Parents’ Day celebration for Kampar’s old folks community

In conjunction with the Parents’ Day celebration, UTAR Institute of Chinese Studies (ICS), Centre for Chinese Studies (CChS) and I Culture Berhad co-organised a Parents’ Day Celebration Luncheon (双亲节孝亲敬老午宴) on 11 May 2022 for the old folks community in Kampar at Tin Road Hakka Restaurant, Kampar.

Present at the ceremony were UTAR President Ir Prof Dr Ewe Hong Tat, ICS Academic Development and Undergraduate Programmes Deputy Dean Assoc Prof Dr Wong Wun Bin, ICS Department of Chinese Studies Head for Kampar Campus Dr Toh Teong Chuan, I Culture Berhad Executive Director Tan Hui Sean, representatives from Ipoh Fo Guang Shan, donors, beneficiary elderly, alumni and students.

Tan welcomed the delegates and introduced the purpose of the event. She said, “The luncheon is one of the events of the UTAR-Kampar Community Project, which aims to spread love and care to the old folks community in Kampar in conjunction with the Parents’ Day celebration. We received a good response from the donors to sponsor the luncheon tables for the elderly. Therefore, we would like to deliver our sincere gratitude to all the donors for their kind support and donation. Some of the elderly have also been invited to join the luncheon today and we will continue to provide similar treats to other groups of elderly within these two months.”

Prof Ewe greeted all the elderly and said, “This is a meaningful activity as ‘filial piety and respect for the elderly’ is an important traditional virtue in the Chinese culture. There is an old saying ‘honour the elderly and the young in other families as we honour those of our own’ (老吾老以及人之老，幼吾幼以及人之幼); it encourages us not to only support and honour our parents, but also to give love and care to other elders to create a better, harmonious and mutually supportive community.” He also shared the efforts of UTAR members to set up the UTAR Pusat Pemberian Vaksin (PPV) to benefit the Kampar community. As a result, the Kampar District recorded the highest vaccination rate in Perak.

The celebration also included a talk by Dr Wong, titled Parents’ Day, and the Culture of Filial Piety and Respect for the Elderly (双亲节与孝亲敬老). The talk was conducted in hybrid mode. In the talk, Dr Wong shared the origin of Mother’s Day, Father’s Day and Parents’ Day, and the celebrations from the perspective of East and West; the story of Mencius’ mother who relocated home three times to improve her son’s education (孟母三迁); the code value and importance of filial piety (Chinese parental respect); ancestor worship culture and famous classic quotes on filial piety, to name a few.

Furthermore, he gave a brief introduction to UTAR-Kampar Community Project and said, “We are a team of UTAR members from different faculties, intending to walk into Kampar Community through various activities which include giving back to the community, education, agriculture, traditional culture and many more.”

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