(Minghui.org) On three weekends in a row—November 12, 18, and 26, 2023—Falun Dafa practitioners participated in Christmas parades in the City of Port Adelaide Enfield, Norwood Payneham & St Peters, Glenelg, and Holdfast Bay. Christmas parades are held in Adelaide, the capital of South Australia, and surrounding cities every November. Each parade attracts more than ten thousand spectators.
The practitioners’ float, and a team demonstrating the exercises were warmly welcomed by parade hosts and the public. Many people applauded and took photos of practitioners as they passed. Some exclaimed, “I like it,” “Great! Number one!”
The city of Norwood has a large Chinese population, and many Chinese people watched the parade on November 18, 2023. Several videotaped Falun Dafa’s procession as it passed by. One of them told his Australian friend that Falun Dafa represents traditional Chinese culture and that it was wrong for the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to persecute it in China.
Euan Miller has organised the parade in Norwood for the 40 years. He said that practitioners have participated in the parade for many years and are always admired. He hopes to see them back next year.
Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance Are What We Need
Margret and Mark especially liked the practitioners’ float. They happily accepted lotus flower pendants that practitioners were distributing. When a practitioner told them that the pendants carried the message of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance and that Falun Dafa is an ancient cultivation way of improving one’s physical and mental fitness. Margret said, “This is terrific! It’s what we need.”
Usama from Pakistan admired the practitioners’ procession. After the parade he asked if he could take a photo and said, “I like your entry. The colorful decorations on the float and the costumes are beautiful. They reflect your cultural characteristics.”
After a practitioner told him about the three Chinese characters on the float, he said that those were good virtues to live by. “If we could be truthful, we’d achieve more; if we could be compassionate, interpersonal relations would improve; and if we could be tolerant and embrace others, our world would be more peaceful. If everyone followed these principles, I think I’d be living in Heaven,” he said.
Sourv greeted practitioners in Chinese and said that he loved the classical Chinese costumes. “So glad to see you in the parade. You represent your culture well,” he said.
Chinese Woman Quits the CCP
Ms. Wang from China was visiting her daughter, and watched the parade with her father who is in his 70s. “I am glad to see practitioners in the parade. I like the bright colors and the classic Chinese costumes, and everyone is so calm,” she said.
Seeing that people in Australia enjoy freedom, she said, “Not in China. There is no freedom of speech.” She said that her family was marginalised by the CCP. She was glad to see practitioners in Australia and to learn more about the ongoing persecution of Falun Dafa in China. She asked a practitioner to help her quit the CCP Young Pioneers.
Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance Makes the World a Better Place
An attorney, Philippa, talked to practitioners after the parade in Glenelg. She used to teach English and had met some Chinese students. After finding out about the persecution of Falun Dafa in China, she was sad that the people in China have no religious freedom. “I am a Christian and I know a Chinese student whose grandfather was also a Christian, but her grandfather never dared tell anyone. He had to hide his identity, give up his fortune, and move to another city,” Philippa said.
“I discussed this with my student and said that, as a person of faith, you should first follow what your faith teaches you. If the government or someone in power tells you to do something that you think is against your faith, you should have the right to say ‘no’, and that’s why dictatorships see freedom of faith as a threat to their reign. The student told me that you can say no in communist China, but you might not get a job after that.”
Emily attended the parade with Philippa. She said that practitioners were very brave: “You speak up on how you feel and what you think.” She said the world would be a better place if more people followed the principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance.
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