For many years, the traditional Tet atmosphere and activities in urban areas have changed a lot. In family activities, there is a trend of "shifting" from traditional, introverted, to modern, extroverted. If in the past Tet had the meaning of welcoming the new year and reuniting with family, now the meaning of welcoming the new year has come earlier, on Christmas and New Year. That's because the urban lifestyle and industrial lifestyle are popular in big cities, where many immigrants come to work, study, and work...

The meaning of Tet now is mainly to preserve the tradition of family reunions and celebrate the lives of grandparents and parents. As for eating and drinking, offerings are greatly reduced. In the past, taking care of the three days of Tet had to start a whole month in advance, mainly worrying about Eating Tet: buying a variety of foods such as sticky rice, candy, bamboo shoots, green beans, rice paper, and then buying vegetables to make pickles... From Ong Tao day, December 23 (Lunar Calendar), I worried about buying meat to make ready-made foods like sausages, then during Tet days I struggled to cook food to make offerings, wherever I went, I was always around relatives and neighbors, rarely going out...

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But now there are many food services to celebrate Tet, especially in the city, there is almost no need to worry too much about eating, because you only need money to go to the supermarket or go to the market for one day is complete. Tet symbols in the folk song "Fat meat, pickled onions, red couplets. The "tree of firecrackers with green banh chung" has lost the tree of firecrackers, the couplet has recently been restored with many young men writing more Vietnamese calligraphy than Nho (Traditional Calligraphy)... The taste of Tet may no longer feel "delicious" like before because now fatty meat, pickled onions, banh chung, jam, candy can be eaten anytime you want.

All of that still makes the current Tet atmosphere a bit sad... It seems like the busyness of worry, the grateful lifestyle in times of deprivation, the warm joy of reunion... are being lost over time. Nowadays, people in the city are more worried about "playing Tet", from September to October they look for Tet tours to buy early because they are afraid of running out of seats. Saigon and Hanoi are deserted during Tet, people return to their hometowns, travel domestically and internationally. The cities become strangely quiet.

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The changes of Tet are clearly seen in Saigon - a city affected by rapid "modernization". In the past, Saigon people liked to go out during Tet holidays, go out to eat, gather with friends and often invite each other to restaurants, rarely cooking at home. Housewives often buy ready-made foods: ordering sausages, banh chung, banh tet, cakes and jams, even fruit... has been popular here for a long time due to the urban lifestyle, so the services developed early. Saigon people respect politeness but are not too picky about visiting relatives on Tet. They can visit before or after Tet as long as it is convenient for both parties.

Currently, Saigon has many people from other places coming to do business, so there are more restaurants and regional specialties. During Tet in Saigon, you can enjoy many different dishes, not just traditional Southern dishes. Even though they have a long Tet holiday, immigrants return home to celebrate Tet, then return to Saigon around the fourth or fifth day to hang out for a few days to prepare for work. Tet is also the occasion when Saigon welcomes many Vietnamese living abroad to celebrate Tet with their families. During Tet, entertainment areas, movie theaters, and shops sell as usual, many shops sell right from the morning of the first day, "following" are parking services and other street vendors... Of course, the price "It's Tet", a little higher is also reasonable! Therefore, Tet is also an opportunity to "earn extra" for many people. In some ways, it can be considered a "redistribution of income" (spontaneously) during Tet for different classes in society.

That's why some people say that the customs and habits that are considered beautiful traditions of Vietnamese people during Tet seem to only exist... in Tet newspapers, but in real life we celebrate Tet in a hurry, everything is noisy.

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Actually, this is also the "rule" of many cultural phenomena. Old customs and practices gradually remain only in the memories of previous generations and are passed on to future generations. It is impossible to force life to maintain all old customs because there are things that are inappropriate and inconvenient for modern life. Preserving tradition is not always keeping the old way of life intact. What is not suitable will be replaced by life and new "traditions" will appear, while old lifestyle activities will be preserved in books, newspapers, movies, museums... by means of Modern technology lets future generations know about the past.

However, Tet days are still the time when traditional memories return to exist for each person and each family. These are warm family activities, politeness to ancestors, and solidarity with the poor... These things in Saigon have not disappeared even though this city has changed to "modernity". How come…

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Hau Nguyen Thi

Reposted from Facebook author: Hau Kc Nguyen

Dr. Nguyen Thi Hau is the beloved author of many books about Saigon such as "Saigon is always the same", "Thinking of the long distance", "Only a dream apart", etc. Please refer to it here.