Thursday, January 22, 2004
Elders hope to keep traditions as younger Chinese embrace new ideas
By Charmaine Y. Rodriguez
Sun.Star Staff Reporter
WITH younger generations of Filipino-Chinese families embracing new religious beliefs or refusing to speak their language, leaders in the Chinese community fear they will lose many of their traditions soon.
Most of the Filipino-Chinese residents in Cebu still celebrate the New Year, according to the Chinese Lunar Calendar, but some of them no longer understand the significance of the traditions, lamented an official from the Filipino-Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
At Cebu Eastern College (CEC), the biggest Chinese school in Cebu City, the New Year is celebrated with the dragon dance and lion dance during a program, aimed at reminding students of their culture.
Students at CEC, which was established in 1915, are still taught literature in Mandarin and are trained to speak and write in Fookien and Xiamen, respectively.
However, businessman Charlton Cokaliong of Chester Enterprises, a textile business that started in 1967, admitted that he hardly speaks Fookien or Mandarin since he transacts with clients in Cebuano or English.
Cokaliong, 26, said though that like traditional Chinese families, he opted to handle the family business for continuity and to keep the rapport they have established with long-time clients.
As practiced, Cokaliong said he also buys round things, like tikoy and masi, as giveaways to business associates for the New Year celebration.
With the ban on exploding firecrackers, he said he could forgo the practice.
Businessman Ryan Ong, 26, for his part, said that some fireworks are necessary to “drive away bad spirits.”
They also hang inside their homes lanterns in the shape of a pineapple, which, for the Chinese, is the fruit that attracts good luck.
His family also gathered for a feast last night at the house of his father, who is the oldest of four siblings.
The wearing of red clothes for good luck and the giving of money inside red envelopes or “ang pao” are also expected.
The ang pao is given by the oldest male member of the family and symbolizes prosperity.
In some Chinese homes, all the members of the family are asked to wrap their own lumpia and eat it to signify that they are “ready to prepare their own meals.”
Until five years ago, the Chinese community used to celebrate together.
But with the threats of kidnapping and crime, they decided to exercise austerity.
Offerings
Like Cokaliong, Ong said he hardly visits the Chinese temples. Only the elder members go there to burn incense or offer food to the gods.
The chamber official, who requested anonymity, also revealed that fewer Filipino-Chinese families visit their temples to revere their patrons.
However, Teofila Go of the Philippine-Chinese Spiritual Temple, located along Don Pedro Rodriguez St., said many of the young Chinese in Cebu still visit there for the “pwa-phoy,” a pair of kidney-shaped wood, which, when thrown on the floor, will guide them in making important decisions.
Go admitted that only the Catholic Chinese visit the temple since the Protestant Chinese no longer go there to pay tribute to their patroness, Ong Biu Neo Neo of the Taoists.
Offerings, either food or flowers, still pour in, though.
Among the offerings there yesterday were a box of Chips Ahoy and a pack of Tang, possibly from a young Chinese devotee.
(January 22, 2004 issue)
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