Betty Leung
Topic type:
Medal for giving a voice
Betty Leung has spent three decades helping others talk.
But receiving a Queen's Service Medal (QSM) in the Queen's Birthday Honours left her speechless.
"I was overwhelmed, to have my name on the Queen's award list is a great privilege. The feeling was profound. Also, it makes me feel very humble."
But being one of 72 people throughout New Zealand to receive the gong is not going to alter years of volunteer work, that began when she and husband Paul emigrated from Hong Kong 34 years ago.
"No, it's just a name," she says of the title.
"I'm not slowing down. As long as God gives me the health I don't mind to do it," she said.
Mrs Leung has acted as a volunteer interpreter for the Chinese community and is a member of the New Plymouth District Council's international relations working party. Currently president of the Taranaki Chinese Association and a member of the Chinese Friendship Society, she remembers when there were only a few Chinese families in the city. Now about 80 live here.
As a schoolgirl in Hong Kong she learnt English as well as Mandarin and Cantonese. That education has helped her introduce other Chinese to New Zealand society.
She's been an advocate in many arenas: hospitals, doctors' rooms, court, and through the Migrant Settlement Support Programme, which helps new migrants settle in New Zealand.
"In the beginning I thought, I have the language and the ability to help so why not?" she said.
As well as her Chinese community involvement, Mrs Leung is a supporter of Women's Refuge, a trustee of Taranaki Victim Support, a member of the New Plymouth Positive Ageing Council and is on the executive of the Taranaki JP Association.
She also helps with street appeals for Arthritis New Zealand.
By SARAH FOY - Taranaki Daily News
