CHUN REUNION 21-22nd February, 2009.
A BRIDGE BETWEEN THE PAST AND THE PRESENT
Good evening all.
I would first like to thank all those who have come from near and far to this Chun Reunion.
In the two days of this event the organizers wish that not only will you all become acquainted with each other but hope that a permanent bridge be built between those of the younger and the older generations.
In this busy world of ours we tend to ‘swim in our own goldfish bowls’
and do our own thing in our own world and the little kids that we knew as our nephews, nieces or cousins become memories… sometimes physically distant as well.
Others may know us by name..but not by face.
The aspect of time passing is also a great separation factor that perhaps these two days may help remedy to a degree.
The last gathering of this kind was the Chun Centenary held 14 years ago in the Hong Kong Café in Taranaki Street.
That was a successful event and another as such was probably overdue.
I understand that the passing of Connie last year was the seed from which this event came to fruition mainly by Katrina's urging.
Complacency is easy but being the stimulus for any event is difficult.It requires spearheading and it requires help.
To this the Organising Team of Katrina, Ken Chung, Kirsten, Danny Yee , Beverley Young and Nigel Murphy we owe our thanks.
Working together they overcame huge logistical problems with the focus only of making the reunion a success.
Many things can happen in the space of time…and I speak of the past 15 to 20 plus years or so.
I know that my boys have grown and matured in that very period and I know that they would not recognize many of their cousins, uncles or aunts.
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I know that I could walk the streets of Wellington and pass a possible nephew or niece without realizing it, similarly be served in a shop or treated in a hospital or dentistry by one who could well be related to me.
They are what I termed the Quiet Achievers and I have to admit many are unknown to me.
I have always said that Chinese should be polite to each other because you could well be related.
The Chun Family Tree, the one which Ken Chung has worked on brilliantly gives
a great illustration how two begat more and how the little sapling that was over 100 years ago has now grown exponentially to a huge tree with expanding branches.
These branches now reach out to distant countries of the world.
Unfortunately as with trees,leaves fall and it is with sorrow that we have lost some of the clan and at this moment I hope you will give them a moment of thought.
Arthur, Ron,David, Rosie, Phyllis , Ena and recently Connie were born to the Chun main trunk,were part of our history, and as God willed, took them to another place as have also departed some of our nephews and nieces.
Speaking of relatives I still recall the slender but straight backed brother by adoption Tim Gor and also through that relationship the giant of a man Hum Mung Gor of Masterton.
And when I think of my sisters I cannot help but remember Chung Ying Gor of the dark suit and swift gait, of the quiet voiced Jimmy Yee, the pipe and waistcoat of the urbane Peter Young , and the Oriental good looks and manners of Percy Wong.
Truly the gentlemen of the day.
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Going back to the Centenary event it was there that we honoured both Bill and Mavis as our Number One brother and sister and I am pleased to say they are still with us today.
I shall return to them later in the evening.
Kirsten and Nigel gave an extensive talk and illustration of our father and mother Chun Yee Hop and Wan Chu Lin which enlightened us all to the extremely difficult life they endured and in the upbringing of the family.
I would like to thank Nigel again for when he began to dig into our family history he used a very long spade.
Indeed it was Nigel who also brought to the attention of the New Zealand public of
the unfairness to the Chinese in our parent’s time which resulted in the Poll Tax Apology.
Mum and Dad would be smiling now if they could see how the Chun Family spread and in general prospered in New Zealand and also in other countries through diligence, hard work and integrity.
I mention the word ‘integrity’ because I am proud to be a Chun and I think that our family since its time in New Zealand has conducted itself with a modicum of humility and integrity even if I have to say this myself.
We have all worked hard and assimilated with Kiwi and Maori alike and done our damndest to succeed whether in a fruit shop or takeaway and did the best for our kids so that they would have a better life than we did.
I believe this was foremost in most Chinese family’s minds and personal sacrifice was the rule.
Indeed I can say that our extended family is now multicultural.
