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The South and Southeast Asian Cultural Festival (the Festival), organized by the Office of Student Affairs (OSA) of The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK), was held from 16 to 24 March 2016 to introduce the kaleidoscopic cultures of these two regions and facilitate inter-cultural interaction on campus.

March is the time when many South Asian countries like India and Nepal celebrate the ancient Holi Festival, which is also known as the festival of colours. The activities of the Festival at CUHK were as rich in content as the colours in the Holi Festival. The Festival presented a wide variety of activities including an opening ceremony, a local South and Southeast Asian market, a tofu making workshop, an Indian folk dance workshop, a Thai water lantern making workshop and cultural sharing sessions. The opening ceremony was officiated at by Prof. T.F. Fok, Pro-Vice-Chancellor of CUHK, Mrs. Nuramira Akmal binti Mustapa, Consul of the Consul-General of Malaysia in Hong Kong, and Mr. Narayan Singh, Consul of the Consulate-General of India and Head of Chancery. At the opening ceremony, an Indian student and three Nepalese students performed their countries’ traditional dances, followed by a Bollywood style flash mob by other students from different countries. The performances showed a blend of tradition and modernity and won rounds of applause from the audience. The lively drum performance on the double-headed ‘dhol’ drums by the Indian performers also impressed the audience with its exotic rhythms.

Manisha Kamatchi, a student from India, felt excited to be engaged in the Festival. ‘The South and South East Asian Cultural Festival was a great experience for me. It gave us an opportunity to learn more about other countries, be it the similarities or the differences. The Festival allowed me to share the culture of my own country and helped other people enjoy it. Putting together the Festival was a lot of hard work and required team effort but the joy of being part of it was worth it all.’

Local South and Southeast Asian Market@CUHK – Experiencing real cultures from different perspectives

In the first two days of the Festival, the Cultural Square of CUHK was transformed into a local South and Southeast Asian market, where the cultures of many countries, including Thailand, Nepal, India, Indonesia, Brunei, Singapore and Malaysia, were displayed at their booths. Visitors were offered generous trials of local foods from several countries, including Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia and India and this attracted queues of people in front of the booths waiting to get their taste buds satisfied. As well as food sampling, visitors could try out Indian henna painting for free, which was also very popular. Visitors were delighted  to learn what their names looked like in Thai and, with the help of the Thai students, how to pronounce them. Also at the market, Love Multi Culture, a local social enterprise, sold soap made by Nepalese women living in Hong Kong who helped visitors to get a glimpse of their culture and the life that they live in the city.

The two-day market was also enlivened by a traditional Indonesian game and the performances of South Asian students, which brought blasts of fun into the event.

Student-led activities to promote cultures

As well as simply tasting good food at the market, students could try their hand at making tofu, a staple in Southeast Asian food culture, at a workshop. They could enjoy taking part in another workshop on the Angklung, a traditional Indonesian musical instrument. With guidance from Indonesian students, participants could produce its beautiful sound. An Indonesian teacher also shared its cultural background, towards giving a fuller picture of his country. The workshop on Dandiya Raas was an opportunity for people to take part in this traditional Indian folk dance. At the Loy Krathong (water lantern) making workshop conducted by Thai students, participants lit up the brilliantly colourful lanterns, made a wish and prayed for good fortune.  

The sharing session on providing services to South Asian people definitely gave the participants food for thought. A representative from the Services for Ethnic Minorities Unit of HKSKH Lady MacLehose Centre told the audiences about their work in serving the South Asian people in Hong Kong and about their cultures, while a CUHK graduate told of her life-changing volunteer experiences in Nepal and the Philippines. In another session, three CUHK students who had been interns in Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam gave accounts of their memorable internship experiences and made interesting cultural observations.

To learn more about the South and Southeast Asian Cultural Festival, please visit www.facebook.com/CUHKCulturalEncounters.

Supporting organizations:
Consulate-General of Malaysia in Hong Kong
Royal Thai Consulate-General in Hong Kong