Australia: Introducing Falun Dafa in the Seaside City of Wollongong

About a week after the people of Wollongong were impressed by an annual big parade, Wollongong Falun Dafa practitioners were once again invited to join the 'Viva la Gong Family Fiesta' on Sunday, October 31st, 2004.

This year, the organiser of Viva la Gong provided the Falun Dafa group with a marquee set up in front of the central stage area of McCabe Park in the centre of Wollongong. The organisers know that Falun Dafa is warmly welcomed by the people of Wollongong. They also arranged for the program announcer to constantly introduce Falun Dafa" and "Truth, Compassion and Forbearance" to the continuous stream of people passing through.

Practitioners didn't want a single person to miss the opportunity to know the truth of Falun Dafa and the persecution taking place in China. A lot of people happily accepted a flyer. The performance by the "Fo Guang" (Buddha Light) singing group, who are all Falun Dafa practitioners, attracted many people with their touching self-composed and performed songs.


Viva la Gong 'Family Fiesta'	Exercise Demonstration	Performance by "Fo Guang" Singing Group

When one person saw us again, she told us that the flyer from us about a practitioner's baby who was tortured to death while in police custody made her feel like crying. She said she couldn't believe that this is happening. Many people had recently learnt about Falun Gong in one of biggest local newspapers, the Sydney Morning Herald, about practitioner Ms Tang Yiwen and her story of being persecuted to the point of becoming disabled because she wouldn't give up her belief in Falun Dafa. Many kind people voluntarily signed the petition to help stop this brutal persecution.

It seems the truth of Falun Dafa is spreading, because many people also came to learn the practise and were asking for copies of the exercise instruction video.

It was an amazing day as so many people learned the truth of Falun Dafa and saw in person the peaceful demeanour of Falun Dafa practitioners. They have trust in believing that Falun Dafa is good and this persecution of innocent people is a big mistake for the country of China.

In the past months, practitioners have tried to spread the message of the inhuman persecution of Falun Dafa practitioners in China by organising exhibitions of practitioner Zhang Cuiying's paintings in the University of Wollongong, at the City Art Gallery and in the foyer of Wollongong City Council. They have won great support from people who understand Falun Dafa. Local high schools also invited practitioners to run Falun Dafa workshops to their students. Zhang Cuiying, an Australian citizen, who is a Chinese painter and a Falun Dafa practitioner, was thrown into a Chinese jail for eight months for appealing for Falun Dafa in China. She was later released with the help of the Australian government.