Gung Haggis Fat Choy

Cultural event

Gung Haggis Fat Choy is a cultural event originating from Vancouver, Canada. The name is a combination wordplay on Scottish and Chinese words; haggis is a traditional Scottish food while Kung Hei Fat Choi is a traditional Cantonese greeting used during Chinese New Year. The event originated to mark the 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. It has also inspired both a CBC television performance special and the Gung Haggis Fat Choy Festival, organized by the Recreation Department at Simon Fraser University.

Gung Haggis Fat Choy was created in 1993 when a Simon Fraser University student Todd Wong was asked to help out with the University's annual Robbie Burns Day celebrations. Wong, a fifth generation Canadian, quickly learned about Scottish Canadian culture with its traditions of men wearing kilts, carrying swords, playing bagpipes and cuisine. That year, Chinese Lunar New Year fell two days later, on January 27. Realizing that he could combine the two events, he coined the phrase and created the "Toddish McWong" persona. In 1998, Wong hosted the first Gung Haggis Fat Choy Rabbie Burns Chinese New Year Dinner as a private dinner party for 16 friends. In 1999, the first public Gung Haggis Fat Choy dinner was hosted as a fundraiser for the dragon boat team. Forty people attended.

Gung Haggis Fat Choy has spread to Scotland and throughout the Chinese community. Wong has been interviewed by Sing Tao Daily news, Ming Pao, CBC radio and television, The Scotsman. com and BBC Radio Scotland. He has appeared on cooking shows such as City TV's City Cooks with host Simi Sara, and BBC Radio's Scotland Licked and The Radio Cafe. For Homecoming Year Scotland, a picture of Todd Wong dressed in "Gung Haggis Fat Choy" costume (kilt and Chinese Lion mask) was featured in the This Is Who We Are: Scots in Canada travelling photo exhibition. The project finished with a special closing night reception at Scottish Parliament, attended by Wong where he was introduced by project organizer Harry McGrath to Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond.

Gung Haggis Fat Choy dragon boat team, which is coached Wong, is dedicated to fun and multiculturalism and hosts the Gung Haggis Fat Choy Robbie Burns Chinese New Year Dinner event. The dinner event started as a fundraiser for the dragon boat team, and has expanded to include other non profit causes which organizer Todd Wong is involved in. The team competes at dragon boat races and festivals in BC, Washington and Oregon. Their uniform includes kilts featuring the Fraser Hunting (sport) tartan, and a red team shirt decorated with Chinese style "lucky" gold coins. They are responsible for hosting the dragon boat parade float in Vancouver's annual St. Patrick's Day parade. The team has been featured in television documentaries for France 3, ZDF German Public Television and CBC Television. On February 25, 2008, the team was featured on local Global News as part of a news series highlighting what makes BC world class.