not by blood but in our shared collective experiences and convictions.
Our favourite things about Lunar New Year
Lunar New Year back in Hong Kong offered a much-needed bit of time off from school / work. It’s always an exciting time of year with traditional clothing worn, decorations, red packets, lion dances, fireworks, good food and good company.
Moving to the UK on my own made Lunar New Year less exciting for the first few years as I didn’t have much of an ESEA community around me. However, over the last year or so, I have found more of a sense of belonging with other ESEA and Mixed ESEA folk through community organisations like besea.n, and now, in the UK, I see the festivity as a time to proudly celebrate my heritage and cultural identity with new friends!
For Amy, she shared:
For me it’s a time reconnect with my roots. Growing up in the U.K., it’s normal to feel fragmented in our identities as both U.K.-based and ESEA but Lunar New Year offers a chance to remember where I came from and pass on those traditions to my daughter as well.
Why is it important to recognise this celebration?
Amy sums this up wonderfully for us –
Lunar New Year is one of the biggest landmarks in most East and Southeast Asian calendars and as a result of migration, is now celebrated worldwide. While in many ESEA countries, Lunar New Year is marked as a national holiday where people will visit family and rest, western countries do not offer the same time off so it’s up to ESEA people to carve out the time in any small way they can.
If institutions and organisations formally recognised Lunar New Year in their calendar, it would help people in various ESEA communities to feel seen and more openly embrace who they are as Asians.
How can we learn more about various East and Southeast Asian cultures and traditions?
Previously, both Amy and I have seen many organisations, public institutions and educational institutes mark Lunar New Year in a tokenistic way. It’s been seen as a one-off opportunity to eat Chinese food and learn to say “gong hei fat choi” (the Mandarin phrase for good fortune and prosperity). This doesn’t accurately represent what Lunar New Year is, and all the ESEA cultures that celebrate the festivity.
Now, with more vocal and organised collectives of ESEA communities across the U.K., it’s imperative that organisations approach Lunar New Year, and many other culturally significant festivities in an accurate, culturally-sensitive, inclusive and respectful way.
This includes engaging the many ESEA-led organisations doing important work to highlight our culture and issues such as: besea.n, ESEA Scotland, ESEA Sisters, Racism Unmasked Edinburgh , Queer China, to name a few!
Put on more awareness raising events at your organisation about Lunar New Year and ESEA culture. Give ESEA folk and organisations a platform – invite them to speak at events, take part in ESEA Heritage Month which happens every year in September, donate to causes and ensure year-round meaningful engagement with ESEA communities.
Take a look at our Inclusive Employer’s Lunar New Year Awareness day page
You can also find lots of resources on how to meaningfully support ESEA communities on the besea.n website – thank you again to Amy for contributing to my Lunar New Year blog!