Tet in me is ...

Artist Bui Trong Du:

“Tet is a time to rest and look back on the past year.”

I am very impressed with the memory of Tet when I was very young. At that time, every time Tet came, my parents often bought me new clothes and let me go to the Tet market with my relatives, buy peach blossoms, buy kumquats… At the same time, we had a time when people who worked all year could rest and reunite with their families. Perhaps that is why the traditional Tet has more traditional meaning than the Western New Year.

But besides the traditional value, Tet lasting too long also causes delays in work. In my opinion, traditional Tet should be moderate enough to leave enough time to review memories and meetings.

Nowadays, many people have the concept that when they celebrate Tet, they must spend time traveling to many places such as Sa Pa, Da Lat, Da Nang... or somewhere else to feel the Tet atmosphere there. But currently, most parents have not been able to reconcile or accept that way of thinking, that way of thinking, so sometimes there are people who are even extreme and harsh, saying that it is not filial. For me, filial piety does not mean that during Tet, you have to stay with your parents, or go back to your parents, as long as you give them the most attention possible... Perhaps, after a few years, that concept will be more open, but at present, this is still heavy in many Vietnamese families.

The Tet holiday is a time to rest and recharge for the new year. If you celebrate Tet in a healthy and meaningful way, you can create good energy to enter the new year.

Meritorious Artist Le Tuan Cuong - Director of Vietnam Cheo Theater:

“It would be a pity if the traditional Tet gradually lost its sacred rituals.”

In the past, Tet in the countryside was very sacred, families were looking forward to wrapping Chung cakes, then everyone sat together very happily. Every time Tet came, I just wanted my parents to take me to wish my grandparents, my neighbors, and my relatives a happy New Year. Along with that, the times when my parents bought me new clothes during Tet in the past, I felt extremely sacred and I was very excited to wait for Tet.

Nowadays, the problem of food and money makes people so tired that many people are no longer excited like Tet in the past. Many people think that Tet is too tiring with the rituals, so they find a way to escape Tet by going on vacation with their spouses and children, or celebrating Tet somewhere far away, to avoid the feeling of having to wrap Chung cakes, give lucky money to this person, and wish Tet to that person every year.

But I think that tiredness is a tiredness that each of us should have today. Young people today do not have the same feelings as we did in the past, because they did not grow up in that context. It would be a pity if the traditional Tet gradually lost its sacred rituals. If we continue like that, we will gradually lose the identity of the Vietnamese people. If we lose the breath of Tet now, there will be no more traditional values.

Singer Tran Thanh Thuy - Runner-up of Golden Voice of Bolero Vietnam 2023:

“Tet always makes me excited”

I still remember Tet in the past, when I was little I just looked forward to Tet so my mother could take me shopping for new clothes, and the thing I remember most about Tet in the past was sitting and watching my parents wrap banh chung. Now, just call and we can have as many banh chung as we need, they will bring them to us, we just need to arrange them on the altar and store them for a few days of Tet.

Nowadays, I can no longer feel the excitement of children about Tet. I think that in the past, the elders called it "eating Tet", but today, young people call it "playing Tet". Because in the past, only on Tet could we reunite and gather around family meals. But now, many families choose to travel somewhere to spend the Tet holidays. As for my family, every year I keep the habit of staying home to cook for our ancestors, then cook for my children and invite friends to join in the fun.

In the early days of spring, I often go to the pagoda to pray for favorable weather, peace and prosperity for the country and my family. Every morning of the first day of the new year, after I finish preparing the ancestral offerings, I call my children to get dressed and go to the pagodas near my house. When I light incense sticks at the beginning of the new year, I feel very warm and happy, so I always pray for the happiest things to come to my family and everyone in the new year.

Tet still makes me excited. Maybe for young people today, Tet may not be like my class in the past, because life is now so abundant that you can eat banh chung at any time, not waiting until Tet to eat it, waiting until Tet to receive lucky money, waiting until Tet to wear new clothes. Now you don't have to wait until Tet to receive lucky money anymore. That shows that life today is very abundant, so the sacred feeling of Tet is no longer like in the past. Everything seems to have no distance between normal days and Tet.

For me, the feeling of Tet is to go choose kumquat, choose peach blossom, go to the flower market on Tet. The atmosphere of the day before Tet gives me a very strange feeling and I don't always have that space and atmosphere. And I always choose a cozy Tet, serving my family, gathering with my children, going to the temple, wishing my grandparents and parents a long life.

Singer Du Thien:

“I don't feel like enjoying Tet like I used to”

Speaking of Tet, I already feel excited and homesick. When I was a child, I loved Tet. I felt like my mother took me to buy new clothes, bought firecrackers, and watched my mother wrap big banh chung and did not forget to wrap a small banh chung for me.

