Students from all three branches of Chung Wah Chinese schools are welcoming in the traditional Mid-Autumn Festival with dancing, singing and a Chinese costume parade.
The Mid-Autumn Festival is also known as the Mooncake Festival - after the traditional cakes prepared especially for the celebration. It is the second most important festival in China (after Chinese New Year) and is a time to celebrate the full moon.
During this time, Western Australia's Chinese communities, as well as the Vietnamese, Taiwanese and Philippine communities, will be celebrating by visiting family and friends, enjoying cultural performances, mooncakes and other traditional foods.
Citizenship and Multicultural Interests Minister Mike Nahan said community language schools - including Chung Wah's Chinese schools in Morley, Leeming and Rossmoyne - played an increasingly important role in maintaining language and culture for generations to come.
"Language learning is imperative in our globally connected world. It is crucial for the cultural perspective it gives us, and for the global advantage it gives WA," Dr Nahan said.
"The performances of the students from Chung Wah Chinese schools today are a wonderful example of the fundamental connection between language and culture.
"These students are ensuring the State's cultural diversity will remain vibrant and exciting well into the future.
"Language learning should be a key part of the education of every Western Australian, and should be something we build upon from an early age, and take with us into later life."
Fact File
- Chung Wah's three Chinese schools are among 45 schools across WA that were funded through the Liberal National Government's Community Languages Program (CLP) in 2015-16
- In 2015-16, 34 languages were funded through the CLP, of which 17 were new languages
- New languages introduced to the CLP include Japanese, Telugu, Hindi, Dari, Farsi, Bulgarian, Emo Ya M'mbondo and Igbo
- For more information on the CLP, visit http://www.omi.wa.gov.au
Minister's office - 6552 5700
