恭喜發財 Kung Hei Fat Choy. It is still timely for me to wish all my friends and members a happy and healthy New Year.
On Feb. 6 I attended a Spring Banquet 春茗 organised by our Chungshan Society of Australia. I have been doing so for many years. It is not so much an degustation event as it is an annual get together. It is a time for my compatriots to meet and chat.
Monday night's Spring Banquet was not so much an eating experience as meeting people and chatting up after an absence of one year. I was busy circulating to many of the tables.
The dining hall is brightly decorated with red lanterns, of course. There is a lot of handshake, backslapping and kung hei fat choi all round. Close to four hundred guests attended the function. The ranks of our older members are getting thinner with each year. It is a sobering thought on this happy occasion.
I am giving a lucky red packet for the lion. Hope it will bring me good luck in the Year of the Rooster.
The God of Wealth is always welcome by one and all.
At the official tables, we have guests from many clan or district associations. Second from left is the president of The Sze Yup Association. Mr. and Mrs. Yan are always our honoured guests. I have met them many times on social events. We only invite those associations from Guangdong. There is an invisible barrier between us and those new arrivals from other provinces of China. They tend to be political, eager to please the mainland government. But we do invite newly established association such as the Foshan / Futshan representatives. We speak a common dialect, Cantonese.
On stage are the boys and girls who went to Chungshan for a cultural trip. They are all Australian born. The group is performing dances and kung fu moves they learned during their time in China.
Three years ago, our Society established a fund to reward academic excellence in the school leaving certificate. For the first two years, we gave one award only. But this year, the Committee decided to have four prizes. Here they are, the winners all on stage. You'll notice there are twin boys in the group.
One of the twin boys receiving his prize from Dr. Norman Hing. Norman is small in build but big in stature. He donated generously to establish the fund. For more on Dr. Hing, please go to Page 1 of this thread.
To qualify for an award, one or both parents must be a paid up member be of Chungshan ancestry.
This is the top girl among the quartet. She came very close to a perfect score in her university admission ranking.
With Norman Hing. Norman is 99 years old. He was born in Sydney. Both his father and grandfather came to Australia in early 20th. century or late 19th. century. Norman can't tell me if his father and grandfather came together or separately. His grandfather returned to China to live out his years whereas his father passed away here and buried at Rookwood Cemetery.
It is probable my grandfather knew his father. Whereas my grandfather went to Vancouver, Norman's came to Australia. The young men in South China reached out to the outside world to better their lives through hard work and ingenuity.
To recap., Norman's father and grandfather were my fellow villagers, we have the same family name and from the same clan. The Hing name came about because immigration officials did not know our family name go first.
Norman is a trail-blazer. He broke through many bamboo ceilings. He was the first person of Chinese descent to graduate from the University of Sydney medical school in 1942. He was the first Chinese member of the Royal Motor Yacht Club, and The Lakes Golf Club, to name just three.
I like oral history. Here I am trying to find out as much as I can about Norman and his parents. But it is noisy and Norman is a little bit hard of hearing. I must catch up another day with pen and paper ready.
Norman also tells me he volunteered for war service during World War Two. But he was turned away because he could easily be mistaken for Japanese on the front line. Instead, his medical training was put to good use at the home front. He was made a captain of the army.
This is a link on Norman Hing. But it is in Chinese only.
faob.zsnews.cn/Article/view/cateid/2375/id/48474