Sharon Hung performing at Fairchild TV New Talent show – photo Todd
Monthly Archives: July 2006
Storyscapes Chinatown premieres on Saturday – check out my “Creation Story”
Leave a reply
Storyscapes Chinatown premieres on Saturday
– check out my “Creation Story”
I am part of 23 story tellers gathered to share stories of interactions between Chinese and First Nations people in Vancouver.
Check out Storyscapes Chinatown exhibition during
the Chinese Cultural Centre's Arts and Cultural festival held on July
8th, 15th, 22nd, and 29th. The exhibition will be in the courtyard of
the Centre (50 West Pender), as well as on the corner of Pender and
Carall. Please spread the word! An invitation to the exhibition will
follow next week.
My contribution is a Creation story that I learned in one of my many meetings with First Nations people. I have travelled up up and down both sides of Vancouver Island, from Kyuquot Sound to Alert Bay. I have also travelled to Haida Gwaii, Mount Currie, Tsawassen, and the Okanagan and and talked with many people about interactions between Chinese and First Nations peoples. My cousin Rhonda Larrabee, is Chief of Qayqayt First Nations (New Westminster) Band.
Storyscapes Chinatown is a partnership between
KAYA (Knowledgable Aboriginal Youth Association) and the City Of
Vancouver, working with the Musqueam Indian Band, Vancouver Chinatown
Revitalization Committee (VCRC) and diverse community reps.
I attended the March 11, 2005, Storyscapes story sharing which brought together members of the First Nations and Chinatown community.
I shared a creation story, about why First
Nations and Chinese peoples are born with blue spots on the
bottoms. It is called a Mongolian spot, or Mongolian Birthmark.
My story relates to how the two cultures believe that their real home
is the spirit world, and the physical world is full of lessons, and
hardships….
I introduced my story this way:
I was just
talking with Louis [Schmidt] (first nations WW2 veteran) – and unfortunately, it sounds like a lot of
the First Nations people and the Chinese people came together because
they sought refuge from white people. After the railway was built, a lot of Chinese people were taken in by First Nations villages. There was lots of
discrimination in those old days. And even today, I think it’s terrible that we come
together, sometimes, and we talk about white people.
talking with Louis [Schmidt] (first nations WW2 veteran) – and unfortunately, it sounds like a lot of
the First Nations people and the Chinese people came together because
they sought refuge from white people. After the railway was built, a lot of Chinese people were taken in by First Nations villages. There was lots of
discrimination in those old days. And even today, I think it’s terrible that we come
together, sometimes, and we talk about white people.
But, you know, we
understand. And I think that’s part of it, that there’s a sense of
community and understanding. And just want to share some literary
references with you. In Sky Lee’s book, “Disappearing
Moon Café,” she wrote about a First Nations woman marrying a Chinese
man. Also in Naomi’s Road by Joy Kogawa – her children's version of her novel “Obasan.” There’s a story of a First Nations man named Roughlock Bill, who met the
Japanese people that were sent up to the Okanagan and “evacuated” away
from the coast.
Here is a version of my Creation Story:
As we know, a long time ago, in the First Nations culture, and that still continues today, there’s a sense of spirit an understanding that we actually belonged to Spirit. We are spiritual beings having a physical experience, rather than physical beings seeking a spiritual experience. In Chinese culture, …there are many heavens and many hells, and as we know through a lot of Buddhism, there is a lot of reincarnation. which is recognized in First Nations culture as well.
A Creation story is about how we come into being. How we were born from spirit and became physical. The physical world we are living in right now is where we do the learning for our spiritual development physical time being.
But it can be very challenging. There’s a lot of hardship in this physical world – lots of discrimination, a lot of racism. We know that if we wanted a nice perfect life we wouldn’t come into this physical world. We wouldn’t want to be born. We would want to stay in the spiritual world because this that is our true home. It is where we are most happy.
What we recognize as Asian and First Nations people that this is what we still have to come out, but to and it’s tough to be born come into this physical world. It is so tough that sometimes we have to be kicked out.
We have to get kicked out.
