The Yee Fung Toy Global Village
Voice
風采電子季刊 |
Issue 19 | www.yeefungtoy.org/newsletter | 2009/06/14 |
目錄編者話修葺荻海名賢余忠襄公祠
世界余氏宗親總會第四屆(2009年)懇親大會全美余風采堂第廿三屆懇親大會風采總分堂報導
風采月刊開平市風采校園生活 |
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In this Issue:
Message from the EditorThe World Yee Family Association 4th International ConventionYee Chung-sheung Ancestor Hall Rehabilitation Ceremony
23rd National Yee Fung Toy Family Association ConventionReports from Yee Fung Toy Chapters
Next
Issue
|
Name |
Age |
Sex |
Parents' Names |
中
英姓名 |
年
齡 |
性 |
父
母姓名 |
Elizabeth Yee 余美華 |
13 |
F |
Gene/Mary Yee |
Dana Joe 周穎賢 |
13 |
M |
Larry/Margie Joe |
Kevin Yee 余健輝 |
13 |
M |
Grace Yee |
Mark D. Bruce 永基 |
14 |
M |
Juliana Yee Bruce |
Emma Yee |
14 |
F |
Larry/Margie Joe |
Theresa Yee 余穎欣 |
15 |
F |
Grace Yee |
Peter Yu 余建威 |
15 |
M |
Richard/Judy Yu |
Jeffrey Joe 周铭仰 |
16 |
M |
Larry/Margie Joe |
Mathew J. Bruce 永杰 |
17 |
M |
Juliana Yee Bruce |
Michael Fan 范凱靜 |
17 |
M |
Alice/Lawrence Fan |
Abigail Yee |
17 |
F |
Richard/Debbie Yee |
Michael Yu 余建豪 |
17 |
M |
Richard/Judy Yu |
Melody Yee 余誠娟 |
17 |
F |
Tommy Yee |
The highlight of the evening was the raffle drawing of gift certificates, cash prizes and the Houston Rockets team signature ball.
The banquet started at 7:00 pm and finished at 8:45 pm so as not to offer any excuse for the Yee youngsters to be late for schools the next day and, above all, had enough time to catch the second half of the annual NBA All Star Game, of which our Yao Ming at starting center for the West 7th straight time in Phoenix.
Sun neen fai lok
(新年快樂!), sun tai keen hong (身體健康!) to all as we
welcome the Year of the Ox, 4707. The New York Yee
Fong Toy Association held its Chinese Lunar New Year
and honoring senior members’ celebration on Saturday,
February 21, 2009.
For our family association, observing tradition and Chinese heritage are important aspects of this auspicious occasion. We started the days' celebration at 1 p.m. with our ancestral ceremony. Presidents Gong Sum and Frank were joined with our leadership, members, cousins from the Boston Chapter and Ma Association to participate in this traditional service. After the usual formalities, we all enjoyed the buffet luncheon. As we gather together to usher the Year of the Ox, our hopes are we will all be an inspiration to each other, be honest and thoughtful as well as hard working to make this a successful year. We should all endeavor to make a difference in 2009.
The evening Spring
Banquet gala was again at Jing Fong Restaurant.
Although this event seems to be the same each year,
the guests are never disappointed. This year, among
the over 800 attendees, there was a very special
senior member. Her name is 瑞琼. At the age of 100,
amazingly she was still able to join us. We were also
fortunate to have so many honored guests and community
leaders join us.
It is truly an honor to
be recognized and respected as a worthy organization
doing good for the community as well as for our
members. Before continuing, I would like to
acknowledge and thank the following groups of guests
for taking time to attend.
First, Consul Zhu Liu
and Consul Wang Bangfu, Consulate General of the
People’s Republic of China in New York,
Director-General Kenneth
K.M. Liao, Director James Wei of Taipei Economic and
Cultural Office (TECO) in New York and Director Roy
Yuan-Rong Leu from the Culture Center of TECO in New
York.