And I thank those who are not of our blood for befriending us through the decades and treating us not as one of the races of this country but simply as people, and as a part of a multicultural society.
There is a Chinese saying that ‘Do not wish for gold and jewels or precious things but that your children grow up to be good’…and that is something for all to remember that success and riches are not necessarily measured by the amount of money you have or how huge your house is.
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Ken Chung has collated a lot of photos and DVD material which is a collage through the years of the Chuns and I hope you looked carefully at them and perhaps saw yourself in another timeframe.
The history of the Chuns have been well documented with the Chi Kung Tong memorabilia given by Doris to the Turnbull Library as just one part. We have been mentioned several times in books both edited and
written by Professor Manying Ip as in Dragons In The Long White Clouds, Unfolding History Evolving Identity and others.
Our mother’s biography is in the ‘Dictionary of New Zealand Biography’ ,the seminal collection of significant New Zealanders whose life story is now online and she is also recorded in ‘The Book of New Zealand Women’.
We have been screened nationally in television documentaries as ‘Our People Our Century’ and ‘New Faces Old Fears’, in print media and on radio.
The Chun name went across all these media without disparaging remarks and I trust we did the best to represent the Chinese in New Zealand.
We can be proud of the Chun name...but not boastful.
In the end it is whether or not you left a tarnished or shining name behind.
So it is up to the current and future generations to maintain the reputation and I give you this responsibility.
Tomorrow at 10.30am we will be holding a traditional Chinese Bai Sarng service at our parent’s gravesites at Karori Cemetary.
Please attend this.
The object is to acquaint the younger Chinese the spiritual tradition of honouring the ancestors and my wife Helen will be there to properly conduct the ceremony.
This night as you gaze across to the next table don’t just sit and look..get up and introduce yourself to the folks there.
It could be the beginning of great new relationships.
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So without more ado I wish to conclude by thanking the Committee for bringing this event to fruition and welcome all here tonight and thank you for attending this reunion.
Eat well, enjoy the function and see you again soon.
Thank you.
Stan Chun
21st February, 2009.
Draft 9.
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BAI SARNG:
There are probably many of you, like me, that know little of the Bai Sarng ceremony.
I do not pretend to be an expert on this but these are the notes given to me on the subject.
An important part of Chinese Culture is the belief that your ancestors are still a part of your lives.
They look down on you and give you good fortune, and you look up to them and remember your own roots and the importance of family.
I guess this is something like the Zen saying that ‘When you drink of water you should remember the spring’ . In other words do not forget the source of things.
Honouring our ancestors is honouring our origins..our source….and our connections to each other.
What we do at the cemetery gravesite of our parents is called Bai Sarg..a ritual that Chinese have been doing in some form since the late Neolithic Period [5000-2000 BC].
Our ancestors exist in the afterlife but depend on the living to remember and to look after their spirits.
At special times of the year such as Ching Ming and Chung Yeung, we go to our ancestor’s graves and place offerings of food, incense and wine .
We can also burn spirit money or other goods for them to use in the afterlife.
If you would like to take part, just take three sticks of incense and bow three times before the grave.
Three is considered a lucky number by the Chinese.
The smoke from the incense is said to send our good thoughts and prayers to the spirit world and the ancestors will hear your message.
We leave the food there for the spirits to enjoy while the incense burns.
After the bowing traditionally we all gather around as a family and enjoy the food. Eating this food after the spirits have had a first go at it is considered very good luck and means you are partaking in the family’s good fortune.
I believe the chicken will be taken back to the restaurant to eat.
Please participate and take some food.
Thank you.
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THE SPIRIT OF THE CHUN REUNION
Giant oak trees grow from little acorns…and little ideas grow to more expansive and developing ones.
This it seems happened to us with this gathering.
This reunion grew from a small idea from Katrina Young Drew after Connie’s passing so I feel it appropriate to dedicate this evening to Connie ..The Spirit of the Chun Reunion.
