Wishing you lots of unhinged fun this New Year. — American singer-songwriter Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta, known professionally as Lady Gaga
We wonder, which New Year are Filipinos really celebrating—that which starts on January 1 or the one which the Chinese celebrate and is determined on precise astronomical calculations of solar and lunar positions?
In recent developments, both ways of commemoration have been adopted and most of us are now celebrating January 1 and the lunisolar date (this year on February 17), ensuring that we welcome the new year with traditional practices that bring hope and a better future.
Nothing wrong doing this, but what is flawed is when things are mixed up to blur the realities of welcoming the new year.
One example of the blur is the tradition of displaying and consuming 12 round fruits on New Year’s Eve, which is a trend actually borrowed from the Chinese and has now remained a deeply ingrained cultural practice that reflect our hope for a bountiful and prosperous year ahead. This is a mixture of Chinese and Western beliefs.
In our opinion, this may be the reason why our year becomes confusing and chaothic—that’s because there is a clash between Western tradition and Chinese mythology.
FOR your comments or suggestions, complaints or requests, just send a message through my email at cipcab2006@yahoo.com or text me at cellphone numbers 09171656792 or 09171592256 during office hours from Monday to Friday. Thank you and mabuhay!