Eddie Liu OAM 劉達文
(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.
劉達文(Eddie Liu) 一生參與昆士蘭州和昆士蘭華裔社區的重要項目，多次得到州政府和聯邦政府的認可。 1980年，劉因社區服務被授予大英帝國勳章。 1987年，他被任命為布里斯班市名譽大使。 2001 年，劉被授予澳大利亞勳位勳章，2004 年，他在澳大利亞年度人物獎中被授予昆士蘭大都會地方英雄獎。 劉先生於 2007 年獲得昆士蘭大學榮譽博士學位，並於 2010 年被評為昆士蘭偉人。
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 歲的劉達文抵達墨爾本，在基督教兄弟學院完成中學教育，並與自世紀之交以來一直在澳大利亞的草藥師父親會合。 1940 年，劉與愛爾蘭女子Elizabeth Margaret Brown結婚，育有四個女兒Mayling, Maria, Libby和Lisa，以及兩個兒子Peter和Frank。
二戰期間，劉被徵召到澳大利亞軍隊服役，並立即被人力部招募到布里斯班。 Eddie 成為位於Bulimba的美國小型船舶建造項目中建造登陸駁船2000 名華人海員的主管。 華人海員組成工會，邀請劉擔任他們受薪秘書。 以這種身份，劉為戰時難民籌集資金，照顧他手下生病的人，並確保為那些在事故中喪生的人提供有尊嚴的葬禮。
戰後劉先生留在布里斯班，成為一名水果和蔬菜供應商，並繼續積極參與社區事務，於 1952 年創立了昆省華人會。在他的整個職業生涯中，劉先生為包括Mater醫院、皇家兒童醫院、白血病基金會、澳大利亞紅十字會和盲人導盲犬等慈善機構籌集資金。 劉先生積極參與針對中國、所羅門群島和泰國移民的安置計劃。 他為貧困兒童籌集資金並安排了挽救生命的器官捐贈，及資助有天賦的學生。 劉還在昆士蘭的大學推廣中國語言和亞洲歷史課程。
在 1960 年代，劉成功遊說昆士蘭州政府，將當時已廢棄的Breakfast Creek三聖宮根據州立法歸還布里斯班華人廟宇協會。 1964年，劉為修復和保護寺廟起草了憲章，確保其作為禮拜場所的公眾使用和繼續使用。 籌集了資金並通過銀行貸款修復及擴建寺廟，為一名看守僧侶增添住房和加建觀音堂。 寺廟於1966年竣工並重新開放。
1974 年至 1986 年，劉在 Fortitude Valley 建立了一個中醫診所。1983 年，他應地方政府部長 Russ Hinze 的邀請加入了布里斯班唐人街建立委員會。 劉成為Fortitude Valley唐人街推進委員會主席，並前往中國聘請廣州市規劃局總建築師莫BZ Mo設計布里斯班的唐人街。 布里斯班的唐人街於 1987 年正式開幕，恰逢農曆新年慶祝活動。
劉先生是昆省華人會的長期活躍成員。 1970 年代，他前往香港尋求道教香港青松觀在昆省華人會位於 Deagon 佔地 5 英畝的新物業上建造價值 350 萬元的寺廟、老年護理設施和中國園林綜合體。 華人會於1989年在該物業上完成了自己的建築，但因距離市區太遠，搬遷至Fortitude Valley Wickham Street 256號，並以120萬元的價格將Deagon會所出售給道教青松觀。
從 1999 年到 2000 年，劉是Griffith University國際商業和政治諮詢委員會的成員。 2001年至2004年，他擔任Valley商會會長。 在他生命的盡頭，劉仍然專注於在布里斯班建立一個華人退休村。 劉先生於 2013 年 6 月 25 日去世，享年 91 歲。
References 文獻
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.
