3193 Chinese New Year - or Tet, or Seollal: there's an app for that!
austraLasia #3193
Chinese New Year - or Tet, or Seollal: there's an
app for that!
HONG KONG, HCM, SEOUL: 12
February 2103 -- Chinese
New Year is celebrated by an estimated 1/4 of the world's
population!
By any account then, Sunday 10 February 2013 was an important
'World'
day. In our Region, apart from celebrations of the
'diaspora' just
about anywhere, the main countries and therefore provinces
taking
advantage of the holiday(s) and national celebrations were
China,
Vietnam (where it is called Tet) and Korea (where it is known
as Sol).
The
Missions Councillor, Fr Klement, happened to be in Hong Kong
for the
occasion. Well, at least part of the occasion since he
noted that
there they have an entire week of holidays for the event. On
Sunday 10
February noted that "today I prayed a lot! The Chinese are
very
prayerful - young, middle and older generations!". Of course
there is
lots of exchanging of gifts, but for Fr Klement the best gift
of all
came late that Sunday evening - " the whole package of the
Salesian
Mission Day 'JOURNEY OF FAITH' translated into Chinese - 12
envelops to
be distributed in the 12 African provinces as a sign of the
first
contact with the Chinese people on the African soil! Plus....
- One DVD with the 5 videos in Chinese
- One teaching-aid booklet for the Salesian Mission Day
campaign in Chinese
- One Official poster of Salesian Mission Day - printed in
Chinese.
- One more poster of the Missionary Rosary campaign during the
Year of Faith.
I was really deeply moved by the zeal and constant effort of
the Provincial delegate for mission animation!".
The
Vietnamese diaspora in Rome did not miss out on the occasion
either -
unable to fulfill the core element of visiting elders and
family at
home, they got together from around the various Salesian
communities,
including the Vatican, and had a meal together.
Our correspondent in Seoul described things this way:
"In Korea, we have 3 days of festivities for Chinese New Year;
unfortunately this year it was Sunday, meaning no more
additional
vacation day, just 3 days.
As in a society dominated by the traditional Confucianism
where a strong sense of respect for elders and ancestors still
remains,
the young generation go back to their parents' home for
ancestor-worship and for a formal bow of respect to elders in
the
family including their own parents. Then in responding to the
bow the
older people give money to the younger ones as a New Year
gift; it's a
strong source of income for the kids.
This folk tradition you can also easily find in the Salesian
setting.
The boys who don't have their own family remain in the
boarding house
and celebrate with the Salesians. Or alumni who already get
married
bring their family, specially their children to the community
to
celebrate New Year, so the Salesians who don't have a duty to
return to
their own family, like me (Parents have died) have to prepare
many
bills to satisfy their visitors.
Nowadays there's an app for this too! The new year bow can be
done
through the smartphone. The young man sends an avatar image of
the bow
instead of presenting himself, then asks for money for the New
Year
greeting. I received this kind of greeting from various young
people
this year. So as a good respectable person, I also sent them a
picture
of the bills!!!!!!!".
