Chinese Lib Dems conduct Survey on Census 2011 at annual Dragon Boat Race

For the third year running, the Chinese Lib Dems set up a stall at the annual Dragon Boat Race at the Royal Albert Docks and joined in the festivities to raise funds for various Chinese community charities. It was also an opportunity to fly the Lib Dem flag and race as the 'Democracy Dragons' alongside about 40 other boats including teams from the Chinese Embassy, Hongkong University Alumni and the British Chinese Group. At the drums this year was Farid Ahmed, Parliamentary Candidate for Walthamstowe who set the pace for the 16 rowers. Lib Dem Cllr Faruque Ansari, Mayor of Camden also attended the event as one of the VIP guests.

This year CLDs drew the public's attention to proposed new questions in the draft Census 2011 on Ethnicity. Unlike the Census form in 2001 where 'Chinese' was a paragraph separate from 'Asians', the new form for the 2011 Census includes 'Chinese' under the heading of 'Asian' with 'Indian, Pakistani etc'. Of those surveyed that day, more than half preferred the retention of 'Chinese' as a separate category and this will be fed back to the Office of National Statistics in the current consultation.

If you have a view on the subject of the 2011 Census please give us your feedback by e-mailing info@chineselibdems.org.uk