And that is a true story, because when you were born, if you were are Asian or First Nations, You you were born with have blue spots on your body. And This is a story about the creation story about the Mongolian birthmark. You find it on Asian children. You find it on First Nations children. But the true story of why we have blue spots, and that we recognize is that we come from the spiritual world and have to be kicked out in order to get born.
– Todd Wong
Kilts Night Vancouver – moved to 1st Thursday of the Month
Kilts Night Vancouver – moved to 1st Thursday of the Month
It's a wee tradition in Vancouver to wear your kilt on Kilts Night. Kilts Night started at the Atlantic Trap and Gill a few years ago… but moved to Doolin's Irish Pub
Jan 1st Kilts Night at Doolin's
Doolin's Irish Pub
654 Nelson Street at Granville Street Vancouver BC
Here's the invitation from Bear:
All right lads and lassies,
It's time to get Kilts Night going again.
We've changed Kilts Night to the first Thursday of every month because
the Halifax Wharf Rats play live on Thursdays and there isn't the wall
to wall crush of people there is on every Saturday at Doolin's. So come on out, bring your friends, have a Guinness, stomp your feet,
and let's have a good time! (I'm told the ladies have missed us and our kilts terribly. Let's not
let this travesty continue! We must alleviate their pain!)
Bear
See below for Kilts night related stories on www.gunghaggisfatchoy.com
Kilts Night at Doolin's where we meet a lovely lass wearing a black pleated plaid.
Gung Haggis Fat Choy (TM) now listed in Wikipedia
Gung Haggis Fat Choy (TM) now listed in Wikipedia
Imagine my surprise to discover that Wikipedia now lists an entry for Gung Haggis Fat Choy. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gung_Haggis_Fat_Choy
There is a link to www.gunghaggisfatchoy.com but now mention of the event's origins created by Todd Wong aka Toddish McWong.
So far… the article only describes the January Robbie Burns Chinese New Year dinner event
Gung Haggis Fat Choy is a cultural event originating from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The name Gung Haggis Fat Choy is a combination of Scottish and Chinese words: haggis is a traditional Scottish food and kung hei fat choi is a greeting using during Chinese New Year.
The event originated to superimpose the Scottish cultural celebration of Robert Burns
Day with Chinese New Year, but has come to represent a celebration of
combining cultures in untraditional ways. In Vancouver, the event is
characterized by music, poetry, and other performances around the city,
culminating in a large banquet and party.[1]
No mention of the CBC television performance special “Gung Haggis Fat Choy” that aired in 2004 and 2005. Directed and produced by Moyra Rodger, and snagging two nominations for Leo Awards.
No
mention of the annual Vancouver Public Library event, “Gung Haggis Fat
Choy World Poetry Night” co-hosted by myself with Ariadne Sawyer and
Alejandro Mujica-Olea of the monthly World Poetry reading series.
No
mention of the Simon Fraser University Gung Haggis Fat Choy Canadian
Games – which featured the first “Dragon-Cart” races, invented and
created by myself and Bob Brinson.
No mention of the Gung Haggis Fat Choy Dragon Boat team.
Yet….
The Contrarians: Listen to Todd Wong on CBC Radio One – interviewed tonight by host Jesse Brown
The Contrarians: Listen to Todd Wong on CBC Radio One – interviewed tonight by host Jesse Brown
Tuesdays, 9:30 a.m. – 10:00 a.m.
Wednesdays, 7:30 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.
July 5th The Contrarians
“It's a new show, in which Jesse Brown explores ideas so
contrary to popular thought that they're almost…inexpressible.” – CBC website
I was interviewed in Early June by CBC radio host Jesse Brown to speak about multiculturalism. The question that was posed to me was “Is traditional multiculturalism valid?”
Somehow the producers found my website, and liked my ideas about
interculturalism, since I say we are actually now living in a
post-multicultural world, because ideally… we should be inter-acting, inter-married, and inter-communicating. Traditional multiculturalism has tended to put ethnic cultures into little jars for display purposes – bringing them out for presentation for Canada Day shows, multiculturals shows… to say “look how nice and multicultural we are – we're not racist!”
One friend heard the show yesterday morning at 9:30am, and e-mailed me.
"Are you sure about a probationary period for new citizens? is that
what you really meant on cbc? It seemed like the interviewer didn't sum
up what I heard you say, but maybe i'm wrong.