Next, CCBA President Justin Yu, Lin Sing Association President James Wong, Hoy Sun Ning Yung President Jack Eng, 5th Precinct Commander Inspector Gin Yee as well as many of Chinatown’s community leaders who were able to join us. Finally, we want to thank the following public officials who could not attend but sent a liaison to wish us all the best for the Year of the Ox: Governor Paterson for sending George Hu, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver for sending Karen He, State Senator Daniel Squadron for sending Mary Cooley and Lana Cheung, Manhattan Borough President Stringer for sending Jimmy Yan and NYC Comptroller Thompson for sending Sandra Ung.
The gala was also the beginning of change. For the first time, we had a new layout with a more festive look, a slideshow with video presentation on two big projector screens, a Women’s Group willing to make a difference and Presidents willing to take chances. President Gong Sum welcomed and wished everyone a great Year of the Ox. But this year, he also spoke in Mandarin. Then, President Frank thanked everyone for attending and for their gifts but spoke in English. Also for the first time, our Yee Family has some new friends. We thank Assemblyman Felix Ortiz for coming to speak to us, Councilman Alan Gerson for presenting us a jointed Proclamation from himself and Councilman John Liu. In addition, we thank Supreme Court Justice Honorable Doris Ling-Cohan and Acting NY State Supreme Court Justice Dorothy Chin-Brandt for coming.
Now, how do we just say
thank you to our Boston cousins! For the past few
years, our Women’s group has joined some of Boston’s
group to entertain us with song and dance. This year
they even brought along Mai Du to perform some martial
arts for us. Mai operates her own school, Wah Lum
Kung-Fu Academy in Malden, MA and also works for the
Red Cross. We also want to give recognition to Jing
Fong Restaurant and White Swan Bakery for contributing
to our raffle gifts each year.
Finally, we want to
thank our DJ 國帡 for providing the evening’s
entertainment. This year, he surprised everyone with a
Sichuan Opera like, face changing or “bian lian” (變臉)
performer and helped our Women’s group conduct a Congo
line dance going throughout the restaurant.
Our Women’s group, under the direction of Kennie 錦娉, has done another terrific job this year. Enthusiasm is surely contagious. With this in mind, the 2009 National Yee Family Convention will be in New York City this August. Please consider volunteering to help. Again, thank you all for making this year another joyous event and hope to see everyone next year.
The Yee Fung Toy Association of New England held its Annual Spring Festival and Seniors Appreciation banquet on Saturday February 28, 2009. Masters of Ceremony for the evening were Melinda ( 明茹) and Tony (俊明). Entertainment was led by Yuen Bing (潤冰) and Ken (健興) with karaoke.
The event started at 7:15pm. A group of Yee members sang two songs to wish everyone Happy New Year. Then 12 members performed line dances (集體舞) to waltz music and Latin. MC Melinda explained that the line dance of waltz music was different than usual because the dance started as a single line dance, then changed to a double (pair) line dance. The performance was very enjoyable and earned lots of applause from the audience.
Following the singing and dancing, President Jimmy (厚利主席) performed the "Wu Style Tai Chi Sword" (吳氏太極劍), Jimmy was trained by Tai Chi Master Wu Gongyi (吳公儀) in Hong Kong and later with Master Zhu (朱振舜) in Boston. His skillful performance surprised some, but was admired by all. He received a thunderous ovation.
Next a performance was led by Vice President Jack (積堯副主席), the Women Group Chairperson, Mei Hau (美后婦女組主任), Linda (美玲), and Tom (湯美), they performed "Tai Chi Kung Fu Fan". This form of Kung Fu Fan was created by numerous Martial Art Masters in China. As most of you remember, a group of over 2000 people performed this form of Tai Chi Fan at Tiananmen Square, prior to the Beijing Summer Olympic in 2008.
The last performance was by a 5 year old martial arts student Thomas (城熹), son of our member Senior Kung Fu Master Mei Du (余翠梅師傅). He performed Hualin (華林派) fist Kung Fu with a wooden stick. His actions were clean and precise. He received much praise and lots of cheers.
After the performances, President Jimmy spoke and wished everyone happy new year. He announced the 23rd US Convention will be in August 2009 in New York City and the 4th World Yee Convention will be held in November 2009 in Malaysia.
