Inflation will be the Chinese character of 2022 for many Canadians.
The Gendo Asian Art Foundation nominated 12 Chinese characters, each representing an issue that dominated the thoughts of Canadians in 2022. The poll ended on Jan. 27, with the character 漲 (inflation) winning with 33,187 votes, followed by 歧 (discrimination) with 12,800 votes.
Chak Au, Richmond city councillor and chairman of the Gendo Asian Art Foundation, said the campaign was a success, noting that Canada had the highest participation ratio compared to countries with similar polls.
More than 45 per cent of the participants were from Western Canada and most of them were from Metro Vancouver. Having so many non-Chinese participants was also encouraging and bodes well for future events, Au added.
As for the first-place winner, Au was not surprised.
“The high inflation rate has affected many people’s lives to a drastic degree in 2022,’ Au said.
Malaysia, Singapore, and Taiwan also chose “inflation” as the Chinese character of the year.
At the character reveal held on Saturday at the foundation’s office, Mark Jin, a Chinese calligraphy master, performed a brush-writing ceremony.
Arthur Wang, secretary-general of the Gendo Asian Art Foundation, expressed his appreciation for every Canadian who voted in the poll and plans to turn it into an annual event.
