July 2024 Edition

• After-School Mandarin Class Term 3 Free Trial Offer
• 2024 Committee Profile
• Special Feature:Transforming Australia-China Relations 1937-1945
• 2024 Membership Benefit Highlights

It has been a success for our young students who have been learning at our Mandarin language program at Castle Cove Public School. Feedback from students and their families gives us inspiration to keep encouraging youngsters to learn a second language - whether a completely new language in their ancestral background from different continents and islands, or the native mother tongue of parents and grandparents.

Enrol now for a bright future with Mandarin speech, reading, writing and translating capabilities.

The Chinese Heritage Association of Australia (CHAA) is self-publishing a book in 2025, Transforming Australia-China Relations 1937-1945, and has engaged Australian Scholarly Publishing. The publication will be followed by a documentary to be made by Sandra Pires, Producer and Director of The Dalfram Dispute 1938: Pig Iron Bob.

Above: NSW Chinese Women’s Relief Fund, 29 October 1938.  Source: Collection of Wailum Simpson Lee

The book follows the story of one of the many relief funds formed in Australia after the invasion of China by Japan in 1937. The NSW Chinese Women’s Relief Fund registered as a charity and accepted donations of goods and money, shipping aid to China including medical supplies, food and clothing for refugees and orphans. The book also explores reasons for a dynamic shift in public opinion towards China and the Chinese residents of Australia led by strong media support through the press, radio and newsreel, as well as support from key sectors of the community – politicians from both the left and right, the church and the Labor movement.

Above: Ambassadors from China: Newcastle Morning Herald and Miner’s Advocate, 12 May 1938.  Source: State Library of New South Wales

But for a fundraising movement to be a real success, celebrities are needed. Film stars always work well. The other ingredient is mass entertainment and spectacle. All was provided, including Chinese pageants and festivals, with a 43-metre dragon and massive displays of fireworks. At the dragon’s first appearance in Sydney on 24 February 1938, 40,000 people crowded into the showground and 10,000 were turned away. A second show had to be organised for Easter Saturday on 16 April with another 40,000 strong crowd. Among the celebrities visiting Australia to support China relief were Alice Chow, a star of the Shanghai film industry; Doris Chen who had worked on film production in Hollywood; and a leading star of Paramount Pictures, Anna May Wong.

More information about the project can found on https://www.chineseheritage.org.au/. If you would like to become a donor or sponsor, you can also contact Peter Hack at peter.hack6@bigpond.com.

Article contributed by Mr Peter Hack