Yee Scholarship Local Funding Sources

The annual Spring Cheering Tour to San Antonio, our I-10 rival, took place on Sunday, March 22, 2009. Two 56-seating capacity VIP buses were in front of the Houston Chinese Community Center to pick up Yao Ming Fan Club (YMFC) members and friends, cartons of T-shirts, raffle-ticket prizes, and various paraphernalia for the journey. Crammed into the front row of Bus 2 was a familiar 6’- 9” figure affectionately known as Yao Dad. His presence certainly added much credence to our mission and support, in as much as for him to cheer for his proud son Yao Ming battling Tim Duncan of the San Antonio Spurs.

The 112 bus riders would later be joined by over 200 fans from Houston, Austin, College Station, and Kingsville driving-in, and from San Antonio locally. Board member Fengxiang Qiao actually asked Yao Dad to sign on the special event YMFC banner and then drove to Austin with three other students to the State Capitol for group photos. The University of Texas at Austin and the Texas A&M University students group posed with the signed banner, the Chinese flag, the USA flag, with the Texas State Capitol Building in the background. This historic photo is one to be treasured for posterity.

Simultaneously, Board member Zhong Xie would then drive to San Antonio with his group to act as the advance party. He was the on-site co-coordinator for logistic support, parking designation, issuance of game tickets, meal vouchers, and photo session passes.

This armada of vehicles converging at the AT&T Center was the largest ever assembled under the YMFC banner for an away game.

Twenty tickets to the next home game vs the Los Angeles Clippers, donated by the Houston Rockets, were raffled off along with many prizes. Songs were sung, stories were narrated, and jokes were told by would be future stars and comedians. A DVD of The Year of the Yao was shown to provide entertainment as well. To see Yao Dad reminisce the real life story of his own family rolling in front of the TV monitor was very touching, indeed.

Veteran Board member Jiahuang Ji recognized new Board member Frank Yu for his chores for preparing the trip, which he gladly accepted as part of his duty for being a rookie. He then cited how Yao Ming acquiesced to toting the shoe bag for Steve Francis, as part of the NBA players’ unwritten initiation process, to that Yao Dad readily testified.

Our buses arrived in downtown San Antonio in front of McDonald, Alamo Plaza before noon. Before alighting Bus 2, all passengers were told to re-board the bus at the same location by 1:15 pm. Further, they were emphatically told to take down Peter Huang’s cell number in case they were lost in the River Walk area. We all scattered around and went our separate ways for lunch, sight-seeing, boat rides merrily in gorgeous spring weather.

By 1:25 pm, all, except two, were accounted for onboard Bus 2. Lo and behold, Peter and Yao Dad were declared, per our Mission Control, MIA (missing-in-action). They did what most of the first-timers to the River Walk area were told not to do—go up to the surface streets to take a short cut. They ended up in the Alamo area. Yao Dad, being much taller, strode way ahead with poor Peter, huffing and puffing, trailing in a blind-leading-the blind adventure. They were already 10 minutes overdue when Peter finally flagged down a tricycle for the desperate McDonald rendezvous. Did we ever hail a sigh of relief when we pulled out around 1:35 pm.

The 40-minute ride to AT&T Center, amid the pre-game traffic, was painstaking. The 200 odd in the advance parties were waiting impatiently at one of the entrances. Finally, we were all ushered in prior to the tip-off. Among many of the fellow nose-bleed ticket holders were Rockets supporters from Houston and San Antonio. We felt quite at home. The game was nip-and-tuck, ebbs-and–flow all the way to the last 0.3 second, 87-85 in favor of the Houston Rockets. To celebrate this rare away victory at the Alamo City, we descended to Section 122 and entered the main floor of the basketball court for our epic group photos—resplendent in newly designed Yao Fan T-shirts and banners. What a thrill and exhilarating experience for those joining us first time on this trip. As the old Texan saying goes: Y’all come back now, you hear!

Our homeward journey was filled with high spirits and satisfaction. We sang, laughed and gave high-fives to each other. Our buses arrived at the Chinese Community Center shortly before 9:00 pm, early enough for the youngsters to get ready for Monday school, after a joyous Spring break.

The sheer number of member participants for an away game, the meticulous preparation, the affordable round-trip bus fare-game ticket-meal-Tshirt, the pledge for sponsorship, the unfailing attention of Board members overcoming unforeseen adversities, the embracement of fellowship-spirit-togetherness, and, finally, the pivotal victory of Rockets over Spurs certainly would render this March 22, 2009, a day worthy to be listed in the Annals of Yao Ming Fan Club.

