By Falun Dafa Practitioners from Brisbane
Over 70 Falun Dafa practitioners from southeast Queensland gathered together in Brisbane in recognition of United Nations Human Rights Day 2002. Although UN
Human Rights Day is officially on 10th December, we held it on Saturday 7th
December to enable the maximum number of practitioners to participate. This
year’s theme was “Help Rescue Our Family Members” to bring awareness
to the public of the family members of Australian citizens who are being detained
and mistreated in labour camps in China. Just this past week, the mother of
a Sydney practitioner died in a Shanghai hospital after being released from
incarceration due to her extremely critical physical condition. They were afraid
she would die in the labour camp.
From 9:00 am until 11:30 am, practitioners demonstrated exercises and handed
out truth clarifying materials in front of Town Hall on King George Square.
This is a favourite stop for Mainland Chinese tourists and there were hundreds
present during this time. Many were overheard saying things like, “So many
Westerners practise Falun Gong”. This always seems to surprise the Chinese
tourists and they are often very receptive to Western practitioners handing
out truth clarifying materials. Many Westerners also accepted brochures with
our “Help Rescue Our Family Members” flyer inside. Both Chinese tourists
and Westerners are becoming more and more receptive to Dafa materials.
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| Stop state terrorism | Family members detained in China | |
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| Sidewalk parade through City Botanic gardens | Sidewalk parade through Brisbane |
At 11:30 am, we assembled at Suncorp Park to begin the parade. Due to our extremely
good reputation with the Brisbane police department from our many past events,
this year’s permits were approved within half an hour of applying. The police
are always most helpful and gracious, as they know we will obey all the details
of our permits and because of the peaceful nature of our activities, particularly
our parades. Half of our parade was a street parade through Brisbane City, with
the second half being a sidewalk parade through the City Botanic Gardens and
then the busiest part of Brisbane’s shopping district. By combining both types
of parades, we were able to gain the greatest exposure and reach the maximum
number of people.
This year, we decided to tell a story with our banners and poster boards. Our
first banner told people about UN Human Rights Day. Then came banners and poster
boards about the goodness of Falun Dafa, followed by banners and poster boards about
the persecution and "Help Rescue Our Family Members" At the end were
banners and photos of the practitioners who have died during this brutal persecution.
This was a very effective way for the public to gain a clear understanding of
the entire story of Falun Gong, from the peacefulness and goodness of Falun Dafa to
the persecution, detention of Australians’ family members and deaths of Dafa
practitioners in China. It is also most important during such solemn and righteous
activities to maintain righteous thoughts the entire time. This created a powerful
energy field that truly touched people’s hearts. The only sounds heard were
the melodious and stirring strains of Pudu playing in the background.
We are always allowed to hand out materials during our parades and many hundreds
of brochures were handed out to people eager to learn more about Dafa and the
persecution of Dafa in China. AFP, the main newswire that Queensland newspapers
get their information and story lines from, did a phone interview the night
before and sent out a photographer to cover our parade. ABC radio is also doing
an interview this coming week.
Following the parade, sending forth righteous thoughts and lunch, the practitioners
gathered together for some experience sharing under the trees at King George
Square. We discussed the next stage in our “Help Rescue
Our Family Members”campaign in Queensland and how to deal with the Article
23 situation in Hong Kong before 24th December. These are our main projects
over the next two weeks.
At 6:30 pm, practitioners began a walking candlelight vigil through the heart
of Brisbane. There were many outdoor cafes still open and people walking around
in the downtown area this time of night. There were also many vehicles on the
road whose passengers got a clear view of us. We find the walking candlelight
vigils very effective and they always attract a lot of attention. This allows
us to pass out many flyers, as well as people are usually very receptive at
these times.
During these events, thousands of people witnessed the peacefulness and goodness
of Falun Dafa and learned more about the persecution against Falun Dafa in China. From the
feedback we received, these solemn activities have a profound impact on people. People are becoming more and more receptive
and open to Falun Dafa every day.
Posting date: 15/Dec/2002
Original article date: 10/Dec/2002
Category: Events
