Asian Events Trust Recipient of ANZ Migrant Community Spirit Award

L-R: Stephannie Tims, Linda Lim & Rita Tom (AET) with Michael Wood (MP)

Wellington’s Asian Events Trust has been awarded ANZ’s Migrant Community Spirit Award for their support and development of migrant communities at the annual ANZ Lunar New Year event held in Auckland on Friday 15 February 2019.

Cassandra Lee, ANZ Senior Manager Migrant Business & Community Development, says the Asian Events Trust has demonstrated the ANZ Migrant Community Spirit Award’s values since it was founded 16 years ago.

“The Asian Events Trust was formed in 2003 to give Wellingtonians an opportunity to celebrate Chinese New Year,” Ms Lee says.

“We’ve supported this event as it’s evolved into a highlight on Wellington’s events calendar. We’re pleased to celebrate Linda, Rita and Stephannie for their contribution to the New Zealand migrant community and we wish them the best for future events.”

Asian Events Trust (AET) is a charitable trust set up to organise the Wellington Chinese New Year Festival. The Festival engages a high level of participation and support from the wider Wellington community; Chinese and non-Chinese, join together to create a colourful and vibrant event celebrating the most important festival in the Chinese calendar.

The inaugural Chinese New Year Festival was organised by the Wellington Chinese Sports and Cultural Centre in 2001. Following the first festival’s success in 2002 the Asian Events Trust was established the following year to help grow the city’s cultural celebrations.

The festival has established itself as a major cultural event in Wellington. This year’s celebrations welcoming the Year of the Pig attracted an estimated 55,000 people, comprising locally born and migrant Chinese, as well as Wellingtonians of all ages, backgrounds and cultures.

Linda Lim, Programme Director for the Festival and Chairperson of AET says, ‘While the Festival holds wide audience appeal, it remains at its core an important platform for the Chinese community to showcase its culture and traditions. Our motivation to organise the Festival was initially for our children to feel proud and appreciate their heritage but over the years the Festival has become a major means for migrants to feel at home in the new country that they are building their life in.’

In its organisation of the Chinese New Year Festival, AET has created a strong sense of community spirit, which plays a vital role in enhancing the social, economic, and cultural prosperity of Wellington.

‘We are proud to accept the ANZ Migrant Community Spirit Award on behalf of all the community groups and organisations that actively participate in the Festival and work with us to deliver a vibrant programme that promotes true community spirit,’ says Lim.

About the ANZ Lunar New Year Awards

Each year around Lunar New Year ANZ celebrates individuals and organisations doing great work within the Kiwi-Asian community.

The ANZ Lunar New Year Awards started in 2014 and are comprised of four categories: the ANZ Migrant Entrepreneur Award, the ANZ Small Business Award, the ANZ Migrant Business Award and the ANZ Migrant Community Spirit Award.

More than 420 people from Auckland-based companies and community groups attended ANZ’s annual Lunar New Year event on 15 February 2019.

ENDS

For media enquiries and more information please contact:
Linda Lim / linda@asianeventstrust.co.nz / 027 4324269