Should it be Chinese New Year? NTU slammed over 'Lunar New Year' email invite
An email invite from Nanyang Technological University (NTU) has drawn criticism for using the term "Lunar New Year", with some netizens arguing that it should really be "Chinese New Year".
In a Feb 3 post on Chinese social media app Xiaohongshu, user @CRISPYC shared a screenshot of the email, which purportedly showed an invitation from NTU's Director of Student Affairs to a two-day "Lunar New Year Celebration" on Feb 9 and 10, organised by the NTU Chinese Society.
The society's Instagram page also shows posters advertising the event.
In the Xiaohongshu post titled "Lunar New Year, NTU, are you serious?", the user criticised the choice of terminology. "The term Lunar New Year is entirely inaccurate, because the new year is not entirely based on the lunar calendar system."
The user also remarked that netizens were "pretending to be relaxed and indifferent" while commenting on the issue.
A similar Xiaohongshu post, which was circulated on Reddit, also criticised the NTU email invitation to the "Lunar New Year party".
Debates over the appropriate terminology for the New Year are a perennial affair. In 2023, a display in NTU was vandalised, with the word "Lunar" replaced by "Chinese".
Popular Chinese bubble tea brand Chagee also came under fire for using "Lunar New Year" in an Instagram post a week before the festival in 2025.
'Chinese New Year' is more common: Netizens
Netizens commenting on the original Xiaohongshu post expressed indignation over what they felt was a misuse of the term. Several said it was a recurring issue, while some felt "Chinese New Year" was more commonly used among Singaporeans.
"Strictly speaking 'Lunar New Year' is the internationally accepted term and is not intended to rename or misappropriate Chinese culture," one user pointed out.
Commenters on Reddit agreed that the two terms were often used interchangeably, with some describing those upset by the wording as "fragile" and "sensitive".
"I always thought LNY and CNY are the same. Turns out people outside of Singapore think differently," one netizen mused.
Stomp has reached out to NTU, NTU Chinese Society, and CRISPYC for comment.
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