Wikipedia entries and edits

I edit wikis when I am really really bored.

12:30, 8 February 2010 (hist | diff) Talk:Cathy Freeman ‎ (→Chinese?) (top)
10:53, 8 February 2010 (hist | diff) Cathy Freeman ‎ (→Personal life: Added discovery of Chinese and English heritage to bottom of section.)
10:27, 8 February 2010 (hist | diff) m Les Fong ‎ (top)
10:24, 8 February 2010 (hist | diff) Les Fong ‎ (Date of joining league, premiership info, induction into WAFL hall of fame, family info)
07:42, 8 February 2010 (hist | diff) m Alice Pung ‎ (top)
06:22, 8 February 2010 (hist | diff) N Alice Pung ‎ (Creation of page with various bits of info.)
02:13, 8 February 2010 (hist | diff) m Cheltzie Lee ‎
01:56, 8 February 2010 (hist | diff) Cheltzie Lee ‎ (Added Chinese and African American heritage info - with a source from newspaper. Spelling correction to "withdrawl". Added tag "Australians of Chinese descent")
00:24, 3 February 2010 (hist | diff) Cheltzie Lee ‎ (Added tag "Australians of Chinese descent")
15:13, 8 July 2009 (hist | diff) Victor Chang ‎ (→Legacy: Added his 1999 Australian of the Century selection)
15:30, 19 April 2009 (hist | diff) Neale Fong ‎ (→External links: Added Australians of Chinese descent category)
15:29, 19 April 2009 (hist | diff) Les Fong ‎ (→External links: Added Australians of Chinese Descent Category)
15:28, 19 April 2009 (hist | diff) Chinese Australian ‎ (→Sports: Added Les Fong under Sports section)
11:11, 29 March 2009 (hist | diff) Anthony Wong (Australian actor) ‎ (Added Category Aus of Chinese Descent)
11:48, 16 February 2009 (hist | diff) m Shen Jiawei ‎
11:48, 16 February 2009 (hist | diff) Shen Jiawei ‎ (Added category Australians of Chinese descent)
11:46, 16 February 2009 (hist | diff) John Yu ‎ (Added category Australians of Chinese descent)
11:44, 16 February 2009 (hist | diff) Irene Moss ‎ (Added Category Australians of Chinese descent) (top)
11:42, 16 February 2009 (hist | diff) m Cheong Liew ‎ (→See also)
11:41, 16 February 2009 (hist | diff) Cheong Liew ‎ (Added Category "Australians of Chinese Descent")
09:38, 9 January 2009 (hist | diff) Brendan Gan ‎
09:34, 9 January 2009 (hist | diff) Chinese Australian ‎ (→Sports)
14:06, 1 February 2008 (hist | diff) Cathy Freeman ‎ (→External links)
14:06, 1 February 2008 (hist | diff) Cathy Freeman ‎ (→External links)
14:04, 1 February 2008 (hist | diff) Chinese Australian ‎ (→Sports)
14:03, 1 February 2008 (hist | diff) Chinese Australian ‎ (→Sports)
08:15, 3 January 2008 (hist | diff) Chinese Australian ‎ (→Arts and entertainment)
08:09, 3 January 2008 (hist | diff) Shaun Tan ‎ (→External links)
08:06, 2 January 2008 (hist | diff) Chinese Australian ‎ (→Business)
07:57, 2 January 2008 (hist | diff) m Chinese Australian ‎ (→Arts and entertainment)
07:56, 2 January 2008 (hist | diff) Chinese Australian ‎ (→Arts and entertainment)
01:01, 23 December 2006 (hist | diff) Albury, New South Wales ‎ (→Famous sons, daughters, and residents)
01:00, 23 December 2006 (hist | diff) Lisa Ho ‎
11:10, 12 November 2006 (hist | diff) m Li Cunxin ‎
11:08, 12 November 2006 (hist | diff) Li Cunxin ‎
11:06, 12 November 2006 (hist | diff) Chinese Australian ‎ (added li cunxin)
11:04, 12 November 2006 (hist | diff) Li Cunxin ‎

A Chinese New Year on ABCs Compass

The summary from the Compass site is:
"As Australia welcomes in the Chinese New Year, Compass explores what it all means. As well as marking the beginning of the lunar year, it’s a time when the Chinese community pays respect to their elders, and when good fortune is abundant … It’s also a time to cast aside grudges, make amends and earn forgiveness. Compass follows two very different Australian families as they welcome in Chinese New Year."
 
Caught this on TV last night.  You can catch it too, if you're quick.  Watch it in iView or  watch it in the flash viewer at the Compass site.  It should be up for the next ten or so days.  It was filmed during last years festivities (Year of the Ox).

The program follows the Leung family and the Boikov family in the lead up to and the celebrating of Chinese New Year.