"I wasn't quite sure on the take of the interviewer -anti-racism or fear
monger."
Hmmm…. Jesse Brown's style is to be controversial with ideas. He is trying to project a debate like that some ideas we take for granted aren't really what they seem to be. For example, the Conservative Government redress package on the Chinese Head Tax and Exclusion Act all sounds nice with an apology and invidual compensation for surviving head tax payers and spouses. But if my grandfather was alive, he'd be 140 today… He would want his TAX REFUND to be able to benefit his children, who also suffered through the extreme racism and forced separation of families cause by the Canadian Government's purposeful exclusion of Chinese people, to better create a White Canada.
Interculturalism – that's how I believe I live my personal and public life. I interact with many cultures. My multi-generational British-Canadian girlfriend says “There's no cultural difference between Todd and me, because we are both multi-generational Canadians,” as opposed to new immigrant Canadians… Our families amazingly communicate well together. She eats with chopsticks, cooks sweet and sour chicken and pork. I play accordion and speak almost conversational French.
I really did say that maybe new Canadian citizens should be on a probationary period. With the recent attempt to bomb the CBC in Toronto and storm parliament, or street racing causing death in Richmond and Vancouver… something's got to be done to protect good Canadian citizens and good Canadian values.
This is going to be an issue for European immigrants, as well as Asian or African or Caribbean immigrants. We must encourage all new citizens to engage in Canadian society, and we must encourage Canadian society to engage with new immigrants…. and the First Nations people too – not leave them behind! We must interact. We must be inter-cultural… not multi-cultural.
Please don't get me wrong… some of my nicest friends are immigrants to Canada… I have even spoken as a member of the Canadian Club, welcoming new citizens at Citizen Court, with Judge Sandra Wilking presiding (Sandra is a friend, a former Vancouver City Councillor, and an ethnic Chinese immigrant from South Africa).
But how do we interact between cultures? I don't want to sound like some of the White Canadian forefathers who created the racist Head Tax and Chinese Exclusion Act, as well as the Potlatch Law, and the Indian Act -further creating hardship for our First Nations peoples… And maybe that is the question that Jesse Brown wants to pose on The Contrarians… push our buttons a little and make us re-think what it means to be Canadian. Do ya think? eh?
If every Canadian family inter-racially married… would there be more racial tolerance and cultural understanding in our country? I think so. My family has already done that. Every generation for fiver generations!
Check out Jesse Brown and the CBC Radio summer program
The Contrarians
Tuesdays, 9:30 a.m. – 10:00 a.m.
Wednesdays, 7:30 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.
United Church commends apology and redress of Chinese head tax
United Church commends apology and redress of Chinese head taxJuly 1 =
Humiliation Day
I
personally find it interesting that the Unitied Church of Canada would
issue a media release… since my great-great-grandfather ancestor is
Rev. Chan Yu Tan, of the Chinese United Church.
He
arrived in Canada in 1891, and may have been exempt from the head tax
as a missionary or student – but I will have to check it out. The
Chinese Methodist Church (the forerunner of the United Church) taught
Chinese pionner immigrants how to speak and read in English
language. Rev. Chan Yu Tan, also emphasized to his family and
congregation to learn Canadian ways.
– Todd
United Church
commends apology and redress of Chinese head tax
NEWS
RELEASE
UNITED CHURCH
OF CANADA
By David Helwig
SooToday.com
Saturday, July 01,
2006
***********************
Canada Day marks
an opportunity for healing
TORONTO –
Canada Day this year will have special significance for Chinese Canadians who bear the
legacy of the 1885-1923 Chinese Immigration Acts and what is known as the
Chinese Exclusion Act.
The 1923 Chinese Immigration Act, known as the Chinese Exclusion Act, was
enacted on July 1, 1923 and prohibited most Chinese persons, from entering Canada until
the Act was repealed in 1947.
July 1 has not been celebrated as Dominion Day or Canada Day by many in the
Chinese Canadian community since that time, but is still known by many as
“Humiliation Day.”
“Every time we sing, 'O Canada' we sing, 'God keep our land glorious and
free',” says Kim Uyede-Kai, The United Church
of Canada's General Council minister, racial justice and gender justice.
