(Photo: CNA)
Hakka people usually call the Dragon Boat Festival as “ngˋ ngied jiedˋ (五月節),” or Double Fifth Festival as it falls on the fifth day of the fifth month of the lunar calendar. THAC President Liu Chien-yu (劉建佑) said the association has celebrated the festival in Cambodia for five years, even though in the past two years Hakka compatriots kept the celebration simple due to the COVID-19 pandemic. With the success of Cambodia's epidemic prevention, the festivities have returned to the atmosphere as bustling as before the epidemic.
Around a hundred people attended the fest. Association members worked together to make classic Hakka dishes, including the Hakka radish bun, savory tangyuan (glue rice ball soup), and sticky rice cake—miqiba (米糍粑). At the banquet, Hakka delicacies such as pork belly soup with pickled vegetables, Hakka stir-fry, and stuffed tofu were served for the guests to have a taste of their hometown.
Director General Chung Wen-cheng (鍾文正) of Taipei Economic and Cultural Office (TECO) in Ho Chi Minh City delivered his speech on the occasion, saying that, owing to the coronavirus, he hasn’t come to Cambodia for two and a half years. Noting that, up until now, Cambodia has not reported any new confirmed cases for more than 20 consecutive days, Chung believed the economic recovery is expected for Taiwanese firms as the pandemic has slowed down.
(Photo: CNA)
Cambodia has loosened most of the pandemic prevention restrictions so far. The outdoor mask mandate is lifted. The Cambodian government has announced that the fifth dose of COVID-19 vaccine will be offered to the citizens in early June. At present, international travelers entering Cambodia are exempt from quarantine as long as they have received two doses of the vaccine, and test reports are not required before and after entry.
(Photo: CNA)