本文发表在 rolia.net 枫下论坛Benson has made personal contributions to the disaster relief effort in Sichuan. I remember way back in mid May, shortly after the quake, Benson and I have already started talking about volunteering to go to Sichuan to provide urgently needed medical relief. As many of you know, both Benson and I have very busy medical practices here in Toronto, and it was very difficult for us to drop the patient case loads we each have at short or no notice at all, as it would not be fair to our existing patients. We need time to re-arrange pre-booked appointments and commitments. The immediate thing we could do was to support two other friends Dr. Charles Jiang and Haibo XU, as the first wave of medical personnel to go to Sichuan. Drs. Jiang and Xu were still residents at that time; they are freer with their schedules than Benson’s and mine.
Drs. Jiang and Xu quickly reported back to friends in Toronto that The Chinese Army and medical community has done such a great job of caring for the wounded in Sichuan, to a point that foreign medical missions are not really needed there. Our attention quickly turned to provide much needed psychological support for the victims of this earthquake. Friends at CIER and I quickly organized a volunteer team called WEPAT, 汶川地震心理救助队 Wenchuan Earthquake Psychological Assistance Team, to go to the disaster zone. As the Team Leader of WEPAT, I think I am qualified to come to Benson’s defence that he has made personal contributions to our WEPAT operation with thousands dollars of his own money, so does Dr. Joseph Wong and his friends. You can read our WEPAT's work in Sichuan at link: http://www.rolia.net/f/list.php?f=50
Benson is not a person who likes to attract spot lights. He prefers to get things done quietly without the fanfare. He is very different person than Jim, his Liberal party opponent. I know Jim, and supported him in the past elections as well. But this time around, Benson will have my support. Don’t get me wrong, I still like Jim, and think of him highly. But I don’t think he is the one to bring Agincourt’s voice to the next Federal Government. We all know it is going to be a Conservative Government in Ottawa, minority or majority. Jim will not have the ears of next Federal government simply because of his party affiliation; therefore, Jim will not be able to bring the concerns of voters and community to the policy makers and power brokers in next Cabinet. If we can help to elect Benson to represent Agincourt riding as our MP, we essentially will have a direct link from our community of both Chinese and non-Chinese to the centre of next Federal government. Benson knows and is committed to better relations with China. More importantly Benson is Capable of doing that after winning a election with his deep ties to the Conservative establishment, yet Jim with his Liberal tires could not.
Someone has also questioned Benson’s commitment to Chinese new immigrant community. Let me again come to his defence. First of all, I don’t want come across as bashing Jim. Jim as a sitting MP, he has to do what he has to do representing his riding by going to community events, parties etc etc. We all see Jim’s pictures in the news and photos sections of media reports. That is his job. But, while Jim is busy cutting ribbons and toasting cheers at cocktail party, Benson is actually, and physically caring for the new immigrant community behind the scene. Let me back it up for you. Anyone, who has visited Free Medical Clinic on Lawrence East Ave while waiting for the 3-month rule of OHIP coverage to pass, would know a Chinese doctor there looking after new immigrant’s medical needs for zero pay. This doctor is Dr. Benson Lau. He has contributed to our new immigrant’s community by doing things for us. Someone talk the talks, but Benson walks the walk with us. As his friend for many years, I can testify that.
Many friends at Rolia will certainly disagree with my choice of supporting Benson. I respect you views and political affiliations. What I would like to argue is the fact that Dr. Benson Lau is a better choice for Agincourt voters, and better choice for our Mandarin speaking community. Thanks!—Stan Zheng更多精彩文章及讨论，请光临枫下论坛 rolia.net
Drs. Jiang and Xu quickly reported back to friends in Toronto that The Chinese Army and medical community has done such a great job of caring for the wounded in Sichuan, to a point that foreign medical missions are not really needed there. Our attention quickly turned to provide much needed psychological support for the victims of this earthquake. Friends at CIER and I quickly organized a volunteer team called WEPAT, 汶川地震心理救助队 Wenchuan Earthquake Psychological Assistance Team, to go to the disaster zone. As the Team Leader of WEPAT, I think I am qualified to come to Benson’s defence that he has made personal contributions to our WEPAT operation with thousands dollars of his own money, so does Dr. Joseph Wong and his friends. You can read our WEPAT's work in Sichuan at link: http://www.rolia.net/f/list.php?f=50
Benson is not a person who likes to attract spot lights. He prefers to get things done quietly without the fanfare. He is very different person than Jim, his Liberal party opponent. I know Jim, and supported him in the past elections as well. But this time around, Benson will have my support. Don’t get me wrong, I still like Jim, and think of him highly. But I don’t think he is the one to bring Agincourt’s voice to the next Federal Government. We all know it is going to be a Conservative Government in Ottawa, minority or majority. Jim will not have the ears of next Federal government simply because of his party affiliation; therefore, Jim will not be able to bring the concerns of voters and community to the policy makers and power brokers in next Cabinet. If we can help to elect Benson to represent Agincourt riding as our MP, we essentially will have a direct link from our community of both Chinese and non-Chinese to the centre of next Federal government. Benson knows and is committed to better relations with China. More importantly Benson is Capable of doing that after winning a election with his deep ties to the Conservative establishment, yet Jim with his Liberal tires could not.
Someone has also questioned Benson’s commitment to Chinese new immigrant community. Let me again come to his defence. First of all, I don’t want come across as bashing Jim. Jim as a sitting MP, he has to do what he has to do representing his riding by going to community events, parties etc etc. We all see Jim’s pictures in the news and photos sections of media reports. That is his job. But, while Jim is busy cutting ribbons and toasting cheers at cocktail party, Benson is actually, and physically caring for the new immigrant community behind the scene. Let me back it up for you. Anyone, who has visited Free Medical Clinic on Lawrence East Ave while waiting for the 3-month rule of OHIP coverage to pass, would know a Chinese doctor there looking after new immigrant’s medical needs for zero pay. This doctor is Dr. Benson Lau. He has contributed to our new immigrant’s community by doing things for us. Someone talk the talks, but Benson walks the walk with us. As his friend for many years, I can testify that.
Many friends at Rolia will certainly disagree with my choice of supporting Benson. I respect you views and political affiliations. What I would like to argue is the fact that Dr. Benson Lau is a better choice for Agincourt voters, and better choice for our Mandarin speaking community. Thanks!—Stan Zheng更多精彩文章及讨论，请光临枫下论坛 rolia.net