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NZCFS Wellington Branch August 2015 Newsletter

Next Branch Meeting

Wednesday, 19 August 2015 at 5.45pm

Madeleine Slavick will speak on

Photography, poetry, writing and teaching: Twenty Years of China

Madeleine Slavic photographerAs the last New Zealand China Friendship Society Branch meeting was cancelled, Madeleine Slavick will present at the next meeting. Madeleine Slavick has published several books of photography, poetry, and non-fiction. She lived in Hong Kong from 1988 – 2012, working as a teacher, fundraiser, campaigner, photo-journalist and editor. In her 17 years with Oxfam Hong Kong, she travelled into the Mainland to document various anti-poverty projects, launched the exhibition and book My Favourite Thing (2005) and edited China Voices (2010). Her evening with NZCFS-Wellington will merge her personal artistic work with her professional communications work with Oxfam. Madeleine has had two recent exhibitions in Wellington and Auckland: RED (photographic images of China) and Hong Kong Song (a retrospective of 25 years of living in Hong Kong).

map of Connolly Hall
Connolly Hall

Connolly Hall, Guildford Terrace, off Hill Street, Thorndon, Wellington (see map)

(Car park up Guildford Tce beside Hall)

An optional Chinese buffet meal, supplied by the Fujiyama Café, will follow the meeting at 7pm. Orders for the $12 meal (please pay at the door) will be taken up till 6pm. If you think you may be arriving late, please let the Secretary know in advance.

ALSO COMING UP THIS MONTH

24 Jul–12 Aug New Zealand International Film Festival, Wellington.

4 August         Table Tennis on Tuesdays, 7pm, 26 Barker Street, Te Aro.

7 August         Mandarin Corner at 3.15-5.00pm on Saturdays

10 August       Shenzhen Cultural Showcase, 7-8.30pm, $15, Te Papa

15 August       Shenzhen Culture Movies, $8 each, Te Papa

27 August       Red Cliff II 赤壁(下 (Chinese film), Committee Room One, WCC, 101 Wakefield Street.

MEETING DATES FOR 2015

The dates Connolly Hall has been booked for monthly meetings this year are September 16, October 21 and November 18.

NEW MEMBER A warm welcome to Jan Gould.

SUBSCRIPTION RENEWAL REMINDER

Please remember that 2015 membership subscriptions renewals are now due. We will endeavour to contact any members who have not yet renewed.

Bill Willmott receives Gung Ho awardBill Willmott

On Tuesday, 12 May 2015, Bill Willmott, the doyen and life member of the New Zealand China Friendship Society, was honoured by the International Committee for the Promotion of Chinese Industrial Cooperatives (ICCIC) with an award for his many contributions to projects in the spirit of Rewi Alley. Gung Ho is the slogan and nickname of the ICCIC, a project founded by Rewi Alley to foster genuine democratic cooperatives in various parts of China. The NZCFS supports this movement both materially and morally as one of our major projects.

The presentation by Michael Crook, Chairman of ICCIC, took place in front of a bust of Sun Yatsen in Song Qingling‘s superbly restored garden at her mansion in Beijing. Bill never met Song Qingling (Sun Yatsen’s wife) but he did meet Rewi in the Willmott family home in Chengdu, Sichuan, when he was only six years old.

Forty years later, when Bill was National President of NZCFS and Rewi was in the last decade of his long life, they struck up a close friendship writing regularly. Bill also visited Rewi every time he was in Beijing. “Rewi invited me to join his committee that was resurrecting the ICCIC (International Committee for Chinese Industrial Cooperatives)” said Bill.

Gung Ho award presentationSeveral people attending the presentation also knew Rewi Alley – centenarian Isabel Crook, the China-born Canadian woman who, with her husband David Crook, helped build the New China from its founding in 1949, and her son, Michael. Michael was assistant to Rewi Alley’s biographer Lu Wanru, who unfortunately could not attend. Nie Guangtao (known as Lao San), one of the sons of communist general, Nie Rongzhen also attended. Rewi Alley fostered him and his two young brothers after their adoptive father George Hogg died tragically from blood-poisoning at Shandan. (Rewi did however adopt two other Chinese orphans in Shandan).Gung Ho award certificate

The meeting was “an opportunity for these important people in the history of Gung Ho and Rewi Alley’s legacy, stretching back to the 1930s, to come together perhaps for the last time” said Dave Bromwich (National President). A delegation of Belgian ICCIC supporters also attended.

