Hong Kong Diary 2012

Chitra Sivakumar

Contents
Pranava Yogam Calendar Launch ............................................................................................................ 5 Chinese New Year Decorations .................................................................................................................. 6 Concert by Mika Singh ............................................................................................................................... 7 ISS - Hope - Cultural Event in Hong Kong .................................................................................................... 10 Mahashivrathri Pooja in Hong Kong ...................................................................................................... 11 Jewelry Fair ............................................................................................................................................... 12 Moksha Odyssi Performance ................................................................................................................ 13 Asha Bhonsle in Hong Kong .................................................................................................................... 14 Purandhara Aradhana ............................................................................................................................. 15 HSS Sports Day ......................................................................................................................................... 16 World Women's day Celebrations and Holi ........................................................................................... 18 Ustad Rahat Ali Khan Concert ................................................................................................................ 19 Flower Show .............................................................................................................................................. 20 Asian Film Awards ................................................................................................................................... 21 Vibhavari I................................................................................................................................................. 22 Rugby Sevens............................................................................................................................................. 23 Vasantha Navrathri ..................................................................................................................................... 24 23rd March.................................................................................................................................................. 24 Navrathri is celebrated by North Indians in the month of March as Vasantha Navrathri. ............. 24 TCA Annual General Meeting...................................................................................................................... 25 Nidhi Arangetram ..................................................................................................................................... 26 Ugadi Celebrations.................................................................................................................................... 27 Visit of Gangai Amaran............................................................................................................................ 28

Natya Shikara annual day ........................................................................................................................ 29 Tharangini programme in Cathedral ..................................................................................................... 30 Vibhavari II ............................................................................................................................................... 31 Para Brahm mela ...................................................................................................................................... 32 TCA Picnic................................................................................................................................................. 33 KSHK Summer Party ............................................................................................................................... 34 Farewell meet with Stephen Lam ............................................................................................................ 35 Book Fair ................................................................................................................................................... 38 BBG in Butterfly beach ............................................................................................................................ 40 Golden Bauhinia World Culture and Talent Performance Competition ............................................ 41 2nd Dayal International Yoga Championships ...................................................................................... 42 Krishna Janmashtami .............................................................................................................................. 45 Puratasi Pooja ........................................................................................................................................... 46 15th September ......................................................................................................................................... 46 Jewelry Fair ............................................................................................................................................... 47 Suki Sivam Speech .................................................................................................................................... 48 Vinayaka Chaturthi .................................................................................................................................. 49 Dayal TCA Badminton Tournament....................................................................................................... 50 TCA and Shankar Mahadevan Concert ................................................................................................. 52 Third Ilakkya Vattam............................................................................................................................... 53 Speech by Mitranandji ................................................................................................................................ 53 11th October............................................................................................................................................... 53 Navarathri ................................................................................................................................................. 55 Arumbugal - TCA Children Programme ................................................................................................. 58 Rajyotsava ................................................................................................................................................. 60

Diwali ......................................................................................................................................................... 61 Shashti ......................................................................................................................................................... 63 Fifth Illakya Vattam ..................................................................................................................................... 66 Lunch with Indian Badminton Players ................................................................................................... 67 Cross Roads ............................................................................................................................................... 68 Ayyappa Pooja .......................................................................................................................................... 69 Longest Human Chair Record ................................................................................................................. 70 Indian Chamber of Commerce 60th Anniversary ................................................................................. 71

Pranava Yogam Calendar Launch

5th February

Chinese New Year Decorations

February There were manu decorations around Hong Kong.

