Are you in Australia? Come join us in Sydney for lunch on 5 July!
This is a special occasion to connect with alumni, enjoy wonderful performances by current students, get updates from our headmaster, and celebrate the enduring legacy of Ying Wa College in Australia. Please RSVP to confirm your attendance by completing the registration form (https://docs.google.com/……/1FAIpQLSc7wQZT……/viewform).
Hope to see you there!
According to various researches, the first recorded group of Ying Wa alumni set foot on Australian soil exactly 170 years ago: on 3 June 1855, after more than two months at sea
, three Ying Wa old boys arrived at Melbourne from Hong Kong – while Wat A Che (屈亞始) went on to work as an interpreter, Ho A Low (alias Ho Low-yuk 何流玉) and Chu A Luk (朱亞祿), carrying with them a reference letter by YWC principal Rev. James Legge 
, joined the local church, served as evangelists (宣教士) and helped start the first Chinese Christian mission in Australia.¹
, three Ying Wa old boys arrived at Melbourne from Hong Kong – while Wat A Che (屈亞始) went on to work as an interpreter, Ho A Low (alias Ho Low-yuk 何流玉) and Chu A Luk (朱亞祿), carrying with them a reference letter by YWC principal Rev. James Legge , joined the local church, served as evangelists (宣教士) and helped start the first Chinese Christian mission in Australia.¹They were not alone – among all 40 students of Ying Wa in 1849, at least 7 of them (a noticeable 17%) went to Australia between 1855 and 1865, all served either as evangelists or as court/police interpreters, to meet the growing needs of the 30,000-40,000 Chinese miners in Australia during the gold rush. 
Leveraging on their English skills, some of these old boys went beyond their daily routine to speak for the Chinese community against discriminative and unjust policies – this includes Ho A Low and his brother Ho A Mei (alias Ho Mei Yuk 何美玉), who organized petition to Australian government trying to change such policies
, as well as writing to English newspapers in Australia and Hong Kong to raise awareness.²
, as well as writing to English newspapers in Australia and Hong Kong to raise awareness.²To be continued…
¹Based on researches by Australian historians Ms. Pauline Rule and Mr. Ian Welsh and Hong Kong historian Rev. Carl Smith.
² Pauline Rule (2015), “The Transformative Effect of Australian Experience on the Life of Ho A Mei, Hong Kong Community Leader and Entrepreneur”.