The citation for Bill’s award reads: “Gung Ho Special Contribution Award. Dear Bill Willmott – In celebration of the 75th anniversary of ICCIC, for your selfless dedication to the Gung Ho movement over the past years, we present this award.“

For full report please view nzchinasociety.org.nz/21331/bill-willmott-receives-gung-ho-award/

MANDARIN CORNER 汉语角 Saturdays 3.15-5pmMandarin Corner, Wellington, NZ

Seminar Room, 20 Kelburn Parade, Victoria University of Wellington.

Mandarin Corner (Wellington), established in 1995 by NZCFS, is a weekly event where students learning Chinese meet with native speakers of Chinese for conversation and cultural activities in a friendly, relaxed setting. Mandarin Corner is currently run by a core team of Mandarin Language Assistants. If you wish to improve your Chinese language skill, share your China experiences or talk to someone who has been or lived there, this is a great place to go. Snacks and drinks are provided.

For more information contact Flora Hao at [email protected].

NEW ZEALAND CHINESE LANGUAGE ASSOCIATION CHINESE FILM

中国电影 – Thursday 27 August 2015, 7.15pm

Venue: Committee Room One, Wellington City Council, 101 Wakefield Street. Gold coin donation. With support from Confucius Institute, Victoria University of Wellington.Red Cliff, chinese movie

Please note that you need to press the buzzer to the left of the Wakefield Street entrance, asking the security to let you in if no one is at the entrance. Txt 0210306853 if you cannot get in.

Red Cliff II 赤壁(下)[2009 movie, 140 minutes]

Director: Tony Leung 梁朝伟, Takeshi Kaneshiro金城武, Zhang Fengyi张丰毅, Chiling Lin林志玲, Zhao Wei赵薇

Red Cliff is a Chinese epic war film based on the Battle of Red Cliffs (208–209 AD) and the events at the end of Han Dynasty immediately prior to the Three Kingdoms period in ancient China. This is the second part of this epic film focusing on the legendary episode of borrowing arrows with thatched boats.

NEW ZEALAND INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL, WELLINGTON

The New Zealand International Film Festival is coming back to Wellington, with screenings from 24 NZ International Film FestivalJuly to 12 August. It is a national event extending the cinematic options of audiences and filmmakers throughout New Zealand and a programme of between 150-170 features are presented around the country each year. This year there are a number of films with a focus on Asia, including films from Mainland China. To find out more information, please visit: www.nziff.co.nz/2015/wellington/.

The Wellington Branch will also look to organise an outing to some films, more details will be available on our Facebook page: www.facebook.com/NZCFSWellington.

VICTORIA UNIVERSITY INTERNATIONAL FRIENDSHIP DAY 2015

The VUWSA International Students’ Association at Victoria University organised an ‘International Friendship DayFriendship Day market day’ on Thursday 30 July. This involved a number of cultural clubs at Victoria University, including the VUW Chinese Club, which each sold food, drinks and crafts, and gave cultural performances. As well as the Chinese Club, there were stalls from Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, Cambodia and Japan, and over two hundred students came through during the day. During the day there was an angklung (a traditional Indonesian musical instrument) show, as well as music from different countries, and a Māori performance. The market was aimed at local university students, and a number of international students were involved in preparing the stalls.

Friendship Day StallThe NZCFS supported the Chinese Club during the day, and we reached out to Noah’s Ark Teahouse for assistance as we have worked with them in the past. Noah’s Ark is a local Taiwanese restaurant that is notably known for its bubble milk tea and is located on Tory Street and Manners Street in the Wellington CBD. They were generous enough to supply a wide variety of bubble milk teas to our stall for a reduced cost, and as a result we became one of the more popular stalls. We also gave out a number of brochures about the Society, and informed students about how to get involved in our events. We thank Noah’s Ark again for their assistance in the friendship, as well as the Chinese Club for their contribution.

SHARED DINNER OR YUM CHA

The NZCFS Youth Group aims to organise a shared dinner or yum cha event every few weeks. This is to give members a chance to meet one another and plan for future events. In addition, these can act as a language exchange for people wishing to improve either their Mandarin or English. Currently we are working closely with the VUW Chinese Club and the Wellington China Tongue Group, but are looking to expand the number of people involved. If you wish to attend these meetings, please contact one of our members or visit the Facebook page at www.facebook.com/NZCFSWellington. We look forward to seeing you there.

DISCOVER CHINA – SHENZHEN CULTURAL WEEKShenzhen Culture Week

Te Papa will be holding two traditional Chinese events during August for the Shenzhen Cultural Week, organised by Wellington City Council and Shenzhen Municipal Government.