Concert by Mika Singh

10 February
th

Indian Arts Circle Talent Competition

12 Febrauary On February 12th, it was an evening of competition for children of Hong Kong. More than 50 children came together to compete in Colouring, drawing and Talent competition on various age groups starting from 4-7, 7-9 and 10-14 organised by Indian Arts Circle. Children and parents were enthusiastic in participating in this event to make this yearly event a grand success.
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In the Talent competition, children played keyboard, violin, sang songs and danced. Neha Deshpande was the best dancer of the day. Winners were all given cash awards. Indian Arts Circle is planning to organise Painting, Crafts and Dance workshop to encourage the children to learn and compete in such competitions in a better way next time. They schedule to have these workshops in the coming weeks of February and March.

ISS - Hope - Cultural Event in Hong Kong

19 February 2012 On 19th February International Social Services organisation that helps ethnic minorities of Hong Kong organised a Culture Event. The programme was sponsored by Home Affairs Department of Hong Kong SAR. Different ethnic minority groups, people from India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Indonesia, Thailand, Phillipines, Russian, Chinese particiapted in the programme to show their traditions and cultures. Booths were organised to show the dresses of different countries, Henna learning, beads crafting, grievances center. Adityanaach performed the song "Why this Kolaveri Di". There were lot of people seeing and encouraging the performances. This center helps all those who want to learn the language of the Hong Kong City - Cantonese free of cost. Many Indians had benefitted from these classes.
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Mahashivrathri Pooja in Hong Kong

20 February 2012 February 20th, Mahashivrathri day, brought devotees to various temples of Hong Kong, Happy Valley temple, Chinmaya Mission, Sai Center, Sadashiv temple to do pooja. Bhajans were sung and arati was done to Lord Shiva to have better life for everyone and have peaceful world around. Ghee, milk, honey, carat, vilva leaf, thulsi leaf, kumkum, turmeric, sandalwood were offered to Lord Shiva by the devotees.
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Jewelry Fair
20th February

Moksha Odyssi Performance

22
nd

February

Asha Bhonsle in Hong Kong

23 February
rd

Purandhara Aradhana
25 February
th

On February 25th, Kannada Sangha Hong Kong celebrated Purandhara Aradhana vizha in Causeway Bay from 6:00pm to 9:00pm. A group of interested musicians came together and sang various Purandhara songs in group and solo. Pooja was done to get the blessings of God.

It was a musical evening for adults and children with sweet songs of Purandhara. Vani Ramesh and Sumathy Ragothaman told about the events that took place in the life of Purandhara to enliven the occasion. Krithika, Roopa Sastry, Pradeep Sathya, Sadashiv Hegde, Roopa Kiran, Sumathy, Shobha Shroff, Rashmi Shroff made the audience enjoy the day with their solo performances.

HSS Sports Day

26 February Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh held its annual sports day on 26 February 2012 at Sandy Bay Sports ground in Pok Fu Lam. The event was attended by 192 people even though the weather was unstable the day before. People reached the places by buses arranged for this purpose. The event started with a welcome speech by Shri Haresh Khushi. Event started with 100m race for children from 5 years till 16 years of age took part, all hoping to win one of the gold, silver and bronze medals on offer. Later event parents took part in racing event to show their fitness. Our running event concluded before lunch break after which all gathered together for a delicious meal. While the parents enjoyed and relished the food, the children were restless to proceed for the next events, which to their delight consisted of games, games, games and games. The girls were divided into four groups - the names of their teams were Ganga, Yamuna, Saraswati and Kaveri. And, the boys were also divided into four groups- Lav, Kush, Shivaji and Rana Pratap. Children played many team games, which included kabbadi, ring o stick, dog and the bone, shakti pareekshan, kho kho, and a host of other lathi games. A quiz was conducted for parents by Shri Binay Chandgothia on contemporary sports, and by Shri Shekhar Iyer on various martial arts and weapons from our scriptures. The response from the parents was overwhelming. It was followed by a speech on Swami Vivekanand (this year being the 150th birth anniversary of Swami Vivekanand) given by Srimathi Rathi. Songs were sung and passage was read by children - Ishita Shah, Elina Rawat, and Nitesh Aswani. Prizes were distributed to winners and BEST SPORTSPERSON trophies were given to champions in the Children group. All other participants were given Amar Chitra Katha comics Last event was the entertaining event for both adults and children. It was tug of war event which was enjoyed by one and all both participants and on-lookers.
th th

