During the Chinese New Year or Lunar New Year 2576 Kongzili, I brought my family and grandchildren to visit Jakarta. It's celebrated across Asia and around the world, from Malaysia and Indonesia to Korea, and of course, China. Over the weeklong celebration, we had observed it's customary for families to reunite in their hometowns, host receptions, watch lion dances, set off fireworks & many more.
We realised during this Chinese New Year, family is priority number one. It's customary during this holiday most Chinese find time to visit relatives in order of importance, starting with the oldest living relatives closest to them - in many cases, grandparents. In any case, it marks a great time to reconnect with family near and far, young and old, and to let the oldies know they're thinking of them.
One of the most prevalent practice of this Chinese New Year that my children and grandchildren like best, is the angpow, or nice red envelope, that is given to family and friends This generous gifts giving need not be just monetary, as my family also recieved hampers.
Our Chinese friends told us that their new year celebrations last for 15 days, and to reinforce cultural values such as family harmony, social relations and securing good fortune for the coming year. It is an opportunity for visiting friends to also exchange traditional gifts.
In Indonesia, particularly in Jakarta we noticed the Chinese community celebrated their new year festivals, within the households and at work places, where lunches or dinners are hosted by Chairmen of companies. Organisations, such as business or clan associations, the People's Association and various community groups also play a major role in organising and hosting the various communal events.
While Chinese New Year continues to enjoy extravagant public expressions of festivitives, people like my fiend, Bapak Dody believes the celebration need not be elaborate. He said, “The essence of CNY is for everyone to celebrate together & a time for family reunion.”
Submit any #CNY2025-related content for a chance to win grand prizes and claim up to RM6,888 from the Prosperity Pool! T&C apply. Find out how you can participate here.
Zulkifly Baharom is a content creator under the Newswav Creator programme, where you get to express yourself, be a citizen journalist, and at the same time monetize your content & reach millions of users on Newswav. Log in to creator.newswav.com and become a Newswav Creator now!
The User Content (as defined on Newswav Terms of Use) above including the views expressed and media (pictures, videos, citations etc) were submitted & posted by the author. Newswav is solely an aggregation platform that hosts the User Content. If you have any questions about the content, copyright or other issues of the work, please contact Newswav.
