Every migrant has a story to tell and John Yu is no different.
His father was a senior official for the Republic of China established when the political party Kuomintang (KMT) seized power in 1912 and retreated to Taiwan in 1949 after losing the civil war to the Chinese Communist Party.
Dr Yu was born in Nanjing in 1934 and his family was forced to flee the country in 1937, the year of the Japanese invasion of China, which lasted for a period of eight years until 1945.
The then three-year-old Dr Yu, his sister, his father, and his mother, a Chinese Australian, fled China to start their lives all over again in a new city and a new country - Sydney, Australia.
“My mother’s family had been in Australia since 1867, but I came to Australia with my sister and my mother in 1937 when the Japanese invaded Nanking (Nanjing) where we were living. We were refugees from that war,” Dr Yu said.
John Yu visited Darwin after he was named the Australian of the Year in 1996. Katrina Fong Lim (right) later became the Mayor of Darwin in 2012. Source: Legislative Assembly NT
Loyalty to a new country
Far from being bitter about racial discrimination against migrants at the time or the "White Australian" policy, which was implemented in 1901 and abolished in the 1970s, Dr Yu said he had instead witnessed a gradual acceptance of new arrivals.
He said he was grateful for what Australia had offered him and for enabling him to become a successful paediatrician.
In stark contrast, when he returned to the same school many years later to give a speech, he noticed that half the audience were Chinese and Vietnamese-Chinese.
“I think medicine is one of those areas which is different to many other professions because the people I came in contact with wanted or needed the skill that I had, so once again, there wasn’t any discrimination against me from my patients because, in a way, they needed me more than I needed them,” Dr Yu said.
Dr Yu started his medical career at the Royal Alexandra Hospital for Children now known as The Children's Hospital at Westmead as a paediatrician when he was 27 years old.
He then became the Chief Executive Officer of the hospital from 1979 to 1997.
He was also the Chancellor of the New South Wales University.
The Australian government honoured Dr Yu’s contributions by appointing him a Member of the Order of Australia (OAM) in 1989 and naming him the Australian of the year in 1996.
He was promoted to Companion of the Order of Australia (AC) in 2001.
“I think I’ve been a successful migrant for many reasons; firstly, I was able to enjoy and take advantage of things available in this country when I was young such as free education for both primary and secondary school and then at university," Dr Yu said.
"To be a good migrant, I think one has to have loyalty to the new country, that’s not to say you don’t still have strong emotional tides with other countries (but) your primary loyalty needs to be to your new country.”
Racial diversity is needed in the political system
Concerns have been raised about Chinese Australian politicians acting as proxies for the Chinese Communist Party in Australia in recent years.
As the 2022 Federal Election approaches on May 21, Dr Yu said he believed Chinese Australians running for office could uphold their Chinese heritage while at the same time putting Australia first.
He said this was one of the critical elements that they should present to their constituencies.
Dr Yu said he had noticed that an increasing number of Chinese Australians were running for election in various states, particularly in Victoria and South Australia to make the political system more racially diverse, like the Australian Labour Party member Jason Yat-sen Li, who won the New South Wales 2022 Strathfield state by-election.
“In the Victoria parliament, there are three members with a Chinese background, including from the Liberal Party, Labour Party, and the Green party. This is a good start and I hope to see more, and I anticipate that there will be more,” Dr Yu said.
Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore and John Yu, Chair of the Museum Board, announce the official opening of the Museum of Chinese in Australia. Source: Facebook
Discrimination against the Chinese population has in Australia and other countries such as the United States during the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to the Lowy Institute's 2020 research, the situation has worsened, with one-third of interviewees reporting different levels of racial discrimination during the pandemic.
Dr Yu said he believed that politicians such as Donald Trump had played a role in inciting hatred.
In his view, the situation has gradually subsided as people become more aware of the nature of COVID-19 itself.
“As always, people who abuse the Chinese in the first place, who are usually Australians, usually feeling threatened themselves or come from socio-economic disadvantaged groups,” Dr Yu said.
He went on to say that it was essential for Chinese migrants to understand that being actively involved in the community and giving back was a step forward in breaking down the cultural barrier.
“The first thing one has to do is to do your job properly and do it well. You don’t succeed in the community if you only worry about yourself, you’ve got to think about the needs of the community,” Dr Yu said.
“You must give something back, and the way to do that, the best way to do that I think is to be active in the community and support things that are vital and important to the community like the charities and other organisations.
“Migrants can contribute to the community through the arts for example, the art galleries and all those sorts of activities.”
Currently, there are 1.2 million people in Australia with Chinese heritage and many Australians have Chinese or Asian friends.
Dr Yu said he thought food was also a meaningful medium for Chinese or other Asian Australians to introduce their cultures and bond with locals.
“I think bonding over food or good causes will help Australians accept those who look different,” Dr Yu said.
“And when you get to know them, you realise they’re not different, they behave, act, and think just like everybody else.
“When you look at the food they eat, it’s Asian food, it’s common for average Australians go for something different and something special, and that’s not just Chinese food, it’s Vietnamese food, Cambodian food, Indian food.
“I think food is one of the big levellers and one of the ways people really quickly accept ‘different can be good’.”
