Brief History of the CAV

The CAV was born under unusual circumstances one fateful day in 1982, the details of which are too complicated to include in a short chronicle such as this. Suffice it to say that a nucleus of about 30-40 Chinese of Malaysian, Singaporean, Hong Kong and Indonesian origin attended a large ‘inaugural meeting’ to form a Chinese Association of some kind, and took on the challenge to establish the Chinese Association of Victoria (CAV).

Meeting at first in humble surrounds of family homes, this group of new migrants found common interests and shared common aspirations for themselves and their families in this, their newly adopted country. The first president was Gim Leong Teh, a lecturer in law by profession, and the rest of the committee members were all highly qualified professionals with impeccable credentials. A constitution was commendably drawn up by legal and other able minds within the Association and it has served its purpose well to this day with need for only minor refinements. Subsequent presidents and their dedicated committees set the foundation, and charted the future direction of the Association. It was the intention of the founding members that this Association shall always be a fully transparent, non-political and secular ethnic organisation, completely accountable to its members.

The Chinese School
Word soon spread among friends and the Association grew rapidly. Attention was drawn to promoting the Chinese language and to this end a “Chinese School” was started under the able stewardship of Ka Sing Chua and Khee Pang; and subsequently run by Ramona Chua and Kin Chee Ip and their committees. In the early years, the school was run on Sundays at the then Nunawading High School. With weekly gatherings of students and parents, there was always a hive of activities, providing a focal point for social interaction and networking.

The School moved to the newly finished CAV Centre at Wantirna in 1995. With more classroom facilities, the curriculum was extended. In 1998 a new Principal, David Liu was appointed and this allowed further extension of the curriculum taught. Grace Li was the Principal from July 2004 until Dec 2006. Daniel Choo then assumed the responsibility of head of the School. When Daniel left at the end of 2007, Ramona Chua, took up the challenge to run the School.

The School now provides Chinese language courses from prep to VCE levels. Classes are being conducted at CAV Centre on Sunday.

For acquisition, construction and maintenance of buildings used by the School, a CAV School Building Fund was established on the 10th June 1987. The Fund has been granted a tax deductible status where any donation more that $2 to the Fund is tax deductible.

Cultural Activities
Many traditional Chinese cultural activities naturally evolved around the Chinese School. The list includes Chinese cultural dancing, tai chi, martial art, Chinese painting and Chinese music; and of course the lion dance.

The Cultural Dance Troupe was started in 1992 by Leng Low, and developed further in subsequent years by Ramona Chua and Chris Pang. Since 1999 Lily Ong has been the driving force bringing the Troupe to its present standard. Dance instructors who have helped in the development of the Troupe included Sung Ping, Shirley Kortlang and Lucy Lo. A performance by this Troupe of young dancers is the highlight of all major CAV functions. The Troupe had also been invited to perform in many cultural and community events in Melbourne.

Tai Chi and Martial Art were started by a busy surgeon Boon Hung Hong, and the tradition was carried on by volunteer instructors such as Norman Phang, Anthony Lun and Ming Hang Yim. Routines in tai chi included the Yang and Chen styles, tai chi fan, sword and broad sword. Tai chi is very popular because of its purported benefits to health and relaxation.

Interest in Chinese Painting and Calligraphy among members began very soon after the founding of CAV. CAV has been fortunate in that among the people who taught Chinese painting at the CAV have been internationally renowned artists such as Yao Di-Xiong (of the Hundred Kangaroos fame), Anthony Sum, Liu Chin Tsao, Chun Rui Yang and Christina Chung.

The Lion Dance Troupe was started in 1982 by Peter Loh, Richard Ong, Thomas Lim, Vincent Lee and Alan Khor. From 1986 the Troupe was led by master Kelvin Kan, who made the lion heads himself. Under his leadership the Troupe developed to a very high standard, and has often been invited to perform at community functions. The teaching of kung fu was incorporated into the training routines of the lion dance troupe. The added training demanded rigorous physical training and strict discipline. It would be correct to say that the Lion Dance Troupe was the pride of the Association.

The next phase started with the celebrations of many traditional Chinese Festivals, such as the Chinese New Year, the Zong festival and the lantern festivals. Sporting activities enjoyed by the members including table tennis, badminton and golf.

