Su Ruixiang (Photo: Huilong Town)
Note: The following is narrated in the first person by overseas Chinese Su Ruixiang.
My name is Su Ruixiang. I joined the Australia Zhaoqing Fellowship Association Incorporated in 2005 when I was still relatively young, initially helping senior members with miscellaneous tasks. Later, I became involved in recording Chinese-language meeting minutes, serving as assistant secretary in 2007 and later as secretary and vice president in 2009. I may not have received an extensive formal education, but I have always tried to contribute in whatever way I could.
The work of overseas Chinese associations is complicated and demanding. It ranges from organizing events and maintaining external relations to mediating disputes and assisting fellow villagers. All this work is voluntary and unpaid, relying entirely on members' sense of responsibility.
During the association's early years, many core members devoted enormous amounts of personal time, energy, and resources. Whenever fellow villagers called for help, we did our best to assist. We are all people from Gaoyao, and we never expected anything in return — we simply hoped that overseas Chinese could support one another abroad.
Compared with earlier hometown associations based primarily on emotional ties, organizations such as Australia Zhaoqing Fellowship Association Incorporated operate in a far more institutionalized and professional manner today. The establishment of the association strictly complied with the Australian legal requirements regarding membership and organizational constitutions, and its operations are transparent and standardized.
Yet regardless of how organizational forms evolve, I believe the core spirit of overseas Chinese associations remains unchanged: unity and service.
The association's long-term sustainability ultimately depends on the selfless dedication of its core members, who continue to bring together dispersed overseas Chinese communities through their emotional connection to their hometown.
In many ways, this also reflects the broader transformation of the Gaoyao overseas Chinese community itself. Earlier generations focused primarily on survival and establishing themselves abroad. Today, newer generations have not only integrated into local society but also gradually gained influence and representation.
Even so, people continue to preserve and pass down the culture and spirit of Zhaoqing and Gaoyao from one generation to the next.
Reporter: Liu Yuheng
Text: Tong Hua
Revised by Huang Qini