World Women's day Celebrations and Holi

8 March On 8th March, World Women's day and Holi was celebrated in Hong Kong in various places. The day was eventful for 25 women who gathered in Jashan, Central, to enjoy both Women's day and Holi. Colours were played, lunch was served, cake was cut by children and games were played. Even the job goers joined for lunch and went back to work. The all women's executive committee of Kannada Sangha Hong Kong headed by Mrs. Vani Rameshbabu arranged for this party and entertained the members.
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Ustad Rahat Ali Khan Concert

9 March
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Flower Show
March 20
th

The Hong Kong Flower Show 2012 organised by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department was held between 16 and 25 March at Victoria Park. The show attracted 560 000 visitors. This year the theme flower was Hyacinth and the theme was Floral Delights. Over 200 organisations from 21 countries showcased exotic flowers, landscape and floral art displays. The participating countries were Mainland China, Australia, Canada, Estonia, France, Germany, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Pakistan, the Philippines, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Belgium, the United Kingdom and the United States. Series of activities were held during the show period, including music and dance performances, green talks, floral art demonstrations, fashion shows, cooking demonstrations and fun games. Student Drawing competitions and Photo competitions were held during this occasion. Schools participated in this show by displaying fun playground with plants and flowers. Children and adults enjoyed the colourful and wonderful display of flowers. Everyone went around the garden by capturing the beauty of the flowers in their cameras and videos.

Asian Film Awards

March 20th India is yet to win an award in AFA though Zindagi Nahi Milega Dubarah, Rockstar, Vidya Balan were nominated in different disciplines.

Vibhavari I
24th March

It was indeed a fantastic evening on 24th March for the Hong Kong dance lovers who came to watch the show Vibhavari, Kuchipudi show by Hari Om Dance Society in Chiang Chen Studio Theatre of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. Students Aki Lau, Amy Ting, Anita Lee, Sam Wong, Sylvia So, Virginia Cheung who were learning this art from Master Hari Om for few years now, started the show with song dedicated to God. Vinayaka Kavutuvam by Aki Lau, dances by other students were performed with elegance. Each dance was excelling the other. Bhama Kalapam by Amy Ting and Brindhavana Thillana by Sam Wong were praised by the audience for their wonderful abinaya and steps. The show special was the performance by Srimathi Sarvani Vemuri (Yadavalli) of India who was invited to give a special performance to promote this Kuchipudi art in Hong Kong. Sarvani mesmerised the audience with her dances Brindavana Nilaye, Okapuri Kokapari and Kolavaithiva Ranga Sai in the first half and Narayaneeyam and Brahma's dance in the second half. With her beautiful dance and expressions, she showed her excellence in her art. Learning from the age of five, Sarvani had learnt this art from various gurus and still a learner, has been honoured with various awards including the 'Nritya Shiromani' award. Master Hari Om told what Kuchipudi is and mentioned that Hari Om dance society is conducting such programmes in the coming months to promote this art form in Hong Kong during the felicitation time. Everyone attending the show went home with sweet memories of the dance performances by the dancer of Hong Kong and from India and waiting for the next show on 26th May.

Rugby Sevens
23rd March

Vasantha Navrathri
23rd March Navrathri is celebrated by North Indians in the month of March as Vasantha Navrathri.

