Happy Lunar New Year from Icon Group! May the coming of a new year bring many warm wishes, happiness, and joyous greetings that will endure all year long.
In this digital feature team members from across Icon's global network have shared what Lunar New Year means to them and their memories celebrating with loved ones. As well as this, hear from Icon's executive and learn more about the importance and rich history of Lunar New Year.
"Lunar New Year is a big festival in Chinese culture where people in Hong Kong would visit their friends and family, which in Cantonese we call 'bai leen'. I give the kids red pockets (meaning good luck) and gifts to others, and people Iiving in rural areas also burn fireworks and hold a lion dance (pictured, below), which we believe keeps the bad luck and evil spirits away. Every Lunar New Year I go to the temple and pray for blessings for the upcoming year from the gods, as well as good luck and health. We also eat festival food like 'poon choi' to bring us wealth and 'leen go' to bless growing children."
– Idy Lam, Nurse Manager (Icon Cancer Centre Central Building, Hong Kong)
"Lunar New Year is a special time for me to reunite with my extended family and celebrate with many feasts; it is a time to celebrate good health, fortune and happiness. Special traditions within my family include watching firecrackers and lion dances, and giving red packets to children full of money to wish them good luck."
– Trang Le, Pharmacy Operations Team Leader (Epic Pharmacy Hollywood, Australia)
WHAT IS LUNAR NEW YEAR?
Lunar New Year, also called Spring Festival is one of the most important celebrations for many people of Asian heritage. It begins with the first new moon of the lunar calendar, celebrating the beginning of a new year.
In Chinese tradition, each year is named after one of twelve animals which feature in the Chinese zodiac – Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, and Pig. Each animal has a year dedicated to them once in a twelve year cycle.
"Growing up Lunar New Year's Eve was the most important night for my entire family to get together and celebrate the coming new year (even the children are allowed to stay up until midnight which was very exciting!). Our family would light firecrackers around midnight and the next morning we would wish everyone a 'Happy New Year' and they would give us red pockets with a small amount of money – this was our favourite tradition! Until today our family has kept most traditions like the reunion on New Year's Eve, red pockets, and lighting firecrackers (though now we can only light them in designated areas as air pollution is a concern). Another important tradition is to eat dumplings for breakfast on the first day of the new year. During Lunar New Year the weather in Mainland China is also usually very cold (see below a photo of me in Beijing a few years ago). I'd like to wish everyone a prosperous Year of the Tiger!"
– Chelsea Ren, CEO, Icon China
"Lunar New Year, also called the Spring Festival, is the most important festival in China. Each family is busy preparing for festivities and has a get-together dinner where everyone looks forward to a family reunion. In rural areas Lunar New Year is even more lively with hanging lanterns, scrolls, and the Fu character (pictured, right), as well as the lighting of firecrackers and more. On Lunar New Year's Eve, families will have a reunion dinner with different kinds of dishes such as dumplings, which is indispensable as a "main course". Dumplings are a symbol of the New Year, and my favourite is pickled cabbage dumplings made by my mum; it is a taste of home. After the New Year's Eve reunion dinner, family will light up colourful fireworks with good blessing, then the entire family will sit together and eat different kinds of nuts while watching the Spring Festival Gala to welcome the Lunar New Year."
– Zhaoqing Liu, Director of PETCT Centre, (Fengcheng, Mainland China)
"Growing up we would always celebrate Lunar New Year on the eve with a reunion dinner with my immediate family and grandparents. Yusheng was a must. Another tradition I remember and still keep to today is helping my parents prepare the ang pows for the next day at the dining table, chatting with one another, and snacking on Lunar New Year goodies. We would also stay up way past midnight with my parents; we call this 守岁 and we believe that this is auspicious as your parents will be able to have a longer life the later you stay. As a child, I would look forward to meeting my cousins and relatives during Lunar New Year. I've kept most traditions that I grew up with such as having a reunion dinner and yusheng at my parent’s home, visiting family and relatives, and wearing new clothes. The special 'tradition' which I also keep is also getting my sons involved in preparing the ang pows for Lunar New Year's Eve. As we pack the ang pows, we sit as a family at the dining table to bond and snack on goodies at the same time."
– Serena Wee, CEO, Icon ASEAN
HOW IS LUNAR NEW YEAR CELEBRATED?
Prior to the impacts of COVID-19, millions of people from around the world would travel back home to be with family and friends. Before the first day of Lunar New Year festivities, people clean their homes to prepare for the celebrations to come. Then, when New Year's Day is here, it is a tradition that no one is to pick up a broom in case the good luck for the New Year is swept out the door.
