Jerome Laxale (Bennelong, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise today to give a shout-out to the incredible Eastwood Chinese Senior Citizens Club in my electorate of Bennelong. Just last week, President Hugh Lee and members met to celebrate their continuing 30th anniversary celebrations under the arbour in the bustling Eastwood town centre, where Sandy and Vera and his team from Noble House treated us to a spectacular banquet.

Over 30 years ago, the Eastwood Chinese Senior Citizens Club was formed by a group of nine migrants from Hong Kong. One of the members, Mrs Kan, couldn't read, write or speak English when she moved to Eastwood. This encouraged the late Mr Yu to borrow a minibus from Ryde council and take the group on short excursions around Sydney once a week. This happened every Wednesday. After enjoying these weekly excursions, the founders decided to form the club, and they still meet regularly on Wednesdays, over 30 years later. Since then, the club has grown from nine members to now over 1,300 members.

The club has made a significant effort to make people feel at home and more supported and to ensure everyone feels connected to Australian society and lives a better life. They organise activities such as health talks, arts and crafts lessons, excursions, tai chi, birthday parties, English classes, poetry classes and computer classes. They're a fantastic community organisation in my electorate. Da chau hun baung: you are all amazing.