VP Jack thanked everyone who came to the banquet, especially the Adviser, Kenneth (景新), Presidents Gong-Sum (鋼深), Frank (宏基) and all the members of New York Chapter. They traveled by bus to join us to celebrate the New Year. Jack also thanked Mr. Wong, the owner of the Empire Garden Restaurant for contributing gift certificates for the raffle as well as others who donated the presents.
Our honored guests at the banquet were President of Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association, Ho Yuanguang (何遠光), The Taipei Economic and Cultural Office Director Yan Guodong (楊國棟), Boston Director of the Center for Chinese Cultural and Educational Service Jane Xu Bang (簡許邦), and state Senator Sonia Chang-Diaz (陳翟蘇妮). The above guests all made their remarks wishing everyone Happy New Year.
During the evening, donations were presented to CCBA, Kwong Kow Chinese School, Chung Wah Academy School and Chinatown Golden Age Center.
The highlight of the banquet was awarding scholarships to 8 college students. The bright young adults earned their awards with excellent grades. The recipients are as follow: Shirley Yu ( 余欣樺)、Jenny Yu (余秀曼)、Norman Yu (余日昇)、Lisa Yue (余曼玲)、Catherine Yee (余詩敏)、Tiffany Yu (余玳嫻)、Caroline Quan (關偉雅)、Peng Yao Wu (吳鵬耀 ).
Our long time member at NEYFTA, Ling-Hang (蓮香姑) was the lucky winner of the first prize of $200.00. More than 15 guests won various prizes during the raffle. Everyone had a wonderful evening. The party ended around 10:30pm.
The Detroit Yee Fung Toy
2009 Spring Banquet was held at Golden Harvest
Restaurant in Warren, Michigan on Sunday, March 1st.
We had seventy-two
people enjoy a delicious banquet consisting of seafood
soup, scallops with walnuts and mixed vegetables,
fried shrimp balls, chinese fried chicken with shrimp
chips, golden mushrooms with green vegetables, twin
lobsters, steamed fish, steak kow, fried rice,
noodles, and dessert.
Dick Yee, our chapter
president, introduced the 2009 officers as well as our
elders and other active members of the association.
We also raffled off
several door prizes contributed by local Chinese
grocers, our local ladies club members, individual
members, and On Leong.
In addition, we received
many generous donations for the upcoming convention in
August.
Photos courtesy of Tom Lee and Cathie Agacinski.
The Seattle Yee Fung
Toy Association held its 2009 New Year banquet on
March 5th at the Renton Seafood Restaurant.
About 80 Seattle chapter members and friends attended along with four representatives from the Yee Fung Toy Society of Vancouver, led by Chairman Jim Yee. Before the dinner, there were lion dancing and kung fu performance by Master Leung and his associates.
De Shum Yee, Vice President of the Chapter, was the evening's master of ceremony and Fred Yee, Chapter Adviser, gave a brief report regarding the Chapter's plan for raising fund to purchase property for the Chapter and the upcoming August 2009 U.S. Yee National Convention in New York. Fred asked Chapter members to actively support the Chapter's activities so that the Chapter can remain prosperous and vibrant.
Specially thanks are given to Chapter President, Shek Jing Yee, for hosting the banquet with excellent food and services from his restaurant.
We welcomed the Year of the Ox and celebrated the Spring Festival on Sunday, March 8, 2009.
We all enjoyed a Dim Sum Lunch at our YFT Office after paying homage to our ancestors at noon.
In the evening, the 2009 Spring Banquet dinner was held at the Holiday Villa Restaurant (福滿樓酒家).
Close to 500 guests attended our Spring Banquet this year. Guests from the San Fransciso YFT Headquarter, guests from the Stockton YFT Chapter, our Mah cousins and honored guests from the Sacramento community.
On Sunday, March 15, 2009, the Phoenix Yee Fung Toy Family Association celebrated the Year of the Ox at their annual spring banquet held at the Great Wall Restaurant in Phoenix. Close to 400 Yee family, friends and guests enjoyed an evening of entertainment, delicious Chinese food, fun and fellowship.
