By Cynthia Koons
The Lunar New Year comprises late-night dinners, weekend parades and religious traditions that inevitably get in the way of Asian students' education, according to Meng (D-Flushing).So Meng is proposing the New York state Legislature make the Lunar New Year, which fell on Feb. 9 this year, a day off from school across the state.”Currently students who celebrate the Lunar New Year need to bring a note (to school),” he said. “The Asian population represents a significant part of the New York population – we need to be recognized.”Other religious holidays, such as Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur, both Jewish observances, and Christmas and Good Friday, both of the Christian faith, are honored with days off or vacations on the school calendar.Meng believes Asian children deserve the same reprieve from their studies when the Lunar New Year, the biggest holiday on the Chinese calendar, arrives.”This bill is landmark legislation,” Councilman John Liu (D-Flushing) said at a news conference on the steps of the Flushing Post Office last Thursday. “The Lunar New Year is a vital holiday. It's when families get together for the entire day. It's not a one-night affair, it carries on for two weeks before and two weeks after.”Liu believes this bill will pay recognition to Asians' cultural, political and economic contributions to New York state. From here, the bill will have to be passed in committee before going to the full Assembly and Senate floors for a vote. Then Gov. George Pataki would have to sign the legislation into law.Meng, who was sworn in just last month, is the first Asian elected to the state Assembly. This is the first bill he is introducing.He said his colleagues in Albany seem to agree with his sentiments.”The Asian community has contributed so much to this community,” he said, adding that the Lunar New Year is celebrated not only in China but in India, Indonesia, Thailand, Cambodia and Korea as well.His daughter, Grace Meng, said her family always hosted late-night dinners before the Lunar New Year in their home.”Even when we were really young we'd stay up until 1, 2 o'clock,” she said.Other families participate in an ancestral worship, a Buddhist custom where followers give recognition to their forefathers by visiting a temple and offering food, Sandra Ung, a representative of Meng's, said.”The Lunar New Year is celebrated by more than a quarter percent of the population worldwide,” Peter Koo, president of the Flushing Chinese Business Association, said. “We have big dinners at home and my daughter always said, 'Daddy, do we have to go to school tomorrow?'”Reach reporter Cynthia Koons by e-mail at news@timesledger.com or call 718-229-0300, Ext. 141.
