Annual General Meeting held on Tuesday 4 September 2018
It gives me
great pleasure to once again report on the activities of the Frankston Susono sister
city relationship and the Frankston Susono Friendship Association over the past
12 months. In this our 36th year, I thank you to all my fellow Executive
Committee members who continue their great work to look after the sister city
relationship on behalf of the Frankston Council. A passionate and giving group
of community volunteers with a great love of Japan.
Thank you to all
the Executive members and others who have joined us and left us during the
year. A very well done to Simon Hast, Therese Sakamoto, Bev Hannan, Vic
Webster, Julie D’Arcy, Margaret Patterson and Simon Cameron. We were joined
during the year by Bob and Heather Tanner and Ros Dempsey. It is great to have
you on Board. James Rampant and Cathy Sell also joined us for a while. It is
great to have some new faces and we will continue to look for new members to
join our Executive.
Again, our
collective thanks to Chris Hodgins for providing outstanding admin support to
the Association.
Our big event
for this year was our wildly successful Japanese Festival at Frankston High School
on Sunday 6 May 2018. 1,500 people attended the Festival to be treated with a
whole range of Japanese performances, activities and displays. Also there were
lots of great food and Japanese goods and crafts on offer. Thank You to Simon
and all the Executive members for the work to put on such a successful event.
The Festival was opened by Mayor Colin Hampton and Vice Consul-General of Japan Shota Tohara. It was pleasing to
have Sister Cities Australia Executive Committee Member Christina Despoteri
spend some time with us at the Festival. We are always grateful to the many
organisations and individuals who collectively help us showcase Japan to the
Frankston community.
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| Simon Hast, Vice-Consul Shota Tohara, Peter Patterson and Mayor Colin Hampton |
We had a delegation
visit of middle school students and teachers from Susono on a short term stay in
Frankston during August 2018. Thank you to the Derinya Primary School community
and Therese Sakamoto for looking after the group during their stay.
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| Susono students and teachers with Mayor Colin Hampton in the Frankston Council Chambers |
Simon Hast continues
to manage our Japanese Garden at the Frankston High school. Thank you Simon. The
Garden is an integral part of our Bi-annual Festivals and used for several
events during the year. In conjunction with the recently renovated section of
Frankston High School next to the garden, it provides for a great venue. Thank
you to Frankston High School for your support of our work.
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| Japanese Garden located at Frankston High School |
Our annual
Speech Contest at Monash University continues to develop and evolve and is well
supported by local schools. Our contest this Friday has almost 80 participants
from 13 schools in the region. We also appreciate the support of those who have
volunteered to be judges. We are developing a great network of people in the
broader “Japanese community”. Thank you to those who have contributed to the
success of our speech contest. We have
also reviewed and updated the Rules and Code of Conduct for the Speech Contest.
We are grateful for the assistance of the Japanese Language Teachers
Association of Victoria and Mr Hiroshi Honda.
There are
some 26 schools in the region teaching Japanese and 8 schools in the city of
Frankston. In the past year I have visited all 26 schools to build a
relationship with the Japanese teachers in those schools.
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| 2017 Japanese Speech Contest Winners - Secondary School Divisions |
David Hunt, a
Frankston local, represented the city in the Susono half marathon on 13 May
2018. Kitted out with an “I Love Frankston” tee shirt supplied by FSFA, David
performed very well. He was greeted by Susono Mayor Takamura and assisted
during his visit by Yoko Miyase and Aiko Nakayama from SOFA. Thank You David
for being a great ambassador.
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| David Hunt in Susono to compete in the half-marathon |
On 18 July
2018, Frankston participated in a Sister Cities forum at Parliament House in
Melbourne sponsored by Sister Cities Australia. Mayor Colin Hampton and I were
asked to speak on the “Community Based Model” that has served Frankston and
Susono well for 36 years. Over 100 people attended the forum from Councils and
organisation across Victoria. A number of attendees also came from interstate.
A number of Councils in Victoria showed interest in our approach. A summary of the key points of the
presentations is attached to this report and is on our website. Bev Hannan, Vic
Webster, Simon Hast and David Cross also attended the event on behalf of
Frankston. Thanks to Christina Despoteri
for organising the event. The Forum did confirm that we are going about it in
the correct manner.
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| Peter Patterson and Colin Hampton presenting in Queen's Hall, Parliament House, Melbourne |
Further
evidence of the success of our approach is the “Community Involvement” category
Award from the Sister Cities Awards for 2017. We were able to put a compelling
case that the events and activities that we undertake by a group of volunteers
was the best in the nation. The same community based model is also used in
Susono. Mayor Colin Hampton will present a trophy to Susono during our visit in
September.
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| Sister Cities Australia Community Involvement Award Presentation |
We are
persevering with the Japanese Community Network concept and will hold another
function in the Japanese Garden in October this year when the Cherry Blossom is
in full bloom.
Sorin and
Mirella Ionascu, members of our Association, continue to work in Susono in a
number of roles including as a Community English teacher. We will catch up with
them at the Australian Fair in Susono this year.
In late September this year, 25 members of the local
community will represent Frankston during a visit to our sister city of Susono,
Japan. The delegation of citizens will be led by Mayor Colin Hampton and his
wife Nancye. The delegation will also include members of the Frankston Susono
Friendship Association, and a 7 piece band from Frankston High School. The
visit will commence on 27 September and will culminate in the Australian Fair
on Sunday 30 September. The delegation will showcase Frankston with an
innovative visual display using Virtual Reality technology and aerial
photography. Over 1,500 people from the Susono Community are expected to attend
the Fair that is held in the local cultural centre. Thank you to all those who
have put their hand up to be a member of the delegation.
