Every year, when Chinese New Year arrives, I feel the pull of two places at once, the country I was born in and the city I now call home. Melbourne is filled with red lanterns in Chinatown, lion dances echo through the streets, and families gather around reunion dinners. As a Singaporean, celebrating Chinese New Year here is joyful yet deeply complicated. It makes me contemplate about belonging, race, and how food connects us to both people and place.

Many hands, different cultures all joining in for the Prosperity Toss

Food is at the heart of Chinese New Year. We prepare dumplings for wealth, toss salads for prosperity, slurp noodles for a long life, and steam sweet rice cakes for growth in the year ahead. These dishes are more than recipes and symbolism. They carry stories, memories, and hopes. But Chinese New Year in Australia is not exactly the same as in China, Malaysia, or Singapore. Some ingredients are harder to find and relatives are far away. But we adapt recipes to what is available at local markets and the simple smell of ginger and garlic in hot oil recreates a small piece of home that bridges oceans. Food changes as people move. In Melbourne, our dumplings may be filled with local prawns, and our reunion dinner might include Australian wine, but I find solace that my identity is not eroding, it's evolving.

Yet food can also mark differences and signal otherness. The smell of fermented chilli paste or dried seafood might seem strange to someone unfamiliar with it. For many immigrants and second-generation children, food becomes a symbol of being “too Asian” in public but “not Asian enough” at home. This tension shows how racial belonging is negotiated daily, often through ordinary practices like eating. Additionally, being visibly Other in Australia can still feel vulnerable. In recent years, anti-immigration sentiment and outright racism has been on the rise. Despite public festivals and celebrations from Chinatown in the CBD to suburbs like Box Hill and Springvale, we are constantly reminded that belonging is not automatic and acceptance can be fragile.

Food can play a powerful role here. Commensality, the simple act of sharing a meal, can soften boundaries. At the recent Well Fed at the Wharf Lunar New Year celebration, the space was filled with the smells, colours and flavours that many grew up with. For some students, it was a taste of home. For others, it was a chance to learn why certain dishes are eaten and what they symbolise. In that moment, food insecurity was addressed with care and dignity, but cultural identity was also celebrated openly and proudly. The act of eating together challenges stereotypes and creates shared understanding. Preparing and sharing a reunion dinner becomes an act of resilience.

Just Food Collective’s Well Fed at the Wharf Lunar New Year Celebration

What stands out to me most is how these gatherings bring together a diverse student population and allow us to connect across differences. Sitting side by side, sharing a meal that carries cultural meaning, attendees become people with stories, families and traditions. In that shared space, racial belonging feels tangible. It says: we are here, we have history, and our traditions matter. The table becomes a small but powerful space of affirmation.

For me, celebrating Chinese New Year in Melbourne is not simply about nostalgia, it is about building community in the present with the just and equitable access to culturally appropriate food without prejudice. And that is precisely what Just Food does through programs and events like Well Fed. By offering dignified meals, creating spaces for cultural celebration, and centering students’ wellbeing, Just Food shows that support can be both practical and deeply human. In a city as diverse yet often isolating as Melbourne, that work matters.

People, Place and Prosperity: Racial belonging through food in an Australian Chinese New Year

Further readings on racial belonging, food and Chinese new year:

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People, Place and Prosperity: Racial belonging through food in an Australian Chinese New Year

Further readings on racial belonging, food and Chinese new year:

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