Gong Hai Fat Choi does not = Happy New Year.

[vedmond]

I'm sure someone's clarified already, but here is my version:

First of all, "Chinese" refers to a heterogeneous population. I am commenting on this as a Canadian born person with parents that grew up in Hong Kong and whose origins are from both the North and South parts of China; in other words, I've had a bit of exposure and can see where the confusion is coming from.

First of all, as far as I'm concerned, if something is said with good intentions, I take it as such, and if there is any ignorance, I help people to understand. I would never be offended.

A lot of this has to do with culture and society. "Gong hey fat choy" is Cantonese, and used in Hong Kong, a port city annexed by the British with a cut-throat economy and people living in crowded conditions. If you don't have $$$, then you are, well, in bad shape. Stock market crashes are frequently accompanied by people flinging themselves off buildings, because they cannot put their kids through school, and so their future is destroyed. In this society, the best thing you can wish upon someone in the New Year, is prosperity, hence "gong hey fat choy" (I bestow the wish of prosperity). One of the worst things you can say to someone is to tell them to "pook gai", which means literally to go squirm on the streets (i.e., be a street person), which is the nightmare of every man with a family.

In Northern China, where they speak Mandarin, and where family values come first, they say "Xin nian kuai le" (Happy New Year!), with the understanding that happiness is the ultimate goal, not money. People there would give you a weird look if you wish them "Gong xi fa cai" right off the bat without saying happy new year. Could you imagine if, when the clock strikes 12 on New Years people came up to you and said "hey, lots of money to you man!!! I mean LOTS AND LOTS of it!!!"

Well, you get the picture...

As to why some people are sensitive, well, there are always sensitive people. But understand that minorities might be particularly sensitive as they are often discriminated against and racially stereotyped in Hollywood, in the media, and by their colleagues at work. So if you go up to a Chinese person and say "konichiwa!" (which is Japanese), it's almost like men giving you a pinch in the ass (if you are also a guy) because maybe you don't look really masculine and they assume you're gay... again, not necessarily an insult, but frustrating enough. And when you go up to some Chinese-looking person who might be a third generation American and assume that they are Japanese or can even speak Chinese to begin with, you are sort of stereotyping them.

So the lesson is, the best way to wish a Chinese-American that you don't know a Happy New Year, is to pat them on the back and say "Happy New Year!" and not assume anything about them. They may be more American than American Pie and speak English better than you and not know a word of Chinese, so what you are saying to them is, "you look different and you don't belong, so I assume you're a foreigner and not an American even though you might have been here for 3 generations, and my parents just immigrated from Germany 30 years ago..." That would be the only reason why someone might be annoyed.... or even insulted!...

[stealth]

I'm sure someone's clarified already, but here is my version:

First of all, "Chinese" refers to a heterogeneous population. I am commenting on this as a Canadian born person with parents that grew up in Hong Kong and whose origins are from both the North and South parts of China; in other words, I've had a bit of exposure and can see where the confusion is coming from.

First of all, as far as I'm concerned, if something is said with good intentions, I take it as such, and if there is any ignorance, I help people to understand. I would never be offended.

A lot of this has to do with culture and society. "Gong hey fat choy" is Cantonese, and used in Hong Kong, a port city annexed by the British with a cut-throat economy and people living in crowded conditions. If you don't have $$$, then you are, well, in bad shape. Stock market crashes are frequently accompanied by people flinging themselves off buildings, because they cannot put their kids through school, and so their future is destroyed. In this society, the best thing you can wish upon someone in the New Year, is prosperity, hence "gong hey fat choy" (I bestow the wish of prosperity). One of the worst things you can say to someone is to tell them to "pook gai", which means literally to go squirm on the streets (i.e., be a street person), which is the nightmare of every man with a family.

In Northern China, where they speak Mandarin, and where family values come first, they say "Xin nian kuai le" (Happy New Year!), with the understanding that happiness is the ultimate goal, not money. People there would give you a weird look if you wish them "Gong xi fa cai" right off the bat without saying happy new year. Could you imagine if, when the clock strikes 12 on New Years people came up to you and said "hey, lots of money to you man!!! I mean LOTS AND LOTS of it!!!"

Well, you get the picture...

As to why some people are sensitive, well, there are always sensitive people. But understand that minorities might be particularly sensitive as they are often discriminated against and racially stereotyped in Hollywood, in the media, and by their colleagues at work. So if you go up to a Chinese person and say "konichiwa!" (which is Japanese), it's almost like men giving you a pinch in the ass (if you are also a guy) because maybe you don't look really masculine and they assume you're gay... again, not necessarily an insult, but frustrating enough. And when you go up to some Chinese-looking person who might be a third generation American and assume that they are Japanese or can even speak Chinese to begin with, you are sort of stereotyping them.

So the lesson is, the best way to wish a Chinese-American that you don't know a Happy New Year, is to pat them on the back and say "Happy New Year!" and not assume anything about them. They may be more American than American Pie and speak English better than you and not know a word of Chinese, so what you are saying to them is, "you look different and you don't belong, so I assume you're a foreigner and not an American even though you might have been here for 3 generations, and my parents just immigrated from Germany 30 years ago..." That would be the only reason why someone might be annoyed.... or even insulted!...

epic first post!

[Mykester]

so, who cares?

[13sundin]

tho ur post is correct, how do you know that people are saying happy new year ? could they not say gong hai fat choi?