Representatives from the Los Angeles chapter made a special trip to join the annual celebration. The local lodge welcomed Mr. and Mrs. Alan Yee, Western Region Yee Grand Vice President and Mr. and Mrs. Stanley Yee, Southern California Yee Fung Toy President.
賀 綠蒂小姐,來自中國上 海,於三月十五日晚美國亞利桑那州鳳凰城的斐匿余風采堂春宴上表演古筝。
Lu Di He, renowned Gu Zheng artist served as featured performer for the evening. Click here to watch a part of her performance at the banquet in a YouTube broadcast. She played for the appreciative crowd just as she had for President Bush, President Clinton, German President Dr. Richard Von Weizsacker, as well as the King and Queen of Nepal. The Gu Zheng is a harp like instrument that takes many years of training and practice to master. Her ability to blend classical and modern music has earned her many accolades.
Grand Elder John M. Yee presented special award plaques to Mr. Bill Yee and Mrs. Albert Wong for their dedication and generous support of the Phoenix Yee Fung Toy Family Association.
Scholarship awards were presented to outstanding students in recognition of their scholastic achievements, school activities and community service. High school scholarships were presented to Aniss Wong Yee and Victoria Yu. Chinese School Awards were given to Derek Yu, George Yu and John Yu. Congratulations!
The Yee Fung Toy Family Association looks forward to seeing everyone again for their 2010 spring banquet. Gung Hay Fat Choy.
Houston YFT chairman,
Frank Yu (pictured here at left with the Yao Ming
Fan Club Board members), is also serving on the YMFC
Executive Board. The tall fella standing in the
background with the YMFC Board is Yao Ming's Dad,
Yao Zhiyuan. He is only 6'-9", a bit shorter
than his 7'-6" son!
Yao Ming (姚明) was drafted in the 1st round (1st pick) by the NBA Houston Rockets in 2002.
Because of this unique
relationship, Frank Yu has been able to get discount
group tickets to the Houston Rockets games for YFT
members. Following is his account of the YMFC
cheering tour to San Antonio.
"The annual Spring
Cheering Tour to San Antonio, our I-10 rival, took
place on Sunday, March 22, 2009. Two 56-seating
capacity VIP buses were in front of the Houston
Chinese Community Center to pick up Yao Ming Fan
Club (YMFC) members and friends, cartons of
T-shirts, raffle-ticket prizes, and various
paraphernalia for the journey. Crammed into the
front row of Bus 2 was a familiar 6'-9"figure
affectionately known as Yao Dad. His presence
certainly added much credence to our mission and
support, in as much as for him to cheer for his
proud son Yao Ming battling Tim Duncan of the San
Antonio Spurs.
More than 350 Yao Ming
supporters from Houston, Austin, College Station,
Corpus Christi, and San Antonio converged to witness
these cross-town rivals to battle it out right down
to the buzzer at the AT&T Center.
Knocking the Spurs from first place in the Southwest Division for the first time since January, Houston capped a furious fourth-quarter rally when Yao Ming fired a perfect pass to Luis Scola underneath with 11.9 seconds left to stun San Antonio 87-85.
To celebrate this rare away victory at the Alamo City, we descended to Section 122 and entered the main floor of the basketball court for our epic group photos—resplendent in newly designed Yao Fan T-shirts and banners. What a thrill and exhilarating experience for those joining us first time on this trip. As the old Texan saying goes: Y'all come back now, you hear!
Our homeward journey was filled with high spirits and satisfaction. We sang, laughed and gave high-fives to each other. Our buses arrived at the Chinese Community Center shortly before 9:00 pm, early enough for the youngsters to get ready for Monday school, after a joyous Spring break.
The Houston YFT
members were proud to be part of this large
contingent that day."
More than 2000 Yee
representatives from overseas, Hong Kong, Macao, the
Pearl River Delta region and 16 other counties and
cities in China gathered there, to cherish the
memory of our ancestor Yee Jing, of the Northern
Sung Dynasty.
There will be another
celebration ceremony planned for the grand opening
of the Yee Jing Ancestor Hall in November this year,
a few days right after the 4th World Yee Convention
in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Further information of this event will be posted in the Global report when it become available to us.
