Christmas Island Stories: Suzane Chan

Dancing isn’t just a hobby for Suzane Chan, it’s her way of connecting Christmas Islanders to their past and ensuring their culture survives long into the future.
The 34-year-old has a fulltime job running community events, but spends her evenings and weekends working tirelessly to keep local children engaged in the community through dancing, costume and drumming.
She pays for most of the costuming, props and other equipment herself, though in recent years she has been supported by Christmas Island Phosphate.
On top of running a dance troupe and drumming classes, she is also in the Poon Saan Club committee, which runs all of the Island’s Poon Saan club festivals.
Her goal is to give the next generation the same vibrant childhood she had on the Island and encourage enough young people to stay and preserve her beloved community.
“My grandparents and parents migrated here from Malaysia in the 1970s to work at the phosphate mine, and my parents actually met and married here on the Island,” she says.
“When I was born in 1988, they were in Perth, but we moved back here not long after and I’ve lived here pretty much my whole life.
“I call this Island home, and I call it my family.”