Campaign to honour Melbourne’s iconic ‘dimmie’

The humble dim sim is causing a bit of a stir.

No, it’s not because the South Melbourne market have run out for the day, but rather thanks to a new campaign to honour the culinary icon.

Having failed to persuade Melbourne lord mayor Robert Doyle to support the idea for a monument for the dim sim, a group of RMIT students are now calling for help from the public to crowdsource the “Dim Sim Salute” campaign.

In addition to the petition, the group is also holding a competition inviting the public to enter their designs for the project.

Lord Mayor Robert Doyle was invited to be a judge, but declined.

Invented in Melbourne’s Chinatown by William Wing Young in the 1940s, co-founder of The Dim Sim Salute Dan Lewry believes the Chinese-inspired meat or vegetable dumpling is “the meaty fruit of our multi-cultural society”.

“Thick-skinned, resourceful and with a suspicious background, the dim sim captures the spirit of what it is to be Australian,” Mr Lewry said.

“It represents what Melbourne has become.”

“We envision the statue to be two watermelon-sized dim sims, one for fried, one for steamed,” he said.

In response to The Dim Sim Salute’s request, Lord Mayor Robert Doyle said although he admired the passion of the campaign, he was not convinced that “Australia’s unique savoury appetizer” needed a tribute.

The mayor argued that a tribute to the introduction of Chinese food was unnecessary given one already existed.

“If ever there was a shrine to the assimilation of Chinese food into Melbourne, Chinatown is certainly it,” he said.

“I would also point out that we are a city of people who come from 200 countries, speak more than 230 languages and dialects and follow more than 120 faiths.

“What’s next? A movement to moussaka, a shrine to sauerkraut, a reliquary for rogan josh or a marker to minestrone?” he said.

While the mayor agreed the dim sim was certainly a Melbourne favourite, a monument was not necessarily the style of the city.

“Melbourne is a city that offers things to do, not necessarily things to look at. We don’t need tokens and ‘big’ things in Melbourne to remember our heritage and culture; it’s around us every day,” he said.

Mr Lewry said the group was surprised by the Lord Mayor’s good sense of humour, but that the campaign would continue.

The idea for the monument, which started as an advertising university project, has gained serious attention in the media and online.

But what has the public response been like?

“The Herald Sun did a vox pop and everyone shown was a yes,” Mr Lewry said.

“However there was one lady who called in on one of our radio interviews and said she was completely opposed as it would probably end up in Sunbury where she lived!” he said.

 Think the dim sim deserves more recognition? Give your support by heading to facebook.com/TheDimSimSalute, sign the petition and enter your designs into the competition.