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Curtis Cheng’s son strives for compassion

Alpha Cheng says his family have endured a difficult 12 months.

Alpha Cheng says his family have endured a difficult 12 months. Photo: ABC

The son of murdered NSW police accountant Curtis Cheng is advocating for racial and religious tolerance, as he prepares to mark the anniversary of his father’s death.

It was this week last year that Mr Cheng, 57, was fatally shot in an Islamic State-inspired attack outside the NSW Police Headquarters at Parramatta, in Sydney’s west.

Alpha Cheng said it has been hard to reconcile the violent way in which his father died, and said at times he has felt anger towards the teenage gunman, Farhad Mohammed.

“What he stood for and what his actions stood for … is one of hate and violence,” he said.

“And that [is something] I strongly stand against because that violence has no place in a safe and civil harmonious society.”

The young high school teacher said he has made a conscious decision to follow in his father’s compassionate footsteps, and said he wants to use the anniversary of his death to promote a message of peace and multicultural diversity.

“The only way we can reconcile it is to ensure that the light and the care and the gentle way that dad conducted life is what guides us,” he said.

“Not the violence and hate that was on the other side.

“Having that hate and anger isn’t going to solve anything, it’s only going to make you feel worse.”

The need for a ‘safer and better’ Australia

The Cheng family

Selina, Zilvia, Alpha and Curtis Cheng (right). Photo: Alpha Cheng/ABC

Alpha Cheng wants to become more involved in advocating for a peaceful and more tolerant society, and said there is still much Australia can do to improve its multicultural and diverse society.

“I personally don’t know what the solutions are,” he said.

“But I hope conversations that I have with people will lead to ideas about what we can do to promote a safer and better Australia.”

Mr Cheng was among 254 NSW police officers and employees who were honoured at a service in Sydney’s Domain for National Police Remembrance Day.

NSW Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione said it was significant Mr Cheng’s name had been added to the wall given he was not a sworn officer.

“To see how brutal that murder was is something I’ll never forget,” he said.

“And I don’t think Australia will ever forget it.

“We need to make sure that the deaths of these officers wasn’t something that [will] be squandered or forgotten.

“We need to make sure that their death wasn’t in vain.”

Alpha Cheng

Alpha Cheng says he wants to be compassionate, like his father. Photo: Alpha Cheng/ABC

The Cheng family laid a wreath at the Police Wall of Remembrance in honour of Mr Cheng.

Alpha Cheng said the support of the NSW Police Force has been crucial as he, his mother Selina, and his sister Zilvia grieve.

“We’ve just tried our very hardest to keep our heads up high and to support each other,” he said.

“I don’t think that we as a family would have been able to get through this as well as we have without the proactive and caring and genuine support of the police.”

The NSW Police Headquarters in Parramatta will be renamed in his honour at a memorial service on Friday.

-ABC

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