On Monday 10 August from 7-8.30pm, there will be the Shenzhen Cultural Showcase with 26 of Shenzhen’s top performing artists Autumn Wind Chinese Moviepresenting a cultural showcase of traditional Chinese folk dancing, music, acrobatics and magic. It costs $15 each with group concessions available. More details at

www.tepapa.govt.nz/WhatsOn/allevents/Pages/Shenzhen-Show-Aug2015.aspx

Then on Saturday 15 August at 10.30am, 1pm and 3.30pm there will be three Mandarin-language movies with English subtitles: Silent Witness, An Autumn Wind, and Boonie Bears: To the Rescue! It costs $8 each or $15 for all three. More details at www.tepapa.govt.nz/WhatsOn/allevents/Pages/Chinesemovies-15Aug2015.aspx

NZ CHINESE LANGUAGE WEEK CHINESE CULTURAL PERORMANCE Huazhing University of Science & Technology Art Troup

New Zealand Chinese Language Week is celebrated during the second week of September each year to coincide with the Chinese Moon Festival. This year in Wellington there will be a cultural performance at Te Papa, on Sunday September 13 at 2pm by Huazhong University of Science & Technology Art Troupe. It includes dance, traditional Chinese instruments, and folk songs.

CHINA-US RELATIONS IN GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE

NZ Contemporary China Research Centre International Conference

8-9 October 2015, Hunter Council Chamber, Kelburn Campus, VUWChina-US Relations

The relationship between the People’s Republic of China and the United States of America is the most important bilateral relationship in today’s world. The sole superpower in the post-Cold War world, the United States still has the largest economy, the strongest military forces, and the dominant voice in international institutions. The most populous country and the second largest economy with rapid growth, China is poised to catch up with the United States in the coming decades. It is critical that China and the United States could handle their relations well, for both China and the United States, for the Asia-Pacific region, and for the entire world.

China-US Relations in Global Perspective is an international conference with world-class scholars from China, the United States, New Zealand, Australia, and other countries to discuss issues related to the bilateral relationship. The conference will take place immediately after Chinese President Xi Jinping’s first state visit to the United States in September 2015. The conference will not only look at China-US relations from the perspectives of the two giants. It will also offer an opportunity to examine the bilateral relationship from third parties such as countries in the Asia-Pacific Region and the Oceania.

For more information and registration please see www.victoria.ac.nz/chinaresearchcentre/programmes-and-projects/wellington-conference/2015-china-us-relations-in-global-perspective

NZCFS SOCIAL MEDIA

Remember to check out the NZCFS Youth Website www.nzcfsyouth.org and Wellington Branch Facebook page www.facebook.com/NZCFSWellington for more information on the Society. It contains articles, upcoming events and information. If you would like to learn more or contribute, feel free to contact Kirk McDowall at [email protected].

DAVID FUNG

David Fung, WellingtonIt is with great sadness that we note the passing of David Fung last month. David and his wife Esther have been long term members of the Wellington branch. We extend our deepest sympathy to Esther and the family.

David has done many things for the Chinese community and has left behind his legacy in three major achievements. In 1986, despite being a busy neurologist, David set about establishing a proper organisational framework for the Wellington Chinese Association including an updated constitution and procedures. He almost singlehandedly got together a new governance committee and took on the task of being the news editor and produced a regular newsletter.  He carried out this task for many years and was still involved.

During this period, David also did some research on the Poll Tax levied by the Government on Chinese migrating to New Zealand. He felt that this tax was discriminatory as it was only levied on the Chinese. David approached the New Zealand Chinese Association and suggested that they should do some research on the matter. A research paper was commissioned and completed. This paper together with the greater awareness by the community became the catalyst for a campaign which finally resulted in the Government of the day apologising to the Chinese community and as part of that apology established the Chinese Heritage Poll Tax Trust Fund of $5,000,000. This Trust has become the funding source of many projects on Chinese culture and history. It would be fair to say that had it not been for David’s initiative of raising the poll tax issue in the first place, the apology would not have happened nor the Trust Fund established.  

David had the view that the New Zealand Chinese Association should record its history. One of the difficulties in writing the history was that virtually all the old records were in Chinese and there were very few people in the Chinese community who had the skills of reading and writing Chinese and English. David had both these skills and took this task on after retiring from his medical practice in 2007. It became his labour of love. After 8 years of research, hard work, long hours and total dedication by David it culminated in the successful launching of his book “Turning Stone into Jade – The History of the New Zealand Chinese Association” at the National Library in Wellington, in celebration of the Association’s 80 years history.

Unfortunately and unexpectedly, during the launch of his book at the Christchurch branch of the Association he became ill and sadly the following day passed away.           (Information from the New Zealand Chinese Association)