TCA Annual General Meeting

25th March

The 45th Annual General meeting was held on 25th March 2012 and following members were elected to the Executive Committee for the year 2012-13 President Safiyur Rahman First Vice President Narayanmoorthy Second Vice President Mujibur Rehman Secretary Vikram Asst. Secretary Nithyanandam Treasurer Arun Ec Member Yograj Poovendiran Ec Member Kumaran Ec Member Raghupathy Ec Member Mohammed Arif Sultan Ec Member Sam Uzair Ec Member Liaqath Ali Ex Officio Venkat Raman (Ram)

Nidhi Arangetram
29th March

Ugadi Celebrations
6th April

Visit of Gangai Amaran

23rd April Inkeyum Oru Gangai a gathering with Mr. Gangai amaran, Director arranged by TCA was on 25th April in India Club.

Natya Shikara annual day

29th May
Mrs. Sandhya Gopal's Nitya Shikara school students had an outing on 29th May with their mothers. It was an wonderful evening for the students after having a competition judged by two former students Vaishnavi and Sakshi. Subhisha was announced to be the best. Cake was cut to wish the former students who have completed their schooling and joining University. Everyone enjoyed the evening with variety of food brought by the mothers.

Tharangini programme in Cathedral

Vibhavari II
Hong Kong had yet another show of Kuchipudi by Hari Om Academy on 26th night in The Chiang Chen Studio TheatreThe Hong Kong Polytechnic University. It was show with many variety of dances performed by Master Hari Om's students who are learning this art from him for years together. It was really great to see all the Chinese students performing this art with love and dedication.

Para Brahm mela

May 27th

In CLUB-HOUSE, COASTAL SKYLINE, TUNG-CHUNG,HONGKONG

TCA Picnic
... ...!
On June 3rd all Tamil Cultural Association members enjoyed a day out to have Konjam Veyil, Niraya Ullasam. Two buses carried them to Wu ka Sha YMCA Youth Village. Everyone played Cricket together, swimmed to escape the sunny day and organised Tamil Pechu to hear Tamil. Around 120 adults and children joined this picnic to make it a memorable one for everyone.

KSHK Summer Party

Saturday 9th June

Farewell meet with Stephen Lam

23rd June Cocktail party to the Chief Secretary Stephen Lam before leaving after his tenure.

WHEF
30th June

Book Fair
20nd July
As usual the well awaited Book Fair of Hong Kong started from 18th July. The organisors expect more than 10 lakhs people to visit this compared to 9 lakhs last year. There was long queue in the entrance and many throng at the gates from early morning. Three floors full of publishers (both Chinese and English), stationery stores, new book release sessions make parents enjoy with their children during the school summer vacation. Please was full of schoolgoers with their teachers and parents guiding them and getting thembooks that they need. This years special for Indians is that there were two Indian authors session with the readers. One is Mr. Chetan Bhagat who had lived in Hong Kong for more than 10 years before becoming renowned writer. The session was full of Chinese readers as they had all wanted to see the story writer of the movie 3 idiots which was big hit among the Hong Kong people. Everyone was keenly listening to his session on "From Hong Kong Investment Banker to India's highest selling author". They were more thrilled to get the book signed from him and having exclusive photo with him. There was one more session with another Indian author Mrs. Anita Moorjani who explained her near death experience and recovery from Level 4B Cancer disease. Her New York's best seller publication "Dying to be me", is making her famous all over the world. Living in Hong Kong, this author gave a very inspiring lecture about her survival and her experience during the 36 hours comma. A cancer researcher met her during this occasion and asked her to help her in their research. There were many exhibits of Chinese art and culture all over the fair ground to give facts about Hong Kong and China.

BBG in Butterfly beach

22nd July

Golden Bauhinia World Culture and Talent Performance Competition

25th July 2012
Chinese Dance Art Association organised Golden Bauhinia World Culture and Talent Performance Competition 2012 to celebrate the 15th Anniversary of Hong Kong SAR formation on 25th July 2012 in Tsuen Wan Town Hall. The programme started with Kathak Dance performance by Mrs. Kavitha Gupta. There were Harmonic Band, Flute and Er Hu (Chinese stringed instrument) recital. Sixteen groups participated in the contest under two groups Junior and Adults. Chinese, Tibetian and Indian dances were performed. In that Bharathanatyam performed by Gayathri Sivakumar of Natya Shikara dance school won Second place in the Junior group.