The Leungs are a lion dancing family and are busy training and doing dances for retirees in retirement homes, shops and the general public in the days before Chinese New Year.  They also go to the temple to pray and burn incense etc.

The Boikovs have a massive gathering at the grandparents house each year where all the sons, daughters, in-laws and grandkids come together to celebrate.  The grandmother, despite her age spends a lot of her time going shopping for food and decorations in Chinatown.  They spend the day before Chinese New Year eating, chatting and playing games.  Later in the night, the make and eat dumplings, before the hongbaos are finally given out.

It was quite interesting too in that one family have had their origins in southern China (Leungs from Canton) and the other in northern China (Boikovs from Inner Mongolia).

The first thing that caught my eye was the Boikov family's surname and I was trying throughout the show to decipher the grandads racial mix.  Boikov is obviously a Russian surname and the dude did look vaguely Russian.

This would have made him Eurasian (if he was half-half) or part European (if less than half European) - I try to avoid the term Eurasian if the person is not half-half.  I also avoid using the term Asian if the person is a quarter or less Asian.  In my experience, many people will say that they are Eurasian, even if they're only a quarter or even less Asian, to try and take advantage of the fact that Eurasians get a good rap in the looks department.  The exoticness of the Asian combined with the whatever (status?) of the whites.  In my experience, Eurasians are just like the rest of us.  There are the good looking ones (Jess Gomes, Kristin Kreuk, Daniel Henney) and what the media doesn't show you are the ordinary looking ones, of which there are a lot.  A LOT.  I really don't understand why some people choose to put Eurasians on a pedestal and I'm sure a lot of self hating Asians crave to have Eurasian kids.

(On a side note, and I'm really off track now, one of my 'friends' is 3/4 European and 1/4 Asian.  Not only does he throw around the Eurasian tag to every new person that he meets, he also throws around the Asian tag whenever he says something racist about Asians, to try and convince us he can't be racist.  It's along the same lines of saying you can't be racist towards Asians because you have Asian friends or because you're married to an Asian mail order bride.  This guy looks fully white, and knows jack all about Asian culture apart from bubble tea and he claims to know about Asians and even claims to be one! A big WTF indeed.)

OK, back to the story of the Boikovs.  After marrying a full-blooded Chinese bride, I was very surprised that the family stayed Chinese in keeping with the customs and celebrating Chinese New Year.  His kids look fully Asian and his grandkids look fully Asian too.  Perhaps it was the environment in which they grew up in and lived in (Inner Mongolia). 

Anyway this got me thinking, wouldn't it be great if more Eurasians married Asians?

News Links Week 5

Defendant must give victim $130,000 (via Eurasian Sensation)
"A SYDNEY man has been ordered to pay more than $130,000 in compensation to an Asian man he brutally bashed during a cowardly, unprovoked and racially motivated attack, a court has heard. David Chia was sitting in a car with his girlfriend outside his home in Pymble in the early hours of January 21, 2006, when they were approached by a group of men who emerged from a nearby property.
...
He told his girlfriend to drive away as the men began punching him and kicking his head as he lay on the ground. Mr Wickenden yelled: ''You f***ing Asian, I'm going to kill you, you gook,'' the court heard. Mr Chia ran past his home, where he knew his parents to be sleeping, as he was afraid the men would follow him there.

He ran down the driveway of a nearby property, where Mr Wickenden caught up with him, striking him on the back and the head with a garden stake he had taken from a neighbouring front yard."

Torquay milkbar operator bashed
"A CUSTOMER viciously bashed a Torquay milkbar operator outside his shop yesterday.
Bell St milkbar owner Dong Xu said he was punched to the face "three or four times" smashing his teeth and causing deep gashes to his face.

An Australian citizen for 20 years, Mr Dong said the assault had shaken his faith in Australia."

Men guilty of student attack
"A JURY has found two young Hobart men guilty of taking part in an attack on a foreign university student. Singaporean man Poh Leong Kee was assaulted by a group of males who attempted to steal his car at Sandy Bay on March 7 last year. Prosecutors alleged he was knocked to the ground and punched and kicked by all four male offenders."

Essendon North hotel manager bound, robbed at gunpoint
"A HOTEL manager has spoken of being bound and confronted by a shotgun during an overnight robbery. Police are hunting two men who bound and robbed Antony Nguyen, 21, hotel manager at the Lincolnshire Arms in Essendon North"


Supermodel Jess still loves Perth
"Perth-raised supermodel and Sports Illustrated star Jessica Gomes has travelled the world but she still loves coming home to "chill out" and spend time with her family."

