Gung Haggis Fat Choy
Encyclopedia
Gung Haggis Fat Choy is a cultural event originating from Vancouver
, British Columbia
, Canada
. 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 is 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 CBC
television performance special titled Gung Haggis Fat Choy,
and the Gung Haggis Fat Choy Festival, organized by the Recreation Department at Simon Fraser University.
student Todd Wong was asked to help out with the University's annual Robbie Burns celebrations. Wong, a 5th generation Canadian, quickly learned about Scottish-Canadian culture with its traditions of men wearing kilts, carrying swords, playing bagpipes
and eating exotic foods. In 1993, the Chinese Lunar New Year fell on January 27, only two days away from Robbie Burns Day, which is always January 25 in celebration of the Scottish Bard's birthday. "Gung Haggis Fat Choy!" said Wong, "I can celebrate two cultures at the same time." And thus was born the persona of "Toddish McWong" with his growing appreciation of Scottish Canadian history and culture.
In 1998, Wong hosted the first Gung Haggis Fat Choy Robbie Burns Chinese New Year Dinner as a private dinner party for 16 friends. In 1999, the first public Gung Haggis Fat Choy dinner was created as a fundraiser for the dragon boat team. Forty people attended.
: Best Music, Comedy or Variety Program or Series (Moyra Rodger); and Best Direction in a Music, Comedy or Variety Program or Series (Moyra Rodger/Ken Stewart).
It featured music and dance performances by:
It also described the origins of Toddish McWong and Gung Haggis Fat Choy and included mini features on Robbie Burns, Chinese New Year and haggis. The special was produced by Moyra Rodger of Out to See Entertainment, and nominated for two Leo Awards, Best Direction and Best musical/variety program.
By 2005, the event had grown to a fundraising dinner serving 570 people, and co-hosted by Shelagh Rogers
- the host of CBC Radio's "Sounds Like Canada
" morning flagship show. The dinner event featured Asian Canadian poetry by author Fred Wah
, singalongs of Scottish songs such as Scotland the Brave
and Auld Lang Syne
, plus new twists such as "When Asian Eyes are Smiling." Highland dancing was performed by champion dancers Vincent and Cameron Collins. Traditional haggis
is served as well as deep-fried haggis won ton, and haggis lettuce wrap.
2005 also saw the start of the SFU Gung Haggis Fat Choy Festival when the Simon Fraser University Recreation department wanted to create a student-oriented event to help kick-off the Winter Semester. Since SFU always celebrates Robbie Burns Day in January, the Recreation Department invited Todd Wong, SFU Alumni, to help them create a fun event that would be of interest to the large Asian student population. Todd invented the "Dragon Boat Cart", based on dragon boat racing. Six students "paddle" a dragon cart across SFU's Convocation Mall, while a seventh student steers the cart. In 2007, a new event was added: "Human Curling."
In 2007 the first Seattle Gung Haggis Fat Choy dinner was held in Seattle, Washington, organized by the Caledonian and St. Andrew's Society of Seattle. These dinners have been emceed by Toddish McWong, and have featured vivid Seattle talent from the local Chinese and Scottish communities including in 2008: author Lensey Namioka
, North West Junior Pipe Band, David Leong’s Martial Arts & Lion Dance School, Washington Chinese Youth Orchestra, Red McWilliams "America's Celt", Susan Burk teamed Cape Breton fiddling with Highland bagpiper Don Scobie http://www.BagpiperDon.com/, and percussionist Ben Rudd.
A 2007 CBC documentary film Generations: The Chan Legacy, included film footage and interviews of the Gung Haggis Fat Choy dinner event. The documentary is Chinese Canadian history is told through the lives of Rev. Chan Yu Tan, a minister for the Chinese United Church, and five generations of his family descendants, including great-great-grandson Todd Wong. Film clips also featured an interview with Peter Mansbridge, host of CBC TV's The National, and Japanese-Canadian author Joy Kogawa, as Wong was instrumental in helping to save Kogawa's childhood home from demolition.
http://www.cbclearning.ca/CBCEDS/shopping/product.aspx?CatalogName=CBCEDSBase&CategoryName=canadian_history_all_canadian_history_titles&Product_ID=NWD-07-01&Variant_ID=NWD-07-01-010101
In 2008, wider recognition of Gung Haggis Fat Choy and "Toddish McWong" spread to other cultural events. The 2008 Celtic Fest in Vancouver featured - as a poetic showdown between Scottish poet (Robbie Burns), Irish poet (William Butler Yeats) and Welsh poet (Dylan Thomas). Wong played Burns, while actors Damon Calderwood played Thomas, and Mark Downey played Yeats.
