What should we do during Tet (Vietnamese New Year)?

(Baonghean) - When I was in school, I didn't care much about peach blossoms, sticky rice cakes, or candies during Tet. My concept of Tet was simply two things: firecrackers and lucky money. Like any other child, Tet without firecrackers and lucky money was incredibly boring!

Actually, I was quite behind my peers, meaning I only heard them talk about firecrackers and didn't know what they looked like in real life. Partly because I was... a girl, and partly because my father was strict and never allowed me to touch firecrackers. In 8th grade, I decided, "This year I'm grown up," and planned to buy firecrackers to take to my grandmother's house in the countryside. After much pleading, my best friend finally agreed to take me, and the two of us went (ahem, secretly) to buy them. As soon as we entered the store, I innocently blurted out, "Auntie, do you sell firecrackers here?" The saleswomen's faces turned pale, and they refused to see us, chasing us away like we were evil spirits.

My friend dragged me to another stall, complaining, "Buying firecrackers and asking like you're buying vegetables? Are you selling them to the police?" Who knows, haha! That's also my most profound impression of Tet firecrackers. Actually, the explosions are rather boring, deafening, and smelly, scaring the neighbors and getting scolded. That's all there is to it, yet I don't understand why children are so obsessed with firecrackers? Or perhaps children, like adults, have a secret dream of soaring high into the sky and shining brightly, even if only for a moment, like a cluster of fireworks? Or perhaps the appeal of firecrackers isn't the explosion itself, but the mysterious, intoxicating feeling of holding a forbidden joy in their hands? I strongly suspect that in the old days, when firecrackers weren't banned, children weren't as obsessed with them as they are now.

Let's put aside the topic of firecrackers for now and talk about lucky money. Oh wow, just thinking about it makes me feel so refreshed! I remember every time I went back to school after Tet, for a few days, all my friends would ask each other, "How much lucky money did you get this year?" It was a tense, sweat-inducing competition! I still vividly remember the feeling of triumph and pride when I announced that my "personal account" had exceeded six digits – oh my, young millionaires! But as soon as someone asked, "Did you get to keep your lucky money?", the most common answer was, "My parents kept it for me." You see, we had our own secretaries and financial accountants, and I still feel a pang of regret thinking about it...

It's hard to say whether firecrackers and lucky money are still the "main" part of Tet (Vietnamese New Year). Honestly, firecrackers aren't a safe pastime, even for children who aren't still wet behind the ears. Why? Because as people grow older, their thoughts and imaginations grow, and that can be dangerous! While a child might only play around by putting firecrackers in a can of meat and watching them explode, adults have invented countless far more spectacular and dangerous games with firecrackers. The way adults "play" with lucky money is also dangerous, but it's dangerous for character and self-respect. Are many people still using lucky money as an excuse to flatter, bribe, or engage in shady dealings disguised as a meaningful traditional custom? It's sad and disheartening to think about children, whose traditional pastimes are being taken over and distorted by adults.

Those old days are now far beyond reach; where can we find them? Gone are the days of naive children asking loudly about firecrackers or boasting to friends about the lucky money their parents kept for them. How do children celebrate Tet now? Or is there still a place for children during Tet?

Hai Trieu(Email from Paris)