Work With Vietnamese
  • Cultural Literacy
    • Who is Ms. Nguyen?
    • How old are you?
    • When it's time for siesta...
    • To hear what isn't said
    • Tet = Christmas + New Year
    • Smart casual? What does it mean?
    • Rubber time
    • We request the honor of your presence...
    • Where Midas is welcome
    • From outings to the company trip
    • The rising rainbow flag
    • Song of a thousand honks
    • To bribe or not to bribe…
    • It's more than just money
    • The six dimensions of Vietnamese culture
    • Good luck, bad luck
    • The ugly Vietnamese
  • For Employers
  • Author

vietnam cultural literacy

Tet = Christmas + New Year

One interesting thing to note here is that Christmas is not a public holiday in Vietnam, mainly because Vietnam is officially an atheist country with only 6.7% of its population are Catholics. January 1st, however, is still a public holiday but it is not considered as the New Year holiday in Vietnam. The traditional New Year holiday in Vietnam follows the lunar calendar, which varies from year to year but is usually around the end of January and the beginning of February. Basically, Vietnamese New Year and Chinese New Year are the same but we have a local name for it: Tet. Due to the historical tension between Vietnam and China, Vietnamese people prefer the usage of “Tet” or “Lunar New Year” for our traditional New Year holiday.

Like Christmas in Western culture, Tet is the biggest public holiday in Vietnam. The official holiday is only one week (5 working days) but most people also use their annual leave (usually one more week) on this occasion to enjoy the holiday. Tet is the traditional time for family reunification when tens of millions of people travel back to their hometowns from big cities, all at the same time. So if you plan to travel to (or within) Vietnam during this period, be prepared that tickets for all means of transportation are more expensive than normal or even worse, have been sold out. Most shops and restaurants are closed during this holiday, making it not a good time to be a tourist in Vietnam, unless you stay with a local friend.
Picture
Traveling in Vietnam during Tet can be tough
To many Vietnamese, Tet is a sacred time for family so if it is considered to be very unreasonable to ask a Vietnamese staff to work overtime during Tet. This is equivalent to requesting a Christian Westerner to work overtime on Christmas Eve. So please bear that in mind when you work with Vietnamese.
Picture
Tet is a sacred time for family reunification in Vietnam
Including Tet, Vietnam has a total of 10 days of public holiday per year:
  • International New Year:  January 1st
  • Vietnamese New Year (Tet): 5 days, around the end of January and the beginning of February
  • Hung King’s Commemoration Day: March 10th in Lunar calendar
  • Liberation / Reunification Day: April 30th
  • International Labor Day: May 1st
  • National Day: September 2nd 

Another interesting thing to note here is that most Vietnamese staff usually don’t save and spend all their annual leave at once on a long vacation. Instead, they take several short vacations during the year.
Picture
Picture
People come back to their hometown during Tet, leaving the city empty
Previous
Next
Picture

Key takeaways

  • Vietnamese celebrate their new year basing on the lunar calendar. So basically Vietnamese and Chinese celebrate their new year on the same day.
  • Vietnamese New Year is called "Tet", which is the biggest holiday of the country.
  • Tet is a sacred time for family.
  • Vietnamese employees have 10 days of public holiday per year.

More to read...

  1. Who is Ms. Nguyen?
  2. How old are you?
  3. When it's time for siesta...
  4. To hear what isn't said
  5. Tet = Christmas + New Year
  6. Smart casual? What does it mean?
  7. Rubber time
  8. We request the honor of your presence...
  9. Do you want to relax, Sir?
  10. Where Midas is welcome
  11. From outings to the company trip
  12. The rising rainbow flag
  13. Song of a thousand honks
  14. To bribe or not to bribe...
  15. It is more than just money...
  16. The six dimensions of Vietnamese culture
  17. Good luck, bad luck
  18. The ugly Vietnamese
Proudly powered by Weebly
  • Cultural Literacy
    • Who is Ms. Nguyen?
    • How old are you?
    • When it's time for siesta...
    • To hear what isn't said
    • Tet = Christmas + New Year
    • Smart casual? What does it mean?
    • Rubber time
    • We request the honor of your presence...
    • Where Midas is welcome
    • From outings to the company trip
    • The rising rainbow flag
    • Song of a thousand honks
    • To bribe or not to bribe…
    • It's more than just money
    • The six dimensions of Vietnamese culture
    • Good luck, bad luck
    • The ugly Vietnamese
  • For Employers
  • Author