Wong was called to Victoria's Government House
in April 2008, to receive the 2008 BC Community Achievement Award presented by BC Premier Gordon Campbell and Lt. Governor Steven Point
. Todd Wong was honoured for his devotion to community service, building bridges and cross-cultural understanding, and acknowledged as the creator of Gung Haggis Fat Choy.
The Royal BC Museum recognized Gung Haggis Fat Choy in 2008, as part of the Free Spirit
exhibit celebrating the province's 150 years of history. A picture from the 2008 Gung Haggis Fat Choy dinner was included in an exhibition of food through BC's history. In August 2008, Todd Wong was voted in to
as one of 150 of BC's most interesting people, joining such colourful historical figures as James Douglas
the first governor of BC, and David Lam
, BC's first Lt. Governor of Chinese ancestry.
January 25, 2009 marks the convergence of the 250th anniversary of the birth of Robert Burns and Chinese New Year's Eve.
The Gung Haggis Fat Choy Robbie Burns Chinese New Year's Eve dinner will take place on Sunday, January 25, 2009, when the Year of the Ox begins on January 26.
The next convergence of Robbie Burns Day and Chinese New Year's will be in 2020, when The Year of Rat lands on January 25, the 261st birthday of Robert Burns.
news, Ming Pao
, CBC radio and television, The Scotsman
.com and BBC Radio Scotland
. He has appeared on cooking shows such as City TV's "City Cooks" with host Simi Sara, and BBC Radio's "Scotland Licked" and "The Radio Cafe."
For Homecoming Year Scotland, a picture of Todd Wong dressed in "Gung Haggis Fat Choy" costume (kilt and Chinese Lion mask) was featured in a traveling photo exhibition titled "This Is Who We Are: Scots in Canada"http://www.thisiswhoweare.com/?page_id=314. The project traveled all over Scotland, and finished with a special closing night reception at Scottish Parliament, attended by Todd Wong. Project organizer Harry McGrath was able to introduce Wong to Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond.
http://www.gunghaggis.com/blog/_archives/2009/12/1/4394660.html
team is dedicated to fun and multiculturalism and hosts the Gung Haggis Fat Choy Robbie Burns Chinese New Year Dinner event, and is coached by GHFC organizer Todd Wong. The dinner event started as a fundraiser for the dragon boat team, and has expanded to include other non-profit causes which organizer Todd Wong is involved in. The team competes at Dragon boat
races and festivals in BC, Washington and Oregon. The GHFC dragon boat team is responsible for hosting the dragon boat parade float in Vancouver's annual St. Patrick's Day parade.
This team travels to different dragon boat festivals in Vancouver BC, Seattle WA, Victoria BC, Kelowna BC, Vernon BC, Harrison Hot Springs BC and Portland OR, spreading their multicultural message and intercultural fun. The team uniform includes kilts featuring the Fraser Hunting (sport) tartan, and a red team shirt decorated with Chinese style "lucky" gold coins.
The Gung Haggis Fat Choy dragon boat team has been featured in television documentaries for France 3, ZDF German Public Television and CBC Television
. On February 25 2008, the team was featured on local Global News as part of a news series highlighting what makes BC world class.
In July 2009, the team placed second in D division at the Vernon Dragon Boat Festival.
Vancouver
Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...
, British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. The name Gung Haggis Fat Choy is a combination wordplay on Scottish and Chinese words: haggis
Haggis
Haggis is a dish containing sheep's 'pluck' , minced with onion, oatmeal, suet, spices, and salt, mixed with stock, and traditionally simmered in the animal's stomach for approximately three hours. Most modern commercial haggis is prepared in a casing rather than an actual stomach.Haggis is a kind...
is a traditional Scottish food and Gung Hay Fat Choy / Kung Hei Fat Choi is a traditional Cantonese greeting (in Mandarin it is pronounced Gong Xi Fa Cai) used during Chinese New Year
Chinese New Year
Chinese New Year – often called Chinese Lunar New Year although it actually is lunisolar – is the most important of the traditional Chinese holidays. It is an all East and South-East-Asia celebration...
.
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 CBC
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly known as CBC and officially as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian crown corporation that serves as the national public radio and television broadcaster...
television performance special titled Gung Haggis Fat Choy,
and the Gung Haggis Fat Choy Festival, organized by the Recreation Department at Simon Fraser University.