The annual Spring and Scholarships Banquet was held at the spacious Ocean Palace Restaurant on February 15. The gracious presence of People’s Republic of China Houston Consulate Office, starting in 2007, with representatives Deputy Consul General Zhou Ding 中国驻休斯顿总领事馆副总领事周鼎and Consul Kaimin Chu 领事储开旻has added more dimension to this occasion. The Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Houston 駐休士頓台北經濟文化辦事處Director Jason Lai赖澄民and Culture Center Deputy Director Wei-Zan Wang王伟讚were also on hand. Their unfailing continual attendance of this annual function since our 1988 inauguration year is much appreciated.

The theme of the evening was the scholarships presentation. The award is not on a competitive but on a good grade average basis, to all our Yee youngsters. It was touching to see parents snapping photos of their proud kids receiving the trophies and the checks. Recipients and respective parents are shown below:

The highlight of the evening was the raffle drawing of gift certificates, cash prizes and the Houston Rockets team signature ball.

The banquet started at 7:00 pm and finished at 8:45 pm, lest our Yee youngsters would be late for schools the next day and, above all, had enough time to catch the second half of the annual NBA All Star Game, of which our Yao Ming at starting center for the West 7^th straight time in Phoenix.

休斯頓風采堂主席余頌輝前往中國參加廣東省僑聯慶祝成立五十周年

余風采堂主席余頌輝(左五)出席參加大休斯頓地區傳統僑社感恩節晚宴及祝賀廣東省僑聯成立五十周年志慶時與大休斯頓地區傳統僑社代表們合照。

二零零八年十二月十二日(星期五)上午，廣東省僑聯成立五十周年紀念大會在廣州白雲國際會議中心，嶺南大會堂隆重舉行。

此次中國廣東省僑聯舉行的慶祝大會，邀請三十多個國家一百一十三個僑團的五百二十一名代表出席。前往中國參加廣東省僑聯慶祝成立五十周年活動海內外各界代表包括休斯頓余風采堂主席余頌輝，他同時也代表休斯頓五邑同鄉會出席。

在上午舉行的紀念大會上，中國僑聯副主席、省僑聯黨組書記、主席王榮寶致詞。廣東省僑聯與海外五大洲三十多個國家的一百一十三個僑團締結成為友好社團；向來自海外、港澳台的代表贈送了「中國印」；向全省二百三十六名從事僑聯工作三十年以上的工作者頒發榮譽證書。廣東省僑聯副主席張恭泰倡議廣大歸僑僑眷、海外僑胞和港澳同胞慷慨解囊，幫助四川地震災區重建北川中學，把北川中學打造成為僑界愛的豐碑。

五十年來，廣東已建立了比較發達的僑聯組織體係，截至二零零八年，全省僑聯組織發展到六千七百二十六個，深入基層、社區、村鎮；創建了五大工作平臺，廣東省僑聯法律顧問委員會成為維護僑益的利器，廣東省僑界仁愛基金會成為僑聯開展扶貧濟困工作的載體，廣東國際華商會成為僑商發展和經濟建設的「服務器」，廣東省僑聯青年委員會成為僑聯事業的可持續發展的生力軍，廣東僑聯網站等僑刊鄉訊成為僑聯開展文化傳播、對外宣傳的「喉舌」。

目前，廣東省僑聯已和世界上一百一十多個國家和地區的一千二百多個華僑華人社團建立了緊密聯係，形成一支宏大的愛國愛鄉、對我友好力量。

On New Year Eve exactly 100 members and friends will attend the Houston vs Milwaukee NBA game.

As a member of the Executive Board of Yao Ming Fan Club, I was able to get the minimum 100 discounted tickets, with partial subsidy from our Summer Activities Fund, to secure a Rockets signature basketball.

In case some of the readers don’t know who Yao Ming is, above is a picture of me (5'-7") standing tall above the squatting 7'-6" Yao.