2nd Dayal International Yoga Championships

6th August 2012 Dayal 2nd International Yoga Championship and Workshop from 4th to 5th August 2012 held at Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Centre, 1 Expo Drive, Wan Chai, Hong Kong was a success with 218 participants from nine countries. Ms. Kodh Bharya Rashmi Arjan of India went away with the Champion of Champions Trophy with a cash prize of US$ 1500 and iPhone 4S. The 1st Runner Up went to Praveen Arya Dagar of Hong Kong who got a trophy with a cash prize of US$ 1250 and an iPhone 4S. Interestingly the third place was won by a Vietnames Girl Le Hong Ngoc who went away with a trophy and cash prize of US$ 1000. First six winners of individual events in 5 groups (male and female) and winners of Artistic and Rhythmic Yoga (singles and pair) were given DAYAL Yoga kit worth of USD$75 which was sponsored by Yofi and first three winners got Chakras Didi T-shirt. All the participants were happy to receive an attractive Dayal T-shirt and participation certificates. The closing ceremony was studded with the World renowned percussionist Kalaimamani Anandan Sivamani and Bollywood singer Ms. Runa Rizvi who gave an entertaining performance to the audience. Mr. Sivamani played music not only with drums but with other things like vessels, suitcase etc. Audience were quite surprised to hear very good music coming from simple things that we use in our life. Dance performances by various groups of Hong Kong Yoga masters added color to the closing ceremony. Astonishing performance by Guinness World Record holder Mr. Yogaraj of Yofi and Yoga performances by various countries gave the audience the taste of yoga stretching, bending and twisting. The workshops were well received by the participants and they came to know about yoga more and more. The workshop by Indian movie actor Mr. Ajay Rathnam taught the participants how they could reach their sub conscious mind and increase their memory power. Dr T.A. Krishnan with his Disciple Yuva Dayalan taught the ancient secrets from Thirumandrium (ancient yoga script). Dr Elangovan, Registrar of Tamil Nadu Sports University guided the participants to do the Chakra Meditation. Guinness record holder Master Yogaraj C.P taught innovative yoga. Warrior Vinyasa by Master Nilesh from Taiwan and From Foundation to Flight by Master Samrat from Pure Yoga and Hip Opening by Master Kumaran from Anahatha Yoga were eye-opener for all the participants in the workshop. All proceeds from the workshops were donated to ORBIS, a non-profit humanitarian organization devoted to blindness prevention and treatment in developing countries. The participants from various countries found it quite interesting and useful that they wanted to come to Hong Kong again and try to win the next year competition.

Krishna Janmashtami
10th August

Puratasi Pooja
15th September

Jewelry Fair
22th September

Suki Sivam Speech

29th September
On September 29th, Hong Kong Tamilians had a rare opportunity to listen to the invigoarating speech of Sol Vendar Suki Sivam on the topic "Vazhdhu Parkalam Vaa". Tamil Cultural Association ( ) arranged for this programme for their members. More than 250 people attended this programme and enjoyed his talk. The points he discussed were topics of discussion among the audience later on. He told how people have to lead their life to enjoy their time on earth. Insight on importance of Tamil, speaking in our mother tongue, importance of our land, interest in doing a work, achieving the desire, understanding the spouse, handling children etc were delivered in humourous way that everyone got his points completely. President Safiyur Rahman gave the welcome speech. Hong Kong's Tamil Icon Mr. Mohammed Yoonus introduced the speaker. Secretary Mr. A. Vikram, coordinated the entire programme. Earlier, he visited the Tamil School run by YIFC volunteers. He met the students and gave a small talk. During that occasion, Mr. A. Vikram gave the welcome speech and one of the student Master Ajith, introduced the Tamil class to the speaker and finally Mr. Kader gave the thanking speech. Day before, he visited the Mr. Mohammed Yoonus in the evening and met all the TCA executive committee members. Many topics were discussed during that occasion.