Origins
Gung Haggis Fat Choy was created in 1993 when a Simon Fraser UniversitySimon Fraser University
Simon Fraser University is a Canadian public research university in British Columbia with its main campus on Burnaby Mountain in Burnaby, and satellite campuses in Vancouver and Surrey. The main campus in Burnaby, located from downtown Vancouver, was established in 1965 and has more than 34,000...
student Todd Wong was asked to help out with the University's annual Robbie Burns celebrations. Wong, a 5th generation Canadian, quickly learned about Scottish-Canadian culture with its traditions of men wearing kilts, carrying swords, playing bagpipes
Bagpipes
Bagpipes are a class of musical instrument, aerophones, using enclosed reeds fed from a constant reservoir of air in the form of a bag. Though the Scottish Great Highland Bagpipe and Irish uilleann pipes have the greatest international visibility, bagpipes of many different types come from...
and eating exotic foods. In 1993, the Chinese Lunar New Year fell on January 27, only two days away from Robbie Burns Day, which is always January 25 in celebration of the Scottish Bard's birthday. "Gung Haggis Fat Choy!" said Wong, "I can celebrate two cultures at the same time." And thus was born the persona of "Toddish McWong" with his growing appreciation of Scottish Canadian history and culture.
In 1998, Wong hosted the first Gung Haggis Fat Choy Robbie Burns Chinese New Year Dinner as a private dinner party for 16 friends. In 1999, the first public Gung Haggis Fat Choy dinner was created as a fundraiser for the dragon boat team. Forty people attended.
Recent years
In 2004, CBC television in BC premiered a regional television special titled "Gung Haggis Fat Choy." It was nominated for two 2004 Leo AwardsLeo Awards
The Leo Awards are the awards program for the British Columbia film and television industry, celebrating excellence in artistic achievement. Held each May in Vancouver, Canada, the Leo Awards honour nominees and winners in 13 program categories and up to 19 craft categories...
: Best Music, Comedy or Variety Program or Series (Moyra Rodger); and Best Direction in a Music, Comedy or Variety Program or Series (Moyra Rodger/Ken Stewart).
It featured music and dance performances by:
- The Paper Boys with Chinese flautist Jing Min Pan, set in the Dr. Sun Yat Sen Chinese Classical Gardens,
- Silk Road Music Ensemble in Vancouver's Chinatown,
- George SapounidisGeorge SapounidisYiorgos Sapounides better known as George Sapounides is a Greek Canadian musician / troubadour, statistician and a Sinophile living in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. He was also subject of 2005 Canadian documentary film entitled Chairman George...
singing in Mandarin accompanied by the Vancouver Dance Academy - Joe McDonald's Brave Waves with LaLa on vocals
It also described the origins of Toddish McWong and Gung Haggis Fat Choy and included mini features on Robbie Burns, Chinese New Year and haggis. The special was produced by Moyra Rodger of Out to See Entertainment, and nominated for two Leo Awards, Best Direction and Best musical/variety program.
By 2005, the event had grown to a fundraising dinner serving 570 people, and co-hosted by Shelagh Rogers
Shelagh Rogers
Shelagh Rogers, OC is a Canadian radio broadcaster. She is currently the host of CBC Radio One's The Next Chapter.Rogers grew up in Ottawa, Ontario. She was the "Head Girl" at her high school, Lisgar Collegiate Institute. She played in the Ottawa Youth Orchestra and was a spare on the Reach for...
- the host of CBC Radio's "Sounds Like Canada
Sounds Like Canada
Sounds Like Canada was a Canadian radio program, which aired weekday mornings on CBC Radio One from 2002 to 2008. Until the end of May 2008, the program was hosted by the award-winning broadcaster Shelagh Rogers, and in the summers by a rotating series of guest hosts...
" morning flagship show. The dinner event featured Asian Canadian poetry by author Fred Wah
Fred Wah
Frederick James Wah is a Canadian poet, novelist, and scholar.Wah was born in Swift Current, Saskatchewan, but grew up in the interior of British Columbia. His Canadian-born father was raised in China, the son of a Chinese father and a Scots-Irish mother. Fred Wah's mother was a Swedish-born...
, singalongs of Scottish songs such as Scotland the Brave
Scotland the Brave
"Scotland the Brave" is a Scottish patriotic song. It was one of several songs considered an unofficial national anthem of Scotland.Scotland the Brave is also the authorised pipe band march of The British Columbia Dragoons of the Canadian Forces, and is played during the Pass in Review at Friday...
and Auld Lang Syne
Auld Lang Syne
"Auld Lang Syne" is a Scots poem written by Robert Burns in 1788 and set to the tune of a traditional folk song . It is well known in many countries, especially in the English-speaking world; its traditional use being to celebrate the start of the New Year at the stroke of midnight...
