Another Mid-Autumn, Another Year Together

Another Mid-Autumn, Another Year Together

On 27 September 2026, nearly 250 APOA members, guests, professionals, families and friends gathered in Doncaster for the APOA 2026 Mid-Autumn Gathering and Third Annual Meeting.

For property owners, 2026 has not been an especially easy year. Interest rates, property prices, land tax, rental regulation and rising holding costs have all remained part of everyday discussion across the APOA community.

Against that backdrop, Mid-Autumn offered a welcome reason to come together — to look back on the year, talk about the issues that matter to property owners, meet old friends and new ones, and enjoy an afternoon as a community.

Serious topics were discussed.

Mooncakes were eaten.

Prizes were won.

And, as it turned out, people took the house-price guessing game very seriously. 😄

Nearly 250 attendees · 36 volunteers · APOA’s Third Annual Meeting

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ARRIVAL

Walking Into the Day

By early afternoon, Doncaster Bowling Club was already filling up.

Guests checked in, collected gift bags, caught up with familiar faces and met people they had previously only known through APOA’s online groups.

Behind the scenes, volunteers were still making final adjustments to the venue, food, gifts, audio-visual equipment and program.

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OPENING

First, We Danced

More than ten members took to the floor for the opening group dance, The Referee Dance, officially kicking off the afternoon.

And once the dancing was done, it was time to talk about what APOA had been doing over the past year. 😄

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ANNUAL REVIEW

What Have We Been Doing This Year?

In his annual review, APOA founder Ken Hou reflected on the organisation’s work over the past year.

Much of APOA’s work is not dramatic.

It is often made up of small things: answering questions, sharing information, connecting people with professional knowledge, organising offline events, conducting research and helping property owners make their voices heard.

Those small things, repeated week after week, are what gradually turn an online group into a community.

“Most of what APOA does every day is made up of small things.”

Over the past three years, APOA has continued to grow from everyday mutual support into a more organised platform for connection, knowledge sharing, research and public engagement.

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DIGITAL COMMUNITY

Keeping Good Information From Disappearing

WeChat groups are fast.

A useful question can receive ten good answers within minutes — and disappear beneath hundreds of new messages by the next day.

At the gathering, Kitty introduced the next stage of APOA’s website and digital tools, including the Community Wall, APOA Plus and several practical tools under development.

The idea is simple:

Good community knowledge should not disappear just because the chat keeps moving.

APOA’s Community Wall is designed to help preserve useful discussions, practical experience and professional contributions, so that they can later support weekly, monthly and annual summaries as well as longer-term community resources.

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GUEST

Matthew Guy Joined the Gathering

The Hon. Matthew Guy, Member for Bulleen, joined the event and addressed attendees. The Parliament of Victoria currently lists him as the Member for Bulleen in the Legislative Assembly.

After the event, he also shared photos from the gathering on Facebook with the caption:

“Sunny Sunday meeting with the APOA, Australian Property Owners Alliance in Doncaster.”

A full recording of his remarks can be added to the event archive once available.

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GROUP PHOTO

One Big Photo — Almost

After the guest address, attendees stepped outside for the group photo.

Not quite everyone made it into the frame.

The food team and hosts used the photo break to prepare for the next part of the program, so they were busy elsewhere while the camera clicked.

Somebody always has to keep the event moving. 😄

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PROPERTY DISCUSSION

Looking Back at Property Cycles

Daniel Chen, William Cheng and Ken Hou then joined a discussion looking back at Australian property cycles and the way different periods of the market have unfolded.

The purpose was not to predict the next house price.

It was to step back from the daily headlines and look at longer-term patterns, market changes and the experiences that property owners have lived through over time.

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PERFORMANCE

Mid-Autumn Cannot Be Only About Property

There was plenty of serious discussion during the afternoon.

There was also music, dancing and performance.

Frank Wang and Danni Wu performed Jiu’er on violin.

Bloom Studio of Dance presented the classical dance Ru Meng Ling.

Daisy performed May We All Be Blessed with Longevity.

Situ brought energy to the stage with Digital Life.

And toward the end of the afternoon, everyone came together for Tomorrow Will Be Better.

For a while, nobody needed to talk about interest rates. 🎻💃🎤

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GUESS THE HOUSE PRICE

The Room Became Very Serious

One of the most energetic parts of the afternoon was the Guess the House Price challenge.

