Filipino-Chinese celebrate
early Christmas
by Gilainne Sytingco
Diario Filipino No. 28/Dec 2004
Thoughts of Christmas usually evoke white snow, cold winter and Christmas carols. However, this was not the case for the Auckland Filipino-Chinese community. In fact, it was the complete opposite. There was not a Christmas tree or decoration in sight, not a single drop of snow (rather, sweltering heat), and only one Christmas carol was sung and heard - "Jingle Bells".
But, this was not to say that the event was completely without Christmas cheer. Despite being a huge 'variation' from the traditional view of Christmas, the Filipino-Chinese celebration was a night filled with fun, laughter, singing, dancing, and of course - food.
Early Christmas was celebrated on the 13th of November. The night kicked off with a banquet held at Star Cafe, and progressed on to karaoke. What began as a gentle halfhearted bunch of solos evolved into loud and hearty English, Chinese and Tagalog songs, as well as "Pokarekareana" and an attempted "Haka" by Felix Ko and Carlos Bernardo. Special numbers were also sung by Kookie Samin and Eric Elago. After numerious requests, Joanna Sytingco consented to performing one Chinese song, but insisted on having at least three male back-up dancers. Fortunately, the dancers were warmed-up and ready to go, after just having done two line dances lead by our very own Kookie
Samin.
Special guests of the night included Dr Vicente Tan and his Filipino friends from a local parish.
The event turned out to be a huge success, and we thoroughly look forward to next years' celebration.