Issue 546[Melb]

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Mid-autumn festival celebration in
Nairobi - Kenyan dance performance
Moon gazing in Nairobi
/ Queenie Chow
TranslatorHelen Ngan
Moon festival. As a Chinese, you're
thinking about traditional handmade lanterns,
moon gazing in the evening, eating mother's
delicious food and sharing moon cakes with
family and friends. Mid-autumn festival for
so many of us means this scene, and most
importantly, being home with the people you
love the most. But for many of us working as
a foreigner in Africa, going home for a day of
family celebrations just isn't quite an available
option.
There is a Chinese saying – "at home
you depend on parents, outside you rely on
friends". Whilst we don't have the opportunity
to share a meal with family, our Hong Kong
friends in Nairobi did organise a small home
fiesta with moon cake, fresh fish (a rare
delicacy in Kenya!) and many delicious
dishes.
Whilst there are a great working
population from China in Kenya, very few
originate from Hong Kong. In fact, only giving
thanks to the all-powerful Facebook that we
are able to make Hong Kong friends whom
we would otherwise unlikely to meet in
Nairobi.Majority of these people are generally
employed in the development sector (the
UN or large-scaled NGO's) or working for
Christian mission organisation. The range
include those focusing in educational and
environmental developments, managing
humanitarian projects to translating the bible
into a local dialect in this region. Although we
come from different walks of life, it is certainly
"fateful coincidence" we are meet and share
our traditional moon festival together.
Although Kenyans don't celebrate the
moon festival, there is certainly traditional
moon legends. One of the most famous is
the Masai fable of the sun and the moon.
According to the Kenyan folk tale, the sun
is shining so bright only because of its
relationship with the moon. Once upon a
time, the sun married the moon. However,
they got into a fight and the moon was beaten
by the sun in just the same way women
are beaten by their husbands. Being shorttempered,
the moon also struck the sun on
the head. After their fight, the sun was so
ashamed of his battered face that he decided
to shine so brightly that people could not look
at him without squinting. The moon on the
other hand was not at the least ashamed and
one could look closely at it to see the wounds
that the sun inflicted on her during their fight.
Perhaps you will see the moon, a strong
woman in the Masai fable, in a different light
this moon festival. Happy mid-autumn festival!
Winning trivia prizes for mid-autumn festival
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ISSUE 546 545
6.10.2017