Know Your Asian Australians: Wesa Chau

For the first interview in this series, I caught up with Young Victorian of the Year Wesa Chau for an insight into her life and the causes she is passionate about.

What do you do?

I am currently employed at ADEC – Advocacy, Disability, Ethnicity, Community – a non-profit organisation empowering people with disability from ethnic communities. My role there is a Direct Services Manager to oversee client services, including advocacy, respite and group activities. I also sit on the board of Immigration Women Domestic Violence Service.

I was a founder for the Australian Federation of International Students (AFIS), and current Honorary President. Since 2002, AFIS has been working to help bridge the gap between international students and the wider Australian community. Through AFIS, I was invited to be a member on the Overseas Student Experience Taskforce in 2008, and is now also on the Board of Management of the Victorian International Education Industry Group.

As part of AFIS’ project, in 2004 we ran a project with the Student Youth Network (SYN) called Mirchi Sushi Crab, a platform for international students to voice their stories, concerns, enjoyments on radio, and through that learning and developing some new skills.

In recent years, I also help establish the Chinese Community Council of Australia Victoria Chapter, a peak advocacy body to represent the interest of the Chinese community in Victoria and to assist in raising awareness of Australian politics among people of Chinese descent.

A few years back, I was a Councillor of 3ZZZ Melbourne Ethnic Community Radio, the largest ethnic community station in Australia, helping to shape the station. I was also a presenter at the station for about 4 years on the Chinese language program.

Currently, I’m the Assistant Secretary and Youth Chair of the Ethnic Communities Council of Victoria, a peak body representing the interests of ethnic communities. In addition to that, I'm on the Board of Management of the Immigrant Women Domestic Violence Service.

Other organisations I’m involved in: North East Melbourne Chinese Association, University of Melbourne Alumni Association (Asia).

What made you go on this path?

Fate is the short answer. When I was studying at University, I never thought I would go down this path. I was studying Software Engineering and Commerce (combined degree) at the time, and naturally thinking of pursuing a career in businesses. I was at the time part of the Chinese Culture Society, and through that saw the struggles of international students and a group of us thought we can do something together to assist international students – at a time when no one was interested in international student issues. One thing then led to another and I'm now working in the community sector on a full time basis.

Are there any projects you are looking to get into in the future?

My interest is to determine ways to create a harmonious community through respect of diversity (in culture, religion etc…). Looking to get involved in projects that facilitate the cross-cultural communication. If we can get this right in Victoria, we can be a world leader on a global scale, to show the world that harmony can be achieved through working together.

Tell us about winning the Young Victorian of the Year award.

It is exciting to have people recognising the commitment to my work in the community.

What's your background?

I come from Hong Kong, migrated here in 1989.

What makes you laugh?

Lots! I laugh all the time. Laughing is a great way to relief stress for me.

What’s one thing you couldn’t live without?

Myself – I mean this in the sense that I couldn’t live without my integrity – to be true to myself.

What was the last book/movie that you read/saw?

Toy Story 3

What’s one thing about yourself most people wouldn’t know?

Practicing sound healing with crystal singing bowls. They’re a set of bowls made of quartz crystal that sings when you rub its rim. It is a form of energy healing. A great relaxing tool for me and others.

What do you think are the biggest issues facing Asian Australians?

Asian Australians need to start voicing our concerns a lot more. Currently not many are doing it, and sometimes could not get the ears of people who make decisions. Therefore we miss out.

What’s your favourite memory about growing up Asian in Australia?

Going to the music house every lunch time with a group of friends during high school. We started an all girls band at school and was very enjoyable!

What advice would you give to young Asian Australians at achieving their goals?

Never give up! If you don’t give up, there is still hope, if you also give up, the hope is gone. We need hope to achieve our dreams! There will always be challenges, dark times, sometimes even failures, and it is only through overcoming them you achieve.

You can find out more about ADEC here.  Thank you Wesa for your time and for giving us the chance to know more about you.

Click here to read other interviews in the Know Your Asian Australians series

Rejected Chinese-Australians built backdrop to Keneally's photo op

Who's whiter, Keneally or her interpreter?  I'm in China now and it's quite common to see girls with ultra pale (even glowing) skin.  It's not an attempt to look white like white people, but to look white and upperclass, as opposed to the lower class workers and farmers who are darker due to their sun exposure.

For more information about the history of the department stores, see Shopping Palaces spread gospel from down under.

From SMH

The relative importance of commercial traffic between Shanghai and Sydney is nothing like it was early last century, despite Kristina Keneally's best efforts to drum up interest this week.

The four grand department stores on Nanjing Road that the Premier strolled past yesterday were all built by Chinese-Australian immigrants when they returned between the world wars due to the White Australia policy. The stores were modelled on the ones in Sydney built by Anthony Hordern.

