Celebrating Lunar New Year?

Celebrating Lunar New Year?

Lunar New Year is the annual Spring Festival for many countries in Asia and Asian communities around the world. This holiday marks a period of celebration, family time and new beginnings, holding huge cultural significance to those who celebrate. Tied to the lunar calendar, Lunar New Year falls on the first new moon of the Gregorian calendar, which in 2023, is Sunday, January 22.??

At Teleflex, a key focus of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) is building cultural awareness. To learn more about Lunar New Year and how its celebrated, we sat down with Ruby Liu, RAQA Director in China and Chair of our APAC Regional DEI Council, to hear how the APAC Regional DEI Council is creating awareness across Teleflex and helping the company ring in the Lunar New Year.??

Teleflex: Tell us about yourself and your role in Teleflex?

I have been working for Teleflex for about five years as the Director of Regulatory Affairs & Quality Assurance in China. It is also my great honor to be the Chair of the APAC Regional DEI Council. I am working with our country representatives to promote our DEI initiative in 29 countries across the APAC region and to promote DEI throughout Teleflex. Together, we work to create a positive workplace that values DEI.?

Teleflex: How did you become involved in DEI in Teleflex??

To be honest, I just want to serve our employees and support them. As employees, we spend a lot of time at work and with our colleagues, so it is most important to create a positive climate for our company and stay consistent with our Core Values, which put people at the center of everything we do. Because we are a multinational company, we have many diverse employees from different countries, different cultures, who speak different languages and have had different experiences in life. It’s very interesting!??

In APAC, employees come to our APAC DEI Council, if they have questions or want to ask for support. For example, we held several DEI events to support the local ‘Get to know your Neighbors’ program. These events supported the team in becoming more familiar with one another and provided a deeper understanding around why colleagues might have a different opinion – because we come from diverse backgrounds and cultures. Now we have harmonization for all our employees and a very friendly workplace for Teleflex.??

Teleflex: In 2023, Lunar New Year’s Day falls on January 22, marking the start of the Spring Festival for many countries in APAC. What is the significance of Lunar New Year for those who celebrate??

Wow, Lunar New Year is a really big deal for us! Just like certain holidays in western countries, Lunar New Year is important for different countries in APAC. We gather with family and send greeting to each other, sharing best wishes to our friends, our colleagues, and loved ones to celebrate. It’s like the harvest season, we celebrate the success we have achieved in the last year and kick off the new year and next new journey.???

In China, we call it Chinese New Year. However, in other countries in the APAC region, it is referred to as Lunar New Year to acknowledge the many different cultures that celebrate. We have different ways to celebrate based on which country you live in. However, even in China, we are a big country, so people have different ways to celebrate the New Year. For example, I am based in Beijing, in the north part of China. Here we celebrate on the eve before the Lunar New Year. We make dumplings together as a family and have dinner to celebrate the New Year, and we don’t go to sleep until the New Year has come at midnight. We always celebrate with our families. At this celebration, parents and grandparents give red envelopes to the young people of the new generation. These red envelopes traditionally contain money, which brings good luck.??

Outside of China, there are many countries that follow important cultural traditions to celebrate Lunar New Year. In Korea, Lunar New Year (Seollal) is a time for families to gather to pay respect to ancestors and pray for good fortune, before sharing holiday food together such as tteokguk, a traditional rice cake soup. In Singapore, it is tradition for visitors to bring mandarin oranges for their hosts, signifying good fortune and wellbeing.??

Teleflex: As a global company of over 14,000 people, how can we celebrate with our colleagues who are observing the upcoming Lunar New Year??

When you meet colleagues during the Lunar New Year, you can say Happy New Year. You can also hang some traditional decorations in the office that represent the unique cultures of your colleagues Chinese red lanterns or Vietnamese haomai flowers. In the US, there are lots of people who celebrate Lunar New Year and introduce their culture to the local population so you might see some fireworks there to celebrate also.??

Lunar New Year is a time to celebrate family, prosperity, and good fortune for many people and cultures. By acknowledging and joining these celebrations, we can all embrace our different cultures together and continue to build our inclusive culture in Teleflex.?