Chinese New Year Ushers in Quest for Official Holiday Recognition

[sbp]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co ... 00926.html

Emily Yee-Mei Lee remembers that as a child in Taiwan, she longed for the next Chinese New Year, that fabulous day when she would receive neon-red envelopes with $100 bills and gorge on scrumptious pork dumplings.

But in the United States, Lee usually confronts the festival with angst and guilt: Instead of spending the whole day celebrating, she trudges to her job as a computer programmer and ships her 15-year-old son off to school.

"It makes me feel like it's impossible to be a good Chinese and a good American," said Lee, 47, of Ellicott City. "It's just so hard to properly celebrate the holiday in this country."

The Lunar New Year -- which is celebrated today by more than a billion Asians around the world -- presents a troubling annual dilemma for many of the country's 12 million Asian Americans: honor your millennia-old traditions by taking the day off, or bow to the pressures of Western society by going about business as usual?

Asian Americans such as Lee say they shouldn't have to make that choice. In a sign of their increasing political power, Asian American groups in the Washington region and across the nation are pushing measures that they hope will eventually result in a federal holiday, with public schools closing and employees staying home from work.

"This is about respect for our culture," said Henry Lau, a co-founder of the Maryland Coalition for Recognition of the Asian Lunar New Year. "The New Year is the most important festival in our culture, and that needs to be acknowledged."

The Howard County Council passed a measure this month to prohibit public meetings on the holiday. The Maryland General Assembly is considering a bill to officially recognize the day, and activists in Virginia are lobbying for a similar measure. Groups in the District are proposing to close school on the Lunar New Year.
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Could someone call the wahhhbulance for this lady? <img src="http://home.earthlink.net/~sbp777/smilies/cry7.gif">

What do people expect by moving into a Western society. Next dips will want Persian, Hindu and other new years to be official holidays.

Hell St. Patricks Day should be made a holiday, after all it is the respectful thing to do for Irish culture which has done far more for this country! <img src="http://home.earthlink.net/~sbp777/smilies/bleh.gif">

[blade]

Figures

Reckon then China and other asian countries who whine about this then should celebrate our holidays there too. Like Christmas, Prez day, easter, our new years, MLK, Elvis day, etc..

That might shut 'em up, eh.

[nitro237]

"It makes me feel like it's impossible to be a good Chinese and a good American," said Lee, 47, of Ellicott City. "It's just so hard to properly celebrate the holiday in this country."

I have the solution to her problem......Delta Air Lines, one way ticket to China.