, plus new twists such as "When Asian Eyes are Smiling." Highland dancing was performed by champion dancers Vincent and Cameron Collins. Traditional haggis
Haggis
Haggis is a dish containing sheep's 'pluck' , minced with onion, oatmeal, suet, spices, and salt, mixed with stock, and traditionally simmered in the animal's stomach for approximately three hours. Most modern commercial haggis is prepared in a casing rather than an actual stomach.Haggis is a kind...
is served as well as deep-fried haggis won ton, and haggis lettuce wrap.
2005 also saw the start of the SFU Gung Haggis Fat Choy Festival when the Simon Fraser University Recreation department wanted to create a student-oriented event to help kick-off the Winter Semester. Since SFU always celebrates Robbie Burns Day in January, the Recreation Department invited Todd Wong, SFU Alumni, to help them create a fun event that would be of interest to the large Asian student population. Todd invented the "Dragon Boat Cart", based on dragon boat racing. Six students "paddle" a dragon cart across SFU's Convocation Mall, while a seventh student steers the cart. In 2007, a new event was added: "Human Curling."
In 2007 the first Seattle Gung Haggis Fat Choy dinner was held in Seattle, Washington, organized by the Caledonian and St. Andrew's Society of Seattle. These dinners have been emceed by Toddish McWong, and have featured vivid Seattle talent from the local Chinese and Scottish communities including in 2008: author Lensey Namioka
Lensey Namioka
Lensey Chao Namioka is a children's book author and mathematician. She is best known for the short story -Awards:* Washington State Governor's Writers Award, 1976, 1990 Island of Ogres...
, North West Junior Pipe Band, David Leong’s Martial Arts & Lion Dance School, Washington Chinese Youth Orchestra, Red McWilliams "America's Celt", Susan Burk teamed Cape Breton fiddling with Highland bagpiper Don Scobie http://www.BagpiperDon.com/, and percussionist Ben Rudd.
A 2007 CBC documentary film Generations: The Chan Legacy, included film footage and interviews of the Gung Haggis Fat Choy dinner event. The documentary is Chinese Canadian history is told through the lives of Rev. Chan Yu Tan, a minister for the Chinese United Church, and five generations of his family descendants, including great-great-grandson Todd Wong. Film clips also featured an interview with Peter Mansbridge, host of CBC TV's The National, and Japanese-Canadian author Joy Kogawa, as Wong was instrumental in helping to save Kogawa's childhood home from demolition.
http://www.cbclearning.ca/CBCEDS/shopping/product.aspx?CatalogName=CBCEDSBase&CategoryName=canadian_history_all_canadian_history_titles&Product_ID=NWD-07-01&Variant_ID=NWD-07-01-010101
In 2008, wider recognition of Gung Haggis Fat Choy and "Toddish McWong" spread to other cultural events. The 2008 Celtic Fest in Vancouver featured - as a poetic showdown between Scottish poet (Robbie Burns), Irish poet (William Butler Yeats) and Welsh poet (Dylan Thomas). Wong played Burns, while actors Damon Calderwood played Thomas, and Mark Downey played Yeats.
Wong was called to Victoria's Government House
Government House
Government House is the name of many of the residences of Governors-General, Governors and Lieutenant-Governors in the Commonwealth and the remaining colonies of the British Empire. It serves as the venue for the Governor's official business, as well as the many receptions and functions hosted by...
in April 2008, to receive the 2008 BC Community Achievement Award presented by BC Premier Gordon Campbell and Lt. Governor Steven Point
Steven Point
Steven Lewis Point, is the 28th and current Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia.From 1975 to 1999, Steven Point served as Chief of the Skowkale First Nation...
. Todd Wong was honoured for his devotion to community service, building bridges and cross-cultural understanding, and acknowledged as the creator of Gung Haggis Fat Choy.
The Royal BC Museum recognized Gung Haggis Fat Choy in 2008, as part of the Free Spirit
exhibit celebrating the province's 150 years of history. A picture from the 2008 Gung Haggis Fat Choy dinner was included in an exhibition of food through BC's history. In August 2008, Todd Wong was voted in to
as one of 150 of BC's most interesting people, joining such colourful historical figures as James Douglas
James Douglas (Governor)
Sir James Douglas KCB was a company fur-trader and a British colonial governor on Vancouver Island in northwestern North America, particularly in what is now British Columbia. Douglas worked for the North West Company, and later for the Hudson's Bay Company becoming a high-ranking company officer...
the first governor of BC, and David Lam
David Lam
- External links :**...
, BC's first Lt. Governor of Chinese ancestry.
January 25, 2009 marks the convergence of the 250th anniversary of the birth of Robert Burns and Chinese New Year's Eve.
