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Asia’s Chinese diaspora celebrates first post-Covid Lunar New Year even as inflation bites
- Covid-19 remains a concern for some, even as many people spare no expense to celebrate while others mull cost-cutting measures for festivities
- Retailers expect a boost as consumers snap up pre-Lunar New Year purchases even as some are caught between raising prices and absorbing them
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This year’s Lunar New Year will be a treat for Singaporean Henry Koh’s family as they hold their first “normal” celebration after living with strict Covid-19 curbs that made it all but impossible for family gatherings.
Koh, a 45-year-old behavioural therapist, expects over 20 people at his home for the traditional lo hei salad toss to usher in good fortune and prosperity, before tucking into a scrumptious spread of premium prawn rolls and steamboat.
“Lunar New Year is pretty much the same for me [every year] but I have two elderly relatives staying with me, they will be happy to see relatives coming to visit them,” he told This Week in Asia.
Festivities had been largely muted over the past two years, as movement restrictions and lockdowns severely crimped social gatherings and economic activity amid efforts to arrest the rapid spread of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Life took on some semblance of normalcy from last year after governments gradually lifted curbs on movement, including across borders, but recovery was not as brisk as hoped as surging inflation – driven in part by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine – threatened to push the global economy into a recession.
Households in Singapore were not spared from the inflationary spike and some are cutting back. Tour operator Stanley Foo, 46, said some of his friends were thinking of putting less money in their red packets this year.
But when it comes to celebrating the Lunar New Year, Foo does not intend to hold back.
Joseph Sipalan has done extensive reporting of Malaysia, specialising in politics and more recently macro-economics. An alumnus of Reuters and several major Malaysian news organisations.
Kimberly Lim is a reporter for the Asia Desk, covering social issues, politics and economy in Singapore and the region. She graduated from Nanyang Technological University, where she majored in Public Policy and Global Affairs, with a second major in English Literature. She previously wrote for TODAY and The New Paper.
Sen Nguyen is a Vietnamese journalist who writes features and analyses that unpack nuances and provide contexts of policies and developments of public interest, with a particular focus on marginalised populations. She has covered everything, from an investigation about the structural causes that have led to considerable out-migration in the Mekong Delta, labour abuse of Vietnamese migrant workers in Serbia, a critical look at Vietnam's air pollution, the nuanced lived experiences of the marginalised Vietnamese community in Cambodia and the impact of the worst storm season in 100 years on people in central Vietnam.
Julian Ryall never expected to still be in Japan 24 years after he first arrived, but he quickly realised its advantages over his native London. He lives in Yokohama with his wife and children and writes for publications around the world.
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