Vinayaka Chaturthi
29th September
As usual Vinayaka Churthi vizha was celebrated in Hong Kong very well. Happy Valley Temple organised a pooja with Bhajan on 19th September. Tung Chung residents celebrated it on 29th September. This year the pooja was attended by the Tung Chung Councillor Mr. Jeff Lam. He was very interested to know about the festival and he enjoyed the bhajans and wished everyone to have more bright future. It was attended by more than 50 people. The idol was taken on procession and immersed in sea near the ferry pier.

Dayal TCA Badminton Tournament

Oct 1st
Badminton is a game of shiftness and good for health. Hong Kong people all love to play Badminton in their leisure time. To bring all those game lovers together to show their talent, Tamil Cultural Association with Dayal Leisure and Cultural Association organized the International Amateur tournament every st year. This year tournament was held on 1 October in Indoor games hall, Jordan. More than 100 players took part in the tournament. The tournament was held in three groups. Men group with 32 teams, women group with 7 teams and junior group with 14 teams competed in this tournament. Sponsorer Mr. and Mrs. Sohan Goenka presided the opening ceremony. The tournament Champion Hemal Chand and Biren Thapa of Nepal bet Anup and Naveen of India by 2118, 21-12 and went away with the Govindasamy Memorial Rolling Trophy and cash award of $3000. Anup and Naveen went away with cash award of $2000. In the womens section, Dipa Rai & Sunita Limbu bet Sonali Vora & Bijal Shah to win the Srimathy Govindasamy Memorial Rolling Trophy, cash coupon of $1000. Runner up went away with $500 Dining concepts coupon. In the teens section Mihir & Parth bet Urvil & Vaspan to win the Dayals Rolling trophy, $500 dining coupon and racquets. Runner up went away with Badminton racquets. All the winners got a Dayal Badminton playing kit and a ticket for Shankar Mahadevan show worth $800 to be held next Sunday. The sponsors of the event Rajesh Bhimsaria, Mr. and Mrs. Vinod Dairwal, TCA President Safiyur Rahman, Dayals Yuva Dayalan were present during the closing ceremony. This year tournament was both competitive to participants and entertaining to audience.

TCA and Shankar Mahadevan Concert

Oct 7th With 16 years of composing experience Shankar Mahadevan along with his team of 30 members performed in Hong Kong and won the hearts of more than 2700 music lovers assembled in Hong Kong th Convention and Exhibition Center, Wanchai on 7 October. Jhalak Dikhla Jaa dance group accompanied him with their graceful dances. Consul General of India Mr. Gaddam Dharmendra pointed out that Programmes like this is great representation of our culture in terms of rhythm and our music. Mr. Rajesh Bhimsaria with Redpeppers Entertainment HK Ltd organized this event successfully. Tamil Cultural Association ( ), Hong Kong supported this event and members of TCA joined this concert and enjoyed the wonderful evening of music and dance. Eventhough Shankar Mahadevan sang many Hindi Songs, he tried to fill the hearts of Tamilians with few lines of his award winning song from Kandukonden Kandukonden. His knowledge in Carnatic and Hindustani music were disclosed completely when he wisely mixed them as an essence to the bollywood song mixture. Everyone enjoyed the show from the Mangalam Bhagavan starting song to the last song Where is the party tonight. Every moment was enjoyed by each one. He dedicated the Pretty Women song to all the women audience and made them dance for the song. When the concert came to an end, many of the music lovers went discontented as their request for more was denied.