Above are some of the
memorable opening cermony scenes taken during the
opening ceremony of Ancestor Yee Jing's Bronze
statue on March 28, 2009.
To observe the traditional "Ching-Ming" Festival on Sunday morning, March 29, 2009, president Ho-Lee and Jack with Ken and I drove to Mount Hope Cemetery in Mattapan. It was pouring rain along the way, but it changed to drizzle when we arrived. We held up our umbrellas and quickly set up the roast pig, pastries, wine, lit candles and incense sticks on the altar. We paid respect with 3 bows and burned paper moneys to honor those buried here.
After a brief ceremony, we headed back to the Association. Sherita already had the rice made, and Mei-Hau, Tom and So were preparing vegetables in the kitchen. Yim was cutting the roast pig and Ken helped by getting the pastries ready. Finally the lunch buffet was served at 12:30pm. Over 30 members and friends had a good time and enjoyed the food.
The rituals of grave sweeping during the Ching Ming Festival period have been simplified by the Chinese in modern times. After sweeping the graves, families offer fruit and flowers to their ancestors and remember them in their hearts. Whatever the rituals may be, Ching Ming Festival is an expression of the filial spirit of the Chinese and the respect they have for their forefathers.
The Chinese Pavillion at Mountainview Cemetery was not so crowded this year for the Ching Ming memorial service on Sunday, March 29. As most of the Societies and Associations scheduled their memorial services earlier this year to avoid the crowding together at noon.
Around 20 members of the YFT Society of Vancouver arrived at noon at the Chinese Pavillion.
Our memorial service officially began as Mr. Steven Yee and his volunteers made preparations: candles and incense sticks were lit, fruits, roast pigs, chicken, sponge cakes, etc, and liquor were laid down on the ceremonial altar.
Advisor Dick Yee read the memorial ceremony oration this year while Vice-Chair James Yu read the English version. Canada YFT Chairman Mr. Kan Yu, Vancouver YFT Vice-Chair Mr. James Yu, Canada YFT Vice Chairman Mr. Gary Yee, Secretary Mr. Wing Yee, Vancouver YFT Advisor Mr. Wayne Yee, Vancouver YFT directors Mr. Phillip Yu and David Yee took turns to pay homage to our ancestors, Mr. George Yee set off the firecrackers as the ceremony ended.
We all headed back to the Society Hall after the ceremony.
Our Annual General Meeting was held around 1:30pm, after all of our members were signed in and seated. There was a large turn out of members. The AGM went well. James Yu announced that our seniors are having their first annual birthday luncheon on April 11, and the annual picnic to be held at Trout Lake on July 12.
Special thanks to our Vice-Chair and Welfare Director, Mr. Steven Yee, who organized this year's Ching Ming celebration and luncheon events, thanks to our other Vice-Chair, Mr. James Yu, who chaired this year's annual general meeting, which went through smoothly, and thanks to those who attended the AGM meeting and Ching Ming celebration.
The Phoenix Yee Fung Toy Family Association celebrated the 20th Anniversary of their Association Headquarter on 16th Street on April 25th.
Six roasted pigs were donated for the gala event which was attended by 150 family members and guests.
Edmonton Yee Fung Toy Society and the Fung Toy Athletic Club held their 5th year anniversary spring banquet on Sunday, April 26th at Century Palace Restaurant.
Over 200 friends and guests attended. The Masters of Ceremony, Eric Yu and Jerome Yu, co-hosted this momentous event.
Noteworthy speakers included the Edmonton Chairman Frank Yee, Fung Toy Athletic club president, Mr. Tommy Mack and Calgary's YFT president, Mr. Jack Charles Yee. This year we have forty-nine Calgary Yees attending our annual spring banquet.
The annual banquet was graced by the presence of the Mah's Society. Above delicious food, performance included an entertaining dance routine by the 小海鷗舞蹈團, and a magic performance by the 2007 Pacific Rim Professional Magic Champion, Mr. Yu Shu Yan from Calgary.
Within the banquet, Edmonton's Yee Fung Toy society also awarded scholarships to four gifted recipients. The vice president Ying Hua delivered the final address and thank-you's. This very successful banquet concluded with a prize draw with more than 50 gifts.
