Baiwan Chinese New Year Week

The Baiwan Chinese New Year Week ran from 20-23 January, raising over HK$16,500 for the Baiwan charity to fund projects that will improve the lives of children living in the region in Mainland China.

To celebrate the Year of the Rat, a range of festive activities were organized by the Baiwan Committee throughout the week. From Chinese Zodiac puzzles to red packet Jenga, students could challenge themselves at game stalls ran on the playground during lunch and break time.

An art competition was also hosted on both sites where students designed their own Chinese New Year-themed greeting cards or Lai See pockets. Some chose to complete their designs digitally, whilst others chose more traditional mediums, incorporating Chinese calligraphy into their cards. The overall winners for the competition on the Sha Tin Wai campus were Alexandra Lai and Acacia Yeung representing 8W and Janice Yip representing 10N on the Tai Wai campus.

To make it more fun, a lai see treasure hunt was held where students had to search for 15 hidden red packets located all around the school, taking photographs as they went along. The winners on Sha Tin Wai were Manashyu Gadia and Parina Khiatani from 7R and on Tai Wai, Khushi Chopra and Kayleigh Wong from 9F.

The last day was a ‘dress red’ day, where students dressed up and donated $20 in support of the Baiwan charity. In Chinese culture, red symbolizes luck, joy and happiness. Festive decorations were also strung up around the school to get into the spirit of CNY. With the generous support of the PTA, the week’s festivities also included a traditional food sale with delicious offerings such as spring rolls, dumplings, noodles, wontons, egg rolls, noodles and glutinous rice cakes. All funds raised from the week will go directly to supporting the Baiwan charity and its projects.

Gobind Thind, student head of Baiwan said: “The week was a huge success – not only did we raise funds and awareness for the cause but we also had fun doing it.”

Mrs Chiu, teacher in charge of the Baiwan Charity said: “It is great to see the school community to get together to learn a bit more about the Chinese culture and raise funds for the Baiwan Charity as well.”

Article Written By: Grace Zheng and Wenchy Lai
Photos By: Alvin Ho, Neha Navalani, Brian Lau and Lucy Halbertsma