Among the many festivals in multiethnic, multicultural and multireligious Malaysia, where I come from, we celebrate Eid, Diwali, Christmas and Chinese New Year – all are national holidays, too.
With Chinese making up the second largest ethnic group in the country, Chinese New Year celebrations are extremely colourful and joyous, and the festivities continue for days. They’re very much a family affair, too, with ang paus – red envelopes containing gifts of money – distributed by senior and married family members to all siblings, relatives and friends.
Another important tradition is the lion dance, the a demonstration of artistic and acrobatic skill which mimic the lion’s movements in that iconic costume, accompanied by drums, cymbals and gongs. The symbolic ceremony is meant to scare away evil spirits and summon good luck and fortune. In Malaysia, the lion dance is extremely popular, and many world championships have taken place there, thanks to the efforts, initiative and enthusiasm of the local Chinese community.
During my student days in Dublin, we used to celebrate Chinese New Year with a ‘food fair’ organised by the Malaysian Students Association in Eire at Malaysia Hall, our student residence in Ranelagh, where students with culinary skills set up stalls displaying and selling their specialities. It was always a very busy Saturday. I remember one year in 1982, we had more than 300 visitors, many of whom were foreign students and nationals, including our many Irish colleagues. It was also a consolation for many of us who were missing home, family and friends.
Years later, when I had a Chinese restaurant in Blackrock in 1992, the year of the monkey, I was involved in organising a Chinese New Year’s Eve party with a Malaysian friend, Andrew Phang, at a club on Dublin’s Leeson Street. We attracted around 300 guests who parties into the early hours. I was very proud of this achievement an appreciated the contributions and help from the Chinese community. It often brings me fond memories.
Today, Chinese New Year in Dublin is a much bigger occasion. Indeed, last week Lord Mayor Andrew Montague joined China’s Ambassador to Ireland Lupo Linquan to say goodbye to the Year of the Rabbit and welcome the Year of the Dragon and kick off the Chinese New Year Festival and Carnival. A specially commissioned ‘Irish dragon’ in green, white and orange made its way all the way from Hong Kong to perform a dragon dance to mark the festivities.
According to the Chinese Zodiac, the dragon is magnanimous, free spirited, self-assured, noble, dignified, pioneering, intellectual and passionate. But it is also very stubborn, arrogant, violent and fiery, so watch out!
The festival itself – ¬organised by Dublin City Council and the Temple Bar Cultural Trust – is supported by the Asia Market, whose proprietor Howard Pau is an old time friend of mine; indeed, I’ve known him for as long as I’ve been here. He used to supply us in Malaysia Hall and also my restaurant with authentic gourmet Asian food supplies. It was not easy to access many fresh Asian ingredients then, unlike today. How he has a thriving family business, and with his good wife Helen has worked very hard over the years. They have always been very committed, generous and charitable to the ethnic communities in more ways than one. Their daughter Eva has also given time to the festival.
Thinking of the Pau family’s contributions highlights that diversity is healthy and should not be feared. Fear eventually subsides, doesn’t it? To be inclusive, we must participate. It is always a joy to be involved with the different communities here, sharing and caring – they are all virtues.
Logan Raju is a Malaysian-Indian entrepreneur living in Ireland for 30 years.
