Gong Xi Fa Chai!

The year of the dog in the Chinese lunar calendar has come to a close, and we're looking forward to a prosperous year of the pig. We're told that Manado is the place to be for this event, outside China of course, so we're holding our breath in eager anticipation for the big celebration this coming weekend.

A snippet from history: Traditionally, a festival is celebrated to welcome the first sun in the spring after a long cold winter in China. The cherry blossoms on the trees come to bloom in this season, giving the high hopes of an abundant harvest in the year to come for the farmers.

As Chinese people migrated to other corners of the world, they have brought this tradition with them although in some part of the world, like in Indonesia, it has been assimilated with the local tradition. Ethnic Chinese in Indonesia are mostly not farmers... they tend to be the leaders in trading business. There are no cherry blossom trees in Indonesia, however, the hope of a prosperous year is still symbolized by hand-made silk cherry blossoms which are hung on bare-branched trees.

During Soeharto’s reign in Indonesia (35 years up until May 1998), everything about China (culture, language, religion) was banned in Indonesia. Ethnic Chinese were not allowed to take civil servant positions, had special identity cards, and could not attend public universities. This made the life of ethnic Chinese very difficult, although some did well economically through this era of oppression. No Chinese New Year celebrations were allowed in Indonesia during this time.

Things changed, when in the year 2000, the Indonesian President at the time, Gus Dur, lifted the ban and declared Chinese New Year a national holiday.