It was a time for celebration. It was a time of renewing and strengthening the bonds of camaraderie at the historic Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion on 10 November 2014.

The event, which is the Chinese Winter Solstice dinner started off with a lively lion dance welcome at the entrance of the historical and UNESCO award winning building. This was followed by an insightful tour of the striking house bar none of the titillating stories about the mansion’s illustrious owner and occupants. Fact is indeed stranger than fiction.

The aptly themed night was paired with a lavish banquet, drinks, food, banter and merriment. The evening programme was peppered with various cultural performances. A second performance of the lion dance was exhilarating as it was conducted on stilts at the centre courtyard. The most stunning was the ‘face-changing’ or ‘biàn lian’ Chinese opera, which received thunderous applause around the room. The soirée ended with a cheery Nyonya dance & song, with everyone singing along the well known ‘Rasa Sayang’ song.

It was truly a gathering of the United Nations, where the guests hailed from various corners of the world, united by a common passion for Intellectual Property, good food and wonderful company!