Bulletin No. 2, 2018

Distinguished Alumna Makes her Mark in Melbourne 29 rr From left: Mingling with student residents back in United College; Conversing with alumnus Aaron Yim in the closing ceremony his family could find solace in this narrative; and the volunteers could keep negative emotions at bay.’ Revisiting the CUHK campus after 45 years, Dorothy was happy to tour its new sites and facilities, and even more so to interact with students and staff. She gave a talk to faculty and administrative staff on the importance of self-care when tending ill family members. Back to the Department of Social Work she shared with the younger generation her practical experience in loss and grief counselling. She followed the I•Care Community Research Team to pay home visits to seniors living alone in a Fanling public estate. In United College’s Adam Schall Residence where she lived in her last two years in university, she urged a packed house of audience to never back down in the face of adversity. During the eight events in a row of four days, Dorothy repeatedly attributed her kind deeds to the ‘humanistic spirit of CUHK’. ‘To me, it is a spirit that calls for stepping outside ourselves. As CUHK alumni, we care not only for ourselves but also for our family, our alma mater as well as our community at large.’ By Christine N. Australia saw a strong increase in the number of Chinese immigrants, and those affected by cancer usually spoke little English and had great difficulties in navigating the healthcare system. Dorothy picked up the gauntlet and established the Chinese Cancer Society of Victoria (CCSV) in 1996. Since then she has been serving the Chinese diaspora pro bono, seven days a week. Serving cancer patients is not as poignant and depressing as one might imagine. Besides providing healthcare information, counselling and supportive services, CCSV also holds a wide range of activities to cheer patients up, like doing sports, singing, drawing, crafting, gardening, hiking and even forming theatre and lion dance troupes. For terminal patients, Dorothy and the volunteers will turn up on their doorsteps and help them put their past into perspective. ‘There was once an old man who lamented he had done nothing of worth in his whole life. While talking to us he revealed that he had been an industrious dairy worker and raised five high-achieving children. When he saw he had done his part to the society and to his family, he could leave without regrets; Dorothy Yiu , a Social Work graduate of 1973, returned to her alma mater from 7 to 10 November 2018 as the distinguished alumna in the new Distinguished Alumni-in-Residence Programme. Among the 200,000 CUHK graduates, she may not be the one who makes the biggest fortune or wins the most academic accolades, but is definitely among the most charitable and altruistic ones. Two years after graduating from CUHK, Dorothy relocated to Melbourne, the capital of Australia’s south-eastern state of Victoria. Her social work qualification was put on the shelf due to language and cultural barriers. She helped her husband run a retail store in China Town and, after completing a diploma in librarianship, opened a Chinese bookstore. In 1981, the first Chinese welfare agency for the elderly opened in Victoria, and a Chinese-speaking social worker was wanted. Dorothy was the only game in town and found her way back on to the track of social welfare. Fast forward to the ’90s, and Dorothy, then a health educator at the Cancer Council Victoria, was invited by the Council to set up a support group for Chinese cancer patients. Back then