Ron Smith Care Centre celebrates the Chinese new year

The Happy Hour normally held every month at the Rand Aid Association-run Ron Smith Care Centre took on a different flavour this February, as the residents gathered to celebrate Chinese New Year, the year of the Monkey.

Residents from all six wings of the care centre were invited to the Cedar Park wing, which was brightly decorated with Chinese dragons, flower motifs and banners with Chinese calligraphy, proclaiming best wishes for a long life and good fortune for the coming year.

Fortune cookies were offered and residents curiously broke open theirs in anticipation of finding news of impending good fortune. The residents also had fun trying to work out what their Chinese horoscope sign is. There are 12 animal signs in the Chinese zodiac. Funnily enough, there were a lot of monkeys in the group, followed by many rats, oxen and snakes.

A few Chinese horoscopes were read out, indicating personality traits, likes, dislikes and likelihood of compatibility with other signs. The residents enjoyed calling out their answers to a quiz on Chinese culture and traditions. They then sampled some litchi juice along with a variety of Chinese snacks. A few people attempted to use their chopsticks but then decided their hunger would be satisfied much more quickly using their fingers.

“Some of the residents were able to say ‘happy New Year’ in Chinese and also ‘thank you’ for the evening. They really enjoyed the experience of sampling the food and culture of a different country. It was decided that with St Patrick’s Day around the corner, the next cultural experience will be Irish,” said Ms Debbie Christen, manager of recreational programmes at Rand Aid.