Friend replaces Chang plaque
"THE plaque honouring murdered Sydney heart surgeon Victor Chang was stolen from Lang St, Mosman.  The plaque, which simply states “In Memory of Dr Victor Chang”, was at the site where Dr Chang was killed in July 1991.  It was stolen in December, but Allan Mann and John Dansie of Mosman paid $100 to Aidan Trophies in Brookvale to get a new anodized aluminium plaque made for the site, which also includes a lemon-scented gum. "

Life on Death Row Article on some of the Bali 9, including Andrew Chan - scroll halfway down the page.
"Chan - with his broad Australian accent straight from the suburbs of Sydney - has a larrikin streak, quick to joke and turn the conversation away from himself and on to his passion for rugby league and the Penrith Panthers, as if sharing a beer at a pub...."

Release the Tiger
"It's the time of year when Chinese-Australians eat black moss seaweed and gingko nut, display tangerines and oranges for good luck, ward off bad luck by draping red cloth on their doorways and hand out red lai see ''lucky money'' envelopes to pass on prosperity.

It's Chinese New Year and Sydney is celebrating in style.

Following the lunar calendar, from February 12 to 28, a program of colourful events - from a twilight parade in Chinatown that features hip-hop artists, stilt walkers and acrobats to feng shui classes and dinner with chef Kylie Kwong - will welcome the Year of the Tiger."


Yang Fudong will star in Cinema Alley this Lunar New Year
"LEADING Chinese contemporary artist Yang Fudong will feature in the Cinema Alley outdoor cinema in Chinatown on Friday, February 19, at 7pm.

Parker St will host the celebration, with 4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Arts presenting the event to mark the Year of the Tiger. "


Bollywood comes to Springvale for Lunar fest
"SPRINGVALE’S popular Lunar New Year Festival celebrations will sparkle with a touch of Bollywood this year.  Indian music and dancing is just one of the new attractions festival organisers hope will draw big crowds to the Buckingham Ave festivities this weekend. "

Dancers united in passion
"THEY work in diverse occupations, including accounting, teaching and business - but are united in their passion for dance.  The 15 members of the Sydney Chinese Dance Group also share a common desire to promote Chinese culture in Australia, volunteering to dance at many cultural events and celebrations...."

Sarah Oh back to defend title
"HOMEBUSH’S Sarah Oh will defend her Bing Lee/Samsung NSW Women’s Open title to be played for the fourth consecutive year at Oatlands Golf Club, near Parramatta, from Friday to Sunday. The 2008 ALPG Rookie of the Year thrilled her home crowd last year with a three-shot victory over 2008 Canadian Women’s Open winner and reigning ANZ Ladies Masters champion Katherine Hull.

Oh’s win was made all the more special when her mother came out to watch her play the final round, the first time she had watched her daughter play in a professional tournament as she had previously been too nervous to watch. "


Lack of soldiers may condemn Mackay Chess Club to history
"With knights at close quarters and the pawn army gathering, soon the king's powers will be useless as the vicious black army is triumphant.  It wasn't long ago when every week, on Stan Hong-Long's patio, the Mackay Chess Club would meet and play out these similar scenarios."

Shopping palaces spread gospel from Down Under

From The Age, a very interesting article on early Chinese-Australians and their contributions to Shanghai:

THE Four Great Companies, as they were known, were once the commercial heart of old Shanghai. Their four buildings still stand elegant and proud on Nanjing Road, even if they don't quite dominate the city skyline as they did before World War II.

''Whenever a train reached the outer suburbs of Shanghai, or a boat turned into the Huangpu River, away in the distance all of the passengers could see the tall spires and gleaming lights of the Four Great Companies,'' wrote Charles Lee, whose family built one of them. ''Their eye-catching company insignia shone like stars on the horizon, shedding their beams in every direction, so that every woman and child in Shanghai knew their names.''

Every child in Shanghai might once have known their names and millions of visitors have certainly admired them since, but the remarkable stories they contain have been hidden from mainstream Australian history for generations. Those stories have been resurrected by John Fitzgerald, La Trobe University historian and head of the Ford Foundation in Beijing, in his book Big White Lie.

Remarkably, the Four Great Companies were all built by Australians who wanted to recreate the experience of the Australian department store (and also spread the Bible). The buildings look like the old department stores in Australian capital cities that were pioneered by Anthony Horden and replicated by David Jones and Myer.

Inside, the Shanghai department stores deliberately replicated Horden's egalitarian service model, where every customer was welcomed by trained staff with courtesy and respect, regardless of their background. They displayed fixed-price goods in glass cases, presented in a common corporate style, and offered convenient access to bathrooms and tearooms.

Together, these stores turned Nanjing Road into Shanghai's most prestigious shopping strip. And they were stunningly successful.

The first, as you walk east from the Bund, is the five-storey Sincere store, built by the son of an Australian gold panner in 1917. Ma Ying-piu, like most Australian-Chinese of his time, was from a small cluster of counties in China's southern Guangdong province.

