Australia-China Events and Organisation
Oct. 23rd, 2024 11:59 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tcpipAs Victorian President of the Australia-China Friendship Society it is unsurprising to discover that there are more than a few events to organise and attend under that banner. For what it is worth, my own orientation still tends toward a critical evaluation of that country's political system, which includes recognition of their truly impressive economic success and especially encouragement in their role in developing environmentally beneficial technologies (whilst noting that the country is now the largest producer of greenhouse gases). This aside, there is also the cultural aspects of promoting friendship. For my own part, this includes finishing the heavily revised (it needed it) Duolingo Chinese course this morning. In addition, this Saturday, a small number of from the society and friends will visit the Dai Gum San precinct (museum, gardens, temples, restaurant) and then the historic Bendigo Joss House Temple. Bendigo has a remarkably a rich Chinese history and we're planning on meeting some members of the Bendigo Chinese Association.
A few weeks after that, the society will be hosting its annual dinner at the Red Emperor in Melbourne's Chinatown, and we're hoping to have an announcement of a very special guest speaker in the next few days. Running parallel with this is a sale of a collection donated from the former Speaker of the Legislative Assembly, Ken Smith, who served in the parliament from 1988 to 2014. A number of items in that catalogue are really quite extraordinary; the riverside rice paper and silk painting that spans over 4 metres in length is an example. There are, of course, a great number of smaller items available as well. Obviously if anyone is interested, the catalogue is available on request. Hopefully, between the dinner and the catalogue the society should generate enough revenue to keep ourselves financially afloat in the coming year.
A number of weeks ago, I finished a draft of the society's website, sticking to the principle that a simple HTML/CSS design is vastly preferable to the previous fashion of database-driven sites (which, I admit, I succumbed to under duress some twenty years ago). Alas, the company that holds our domain has been expensive and without great service to make up for it, so I've arranged for a transfer. Further, a few weeks back, Anthony, Robin, and I met with the director and colleagues from the Centre for Contemporary Chinese Studies at the University of Melbourne with a view of setting up a prize fund for an appropriate essay. That is, of course, a lumbering process through any bureaucracy, but at least it has been formally initiated. Finally, the national body is already making plans for next year's annual trip in April, which, if I recall correctly, will be the Beijing-Shanghai region - another temptation!
A few weeks after that, the society will be hosting its annual dinner at the Red Emperor in Melbourne's Chinatown, and we're hoping to have an announcement of a very special guest speaker in the next few days. Running parallel with this is a sale of a collection donated from the former Speaker of the Legislative Assembly, Ken Smith, who served in the parliament from 1988 to 2014. A number of items in that catalogue are really quite extraordinary; the riverside rice paper and silk painting that spans over 4 metres in length is an example. There are, of course, a great number of smaller items available as well. Obviously if anyone is interested, the catalogue is available on request. Hopefully, between the dinner and the catalogue the society should generate enough revenue to keep ourselves financially afloat in the coming year.
A number of weeks ago, I finished a draft of the society's website, sticking to the principle that a simple HTML/CSS design is vastly preferable to the previous fashion of database-driven sites (which, I admit, I succumbed to under duress some twenty years ago). Alas, the company that holds our domain has been expensive and without great service to make up for it, so I've arranged for a transfer. Further, a few weeks back, Anthony, Robin, and I met with the director and colleagues from the Centre for Contemporary Chinese Studies at the University of Melbourne with a view of setting up a prize fund for an appropriate essay. That is, of course, a lumbering process through any bureaucracy, but at least it has been formally initiated. Finally, the national body is already making plans for next year's annual trip in April, which, if I recall correctly, will be the Beijing-Shanghai region - another temptation!
