How do members of the international community in Vietnam view Tet, the country’s traditional holiday?

Danish Ambassador to Vietnam John Nielsen, who has lived in Vietnam for almost three years, sees Tet as the perfect time to rediscover the charm and uniqueness of Hanoi by cycling through the normally bustling streets, which suddenly become so peaceful and quiet during the festive period. He loves the beautiful trees, especially the peach blossom, which Vietnamese people often display during Tet, and he enjoys the traditions and customs of the Lunar New Year festival.

“There are so many enjoyable sides to Tet. It is an important get-together for families and friends from all over the country. The delicious Vietnamese cuisine becomes even more varied, with all the delightful and decorative seasonal dishes. I do love the soups, ‘nem’ (spring roll) and so on. Last but not least I also like the time leading up to Tet when the streets are teeming with vendors selling peach and kumquat trees strapped to the back of motorbikes flow from everywhere, and the roads are almost transformed into a colourful moving forest’, said Ambassador Nielsen.

“I hope the year of the Horse will prove to be a year marked by development, progress and sustainability in all sectors and areas. I also hope that the New Year will further strengthen the already strong and special relationship between Denmark and Vietnam”, he added.

A veteran member of the South African Embassy in Vietnam, Political Counselor Nontatu Skolo has experienced three Tet holidays during her four-year stay.

“Tet rekindles the human element in people. It reminds them that they are human beings and just because they work and want to earn money it does not mean they should forget about humanness (what we call Ubuntu in South Africa). They visit relatives in the villages and even visit grandparents and spend time with them. This interaction helps to keep family bonds strong and promotes social cohesion”, Skolo said.

She finds it interesting that each year in Vietnam is symbolised by a certain animal whose characters will be reflected in the events of the year. As the year of the horse arrives, she hopes that the Vietnamese people will be strong in their attempts to build the country like graceful horses, to do things with honesty and to maintain all the beautiful aspects of the country and the people.

Park Nark Jong, director of the Republic of Korea (RoK) Cultural Centre, works to bridge the gap between his country’s culture and Vietnam’s, so he pays special attention to Vietnamese culture.

As it is for the people of the RoK, the Lunar New Year in Vietnam is a good time for families to reunite and pay respects and gratitude to their ancestors through traditional customs and rituals, Park told Nhan Dan Online.

“During Tet, each family makes a visit to their grandmothers and grandfathers to have a great time with each other. They talk about their achievements during the last year and their plans in the coming year. At that time, grandma and grandfather normally give small money to their children to encourage them, wishing for them health and success. It is very similar to Korea and it is very good to teach younger generations about family relations”, he said.

He has visited the hometown of his local staff, tasted Tet flavours and been blown away by the hospitality of Vietnamese people. “I had a chance to experience the festive atmosphere with farmers and I enjoyed it so much. Tet is an amazing time to discover Vietnam”, Park added.

Shirley Yutal, an Israeli national, is excited about the upcoming Tet, which will be her second in Vietnam. Last Tet, she visited a minority village near Hanoi and enjoyed the way local people celebrated the holiday by dancing, playing drums and donning traditional costumes.

She said that the Tet atmosphere is similar to the Israeli New Year, as people give gifts to each other, especially their relatives, spend time with those they love, travel around the country and enjoy special dishes.

She valued the custom where children give their parents money as a gift to show that they cherish them and appreciate their support, showing a unique side of Vietnamese culture, as well as how important it is to appreciate family values. “I think those customs strengthen the national identity in every Vietnamese person”, Yutal said.

Having come to Vietnam for the first time in 1996 and lived in the country for seven years total, Soren Davidsen of the World Bank has seen changes in the way Vietnamese people celebrate Tet, though he feels the basic soul and key traditions of Tet have remained the same. “While most Vietnamese people spend time with their families in their native villages there is also a new trend among some Vietnamese to travel out of Vietnam and spend most of their time in the nuclear family as opposed to the extended family”, he said.

He really likes the atmosphere of Tet in Hanoi, particularly the frantically busy days before Tet, during which ‘the Ong Tao (Kitchen God) ritual’ and the ‘mung tuoi’ ritual, when children receive a red envelope containing money from their elders, take place. He is fascinated by the belief that the first visitor the family receives in the new year determines their fortune for the entire year.

“We have attended a few Tet lectures by the well-known Vietnamese historian, Professor Huu Ngoc, and also visited Vietnamese friends during the Tet festival. It is interesting to compare the Chinese New Year rituals to the Vietnamese. While many of the Tet rituals are inspired by China, through Professor Huu Ngoc, we learned that the rituals have become ‘Vietnamised’. And in a way this is a nice reflection of the Vietnamese people and culture, you adopt things from abroad with an open mind but not without making sure that it fits or is adapted to the Vietnamese context”, Davidsen said.

“Vietnam has developed over the last 20 years. Vietnam has a world record in poverty reduction so we hope that this development will continue. But as countries develop, reforms and progress become even more challenging because low-hanging fruits have been harvested. Some of the key tasks, as we see it, are to continue strong efforts to reduce corruption and give people even more opportunities”, he added.

Source: Nhan Dan