New Westminster mother asks neighbourhood to join in on Lunar New Year celebrations
Posted January 27, 2021 7:44 pm.
Last Updated January 28, 2021 1:36 am.
NEW WESTMINSTER (CityNews) — Dozens of homes in New Westminster have been decked out with Lunar New Year decorations thanks to one family that inspired the entire neighbourhood to take part.
Intending to raise her two young children to be excited about their own culture, Chinese-Canadian mother, Elaine Su, has sent out letters to her neighbours explaining the Chinese Lunar New Year and asking them to decorate their homes.
“Even though the Lunar New Year is a big celebration in our house, it’s not going to seem equivalent to him if he doesn’t feel like everyone around him is also celebrating and it’s just there’s just something missing,” Su tells CityNews.
She even offered to provide the decor for free and deliver it.
“I think it’s important to recognize diversity. What I wanted for my son and my daughter was just to feel like their culture and their identity was a valued and important part of the community in a way that wasn’t tokenistic, in a way that wasn’t othering.”
Now, doors in the Sapperton neighbourhood leading up to Chinese Lunar New Year are covered in cultural decorations.
“I think everybody understands that feeling of wanting to feel belonging and wanting to feel community and kind of bust through that community, or that social isolation that we’ve all kind of been dealing with. So I think it was kind of like the right time, right place.”
Dozens of homes in New Westminster’s Sapperton area were adorned with Lunar New Year decorations, provided by a local mother who wanted the community to celebrate with her family (Courtesy Elaine Su)
So far, about 60 homes have decorated their doors with more requests still rolling in.
“A wonderful thing to hear is from so many other parents who talked about the struggle of raising intercultural and multicultural multiracial families. It’s really hard parenting in general and parenting when you have such complex facets to it. It’s so much so I felt, I’ve had so many parents reach out to me in recent days just with their own stories and saying that I’ve given them kind of ideas and inspiration to or ways that they can do this for their children.”
In the future, Su is hopeful other people will also be encouraged to share their cultural celebrations.
“Let’s try and celebrate as much as we can for as many people as we can. That’s kind of the first foundational step to working towards the kind of the future we want to see.”
This year’s Lunar New Year falls on Feb. 12.
