The standard Chinese New Year news report
Janos Perian from Pixabay
Every year, I hear or read a news report along these lines here:
Itâs Chinese, or the lunar, New Year today, and Asian communities all over New Zealand are coming together with their families to celebrate. Itâs the Year of the Rat, which means it will be a lucky and prosperous year.
Sometimes theyâll append the last statement with âsays [insert prominent Chinese New Zealander]â or âsays [insert name], president of the New Zealand Chinese Association.â
I know this because one year I was the name inserted, but you need the context, and thereâs never any room for it since itâs usually the last story in the news.
Hereâs how the interview tends to unfold.
âItâs the Year of the Rat next year. Whatâs that going to bring?â
âWell, it really depends. Every year has its own energy, and it applies differently to every person depending on their bazi and the trend of their year. Itâs like western astrology: different strokes for different folks.â
âBut do you reckon for some itâs going to be lucky and prosperous?â
âYes, for some it will be.â
Bingo. Thereâs your closing sentence. âItâs the Year of the Rat, which means it will be a lucky and prosperous year, says local Chinese man Jack Yan.â And that’s why every year, the news report is a cookie-cutter item about an ethnic community really into luck and money.
I mean, if you lived in Wuhan right now, youâll probably be saying itâs going to be a shit year because your New Yearâs practically been cancelled and you canât see your whÄnau while your cityâs in lockdown. I think the closest equivalent would be, for an American, Thanksgiving being cancelled, and for many, Christmas being cancelled.
Incidentally, I’m not sure why the WHO held back on declaring the corona virus outbreak an international matter. Did they not know the New Year is the greatest migration of humans on this planet? Repatriating Brits after Thomas Cook collapsed is child’s play. And now we have the people suspected of having the virus arriving in certain other countries.