A Youthful Legacy
On February 18 2007, the Year of the Pig arrived to the beat of the drum. Deep golden red ebbed and flowed from the heart of Sydney, a pumping procession breathed ancient life into the streets from Town Hall to China Town. Among the energetic crowd disguised as wide eyed dragons or dancing lions were forty members of the Chinese Youth League (CYL). This 7000 strong Government recognized community organization was founded in 1939 by a group of young politicized performers who wanted justice for fellow ostracized Chinese immigrants and support for their homeland in its epic battle against Japan. One of these visionaries was a young man born in the remote NSW mining town of Cobar.
Frederick Kenneth Wong whose family arrived in Australia on a golden tide of hope from Canton, was born five years after the White Australia Policy began to discolour immigration and social relations in Australia. Frederick’s parents, Mr Sing Foo Wong and Ah Kue Wong, found prosperity in a land which did not wholly accept them. Prevented from gaining citizenship by sporadic restrictions on Chinese settlement in the 1800’s, the Wongs were unable to own the land they cultivated as market gardeners. Consequently, they maintained strong ties to their homeland and encouraged their son to do the same. Rather than be marginalized by this, young Frederick was instilled with a deep sense of social justice as well as a respect for and active interest in his Chinese Culture.
Now, Frederick Wong rests alongside his wife, Quan Chong, in a Chinese suburb of the sleeping city of Rookwood Necropolis Cemetery. A portrait of Frederick looks out from the sculpted granite headstone clean shaven and optimistic. Beside this and his family’s last words reads an elegant plaque; “In memory of our late president, by members of the Chinese Youth League”. This impressive memorial to Frederick’s 42 years is only the tip of his mammoth legacy. His involvement in fighting for workers rights stretches down to the South Coast of NSW, his fund raising efforts touched lives from Sydney to Canton, and his mysterious death in a flying accident took his memory out of NSW and to the remote Lake Boga in Victoria.
Prior to the foundation of the CYL or as it was known originally the Chinese Youth Dramatic Association, Frederick cut his political teeth at the rugged wharfs of Port Kembla, picketing for an end to pig iron exports to the enemy; Japan.
By his late twenties Frederick had already left Cobar to study Chinese language and traditions in Canton, here he became a father and husband and saw first hand the devastation the Japanese military were having on the Chinese people. On his return to Australia he was an older better educated man with his eyes wide open. Frederick saw Australia as the land of prosperity, and like his father he hoped to support his family by working in Australian industry. He was, however driven often more by his pursuit of justice than the desire to make a living, and the sale of pig iron to the Japanese who were desecrating his home angered him deeply. Before long Frederick found himself involved in what the Illawarra Historical Society Bulletin called; “the most significant political demonstration to ever take place in Illawarra”.
The Chinese Youth League began as a fund raising group for the war effort back home in China, however its Cantonese opratic performances in Sydney which symbolized their resistance to Japanese occupation of China, acted to unite the Chinese immigrant community. A natural leader Frederick took his experience from the Port Kembla Picket to ports around Australia where Chinese refugees and Seamen were fighting for their rights. Frederick and the CYL ecouraged them to form unions with Australia, and soon the Youth League was plunged into the Chinese Seaman’s Unions and its numbers swelled dramatically.
As the League grew as did Frederick’s fund rasing efforts, and it was his efforts to register under the business name Asia Airlines Pty Ltd and purchase Catalina boat -aircafts to administer medical aid to Chinese seaman, which ultimately ended his life. While testing his own planes at Lake Boga Victoria in 1948, Frederick died in circumstances which his family have questioned ever since.
Over half a century after Frederick’s death, the Chinese Youth League is still active in the Australian community. Although in peace and multiculturalism their struggle is of a different one. In 2002 Youth League members raised $45,000 for the NSW Bushfire appeal in 24 hours. The League continues to promote Chinese culture, work towards better Australian-Chinese relations and remember their heritage and founding fathers.