Ms Keneally was in Shanghai to sign deals with Huawei, a communications company, and visit three of the large banks. Tomorrow she will address Australian business people in Beijing and meet the city's mayor.

Tiger Lil's in Perth

I was having a read of Eurasian Sensations post titled Asian-themed bars win big at 2009 Australian Bar Awards in October last year when I remembered the local Asian-themed bar, that I despised.  Now I'm finally getting to partially post, what I wanted to post back then.  (It's funny how when it comes to blogs my memory is really good but in the real world I tend to forget most things within a couple of mins.)

Tiger Lil's is a really popular Asian-themed bar in Perth and I've been heaps of times after work.  But a lot of things bug me about the place.  I mean you walk in and everywhere is a 'feast' for your senses.  From the ceiling with it's array of Asian umbrellas and Chinese lanterns, to the Balinese and Thai sculptures scattered about, buddhas, the incense-smelling air, Monkey Magic playing on the tv screens and the conical Asian hat given to you while you wait for your food.  The crowd is mostly white, check the photos on their webpage.  There's also a radio advertisement telling you, in the "Confucius say"-accent, how "Tiger Lil's woks" - woks=rocks, get it?

But the best I've saved for last, it's logo.

That there is how you show appreciation, love and respect for Asian culture.  I'm sure there's plenty of this type of respect in the eastern states too.  Let me know (using the Contact Me link at the top of the page) if you come across any other noteworthy ones.

Know Your Asian Australians

Over the next few weeks I will be posting some interviews that I've had with prominent Asian Australians.  The interviews are meant to be light and to give everyone a more personal insight into the interviewee and what makes them tick, with a heavy emphasis on their Asian-Australianess where applicable.

Rather than relying on conventional forms of media (eg television and newspapers, both English and Asian language) for views on issues, we should be approaching AA's directly.

A good example is during the Billy Sing controversy, we never actually got to hear from those in the acting industry.  All we needed was one or two in the industry to give us their views and Geoff Davis' claims would have been refuted and he would have been exposed for the lazy,arrogant bumpkin that he is.

I actually did attempt to get something out of Kylie Kwong, because she is a third-gen Australian, and from watching her tv shows I gathered that identity was important to her.  Or maybe that was all an act for the cameras? "Oh look she's Choinese, she's sooo authentic".  I only got the standard answer from her PA and I posted the response.  Now some people may disagree with me for doing this (yes I did get emails), saying that "hey she's one of the few successful Chinese-Australians chefs, why are you attacking her (shock horror)?" and "why are you doing it publicly?"

Well, why shouldn't I?  Because she is successful, I should leave her alone?  Isn't this part of our problem, that we're afraid to speak up or afraid of the consequences if we do speak up?  Now to be frank, I'm not here to make friends so that means nothing is off limits and I will do my best to keep both Asian and non-Asian bastards honest, whoever they may be.  I do not proclaim to represent all Asian Australians either, just myself.

Maybe the next time something like this happens, we will be able to put enough pressure on the AA and force/encourage them to air their views instead of keeping their mouth shut.

Being Asian Australian by race is not enough.  You need to be true to yourself and true to your identity, and that means being true to your "community".  Otherwise you're just one of THEM (oriental Australians - there're plenty out there).

Anyway, hope you enjoy and get something out of the interviews.

Wesa Chau - Young Victorian of the Year 2010 

 Annette Shun Wah

Jimmy Pham - founder of KOTO

tresspassmag Interview with Oliver Phommavanh

From tresspass magazine

Thai-riffic!, released in June this year, is Oliver Phommavanh’s first novel. We spoke to the Sydney-based writer and comedian about the process to publication, writing practice and being a part of the ever-growing Asian-Australian writing community.

How long have you been writing?/What attracted you to writing?

I started writing weird and wacky stories back when I was in primary school. I used to make my friends laugh with all this randomness which got me in trouble with a few teachers. I’ve been a bookworm all my life, so I thought being an author was the dream job.

Also, I was the class clown throughout my school days, so I had heaps of things to write about and make fun of, which also got me into strife.

After a short stint as a primary school teacher, I took writing as a serious career move back in 2007, with a dusty old manuscript and a lot of determination.

What was writing for Growing Up Asian in Australia like?

Surreal. This was one of the opportunities that I got from networking, a writing friend suggested I give it a go. It was an honour to be included among names such as Shaun Tan, Khoa Do and Kylie Kwong…I went to the launch at the Sydney Writers Festival, signing books and everything. It made me hungrier to succeed and get published.

Has being a first-time author what you expected?

It’s been a wild ride. It’s never been a better time to be a first-time author with so many avenues such as social networking and the Internet fuelling new fan bases and making the author more
accessible to the reader.

What was growing up Asian in Australia like?

