“If you’re not Chinese and have no ties to the culture and you’re sexualising, commodifying or representing it wrong, that can be disrespectful,” shares my same journalist friend. “For example: To see a group of people (none of them Asian) claiming to celebrate Chinese New Year in a room with red lanterns opening fortune cookies can feel like the holiday and its deep-rooted traditions is being co-opted for capital gain or reduced to superficial stereotypes.”
Just because anyone can throw a CNY party, doesn’t mean everyone should. I had always wanted to attend an Indian wedding, having long admired their grandeur from afar, but I would never have an Indian wedding if neither my husband nor myself are Indian. I’d wait for an Indian bride or groom to invite me.
Zing Tsieng, Singaporean author and former Editor-in-Chief of Vice, tells me she’s also seen a lot more content around the Year of the Fire Horse compared to past years, particularly from non-Asian content creators. “A lot of the Chinese zodiac information I’ve seen feels ill-informed, vague or just downright wrong – like someone just scraped the first page of Google for the sake of hopping on the bandwagon,” she says. “Chinamaxxing memes function in the same way – they’re a superficial engagement with Chinese culture without any understanding of the nuance or complexity of the differing identities that exist within [the culture].” Chinese New Year traditions go beyond wearing red or hanging calligraphy on walls, they are inextricable from centuries-old philosophies and ancestral practice. The fear is that it will be turned into yet another commercialised date on the marketing calendar, like Valentine’s Day.
Skepticism is the best way to summarise how many feel about the world’s sudden adoption of the Chinese way of life. Is it sincere? Will it last? Or is this just a shiny, slipper-wearing toy that will be discarded tomorrow? The line between appreciation and appropriation lies in what happens next. Will those self-proclaimed “Chinese Baddies” actually support the OG Chinese Baddies?
“Appreciation involves context, credit and community,” says Ed, who has produced several of the most high-profile events this CNY with a Robert Wun x Johnnie Walker dinner and Peninsula Hotel’s annual bash. He’s expressed frustration at the difficulty of garnering meaningful media coverage of the community activations during this time that goes beyond product-led messaging (ie: a list of red handbags to shop). “Appropriation extracts the aesthetic, monetises it, and moves on when the algorithm does. The people posting these videos are probably purchasing the ingredients from Tesco and not giving back to their local Asian supermarkets that are struggling to stay afloat. There’s a difference between consuming culture and sustaining the communities behind it.”
This means where possible, invest in local Asian communities, sponsor cultural events, involve Asian creatives in your projects, or simply engage with your friendly neighbourhood Asians to get their take on their traditions before blindly co-opting them as your own. Maybe, then maybe, this will be a step towards true allyship. For now, I’ll settle for hot water being served at my next meal.