“Xīnnián kuàile!” This is how the Chinese greet each other at the start of the prosperous year of 2019. This year, the SLK Bali annual Chinese New Year Celebration took place on the 4th February 2019. In the morning, the celebration started with an exciting lion dance performance by Mutiara Naga. The lion, a symbol of power, wisdom, and good fortune, is supposed to chase away evil spirits and bring happiness, longevity, and good luck. The students were completely mesmerized by the performances.

The celebration continued in the classrooms. Students learnt about Chinese culture by making a dragon together using paper and other materials. At the end of the activity, they had the opportunity to showcase their creation and hang it outside their class.

As well as learning about and making a dragon, the students also had more activities to learn about Chinese culture; the secondary students prepared some activities in different stations while the Primary students went around to visit these booths. They learnt how to write Chinese calligraphy. The word “Xìngfú” (meaning happiness) was written with a brush on red coloured paper. This was organized by Grade 8 and 9 students. In the auditorium, Grade 10 students presented the story of “The Three Little Pigs” using handmade Chinese shadow puppets. Grade 11 students talked about “Nian,” one of the many Chinese legends about the origin of the Lunar New Year. Finally, students also learnt about the history of firecrackers in China, which was presented by the students from Grade 12.

In the afternoon we played some Chinese games. The Primary students played different games, such as catch the dragon’s tail, chopstick and angpao, Chinese jump rope, and they also created their own orange wishing tree. Secondary students also had their own Chinese games. These included a Chinese dance competition, Chinese whispers, chopstick and peanuts (which they found really difficult to master!), and also created an orange wishing tree.

At the end of the day, all of us said goodbye to the year of the Dog and welcomed the year of the Pig !

“Xīnnián kuàile !”

By

Yóu Lǎoshī