She explains, however, that before the lyrics were revised, the words were,
'O Canada. Glorious and free.'
“But Canada
has not always been free for all its people,”
says Uyede-Kai. “The revised lyrics are a
prayer for peace, justice, and freedom for all people wronged on this
land.”
She explains that thousands of men were welcomed to Canada from China to work on the building of
the Canadian Pacific Railway, often at the cost of their lives, and were paid
half the wages of non-Chinese railway labourers.
When the CPR construction was completed in 1885 Canada no longer required Chinese
labourers, considered undesirable citizens.
As the economic situation in British Columbia
began to deteriorate, agitation against the Chinese in Canada grew.
The Chinese Immigration Acts beginning in 1885 were meant to “restrict
and regulate” and thus discourage immigration of “persons of
Chinese origin” as the men began to bring wives and families to Canada.
In 1885 the Act known informally as “Head Tax legislation” was set
at $50 Canadian per person, including ethnic Chinese with British
nationality.
By 1904 the tax on Chinese immigrants was $500 Canadian.
When the exorbitant tax failed to deter Chinese immigration, the 1923 Chinese
Immigration Act was enacted and prohibited immigration from China with
only some exceptions.
Chinese Canadian organizations and individuals have been seeking financial
compensation and a formal apology since the 1980s.
In 2004, the U.N. Special Rapporteur on Racism, Mr.
Doudou Diène, recommended
to the UN Commission on Human Rights that the Government of Canada consult
with members of the Chinese Canadian community on possibilities of compensation
to those affected by the Chinese head tax and exclusion act.
On June 22, 2006, the Government of Canada issued a formal apology to the
Chinese Canadian community for the racist actions of the past Chinese head
tax and exclusion act.
Symbolic individual payments of $20,000 will go to some 30
survivors who paid the head tax and to the living
spouses of deceased payers.
Funds will also be set aside for a national recognition program that will be
directed to related community projects.
The United Church of Canada commends the apology and compensation package
announced by the Government of Canada.
An historic and racist wrong has been recognized and righted.
“Our hopeful prayer is that on July 1, 2006, “Humiliation Day”
can begin to become Canada Day for many in the Chinese Canadian community as
the healing process begins,” says Uyede-Kai.
********************
http://www.sootoday.com/content/news/full_story.asp?StoryNumber=18200
Canada Day and Multiculturalism… We must embrace our racist past + past words of Chief Dan George
Canada Day and Multiculturalism…
We must embrace our racist past
+ words of Chief Dan George
The
history of Canada – is not a nation of white people. Oh… the
white people tried to make it so by not allowing First Nations, and
Asian people the right to vote, or to be citizens. The white
forefathers of this country called Canada, tried to keep Asian people
from coming by using head tax (from China), restricting immigration to
direct passage only (from India), and by diplomatic means (asking Japan
to limit people emmigrating to Canada).
But that
was before the White people learned about Multiculturalism, and that
all peoples really are people. We are all human beings under the
sun, and it was Canada that led the way at the United Nations with a
Charter of Rights, under Prime Minister Lester Pearson.
A new
friend Lorna MacDonald (First Nations and Scottish ancestry) has
alerted me to the speech that Chief Dan George made on Canada Day, 1967
– Canada's Centennial. He said:
“How long have I known you, oh Canada? Two hundred years? Yes, a
hundred years. And many, many seelanum more. And today, when you
celebrate your one hundred years, oh Canada , I am sad for all the
Indian people throughout the land.
For I have known you
when your forests were mine; when they gave me my meat and my clothing.
I have known you in your streams and rivers where your fish flashed and
danced in the sun, where the waters said come, come and eat of my
abundance. I have known you in the freedom of your winds. And my
spirit, like the winds, once roamed your good lands.
But
in the long hundred years since the white man came, I have seen my
freedom disappear like the salmon going mysteriously out to sea. The
white man's strange customs which I could not understand, pressed down
upon me until I could no longer breathe.
When I fought to
protect my land, I was called a savage. When I neither understood nor
welcomed this way of life, I was called lazy. When I tried to rule my
people, I was stripped of my authority.
