February Love Month, Ash Wednesday and Gong Hei Fat Choi

By: Veronica Leighton

 

February is just the second month in the calendar, yet it feels like we are breezing through the whole year so fast as we feel the sudden change in the Chicago weather, from snowfalls to rainfalls. Don’t you think so? We celebrated this Love Month together with the religious Ash Wednesday occasion this year, the start of the Lent Season, for us Christians.

Now, as we go to press, the traditional celebration of the Chinese Lunar New Year has started its month-long celebration. Gong Hei Fat Choi (Congratulations and Be Prosperous, literal translation, not really Happy New Year). It is actually an idiom in many Chinese dialects, mainly of Mandarin, and the literal meaning translates to Lucky Work, Good Pay, figuratively meaning Good fortune, come your way with many Chinese.

So, for this traditional occasion and to enlighten our viewers about Chinese Lunar New Year, I thought of interviewing on CPRTV our Chinese TV editor, Zeqi Guo, to tell us about some beliefs, superstitions, family parties and get-togethers, associated with lunar new year and good tips and advice on how to celebrate it right like how real Chinese would do it. Please watch the Chicago Philippine Reports TV on Chicago Cable 25 every Sunday, from 3 to 4PM, with repeat broadcasts on weekdays, except Monday. CPRTV is Via Times’ sister broad-cast company.

From the CPRTV family, we tried to keep up and do our broadcasting work every week as we just cannot stop the camera grind as the show must go on (despite a long illness that struck our producer/ director Joe Mauricio, who is still confined in the hospital as of this February deadline). There are some shooting days that we find ourselves just all women executing the tasks. We can call it, WOMEN POWER! Thanks to the wonderful ladies of CPRTV, Zeqi Guo, Lou Cabalona, Jovie Calma and Veronica Mendoza, new local news reporter. Anchor Girlie Pascual and Health Matters Host Melody Rabor-Dizon were spending their vacay galore in the Philippines. And, of course, Entertainment Host Nick Vera Perez (the only remaining man in the group), does not fail to send in his weekly video entertainment contributions.

Through sickness and in health, we are here to serve you. This February issue is full of love, and we are sending our sincere wishes of gong hei fat choi, for good luck and prosperity for everyone.

Enjoy reading your favorite columnists’ articles, as we never fail to cover and bring to you the latest and most exciting activities and events in our community, from local to national events, from athletics to politics. ##

CPRTV editor Zeqi Guo, doing an interview with Veronica about Chinese Lunar New Year.

CPRTV’s Women Power Lou Cabalona, Veronica and Jovie Calma with interview guest Sean Worthington, CEO of Cloudcoin. Not in photo are Veronica Mendoza, Girlie Pascual and Melody Rabor-Dizon.

Sending his love from his hospital bed to our VT readers and CPRTV viewers, Joe Mauricio, VT columnist and editorialist and CPRTV producer/director.