CHIANG Kai Shek College (CKSC) celebrated Chinese New Year on Feb. 8, 2024 with the whole school grounds literally gleaming with red as more than 3,000 students, teachers, and guests attended the event at its campus in Tondo. Manila.

Mostly in Chinese costumes or red attires to welcome Lunar Year 2024, the program included the first Dragon and Lion Dance for the year, Chinese folk dance, Chinese martial arts, Chinese chorale recitations, C-Pop performance and mass singing, among others.

CKSC President Judelio Yap welcomed guests to the school and explained that this year, being the Year of the Dragon, is expected to bring good luck.

"[This year is] the Chinese Lunar Year of the Dragon. In Chinese culture, the dragon represents good luck, strength, health and also the element of yang in yin yang, which is about being bright and positive. The dragon is unique because it is the only mythical creature of all the animals in the Chinese zodiac," he said.

"As we officially welcome the Chinese new year of the dragon, regardless of what our horoscopes say, let us be like the dragon, let us be strong and courageous, let us always do our best so that our future will be positive and bright. And taking the advice of our two honorary chairmen (who spoke earlier), let us always seek the guidance of the Almighty above to lead our daily lives, but also we must take care of ourselves by keeping ourselves healthy always through proper nutrition and exercise," he extolled.

Founded in 1939 as Chiang Kai-shek High School and named as such until 1965, CKSC is a Chinese Filipino higher education institution (HEI) recognized by both the Philippine and Republic of China (Taiwan) governments. It offers preschool, grade school, junior high school, senior high school and college.

It is the largest Chinese Filipino school in the Philippines with 70,000 population. Many of the taipans and tycoons have graduated from CKSC. Among the prominent personalities who studied there is sports superstar Ernest John (EJ) Obiena, the number two pole vaulter in the world.

Yap told The Manila Times that CKSC is one of only three academic institutions in the Philippines with an all-level International Baccalaureate Primary Years Program (IB PYPY), the standard of international education under IB World School.