My nation was
ignored in your history books — they were little more important in the
history of Canada than the buffalo that ranged the plains. I was
ridiculed in your plays and motion pictures, when I drank your
fire-water, I got drunk — very, very drunk. And I forgot.
Oh
Canada , how can I celebrate this Centenary, this one hundred years?
Shall I thank you for the reserves that are left to me of my beautiful
forests? For the canned fish of my rivers? For the loss of my pride and
authority, even among my own people? For the lack of my will to fight
back? No! I must forget what's past and gone.
Oh God in
heaven! Give me back the courage of the olden chiefs. Let me wrestle
with my surroundings. Let me again, as in the days of old, dominate my
environment. Let me humbly accept this new culture and through it rise
up and go on.
Oh God! Like the Thunderbird of old, I shall
rise again out of the sea. I shall grab the instruments of the white
man's success — his education, his skills, and with these new tools I
shall build my race into the proudest segment of your society. Before I
follow the great chiefs who have gone before us, oh Canada , I shall
see these things come to pass.
I shall see our young
braves and our chiefs sitting in the houses of law and government,
ruling and being ruled by the knowledge and freedom of our great land.
So shall we shatter the barriers of our isolation. So shall the next
hundred years be the greatest in the proud history of our tribes and
nations.”
Chief Dan George, Tsleil-Waututh Nation, born “Geswanouth Slahoot' (1899-1981)
http://thefirstamericans.homestead.com/SpeechCDG~ns4.html
It is
time for all Canadian peoples to stand up and recognize the global
heritage of Canada's peoples. We can all celebrate and recognize
the contributions of First Nations, Scottish, Chinese, Japanese,
English, French, South Asian, African peoples.
It is
also time for all Canadian peoples to stand up and denounce the words
of racists, bigots and anti-apologists for past racists actions in
Canada's history, such as Trevor Lautens in the North Shore News.
Canada must and will be healed…. in our hearts, our souls and our
minds. We are a family, and families do not leave family members
behind. For the racists… we embrace them, bless them, and help
them on their learning development, and we offer them “tough love.”
This
past year, I have been active as a director for The Canadian Club of
Vancouver, which is one of the oldest clubs in Canada. It was
founded to create an identity away from the “British traditions” of
Canada's early British pioneers. It was founded to create and
support a “Canadianess” that was unique and growing.
I love
the people who are on the board. They have welcomed me.
They have welcomed my ideas. For this year's prestigious Order of
Canada luncheon, we featured writer Joy Kogawa. Last year the
club featured architect Bing Thom. Both are Order of Canada
recipients.
On the
evening of Canada Day…. a Sing Tao Daily reporter phoned me to
ask what I loved about Canada. I told him it was the acceptance
of Canadian people to embrace and learn about each other's
cultures. This is how we grow as a nation. This is how we
see beyond the flat world of monoculturalism, and look at how to evolve
Canadian culture – by incorporating the best of all cultures, while
recognizing what is specifically and historically Canadian.
Grouse Grind: The day after the day after Canada Day
Grouse Grind: The day after the day after Canada Day
The very first time I did the Grouse Grind, it was on Canada Day in
1999 or 2000. There was snow at the top of the Grind… and
people were skiing on Grouse and Cypress Bowl. Phenomenal.
Today…. I did the Grind with Gung Haggis Fat Choy dragon boat team
members. Some of the paddlers had done it last week, and the
chance for me to do it for the first time since Trevor Linden was
traded back to the Canucks, was too much to resist. I think that
time we finished the Grind in about 1 hour. I used to do a lot of
trail running, and could really sprint up the steps with style.
Meet at 10am… at the bottom of the Grind. Okay… we didn't get
going until 11am. We were hoping for a 90 minute jaunt up
the mountain, but it stretched to about 110 minutes because it was very
crowded on the holiday Monday. We paced ourselves and climbed
according to our ability and conversation levels. Some people
like our marathon runner Grace were able to sprint up the hill,
followed closely by Stephen. Others like Dan, Jim, Wendy and
myself… took our time and had good conversations with each other and
the people we met. Finishing somewhere in the middle were Jonas,
his friend Navid, Julie and Teresa.