Our Ontario Chapter's 38th Annual party dinner will be held on
Date: Saturday,
June 27, 2009.
Time: 7 pm
Place: Yiu
Wah restaurant, 耀華酒樓
421 Dundas Street. West Toronto, M5T 2W4, Ontario.
Tel: (416) 979-8833
For further
information on our 38th Annual Party Dinner, please
contact us at
Tel: (416)
977-4378
Parents love their children and children respect their parents are worldwide value. Our New England Branch, over the past several years, has been celebrating Parents Day. We select a day between the traditional Mother's and Father's Day for this honorable event. This year it was held on Sunday May 17th at the Association Hall.
At 12 noon our general membership gathered for this festive event. At the recommendation of our Women's Group Co-Chair, Mei Hau and Karin, who worked hard to make this a very successful event, many members cooked up numerous delicious items for a pot luck luncheon. A sheet cake was also ordered from a local bakery for dessert. Some 30 plus members quickly gathered around the food table for a group picture to remember the occasion.
Following the luncheon was some general social time. This was followed by group activities of Kareoke, group line dancing, and performing the Tai Chi Sword Form by various members throughout the afternoon. To conclude the day, several members displayed their cooking ability as a great dinner was prepared from our kitchen for a feast to complete the day. At around 7:30 pm everyone bid their good-byes and started to depart and head home.
Welcome to the official site of The Cleveland Yee Fung Toy Association, part of the 13 YFT Associations located in the U.S. with headquarter located in San Francisco, CA.
Link: http://yftcleveland.shutterfly.com/
Chapter Address:
3222 Superior Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio 44114
Phone Number: (216) 687-0625
In August of 1997, a resolution from Grand Advisor (West Coast) James Yee of Seattle to fund a website development project was passed at the U.S. National Yee Fung Toy Association in Boston. An ad hoc committee (Committee) was formed to set up a detailed project plan and initial website activities.
The Fung Toy Quarterly Magazine from Phoenix, AZ ceased publication in 1998. However, the "Fung Toy Monthly" continued to publish on a quarterly basis from Toisan, China. The table of contents of one of The Fung Toy Quarterly Magazine last issues can be viewed here. The new Yee Fung Toy Association websites would hopefully continue to provide communications and information amongst the Yee Family members.
The "yeefungtoy.org" website domain name was purchased in May, 1998, and was good for 2 years. After which there was an annual domain name renewal fee of $50. The owner of this Internet Domain Name Record is Steven D. Yee of Seattle.
The host site for yeefungtoy.org was chosen in July 1998. The Committee began moving relevant web pages to this new host site. The host site, www.yeefungtoy.org became fully operational and available on September 20, 1998.
Information about the Canadian YFT anniversary celebration was added on June 26, 1999.
On September 4, 1999, www.yeefungtoy.org hosting renewal was sent to eskimo.com, with new updates which included moving old news to a separate web page.
On February 23, 2000, domain names of yeefungtoy.com & yeefungtoy.net were purchased, and were linked to www.yeefungtoy.org. Steven D. Yee is also the owner of record for those two domain names.
The Yee Fung Toy Web Project Team consisted of the following people:
From Seattle
From Vancouver, British Columbia
From New York
Other historical note
of interest was that the Yee Fung Toy Web Project
Team at that time put a lot of effort into crafting
the first general web policy and guidelines
for use and published that on the original form of
the website. For guidelines in Chinese, please click
here.
Special thanks to Steven D. Yee for providing us
some of the above historical informations.
Steven D. Yee renewed the yeefungtoy.org Domain Name for 20 more years on November, 2008. He’ll be renewing yeefungtoy.com and yeefungtoy.net versions as they expire.
The next issue of the Yee Fung Toy Global Village Voice will be published in mid September of 2009, featuring summer picnics and other activities at Yee Fung Toy associations around the world. Please submit your articles to the Editor via email (editor @ yeefungtoy.org) or postal mail (The Editor, 226 East Georgia Street, Vancouver, B.C., Canada V6A 1Z7) by August 15, 2009.