His father arrived in Australia for the Victorian gold rush of the 1850s and members of the family shuttled back and forth between China and Australia. Ma worked as a labourer and in 1890 he founded a trading firm in Sydney's Haymarket.

He then sold his shares to spread the gospel in Hong Kong and southern China, towing behind him a piano and illuminated lantern-slides. In 1900 he set up Hong Kong's Sincere Department Store, and then a grander version in Nanjing Road in 1917. On opening day 10,000 customers poured through the door.

The Sincere Store is five storeys high with a spire on top. It still glows spectacularly at night, although it is now occupied by the East Asia Hotel and partially obscured by a large model of a Chinese junk hanging from its front.

Immediately opposite, at the intersection of Zhejiang Road, is the Yong-An (Eternal Peace or Wing-On in Cantonese) store. This was built by James and Philip Gockchin, who started as labourers in Australia and moved into fruit trading in Sydney's Haymarket. They built their department store six storeys high - one better than Sincere - in 1918.

This store was said to turn over more than all of Shanghai's general stores combined before 1917. The Gockchin family diversified into textile mills, employing 14,000 people, and also real estate, life insurance and banking.

Next door to the Sincere Store, further up the road, Queenslander Charles Lee built the Sun Sun Company store, in 1926. His was seven storeys, now festooned with an extraordinary plastic sculpture of a soup bowl and ladle.

And a little further up the road, on the corner of People's Square, is the Sun Company Store built by Choy Chong and Choy Hing in 1936. It was the biggest of them all; 10 storeys with lifts and central heating, although it was built with yellow brick rather than stone.

Fitzgerald documents how the stores were built on the foundations of British law, which gave these Chinese-Australian families the capacity to reach out widely and subscribe capital from family, business, Christian and other networks across the Pacific rim of the British Empire. The Shanghai stores were also a product of the White Australia policy, which, from 1901, made it increasingly difficult for ethnic Chinese to live and own property in Australia.

The great Australian-Chinese families of a century ago mostly packed up and grew their fortunes in the United States and other places where they were more welcome. Those with assets in China, such as Philip Gockchin's Yong-An store, had them assailed by war and then appropriated by the Communist government in 1949.

Gockchin returned from Hong Kong to visit Australia in 1951. He found a Chinese-Australian population that had dwindled to just 10,000, a mere fifth of what it had been before the White Australia policy of 1901.

''The overseas Chinese hired themselves out as labourers, opened up wastelands with their sweat and blood, and built the foundations for future prosperity,'' he wrote at the time. ''In the end, however, it is others who profited from their efforts.''

Update on Cheltzie Lee

Confirmed that Cheltzie's dad is Asian and her mum is African-American, and not the other way around.  I wasn't sure before cos there are African-Americans with Lee as their surname, eg Spike Lee etc.

Is this important you might ask? More than you think!

Props to Cheltzie's dad!!!

From The Daily Telegraph

AN EXCUSE to beat the heat 11 years ago has frozen over into a Winter Olympic wonderland for Aussie figure skater Cheltzie Lee, who yesterday earned a last-minute ticket to Vancouver.

The Campbelltown 16-year-old's inclusion was confirmed after Israel declined to send its qualified skater, Tamar Katz.

After missing out on automatic qualification, Lee was prepared to wait until the 2014 Games in Sochi, Russia, but was last night trying to decide which parent will accompany her to Vancouver.

It was her Chinese-born father who introduced Lee to skating, taking her to Canterbury Ice Rink as a five-year-old on a typically sweltering summer day. "We were looking for something to do to get out of the heat, so Dad took me ice skating," Lee recalled.

"I loved it straight away and didn't need to hold the rail.

"It just felt natural."

Lee, whose African-American mother was raised in Louisiana, contested the Youth Olympics in 2007, finishing a creditable 15th in her first open-age event in Vancouver last year.

She overcame serious back problems suffered in an 18-car pile-up in Colorado - her US training base - in 2007 to continue in the sport after a long stint in a fibreglass back brace.

"I had two broken bones in my back and I had to wear the brace 24 hours a day for two months," Lee said. "I feel OK now, but I still need to manage it."

Her coach Kylie Fennell said a Michael Buble instrumental, Feeling Good, would accompany Lee's short routine, in which she needs a top-24 finish out of 30 girls to continue. If she progresses, Lee's long routine will be performed to the soundtrack of hit film Elizabeth: The Golden Age.

They ain't Asian...Are they? Cheltzie Lee

After falling short of Olympic selection at the international qualifying event in Europe, but being highly placed on the reserve list, Cheltzie Lee has qualified after withdrawals from other countries opened up a place for her.

