The Chinese Association (TCA) hosted its annual Chinese New Year and Lantern Festival celebrations on February 12.
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The last time the Chinese community publicly celebrated this event was in 2019, marking this occasion a historic one.
“With the number of infections decreasing dramatically over the last few weeks and with the South African government lowering all Covid restrictions and allowing more public events, our committee deliberated as to how we could celebrate the Chinese New Year,” said Erwin Pon, chairperson of TCA.
Sacred Heart College was the ideal outdoor venue that could easily host a few thousand people, limiting it to 25% of the maximum capacity.
Everyone that attended had to register on an electronic system that issued them with tickets and all strict Covid protocols were implemented during the event.
Executive assistant and main coordinator for the TCA Chinese New Year’s celebrations Paulette Leong said the demand for tickets for the event was incredible. In just a week, all the tickets were sold out.
The event boasted more than 25 stalls. There was a variety of food on sale from noodles and rice to drinks and bubble tea to name a few.
There was more than four hours of live entertainment and with so many performers, from Lion and Dragon dancing to belly dancers and singers.
The highlight of the evening was a spectacular fireworks display by Starburst Pyrotechnics.
The event was also attended by community leaders and speeches were delivered by Heather Blanckensee, the head of Sacred Heart College, Michael Sun, the MMC in Johannesburg for Environment Infrastructure, Sello Hatang, the CEO of the Nelson Mandela Foundation, and TCA’s Erwin Pon.
In her address, Blanckensee mentioned that the school had a long history with the Chinese community, with their very first Chinese student attending the school in 1933.
Sun thanked the Chinese community and brought Chinese New Year wishes from the mayor of Johannesburg, Dr Mpho Phalatse.
Hatang thanked the Chinese community and the TCA for supporting their food fund-raising drive and hoped to continue the partnership with the community into the future.
“This year was such a wonderful event. It has been such a long time since we were able to all get together in a safe and secure environment.
“There was plenty of space to social distance and it was so nice to see that everyone was able to comfortably enjoy themselves and savour in the long-missed celebrations,” said Shirleen Man, the chairperson for the TCA Women’s Federation.
One of the other highlights of the event was the handing out of the TCA University Bursary Awards and PK Pon Best Matric Awards to the most outstanding Chinese students in South Africa.
This year there were two awards presented to the 2020 and 2021 best matric learners.
The winner for 2020 was Andi Qu from St John College who achieved an average of 96.5% and eight distinctions.
The winner of the 2021 Best Matriculant Award was Yi Lou of St Peters College who achieved an average of 97% and eight distinctions.
The winners of the Best Matriculant Awards each received R20 000 sponsored by the Pon family, represented by Pon Ng Sui Chee, aged 109.
“I am so happy to be a part of such a wonderful celebration and to see everyone here. I wish the matriculants all the best for their future and I wish everyone here a very happy new year, good health and prosperity,” Pon said during the handover.
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