It was a blend of happiness and using humour to null any differences. I used to beat my friends to the punch of the typical Asian jokes. I guess I got used to the fact that Aussies poke fun at each other as a term of endearment so I didn’t really cop any slack from my friends. Through my family, I became proud of who I was and where I came from.

Do you feel part of an Asian-Australian revolution in Australian writing?

I hope so, there weren’t any Asian-Australian authors to look up to when I was a kid and so being an author was a hoop dream. And even when I was writing Thai-riffic!, books with Asian characters were few and far in between. So I knew that there are so many untold stories out there, about being caught between two cultures. The Growing Up Asian in Australia anthology was just the beginning of something huge. We’ve currently got second-gen Asian Australians who are beginning to be more comfortable with their identities now, and I hope we get some excellent writers to rise up and write about their perspectives and experiences.

There have been some cool Asian-Australians making their mark with kids, such as Gabrielle Wang and Li Cunxin. I’d like to think that kids will see me and be inspired to write and become authors, and that’s just not limited to Asians, but anyone really.

How long did it take to get Thai-riffic! published? Did you go through an agent?

It took me three years, from the countless drafts to having the book in my red hot hands. I did manage to find an agent for my work. I was getting advice from someone who worked for a manuscript appraisal agency, and didn’t know he was an agent. So when he looked at my sample work, he asked me to send the whole thing over. And the rest is recent history.

Ideal time of day to write

Anytime really, though I do particularly find mornings very good to write, along with an energy drink charging me up. But on busy days, I manage to squeeze in some writing time, otherwise I suffer withdrawal symptoms (mostly guilt).

Any other advice for aspiring authors?

Write your passion. I know it’s a cliché but it’s that’s the difference between a manuscript moving on to its 55th and final draft and one that’s thrown in the ‘too hard basket.’ Prepare to get your work smashed and rebuilt over and over again, and yes that’s a good thing because stories evolve for the better. Get your name out there, and that means lots of networking, meeting other writers and authors at writing groups, meetings, conferences, festivals etc. You never know who you’re going to meet.

Currently writing…

My second book, which is due in July for a 2011 release. And two other cool novels that I want to nut out too, I want to bring out a book each year, so I need to stay on top of my writing.

Currently reading…

Ha-ha, yes, it’ll change every couple of days, at the moment it’s Chris Morphew’s The Phoenix Files: Arrival.

Fave book of ’09 (that you didn’t write!)…

Nanny Piggins by R.A Spratt. It’s so un-PC and really stretches humour to all new levels. Also, the latest Wimpy Kid book by Jeff Kinney – man, I so wish I had written that, ha-ha. It’s just pure comedy in motion.

What kind of books would you like to see come out of Gen Y writers in Australia?

I like to see some more funny and witty stories, still waiting for something sharp like Douglas Coupland’s work to hit me in the face. I mean, it’s not all doom and gloom, right?

For more information on Oliver Phommavanh, visit: http://www.oliverwriter.com/ or his blog at winfree.com.au

Film shows plight of boat people

From WentworthCourier

As political rhetoric on asylum seekers reaches new heights in the lead-up to the Federal Election, one filmmaker is trying to remind the nation of the faces behind the headlines.

Award-winning writer, director and Young Australian of the Year 2005 Khoa Do will introduce Mother Fish, a cinematic tribute to the plight of boat people, at Paddington’s Chauvel Cinema on August the 5th, followed by a question-and-answer session.

“The fear and hysteria surrounding refugees and asylum seekers is at an all-time high and we forget that each of these people has a personal story and a reason they’ve had to risk their lives like this,” Khoa said.

Khoa said he came from a refugee background and that stories of perilous sea voyages from Vietnam were all too familiar.

Although the film opens with a speech from former prime minister Kevin Rudd, Khoa said the focus of his work was human rather than political.

“We already have people speaking about the lower number of refugees we take in compared to other countries and the small number of asylum seekers compared to the intake of migrants,” he said. “We are a compassionate country, so I just wanted to show everyone what these people go through.”

Mr Do said he hoped his film would challenge the way some Australians felt about the issue and bring it back into perspective.

Mother Fish opening screening in Sydney on Thursday 5th - Meet the cast and crew

Saw this via Vico Thai and Mother Fish on facebook.

There will be a screening of Khoa Do's film Mother Fish this Thursday, at Chauvel Cinema in Sydney. There are still some seats available and you can call 02 9361 5398 to reserve your seats. Afterwards there will be a Q&A with the cast and crew of Mother Fish.

Also, tune in to 'At The Movies' on ABC1 & ABC2 at 6PM on Sat the 7th and Sun the 8th of August as Margaret & David review the film and get an insight into its making with an exclusive interview with the director Khoa Do.

For cinema screenings in other cities and states, check the events section on the Mother Fish website.