Frank Yu, Houston

休斯頓余風采堂球迷與姚明共迎新年

二零零八年十二月三十一日除夕夜，休斯敦姚明球迷俱樂部聯合眾多華人社團組織約一千五百多名華人和其他一萬多名觀眾一道在休斯敦豐田體育中心共同觀賞了休斯頓火箭隊與密爾沃基雄鹿隊的精彩對決戰，並與來自中國的籃球巨星姚明一道共同迎來了火紅的二零零九年。

比賽開場前，由大休斯頓地區中國聯合校友會和余風采堂組成的二十名休斯頓華人和留學生球迷在球員入場處列隊熱烈歡迎火箭隊入主場作戰。姚明與其他球員一同熱情地與球迷朋友們互相擊掌致意，並散發小型籃球模型以作紀念。同時，來自休斯頓華人籃球協會的十位球迷朋友還為姚明等火箭隊球員預熱了板凳，以特殊的方式為他們祝福。

接著，來自休斯頓潘立平舞蹈學校的近五十名兒童和青年華裔演員們表演了精彩的中國舞蹈"過新年"。身著火紅色中國傳統服飾的演員，揮舞彩帶、手執燈籠，在火箭隊球場向火箭隊和姚明展示了吉祥喜慶的中國紅。恰巧火箭隊本賽季的吉祥色也是紅色，全場上下一片火紅，預示著二零零九年一定是一個紅紅火火的年份。

比賽中場時，姚明球迷俱樂部的部分理事將由休斯頓眾多華人共同簽名的巨型橫幅贈送給火箭隊，上面寫著 "為姚明鼓勁！為火箭隊加油！" 祝福火箭隊和姚明在二零零九年取得更好的成績。中華文化中心的十位球迷列隊歡迎姚明和其他火箭隊再次返還球場繼續第三、四節的比賽。火箭隊與雄鹿隊的比賽相當精彩，雙方分分必爭，現場扣人心弦。雖然火箭隊一直領先，但由於雄鹿隊緊咬不放，直至直至比賽結束前的幾秒鐘，仍然是險象環生，勝負未料。

大大鼓勵了姚明和火箭隊的士氣。直至戰鬥到最後一秒，火箭隊終於在主場以八十五比八十一擊敗雄鹿，取得本賽季的第二十一場勝利。整個過程中，姚明獲兩雙，出場三十分四十三秒，十八投九中、罰球四罰四中，得到二十二分和十個籃板二次助攻，並當選本場比賽最佳球員，也同時延續了姚明進入NBA以來對雄鹿主場不敗的紀錄。

2008 New Year's Eve Celebration at Toyota Center in Houston

Yao Ming Fan Club, with support from other Chinese organizations, spearheaded this year end celebration to witness an exciting basketball game between the Houston Rockets and the Milwaukee Bucks at the Toyota Center. The 1,500 red-clad Chinese felt right at home in front of the 18,228 capacity crowd to usher the old and welcome the new with Yao Ming.

The United Associations of Chinese Alumni in Houston and Yee Fung Toy Association of Houston formed a 20-member honored guard team, aka Tunnel Greeters. Upon entering the court during the pre-game warm-up, Yao Ming and team-mates slapped hands with them in appreciation. Another 10-member team served as the bench warmers, literally sitting on the players un-occupied chairs to "warm up the bench", so to speak. Finally, each member of the ball-exchange team received a mini-signature ball from each of the 5 starting line-up player. What an honor and experience!

As part of the pre-game show, Pang's Dancing Academy marshaled up 25 talented youngsters in traditional Chinese red festive costumes, toting lanterns and waving streamers to perform a spectacular New Year dance. What an accompaniment of red—Rockets team color, Chinese traditional color, and tonight’s crowd dressed in red—heralding a red hot year in 2009!

Yao Ming Fan Club Board members presented a huge banner labeled: Go Yao Ming, Go Rockets, Shine in 2009, with signatures from many supporters, to the Houston Rockets. Each Board member was awarded a Rockets signature ball for having sold 100 or more tickets for this event. The Chinese Community Center supporters now formed the 10-member tunnel greeters to welcome the players back for the second half. Although the Rockets led all the way in the first half, the third and fourth quarters were quite different. It was nip-and tuck all the way until the final few seconds where the Rockets prevailed 85-81. The vocal support from Yao Ming Fan Club members had much to do with the outcome, as they screamed the hearts and lungs out which triggered Yao to register a double-double (22 points, 10 rebounds). His FG was 9/18 and FT was 4/4 in 30 minutes and 43 seconds earned him the game MVP, culminating an undefeated streak for all home games against the Milwaukee Bucks since his joining the NBA in 2002.

Ms. Song Haiyan sang the Drinking Song for the post game entertainment to cap off a remarkable night.