Third Ilakkya Vattam

13th October

Speech by Mitranandji
11th October

KSHK Sports Day

21st October

Navarathri
Oct 25th
Navarathri days were days of communicating with people. In Hong Kong, South Indians celebrated by setting Golu in their houses and inviting friends to their houses to give haldi and kumkum. All 9 days chanting was done both in the morning and evening at various houses which was attended by more than 50 people in each place. On 23rd, the day of Saraswathi pooja, around 150 devotees attended the pooja at Happy Valley Hindu temple and got the blessings of Devi Durga. People from West Bengal celebrated it for 5 days by installing Devi's moorthy in Yau Ma Tei Community hall and do poojas on all five days. Programmes of dance, singing and drama were organised to entertain more than 200 people who meet up on all five days. Breakfast, lunch and dinner on five days were arranged by the Hong Kong Bengali Association. People from Gujarat celebrated it by organising Dandiya nights along with the fasting during the 9 days. It was really good to see more than 150 people belonging to various regions of India in one place doing dandiya to celebrate the navarathri festival. People from North celebrated it by having fasting on all 9 days and on the tenth day came to temple, sing bhajans and the festival ended with burning of the effigy of Ravana at the Hindu Temple, Happy Valley, to show the victory of good over evil. More than 250 people attended this session to get blessings from the Lord to have a good year ahead. East, West, North, South, whatever part of India people may come from, we could see all of them come together to celebrate this festival in Hong Kong. Indeed it was a festival of harmony.

Arumbugal - TCA Children Programme

10th Nov
On 10th November, lot of children came together to enjoy a show by the children organised by Tamil Cultural Association ( ) of Hong Kong as Arumbugal 2012. This year the programme was organised in two stages. Firstly on October 28th, there was Painting, Origami, Handwriting, Essay competitions organised for the children. More than 50 children participated in them. Fancy dressed children were covered on video. There was Photography competition for which photos were accepted online. The second part was on-stage performance by the children and video projection of Fancy dress and Story telling competitions. Children enjoyed singing, dancing, telling nice tamil poems, stand up comedy. More than 300, watched the interesting programme. More than 100 were sent back as there was not enough place in the hall. Screening of Kanchana movie song enacted by Ayush and made by Mr. Ram was appreciated by all for the videography with nice graphics. Prizes were given to the winners by Thamil Thattha Mr. Mohammed Yoonus and Mr. Praveen of UAExchange who sponsored the trophies for various competitions.

Rajyotsava
10th Nov

Diwali
17th Nov
Diwali celebrations started in Hong Kong very early. There were lot of programmes around the city bringing Indians together to enjoy the festivity. There were different types of programmes this year. Hindu Temple in Happy Valley organised Pooja on the day of Diwali. Since it was celebrated by North Indians as New Year, many people came to temple to get the blessings of the God. Poojas for the new accounting year were done in all the offices. One group in Tung Chung organised party with a stage performance of 20 children performing Ram Leela, story of Ramayana in brief. Children aged between 6 and 10 were all nicely dressed with costumes and presented the story very well accompanied by songs. The story was set in the minds of the children in this way. Forum for young indian immigrants group made it a Charity event by inviting Abishek Bachchan. All proceeds were given to the organisation in Kolkatta. Another group in Hong Kong made it an entertaining day with Bollywood music composer and singer Shankar Mahadevan. Parties were arranged in hotels to bring people together with games and dancing. Like every year Diwali was with lot of fun and entertainment for all leaving in Hong Kong.

Shashti
18th Nov
Shasti was celebrated in Hong Kong with chanting of mantras and singlng songs on Muruga from 14th November to 19th November. On 17th there was grand pooja in Hindu Temple, Happy valley to worship Lord Muruga. Lot of devotees attended the pooja to get the blessings of the Lord. Lord Muruga was adorned with Kavasam and Vel on that day.

