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Cambodia & Tradition: Hopes of health and wealth for the Chinese New Year

Writer's picture: Editorial teamEditorial team

For Meas Channary, a Cambodian of Chinese origin, Chinese New Year, which officially begins on 29 January 2025, is one of the best opportunities to honour her ancestors and reunite with her family.

Chrysanthemum seller. Photo AKP
Chrysanthemum seller. Photo AKP

A few days before the festival, the 36-year-old Phnom Penh resident confides that she has always decorated her house with red pieces of paper, flowers and lanterns in the same colour for this celebration.

“We usually pray to express our gratitude to our ancestors and to ask for happiness and good business in the New Year,” she says.

“This year, even though our country is still suffering from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and our income has fallen a little, we are still celebrating the Spring Festival because it remains our culture and tradition,“ she adds.

Chea Huykong, 37, a seller of Chinese New Year decorations and items in Phnom Penh, says that a few weeks before the festival, business picks up again. ‘Despite some gloom, many people still come to buy decorations,’ she says, adding:

“I hope that business will improve in the New Year.”
Chinese New Year accessories shop. Photo AKP
Chinese New Year accessories shop. Photo AKP

Major celebration

Chinese New Year is not a public holiday in Cambodia, but it is widely celebrated and some schools, private businesses and institutions are closed on this occasion. The country generally observes three New Year festivals a year, namely Western New Year, Chinese New Year and Cambodian New Year.

“At present, there are many Cambodians of Chinese descent, and during the Spring Festival, whether they are Cambodians of Chinese descent or Khmer by origin, they take advantage of this opportunity to get together.”
Illustration AKP
Illustration AKP

The spokesman attributed this major celebration to respect for cultural diversity and freedom of belief, and ‘to the excellent relations between the peoples of the two countries’. Sambo Manara, from Pannasastra University, suggests that the Spring Festival is gaining in popularity in the country each year due to the closer political, economic and cultural ties between the two countries.

“We estimate that around 80% of Cambodians living in urban areas and 40% in rural areas celebrate Chinese New Year,” he says.

‘We see it with our own eyes: during the Spring Festival, most shops and businesses in the capital are closed because their owners are busy celebrating the festival,’ says Manara.

Honouring ancestors

Another Cambodian, Ponnasirivath, believes that Cambodians and Chinese have a very similar way of worshipping their ancestors, which is why it's easy for them to celebrate the festival together. “I think the Chinese and Cambodians have the same belief - to worship the spirit of their ancestors, so the festival is an opportunity for them to pray and express their gratitude to their ancestors,” he says.

Illustration AKP
Illustration AKP

Diep Sophal, also a history teacher, says that believers generally make offerings of roast piglets or chickens and other prayer objects to their ancestors according to their means, and pray for happiness and good business in the New Year.

He adds that some families invite ‘lion dancers’ to perform in their homes or businesses to usher in the Spring Festival and ward off bad luck. Cambodians and Chinese ‘are very grateful and respectful of their ancestors’, he notes. Sophal also believes that many people hope that the celebration will bring good luck to their businesses in the New Year.

Brotherly friendship

Ponnasirivath claims that the spring festival has been celebrated in Cambodia since ancient times. Manara, for his part, points out that the two countries have centuries of historical, cultural and commercial relations:

“Cambodians and Chinese have been celebrating Spring Festival together since the first century, when they began trading.”

“This shows that Cambodians are open to accepting the cultural value of other countries,’ he adds. ‘The close relationship between Cambodia and China today is also the result of centuries of privileged relations between the peoples of the two countries”. Chea Monyrith, President of the Chinese Cambodian Evolution Researcher Association, believes that this major celebration in Cambodia truly reflects “the fraternal relationship between the peoples of the two countries”.

“People celebrating this New Year should build a closer friendship with their Chinese friends, business partners and ethnic Chinese neighbours,” he says.

Sources: 新华社报道 & AKP

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