Sydney’s Chinese community pulls together raising $390,000 for those affected by devastating bushfires in New South Wales
30 November 2019 | Marcus Reubenstein
With less than two weeks of planning Sydney’s Chinese community has pulled together a major fundraising dinner collecting $390,000 for bushfire relief as fierce fires continue to ravage Australia’s most populous state.
The driving force behind the 500 strong crowd at Sydney’s Chinatown was local general practitioner, Dr. Ven Tan. Born in Malaysia, he came to Australia in 1974 to study medicine at the University of New South Wales. “This event has been put on by the Chinese Australia community,” he says, “so we can give back to the country which has been so good to us.”
New South Wales is facing one of its most severe bushfire seasons in years, presently there are 147 blazes across the state, the majority of which are not under control. Since the start of November six lives have been lost and 560 homes destroyed, with another 1,100 structures also lost to fire.
Through its efforts, the mainly volunteer fire fighters battling the blazes have saved more than 9,000 homes that were directly under threat by bushfires.
Rural Fire Service, Koala Hospital and farmers to benefit
Among those to benefit from the funds raised are the NSW Rural Fire Service, with a donation of $100,000; another $100,000 to Port Macquarie’s Koala Hospital; and $50,000 to BlazeAid.
Says BlazeAid volunteer and ambassador, John Donald, “I think it’s a wonderful turnout, this is a very generous community.”
Established in the aftermath of the 2009 Victorian bushfires, BlazeAid is an entirely voluntary group that rebuilds fences and other structures on farms hit by bushfire. “This donation will help us buy more tools for our teams. We have eight or nine volunteer work camps operating at the moment. We’ll open up another five or six to respond to this emergency,” he says.
As for the $50,000 Chinese community donation, he says, “It ranks high it’s a very, very generous donation, I am not aware of a bigger one.”
Among those lending their support, Mayor of Hornsby and former Australian federal Attorney General, Philip Ruddock, who says, “I’m not surprised to see this reaction from the Chinese community.”
Hornsby, on the northwest fringe of the Sydney metropolitan area, is surrounded by bushland, Mr. Ruddock recounted fighting his first bushfire in the 1950s whilst still a teenager.
“This is what Australia is all about,” he says, “to be friendly with your neighbours to be inclusive; and supporting these sorts of (fundraising) activities identifies that what happens to your neighbours can happen to you.
“They (the Chinese community) are keen to be involved and this bushfire appeal is a very good example of their generosity but its nothing less than I would expect.”
A sign of “great compassion”
Speaker of the NSW Parliament, Jonathan O’Dea MP, whose electorate of Davidson in northern Sydney is surrounded by bushland and subject to fire threats, also attended, saying, “In terms of a demonstration of support from the heart, tonight is a huge, huge contribution and very well appreciated not only by the government but by the broader community of New South Wales.
“This is a sign of hope that is assembled, of great heart and great compassion and great Australian contribution from all of you tonight.”
Chris Minns, NSW Shadow Minister for Transport and MP for the seat of Kogarah, which boasts a large Chinese community, adding, “What a wonderful event to see a full house in support of those who need it most.
“It really demonstrates a simple but unique point about what it means to be Australian. When things go wrong, we are all in this together.”
Event organiser Ven Tan summed up the feeling of the capacity crowd, saying, “Tonight we are doing our part, we love this country and consider this our home.
Bushfire devestation very hard to witness
“I was born in Malaysia and was very lucky to migrate to this country in 1974, when I was 19 years old and I feel incredibly fortunate to still be here in Sydney 45 years later. My wife and I, and our five children who were born in Sydney, are very proud to call Australia home.
“Like all Australians I have been deeply saddened by the bushfires, lives have been lost, homes have been burned down, precious animals have been lost. The images we’ve seen on the news have been very hard to watch,” he says.
Large Chinese audiences are notorious for being somewhat non-attentive as speeches are being delivered but when Dr. Tan expressed his wish that Chinese-Australians should be join the ranks of the volunteer Rural Fire Service, the entire room broke into spontaneous applause.
It’s a call already answered by Hornsby local, Jack Liu, who joined the Hornsby Rural Fire Brigade, after to moving to Australia from Beijing in 2011. “One of the reasons I joined the Rural Fire Service,” he says, “is because, if I wanted to be part of the Australian community, I should be prepared to serve that community.”
Within hours of the fundraising dinner wrapping up, Liu who works in the IT industry, reported for duty with the Hornsby Brigade on a day when thick smoke still hangs above Sydney. “As somebody born and raised in China, I didn’t think too much about joining the bush fire brigade, I just wanted to make a difference.” Along with generosity of the local Chinese community on this night, he says he hopes it’s a difference felt by all Australians.
