More than 100 people attended the opening ceremony for the Explor/Asians Exhibition, which was held last Monday, May 4, at the Fredericton Centennial Building Lobby.

This is part of the Canada-wide celebrations of the month of May as an Asian Heritage Month. Since 2006, the Filipinos of Fredericton has been actively involved in this yearly occasion. Every year, an Asian country is chosen to be featured in the celebrations – the Philippines has been chosen for the year 2009.

The ceremony started with two excellent dance presentations by Filipino children, Bulaklakan and Alitaptap (Firefly Dance).

This was followed by a speech of the Asian Heritage Founder and Chairwoman, Mrs. Madhu Verma. 

She thanked all the volunteers who have actively participated in the yearly celebration, the NB Population Growth Secretariat for its moral support, and the City of Fredericton for the financial assistance that it has provided. The partnership with the Department of Education was also mentioned for its role and guidance in promoting cultural understanding, diversity, and unity in the classrooms. Society in general has a huge role and opportunity for supporting all these initiatives.

Mr. Rick Miles, Silverwood-New Maryland MLA, was the second speaker. After thanking Mayor Brad Woodside for all his support in this undertaking, he gave a warm welcome to everyone to Fredericton, the seventh most intelligent community in the world. The Asian Heritage Month is celebrated to highlight the great contibutions of the migrant population to self-sufficiency and cultural understanding in New Brunswick. More than $1 million dollars was spent by the Government in 2008 to promote migrant and settlement services in the province.

The highest number of immigrants through the years have been the Chinese, Koreans, Indians and the Filipinos.

The Vice-Chair of Asian Heritage Foundation, Mr. David Lee also spoke of his great appreciaton for everyone who has put a lot of effort into making the Asian Heritage month a great success.

The Mayor of Fredericton, Mr. Brad Woodside, spoke of the importance of the growing Asian community in the City. He travels to Asia twice a year and always speaks to Asians of the open doors of Fredericton.

The Executive Committee of the Asian Heritage Foundation, Mayor Brad Woodside, Mr. Rick Miles, Mr. Roland Moreno, and Mr. Clevan Lamason participated in the cutting of the ribbon and official opening of the exhibit.

The Korean Association then made an excellent cultural presentation with their special musical instruments.

Finally, everyone was invited to taste the delicious Filipino delicacies that were served.

Emcee for the program was Ms. Mae Ghanem.