Communication
A Newsletter became a regular feature front the beginning. The most significant pieces of equipment used in its production being a rock solid Remington typewriter with a bell to say you have reached the end of a line; some correcting fluid and two willing fingers pounding away into the early hours of the morning. Early editors included Jee Mok Fua, Clement Wong, Chek Jwee Quah, Oon Huat Yeoh, Chooi Hon Ho and Yik Chee Ho. The Chinese section was edited by Ka Sing Chua, Boon Hung Hong and Peter Ho. Later editors were more fortunate when the computer came of age. Over the past few years, production of the newsletter was continued by Simon Soon, then Khim Chow. Presently the editor is Mai Saw.

The first CAV Magazine was published in 1985, followed by a second in 1989. Special 10th, 20th and 25th commemorative magazines were published in 1992, 2002 and 2007 respectively to mark the occasions.

A CAV web site was created to bring CAV in line with the march of technology. The first web master was Norman Phang. Then followed by Leon Han, who handed over the task to Mai Saw in 2008.

The CAV Centre
Administrative requirements and the various activities continued to expand. It became manifestly clear that for the Association to grow, it would need bigger premises, preferably premises it could call its own. And so the search was on for a suitable parcel of land to build a Centre for the Association. A scouting team examined many locations, bearing in mind the demographic distribution of the then current and projected membership.

Finally the decision was made in early 1990s to buy a five acre lemon grove in Wantirna. The price was $270,000, a handsome sum for a small group of people to raise. Incredibly, a ring-around among a network of friends raised $120,000 within a few weeks. The pledge of support was on the basis of a $1,000 15 year interest free loan from each person to the Association, It was an extreme demonstration of faith in the Executive Committee and the stated objectives of the Association. One should be reminded that $1,000 in the 1990s was no small sum. The remainder of the purchase price was a bank loan.

Borrowing from a bank carried with it the burden of interest and principal repayments. With determination and drive, almost every facet of activities over the years was geared to fund raising. Annual food fairs, raffles, dinners, talks and Gala Balls as well as corporate sponsorship and personal donations, slowly whittled away the bank loan. The food fairs in the early years were major exercises in logistics, resourcefulness, as well as cooperation, and reason enough for families to get together and have great fun. Mums and dads, often with young children in tow, would be managing food stalls or displays. Slightly older children manned the games stalls. Every member of the family was involved. Even grandma gave cooking demonstrations. This created very close bonds between families and friends, creating a large pool of committed members from which future committees would be sourced.

Having bought the land, the next step was to build the Centre. More funds were raised, Government grant was applied and granted and bank loan was taken. The Centre was completed in 1995. It consists of a main multi-purpose hall, a kitchen, a library, an office and a boardroom up stairs. Eight classrooms are built separately from the main hall. Colin Edwards (a parent of a student in the Chinese School), Clement Wong and a team of volunteer gardeners did all the preliminary landscaping and tree planting. A children playground was added later.

On 19th March 1995, The Centre was declared open by the Hon. Simon Crean. (The then Minister for Employment, Education and Training).

With the opening of the Centre, CAV has a home. Besides the Chinese School having classes in the new classrooms, the main Hall and other facilities are being used by the Ballroom Dancing Group, Tai Chi, Table Tennis, Cultural dance and Karaoke. The Women Interest Network group also use the facilities from time to time for their fund raising activities.

The formation and development of each subgroup are not the same. Please click on to each subgroup’s pages to read more.

A Milestone is reached
It was most significant that the 2007 annual mid-year was held on 24th June in the CAV hall to commemorate the 25th Anniversary of the founding of CAV. Almost all who attended this event have had some role to play in the past 25 years of CAV’s history. Of note was the present of almost every past president, past committee members and members who belonged since year dot. The turnout was testimony to the strength of this organisation and the goodwill that still exists.

Due to the hard works put in by the Executive Committees, past and present, the financial position of the Association were in good shape. The 15 year period of interest free loan from members has long since lapsed. Some loans were repaid but most of the loans were finally converted as donations, relieving it of the burden of repayment. In recognition of their contribution, all the earlier members who loaned to the Association were conferred the status of “Foundation” members.

Footnote:

CAV and Multiculturalism
Chooi Hon Ho has written an article providing more history of CAV and her view on CAV and multicultural Australia. Please click on the following link to read the full article.

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