Cheltzie, of Chinese and African American heritage has become the third 15-yr old (i think this means she was 15 when she was qualifying cos she is 16 now going on 17) to join the Australian team due to compete at the Vancouver Games which starts in February.  The announcement was made yesterday and her event starts on the 23rd so she has a few weeks (not that much time!) to warm up.

She is the 2010 Australian National Champion in figure skating.

Go Cheltzie!

Childhood sweethearts reunited at Castle Hill after 63 years

From the Hills Shire Times

CHILDHOOD sweethearts Gang Yuan and Liyun Deng are together again after 63 years but the happy event has been clouded by the battle to have their marriage recognised.

Mr Yuan, 85, of Castle Hill, married Mrs Deng, 85, in China in October 1946.

The couple met when 10-year-old Mrs Deng stayed with the Yuan family in the Gaosha District in Dongkuo City in Hunan in 1934.

When Mr Yuan was studying at the Huangpu Military School and Mrs Deng was studying at Wugang Teacher’s College they started to write to each other.

The army granted him 10 days’ leave to marry and spend time with his new wife and it was the only time they spent as a couple.

After Mr Yuan returned to his unit the communists swept to power, defeating the National Party (Kuomintang) which retreated to Taiwan and all contact was lost.

Mr Yuan’s young wife heard nothing further about her husband and thought he had died.

She graduated and a fellow teacher who had been at her wedding asked her to marry him.

She married again in October 1952 and her second husband has since died.

Finally reunited on December 21, they spent their first Christmas and New Year together while Mr Yuan’s niece Donna Ferraro launched the bid to have the marriage recognised.

Ms Ferraro said the family hoped Mrs Deng would be allowed to migrate here as Mr Yuan’s wife and create the happy ending that had eluded them for 63 years.

But Mrs Deng was granted a visitor’s visa and their marital status is waiting to be validated by Chinese and Australian authorities.

In an email to Ms Ferraro, Joe Feld, the principal migration officer from the immigration section of the Australian Consulate General in Guangzhou, said: “You should be aware that recognition of the marriage between the couple does not automatically entitle Liyun to an Australian partner visa.

“The key test in this application is whether they meet the definition of spouse according to Section 5F of the Migration Act 1956.

“There is concern that the couple may not be able to meet these criteria as they have only spent two weeks together as a couple in 1946 and have not met in person since then. Furthermore, Liyun spent 56 of those years married to another person.”

Ms Ferraro described the battle to help her uncle as a “rollercoaster” ride helped by many community members.

“There are lots of people who helped us make my uncle and aunt finally unite,” Ms Ferraro said.

“We can only wait on the authorities to make a decision.”

Ms Ferraro said Mrs Deng was having difficulty adjusting to life in Australia after living in a little town in China for 85 years.

“She never flew in an airplane until last month,” Ms Ferraro said. “She has travelled in a car only a few times before.

“Of course, they are very happy to see each other. They have spent their very first Christmas and New Year together.”

Danny Lee named NZ golfer of the year

and Cecilia Cho named Golf Female Amateur of the Year.

From Stuff

Danny Lee and David Smail picked up the major trophies at the New Zealand Golf Awards function in Queenstown.

Lee took out the New Zealand Golfer of the Year for 2009, while Smail won the award for the PGA of New Zealand Professional Golfer of the Year at the Golf Awards hosted by New Zealand Golf and the NZPGA at Millennium Hotel.

Lee, the 2008 US Amateur Champion, was the only New Zealander to gain a win on a major tour in 2009, when he took out the Johnnie Walker Classic in Perth.

Lee, 18 at the time, became the youngest player to win on the Australasian and European Tours, and the first amateur to win that title in more than a decade.

He went on to turn professional amid some fanfare, making six of 11 cuts on the PGA Tour including a tie for seventh at the AT&T National but he missed qualifying at the US qualifying school. Lee moved to the European Tour where his Johnnie Walker Classic win gave him exempt status.

Smail completed another outstanding season, finishing 2009 as New Zealand's only player inside the world's top 100, ranked at No 95. The Waikato golfer qualified for three of the four majors in 2009 (British Open, US Open and USPGA), making the cut in the PGA Championship.

He completed another successful year on the Japan Tour, finishing 17th on the moneylist with five top-10s, and was three times runner-up. Smail was fifth on the Australasian Tour Order of Merit with his best showings being a share of second at the NZPGA and tied for eighth at the Moonah Classic - both Nationwide co-sanctioned events.

Talented Dunedin teenager Duncan Croudis was awarded the Sir Bob Charles Scholarship which is awarded annually and established with funds donated by Sir Bob.

The scholarship is aimed at assisting New Zealand's most promising golfers and golf students, to further their education while they develop their golfing skills. They can also be used to pursue specific golf educational goals.

Croudis, 18, is the New Zealand under-19 champion and second in his age group at the Aaron Baddeley world junior championships. He will begin studies for a Bachelor of Commerce at Otago University this year.