On February 18 2007, the Year of the Pig arrived to the beat of the drum. Deep golden red ebbed and flowed from the heart of Sydney, a pumping procession breathed ancient life into the streets from Town Hall to China Town. Among the energetic crowd disguised as wide eyed dragons or dancing lions were forty members of the Chinese Youth League (CYL). This 7000 strong Government recognized community organization was founded in 1939 by a group of young politicized performers who wanted justice for fellow ostracized Chinese immigrants and support for their homeland in its epic battle against Japan. One of these visionaries was a young man born in the remote NSW mining town of Cobar.
Frederick Kenneth Wong whose family arrived in Australia on a golden tide of hope from Canton, was born five years after the White Australia Policy began to discolour immigration and social relations in Australia. Frederick’s parents, Mr Sing Foo Wong and Ah Kue Wong, found prosperity in a land which did not wholly accept them. Prevented from gaining citizenship by sporadic restrictions on Chinese settlement in the 1800’s, the Wongs were unable to own the land they cultivated as market gardeners. Consequently, they maintained strong ties to their homeland and encouraged their son to do the same. Rather than be marginalized by this, young Frederick was instilled with a deep sense of social justice as well as a respect for and active interest in his Chinese Culture.
Now, Frederick Wong rests alongside his wife, Quan Chong, in a Chinese suburb of the sleeping city of Rookwood Necropolis Cemetery. A portrait of Frederick looks out from the sculpted granite headstone clean shaven and optimistic. Beside this and his family’s last words reads an elegant plaque; “In memory of our late president, by members of the Chinese Youth League”. This impressive memorial to Frederick’s 42 years is only the tip of his mammoth legacy. His involvement in fighting for workers rights stretches down to the South Coast of NSW, his fund raising efforts touched lives from Sydney to Canton, and his mysterious death in a flying accident took his memory out of NSW and to the remote Lake Boga in Victoria.
Prior to the foundation of the CYL or as it was known originally the Chinese Youth Dramatic Association, Frederick cut his political teeth at the rugged wharfs of Port Kembla, picketing for an end to pig iron exports to the enemy; Japan.
By his late twenties Frederick had already left Cobar to study Chinese language and traditions in Canton, here he became a father and husband and saw first hand the devastation the Japanese military were having on the Chinese people. On his return to Australia he was an older better educated man with his eyes wide open. Frederick saw Australia as the land of prosperity, and like his father he hoped to support his family by working in Australian industry. He was, however driven often more by his pursuit of justice than the desire to make a living, and the sale of pig iron to the Japanese who were desecrating his home angered him deeply. Before long Frederick found himself involved in what the Illawarra Historical Society Bulletin called; “the most significant political demonstration to ever take place in Illawarra”.
The Chinese Youth League began as a fund raising group for the war effort back home in China, however its Cantonese opratic performances in Sydney which symbolized their resistance to Japanese occupation of China, acted to unite the Chinese immigrant community. A natural leader Frederick took his experience from the Port Kembla Picket to ports around Australia where Chinese refugees and Seamen were fighting for their rights. Frederick and the CYL ecouraged them to form unions with Australia, and soon the Youth League was plunged into the Chinese Seaman’s Unions and its numbers swelled dramatically.
As the League grew as did Frederick’s fund rasing efforts, and it was his efforts to register under the business name Asia Airlines Pty Ltd and purchase Catalina boat -aircafts to administer medical aid to Chinese seaman, which ultimately ended his life. While testing his own planes at Lake Boga Victoria in 1948, Frederick died in circumstances which his family have questioned ever since.
Over half a century after Frederick’s death, the Chinese Youth League is still active in the Australian community. Although in peace and multiculturalism their struggle is of a different one. In 2002 Youth League members raised $45,000 for the NSW Bushfire appeal in 24 hours. The League continues to promote Chinese culture, work towards better Australian-Chinese relations and remember their heritage and founding fathers.
posted by Georgina Wiles at 3:03 PM
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