Source: The Honolulu Star-Bulletin. Honolulu: Thursday, February 7, 1929.
Observance Here Will Be An Echo of That in Oriental Country Itself: Good Food, Good Clothing and Good Luck Are the Important Items of the Period
Saturday will start the older generation Chinese celebrating the Chinese new year for 15 consecutive days. Beginning with Neen-cho-yet, of New Year’s Day, the days run Neen-cho-nyee, som, see, ng, look, stat, pat, to conclude with tsum-ng or the 15th day of the festivity.
On neen-cho-yet, it is the custom for the male members of the family to call on friends and exchange greetings and seasonal sweetmeats as well as to give children of friends little red paper bags of money varying from 15 cents to $20 or even more, depending on the wish of the giver.
Of course, the Chinese believe that good food is next to godliness and they eat whenever the occasion provides; that is why there are so many festivals in the Chinese lunar cycle.
And clothes, too, and important at new year time. All the children will wear their pretty new dresses and suits, the little girls will brighten their hair with red cords or ribbons.
Everything that is successfully accomplished on the first day of the year will bring good luck to the doer, but if anything goes amiss bad luck will trail the victim throughout the year. For this reason New Year’s Day is a day to rest to the Chinese.
The celebration in Honolulu is usually an echo of that which is yearly observed in China.
The Chinese new year has given the industrious members of the Yang Chang Chinese girls club of the University of Hawaii a practical idea for raising a fund in behalf of the Palolo home for old Chinese. Puffed rice cakes provide the means for securing the necessary funds.
More than $16 has been realized from the sale of the cakes, put up in individual bags, on the campus, according to Miss Amy Ing, president of the club, and about $35 has been received from larger orders that are coming in so fast that difficulty is experienced in filling them. As a result, selling of individual paper bags, which require much time, has been discontinued on the campus, and the attention of the girls is turned to filling the larger orders. A large sum of money is expected to be realized in a few days.
Miss Ing announces that she will receive orders over the telephone 77048.
The proceeds from the sale of the puffed rice cakes will be turned over to the Palolo home to give the inmates a happy new year dinner.
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