Peter Spearman-Burn (Wellington) was awarded the male amateur of the year. He was leader of the Order of Merit, winner North Island Amateur and South Island Amateur and a quarterfinalist at the NZ Amateur.

Auckland's Cecilia Cho is the female amateur of the year. She was the leader in the order of merit and won the New Zealand Amateur among 15 individual titles won in 2009. Cho, then 14, was the leading New Zealander, amateur or professional, at last year's inaugural New Zealand Women's Open, finishing in a share of 14th place.

News Links Weeks 1-4

RIP Paul Buu Lieu
Man fights for life after attack in Bibra Lake
Man remanded over death of buddhist monk
Man charged over death of buddhist monk

Changing the Face of Australian Theatre (via stephiepenguin)

Leader learns the ropes

Noh says yes to taekwondo

Tom's dozen wicket haul

AFP given new rules after Bali Nine

Prize takes violinist Ray Chen from Whoa to Presto

Race hate scandal rocks some of nation's most elite schools

Remade in China - Article about Kerry Ann Lee, a third generation kiwi living in Shanghai as an Artist in Residence

Nature inspired playgrounds

Aussies content with flag and anthem

Alisa Xayalith from The Naked and Famous

Just caught this band on Video Hits. The Naked and Famous (they were at the Big Day Out in 2009) hails from NZ and their lead singer is kiwi Asian. Alisa Xayalith is the lead vocalist and songwriter of this duo group, although they become a five piece band when touring.  Alisa has a Chinese-Thai background.

All of This - The Naked and Famous.


Her brother(or cuz?) Aroon Xayalith seems to be a musician as well. Check out his Myspace page.

Rediscovered Past 13-14 Feb in Cairns

From the tiger's mouth:

Following the success of the previous Rediscovered Past conferences held in Cairns in 2006 and 2008, the organisers are pleased to announce a third conference to be held in 2010. Again this will be a “no fuss” multidisciplinary event run over two days and will be open to contributions from all fields of Chinese Australian studies – including history, archaeology, heritage management, law, literature, linguistics, art, and library science. The conference will maintain the previous casual, convivial atmosphere that everybody has enjoyed, and the theme will focus on Chinese contributions to the development of northern Australia. Chinese have been part of this region for several centuries, starting with sporadic visits by traders and fishermen and culminating in the large scale immigration of miners, workers and business people during the 19th century. From pioneering tropical agriculture to bringing essential goods and services to remote towns, from generating wealth for the colonies to galvanising debate about social exclusion and ‘white Australia’, their roles in shaping the social, economic and political life of the region have been critical on many levels. Yet these roles have been largely ignored in the writing of history, and so this conference will present fresh, exciting new research that establishes greater understanding and a true valuing of Chinese Australian heritage.

Major General Darryl Low Choy will be presenting and chairing some sessions.

For more information visit the Chinese Heritage in North Australia (CHINA Inc) site.

Growing Up Asian in Australia

This should probably have been my first post for this blog and it's taken me quite a while to put it together.  It's still scrappy in places but will be improved.

I originally started this blog in the middle of 2009 because I was frustrated that there weren't many sources
of Asian Australian news and issues out there.  There are Asian community newspapers, but I don't read Chinese or Vietnamese or any other language.

I discovered asian angry man (an Asian American blog) in 2008 but only started reading it a bit more frequently in 2009.  I thought it was pretty cool how he would write about all these awesome and inspiring things that his fellow Asian Americans were doing.  Towards the end of 09, I also discovered other Asian American blogs that were better in that they discussed the issues a lot more thoroughly.  I used to think Angry Asian Man and Disgrasian were cool.  But I don't think that now.  They are good for disseminating information but the next step depends on the individual and what they do with that information ie the best way to empower yourself.

I was mainly interested in Asian Australians on TV, when and if they were on.  Growing up in the 90's,  I remember seeing a few Asian faces on kids programs (Ship to Shore, Spellbinder, Lift Off etc), but fast forward to 2009, that did not translate to many Asian faces on other programs.  If there were any, they were your stereotype.

There's a mining boom happening in town and everything's rosy and full steam ahead, but I didn't feel quite right.  Something was missing. I grew up in this country but always feel as if I have to prove to everyone
how Australian I am.

In 08 I went to the Beijing Olympics to experience the Olympic atmosphere and to watch Australia compete against the world. I was hoping to get some tickets to see Melissa Wu in the diving but couldn't get any. I did get to watch some athletics, handball and hockey though. I met up with one of my friends and she invited
me to join her to watch the closing ceremony at Taoranting(?) park with some fellow Australians.  A rep from Heineken spotted our group and asked the whites if a reporter could take a photo of them drinking Heineken, they would also get a carton of beer.  Me and two other Asian Australians sat a distance away idly.  I guess to the Chinese we wouldn't be seen as being Australian (but as taggers trying to be hip by hanging out with the laowai), which pisses me off. This is the point where I'm thinking wtf are the Asians in Asia doing and why are whites being put on a pedestal? Why should we have to hang out with whites to prove we are Australian anyway? The whites came back from their 'photoshoot' with their carton and offered some to us, which I politely declined.  I'm not taking any spoils from reverse-racism.

