This exhibition
https://www.objectaffection.com/the-exhibition
includes Doris
https://www.objectaffection.com/doris-chung
He wants more stories from young and old
Saturday, September 16, 2017
Friday, July 21, 2017
Doris Chung's Eulogy - Stan Chun
DORIS
CHUNG EULOGY
31
May, 2017. St Teresas Church
301
Main Road. Karori. WN
11.00AM.
On
behalf of the Chun Family and Doris’ I thank you all for attending this service
today in honour and remembrance of my sister whom I am sure would have been
embarrassed by this turn out.
Doris
was a very private person and did not even want her name in the papers when she
departed and would have preferred to just fade away without fuss or publicity.
‘Like
an auburn leaf falling from a tree in autumn it flutters and drifts in the wind
then disappears in the distance and goes the WAY of Nature.’
But
I am sorry Doris because we do want to fuss over you because you touched and
enhanced the lives of so many with your genuine manner and humility and are
worthy of this.
Family
eulogies are always sad but today’s of Doris’ passing is probably the
saddest…and is one which I wish I had never had to deliver.
We
cannot express in words the heartfelt feelings of both the Chun and Chung
families losses.
A
wonderful sister…a wonderful mother..!!
Even
the word ‘loss’ falls short of its meaning and possibly that is why we have
belief in faiths and religions for a higher calling.
And
with this I express my sympathies and condolences of our family to Doris’…..and
know this is not enough.
For
Doris was a very special person to all… be they family or friend.
She
was loved and was loving…!!
She
was everybody’s aunty , the one with the golden smile that lit up the darkest
night and brightened even more the sunniest of days.
She
was the humblest of the humble yet her talent with the brush, embroidery and
secret cooking methods are legendary.
Whenever
I thought of Doris the image of a young Shirley Temple came to mind.
She
was Doris’ favourite film star of yesteryear.
Bright,
sparkling and innocent in the days when those characteristics were a virtue.
And
Doris carried these virtues through all the many decades until she almost made
it to the Golden Century.
She
could be serious…but in the right way.
Being
Chinese by birth to her was something you bore with pride, but not arrogance,
and being a part of a great Asian tradition of cultures, creations and
Confucian respect.
You
needed not to have flaunted riches to prove success because success came with
being humble and the more humility you exuded the greater the respect because
this was a part of the Chinese tradition as was its language and many other
valued things.
She
never let you forget you were Chinese.
Doris
introduced me to Tai Chi in 1968.
We
would both walk up to the Chinese Anglican Church in Taranaki Street and studied
the movements from Mrs Yung and Mrs Ng from Malaysia and Hong Kong.
Maybe
that was the secret of her longevity.
I
am still practicing it after all these years but I needed Doris’ encouragement
to keep me going week after week in the beginning.
One
day I confided in her that I needed help in the shop I was running.
She
saw that I was feeling dejected and she simply said “Don’t worry Stan, God will
provide..”
I
have never forgotten those words and indeed God did provide.
The
fact is apart from her religion and culture she had a great depth of knowledge
not only of the Chun Family but of Chinese heritage, her heritage and her
family’s long history.
A
heritage that embraced honesty, faithfulness to family and Family above all.
To
this end she worked so hard for herself and her children.
And
to top it off the Chun Family History is now stored in the National Library under
the Doris Chung Collection.
Doris
once said to me that she was nothing but a “Poor Old Woman”. She was still
working then.
But
with this she had the intangible treasures of being loved by all, being
respected by all, and being regarded as the Queen of the Chun Family.
We
will miss her dearly, her voice, her smile, her presence, her cups of tea, her
paintings, her dolls, her just being Aunty Doris, a wonderful sister…a
wonderful mother..!!
So
now as she sails the spiritual skies with Shirley Temple on the ‘Good Ship
Lollipop’ we do not say Goodbye because you are with us always.
In
closing I would like to express thanks to all the caregivers to Doris in her
final days and once again to sister June who looked to her for several months.
We
do have Angels of Mercy on Earth and may God bless them all.
Thank
you for listening.
Stan
Chun
St
Theresa’s Church
301
Karori Road.
Wellington.
31
May, 2017.
11.00am
Thursday, July 20, 2017
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