By David Li, bostonese.com
Boston, Feb. 11, 2014, — About 500 people attended 2014 New England Chinese Professionals 2014 Lunar New Year Gala on Feb. 1 at Marriott Boston-Newton hotel. Comparing to last year’s gala just after Blizzard Nemo, this year’s weather was much better with high temps in the 50s. Gov. Deval Patrick and Boston Mayor Martin Walsh sent congratulatory letters for this year’s gala.
Organizers and guests of the Gala pose for a group picture (photo by Don Mo, Boston Chinese Photographers’ Association).
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According to Johnny Ip, one of the co-chairs, it took dozens of volunteers to put the day-long gala together. It’s remarkable that people from 16 different professional organizations could work together toward the same goal. Johnny Ip and Eric H. Schultz, CEO of Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, received the prestigious Leadership in Community Service Award at the evening banquet.
U.S. Representative Joe Kennedy, Boston City Councilor Michelle Wu, representatives from Chinese Consulate in New York City and other distinguished guests were on hand for the evening banquet and performances. US Senator Elizabeth Warren appeared in a video message. She congratulated Chinese professionals for their contributions to the community, and wished a prosperous Year of the Horse for all.
Like in the past, there was a flower sale by boys and girls during the banquet to benefit local nonprofits. According to Yanhua Tang of American Chinese Medical Association (ACMA), a total of $997 was raised by the kids to be donated to Boston Children’s Hospital.
Lily Miaoruo Wang (second from right) called for unity among Chinese professionals in her brief remarks on behalf of Boston Forward (photo by David Li).
Civil Rights organization Boston Forward made debut appearance at the Gala as a group. At the evening banquet, Boston Forward was given the opportunity to introduce itself to the guests. In November 2013, protests erupted across the United States after pre-recorded genocidal comments against Chinese people were aired on ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live show. Boston Forward was subsequently created by a group of activists.
The New England Chinese Professionals 2014 Lunar New Year Gala is co-organized by 16 New England Chinese-American professional associations. These are non-profit, non-political professional organizations with members in diverse industries and professional fields, such as high-tech, pharmaceutical, biotechnology, healthcare, law, business management, higher education, finance, accounting, entrepreneurship and many other areas. These professional associations collectively have over 4,000 members, many of whom are leaders in their respective fields or industries.
According to the orgnizors, the 2014 Gala and Forum is part of the overall objective of the organizations in joining forces to enrich one another, to build bonds within our communities, and to celebrate our common cultural and historic heritage. We anticipate a number of government and business leaders, as well as dignitaries to attend this event. Additionally, a number of medical, legal and business professionals and entrepreneurs have already accepted our invitation to provide professional or educational consultation. Similar to last year, we expect that over 500 people will attend the event this year.
The 2014 Gala Featured
- Community Enrichment Forum (1:00pm – 5:30pm)
- Healthcare, Education, and Entrepreneurship
- Career Fair, Professional Consultation, and Business Exhibition
- Chinese New Year Celebration (5:30 – 11:00pm)
- Cocktail and Social Networking Hour
- Gala Presentation, Keynote Speeches
- Chinese New Year Banquet (3-course dinner)
- Professional Cultural Performances & Shows
- Ballroom Dancing, Karaoke and Entertainment
Hosting Organizations:
- American Chinese Medical Association (ACMA )
- Bayhelix
- Chinese-American BioMedical Association (CABA)
- Chinese-American IP Law Association (CAIPLA)
- Chinese American Medical Society (CAMS)
- 128 Chinese Union of Technology Enterprises (128 CUTE)
- Hong Kong Association of Massachusetts (HKA-MA)
- Harvard US-China Economic Interaction Council (HUCEIC)
- MIT Chinese Association of Science and Technology (MIT-CAST)
- MIT Economic & Talent Forum (MIT-ETF)
- National Association of Asian American Professionals – Boston Chapter (NAAAP)
- New England Chinese Information and Networking Association (NECINA)
- Overseas Chinese-American Entrepreneurs Association (OCEAN)
- Pan-Asian Leaders in Finance and Accounting New England (Ascend-NE)
- Sino-American Pharmaceutical Professionals Association-New England (SAPA-NE)
- Society of Chinese Bioscientists in America (SCBA)
- The Chinese Finance Association (TCFA)
Organizing Committee:
Gala Co-Chairs: Johnny Ip, Yi Le, Sean Shen, Hongfang Yang, Xiangyang Yu.
Gala Organizing Committee: Allen Che, Zhihong Chen, Chaoyang Dai, Ke Duan, Ellen Fan, Jianfeng Hang, Ling Huang, Johnny Ip, Pingping Kuang, Zhenhua Lai, Ricky Lam, Jo Lee, Hongshan Li, Carry Liu, Yan Liu, Jiang Long, Daryl Luk, Tong Luo, Jian Ni, William Poon, Tian Qin, Susan Qu, Lin Sen, Eric Shi,Wenyu Song, Zhuang Su, Lu Sun, Tianxiao Sun, Zhaokui Wan, Jian Wang, Yihan Wang, Yikai Wang, Kaibin Wu, Li Xing, JackyYang, Jeff Yang, Zhiyong Yang, Philip Zhang, Yuan Zhang, Jie Zhao, Ru Zheng, Jerry Zhu, John Zhu.
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