Across China and many countries in Asia, schools and businesses typically close for the first few days of Lunar New Year so everyone can enjoy the festivities and spent time with their loved ones. Families also eat delicious, traditional food to bring luck and blessings for the year ahead.
Other traditional celebrations include performances and lion dances, and the lighting of fireworks and firecrackers which is thought to scare away any evil spirits with its noise and light; along with the gifting of red envelopes with money from adults to children and people who are unmarried.
The Lunar New Year festivities continue for two weeks and close with a special lantern festival to signal the end of the celebration period.
“Growing up as an Australian born Chinese I have often felt like a stranger to my own cultural heritage, but my parents always made an effort to keep the traditions of Lunar New Year and teach me and my siblings of its significance. It is the one time of year I feel truly connected to my heritage. For me Lunar New Year has always been about time spent with family, especially my late grandma who taught me how to cook traditional new year treats. A favourite in our family is the sweet Chinese New Year cakes (nian gao) and glutinous fried sesame rice balls (jian dui, pictured). Every new year’s morning was spent helping prepare these sweets with grandma. Today I have the honour of leading our family feast and passing on her recipe to my niece and nephew; it brings me so much joy knowing her recipe and the memory of her will never fade for generations to come."
– Alicia Moo, Marketing Business Partner – Icon Group & Research (Cordelia Street Head Office, Australia)
"Growing up in China as a young child, Lunar New Year was an occasion I looked forward to the most. Besides the abundance of delicious food, it was a special day in the calendar to reunite with family and loved ones. I was delighted to celebrate this significant part of my tradition in the workplace with my Icon family last year. On Lunar New Year’s Eve, the team donned outfits in red (the symbol of good luck and happiness) and feasted on our favourite food to welcome a prosperous new year for one another and patients."
– Bing Wei, Site Manager (Icon Cancer Centre Holmesglen, Australia)
"Growing up I loved Lunar New Year so much; as a family we had very special traditions that I hope I can keep for generations to come. We celebrate for an entire week and eat lots of food with family and friends, though the most important part of Lunar New Year for us is that we gift and receive many red envelopes. The tradition is that once you get married the elderly stop giving red envelopes. As I'm not married, and even though my parents have passed, I still receive red envelopes from family. It's important to us to keep these Chinese traditions."
– Anilia Setiawan, Financial Accountant (Cordelia Street Head Office, Australia)
“Growing up in China, Lunar New Year is the most important celebration of the year and the festival I most look forward to. I receive red envelopes from my elders and the money must be in new bills to symbolise good luck for the new year ahead. Besides receiving red envelopes, the second thing I look forward to is the New Year’s Eve feast. It might be the most scrumptious dinner in the whole year. Dumplings are a must. My entire family will make dumplings together while watching the Spring Festival Gala. Another essential dish on the table is fish. In Mandarin, the word ‘fish’ is pronounced ‘yu’, which is the same pronunciation for the word ‘surplus’, so eating fish means my family has enough to spare every year and is a sign of prosperity.”
– Yifei Li, Translator (Cordelia Street Head Office, Australia)
"I grew up in a kampung (a village) and still really miss the days I spent celebrating Lunar New Year. The main Lunar New Year activities in my family included putting up decorations, eating a reunion dinner on New Year's Eve, offering sacrifices to ancestors, burning firecrackers and fireworks, giving red envelopes and other gifts, and watching lion and dragon dances. Reunion dinner is an annual event where we dish up a big feast and my family gathers to reaffirm the love and respect that binds us together. At the strike of midnight, we would burn firecrackers to welcome the New Year. The first day of the New Year is known as "yuandan". I would wake up early, put on a new dress, and get ready to pay respect to my parents and elders, and in return receive their blessings."
– Roslind Lim, Senior Nurse Manager (Icon Cancer Centre Farrer Park, Singapore)
"Lunar New Year is a special time to spend with loved ones, just like Christmas and Thanksgiving in the western culture. We would often visit family and friends and show our respect for the older generations on the first day of Lunar New Year to the tenth day. When we go to their homes, we usually bring gifts and there is always a box of sweets with candied lotus roots, lotus seeds, and melon seeds; nowadays it is mostly full of chocolates.
"As soon as we arrive the older and married family members give out red packets that contains money, which we call 'lai see', to the younger family members. For this season we usually dress in red and gold for luck and prosperity. There are also special words we say to each other during this time – a few of them are below:
- 新年快樂 San Nin Fai Lok (Happy New Year)
- 恭喜發財 Gung Hei Fat Choi (I wish you wealth and prosperity)"
– Sally Ho, Senior Business Operations Manager (Icon Corporate Office Hong Kong)
THE YEAR OF THE TIGER
2022 marks the Year of the Tiger – the third in the Chinese zodiac. The Tiger is known as the king of all the animals in China and is a symbol of strength, braveness, and determination.