This will be the eighth delegation visit to Susono
since 2000. During this time, nearly 100 local student musicians have been
given a life changing opportunity to immerse themselves in another culture and
perform on an international stage. Over 50 locals have also had the opportunity
to be part of the sister city experience.
The service
road at the front of the Frankston Private Hospital has been named Susono Way.
The Council is now drawing up concept plans for a Japanese style tribute garden
in the reserve adjacent to Susono Way. Once the design is approved the garden
and signage will be constructed. Signage will publicly recognise the sister
city relationship and the contribution of AAPL to the Frankston Community will
be part of the garden. Yazaki made a significant donation towards the cost of a
large sign that summarises the importance of the company in the history of
Frankston and the sister city relationship with Susono.
It is sad to
see that AAPL/Yazaki finished in Frankston and Australia late last year. The
company was a significant contributor to the Frankston Community in many ways.
The company, of course, brought Frankston and Susono together and we will always
be indebted to the company for that. We will be recognising the contribution of
AAPL/Yazaki to Frankston in our new Japanese garden.
William D’Arcy
spent two months in Susono during November and December 2017 on a short-term
exchange. He attended school during his visit and was hosted by several
families. Judging by the presentations he made to the Executive, he had an
exceptional time and the experience had a profound impact on him. Well Done
William.
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| William D'Arcy enjoying a bowl of noodles during his short-term exchange |
More details
on the events and activities that I have mentioned are to be found on our
website. www.frankston-susono.com
Simon and Jess Hast have continued to publish quality articles and reports on
the website and our Facebook page. This great work has given us an exceptional
social media presence.
I would like
to thank the Frankston Council for their ongoing support of our work and
allocation of funding for our activities each year.
I thank you
all for your attendance tonight and thank you again to all the Executive Committee
members and supporters of our sister city relationship.
To ensure the
longevity of this organisation and the sister city relationship we are seeking some
new faces and the reconnection with some from the past. I look forward to
seeing these folk around the Executive table this coming year.
Peter
Patterson
Chairperson
Celebrating 36 years of our Sister city
relationship
How
we do it and why it works.
The role of the Frankston Susono Friendship Association is to:
- Enable people in the Frankston region to experience another culture;
- Promote and celebrate Japanese culture through performances, displays and exhibitions;
- Create opportunities to promote Frankston and give our citizens life changing experiences;
- Develop local students through cultural exchanges and support of Japanese learning programs in local schools;
- Develop and foster relationships with Japanese related organisations and businesses;
- Promote travel to and from Japan;
- Maintain a deep and sustainable relationship with Susono.
The Frankston Susono sister city relationship is celebrating its 36th anniversary this year. The relationship is as strong as ever because we:
- Have long-serving volunteers who are Passionate and Committed;
- Want to do it rather than have to - it is externally managed rather than within Council;
- Have a connection to and/or an understanding of Japan;
- Think outside the boundaries both physically and mentally;
- Operate on the “Onion” principle i.e. Small group to manage day to day and helpers when needed;
- Are a Centre of Excellence for “Japanese matters” in the region;
- Have a strong relationship with local schools – more than 26 schools in the greater Frankston Region are teaching Japanese.
To maintain the intensity and interest over the long haul, you need to:
- Have events and activities that motivate and encourage our volunteers;
- Be visible and engaging e.g. active social media presence;
- Run regular community awareness activities e.g. Cultural Fair held in one city - each sends a delegation to the host city;
- Have sustained relationships in the broader community;
- Have regular contact with our sister city;
- Find inventive ways of promoting the sister city relationship;
- Ensure that both cities jointly acknowledge and Celebrate our Successes;
- Always look to the future, but not forget the past.
Our approach and efforts have ensured that over the 36 years we have delivered a range of successful programs and activities. These have been recognized nationally by Sister Cities Australia. Our achievements include:
- Maintaining the internationally recognised Frankston Susono Japanese Garden at Frankston High School – we now have Japanese style gardens in a number of local primary and secondary schools;
- Recruiting for the Susono Community Teaching Position;
- Building sound relationships with Japanese organisations – e.g. Consul General, Japanese businesses, local Japanese community;
- Managing a Student Exchange Program – 75 students on long term exchange and over 500 short term stays;
- Giving the youth of Frankston life changing experiences – e.g. band performance at World Expo 2005;
- Facilitating creation of Japanese Language Book about school life in Susono – used in schools all over Australia;
- Achieving international recognition for “building bridges” in the community at the Yazaki Global Forum 2006;
- Winning a number of Awards from the Sister Cities Australia for our activities:
o 2007 Best Overall Sister City Program in Australia.
o 2017 Community Involvement
Our success is also dependent on the Frankston Council’s:
- Unwavering support for the sister city relationship throughout the past 36 years;
- Providing administrative support and an annual operational grant;
- Commitment to have Mayor/Councillors lead delegations.
The engine is still full of steam with the delegation visit and annual Japanese Speech Contest in early September to keep up the interest. We also have a range of other plans that we will share as they are developed and initiated.
Peter Patterson
Chairperson