Asian Ethnic Performances

18th Nov
Leisure and Cultural Department of Hong Kong organised Asian Ethnic Cultural Performance 2012 in Hong Kong on 18th November to bring harmony between the local community and the international community living in Hong Kong. Consulate offices of Japan, India, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Nepal, Thailand, Phillipines helped to organise this programme. Performances from various regions were enjoyed by the local crowd of more than 1000 people. There were two stages in the main tourist place of Hong Kong (TST) where more than 30 performances were staged. India's Bharathanatyam, Kuchipudi and Bollywood dances by Natya Shikara, Lasya School and Hari Om Dance Academy were appreciated by one and all. Bangladesh children performed dances in group. Sri Lanka made it a variety with nice pooja, folk, traditional, drum, pot and Thelme dance performances. Indonesian costume was very elaborate and traditional dances were entertaining. Japan demonstrated their mastery in martial arts through Kyokushin Karate. Nepal presented Shir ko Topi dance and Kauda dance. The Phillipines performers gave the taste of Phillipine culture through Fan and traditional dance to the crowd who witnessed the event with lot of interest. Chinese Yue opera impressed the international community. Thailand with their beautiful costume entertained the crowd with Thai dance. It was a cultural extravaganza on that day around the costal area of Kowloon. Stalls displaying cultural things of various countries were worth visiting to know more about those countries.

Fifth Illakya Vattam Nov 24

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Lunch with Indian Badminton Players

On 25th afternoon, many Hong Kong Badminton lovers had the chance to meet all the Indian Badminton players in one place - India Club in Jordan. Sindhu was full of hope to come here again and show her talent next year. She thanked the Gopichand Academy which is giving her the opportunity to play better and better. Ajay Jayaram played against World No. 1 Lee Chong Wei and lost. During the interview, Ajay Jayaram told that he felt good to play in Hong Kong and surely had good chance to win which he could not do so but will try to convert next time. Aswini Ponappa and her doubles partners Pragya (women's doubles) and Tarun(mixed doubles) played the game for the first time and told that they love to play in Hong Kong and will come again with full confidence to play well next time. Mr. Gopichand was all along with the players guiding them during and after the play.

Cross Roads
1st December

Ayyappa Pooja
2nd December
December 2nd, Happy Valley Hindu temple was full of devotees to attend the Ayyappan Pooja. The pooja was started with sahasranamam recitation and then Bhajans by singers of Hong Kong created a devotional mood among the devotees. 18 steps pooja was done. Lord Ayyappan was decorated with lot of flowers and lights. Prasad was distributed to more than 200 people who attended the pooja.

Longest Human Chair Record

2nd December
On 2nd December, Prana Yogam in Hong Kong launched the event of 'Achieving the Longest Human Chair Record'. Yogaraj C.P., the Director of Prana Yogam, together with his student Josephine Chai Chi Yan who is an actress jointly attempted to establish a new world record for the Assist World Record (AWR). Their attempt last for 40.3 seconds. Unedited video recording and pictures have been sent to the AWR for deliberation and judgment. A new world record will be created once approval from the AWR is released. Students and guests joyfully participated to demonstrate their full support and served as witnesses to the world record. Prior to this third record attempt, Yogaraj CP had already accomplished his two world records registered in the Guinness World Record Books a few years ago one for marathon yoga and another for yoga postures on the moving bike.

Indian Chamber of Commerce 60th Anniversary

15th December
In the month of December, Indian Chamber of Commerce Hong Kong celebrated its 60th Anniversary in Grand Hyatt, Hong Kong. Celebration started with the opening of the photo exhibition by Mr. John C Tsang, Financial Secretary of Hong Kong. Mr. C Y Yeung, Chief Executive of Hong Kong released the stamp to commemorate the occasion. The President of Indian Chamber of Commerce Hong Kong, Mr. Raj Sital gave the welcome address and the function was attended by the members and businessmen of Hong Kong. Mr. Donald Tsung, past Chief Executive of Hong Kong was honoured during the occasion. Performances by eminent artitsts from India and China made the occasion a memorable one. The event demonstrated the strong business relationships between India and Hong Kong through the Indian business community in Hong Kong.

Christmas Decorations of Hong Kong December