Canterbury 2015 Australia Day Outstanding Volunteer – Ming Xu
Witnessing and participating in the spectacular scene of one thousand people doing Tai Chi together at the CASS 30th Anniversary Celebration is to be remembered forever. At that grand performance, a lady dressed in white Tang costume stood in front to lead the audience performing the “Tai Chi 18 Moves”. Behind her, standing in a hidden corner was an unsung hero in charge of planning the performance. She is the teacher who visited various activity groups six months prior to the event to teach the exercises. Watching the performance at the back, she had an overwhelming sense of satisfaction and joy. She was the Tai Chi teacher of Campsie Activity Group, Ms Ming Xu.
Petite but agile, Ming came to Australia in 1995. She joined the CASS Campsie Activity Group in 2003. The wise and farsighted Ming shared her thoughts, “While the Australian Government has provided a relatively good welfare system for the elderly, CASS has been providing many services for the community. The running of activity groups at various locations has provided a place for isolated and lonely migrants to meet new friends and network, giving them the warmth and support of a family.”
Believing that one should reciprocate a favour with gratitude, Ming dedicates wholeheartedly to organising activities for the Group. As a professional engineer before her retirement, she maintains her conscientious and enthusiastic attitude in acquiring new knowledge and skills, including dancing, Tai Chi as well as Qi Gong. Whenever Group members request to learn a certain dance, she will learn the dance quickly first before teaching members gradually to cater for their abilities. She understands the gist of teaching and guides her students step by step. Though she is nearly eighty years old, she shows agility and elegance in her performance. She is a humble leader, often asking others to take the lead role in performance while she guides the team from behind the scene.
When the membership of Campsie Activity Group remained stagnant while other activity groups were expanding in numbers, she and a few concerned members proactively visited other groups to learn their successful experience, conducted market research and reorganised the activities. With new programs such as Tai Chi, Gong Fu Fan Dance, Health Dance and English classes, many people joined the Group, increasing the membership from ten plus to over 40.
Apart from her role as a volunteer teacher for activity groups, Ming also volunteers to work in the CASS Day Care Centre two days a week caring for seniors, including distributing lunch and washing dishes. The volunteers formed the “Care for the Seniors Team”, the backbone enabling CASS to provide quality elderly services.
Having experienced political turmoil in her early life and witnessing the internal turmoil within CASS in 2006, Ming had hesitation joining any organisation as a member. However, she is observant, reflective and alert to community affairs. She reflected not long ago, “Since Mr Henry Pan returns to the CASS Board in 2007, there are many positive changes in the services and activity groups. I am excited to see CASS continually adding new services to help the disadvantaged. Though Mr Pan has lost his sight, he is still taking the leadership role to develop CASS. He is amazing!”
Since then, she has dedicated herself wholeheartedly in the affairs of CASS. She changed her previous distrust of organisations and took up CASS membership. Recently, she is actively involved in organising activities for celebrating the 35th Anniversary of CASS. Certainly, she will accompany CASS to a flourishing future!
Ming Xu receiving the Canterbury 2015 Australia Day Outstanding Volunteer Award from Mayor Brian Robson