Vietnamese New Year

Mrs VLAHOS (Taylor) (15:25): I would like to speak about an event I attended a few weeks ago that marked a very early celebration of the 2015 lunar new year, hosted by the Vietnamese Farmers Association at the Virginia Community Centre. It is an event that myself and a number of members of parliament regularly attend, especially Mr Ridgway and Ms Jing Lee from the upper house.

This year marks the Vietnamese year of the goat. Under the Vietnamese zodiac the goat is a symbol of peace, harmony and tranquillity. Hopefully, those things will be the primary mood of this year, after some of the tragic events of last year. Goats are meant to represent the nature of being calm and gentle and an ability to show compassion and understanding to one another and a time of nurturing and healing. Certainly, the world needs that at the moment.

The event was attended by local farmers and community leaders. Under the leadership of the new Vietnamese Farmers Association, a new younger crop of leaders are taking that event and shaping it. This year was particularly special because it is the first one they have had a leading hand in. It was very dynamic and a truly enjoyable and joyful night.

I was joined at the event by the Hon. Tung Ngo MLC, Government Whip in the Legislative Council, Jing Lee and her good partner Eddie, David Ridgway, the Mayor of Playford, Glenn Docherty, and the Hon. Grace Portolesi, chair of the South Australian Multicultural and Ethnic Affairs Commission. It was great to have Grace back out in the Virginia community, after visiting there a few years ago as the minister. Certainly, she had a great time with the lion dance this year. I think the lion tried to eat her and she fought it off.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Isn't that lucky?

Mrs VLAHOS: It is lucky. Hopefully, it will be lucky for her this year. I would also like to praise the Vietnam veterans who were present on the occasion, showing their strong connectedness to the Vietnamese veterans, who fought alongside them in the sixties and seventies. Particularly, I say hello to Mr Ian Le'Raye and the men and women at the northern Vietnam Veterans' Association, who are such strong supporters of the community. They are truly wonderful people who I treat as my own family.

On this night, I had the pleasure of presenting my annual $100 community recognition award to a prodigious young lady called Jennifer Tran Nguyen. The awards, which are personally financed out of my electoral allowance, were designed to highlight and recognise the work of young people in the Vietnamese Australian community, who represent community values, hard work, ethics and success.

Jennifer came to me highly recommended by the new association committee. The office received a CD containing a compilation of some of her successful undertakings, including a Today Tonight piece about her advanced studies in English and Mathematics. She is about to commence university level maths. She is nine years of age. One of her pet hobbies is reviewing and interpreting Shakespearean plays.

Mr Griffiths interjecting:

Mrs VLAHOS: Yes. She has recently changed schools. She came and spoke to me on stage. She has an amazing presence for a nine year old. Her mum, dad and family were in the audience. She is delightful, she is cute, she is charming and she is smart to boot. She is certainly a package for that family to be proud of. I was delighted to be able to talk to her about her successes and what she likes. She is very comfortable doing quadratic equations and differential calculus. She is also very talented at piano. That evening, she graced us with a fantastic rendition in karaoke of an English song.

Mr Griffiths: So, what excuse do we have? None at all. That's amazing.

Mrs VLAHOS: I don't think I can compare with this lady. She is a celebrity in the making, and she is on YouTube if you want to go and check her out. Her family are very proud of her. I wish her every success in the future, and I know that she will succeed in life because she has a fantastic set of skills already but also a great worth ethic.

I would also like to acknowledge Duy Lee, the president of the Vietnamese Farmers Association, and his leadership of the new committee. He is leading a great committee and the association has a bright future under his and the committee's leadership. I also acknowledge Mr Ly Hoang Duy, the chairman of the organising committee. He did a fantastic job on the night.

There were three lots of fireworks set off because it had been a very prosperous year for the farmers, and the Mayor of Playford certainly got a bang out of lighting that. It was amazing how quickly Glenn Docherty could move once the firecrackers started.

Mr Odenwalder: There was a video.

Mrs VLAHOS: There was a video. Glenn had fire protection stuff, and he was moving really quickly to get out of the way. The general population of the Vietnamese Farmers Association, who I run into regularly in my electorate, are a great blessing to my area, to the northern suburbs and to our great state with their horticultural productiveness. It is always an honour to be there at this event every year, and I praise them for their work. So, I wish everyone a very happy lunar new year and chúc mửng năm mới in the coming weeks.