Sun Yat-Sen, Nanyang and the 1911 Revolution

9. Patriotic Chinese Women: Followers of Sun Yat-sen in Darwin, Australia

200 9 PATRIOTIC CHINESE WOMEN: FOLLOWERS OF SUN YAT-SEN IN DARWIN, AUSTRALIA Julia Martinez This฀chapter฀examines฀the฀lives฀of฀the฀young฀men฀and฀women฀who฀organized฀ the฀Darwin฀Branch฀of฀the฀Kuomintang฀(KMT)฀during฀the฀1920s฀and฀1930s,฀ in฀particular฀looking฀at฀the฀role฀of฀Chinese฀women฀in฀politics.฀The฀influence฀ of฀Sun฀Yat-sen฀in฀the฀Nanyang฀was฀most฀obvious฀during฀the฀period฀when฀the฀ children฀of฀the฀1911฀Revolution฀were฀of฀an฀age฀to฀take฀up฀his฀aim฀of฀making฀ a฀modern฀Chinese฀community.฀In฀1925,฀when฀Sun฀Yat-sen฀died,฀the฀executive฀ members฀of฀the฀Darwin฀KMT฀were฀aged฀between฀twenty฀and฀thirty.฀They฀ were฀well-known฀figures฀in฀this฀small฀northern฀Australian฀port-town฀that฀ boasted฀a฀Chinese฀population฀of฀some฀400฀people.฀If฀we฀were฀to฀judge฀by฀the฀ surviving฀photographs฀there฀was฀a฀certain฀glamour฀about฀the฀members฀of฀the฀ KMT.฀They฀dressed฀in฀the฀fashionable฀western฀clothes฀of฀the฀time.฀The฀men฀ were฀physically฀fit,฀being฀keen฀promoters฀of฀sports.฀They฀were฀well-educated,฀ in฀both฀English฀and฀Chinese,฀and฀were฀eloquent฀public฀speakers฀on฀matters฀ of฀local,฀national฀and฀international฀significance.฀They฀were,฀one฀might฀argue,฀ the฀embodiment฀of฀Sun฀Yat-sen’s฀modern฀young฀Chinese.฀ In฀this฀1930฀wedding฀photograph฀(see฀Figure฀9.1),฀we฀can฀see฀Chin฀Mon฀ Di,฀the฀president฀of฀the฀Darwin฀KMT฀wearing฀the฀twelve-pointed฀white฀sun฀ on฀his฀lapel.฀To฀the฀right฀of฀the฀bridegroom฀is฀Gee฀Ming฀Ket,฀secretary฀of฀ KMT฀until฀1930.฀To฀the฀left฀of฀the฀bride฀is฀Selina฀Hassan฀(nee฀Lee),฀secretary฀ of฀KMT฀after฀1930. 09฀SunYatSen.indd฀฀฀200 8/24/11฀฀฀2:44:23฀PM Followers of Sun Yat-sen in Darwin, Australia 201 Like฀Sun฀Yat-sen,฀and฀many฀other฀Nanyang฀Chinese,฀the฀young฀Chinese฀ in฀ Darwin฀ were฀ nominal฀ Christians.1 ฀There฀ had฀ been฀ a฀ shift฀ towards฀ Christianity฀in฀Darwin฀during฀the฀1920s.฀In฀the฀1911฀census,฀most฀Chinese฀ gave฀their฀religion฀as฀Confucianism฀but฀by฀1933฀only฀4฀per฀cent฀followed฀ Chinese฀traditions,฀though฀it฀was฀common฀for฀people฀to฀attend฀both฀church฀ and฀temple.2 ฀One฀example฀of฀this฀change฀was฀that฀some฀KMT฀members฀were฀ married฀in฀the฀Catholic฀Church฀with฀executive฀members฀acting฀as฀best฀man฀ and฀speech-giver.3 ฀ The฀majority฀of฀the฀KMT฀officials฀spoke฀Cantonese฀with฀families฀ originating฀from฀Guangdong฀and฀Hong฀Kong,฀while฀dialect฀groups฀included฀ Hakka,฀Sze฀Yap฀and฀Heung-san.4 ฀Not฀all฀Chinese฀in฀Darwin฀supported฀the฀ KMT.฀The฀older฀Chinese฀merchants฀belonged฀to฀the฀Wah฀On฀Society฀which฀ survived฀into฀the฀1930s฀as฀a฀rival฀group฀to฀the฀KMT.฀In฀many฀cases฀it฀was฀ their฀children฀who฀were฀members฀of฀the฀new฀KMT.฀ The฀KMT฀was฀first฀established฀in฀Australia฀in฀Sydney฀in฀1920.5 ฀By฀ 1927,฀they฀claimed฀that฀80฀per฀cent฀of฀adult฀Chinese฀residents฀in฀Australia฀ were฀financial฀members฀of฀the฀KMT฀and฀by฀1929฀there฀were฀forty฀branches฀ throughout฀Australia.6 ฀The฀Darwin฀branch฀was฀established฀on฀5฀May฀1924.฀ Prior฀to฀this,฀in฀December฀1923,฀a฀Chinese฀Recreation฀Club฀was฀established฀ according฀to฀the฀agenda฀laid฀out฀for฀the฀Chinese฀Nationalist฀Party฀in฀1921฀ Figure 9.1 Wedding of Gee Ming Ket and Selina Hassan Source:฀Wedding฀Group,฀PH0238/2055,฀Spillet฀Collection,฀Northern฀Territory฀Library. 09฀SunYatSen.indd฀฀฀201 8/24/11฀฀฀2:44:24฀PM 202 Julia Martinez in฀which฀the฀KMT฀supported฀a฀programme฀of฀physical฀fitness฀for฀Chinese฀ citizens.฀Their฀goal฀was฀to฀“help฀the฀physical฀development฀of฀such฀residents฀ by฀ establishing฀ gymnasiums฀ and฀ encouraging฀ other฀ forms฀ of฀ physical฀ exercise”.7 ฀An฀emphasis฀on฀youth฀sporting฀associations฀was฀a฀common฀factor฀ in฀nationalist฀programmes฀of฀this฀era฀as฀it฀encouraged฀strong฀citizens฀and฀a฀ sense฀of฀group฀identity.฀The฀president฀of฀the฀Recreation฀Club฀was฀Gee฀Ming฀ Ket฀who฀went฀on฀to฀become฀secretary฀of฀the฀KMT.฀His฀role฀was฀political฀even฀ in฀1923.฀When฀the฀Darwin฀Town฀Council฀attempted฀to฀ban฀the฀Chinese฀ from฀using฀community฀sporting฀facilities,฀Gee฀Ming฀Ket฀spoke฀out฀publicly฀ in฀the฀local฀newspaper฀in฀support฀of฀the฀rights฀of฀Chinese฀residents.8 ฀ Women in Politics after the 1911 Revolution One฀of฀the฀most฀challenging฀areas฀of฀social฀and฀political฀reform฀facing฀ China฀and฀the฀Nanyang฀as฀a฀result฀of฀Sun฀Yat-sen’s฀Revolution฀was฀the฀role฀ of฀Chinese฀women฀and฀the฀idea฀that฀they฀be฀allowed฀to฀take฀a฀more฀active฀ part฀in฀society฀and...