Appreciation Award in the form of a dragon boat mounted on a plinth
Date2001
Object number00046233
NameAward
MediumWood
DimensionsOverall: 245 x 685 x 127 mm, 1055 g
ClassificationsCommemorative artefacts
Credit LineANMM Collection Gift from Raymond Leung
Collections
DescriptionAppreciation Award in the form of a dragon boat mounted on a plinth, presented to Hon John Watkins MP (NSW Minister for Education and Training) by the Australian Chinese Dragon Boat Festival Committee and Sydney Chinese Lions Club Inc on the occasion of the 2001 Chinese New Year Festival and Dragon Boat Festival.
HistoryAccording to Dragon Boats NSW Inc, the first Australian involvement occurred in 1980 when Penang Tourist Development Corporation invited the West Australian Surf Life Saving Association to send a team to the Penang Festival. This was followed the next year by invitations from the HKTA to WA and NSW to send teams to what was then considered the unofficial world championships on Hong Kong Harbour.
In 1984 Sydney held the inaugural Sydney Dragon Boat Festival at Farm Cove. The Western Australia Dragon Boat Association formed in 1985. Since then most other states have subsequently formed associations. Dragon boats were part of the river activities in Melbourne's Moomba festival in the mid-1980s.
The Chinese Dragon Boat Festival honours the Chinese poet Qu Yuan who drowned himself in 278 BC as a protest against official corruption. His poetic commentary on politics, like the dragon boat festival that honours him, remains relevant to the present day:
"The whole state is corrupt,
I alone am honest
The public is drunk
Only I am awake".
SignificanceDragon boat racing today is an example of a water sport brought to Australia through immigration; an interesting counterpoint to the many well-established sports in which immigrants have participated and excelled. The adoption of dragon boat racing in Australia brings together two strong national traditions - sport and immigration. The combination of an ancient Chinese festival with quintessentially Australian surf life saving skills helped initially to establish annual dragon boat races and associations around Australia, along with Australian participation in international competitions.