Also, I really enjoyed Tet in the past because I got a lot of lucky money, everyone who came to visit me gave lucky money and wherever my mother took me, everyone gave lucky money. That feeling was unforgettable. Yes, that was when I was a child, now that I'm older, I don't feel like enjoying Tet like I used to, but instead I feel like I'm looking forward to a new year to plan a music project that I'm passionate about.

Every year, since I became a singer, I have not had a single year to celebrate Tet with my family. I dedicate all Tet days to the audience, giving my all to make them happy. That dedication also makes me very happy and I wish I could always be as busy as Tet.

Mr. Nguyen Dinh Phong - Deputy Director of Hong Thai Construction and Service Company Limited:

“Tet is a time to look back at the past and look forward to the future”

I am an office worker and far from home. For me, Tet is like a break to "look back at the past and look forward to the future" . After the working day, around the 28th or 29th of the lunar calendar, my family and I were busy packing our luggage and then taking the bus back to my hometown among the crowds of people and vehicles. When I got back to my hometown, I immediately started cleaning the house, bought a peach tree, then I went to choose a few gift packages to give to my relatives. For me, the most meaningful and emotional time during Tet is the 30th. That evening, my family, grandparents and parents will sit together, put aside all the worries of life and enjoy a true family meal, imbued with Vietnamese culture with 4 generations. My grandparents are over 80 years old, and every time Tet comes, seeing the next generations grow up, they feel more energetic and seem to be a few years younger.

After celebrating New Year's Eve and the mid-day ceremony, I will sit with my father, sipping a can of beer and listening to the spring coming. Two men of two generations sitting together, although not saying a word, I guess my father is as emotional as I am, also reminiscing about my childhood, the sacred blood relationship that cannot be expressed in words.

The time before Tet passes so quickly, so busy but also so meaningful and emotional to look back on the past. The following days such as the first, second, third… are probably the days to look forward to the future, people visit each other and wish each other a new year of health, happiness and good business. The holiday passes so quickly and I always like traditional Tet like this, because it is imbued with family love, neighborly love and Vietnamese traditions.

Ms. Mai Lien - Institute for Strategic Leadership Development Research (SLEADER):

“No clear distinction between traditional Tet and modern Tet”

For me, a person born and raised in Hanoi , the traditional Tet, which is Lunar New Year, and the Western New Year bring very different feelings. Mentioning the Western New Year, I remember the lively parties with friends before the moment of transition between this year and the next, the joy and bustle throughout the streets. The traditional Tet in Hanoi has a completely different meaning. In contrast to normal days, the Tet atmosphere in Hanoi is strangely peaceful.

During Tet, perhaps the most emotional time is the night when the family lights the fire to watch the pot of banh chung and the moment of burning incense to pay respects on the first morning of the new year. Sitting next to the pot of banh chung on the stove, the pot of bamboo shoots and leaves to boil on the edge, the aroma of old coriander leaves or grapefruit leaves wafting in the air, the sound of firewood crackling, the whole family sits around the fire, talking and laughing, telling each other family memories that are recalled almost every year, and it is so touching.

I even remember that during my childhood, Tet for me was the train journeys from the North to the South, taking us back to my paternal hometown. Tet was the moment when the New Year's Eve came, the neighborhood followed each other to the pagoda to burn incense and pray for peace, to burn incense at the graves of deceased relatives, to visit each other's houses to toast each other with the first drink of spring, hoping for a new year of good fortune. These moments are truly effective spiritual medicine, helping us recharge with positive energy, confidently entering a new year with new motivation for development.

I don't have a clear distinction between traditional Tet and modern Tet, and it's hard to say whether I'm a traditional or modern Tet person. I'm a person who combines both trends.

Ms. Thao Quyen - Academy of Journalism and Communication:

“Tet is about returning to your roots”

For me, no matter how modern society becomes, Tet is still intact with its traditional beauty. As a child far from home, only returning home to visit, reunite, and gather with family 1-2 times a year, that makes me cherish this meaningful time even more. Tet in me, no matter what, always retains its traditional, primitive values. It is going to the market early with my mother to buy fruits, pork, cakes and jams, it is staying up on the 30th night of New Year's Eve next to a pot of Chung cake and Tet cake, it is wearing Ao Dai early on the 1st to wish grandparents and parents a happy new year, visiting the graves of deceased relatives...

Remembering when I was a child, every time around December 23rd, I could clearly feel Tet was near. On the night of the 23rd, when the Kitchen Gods returned to heaven, my father would say: "That's the end of the year, the Kitchen Gods returned to heaven, to report on the past year of our family." Then the whole family sat together, my parents summarized what they had done in the past year, including family and work, and the children also summarized their studies from the past year.

Now that I’m grown up, I have to live far away from home. The time spent at home, celebrating Tet with my parents is the happiest time. People often say that no matter what job you do, where you live, when Tet comes, you return to your family home. “Returning home for Tet” is not a common concept of going or returning, but rather, it is about finding your roots.

Thanh Hoai - Dinh Trung (Recorded)

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