Chinese Culture Among Filipinos Remains Intact

Kiong Hee Huat Tsai ( Happy New Year). In the Hokkien language that most Chinese Filipinos speak, Kiong Hee Huat Tsai is the Chinese New Year greeting. The Cantonese version dominant in Hong Kong is Kung Hei Fat Choi and the Mandarin is Gong Xi Fa Cai which means "Congratulations and Be Prosperous."

This year's Chinese New Year celebration, Feb. 19 declared by MalacaAang as a national special (nonworking) day in the Philippines, is as "one of the most revered and festive events celebrated not only in China but also in the Philippines by both ChineseFilipinos and ordinary Filipinos as well."

Brother Ben Borras, Feng Shui practitioner of Yin Yang Charms and Feng Shui Stores located in Sta. Cruz, Manila, said that ChineseFilipino (Tsinoy), a Filipino of Chinese heritage, consider Chinese New Year (Chinese Spring Festival) as a family reunion "a must do dinner" where family members shared meals, most significantly a Feast on New Year's Eve.

"In Manila, because the house is not so big so most of the time they will eat out in Chinese restaurants," Borras said, noting that Tsinoy (who are not 100 percent full blooded Chinese) do not religiously practice the 15day festival tradition.

While New Year's customs vary or others may have gone what remains is that Chinese celebration of Chinese New Year is the same a sincere wish for peace, happiness and prosperity for family members and friends and respect for the elders, Borras said.

In welcoming this year's Chinese Spring Festival Year of the Goat many Chinese, Tsinoy and even Filipinos cleantheir houses before the New Year, one of the traditions in Chinese culture.

The house is given a thorough cleaning, on the belief that it will sweep away any misfortune or bad luck during the departing year and make way for the incoming good luck and good fortune that will surely arrive during the new year.

As part of cleansing the house, doors and windows are given new coats of paint, and paper cutouts with the themes of 'happiness,' 'wealth' and 'longevity' are used as decoration around the home.

After cleaning, people will go shopping and buy new clothes and even red underwear for the festival. Chinese people believe that since this is a year anew they should buy a lot of new things. Purchasing new items symbolizes welcoming new things and getting ready for a new start.

Red is considered the luckiest color and everyone tries to dress in it and have red things all around. Red is considered a bright, happy...