Chris Hayes (Fowler, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

As the member for Fowler, I have the honour of representing one of the largest Asian communities in Australia. This has given me the opportunity to learn much about the rich customs and traditions of the Vietnamese and Chinese communities. Lunar new year, which officially fell on 31 January this year, is celebrated over a number of weeks and is truly a very special time in my electorate. The local Chinese and Vietnamese communities organise numerous events, ranging from quite spiritual observations paying respect to ancestors through to large community celebrations welcoming the new year with much singing and activities and vibrant food.

One of the largest events I had the opportunity to attend in the lunar new year was the Tet festival, which is celebrating new year with the Vietnamese. It attracted more than 20,000 people to Fairfield Showground this year. The festival was organised by the Vietnamese Community in Australia, and I pay regard to the organisation, conducted by its president of VCA, New South Wales chapter, Dr Thang Ha, and his executive committee, along with all the various volunteers who combined to make this a very, very successful community celebration.

The Tet festival brings families and communities together to remember the past while looking forward to a bright and vibrant future. Tet is a community celebration that showcases the very best of Vietnamese culture and tradition. This is my fourth year of attending the Tet festival with the Vietnamese community. I was happy that my wife, Bernadette, and my four grandchildren were also able to participate. They were wearing traditional ao dai dress. In addition to attending the Tet festival, I participated in the tradition of visiting 10 temples on the second day of the new year. This gave me the opportunity to spend time with the venerable monks and nuns and talk about issues with them.

My local Chinese community was also very active in celebrating the lunar new year and showcasing some of the rich, centuries-old traditions of the Chinese community. The Australian Chinese Buddhist Society management committee—consisting of chairman, James Chan; president, Vincent Kong; vice president and treasurer, Jensen Tran; and secretary, Tony Trinh—did a great job in making sure the Chinese community celebrated lunar new year in considerable style. I am always impressed by the deep-seeded respect this community has for the elderly and for those who came before. By the way, this seems to be observed consistently across the Asian community. During the lunar new year celebration period, the Chinese community hosted many lunches and dinners for the elderly in our community as a way of paying their respect to elderly members and recognising the contributions they have made.

The New South Wales Indo-China Chinese Association with Mr To Ha Huynh OAM, the Australian Chinese Teo Chew Association with Hung Ly and Frank Chou OAM, the Australian Chin Lien Chinese Association with its president Michael Chan, and the Australian Cambodian Chinese Association with Bou Lien should all be very proud of the observances and the respectful celebrations they organised for the community. I am honoured to have been invited to each of their celebrations. I am also very grateful to a number of young people—Kenrick Cheah, Emily Trinh, Alex Chan and Stephen Tran—who are doing much as young Chinese Australians to promote and retain the culture of past generations. Many of these young people visited the various temples with me, as well as attending the various elderly celebrations at various aged care centres and nursing homes throughout my area.

The Vietnamese and Chinese communities in my area, and quite frankly across the country, truly demonstrate the success and strength of our multicultural Australia. The colour, the vibrancy and the diversity of my community combine to produce an overall richness of spirit, which we, particularly in Western Sydney, are very, very proud of. I feel extremely honoured to represent such a multicultural community in this parliament, and I appreciate the opportunity to learn more about their cultures and experience the richness of their traditions and cultures. This is important, in my opinion, in shaping the modern Australia.