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58th Chinese National Day Celebration Dinner

On Monday 1st October FCAM organised a dinner at Ocean Treasure Seafood Restaurant to celebrate the 58th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China. The master of ceremony opened the gala evening by warmly welcoming the 200 strong guests who then stood up in deference to the broadcasting of the Chinese and British anthems. Afterwards a golden lion blessed the party and every guest by dancing to the upbeat rhythm of strong drumbeats and loud cymbals. Mr. Lee MBE, Vice Chairman FCAM then made his opening speech.

The moonlight glistens in front of my bed.
I thought it was the frost on the ground.
I lift my gaze to view the shimmering moon,
Then lower my head, and miss my homeland

Mr Li quoted the famous Chinese poet Li Bai's poem 'Quiet Night Thoughts' to lament his homesickness as an overseas Chinese. Every year the Chinese National Day celebration is close to the day of the Mid-Autumn Festival, the fifteenth day of the eighth month in the Lunar Calendar, when all walks of Chinese by tradition celebrate the full moon in this evening with their family and loved ones. He however stressed that on this 58th anniversary he also felt proud to have his root as a Chinese because although PRC was born out of abject poverty she had achieved since then building the Three Gorge Dam, detonating two H-Bomb test explosions and launching the Shenzhou spacecraft into the space not to mention successfully bidding for the Olympics to be held in Beijing next year.

Mr Li's sentiment was fully empathized by the Chinese Consul-General of Manchester, Mr Jianzhong Gong who added that China was now the world's number one exporting country commanding a pivotal position in the world's political and economic arenas. Mr Gong told the audience that China's strength was built not least by the strong links between Chinese overseas and in the country. He took this opportunity to sincerely thank the Chinese in UK for their substantial contributions over the years to their motherland and towards bridging the Sino-British trade, cultural enrichment and friendship.

The new Mayor of Manchester, Cllr Glynn Evans had just returned from a trip to China. In his speech he related to how amazed he was by what he saw. In spite of the short visit he had gained a completely new insight into China and hence about Chinese in UK. He had begun to realize the Chinese were rightly a people of excellence and respectability.

The evening's ensemble entertainments were put together by several Chinese schools in Manchester. Huaxia Chinese School‘s 'Olympic Mascots' played magical arrangements with the five coloured rings, and in their other performance 'The Steppe is my homeland' two lovely girls dressed in ethnic native outfit danced away to the free and joyful folk music mesmerised the hundreds of guests with their passionate and liberated nomadic spirits. Kiu Luen Sharr performed 'China Dolls' in chic style; the dancers' cute fascinators and stylish red Chinese corsets already delightfully attracted the audience, their acrobatic dance routines won them thunderous applauses from the floor. The youngest dancer was a six year old Xian Ting Jian. She had only been enrolled for a month in the Chinese school. Her achievement was an award to the great efforts of her parents and the school. Kiu Luen Sharr teachers had also performed another number 'Dance to the music'. Their performance was highly and widely commended.

After the engaging performances delicious food were served. At the same time three charming ladies, Kwan, Emily and Elaine, all of Queens of karaoke fame continued to provide highly entertaining renditions. They then invited Ms Lai Kum Liang, the former manageress of Bank of China, who was also the first generation Chinese Language tutor and the first to use her beautiful singing in mandarin to teach the language and invoke the patriotism of the UK Chinese well before the advent of the karaoke era, to sing on stage. Ms Liang gracefully accepted the invitation and sang a class song 'Liu Yang River' Then, it was a duets with Mr and Mrs Chan and received great accolade from the floor. Guests and teachers of Shuman International Education Centre also sang one of the well-loved Chinese songs 'The Same Song'. After a few rounds even the Mayor of Manchester broke ranks and sang with Mrs Chan the classic 'unchanged melody', not exactly the Righteous Brothers but nonetheless a plausible performance. He was the first mayor ever to sing in public and his courage and geniality are commendable and a role model. Following the footstep of the Mayor Master Chu's student John Ferral revealed his true colours by the song 'Brown Eyes Girl' We all know John can bend a spear with his throat but a crooner…...Manchester got talent!

It was a very joyful evening with most of the prominent Chinese Community leaders in Manchester and North West Region present and besides the aforementioned performing associations and sponsors we also saw The Chinese Women Association, Chinese Health Information Centre, Tung Sing Housing Association, Alan Printing Co, Bank of China, China Insurance, Wing Fat Hong, Chi Yip Group, Master Chu Martial Arts School, Wu Kau Tang Overseas Association and UK Guangzhou Association and Manchester Culture Centre.

The raffle draw was the final act with the usual luxurious prizes such as home appliances, dinner and shopping vouchers. Prizes were so plentiful almost everybody won something. Both Mrs Consul-General and Mayoress of Manchester got lucky as well. The second prize was £200 cash sponsored by the North West Chinese Council and the grand prize £300 cash which went to Mr Cheung Kam Chuen. He had already won a few prizes on the night so when he went upstage to claim his grand prize the audience playfully booed him. Mr Cheung without hesitation declared to donate the £300.00 to the Chinese School. His spontaneous generosity earned him applause that brought down the house and also drew the curtain on the evening.



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