Eddie Liu OAM 刘达文
(1923- 2013)
Eddie Liu’s lifetime of involvement in key projects for the state of Queensland and Queensland’s Chinese-Australian community has been recognised by State and Commonwealth Governments on numerous occasions. In 1980, Liu was awarded an Order of the British Empire for community service. In 1987, he was appointed Honorary Ambassador for the City of Brisbane. In 2001, Liu was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia, and in 2004, he was awarded Metropolitan Local Hero for Queensland in the Australian of the Year Awards. Liu received an honorary doctorate from the University of Queensland in 2007, and was honoured as a Queensland Great in 2010.
刘达文 (Eddie Liu) 一生参与昆士兰州和昆士兰华裔社区的重要项目，多次得到州政府和联邦政府的认可。 1980年，刘因社区服务被授予大英帝国勋章。 1987年，他被任命为布里斯班市名誉大使。 2001 年，刘被授予澳大利亚勋位勋章，2004 年，他在澳大利亚年度人物奖中被授予昆士兰大都会地方英雄奖。刘先生于 2007 年获得昆士兰大学荣誉博士学位，并于 2010 年被评为昆士兰伟人。
Eddie Liu arrived in Melbourne in 1937, aged 14, to complete his secondary education at a Christian Brothers College and to join his father, a herbalist, who had been in Australia since the turn of the century. Liu married an Irishwoman Elizabeth Margaret Brown in 1940, raising four daughters, Mayling, Maria, Libby and Lisa, and two sons, Peter and Frank.
During WWII, Liu was called up to serve in the Australian Military Forces, and was immediately recruited by the Manpower Department to Brisbane. Eddie became the supervisor of 2000 Chinese seaman building landing barges for the American Small Ship Building Project in Bulimba. The Chinese seamen formed a union, inviting Liu to be their paid Secretary. In this capacity, Liu raised funds for wartime refugees, cared for the men under him who fell ill, and ensure dignified burials for those who died in accidents.
Liu remained in Brisbane after the war, becoming a fruit and vegetable supplier, and continued to be active in community affairs, founding the Chinese Club of Queensland in 1952. Throughout his career, Liu raised funds for various charities including the Mater Hospital, the Royal Children's Hospital, the Leukaemia Foundation, the Australian Red Cross, and Guide Dogs for the Blind. Liu was active in resettlement programs for Chinese, Solomon Islander and Thai migrants. He raised funds and arranged life-saving organ donations for under-privileged children, and sponsored gifted students. Liu also promoted Chinese language and Asian history programs at Queensland universities.
In the 1960s, Liu successfully lobbied the Queensland Government to have the then derelict Holy Triad Temple in Breakfast Creek returned to the Brisbane Chinese Temple Society under State legislation. In 1964, Liu drafted the constitution for the restoration and preservation of the Temple, ensuring its universal access and continuing use as a place of worship. Money was raised and a bank loan taken to repair the temple and extend it by the addition of housing for a caretaker monk and a second sanctuary for Kwan Yin, the Goddess of Mercy. The temple was completed and reopened in 1966.
Liu established a herbalist practice in Fortitude Valley from 1974 until 1986. In 1983, he was invited by the Minister for Local Government, Russ Hinze, to join a committee for the establishment of Brisbane's Chinatown. Liu became the Chairperson of the Fortitude Valley Chinatown Advancement Committee, and travelled to China to engage BZ Mo, chief architect of the Guangzhou Planning Administration, to design Brisbane's Chinatown. Brisbane's Chinatown officially opened in 1987, coinciding with the Lunar New Year celebrations.
Liu was a long-term active member of the Chinese Club of Queensland. He travelled to Hong Kong in the 1970s sourcing the Ching Chung Taoist Association to establish a $3.5 million temple, aged care facility and Chinese garden complex on the Chinese Club of Queensland's new five-acre property at Deagon. The Chinese Club completed their own building on the property in 1989, but being too far from the city, relocated to 256 Wickham Street, Fortitude Valley, selling the Deagon club to the Ching Chung Taoist Association for $1.2 million.
