Yi Lin Law
Chinese New Year is a huge celebration within the Chinese community, and affects those within the Dalat community as well. Around this time of the year, the festivities within the Chinese culture attract those from other cultures to celebrate and respect traditions that have been around for centuries.
With prosperity, health, good luck, and happiness in mind, people decorate their houses and wear red to symbolize good fortune and joy. This year, the first day of Chinese New Year started on the 16th of February, a day in which families in Penang invited lion dancers to perform at their houses to enhance their parties. Many believe that these traditional dances bring good luck and drive away any evil spirits. There are 15 days of Chinese New Year in total, though the first 3 days are the most important and celebrated with the most effort.
Jia Qi Tan (12) said, “It was great spending time with family and meeting relatives I hadn’t seen since the last Chinese New Year.”
Chinese New Year allows relatives, distant family members, and friends to gather and share events that have happened throughout the year. The first dish to start a meal is yu sheng, which is a prosperity toss composed of raw fish (usually salmon) and crunchy crackers, mixed with various vegetables and condiments. Each ingredient has a specific purpose relating to the greetings. Fish represents abundance, crackers represent gold, and the condiments and pepper flakes represent great relationships between people.
It is a tradition to hop around from house to house and great the elders first with two oranges in hand and exchange them. At the same time, children and unmarried adults are expected to greet their relatives and family members with Chinese greetings. There are different greetings for women and men, resembling different aspirations for the New Year. Red packets are only given by the married to the younger, unmarried generation.
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