We are Journalism: Chinese New Year

Chinese New Year

Chinese New Year has a great history. In other traditions, by this time in the year, most resolutions - made on December 31 - have been subtly forgotten and placed in a cupboard marked "maybe next year." However, all hope is not lost, as there's a second chance to start afresh with the celebration of Chinese New Year on February 12th.

The Chinese New Year is very similar to the Western one, full of traditions and rituals.

The origin of the Chinese New Year is itself centuries old - in fact, too old to actually be traced. It is popularly recognized as the Spring Festival and celebrations last 15 days.

Preparations usually begin a month before the Chinese New Year, when people start to buy presents, decoration materials, food and clothing. A huge clean-up started days before the New Year, when Chinese houses are cleaned from top to bottom, to sweep away all of the bad luck, and doors and windowpanes are given a new coat of paint, and it was usually colour in red. The doors and windows are decorated with paper cuts and couplets with themes such as happiness, wealth and longevity printed on them.

The eve of the New Year is perhaps the most important part of the event. Here, traditions and rituals are very carefully observed in everything from food to clothing. Dinner is usually a feast of seafood and dumplings, signifying different good wishes. Delicacies include prawns, for liveliness and happiness, dried oysters (or ho xi), for all things good, raw fish salad or yu sheng to bring good luck and prosperity, Fai-hai (Angel Hair), an edible hair-like seaweed to bring prosperity, and dumplings boiled in water (Jiaozi) signifying a long-lost good wish for a family. It is usual to wear something red as this colour is meant to ward off evil spirits - but black and white are out, as these are associated with mourning. After dinner, the family sit up for the night playing cards, board games or watching TV program dedicated to the occasion. At midnight, the sky is lit up by fireworks.

On the day itself, an ancient custom called Hong Bao, meaning Red Packet, takes place. This involves married couples giving children and unmarried adults money in red envelopes. Then the family begins to say greetings from door to door, first to their relatives and then their neighbors.

The end of the New Year is marked by the Festival of Lanterns, which is a celebration with singing, dancing and lantern shows.

Although celebrations of the Chinese New Year vary, the underlying message is one of peace and happiness for family members and friends.

Unlike the Western concept of time, however, the Chinese view their calendar as cyclical. Instead of counting time in a straight, linear fashion, the Chinese cycle through a 12-year wheel as they count their years. This 12-year cycle is known as the Sheng xiao (Chinese: 生肖), or in English as the Chinese Zodiac. Each year is named for one of 12 animal signs, which repeats itself every 12 years: Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Ram (Sheep), Monkey, Rooster, Dog, and Boar (Pig).

Animal	Branch	New Year dates
鼠 Shǔ Rat	子 Zǐ	February 19, 1996	February 7, 2008	January 25, 2020
牛 Niú Ox	丑 Chǒu	February 7, 1997	January 26, 2009	February 12, 2021
虎 Hǔ Tiger	寅 Yín	January 28, 1998	February 14, 2010	February 1, 2022
兔 Tù Rabbit	卯 Mǎo	February 16, 1999	February 3, 2011	January 22, 2023
龍 Lóng Dragon	辰 Chén	February 5, 2000	January 23, 2012	February 10, 2024
蛇 Shé Snake	巳 Sì	January 24, 2001	February 10, 2013	January 29, 2025
馬 Mǎ Horse	午 Wǔ	February 12, 2002	January 31, 2014	February 17, 2026
羊 Yáng Goat	未 Wèi	February 1, 2003	February 19, 2015	February 7, 2027
猴 Hóu Monkey	申 Shēn	January 22, 2004	February 8, 2016	January 27, 2028
雞 Jī Rooster	酉 Yǒu	February 9, 2005	January 28, 2017	February 13, 2029
狗 Gǒu Dog	戌 Xū	January 29, 2006	February 16, 2018	February 3, 2030
豬 Zhū Pig	亥 Hài	February 18, 2007	February 5, 2019	January 23, 2031

MY Astro Happy Dragon Celebration

The year 2012 of Chinese New Year is the year of Dragon. This year, Astro and MY FM, also known as MY Astro, is set to embark on yet another ground-breaking Chinese New Year production, this time round, a large-scale Music Video (MV) in Malaysia participated by expectedly tens of thousands of people across nationwide, including over 60 MY FM’s announcers and Astro’s artistes.

After 18 days and 432 hours shooting, My Astro together with 13 million people around different state in Malaysia celebrating 2012 Chinese New Year.

11 November 2011- Selangor