From 1999 to 2000, Liu was a member of the Advisory Board on International Business and Politics at Griffith University. From 2001 to 2004, he was the Director of the Valley District Chamber of Commerce. Towards the end of his life, Liu remained focused on establishing a Chinese Retirement Village in Brisbane. Liu died on 25 June 2013, aged 91.
1937 年，14 岁的刘达文抵达墨尔本，在基督教兄弟学院完成中学教育，并与自世纪之交以来一直在澳大利亚的草药师父亲会合。 1940 年，刘与爱尔兰女子Elizabeth Margaret Brown结婚，育有四个女儿Mayling, Maria, Libby和Lisa，以及两个儿子Peter和Frank。
二战期间，刘被征召到澳大利亚军队服役，并立即被人力部招募到布里斯班。 Eddie 成为位于Bulimba的美国小型船舶建造项目中建造登陆驳船 2000 华人海员的主管。华人海员组成工会，邀请刘担任他们的受薪秘书。以这种身份，刘为战时难民筹集资金，照顾他手下生病的人，并确保为那些在事故中丧生的人提供有尊严的葬礼。
战后刘先生留在布里斯班，成为一名水果和蔬菜供应商，并继续积极参与社区事务，于 1952 年创立了昆省华人会。在他的整个职业生涯中，刘先生为包括Mater医院、皇家兒童医院、白血病基金会、澳大利亚红十字会和盲人导盲犬等慈善机构筹集资金。刘先生积极参与针对中国、所罗门群岛和泰国移民的安置计划。他为贫困儿童筹集资金并安排了挽救生命的器官捐赠，及资助有天赋的学生。刘还在昆士兰的大学推广中国语言和亚洲历史课程。
在 1960 年代，刘成功游说昆士兰州政府，将当时已废弃的Breakfast Creek三圣宮根据州立法归还布里斯班华人庙宇协会。 1964年，刘为修复和保护寺庙起草了宪章，确保其作为礼拜场所的公众使用和继续使用。筹集了资金并通过银行贷款修复扩建寺庙，为看守僧侣增添住房和加建观音堂。寺庙于1966年竣工并重新开放。
1974 年至 1986 年，刘在 毅力谷区 建立了一个中医诊所。 1983 年，他应地方政府部长 Russ Hinze 的邀请加入了布里斯班唐人街建立委员会。刘成为Fortitude Valley唐人街推进委员会主席，并前往中国聘请广州市规划局总建筑师莫BZ Mo设计布里斯班的唐人街。布里斯班的唐人街于 1987 年正式开幕，恰逢农历新年庆祝活动。
刘先生是昆省华人会的长期活跃成员。 1970 年代，他前往香港寻求道教香港青松观在昆省華人会位于 Deagon 占地 5 英亩的新物业上建造价值 350 万元的寺庙、老年护理设施和中国园林综合体。华人会于1989年在该物业上完成了自己的建筑，但因距离市区太远，搬迁至Fortitude Valley Wickham Street 256号，並以120万元的价格将Deagon会所出售给道教青松观。
从 1999 年到 2000 年，刘是Griffith University国际商业和政治咨询委员会的成员。 2001年至2004年，他担任Valley商会会长。在他生命的尽头，刘仍然专注于在布里斯班建立一个华人退休村。刘先生于 2013 年 6 月 25 日去世，享年 91 岁。
References 文献
Chudleigh, J. 2013. 'The father of Chinatown Eddie Liu dies, aged 91', Quest Community News [online]. 26 June. .
Liu, TW. Queensland State Archives. Digital Image ID: 1898, 2013. .
Liu, Eddie & Diana Giese (Interviewer). Eddie Liu interviewed by Diana Giese in the Chinese Australian Oral History Project. National Library of Australia, Oral History Section, Canberra, 1999.
Mac Donald, A. 2013. 'Brisbane honours the 'father' of China Town, Eddie Liu, in City Hall funeral service'. The Coureir Mail [online]. 11 July. .
Mok, J. Multicultural Trailblazers. Ethnic Communities Council of Queensland & Multicultural Community Centre, Brisbane, 2004.
