Practitioners in Queensland officially launched the Petals of Peace initiative
in Brisbane and the Gold Coast on the 4th and 5th of October. Jane Dai and her
3 year-old daughter Fadu flew up from Melbourne to take part in these activities.
Fadu, whose father was killed in the persecution of Falun Gong in China in 2001,
is Australia’s ambassador for this project.
Many practitioners gathered at King George Square in front of Town Hall for
the official Brisbane launch. Petals of Peace symbolises the hope of all the
children who are suffering during the on-going genocide of Falun Gong in China.
This project is aimed at schools and community organisations to bring to life
for the children, as well as their parents and teachers, the principles of Falun
Gong – Truthfulness, Compassion and Tolerance – and how practitioners in China
who follow these virtuous values are being brutally persecuted.
Petals of Peace is particularly targets the plight of the thousands of children
in China who, like Fadu, have lost parents to the persecution, or whose parents
are incarcerated and are unable to see or take care of their children, as well
as the millions of children who are forced to write statements against Falun
Gong in their schools. Children all over the world will be encouraged to learn
how to make origami paper lotuses to help raise awareness about the suffering
of these most innocent and vulnerable victims. Every flower is a symbol of hope
that this unjust persecution will come to an end.
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| Learning to make lotuses |
For the Brisbane launch, partition boards with Journey of Falun Dafa photos
and persecution photos were set up, along with a gazebo and information tables
and tables for people to learn how to make paper origami lotuses. Large numbers
of people were on the square, including tourists from Mainland China. Many of
them took photos and movies and many accepted handouts. There was a steady stream
of children and adults learning how to fold paper lotuses and they were all
interested in learning more about Falun Gong and the persecution.
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Emcees, Jane Dai and Fadu
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The Queensland spokesperson for Falun Gong opened the launch, explaining the
Petals of Peace initiative and briefly telling about Jane Dai and Fadu. Then
Jane and Fadu told their own tragic story about the death of Fadu’s father simply
because he followed Truthfulness, Compassion and Tolerance and how this has
impacted their family. They have travelled to 35 countries to tell their story
and Jane is a plaintiff in lawsuits against former president of China, Jiang
Zemin, for Genocide and crimes against humanity. Many people were deeply moved
by this heart-rending story. The activity ended with several practitioners performing
the Lotus Dance to the enjoyment of all present.
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Part of the large crowd Lotus Dance
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Four University of Queensland journalism students, who are doing an in-depth
story on Falun Gong, filmed the entire event and did a lengthy interview with
Jane and Fadu. One of these students is from Norway and hopes to take this story
back and have it published.
On Sunday, a similar event was held at Cascade Gardens on the Gold Coast. This
is home to the first practice site in Queensland and always has many people
present on a Sunday. While most practitioners performed the exercises, others
set up a similar display to the one in Brisbane. Again, many people came to
learn how to fold paper lotuses and then attend our launch. One addition to
this program was the practitioner singers who have written and performed numerous
songs around Australia. Four of the five singers performed two of their songs,
including A Call to Heart, and were warmly received.
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Dancers & lotus making Lotus Dance Part of the crowd
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As schools around Queensland get back from holidays this coming week, practitioners
will begin taking this project into as many schools as possible to bring the
beauty of Falun Gong to students, parents and teachers, to tell them of the
tragedy of the persecution against Falun Gong in China and to help them actively
participate in making lotuses as symbols of hope.
Posting date: 9/Oct/2003
Original article date: 8/Oct/2003
Category: Australian News
