Children’s orchestra from Hong Kong pays tribute to Canadian soldiers

August 16th, 2009

The 69-member Hong Kong Children’s Symphony Orchestra, serving as Hong Kong’s youth ambassador, yesterday (Saturday) put on two captivating performances in Ottawa, Canada’s national capital, paying tribute to the Canadian soldiers who helped defend Hong Kong against the Japanese invasion during the Second World War.

The orchestra’s superb “Let There be Peace on Earth” performance at the unveiling ceremony of the Hong Kong veterans’ memorial wall was enthusiastically received by the audiences, amongst them federal Minister of Veterans Affairs Greg Thompson; Minister of International Trade Stockwell Day; Minister of Transport John Blaird; Senator Vivienne Poy; Chief of the Defence Staff General Walter Natyncyzk; and about 400 attendants comprised of surviving Hong Kong veterans and their families, family members of the deceased Hong Kong veterans, and Canadians from all walks of life.

About 80 Canadian veterans of the Battle of Hong Kong in December 1941 are still alive, and 22 of them were at the unveiling of the elegant memorial wall at the corner of Sussex Drive and King Edward Avenue on the bank of the Rideau River. The names of the 1975 Canadian men and two women who served in defence of Hong Kong at that time were etched on the granite wall.

A public concert by the orchestra was held at the Canadian War Museum after the ceremony. The concert was attended by a capacity crowd of 500 people, including many veterans. At the end of the afternoon concert, the Director of the Hong Kong Economic & Trade Office in Canada, Ms Maureen Siu, together with the co-chairs of the organizing committee of the fund raising drive for the veterans, Ms Anita Kwan of the Toronto Section of the Hong Kong-Canada Business Association (HKCBA); and Mr Adidy Yu of the Toronto Hong Kong Lions Club, as well as Ms Flavia Leung, president of the HKCBA’s Ottawa Section, presented a cheque of CAD$20,000 to Michael Babin, Ontario Regional Director of the Hong Kong Veterans Commemorative Association.

Mr Babin thanked the Hong Kong SAR Government’s support in bringing the children’s orchestra to Canada and the fund raising efforts of the Toronto and Ottawa chapters of the HKCBA as well as the Toronto Hong Kong Lions Club.

Minister Stockwell Day’s grandfather, one of the Canadian soldiers sent in 1941 to help defend Hong Kong against the invasion of the imperial Japanese army, was captured during the 17-day pitched battle and imprisoned at the prisoner-of-war camps in Japan. A total of 291 Canadian soldiers were killed in battle, 500 more were wounded. Minister Day said it was a “very meaningful gesture for the Hong Kong Government” to bring over the Hong Kong Children’s Symphony Orchestra to take part in the unveiling ceremony.

Senator Poy thanked the young people of the orchestra for making an effort to pay tribute to the veterans from the Royal Rifles of Canada and the Winnipeg Grenadiers.

Ms Maureen Siu, in her address at the afternoon concert, said her office was delighted to initiate and support the fund raising and the concert projects because it served two key purposes — to allow the young ambassadors from Hong Kong to come to Canada to say “thank you” to the Canadian soldiers who fought bravely against overwhelming odds, and to further cement the longstanding close relationship between Hong Kong and Canada.

“Through the courage of the young Canadian soldiers and their sacrifice, we are now living in freedom, peace and prosperity,” she said.

Ms Maureen Siu (3rd from left – front row), Director of the Hong Kong Economic & Trade Office in Canada, is pictured with members of the former Royal Hong Kong Regiment, and Mr George MacDonell (3rd from left – back row), one of the 80 surviving veterans who fought in the “Battle of Hong Kong” in 1941, after the unveiling ceremony of the Hong Kong veterans’ memorial wall in Ottawa.

A CAD$20,000 cheque is presented by the organizers of the “Let There be Peace on Earth” concert to the Hong Kong Veterans Commemorative Association (HKVCA) at the end of the Hong Kong Children’s Symphony Orchestra’s at the Canadian War Museum. Picture shows (from left) Ms Maureen Siu, HKETO Director; Mr Mike Babin, Ontario Regional Director of the HKVCA; concert co-chairs Mr Adidy Yu and Ms Anita Kwan; concert honorary patron Senator Vivienne Poy; and president of the Ottawa section of the Hong Kong-Canada Business Association, Ms Flavia Leung.

The VIP guests at the “Let There be Peace on Earth” concert at the Canadian War Museum are pictured with members of Hong Kong Children’s Symphony Orchestra after the successful conclusion of the orchestra’s Canadian tour. Picture shows from 2nd left: Dr Yip Wai-hong, music director of the orchestra; Mr Adidy Yu, co-chair of the concert; Ms Flavia Leung, President HKCBA Ottawa; Ms Anita Kwan, co-chair; Mr Mike Babin of the Hong Kong Veterans Commemorative Association; Senator Vivienne Poy; HKETO Director Ms Maureen Siu; and guest conductor Mr Gabriel Leung.

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Media Enquiries: Stephen Siu, Assistant Director (Public Relations), Hong Kong Economic & Trade Office (Canada) Tel: 416-924-5544; Cell: 416-456-8623; e-mail: stephen_siu@hketotoronto.gov.hk

Chinese version on next page.

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