Russell Jack has announced he is officially stepping down as the director of the Golden Dragon Museum.
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Mr Jack, 84, was the former president of the Bendigo Chinese Association and helped establish the museum in 1991.
"Of course I'll still be around," Mr Jack said. "Nobody knows it like me, you see. I'll still be around if they need any help but I'm trying not to interfere at all.
"In anything and everything, you need young brains. They think quickly and they think well. But you need a few of the old brains just to keep them steady."
Mr Jack stepped down as president of the Bendigo Chinese Association in 2012 after 32 years in the role.
He said establishing the Golden Dragon Museum with his late wife Joan helped honour the contribution of Chinese migrants to Bendigo during the 19th century.
"The local Chinese came here in about 1853," Mr Jack said. "In 1856, they got involved in raising money for charity. They donated 100 pounds to help build the hospital.
"Although they were treated dreadful, when the calls went out to raise money for charity, they were the first to put their hand up.
"If we didn't have them, we would have no history."
Mr Jack said the annual Easter festival in Bendigo - where the dragons Loong, Sun Loong, and now Dai Gum Loong are paraded through the city's streets - showed how Bendigo has fully embraced the Chinese community.
"When you come to a place like Bendigo and you see the procession of a thousand kids, at least 700 of those are little white faces and all they want to be is Chinese on that day," he said.
"We accept them the same as they accept us as Aussies and that's the lovely thing about it."
Mr Jack was made a member of the Order of Australia in 1993 for his work preserving Bendigo's Chinese heritage.
He has also been honoured with the City of Greater Bendigo Citizen of the Year in 2008, but said the accolades were not important to him.
"If you had asked me, I couldn't even tell you what I have won," Mr Jack said. "As a matter of fact, I knocked back a lot of them early.
"I know some people who flash their title and it's like, what for? If you have a handful of people - rich people and poor people - and you take their clothes off, you wouldn't know who is rich or who was poor."
Although he is taking a step back from an official role at the Golden Dragon Museum, Mr Jack said he was excited to see what the future would bring.
"I can't mention names but some worldwide collections that are really classy have been promised," he said.
"I just hope that if there is anybody up there, he gives me a few more years to do a few more things that I want to do."
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