The Gung Haggis Fat Choy Robbie Burns Chinese New Year's Eve dinner will take place on Sunday, January 25, 2009, when the Year of the Ox begins on January 26.
The next convergence of Robbie Burns Day and Chinese New Year's will be in 2020, when The Year of Rat lands on January 25, the 261st birthday of Robert Burns.
Scotland
Gung Haggis Fat Choy has spread to Scotland and throughout the Chinese community. Wong has been interviewed by Sing Tao DailySing Tao Daily
The Sing Tao Daily is Hong Kong's second largest Chinese language newspaper. It is owned by Sing Tao News Corporation Limited, of which Charles Ho Tsu Kwok is the chairman. Its English language sister paper is The Standard...
news, Ming Pao
Ming Pao
Ming Pao is a Chinese language newspaper published by Ming Pao Group in Hong Kong. In the 1990s, Ming Pao established four overseas branches in North America, each provides independent reporting on local news and collect local advertisements. Currently, only the two Canadian editions remain: Ming...
, CBC radio and television, The Scotsman
The Scotsman
The Scotsman is a British newspaper, published in Edinburgh.As of August 2011 it had an audited circulation of 38,423, down from about 100,000 in the 1980s....
.com and BBC Radio Scotland
BBC Radio Scotland
BBC Radio Scotland is BBC Scotland's national English-language radio network. It broadcasts a wide variety of programming, including news, sport, light entertainment, music, the arts, comedy, drama, history and lifestyle...
. He has appeared on cooking shows such as City TV's "City Cooks" with host Simi Sara, and BBC Radio's "Scotland Licked" and "The Radio Cafe."
For Homecoming Year Scotland, a picture of Todd Wong dressed in "Gung Haggis Fat Choy" costume (kilt and Chinese Lion mask) was featured in a traveling photo exhibition titled "This Is Who We Are: Scots in Canada"http://www.thisiswhoweare.com/?page_id=314. The project traveled all over Scotland, and finished with a special closing night reception at Scottish Parliament, attended by Todd Wong. Project organizer Harry McGrath was able to introduce Wong to Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond.
http://www.gunghaggis.com/blog/_archives/2009/12/1/4394660.html
Dragon boat team
Gung Haggis Fat Choy dragon boatDragon boat
A dragon boat is a human-powered watercraft traditionally made, in the Pearl River delta region of southern China - Guangdong Province, of teak wood to various designs and sizes. In other parts of China different woods are used to build these traditional watercraft...
team is dedicated to fun and multiculturalism and hosts the Gung Haggis Fat Choy Robbie Burns Chinese New Year Dinner event, and is coached by GHFC organizer Todd Wong. The dinner event started as a fundraiser for the dragon boat team, and has expanded to include other non-profit causes which organizer Todd Wong is involved in. The team competes at Dragon boat
Dragon boat
A dragon boat is a human-powered watercraft traditionally made, in the Pearl River delta region of southern China - Guangdong Province, of teak wood to various designs and sizes. In other parts of China different woods are used to build these traditional watercraft...
races and festivals in BC, Washington and Oregon. The GHFC dragon boat team is responsible for hosting the dragon boat parade float in Vancouver's annual St. Patrick's Day parade.
This team travels to different dragon boat festivals in Vancouver BC, Seattle WA, Victoria BC, Kelowna BC, Vernon BC, Harrison Hot Springs BC and Portland OR, spreading their multicultural message and intercultural fun. The team uniform includes kilts featuring the Fraser Hunting (sport) tartan, and a red team shirt decorated with Chinese style "lucky" gold coins.
The Gung Haggis Fat Choy dragon boat team has been featured in television documentaries for France 3, ZDF German Public Television and CBC Television
CBC Television
CBC Television is a Canadian television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcaster.Although the CBC is supported by public funding, the television network supplements this funding with commercial advertising revenue, in contrast to CBC Radio which are...
. On February 25 2008, the team was featured on local Global News as part of a news series highlighting what makes BC world class.
In July 2009, the team placed second in D division at the Vernon Dragon Boat Festival.
External links
- GungHaggis.com Official Web Site
- Moyra Rodger — producer/director of Gung Haggis Fat Choy, 2004
- Paperboys — performer in Gung Haggis Fat Choy, 2004
- George Sapounidis — performer in Gung Haggis Fat Choy, 2004
- Silk Road Music — featuring Qiu Xia He & Andre Thibault - performers in CBC TV special, at Gung Haggis Fat Choy Robbie Burns Dinners, and at Gung Haggis Fat Choy show at Vancouver First Night 2005.
- Page containing excerpt of 2004 CBC TV show
- Brave Waves — Gung Haggis performers 2001 - 2007