In 2024, I had the absolute pleasure of celebrating Lunar New Year & the Year of The Wood Dragon with the community in Ashfield.🧧🐲

I was commissioned by Clipped.co and Inner West Counil to create an animation to be projected at a large scale on the exterior of Ashfield Town Hall.

Lighting up the busy thoroughfare on Liverpool Rd, my animation ‘Heng Ong Huat’ pays tribute to the colourful Malaysian Chinese traditions for Lunar New Year, and showcases phrases in Penang Hokkien – a rapidly disappearing language spoken by both of my parents, and among the older ethnic Chinese people in the north of Malaysia.

✨ ‘Heng Ong Huat’ is a Hokkien expression that invites health, wealth, and prosperity.
✨ ‘Kiong Hee Huat Chai’ is the Hokkien translation for Happy New Year.

Hokkien is an incredibly expressive and humorous language that is a delight to listen to. But it is rarely spoken around the world, let alone in Australia. It feels special to showcase the language in Ashfield, where I have so many memories of buying fresh groceries, eating delicious food, and wandering the bustling streets.