Later on in the night, the topic of dating popped up and one of the white guys just kept on making derogatory comments about Asian girls and Asian guys.Bogan, no big deal. What surprised me was that another one of the white guys who I thought was respectable (cos he was an engineer and not some dropkick bogan) agreed with the first white guy and started spewing out more racist filth.  The white girls were just as bad with their comments. And I'm sitting there thinking, like, hey this is just wrong.  These guys would never say that to your face in Australia.  It's like the whites suddenly grow some nuts when they go overseas and their real thoughts come out. Anyway I left China a bit disillusioned.

Back at work in Perth, during one of the sundowners, someone's boss (not mine) starts bagging out Asian guys because his daughter is going out with one.  I'm sort of smiling uncomfortably there thinking "what is this dude's problem?"

By now when I walk the streets, I'm really noticing the disparity between AMWF couples and WMAF couples. ie number-wise WMAF >>> AMWF

I found out about a book called "Growing Up Asian in Australia" by Alice Pung during one of my bored, random google searches at work.  So I went out and bought the book to read.  A bit more random googling and I found that she was due to make an appearance in Feb at the 2009 Perth Writers Festival. So I went to that.

She did a lecture with Imran Ahmad and James McBride.  Unfortunately when question time came, the questions were limited to questions regarding the books only as they were short on time.  I got both books autographed  (and she spelt my name wrong, in both books lols) but didn't really talk to her too much about AA issues, which I regret not spending more time on.(I was dissapointed at missing out on meeting Lawrence Leung and Tom Cho when they came west to promote their dvd and book respectively.  I only found out after they left.)

I really enjoyed reading about the lives and experiences of other Asian Australians.

It was some time around here that I decided to start this blog.  Those fobs who listen to Jay Chou and K-dramas don't represent me.  I have my own culture, Australian culture and I want to find out whatever I can about others who share this culture. Forget about the bullshit that you learnt in school. It's a white-washed version of Australian history. You'll never get anything out of it other than the tired, old "white good, aboriginal/asian bad/backwards, White Australia policy gone now, you be lucky to be let into Oz". The Australia I know isn't a purely white one.

I started reading up about Asian ANZACs not long after. I met Barry Sue, son of Jack, with whom I was in the process of making some short clips about Jack's life in a white Australia. Unfortunately, Jack passed away a few days later in mid November, so currently everything is on hold.

Since starting this blog I have discovered so much about other Asian Australians and I hope to learn a lot more. I've managed to deprogram myself from the white way of thinking.

Hell I've even started eating chicken feet (phoenix claw) again.

If you get anything from this blog it should be that this blog is so crap and unorganised, that you want to start your own. Do it. Discuss the issues and share your thoughts. Some topics will be controversial (eg interracial dating) but you won't be alone as there are others out there to help you.  Start educating yourself and stop pretending there's no racism against Asians in Australia. We as Asian Australians must reclaim our past history and also take the reins of our own destiny.

A good starting point would be to read the book.

Sean Yoshiura becomes first Japanese born player to be drafted into AFL

Born in Japan to a Japanese father and a white Australian mother, Sean Yoshiura and his family moved to Australia when he was seven.  The 184cm, 68kg wingman started playing when he was nine, after watching a Brisbane Lions match on TV.  He was signed by the Brisbane Lions as a rookie late last year using their Queensland priority pick.  He will be using number 45.

Sean is also an elite endurance runner who is ranked #33 in the world (in his age group) in cross-country and has represented Australia at a world title in the 5km race.  He was school Captain at Ipswich Grammar School in 2008, graduating with a string of academic and sporting distinctions and earning a scholarship to study Sports Science at Bond University on the Gold Coast.

Sean is the second Asian born player to play in the AFL.  Peter Bell was the first Asian born player to play in the AFL.

This will be an exciting year!

Thumbs up to Sean's dad for AMWF

Player Profile
Player questionnaire
Brisbane Lions look east for Sean Yoshiura
Lions snap up local, Yoshiura

THOSE who have watched former Ipswich Grammar School captain Sean Yoshiura play sport know he’s something special.

With athleticism, stamina and leadership qualities, Yoshiura has excelled in sport and academically.

So it was hardly surprising that the Brisbane Lions snapped up the first-year Bond University student in yesterday’s AFL Rookie Draft.

