Overseas Vietnamese Celebrate Lunar New Year Far From Home

Vietnamese community living and working abroad celebrated traditional Lunar New Year early.

Hannah Nguyen

ngminhphuong26@gmail.com January 12, 2023 | 14:09

Different festive activities were held abroad for the Vietnamese communities to celebrate the 2023 Lunar New Year (Tet) as the biggest traditional holiday of Vietnam is around the corner, VNA reported.

Overseas Vietnamese Celebrate Lunar New Year Far From Home

Wrapping glutinous rice cake for Tet in the Netherlands. Photo: VNA

Young Vietnamese expatriates in the Netherlands recently gathered to learn how to make Chung (square glutinous rice) cake – the soul of Tet.

Tet will take place from January 21-25 this year (the last day of the last lunar month to the fourth day of the first lunar month).

Making food on the occasion of the traditional New Year has gradually become a habit, an activity of many young overseas Vietnamese to help them have a better understanding of their roots, recall old memories in the homeland, and feel the warmth of Tet atmosphere.

All the ingredients for the cake such as glutinous rice, green beans, pork, pepper, and fish sauce have been imported from Vietnam.

The event was jointly organized by the Vietnamese Embassy in the Netherlands and the Vietnamese Language Studies in La Haye.

At the programme at Luang Prabang, Laos. Photo: VNA

The Vietnamese Consulate General in Preah Sihanouk province held a program on January 11 to bring a warm Tet atmosphere to the Vietnamese community living and working in the Cambodian southwestern provinces of Preah Sihanouk, Kampot, Kep, Koh Kong, Kampong Speu, and Takeo.

On the same day, the Vietnam Embassy in Cambodia, the Khmer-Vietnamese Association, and Sacombank Cambodia gave Tet presents to Cambodians of Vietnamese origin with disadvantaged circumstances living in Phnom Penh.

One hundred gifts, each consisting of cash, rice, and necessities, worth a total of VND 100 million (USD 4,200) been delivered on the occasion.

Besides, the embassy also presented five gifts to revolution contributors and families of former staff of the Khmer-Vietnamese Association.

During the 2023 New Year and the Lunar New Year celebrations this year, Sacombank Cambodia launched the 20th "Warm Spring" program taking place from December 23, 2022, to January 14, 2023, in 51 provinces and cities of Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia with a total budget of more than VND 7.8 billion.

Talking to representatives of the Vietnamese community in China at a gathering in Beijing on January 9, Vietnamese Ambassador Pham Sao Mai affirmed that the Party and the State of Vietnam view overseas Vietnamese as an integral part of the nation.

The embassy pays special attention to overseas Vietnamese affairs, assists expatriate citizens, works to protect their rights and legitimate interests, and coordinates with Chinese authorities to help them settle down and integrate into local society, he noted.

Mai expressed his hope that the Vietnamese community in China will continue to uphold solidarity, maintain national identity, and contribute to the homeland and friendship between the two countries.

The same day, the Khmer - Vietnam Association in Cambodia presented Tet gifts donated by telecoms company Metfone to 200 disadvantaged Vietnamese-origin families in Phnom Penh.

On this occasion, Metfone announced nearly 1,000 Tet gift packages worth USD 20,700 in total to disadvantaged families of Vietnamese origin in eight provincial-level localities of Cambodia.

Vietnamese Ambassador to the RoK Nguyen Vu Tung presents gifts to children. Photo: VNA

Previously, the Vietnamese Embassy in the Republic of Korea (RoK) held a “Xuan Que Huong” (Homeland Spring) program in Seoul on January 8 to bring a warm Tet atmosphere to the Vietnamese community living in the East Asian nation.

Ambassador Nguyen Vu Tung said that 2023 is the first year Vietnam and the RoK have realized the upgrade of their ties within the framework of the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, with the purpose of upholding bilateral relations in all fields, especially economics, education, science technology, and people-to-people exchanges.

The diplomat called on the community to make efforts as well as active and effective contributions to the common goal of the two countries.

On the same day, the Canada - Vietnam Society (CVS) held a cultural festival to welcome the Lunar New Year with the participation of Canadian Senator Victor Oh.

At a similar event held in Buenos Aires, Argentina on January 7, participants at the event also enjoyed traditional Vietnamese food for Tet such as fried spring rolls, glutinous rice cake, and pork meatloaf.

The same gathering was also held by the Vietnamese Embassy in India on the same day. The Vietnamese Embassy in the UK also held a Tet gathering in London with the participation of about 200 overseas Vietnamese (OVs), after three years of hiatus caused by Covid-19.

This is the first time the Homeland Spring program has been held directly after nearly three years of the covid-19 pandemic, attracting the attendance of nearly 600 guests, including representatives of the Vietnamese community from many states in the United States and international friends attached to Vietnam.

In the US, the Vietnamese Embassy also held the Homeland Spring program in Washington D.C. on January 6 (US time) to celebrate the traditional Lunar New Year festival, with nearly 600 people taking part, including US friends.