The ABCF celebrates its second birthday with the online launch of the 2021 edition of the Association's magazine Exchanges.
The launch will be streamed live on Youtube and Facebook on Monday June 14 at 8pm Barbados Time. The main feature for the evening will be a live discussion of attitudes and opinions of Caribbean youth, including young people of Chinese and non-Chinese descent, to China, its people and its culture. This discussion is organised and moderated by Christopher Lee, Public Relations Officer of the Chinese Association of Barbados, and Rasheed Griffith, host of the China in the Caribbean Podcast. The topic is motivated by articles by Helene Zamor and May Tao in this year’s edition of Exchanges.
Exchanges Number 3 will be available on the Association's website, ABCF-BB.com on June 14. This issue features articles on the MG ZS EV, the first affordable fully electric SUV sold in Barbados; it is made in Shanghai by the Chinese firm SAIC. There is a feature on Chinese restaurants in Barbados, and a report on the Confucius Institute’s cooking programme "One Person, One Dish". One of the earliest Barbadians to study in China, Vicky Miller, reflects on her experience, and a Barbadian who has recently located to Hangzhou, Rhiannon Johnson, tells about getting to know the city. The magazine also features extracts from the recent book Memories of China, by Dr Chelston Brathwaite, former Ambassador of Barbados to the People's Republic, as well as a reflection of life in China during the Covid pandemic by another former Ambassador, Francois Jackman. Articles on the Guyana Friendship Association, China's recovery from Covid and highlights from the 2021 Fish & Dragon Festival round out the issue.
June 14 marks an important Chinese holiday, the Dragon Boat Festival. “There are many legends about the 2,000-year-old festival, but the most famous one is commemorating the death of #QuYuan, a patriotic poet from the State of Chu during the Warring States Period (475-221 BC). Qu Yuan is said to have been loyal and patriotic his whole life. When he realized the decline of Chu was beyond recovery, his remorse knowing he could no longer save it grew stronger and stronger. On the fifth day of the fifth lunar month, he threw himself into the river and died for his beloved homeland.”
The festival is usually celebrated with Dragon Boat races. Covid-19 has forced some to innovate, as for example last year’s virtual festival in Singapore.
The ABCF is an association dedicated to fostering friendships between Chinese and Caribbean people, and deepening the Caribbean's knowledge and appreciation of the richness and diversity of Chinese history and culture. We are mindful of Barbados' first Prime Minister's admonition that we be "friends of all, satellites of none". The US, our neighbour and the world's largest economy, remains the Caribbean's most influential friend. We all know that country well. China has become the second largest economy and the world's largest trading nation, the source of much that we buy and use daily. China also remains our friend, and our engagement with that nation and its people has grown in importance. We are determined to get to know China and the Chinese better, and to deepen our mutual understanding.
Visit our website, ABCF-BB.com and contact us at ABCFBBassn@gmail.com.
Photos from the ABCF launch, May 2019
The ABCF mission is to build a deeper understanding between the Chinese people and Barbadians and Caribbean people from all walks of life. The association’s focus is on personal experiences, people-to-people contact, cultural exchanges and exchanges of ideas, and the facilitation of travel, business and study. From the outset we aim to learn from and build on the experiences of the Caribbean and China, and to develop mutual understandings and support that will be to the benefit of both sides.
