Chinese New Year Festivities

Posted on January 23, 2020

At 7.30 am, 23rd January 2020, eager parent support group volunteers gathered at the canteen to set up activity stations for the Chinese New Year festivities that were to commence during recess time that day.

As the recess bell rang, our young ACSians burst forth from their classrooms into the canteen. While many headed towards the food stalls to fill their hungry stomachs, there were the enthusiastic ones who visited the Chinese New Year festivities at the canteen and in the Music room.

The crowds grew larger after many of the boys having finished their food, walked over to satisfy their curiosity. Tangerine making was the most well attended activity where the young boys used their nimble fingers to fold the long orange wired threads into a small tangerine topped with a “leaf”. Another popular activity was the making of a rattle drum using red plastic plates. Making bookmarks was also another activity that perked the interest of our primary school ACSians.

Contrary to the perception that ACSians were disinterested in Chinese, there was a constant queue to participate in the oral Chinese quiz.

Of course no Chinese New Year festivity would be considered culturally “authentic” and correct without Chinese calligraphy. Parent volunteers stood by to assist our young boys as they attempted to wield the Chinese brush deftly in the tradition of Chinese calligraphers and meticulously brushed the correct strokes of the Chinese characters onto auspicious red scroll paper.

Many young boys beamed with pride when they completed their characters which they will bring home to show to their parents. All too soon, the hustle and bustle petered out as the bell rang and the boys trudged back to their classrooms. Parent volunteers were delighted with the enthusiasm shown by our young ACSians and enjoyed being part of the Chinese New Year festivities.

As in the tradition of the ACS motto, the parent support group volunteers look forward to doing more for our young ACSians in upcoming events.

View the photos here.