Did you celebrate Lunar New Year? People across various Asian cultures cooked traditional foods, dressed in red and shot fireworks into the air to mark the occasion. The Lunar New Year has been celebrated for over two millennia. And this week, an act was introduced in the US House of Representatives to recognize it as a US national holiday. Coco Wang has the story.
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U.S. Rep. Grace Meng, a Democrat from Queens, New York, and First Vice Chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, introduced legislation to create a federal holiday for Lunar New Year. The measure would make Lunar New Year a federally recognized holiday in the US, adding it to the list of eleven federal holidays currently recognized.
Cai Li a junior and communications major at USC expresses her surprise about the recognition.
CAI LI: I think it’s a kind of surprise, honestly, because, you know, it’s always been a cultural trend. A lot of Asian communities celebrate this holiday, but it’s definitely a new step towards, you know, proclaiming or like elaborating the influence of Asian Asian holiday to more people.
She also spoke of how positive the visibility would be for the Asian American community.
CAI LI: I think for the Asian community, it will be like a positive impact because it will make them feel like, you know, their their tradition is being cherished, it’s being recognized. I think, yeah, it’s going to bring some positive influence making Asian feel like their voice is going to be heard more, you know. And then globally, I think it’s a great opportunity for more people to understand, like the true tradition or like the cultural base of this very important festival for us.
Senior Xinyi Li is in favor of Lunar New Year becoming a US holiday and she says she could use the time off.
XINYI LI: I definitely will say I’m happy with the Lunar New Year, become a federal holiday because I could take a break, and maybe it is. If the holiday would be like 10-20 days long, I will consider coming back to China to celebrate the holiday with my family.
新年快乐! That’s Happy New Year in Mandarin.