Lev Lafayette's journal

In the past three evenings, I have found myself attending three China National Day events, even though all these celebrations are a week early, as the National Day is actually October 1st. The first was organised by a consortium of Chinese community organisations and was attended by some five hundred people, all crammed into a reception centre in Tottenham. As I have mentioned previously, the Chinese in Victoria really know how to hold amazing functions, and this was no exception, with a truly impressive program of dancers, singers, and performances. There were, of course, speeches by several guests, including the chair of the National Day Celebration Committee, the Consul-General, the Multicultural Commissioner, a few state members of parliament, and myself, courtesy of my role as president of the Victorian branch of the Australia-China Friendship Society. It seemed to be received well, as I injected a bit of passion into the idea that multiculturalism requires respect and understanding, along with celebrating the economic and technological successes of the country; Lǜ shuǐ qīngshān jiùshì jīnshān yín shān ("Green mountains and clear waters are worth more than mountains of gold and silver").

The following evening was an event in East Melbourne hosted by the Consulate and attended not only by various leaders of Chinese organisations in Victoria, but also by political leaders from Victoria, again with about five hundred people in attendance. The Consul-General, Fang Xinwen, gave a speech that was as diplomatic as it was poignant, expressing the country's commitment to economic leadership and being a global citizen. The premier, Jacina Allen, having just returned from a very successful trip to China, spoke of the objectives for tourism, trade, education, technology, and especially the need to develop people-to-people connections. Speeches were also given by the state leader of the opposition, and by the Federal member for Chisolm, Dr Carina Garland.

Then, the evening after, a smaller (about 60 people) but incredibly enthusiastic dinner was hosted by the Fujian Association of Victoria in Docklands for a visiting delegation from said province. The head of the delegation, the Deputy Director-General of the Foreign Affairs Office, gave an impressive speech in content and the fact that it was lengthy and entirely off-the-cuff. The nature of this gathering afforded a lot more time for socialising and networking, which I thoroughly enjoyed, especially given that it was now the third evening in a row that I had spent with some of the attendees. A real personal highlight for me was meeting Dr Guo Xiaoping, president of Quanzhou University of Information Engineering. We are already engaged in some correspondence on a project of personal interest, but further elaboration on that will have to wait for another time.