There are also rotating elements of each Chinese zodiac, each with different characteristics. This year is the Water Tiger; one with a strong sense of self-esteem and learning ability. Other types of Tiger are the Wood Tiger (compassionate and open), Fire Tiger (optimistic and independent), Earth Tiger (adventurous and realistic), and Gold Tiger (females are enthusiastic and males are indecisive).
A few lucky things for people born in the Year of the Tiger – 2022, 2010, 1998, 1986, 1974, 1962, 1950, and 1938 – include the numbers 1, 3, and 4 (and numbers containing these digits, and the colours blue, grey, and orange.
“Each year it fills me with pride to see sites, both those who typically mark the occasion and new ones, across our global network celebrating Lunar New Year in their own unique way. With the disruption of COVID-19, many of our team members have been unable to visit their families and as such, our teams have taken in in their stride to learn about the importance of Lunar New Year and truly make local celebrations memorable. As Icon continues to grow in Asia to provide care to those in need, I am honoured to see the broader Group go out of their way to mark global cultural celebrations such as Lunar New Year.”
– Mark Middleton, Group CEO
"In the lead up to Lunar New Year it’s important that houses are cleaned and an altar is set up with offerings for ancestors and loved ones past. Children are taught to charm their elders with thoughtful or poorly rehearsed well-wishes and sentiments are returned and accompanied with a red packet. I can always remember meals were incredible with countless dishes on offer, each dish with their own story or reasons for being. Post-meal it was on for young and old through the night as we all put the ‘lucky’ money to the test, essentially gambling with one another playing a variety of dice and card games, and the main event…bingo for all! By the end of the night, spotless houses at the start of day are a mess. There are watermelon seeds all over the floor, uneaten food for days, yards full of fire crackers, and something uniquely Australian – beer cans everywhere (yes it’s a thing!)."
– Andrew Do, Project Manager – Operations Implementation AU (Cordelia Street Head Office, Australia)
LUNAR NEW YEAR AT ICON
Each year sites across Icon's global network take time to celebrate Lunar New Year with festivities including traditional food, decorations, and gifts.
Lunar New Year is a beautiful opportunity to embrace different stories and cultures. With Icon's growing presence in Asia, many sites across Icon are expanding their education of Lunar New Year and celebrating with colleagues.
"Here at Epic Pharmacy Port Macquarie (pictured, below) we have four team members who celebrate Lunar New Year, and unfortunately due to COVID-19, they were unable to return to their families in 2020. So, last year the entire team went out of their way to mark Lunar New Year onsite – we had lots of decorations and banners along with red envelopes and traditional food. We also quickly learned the importance of Lunar New Year and how widely it is celebrated across the globe. This was the first year I have ever celebrated Lunar New Year personally; I have a genuine desire to mark these cultural celebrations to make sure everyone feels included, especially when they're unable to be with loved ones."
– Rachel Taylor, Director of Pharmacy (Epic Pharmacy Port Macquarie, Australia)
"The Slade Pharmacy Mount Kuring-gai team typically celebrates Lunar New Year with a lunch, where everyone brings a plate of food, and we dress in red or in a way that symbolises the Chinese zodiac (i.e. the Year of the Pig in 2019 – pictured, left). We have many team members from diverse backgrounds and it is really important for us to be inclusive in our celebrations."
– Ann Antoniades, Clinical Pharmacy Manager (Slade Pharmacy Mount Kuring-gai, Australia)
"As one of the larger pharmacy teams, we are fortunate to have members with different heritages representing Asian countries where Lunar New Year is traditionally celebrated. We also have some exceptional cooks in our team and enjoy a wide variety of flavours including fried rice, noodles, tea eggs, dumplings, and fortune cookies."
– Stephanie Brown, Operations Manager (Slade Pharmacy Mount Kuring-gai, Australia)
OPPORTUNITIES FOR ICON TEAM MEMBERS
Icon’s focus on diversity and inclusion is our commitment to bring about awareness and understanding so that we are all empowered to create change and belonging in everything we do.
Cultural diversity is one of our greatest strengths and is a driving force to deliver the best care possible. Team members across the Group have the opportunity to join our Employee Led Inclusion Groups (ELIGs) to help drive our strategic focus areas.
Our Cultural and Linguistic Diversity (CALD) ELIG aims to create spaces where our team members feel safe to be themselves and where our customers and patients feel welcomed and cared for in accordance with their needs.
For more information on how you can be involved, contact belonging@icon.team.
Credits:
More information: contact Sarah Blinco and Olivia Cunnington at internal.communications@icon.team