Chinese community in Seychelles celebrates Mid-Autumn Festival 2014

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Written by Linda Hohnholz

The Chinese community of Seychelles joined together at the Chinese Embassy at St.Louis to celebrate their Mid-Autumn Festival with traditional Moon Cake.

The Chinese community of Seychelles joined together at the Chinese Embassy at St.Louis to celebrate their Mid-Autumn Festival with traditional Moon Cake. Welcoming everyone in the presence of Minister Alain St.Ange, the Seychelles Minister responsible for Tourism and Culture, Mr. Charlie Ng, the Chairman of the Seychelles Chinese Association, said: “First of all, we would like to thank the Ambassador for his usual support to unite all Chinese Seychellois through this gathering at the Chinese Embassy. I take this opportunity to also welcome the new Embassy Counsellor, Mr. Zhang Xiang Yang. The Chinese Association of Seychelles sincerely hopes that we can cooperate with any other Chinese association in Seychelles to organize joint activities to celebrate festivals such as the spring and autumn ones. We are not competing with any association to do better. Our association is open to all Chinese descendant residents in Seychelles,” Mr. Charlie Ng said.

The Chairman of the Chinese Association of Seychelles then took time to explain the Mid-Autumn Festival by saying: “The Mid-Autumn Festival is celebrated on the 15th day of the 8th month of the Chinese lunar calendar. It is also known as the Moon Festival. Here in Seychelles, the Chinese Association of Seychelles celebrates this event through this gathering where we can eat Moon Cakes and other snacks, thanks to the generosity of our members. On behalf of the Chinese Association of Seychelles, we wish the Chinese Ambassador, H.E. Shi Zhongjun, and his spouse, Mrs. Liu Jian, and all invitees a long and happy life,” Mr. Charlie Ng, the Chairman of the Association said.

Chairman Charlie Ng went on to address the construction of the new Chinese Pagoda of Seychelles. “I take this opportunity to appeal to all the Chinese descendants gathered here today to support the Association in the reconstruction of the new Pagoda. The Pagoda is for All Chinese Seychellois and for generations to come. Thanks to the intervention of H.E. Shi Zhongjun, we have received donations of more than Sr1m from overseas institutions of Lecong, Shuntat, and Meizhou. We are not far from the required budget. All those who intend to donate any fund, please contact Angele or myself.”

Mr. Charlie Ng, the Chairman of the Chinese Association, also confirmed that there will be a Chinese restaurant in the new Pagoda as he announced that the Association will tender out the restaurant in the new Pagoda building. โ€œAny Chinese resident who knows the restaurant business and would like to run the restaurant, please contact Angele at the Chinese Association of Seychelles,” Mr. Ng said.

The Chinese Ambassador, H.E. Shi Zhongjun, then addressed the large group of Chinese Seychellois present, saying that this gathering was the largest number of Seychellois Chinese he had seen at any gathering or meeting and that this made him proud. The Ambassador also spoke briefly on the construction of the new Chinese Pagoda before presenting a check to the Chairman of the Chinese Association. The Chinese Ambassador will be completing his tenure of office in Seychelles in the coming weeks.

Minister Alain St.Ange, the Seychelles Minister responsible for Tourism and Culture, who was invited to address the large crowd of Seychellois Chinese who had gathered at the Chinese Embassy at St. Louis, said when he started his address that he was happy to see so many members of the Seychelles Chinese community gathered together for a Chinese celebration. “Today young and old are gathered for the Moon Cake Festival. You are today displaying your unity and in so doing you will be noticed as a grouping. You and your fathers and great grandfathers have contributed to build our Seychelles. You have all played your part in making Seychelles what it is today, and as a united group, your Association will be better able to work for you. Your new Chinese Pagoda is now under construction, and we can all hope that this will be a center that will be the meeting spot for each and every Seychellois Chinese. Your Association is stronger today than it has been for many years. I really hope that this support you are giving to your Association’s Chairman and his committee members will continue, and I take this opportunity to re-assure you all that the Ministry of Tourism and Culture will continue to stand with you as a cultural grouping of our country. We are proud of the five historical branches that make us the diverse people we are today. You are one of the five, and we need you to continue to stand together to ensure that our diverse culture remains vibrant as it remains alive,” Minister Alain St.Ange said.

Following the official part of the Mid-Autumn Festival, Minister St.Ange, Ambassador Shi Zhongjun, and Mr. Charlie Ng joined the large crowd of Seychellois Chinese for a buffet lunch.

Seychelles is a founding member of the International Coalition of Tourism Partners (ICTP) .

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Avatar of Linda Hohnholz

Linda Hohnholz

Editor in chief for eTurboNews based in the eTN HQ.

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