Burns meets the dragon in a Chinese Canadian feast

Published on Wednesday 18 January 2006 01:21

NO MATTER where Scots have settled throughout the world, chances are that as January 25 gets closer many of them will shake out sporrans, dust down kilts and attend a Burns Supper.

From Australia to Alabama, thousands of ex-pat Scots will savour haggis, neeps and whisky while the Bard's immortal words flow through the air. But in Vancouver, British Columbia, there's an annual event that Burns, to many the quintessential everyman, would surely be proud.

Gung Haggis Fat Choy is a celebration of Burns Night and Chinese New Year created by fifth generation Chinese Canadian Todd Wong, or if you’d rather: Toddish McWong. The event has grown from an intimate merging of the two cultures at a dinner in 1998, to a cultural must-do filled with song, dance, poetry and a feast that in 2005 fed 600 people.

"I have been told by Burns aficionados that Burns would have loved this," says Wong.

It all began in 1993 when Wong was a psychology student at the Simon Fraser University. He was asked to participate in a Burns celebration. That was the day his alter ego Toddish McWong was born and when Wong's appreciation for Scottish Canadian culture began.A few years passed before Wong hosted a dinner of his own in 1998. He wanted to blend Burns Day with the Chinese lunar New Year taking place just a few days later. Wong uses the word haggis in place of hay: It's Chinese custom at New Year to wish people Gung Hay Fat Choy, Happy New Year.

Wong told guests to bring poetry and songs that were Chinese or Scottish and served a 10-course Chinese feast. He played Scotland the Brave on accordion, hired a bagpiper and a Scot named Fiona brought a haggis. The Gung Haggis Fat Choy dinner was a hit.

The following January Wong moved the event to a small Chinese restaurant where 40 people turned up. Every year the numbers increased and this year the event is being held in what is reputed to be the biggest restaurant in North America.

As a piper Joseph McDonald has been involved in many traditional Burns suppers. He likes them, but says that they are not too surprising in terms of what is going to happen next and what food people will dine on. "With this the food is different," says McDonald.He plays the bagpipes accompanied by an Indian dhol drum and the singer songwriter has been performing at Gung Haggis Fat Choy since 2001. "He[Wong] said, 'I'm having this Gung Haggis Fat Choy. You would fit in.' It’s all about blending cultures," says McDonald.

It has become a tradition to have the bagpipes and the dhol to get the event started and McDonald pipes in the haggis.

"Now it's quite an affair where the waiters are all lined up with quite a few haggises," says McDonald. "It's quite a spectacle."

McDonald says that by looking into Burns poetry, readers can see that he stood for the brotherhood of man. The multicultural event would be an evening Burns might enjoy.

"I think he would love it," says McDonald. "We're not trying to be too serious. We’re having fun and sharing Scottish culture with people who might not normally be exposed to it," and learning about another culture in return.

Wong's practice of getting people involved once they are at Gung Haggis Fat Choy is simple. He makes Burns poetry and song more accessible by adding other facets. For Address to a Haggis he might add a drum machine. A new chorus he wrote is taught to the audience who sing it out on his cue.

"We try to make surprises, to see things in a new way," he says.A Mans a Man for a' That, which talks about equality and race is a perfect anthem for Gung Haggis Fat Choy. In 2005 the poem was read by then Vancouver Mayor Larry Campbell who wore a kilt and a Chinese jacket. Two legislators Jenny Kwan and Joy McPhail switched dress and wore cheongsam and tartan.

Many of the 600 people who turned up for the 2005 event, like others before them, told Wong that Gung Haggis Fat Choy felt very Canadian, very multicultural.

"We have Scots Canadians learning about Asian Canadians and Asian Canadians learning about Scots Canadians," says Wong.

As far as the Chinese part of goes, the 10-course meal is the key. Diners will be treated to haggis wontons and last year haggis lettuce wraps were introduced.

Wong has many volunteers including some from his dragon boat race team. (He wears his kilt during races.) He has not yet visited Scotland but would like to see Gung Haggis Fat Choy celebrated throughout Canada and perhaps the United States.

"It's the key to breaking down racial hatred," says Wong. "We have to invite people into our family."

Call it friendly fusion, it could be the way towards greater tolerance

"Nobody has said 'Laddie, you're a disgrace to the kilt,'" says Wong. "The fifth generation Chinese Canadian going around promoting Burns. Scots Canadians think it's a hoot."

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Burns Night