The Pearl Awards Ceremony

The inaugural Pearl Awards ceremony took place on 22nd September 2004 in London’s Café Royal. This award is specifically aimed at the Chinese Community in Britain - recognising, celebrating and rewarding their achievements.

Hosted by East Asian actress Sarah Lam, the ceremony opened with an address by the award’s patron, the late Lord Michael Chan, the first Chinese peer in the UK. In his speech Lord Chan praised the contribution of the Chinese community in Britain:

“In 21st century Britain, the Chinese community has unique achievements: one in four Chinese men and women possesses a university degree, much more than any other community; our young people have been judged by OFSTED as being the highest achievers in school GCSE examination passes, and significant numbers of Chinese are doctors and dentists in the NHS”.

He also summed up the reason for The Pearl Awards:

“The Pearl Awards are about excellence within the Chinese community, excellence that has not been publicised sufficiently in the national media. Today we will celebrate achievements by Britain’s Chinese in the arts, culture, community care, media, business and sport. These are achievements of the highest quality”.

The ceremony was attended by guests which included the Lord Mayor of Westminster, Fraser Wheeler of the Foreign & Commonwealth Office, members of the Cultural Section of the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China, representatives from the three main political parties, Labour, Conservative and Liberal Democrats, and the Awards sponsors – Arts Council England, National Crime Squad, ACAS, Metropolitan Police, World Society for the Protection of Animals, as well as organisations who have endorsed the awards, such as Her Majesty’s Prison Service and Sun Lik Beer.

Sarah Lam announced the six winners of The Pearl Awards:

David Tse from Yellow Earth Theatre collected the award for Creative Endeavour. Yellow Earth is the only East Asian theatre company performing in Britain today, and its activities include the development of new writing talent, reinterpreting classic works and delivering community workshops.

Phoenix Chinese News & Entertainment is a free to air satellite channel that broadcasts in Chinese language. Its London office provides news to the head office in Hong Kong and also produces a weekly show broadcast across Europe giving voice to the activities and events of local European Chinese communities. Phoenix’s managing director Dr Wenguang Shao was presented with the award for Media Excellence.

The Pine Court Housing Association in Merseyside won the Pearl Award for Business Enterprise. The Chairman Timothy Leung accepted the award that recognised their success in helping Chinese people to access services in the social housing sector.

Sylvia Sham from the Wai Yin Chinese Women's Society in Manchester gave a passionate and warmly received speech as she collected her award for Services to the Community. Initially set up to address the plight of Chinese victims of domestic violence, the Society has expanded to run a wide range of projects from Adult Education to Mental Health.

The Sports Development award was presented to Wang Haijun who is both an award-winning Taiji competitor and a leading coach. He has worked on a campaign to increase the standard of Taiji practice in the UK.

The Reverence for Life award went to Dr Henry Lee who has spent many years transforming the practices around the supply of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) ingredients, with the aim of protecting endangered animals. As a result of his work most of the major suppliers have signed up to a strict code of practice with ethical and moral guidelines.

Besides the excitement of the awards, the guests were able to enjoy the talents of young Chinese musicians, the colourful violins of Chi2, as well as a funny and poignant play reading by Yellow Earth Theatre.

The Pearl Awards were established by The Pearl Foundation, a social enterprise company that was created to raise the profile of the often-unsung Chinese contribution to the cultural, business, community and sporting life of Britain. The man behind the awards, William Ong, was overjoyed with the response to the event. The Pearl Foundation team has been working tirelessly on the campaign for over a year with the aim of raising the profile of Chinese communities in Britain. As he points out:

"When you compare the Chinese profile to that of other ethnic minorities such as African-Caribbean or South Asian, it remains very low. The Pearl Awards hope to provide inspiring role models for the Chinese and bring the efforts and achievements of certain individuals and organisations to the notice of a wider public".

The Awards certainly achieved this, generating tremendous interest within the Chinese community and beyond. Press attendance included BBC TV and Radio, Phoenix TV, Guardian Newspapers, Zone East, and Chinatown - The Magazine, who covered the event as well as interviewing the Pearl Awards organisers and winners. There was a live radio linkup with Radio 5 Live, and even an interview with the Shanghai Oriental Morning Post. Televised clips of the event were shown as far as Hong Kong, Beijing and Shanghai. The Pearl Awards Team felt they had witnessed an important milestone towards their objective of highlighting Chinese achievement in Britain, and have taken the first step to make visible a community that have often been relegated to the background.

To everyone at The Pearl Foundation this is just the beginning, with next year's awards promising to be even bigger and better!