Thayer Consultancy Background Brief

ABN # 65 648 097 123

Vietnam Debates Whether to
Jettison Tết – Lunar New Year
January 10, 2019


I am writing an article on the Tết debate in Vietnam and would like to ask you some
questions on this matter.
Every time the Lunar New Year celebrations have come around, so has the Tết
debate. Many people argue that Tết is old-fashioned and should be cancelled if
Vietnam wants to be a “modern” country.
Proponents of abolishing Tết say Vietnamese must choose either a rich and strong
country, or an intolerant preservation of traditions, watching pitifully while other
countries forge ahead. This has got on the nerves of those who pooh-pooh this
proposal as a bizarre oversimplification of the relationship between culture and
capital.
Some context: In the most successful economy of the past 30 years, China, the Lunar
New Year festival is still hugely important. Korea, which in the 1950s was one of the
poorest countries in the world and is now one of the top 20 economies, successfully
industrialized without canceling their Lunar New Year celebrations. Western Europe
also industrialized during a time when strong traditional religious beliefs and
celebrations were present across the continent.
Q1. What is your take on this?
ANSWER: I believe countries can enjoy both tradition and modernity at the same
time. Nothing is static, tradition evolves and adapts along with modernity. The
question about holidays is about accommodation. How should predominately
Western Christian countries adapt to their growing Muslim and Asian communities?
And vice versa, how should Asian countries like Vietnam accommodate their
tradition of celebrating the Lunar New Year with their growing Western communities
and their traditional holidays?
It would seem impractical to keep adding more official holidays to the calendar as
this would impact on economic productivity. The issue of the Lunar New Year is its
length. In China the Spring Festival can be held over three weeks, in Vietnam around
seven days.
The central issue appears to be the length of each holiday and the number of work
days lost through official holidays. Tet could be shortened, for example.

 2

In Australia and throughout the West, government employees and those working in
the private sector are given a set number of days when they can take paid leave in
addition to the official holidays. For example, Jews and Muslims take paid leave to
observe their religious holidays while the rest of the country goes about its business.
Q2. Why are Vietnamese so fixated about being considered "modern" without
seriously factoring in trsdition?
ANSWER: Vietnam’s fixation with modernisation dates to the 20th Century and the
Dong Du (Go East – to Japan) movement. Modernisation was viewed as the means to
strengthen the country against Western colonialism. Vietnamese turned to both
Meiji Japan and Republican China for inspiration as to how to maintain their own
identity.
Now the world is more globalized. Vietnamese who have studied or travelled
abroad, or Vietnamese who worked with foreigners in Vietnam share a mixed
culture. My bottom line is that Tet should not be seen as an either-or proposition.
Tet should accommodate to the changing times while remaining an essential
element of Vietnamese and Asian culture.
Q3. About Australia, what is the longest holiday in your home country, and how does
the Australian government maintain the balance between the citizens' need for
taking breaks and protect its traditions while keeping international integration
unaffected?
ANSWER: There are only seven official holidays in Australia: New Year's Day,
Australia Day, Good Friday, Easter Monday, Anzac Day, Christmas Day and Boxing
Day. All other public holidays such as Queen's Birthday and Labor Day are
individually declared by the state and territory governments, the equivalent of
municipalities and provinces in Vietnam.
The longest holiday for government workers is at Christmas when government
departments generally shut down from 24th December to 1st January. During this
period, it is up to each department to determine if essential staff are needed,
especially in vital areas (defence, police, emergency services, immigration, etc.). The
second longest holiday is the Easter break from Good Friday to Easter Monday (this
period includes Saturday and Sunday, non-working days). All other holidays are one
day.
Two holidays Australia Day and ANZAC Day (World War I) bring people together to
celebrate the unity of Australians. Australia Day marks white settlement and some
indigenous people view Australia Day as a celebration of white colonialism and
refuse to celebrate. There is an on-going debate about a holiday that can bridge this
gap.
ANZAC Day commemorates the Australia New Zealand Army Corps formed during
World War I that fought in Turkey during World War I. Originally the military
veterans celebrated this day at dawn but as this generation has passed, their
children and grand children march in their place. Increasingly migrants who have
settle in Australia who fought with Australia as allies also march in the ANZAC Day
parade. This is an example of adaptation of tradition to changing times.
 3

The bottom line is that official holidays are kept limited and all businesses and
enterprise plan their commercial activities around these dates. Australia’s global
integration does not suffer. At the same time, existing traditional holidays have
evolved and adapted over time to reflect changes in Australian society.

Suggested citation: Carlyle A. Thayer, “Vietnam Debates Whether to Jettison Tết –

Lunar New Year,” Thayer Consultancy Background Brief, January 10, 2019. All
background briefs are posted on Scribd.com (search for Thayer). To remove yourself
from the mailing list type, UNSUBSCRIBE in the Subject heading and hit the Reply
key.

Thayer Consultancy provides political analysis of current regional security issues and
other research support to selected clients. Thayer Consultancy was officially
registered as a small business in Australia in 2002.