TORONTO—Kevin Vuong is a member of the Canadian parliament, and this was his second time seeing Shen Yun Performing Arts.
“I think the first thing I want to say is as a proud Canadian of Chinese heritage, I’m very honored to not only be back to see it for a second time, but to thank Shen Yun and the entire production for helping me to reconnect with the roots of my own heritage,” Mr. Vuong said.
“I think there are a lot of questions that people always ask: What if China was a democracy? And those are things that we don’t have to really imagine on our own today. That’s something that we’re able to see on stage, see the celebration of 5,000 years of history and culture,” Mr. Vuong said.
As a father, Mr. Vuong was pleased to see the values that Shen Yun presented and how important they are to the younger generation.
“I’m a proud father of a five-and-a-half-month-old little girl now, and that’s something that I was reflecting on as I sat and watched the performances. How do I help my daughter to learn those same values that we all hold so dear and also reconnect with the fact that she herself is half Chinese,” he expressed.
“I think one of the things that I continue to see is the importance of honoring our family, our culture and our community to be a good neighbor to help one another. I’ve seen that on stage in the performances and some of the virtues that they’ve tried to signal and demonstrate and that’s something that I will continue to try to live and aspire to myself each and every day,” he said.
Toronto is a city where many Asian immigrants have gathered and many audience members have not seen authentic Chinese culture before Shen Yun.“I think the fact that we’re watching it here today in Toronto, a place where so many people like myself of Chinese heritage call the city home, and we can reconnect with our roots, is very special. And it’s something that I look forward to now for a second time and again next year,” Mr. Vuong shared.
One of Shen Yun’s dances depicted the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in modern-day China.“I think we’ve seen many different communities, unfortunately, have been persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party and so today is also an important reminder of the courage and perseverance of these communities who continue to stand up to the authoritarian regime and why we need to stand with them as well,” Mr. Vuong said.
Reporting by NTD and Maria Han.
The Epoch Times is a proud sponsor of Shen Yun Performing Arts. We have covered audience reactions since Shen Yun’s inception in 2006.