“Aren't you paddling today?” a stranger asked me half way up the
Grind. His name was Bryan and he paddled with Lotus Sports
Club. He recognized me as the organizer/coach of the Gung Haggis
Fat Choy dragon boat team. We had a nice conversation.
I told him I was really happy with this year's Gung Haggis team.
Here it was the 3rd day of a holiday long weekend, and we had already
met for Canada Day BBQ, Sunday practice + Jazz Festival, now the Grouse
Grind. They really enjoy each other's company that much!
And they will be ready for practice on Tuesday.
I hiked/ran back down the Grind on my own…. determined to get myself back into my old fitness level.
My thighs and knees are sore now. But my back feels pretty
good. Much better than when I run a 10km Terry Fox Run without
training…. Training is important. Doing the Grind is just my
training to do a run across the Baden Powell Trail from Horseshoe Bay
to Deep Cove. The “Knee-Knackering North Shore Trail Run” takes 6
hours to 10 to complete…. I think. Maybe I won't do it.
Dragon Boats visit the Jazz Festival on Canada Day weekend
Dragon Boats visit the Jazz Festival on Canada Day weekend
It was Sunday, the day after Canada Day. The Sunday boaters were out in full force, but nary a dragon boat team on the water on Sunday afternoon – except us, the Gung Haggis Fat Choy dragon boat team.
We paddled from the Dragon Zone dock, just south of Science World, and along the North shore of False Creek. We are continuing to host 7 paddlers from the Filipino dragon boat team – PYROS (Philippine Youth Rowing Society). We took out two boats with 12 paddlers each + steers. The Filipino paddlers demonstrated how they paddle standing up. Wow! you could really see the boat take off with their big powerful strokes.
We gave them the tour of False Creek and went up to David Lam Park, where we could hear the Jazz Festival music. We did a short sprint race up to Granville Street Bridget, then cruisded along the houseboats, then into Alder Bay, home of False Creek Racing Canoe Club, at the False Creek Community Centre. We had a short break, then switched up teams so there were now PYROS and Gung Haggis paddlers in each boat, so we could have some close races on the way back to Dragon Zone.
As we came around Granville Island, we saw huge jets of water shooting up into the air at David Lam Park. The emergency pumping station was spraying 4 jets of water about 5 to 7 stories into the air. Maybe they were trying to help cool off the audience at the Jazz Festival, sitting in the hot sun at David Lam Park.
Everybody stopped paddling in amazement. We had never seen such huge jets of water shooting above False Creek before. There were some small yellow kayaks that were just paddling out from under the water shower. Our dragon boaters asked if we could paddle under the spray. We took a vote. People started chanting “Shower! Shower!
We lined the two dragon boats up and raced towards David Lam Park. A huge roar rose from the spectators lining the shore, as our dragon boats came into the bay. I steered one boat right under the water. Deb steered the other boat, but took them to the side, missing most of the water.
Everybody LOVED it. They had never paddled under a fountain before. It really was like being a little kid, and jumping under the water sprinkler. What a day… I hope people took pictures of us. Maybe they will find us. Please send pictures to gunghaggis “at” yahoo “dot” ca .
Next dragon boat practice is Tuesday 6pm, at Dragon Zone.- just south of Science World.
Our recreation practices are Tuesday 6pm and Sundays at 1pm
We have now added Beginner practices on Wednesday 6:45pm.
Gung Haggis Fat Choy dragon boat team BBQ at Jericho… on Canada Day!
Gung Haggis Fat Choy dragon boat team BBQ at Jericho… on Canada Day!
Yes… this is a dragon boat team with an eating problem.
Paddler Dan brought prosciutto wrapped canteloupe – that were lightly braised + incredible marinated prawns.
Daming Zhao offers up a scrumptiously tasty kebob at the 2nd Annual Gung Haggis Fat Choy summer BBQ – photo Todd Wong
Daming looked after the BBQ, with marinated Chinese style chicken and
beef and vegetables. Even melon and strawberries made it to the
BBQ.
We played some volleyball, talked dragonboats, took in some sun, and enjoyed the friendship of wonderful people.
Some of our d-boat team members… sitting (l-r) Stephen, Jonas and Jim.
Standing Deb, Julie, Natalie and Dan. – photo Todd Wong