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.
At:
http://conversationsontheroad.com (Access January, 2008)
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Haggis dim sum was first documented in Vancouver, Canada at the Gung Haggis Fat Choy Robbie Burns Chinese New Year Dinner as early as 2003. In subsequent years haggis was mixed in with har-gau shrimp dumplings, shu-mei pork dumplings, spring rolls etc.
ReplyDeleteThe event creator Todd Wong aka "Toddish McWong" has been a guest on BBC Radio Scotland. Wong was a special guest at the 2009 Scotland Homecoming Finale reception at Scottish Parliament, where a life-size picture of him was featured in the exhibit "This is Who We Are: Scots in Canada". The web site is http://www.gunghaggis.com