🎣 Opening
This week is all about red.
You go here, red lanterns are everywhere.
You go there, red outfit and envelopes are the best-selling items.
Everything is turning red.
It’s Lunar New Year, everyone!
Millions of people across Southeast Asia are celebrating.
This year, they’re welcoming the Year of the Fire Horse.
But how big is this celebration in Southeast Asia?
Let’s find out.
Hello and welcome to The Southeast Asia Desk Weekly Dispatch Podcast. I’m Akasha Viandri. This is where we slow down the headlines and make sense of the stories shaping our Southeast Asia Region.
🌏 Lunar New Year In Southeast Asia
When Lunar New Year arrives, something shifts. From Jakarta to Hanoi, from Kuala Lumpur to Manila, the region feels connected by something that goes beyond borders.
If you look around, people are decorating their houses in red, preparing symbolic foods like nian gao and oranges. They’re buying red envelopes with money inside, and giving them to family members during reunions.
Or maybe it’s you, who’s doing all this.
But what makes it interesting is that Southeast Asia is culturally diverse, so each country adds its own cultural imprint:
For example, 🇸🇬 Singapore and 🇲🇾 Malaysia share civic moments: from the Yu Sheng prosperity toss to Singapore’s Chingay Parade, turning Lunar New Year into a multicultural showcase with modern flair.
In 🇹🇭 Thailand, locals have a celebration known as Trut Chin that lights up Yaowarat, Bangkok’s Chinatown, a reflection of centuries of Thai-Chinese trade and settlement.
In 🇮🇩 Indonesia, milkfish is often served as the main dish, symbolising careful prosperity. There are also events like Grebeg Sudiro in Solo, or Tuk Panjang in Semarang, blending Javanese and Chinese traditions into something uniquely local.
In 🇻🇳 Vietnam, Banh Chung, a traditional Vietnamese sticky rice cake, is always served as part of the celebration.
But, there is one practice that quietly crosses borders. It is Fang Shen, the ritual release of living creatures such as birds or fish.
This symbolizes compassion, renewal, and respect for life, a reminder that this celebration carries an ethical dimension too, not just spectacle.
❤️ Closing - Everyone Celebrates
Today, six Southeast Asian countries recognise Lunar New Year as a national holiday: 🇻🇳 Vietnam, 🇸🇬 Singapore, 🇧🇳 Brunei, 🇮🇩 Indonesia, 🇲🇾 Malaysia, and 🇵🇭 the Philippines.
Others may not mark it officially, but Chinese communities there still celebrate it.
Beyond that, people who aren’t part of the Chinese community are also embracing the celebration, and this happens across many countries in Southeast Asia.
People go out dressed in red, enjoy special Lunar New Year menus, watch lion dances, and more. Basically, everyone seems happy welcoming Lunar New Year.
This shows that Lunar New Year isn’t just a date on a calendar. It marks continuity between generations, communities, and memories. And in many places, it has become part of local culture.
So how about you?
How do you celebrate Lunar New Year?
I’m Akasha Viandri, and this has been The Southeast Asia Desk Weekly Dispatch Podcast where we slow down the noise and follow the region’s compass.
If you enjoyed this episode, subscribe to our newsletter at thesoutheastasiadesk.com,
and join us again next weekend for stories to linger over, one weekend at a time.
