New Year customs in some Southeast Asian countries

Tet is the beginning of a new year. In Southeast Asia, each country has its own Tet holidays with unique customs and practices with the common wish of peace, luck, happiness, and prosperity.

Tet in Laoscalled "Bunpimay", which means welcoming the new year, or "Bunhot nam" is the water-splashing day, held on April 14th of the Gregorian calendar every year.

The custom of splashing water appears during the New Year holiday in many Southeast Asian countries.

On the morning of the first day of the new year, people all over Laos go to pagodas and bathe the Buddha. Then, they go to wish each other a happy new year and bring a jar full of water. According to custom, the person who is wished must stand so that the person who comes to wish them can have water poured on them. Whoever gets wet the most will have more luck and happiness in the new year.

Also on this occasion, guests who come to wish a happy new year are invited into the home by the host and have a red string tied around their wrist, showing hospitality and wishes for a good new year.

Traditional New Year of Cambodian people,Also known as Chol Chnam Thmay, it takes place over 3 days from April 13 to 15 every year.

During these days, Cambodian people perform lucky religious rituals such as: making offerings to Buddha and monks, holding a Buddha statue bathing ceremony, and building small sand mountains in the temple yard.

After the above rituals, they come to wish their parents, relatives and friends a happy new year. Instead of New Year's greetings, people welcome the new year with the ritual of pouring water on each other, with the belief that the person who gets the most water will have more joy and luck in the year. Tet in Cambodia also has many exciting activities such as: dragon boat racing, singing and dancing traditional dances...

New Year in ThailandAlso known as Songkran festival, it takes place from April 13 to 15 every year and lasts for 3 days.

Similar to Laos and Cambodia, Tet in Thailand also has the ritual of going to the temple to perform the Buddha bathing ceremony. After that, people welcome the new year by splashing water on each other to wish for good luck in the new year. In the family, all members gather and show respect to the elderly by putting a few drops of water on the palms of grandparents and parents...

During Tet, many fun activities are organized such as: beauty contests, cooking traditional dishes, colorful fashion... Especially, there is the custom of playing human chess. This is a game imbued with traditional identity.

People in Indonesiacelebrates the New Year very early according to the Muslim calendar. During these days, Indonesian people build temples with coconuts, coconut leaves, sugar cane and rice dyed in many colors, etc. to worship the gods. In addition, there are many artistic activities such as singing, dancing, and dancing; especially the palanquin processions around town, and then at the end of the New Year, they go to the river and immerse the palanquin in the water, considering it as a prayer to the Water God for favorable weather.

As in Indonesia,MalaysiaThe first day of the Islamic calendar is celebrated as New Year. During the New Year, when meeting each other, Malaysians have the custom of lightly touching their hand to the palm of the other person, then clasping their hands and pressing them against their hearts for a short time. The older person greets first.

However, actively touching a woman’s hand is a taboo in this country. On this occasion, Malaysia organizes many fun activities, typically the “peacock feather fighting” competition, attracting many participants and cheers.

Tet in Singaporebustling with a series of festivals with a strong Western style mixed with traditional Chinese culture. During these days, there are visits, New Year greetings and going to pagodas to pray for luck.

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Tet is also an occasion for all over the Lion Island to organize fun activities such as lion dances and dragon dances. Each year, corresponding to each zodiac sign, small business families here will make many souvenirs related to the animal to sell to every household to display during the traditional national Tet holiday.

Due to being heavily influenced by Western customs,Filipinos celebrate New Year from ChristmasTet is also an occasion for family members to reflect on what happened in the past year, and look forward to the best things in the new year.

Before New Year's Eve, families start preparing the "Media Noche" feast to be enjoyed at midnight. Before eating, everyone in the family reads a prayer to thank the past year and welcome the new year. During the feast, housewives often wear polka-dot dresses, which also represent coins. Adults will fill children's pockets with coins. By doing so, they hope that they will not have to worry about money all year.

Especially on Pahcuve Island, there is a custom of meeting each other to celebrate the New Year by biting each other's ears, the more you love each other, the harder you bite.

Myanmar New Yearbegins according to the Buddhist calendar (around April 13 to 17 of the Gregorian calendar every year).

The Myanmar New Year greeting is "to throw water on each other". In big cities like Yangon and Mandalay, people place water buckets along the main streets. Many people stand next to the buckets, "watch" for passersby and then throw water on them as a New Year greeting. According to them, water is a symbol of prosperity, purity and rebirth. Whoever gets splashed with more water will have more luck and prosperity.

On this occasion, Myanmar people also organize many fun activities such as: frog jumping competition, water carrying race...

According to (vov.vn) - LT