Right royal show by Chinese community
By James Kon

The local Chinese community expressed overwhelming happiness and gratitude to His Majesty and the royal family for gracing the 3rd Chinese New Year Get together ceremony. For those who were fortunate to greet His Majesty in person, it was a moment to cherish. Mr. Choo Jun Lee, one lucky individual who managed to get an autograph from His Majesty said: " It was an overwhelming moment."

" The celebration was simple yet memorable and I hope it will continue for many years to come. It's a privileges to celebrate Chinese New Year with His Majesty," he said.

He also hoped that more people from the Chinese community would join in the celebrations next year.

Mr Tiah Eng Ng, the vice chairman of Chung Hwa Middle School Alumni Association said, "In my opinion, this year's celebration is bigger than the year before."

"His Majesty gracing the Chinese New Year celebrations every year may have helped build closer ties with other communities in the country," he said. Every year, our four Chinese Pehins have to work very hard to come up with ideas to successfully organise a celebration together with the Malay community. I hope next year the celebrations will be held again," he added.

Mr Mak Soon Seng, Manager of First Emporium said this year's celebration was more interesting with the additional acrobatic performances from China.

Delighted to be able to greet His Majesty, he said "One feels very special to personally greet His Majesty. The celebration can be a tourist attraction in the tourism calendar to attract people around the world to celebrate Chinese New year in Brunei," he added, giving ideas to make the event even grander.,

Another prominent figure in the Chinese community, Mary Lim, the Managing Director of PDS School also said that every year, His Majesty celebrated the Chinese New Year with the Chinese community here and it's indeed a very special moment every year, for those present. - Borneo Bulletin (17th Feb 2008)


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