Celebrating the Year of the Monkey with an East-meets-West party

Every Chinese New Year, I send my greetings to the public in a video.

This year, my wife Regina and I had invited consuls in Hong Kong to a New Year party at the Government House. Taking advantage of the occasion, we decided to use it as the theme of this year's video.

Hong Kong is an international city where East meets West. In recent years, more and more foreign friends became interested in traditional Chinese culture. We therefore invited members of a Cantonese opera children troupe to play Chinese musical instruments and present excerpt performance of Cantonese operas at the party. We also invited secondary students to perform a lion dance for us.

Last November, I enjoyed a Cantonese opera performance by these children at Yau Ma Tei Theatre and was impressed by their exquisite artistic skills. So I specifically invited them to perform for the consuls at the Government House this year. Although the performance was set to begin in the afternoon, members of the troupe came here in the early morning to make preparations. The dining room of the Government House was turned into a temporary "backstage". I visited the performers at the "backstage" the same morning, watching them put on make-up and costume, practised their singing and rehearsed for their performance. Their meticulous attention to every detail reminded me of the saying, "One minute on stage takes 10 years of practice." With great skills and voices, these young performers gave an excellent show, earning applause from the audience, locals and foreign friends alike.

The lion dance team made a name for themselves after winning the Inter-School Dragon and Lion Dance Championship in the high school lion dance category in 2015. The lion dance performance was lively and energetic, and I believe our guests were deeply immersed in the joyful atmosphere of the Chinese New Year.

My wife and I are very glad that the primary and secondary students treasure Chinese culture. They work hard to preserve such traditional performing arts as Cantonese opera and lion dance, so that Hong Kong can continue to inspire as a meeting point of Chinese and Western cultures.

There is a new feature in this year's Chinese New Year video – for the first time, we send our New Year greetings to the public together with consuls in Hong Kong from over 40 countries. We wish you all a happy and successful Year of the Monkey!

Members of the Cantonese opera children troupe arrive at Government House early in the morning to make preparations.		A young performer rehearses, displaying great artistic skills.
The children playing princess and the princess's husband are aged 8 and 7 respectively, the youngest amongst today's performers.		The energetic performance by the winning team of a high school lion dance competition adds festive atmosphere to the party.
My wife, Regina, in a scene from the video.
		A group photo with the young performers and the lion dance team after the party.

February 7, 2016