February 11, 2018 – Markham – The Year of the Dog is finally upon us! Federation of Chinese Canadians in Markham (FCCM), City of Markham, and Presenting Sponsor, TD Bank has once again fulfilled its annual tradition of celebrating the Lunar New Year in honor of the arrival of the Year of the Dog at the Markham Civic Centre. The festivities incorporated a number of dazzling performances and lively displays for all ages to partake and enjoy.
Dr. Ken Ng, the Chairman of the Federation of Chinese Canadians in Markham began by thanking all the guests and visitors for attending the Chinese New Year event. He continued by introducing and expressing his thanks to the sponsors such as TD Canada Trust, Canada Post. In addition, he presented community partner City of Markham. Mayor Frank Scarpitti and Members of Council for the City of Markham congratulated FCCM for their contribution to the community through the Markham FCCM Chinese New Year Festival.
The live performances at the event featured time honoured traditions such as the lion dance, and a visit from the God of Fortune. Other exciting performances were given by FCCM’s Tai Chi, Kung Fu, and Chinese Dance students and teachers. Other musical presentations included guzheng and erhu solo performances as well as singing. There was also a special appearance by philosopher and geomancer, Paul Ng, during which he shared his predictions for the Year of the Dog. The amazing robot’s happy lunar new year greeting and Tai Chi featured at this Markham Chinese new year celebration will be a prelude to the new course program at FCCM’s new Cultural Centre.
Lion Dance
Tai Chi Performance
Singing Performance
Kongfu Performance
Folk Dancing
Paul Ng was sharing his predictions for the Year of the Dog
Chinese traditonal instrument – Guzheng performance
Robot Performance
Guests could also visit the event hall and purchase stamps signed by the calligrapher, Albert Ng from Canada Post’s 2018 Lunar Year of the Dog Collection. The stamps were unveiled by Canada Post’s manager Danny Kotsopoulos, Mayor Scarpitti and Dr. Ken Ng during the event’s opening ceremony. Other items on display at the event also include Chinese Calligraphy, Colouring Sheets and a funny dog balloons which were delivered by clowns on site.
Among the crowd that day were Markham Mayor Frank Scarpitti, Markham City Council, and Federation of Chinese Canadians in Markham (FCCM) Chairman Dr. Ken Ng. Other dignitaries who attended the event included: Rachael Wong, District Vice President, Greater Toronto Region at TD Bank; Danny Kotsopoulos, Canada Post regional business manager; Mario G. Racco; Deputy Mayor Jack Heath, Regional Councillors Nirmala Armstrong and Councillors Alex Chiu, Logan Kanapathy and Alan Ho, who also acted as M.C. with Andrew Ng, the coordinator of Youth Division of FCCM and Taste of Asia Festival
Chinese New Year celebrations traditionally last 15 days so for those who missed the Markham celebrations, the next more events will be presented by FCCM including Chinese New Year Day Han Gala Dinner on February 16 at Le Parc Banquet Hall; a series of celebrations from February 15 to February 17 and February 24 in Pacific Mall; Chinese New Year celebration in Newmarket on Sunday February 25th. Everyone is welcome so mark your calendars and see you there!
More details, please refer to www.fccm.ca and FCCM Facebook, Twitter and Wechat.
February 11, 2018 – 萬錦 – 農曆狗年春節將至，在此辭舊迎新之際，萬錦加華聯會、萬錦市政府及首席赞助商加拿大道明銀行再一次在萬錦市政廳舉辦一年一度的農曆新年慶祝活動。本次萬錦慶年華慶祝活動呈現給大家許多精彩的表演和生動的展示。
萬錦加華聯會主席吳建忠醫生致辭，首先他感謝所有到場的客人參加中國新年慶祝活動，然後他介紹并致謝主要贊助商-加拿大道明銀行、加拿大郵政。此外，他也介紹了社區夥伴萬錦市及現場嘉賓。萬錦市市長薛家平、市議員及加拿大道明銀行代表Rachael Wong、加拿大郵政Danny Kotsopoulos等貴賓致辭向萬錦加華聯會和萬錦市民祝賀新并感謝萬錦加華聯會對本次的努力和貢獻。
現場的表演引人入勝的傳統節目包括舞獅和財神派發紅包，還有萬錦加華聯會中國文化中心太極、功夫及舞蹈師生的精彩表演、古箏和二胡 演奏及歌曲。本次萬錦慶華年活動特別嘉賓風水大師伍子明現場為大家講狗年運程。另外一個亮點節目智能機器人新春祝詞和太極表演博得了眾多觀眾的掌聲。
參與者還參加了現場各類活動：購買狗年郵票及硬幣并由郵票書法設計藝術家現場簽名、中國書法春聯福字、狗年兒童圖彩畫和小丑現場製作派發小狗氣球。
本次萬錦慶華年活動中最引人注目的是萬錦市市長薛家平、萬錦加華聯會主席吳建忠醫生，眾多市民和嘉賓與他們合影。出席本次活動的貴賓包括加拿大道明銀行副總栽 Rachael Wong、加拿大郵政Danny Kotsopoulos、Mario G. Racco；區議員Nirmala Armstrong；市議員何胡景、趙善江等。
中國農曆新年慶祝傳統上持續15天，因此接下來還有很多活動等待大家參加，包括萬錦加華聯會2月16日正月初一新春晚宴、太古廣場2月15日到17日和24日系列慶祝活動、2月25日新市農曆春節慶祝活動。歡迎大家積極參與！
更多信息，請訪問 www.fccm.ca 和萬錦加華聯會脸书、推特及微信公众号查看。