Back in January, Todd Wong was interviewed by Eric Model for “Conversations on the Road.” Model describes his show as “journeys into the offbeat, off the beaten path, overlooked and the forgotten.”
“And today most appropriately takes us into the category of offbeat. And today's journey we go to Vancouver and we are discussing and event called 'Gung Haggis Fat Choy.'”
It's a very interesting 21 minute and 38 second pod cast with a stimulating conversation about the origins of Gung Haggis Fat Choy, early Chinese and Scottish pioneers in the late 1800's, racism, cultural traditions, inter-racial marriage, and the Canadian explorer Simon Fraser who was actually born in Vermont.
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Gung Haggis Fat Choy – A Unique Scottish-Chinese Cultural Celebration
Gung
Haggis Fat Choy is a cultural event originating from Vancouver, BC. The
name Gung Haggis Fat Choy is a combination wordplay on Scottish and
Chinese words: haggis is a traditional Scottish food and Gung Hay Fat
Choy/Kung Hei Fat Choi s a traditional Cantonese greeting (in Mandarin
it is pronounced Gong Xi Fa Cai) used during Chinese New Year. The
event originated to mark the timely coincidence of the Scottish
cultural celebration of Robert Burns Day (January 25) with the Chinese
New Year, but has come to represent a celebration of combining cultures
in untraditional ways.
In Vancouver, the event is characterized by music, poetry, and other
performances around the city, culminating in a large banquet and party.
This unique event has also inspired both a television performance
special titled Gung Haggis Fat Choy, and the Gung Haggis Fat Choy
Canadian Games, organized by the Recreation Department at Simon Fraser
University.
In this conversation, we speak with event founder and spearhead Todd
Wong. He tells us how it got started, and what it has come to represent
around Vancouver and far beyond.
