Jakartass Home thoughts from abroad. Alien thoughts from home.

This is the traditional greeting at the start of the Chinese New Year, the Spring Festival welcoming the end of Winter.

“Congratulations” for surviving a non-existent winter in Indonesia seems incongruous, and if “be prosperous” is a wish that the recipient should get a lot of money, then that seems inappropriate given the inequalities that money brings.

If, however, the greeting can mean that one hopes that recipients will have a successful year in terms of doing good for the community at large by not exploiting anyone and thus achieving good karma, then that is what I wish for the many students and colleagues who are celebrating today.