Editor’s Note:
As the South Coast Chinese Cultural Association and Irvine Chinese School near their 50th anniversary, a special editorial team is collecting reflections from former presidents and principals to preserve this half-century journey.
Cultural Express launches the “Brilliant Fifty” series, featuring selected essays that illuminate the people and stories that shaped our community.
As the Irvine Chinese School and the South Coast Chinese Cultural Association celebrate their 50th anniversary, I would like to dedicate this article to my fellow partners in the PTA and the Board of Directors during those formative years.
Points Assigned · Hearts Aligned
In 1989, the number of students enrolled at the Chinese School grew rapidly, and the workload increased accordingly.
At the first PTA meeting I attended, I proposed introducing a point system to mobilize parents and members through a clearer division of work to broaden participation.
With the support of the newly appointed principal, Shih-How Chang, and board president, Victor Ko, the plan was approved.
I led a team of six PTA officers to divide responsibilities into three areas : finance, creating a computerized parent database, and organizing school tasks.
Group picture of 1989 PTA officers
Systems Working · Community Thriving
Later, I also served on the Board for two years. During that time, I saw how the point system not only improved teamwork and accountability, it also strengthened our shared sense of purpose.
Beyond the school, our involvement expanded to community events—such as participating in the Irvine Harvest Festival and contributing to fundraising for the Barclay Theatre.
SCCCA Former Board Chair Jim Chou (L) and ICS Principal Shih-How Chang (R) presented a fundraising donation to Douglas Rankin for the Irvine Barclay Theatre in 1991, reflecting the community’s early support for local arts.
SCCCA 1992 fundraising soirée
Group picture taken at the 1992 fundraising soirée
I especially want to thank Terry Lee for her enthusiastic efforts in coordinating those activities.
The point system brought transparency to school operations, allowing parents to better understand how the school functioned. This, in turn, encouraged generational participation and leadership transition.
One memorable highlight of the system was the creation of a computer database : within just ten days, our PTA computer group built a dBase data archive—a remarkable achievement for that time.
Encouraged by this success, we decided to take on a longer-term goal: establishing a School Building Fund.
Under this plan, a portion of the proceeds from supermarket gift-certificate sales was set aside for the building fund (see note).
The idea was simple : collective participation and steady accumulation.
Dreams Gathered · School Built
We estimated it might take thirty years—spanning several generations—to raise enough to build our own center.
None of us imagined that, just ten years later, David Sun of Kingston Technology would make a generous donation that allowed the dream to be realized almost overnight.
The French scientist Louis Pasteur once said, “Fortune favors the prepared mind.” The saying fits our experience perfectly.
Our point-system model was later adopted and improved upon by many other Chinese schools and even by some religious organizations.
However, few followed our example of establishing a building fund, as its benefits were not immediately visible.
Some even saw it as unnecessary, since we already established a strong relationship with the Irvine Unified School District and University High School.
Furthermore, during the 1989 local election, all the candidates attended the SCCCA-organized candidates' forum and witnessed the strength of our voting power.
10/20/1990 With Chung Fan, president of Irvine Evergreen Chinese Senior Association (IECSA) and Dr. Zhi-sheng Lin.
IECSA was then an affiliate under SCCCA, which often supported SCCCA in sponsoring political policy forums and other community activities.
I still remember someone joking in 1991 that our Building Fund effort was like the Chinese legend of The Foolish Old Man Who Moves a Mountain—where the old man and his progeny kept digging away, bit by bit, until the mountain was removed.
Our parents were doing the same : contributing one dollar at a time. In the end, we truly did move a mountain and build a home for our community.
In his final major work On China, Henry Kissinger also quotes “The Foolish Old Man Who Moves a Mountain.”
Here in Orange County, the birthplace of President Nixon–under whom Kissinger long served–we carried forward that same spirit of perseverance and vision.
Let us continue to take pride in our shared legacy and keep working for the next stage of growth ! (Brilliant Fifty XIV)
Note :
The Building Fund originated under Board President Mike Chen and PTA Vice President Jack Hsu.
The PTA’s Gift Certificate Committee sold supermarket gift certificates to students’ families. Parents earned service points based on their purchases which were convertible toward satisfying the required volunteer hours.
The PTA’s surplus each semester was transferred into the building Fund, to be carried forward by succeeding PTA teams in the school’s continued fundraising efforts.