NEW YORK — Chinese Caribbean nationals will be honored at Celebrate Caribbean Emancipation™, 6:00 p.m., Sunday, August 3, The Harvest Room, 90-40 160th Street, Jamaica, NY 11432. Chinese nationals began arriving in the West in 1850. They were recruited to work on the Panama railroad.
The first set of Chinese nationals from Hong Kong to Jamaica arrived July 30, 1854, and later that same year some arrived from Panama due to the terrible working conditions. Another set arrived in Jamaica in 1864 from Trinidad and Guyana because the cane fields there had suffered heavily from hurricanes.
An annual event, the Out Of Many One People Celebration TM, promises to be a fabulously exciting and interactive cultural fun event celebrating our Chinese heritage. The upcoming Summer Olympics will be highlighted and the participation of Caribbean athletes. Jamaica’s 1987 World 100-metre silver medalist, Raymond Stewart said, “It’s a very interesting situation to see that the Caribbean is on top now and not the USA and we would love to see at least the top three podium (finish) coming from the Caribbean.”
The guest speaker at Celebrate Caribbean Emancipation™ is notable New York businessman of Jamaican-Chinese heritage, Vincent “Vinnie” HoSang, OD, CEO and President of Royal Caribbean Bakery, Caribbean Food Delights and JerkQ’zine. A man from humble Jamaican beginnings in the parish of St. James, HoSang has proven that the hard work, diligence and dedication well-known of Chinese have borne fruit.
According to HoSang, “I took a big risk when I bought a 73,000-sq. ft. building on 10 acres of property in Tappan, New York in 1993 and named it Caribbean Food Delights. It produces a variety of Jamaican cuisine, including Jamaican style patties: beef, chicken, vegetable, soy and shrimp, which are oven-baked, unbaked, and microwaveable. New to our product line are jerk chicken and jerk fish patties. We are the largest Jamaican frozen food plant in the U.S. The Mount Vernon plant continues to manufacture the bread, buns, cakes, and pastries.”
HoSang Family & friend at Penn Relays
Through the years, Caribbean Food Delights has been giving back to the community which led to the formation of the Vincent HoSang Family Foundation (VHFF) in 2003. Six full scholarships were given to six students totaling US$150,000, for the entrepreneurial program at the University of the West Indies in Jamaica. In 2005, VHFF donated a fully-equipped mobile health clinic worth US$180,000 to Dr. Roy Streete of the Organization for International Development for the people of Jamaica. Additionally, VHFF donated US$250,000 to Father Ho Lung of Missionaries of the Poor to build a chapel in Jamaica. Every year in April, Caribbean Food Delights serve over 2,700 meals to over 300 student athletes at the Penn Relays which they’ve been doing for over ten years.
The Gate Prize is 2 tickets to the reception of the Art Off The Main Opening Night Gala 2008: Paint It Pink. Sponsors for the “Out Of Many One People” Celebration TM includes Western Union, The Eye Collection, The Pink Locket, Caribbean Cultural Theatre and jamroppo Productions, Inc.
According to writer Olive Senior, “many individual Chinese Jamaicans have achieved prominence in the country’s civic, industrial, political and cultural life.” Jamaicans are familiar with the ubiquitous “Hey Mr. Chin” and immortalized in song by dancehall artiste, King Yellowman’s “Mr. Chin” with lyrics such as:
“Never knew Mr. Chin could a sing
they never knew Mr. Chin could a sing.
Un lang shang lang un lang pai
un lang shang lang pai!
Un lang shang lang a piki pai pai”
Mr. Chin, boy you fi sell the right thing
Adult Tickets are $65 all-inclusive and children under 10 years of age are FREE! The price of the ticket includes an open bar, mouth-watering Jamaican/Chinese cuisine, a fashion show, theatre performances by Caribbean Cultural Theatre and music provided by the popular NY-based band, Ruff Stuff.
The evening will finish off with dancing to the rhythms of reggae, calypso and soca.