“He’s an exceptional, good all-round sportsman,” IGS deputy headmaster Mike Connors said, sharing the buzz of excitement surrounding the teenage talent.

Connors said the former GPS champion and Australian cross country representative was a standout during five years at IGS.

“It’s always been his passion. He always wanted to try and make it at AFL level,” Connors said of the year 12 school captain.

Yoshiura played Aussie rules for IGS in a non-GPS competition before the athletics season.

“It’s no surprise what he’s achieved,” Connors said.

“The thing about the young man is that he’s got his head screwed on well. He was a good role model for all the boys at the school.”

Yoshiura, 18, was unavailable yesterday while finishing exams at the Gold Coast.

However, the Lions were celebrating signing the first Japanese-born player to an AFL list.

Yoshiura, Pick number 74, was born in Japan and moved to Australia when he was seven.

In a historic day for Ipswich Grammar, the Lions and the AFL, Yoshiura was one of the Brisbane club’s six selections yesterday.

The Lions also drafted Gippsland Power midfielder Mitchell Golby (Pick No.16), Eastern Ranges midfielder/ forward Josh Dyson (Pick No.32), Irish international rookie Niall McKeever (Pick No.67), Labrador product Claye Beams (Pick No.76) and Southport ruckman Broc McCauley (Pick No.78).

Yoshiura, Beams and McCauley were taken with the club’s Queensland Priority selections.

Lions National Recruiting Manager Graeme Hadley was pleased with the club’s choices.

“We have drafted a combination of inside midfielders and outside midfielders with a blend of pace and toughness,” Hadley said.

Yoshiura, 184cm tall and weighing 68kg, was a member of Mt Gravatt’s 2009 QAFL Grand Final side.

Lions recruiters were also impressed with Yoshiura’s athletic record. He represented Australia in the 2008 World Schoolboys Championships in the Czech Republic.

“Sean is a lean and developing midfielder who can also play at either half-back or half-forward,” Hadley said.

“He played a game with the Brisbane Lions Reserves earlier this year and performed very well.

“He’s also an outstanding endurance athlete with a very good athletics pedigree.”

Tomorrow's Children Today

I've finally found some photos of this mural on the web!  I love looking at this everytime I drive past.  If you're in Perth, it's on Wellington St (Freeway underpass).  Awwww so much diversity.  I stole these from http://www.flickr.com/photos/15594928@N03/ who's also the blogger for paper planes.

 

 

 

 

  

  

Asian Australian Books, Movies and Documentaries

I thought I'd make a post of Asian Australian related books and movies that I have read and watched.  Some of these are in my collection, others I have been able to find at the local libraries (Whitfords, Woodvale and Joondalup).  I hope that you will find some use out of this list if you are currently directionless.  I wasn't really too sure what I was looking for when I embarked on this journey about one year ago.  I gradually came across more and more stuff written and made by AA's and I feel I am headed in the right direction.  I may include reviews later on if I can be stuffed.

Some of the things I have read/watched

Books

Gallipoli Sniper, The Life of Billy Sing - biography by John Hamilton (read 2009)

 Blood on Borneo - Jack Wong Sue (read 2009)

 Growing Up Asian in Australia - edited by Alice Pung (read 2009)

 Unpolished Gem - Alice Pung (read 2009)

 Mao's Last Dancer - Li Cunxin (read 2008)

Documentaries

Jack Sue: A Matter of Honour (watched 2009)

Movies

Series

Lawrence Leung's Choose Your Own Adventure

On my to read/watch list

Books

 Ching Chong China Girl : From fruitshop to foreign corespondent - Helene Chung

 Big White Lie - Chinese Australians in White Australia

 The Arrival - Shaun Tan

 The  Boat - Nam Le

Mixed Relations: Mixed Asian-Aboriginal Contact in North Australia - Regina Ganter

 Ancestors : Chinese in Colonial Australia - Jan Ryan

 Look Who's Morphing - Tom Cho

Documentaries
The Chinese Diggers - Teck Tan (Anyone know where I can get a copy of this? There's hardly any info on the web and I called SBS who said they don't have it on their database anymore.)
"Looks at Australia's attitude to Chinese Australians who wanted to join the Armed Forces to assist in the defence of Australia during the Second World War."


Movies

The Home Song Stories - Tony Ayres

 Floating Life - Clara Law

 Mao's Last Dancer

Missing Water - Khoa Do

My Tiger's Eyes - Teck Tan

"The conservative anti-Communist era of the 1950's, the Cold War and the Reds under the bed.in Sydney a young boy grows up and the Irish neighbours suspect his family might well be Communists.MY TIGER'S EYES evokes the atmosphere of a previous era, capturing the cultural nuances of neighbours on either side of the fence, and in the process saying something of what it was like being Chinese in Australia."

Footy Legends - Khoa Do