In the process of developing the reunion very last minute ideas came forward that it would be an ideal occasion to honour our father and mother, Bill and Mavis and give thoughts to Marie as well.
We all now know the hardships of Chun Yee Hop and Wan Chu Lin a hardship that was born from the determination of a better life than what he had in China.
We all know of the extremities our mother endured in between the bearing of 18 children.
They lived through times of war, of poverty of privation but above all I understand they lived through their lives with integrity and with respect.
On their sad passing the responsibilities were placed on Bill and Mavis’ shoulders.
As kids we did not realize the weight of this kind of responsibility but thank God these two were there for us.
Without a strong hand at the stern of business matters our lives would have been an endless struggle.
Without a strong will and disciplined manner we could have lost our culture , our staying on the right paths, our health and our cleanliness.
Bill, as I have described before was like the carp that swam against the currents but with a steel like determination to succeed he developed a business acumen that lifted us out of the doldrums.
Sang Lee of Kilbirnie changed from a decrepit fruit shop to a modern Pacific Fruit Supply. Then it was a brave leap to the Zenith Seeds in Manners Street a new
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house in Connaught Terrace in Vogeltown and then to Strathmore and finally to Marina Grove in Lower Hutt.
Zenith Seeds became Zenith Garden Centres and the rest is history.
Through all his success Bill never forgot the wellbeing of the family as a whole.
As his standards rose he tried to help us up with ours.
His house or houses were always open to us and others and he was indeed the perfect host.
At this point it is opportune to mention Marie who unfortunately cannot be with us tonight.
In the whole wide world I think there can only be one as Marie.
Bill swept her of her feet when she was a nurse at the Wellington Hospital and drove her around our old city and suburban streets in a blue Ford V8 truck.
With Bill’s impetus and work, Marie was always there behind him not only at the shop or nurseries, but also as the fully domesticated wife at home.
You know I never saw a speck of dust at their place and everything was always neatly arranged.
We would turn up unannounced at their house, Bill would ask us to stay for dinner and Marie would somehow in short time appear with a multitude of dishes. Just how she did this was like magic.
I always likened Marie to the Chinese Lotus flower.
It grows, struggling through the dirt and water,then appearing to the world both pure and pristine.
Marie would tackle the dirtiest of jobs and yet she would come out of it as neat and clean as that flower.
Only after the closing of the Zenith Garden Centre would she hang up that pressed working smock.
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Mavis was the matriarch of the family who tended to not only Mum and Dad in times of their illness but also the boys and girls from Ron down.
We were a real handful that sometimes only a strong arm and stick could bring into line.
We were not a job that Mavis deemed a blessing to inherit but to do her best in keeping us clean and healthy, to study Chinese or the piano and to be head of a multitude of things is to her great credit.
For many years for all of us the days were early and the nights were long but we progressed from Riddiford Street in Newtown to Homewood Avenue in Karori and from Hing Lee to the Zenith Fruit of Manners Street and those were quantum leaps.
Our Connie as you know now, passed away quite suddenly last June.
It was a shock to all of us
But in her passing I saw real compassion especially from June and sisters Shirley and Mavis.
She is a memory now but in the beginning of this speech I said it was her spirit that brought us all together from near and far.
How honoured we are to have you all attend .
Please remember this reunion because you helped make it successful.
At this point I would like you all to be upstanding while I propose a toast to our father Chun Yee Hop, our mother Van Chu Lin, Bill , Mavis and Connie and also to Marie.
‘To Mum, Dad, Bill, Mavis, Connie and Marie.’
Thank you all.
Just carrying on for a few more minutes we have some small tokens to present to Bill and Mavis .
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We simply cannot give you both enough for what you have done for us but I hope you will accept these small gifts as a token of thanks and respect for your lifetimes of endeavour.
Bill….May….presents.
And I would like Neville to accept this little gift to take back to Marie with our kindest thoughts and best wishes…Neville.
Thank you all and God Bless..!!
Stan Chun
21st February, 2009.
Draft 2.
