Lunar New Year is celebrated across various countries in Asia such as Vietnam, Malaysia, China, South Korea, Singapore, Indonesia and anyone who follows the lunar calendar.
The lunar calendar is widely used among Asian societies for agricultural purposes and is still used to mark dates for traditional practices like funerals and fortune-telling.
Therefore, the term “Chinese Lunar New Year” is not inclusive and is counterproductive. It implies that everyone who celebrates Lunar New Year is Chinese, and the practices are based solely in Chinese culture.
I think it is important to remove ourselves from the term “Chinese New Year” when we refer to the general Lunar New Year celebrations among Asian countries. I found it frustrating that APAC, an RSO that claimed to represent a whole continent, wrongfully used the term when hosting such an important cultural event. And even if the event was meant to celebrate “Chinese New Year” only, I think it is a harmful practice to exclude other Asian cultures from this time of the year.
Being one of the few Vietnamese students on campus, it is already hard to find a community that shares a similar background. And it is even more frustrating to feel that my culture is not being considered by multicultural RSO. Southeast Asian cultures and the Global South in general tend to be ignored due to the long impacts of imperialism and colonialism.
East Asian cultures, on the other hand, are praised and idolized as the standard practices of “Asian culture.” Meanwhile, southern Asian cultures are being looked down on because people tend to have darker skin tones due to geographic factors. The colorism issue among Asians is less known because of the generalization of Asian cultures, yet it contributes to the erasure of the Global South’s rich cultures
A less-known New Year tradition in Southeast Asia is the TLC New Year, which stands for Thai, Lao and Cambodian New Year. It is usually celebrated on April 13-16 every year, depending on the “MohaSangkran,” which is the ancient horoscope. One of the Khmer Kings changed the New Year to the fifth month of the lunar calendar, which falls in April by the solar calendar. This is the perfect time for farmers to take a break from working due to the weather conditions.
I suggest that multicultural RSO leaders go through proper training to avoid exclusive language when hosting events to honor important holidays like the Lunar New Year.