Gung Haggis Fat Choy

By Todd Wong

What is Gung Haggis Fat Choy?

It is the inter-section of Chinese and Scottish cultures.

In a new land,

In a new voice,

In a new vision.

It is Gung Hay Fat Choy;

the traditional Chinese New Year greeting meaning “Longevity and Fortune.”

It is Robbie Burns Day;

the celebration of the Scottish poet Robbie Burns, and all things Scottish…

including the national dish of haggis:

Oatmeal and sheep organs mixed together and cooked in the stomach of a sheep

Just like some perverse mix of multi-culturalism.

Re-constructed

Re-constituted

Re-gurgitated

Gung Haggis Fat Choy!

The Chinese called this land Gum San (Gold Mountain)

And the Scots gave it the name of Nova Scotia

Westerners became Easterners

The Far East becomes the Far West

Gung Haggis Fat Choy!

It is the play on words.

It is the play on cultures

It is the play of time and place.

It is simply the play of Canadians…

Gung Haggis Fat Choy!

Something Old

Something New

Something Borrowed

Something B-r-e-w-e-d…

Gung Haggis Fat Choy!

It's quirky

It's surprising

It's enlightening

And arising…

Gung Haggis Fat Choy!

It's a vision

It's a belief

What you see is what you get.

And you don't get what you can't see.

Ó 2003 Todd Wong