Participants were shown a property and key information, then had to decide whether the price was higher or lower.

Round by round, people were eliminated until only a small group remained.

The finalists then competed to get closest to the actual result.

The plan had been to play four properties.

We completed three.

The fourth?

We will save that one for next time. 😄

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SING FOR GOOD LUCK

A Lucky Draw That Required Lung Power

This was not a normal lucky draw.

APOA developed a small interactive game called Sing for Good Luck.

Participants sang into a microphone, and the longer they sustained the sound, the further a moon rabbit travelled across the screen.

Volunteers demonstrated the challenge and kept the game moving.

By the end, some of them were almost out of breath.

For everyone else to win prizes, somebody had to keep singing. 😂

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VOLUNTEERS

Nearly 250 Guests. 36 Volunteers Behind the Scenes.

This gathering was supported by a volunteer team of 36 people.

Their roles covered planning, promotion, registration, food, gifts, hosting, performances, photography, video, audio-visual support, venue setup, event operations and cleanup.

The volunteer team ranged in age from 18 to 70.

But the number itself tells only part of the story.

The real story is in the small things that happened throughout the day.

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BEHIND THE SCENES

The “Master Chef” Who Chose Not to Cook

Feeding more than 200 people is very different from cooking a good meal at home.

Food safety, allergies, transport, storage and timing all matter.

Although Yulan is well known in the community for her cooking, the food team deliberately chose not to prepare large quantities of homemade food for the event.

Instead, the team relied mainly on packaged or ready-to-serve food purchased from established supermarkets and suppliers.

Thank you also to Linglong Mooncakes for providing a generous discount.

The food team spent the group-photo break preparing the next round of food — which is why they are missing from the big photo.

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The Hot Tea Nobody Drank

The venue kindly prepared hot tea and coffee for everyone.

One of the older gentlemen at the bowling club was even worried that people carrying hot drinks might accidentally interfere with cables near the television equipment.

In the end, almost nobody drank the tea.

Not because it was unwanted.

APOA simply forgot to tell everyone it was there. 😄

Robin summed it up perfectly:

“The warmth was received, even if the tea wasn’t. 😁”

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Behind the Camera — and a Poem That Never Reached the Stage

Xu Jie was part of the photography team and had also carefully prepared a recitation of Maxim Gorky’s The Song of the Stormy Petrel.

But before the event had finished, her daughter persuaded her to go home.

Only after arriving did she discover the reason: her family had prepared a surprise celebration for her 70th birthday.

The poem never made it onto the stage that afternoon.

But her work continued.

She quickly helped organise and share event photos, then prepared a formal event report and contacted Chinese-language media about the gathering.

Her recorded recitation can still live here in the event archive.

The poem missed the stage. The story behind it did not.

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One Person, Several Channels

Daisy moved through several roles during the afternoon.

Host.

Singer.

Dancer.

Sometimes the people keeping the program moving are also the people stepping onto the stage.

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COMMUNITY VOICES

What People Said Afterwards

“A joyful gathering and a wonderful afternoon.”

“Every event is meaningful. The atmosphere was great and everyone had a good time.”

“We’re home now — my son had a great time too. 😁”

“A community that truly comes from the community.”

These comments came from members and attendees after the event.

More voices and reflections can be added to the archive as the community continues to share them.

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MEDIA & VIDEO

The Story Continues After the Event

The event itself may have ended, but the archive continues to grow.

Photos are still being organised, videos are being edited, and event materials are continuing to be added.

The photography team has also prepared a formal event report for Chinese-language media, including 3ZZZ’s Chinese program.

Future media coverage, recordings and highlight videos will be added here as they become available.

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THANK YOU

Thank You to Everyone Who Made the Day Possible

This event was made possible by the time, effort and support of many people.

Thank you to:

our 36 volunteers,

our sponsors,

members and friends who contributed gifts and prizes,

private supporters,

performers,

professional speakers,

photographers and videographers,

and every person who came along and took part.

A community grows through repeated acts of participation, contribution and mutual support.

This gathering was one more part of that story.

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JOIN US

The Event Ends. The Connection Continues.

The fourth house-price challenge is still waiting.

There will be more questions to discuss, more stories to share, more tools to build and more reasons to meet again.

If you would like to help with future APOA activities, contribute professional knowledge, take photos, organise events or simply lend a hand:

Join the APOA volunteer community.

We will see you next time.

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