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On Tuesday, 28
May 2002, Mrs Julia Irwin, Federal MP for Fowler praised the
2001 My Dream project in the Australian Parliament.
Here are the
highlights from the "Hillside", the online news
bulletin of the Australian Parliament:
"An essay
competition run as part of the Moon Festival celebrations in
Cabramatta (NSW) has been praised in the House by the Member
for Fowler (NSW), Julia Irwin. Organised by the growing
media and market research company Vietnam Information
Services of Cabramatta, the topic for the essay was ‘My
Dream’, with entrants asked to write about their future
plans. The competition was publicised around the local high
schools and on the CabramattaNet.com (Currently
VietnameseInAustralia.com.au) website. Entries poured in
from young authors. “The 10-member judging panel had a tough
time but the essays they selected are worth reading if you
want to tune into the value system and ambitions of this
between generation,” Ms Irwin said. “Almost all of these
teenagers have their roots somewhere else and many of them
have not been long in Australia. They are bright and present
their ideas clearly. Many talk about being picked on because
they are somehow different. Many talk about the culture and
generation clash between them and their parents.” The essays
are being produced in book form, and the competition is
being run again as part of this year’s Moon Festival
celebrations in September. “It is a hint of what the future
holds for us,” Ms Irwin said, “how our values might be
shaped and how Australia will be a different place 10 or 20
years from now.”
And following
is the full text recorded in the
House Hansard, Page
2380 on Tuesday, 28 May, 2002:
Mrs IRWIN
(Fowler)
(10.43 p.m.)—As part of the
Moon Festival celebrations held in Cabramatta last
September, an essay competition was held for high school
students from south-western Sydney. The topic for the essay
was ‘My Dream’, and entrants were asked to write about their
future plans. The competition was organised by a growing
media and market research company, Vietnam Information
Services of Cabramatta. The project managers, Mr Dung Ma and
Dr Thuy Mai-Viet, did a great job in launching the project,
bringing together an impressive judging panel and attracting
more than 30 sponsors to provide prizes and other services.
Local business houses deserve special thanks for backing the
competition. The Fairfield and Cabramatta area has many
community minded businesspeople like Mr Ma and Dr Mai-Viet,
as the list of sponsors shows. Many of the sponsors are very
small businesses working on the margin but with a great
commitment to the community and the upcoming generation. The
competition was publicised around the local high schools and
on the Cabramattanet.com (Currently
VietnameseInAustralia.com.au) website, and entries poured in
from young authors.
The 10-member
judging panel had a tough time but the 27 essays they
selected are worth reading if you want to tune into the
value system and ambitions of this between generation.
Almost all of these teenagers have their roots somewhere
else and many of them have not been long in Australia. They
are bright and present their ideas clearly. Many talk about
being picked on because they are somehow different. Many
talk about the culture and generation clash between them and
their parents.
A feature of
these essays is that they use language in a new way. Because
the authors have imagination, and because many can speak
another language, you get a delightful mixture of eastern
and western thoughts—the odd turn-on phrase, the occasional
teen expression, the images of contemporary life and
remembered traumatic events. It is not surprising that what
we can see in these fresh voices is concern about the bigger
picture. These young people want to put things back on track
and get serious about the pursuit of happiness, not just for
the themselves but also for others. There are no scores to
settle, no blame to sheet home. They want peace and they
want to channel their talents into making improvements. But
these are only the general themes. It is how the
personalities behind these authors, their backgrounds and
their ideas, are revealed that makes this worth reading.
It is a hint of
what the future holds for us: how our values might be shaped
and how Australia will be a different place 10 or 20 years
from now. When Mr Ma first showed me this collection, he
said he thought many of the authors would be future leaders
in whatever they pursue. I do not doubt that for a minute.
The essays have been posted on the
VietnameseInAustralia.com.au website because these young
authors are the Internet generation. The essays are also
coming out in book form. It has been quite an achievement
and everyone associated with the project can be justly proud
of their contribution, and they will be doing it again at
this year’s Moon Festival in September. It could well become
a tradition that continues for many years.
I look forward
to meeting these students and their parents at the launch of
the book in Cabramatta. I will be saying to them that the
‘My Dream’ writing competition was a very brave undertaking.
I would not have been so sure that young people would want
to let us into their world and expose so much of their inner
thoughts and feelings, but the end result is a revealing and
enjoyable insight into the lives of young people in
south-western Sydney. I will congratulate the authors and
everyone involved in the ‘My Dream’ project. |
