Remembrance Day in Chinatown: City Councillors show respect to pioneers and veterans

Vancouver
City Councillors Raymond Louie and George Chow clean bird poo off the
monument prior to Remembrance Day ceremonies – photo Todd Wong

More pictures at Remembrance Day 2006

It was the biggest ceremony yet at the Chinese Pioneer monument in Vancouver Chinatown.

City of Vancouver has decided to make the Chinatown Remembrance Day an
official celebration and sent wreaths from the various city
departments.  This actually has forced the Pacific Unit 280
veterans to mobilize to create an official ceremony now.  The last
two years have been very informal, often making things up as they went
along.  It was very intimate and friendly.

On Saturday, many Chinatown organizations such as SUCCESS and Vancouver
Chinatown Revitalization also showed up to place wreaths. 

A minor crisis occured prior to the ceremony, when photographers
lamented that bird poo was very visible on the monument statues. 
The monument is now three years old and looks like it is never
cleaned.  I had earlier bumped into Parks board commissioners
Loretta Woodcock and Spencer Herbert, and invited them to attend the
Chinatown ceremony.  They weren't sure if Keefer Triangle was part
of the parks system, but suggested sending a truck to hose down the
monument. 

 

Raymond Louie,
Vancouver City Councillor, cleans the helmet of the Chinese Pioneer
Monument statue.  George Chow, fellow City Councillor gives some
fresh napkin and pours some water on it for Louie.. – photo Todd Wong

Raymond Louie and George Chow, Vancouver City Councillors, took matters
into their own hands and climbed up onto the monument to help wipe off
the bird poo on the heads, helmets and body of the statues. 
Kleenex and napkins were quickly rounded up and given to the
councillors for the cleaning process.  Photographers quickly took
advantage of seeing the councillors in action.  One person
jokingly shouted out to Raymond, “Councillor, I believe there is a fine
for climbing on the monument!”

The ceremony went ahead when the cleaning was finished… 


Unit Pacific 280 group photo with
City Councillor Raymond Louie – Wesley Louie encourages some more
military guests to join the group. – photo Todd Wong

The traditional lunch for the veterans followed at Foo's Ho Ho
Restaurant.  I have joine them for the past four or five years, as
I like to go and support my Grand-Uncle Dan, and the veterans. 
Inevitably, somebody hands me a camer to take pictures for them. 
I'm getting to know a lot of them by name.  They like Foo's Ho Ho
Restaurant because it is cosy, and it specializes in the home-style
Cantonese cooking that they grew up with.  As a young boy, growing
up in the 1960's, my family would often go to the Ho Ho Restaurant.

Col. King Wan, John Ko Bong, Todd Wong (me) and my Grand-Uncle Daniel Lee

Christine Chin, veteran Gim Wong, Donna Green – photo Todd Wong

Gim
Wong is the now 83 year old head tax redress campaigner who rode his
motorcycle to Ottawa to ask then Prime Minister Paul Martin for an
apology for the Chinese Head Tax and Exclusion Act.  The Prime
Minister's Office never responded to the inquiries by the Chinese
Canadian National Council, sent on Gim's behalf.  Gim was invited
to the July 1st (known formerly to Chinese-Canadians as Humiliation Day
because the Exclusion Act was passed on July 1st, 1923) ceremonies on
Parliament Hill.  When Gim stood up and started walking to where
the Prime Minister was sitting, seven RCMP officers gang tackled the 82
year old WW2 veteran, and carted him off the hill. 

Since January 2007, Paul Martin
is no longer Prime Minister.  But Gim Wong witnessed Conservative Prime
Minister Stephen Harper's apology for the Chinese Head Tax and
Exclusion Act on June 22nd, from the visitor's gallery in Parliament. 
Gim Wong saluted the Prime Minister and several MP's saw him and
saluted back.  Last month on October 20, Gim Wong fulfilled his promise
to help his friend Charlie Quan, as Quan recieved the first cheque as a
symbolic redress for paying the $500 Chinese Head Tax prior to 1923. 

Strangely, the Canadian born Gim Wong won't be seeing a head tax cheque
for his family, because his head tax paying father and mother are
predeceased.  Wong now wants Prime Minister Harper to see symbolic
redress payments for all head tax certificates, not only if the payer
or spouse are still alive.

More of my pictures at Remembrance Day 2006
See my friend Nick Lum's pictures at http://www.flickr.com/photos/24064901@N00/sets/72157594371300409/

Remembrance Day Service at Victory Square Cenotaph, Vancouver BC.

Lots of Army, Airforce, Navy, cadet,
veteran and even RCMP uniforms at Victory Square, Vancouver BC along
Hastings and Cambie streets, stand at attention. – photo Todd Wong

The rain held off for the Remembrance Day ceremony at Victory Square,
Vancouver BC.  With the war in Afghanistan, there is special
significance… but for the Chinese-Canadian veterans
there is a very
special significance because of the head tax apology by Prime Minister
Harper and the government of Canada.  For many many years, the
veterans asked for an apology for the head tax, without a
response.  Each year they saw their numbers dwindling, as more of the veterans passed on.

But in the “Year of the Veteran,” they wrangled an
“acknowledgement” and community funding from the Liberal
government.  Although there was no “apology” or “head tax refund,” this subsequently turned into an election issue, and
the newly elected Conservative government promised an apology for the
Chinese Head Tax and Exclusion Act.



The Chinese Canadian veterans of
Pacific Unit 280 are lead by past president Ed Lee.  92 year old
John Ko Bong walks with a cane now. Alex Louie (with beige sweater and
6th from left) was featured in the film documentary “Unwanted
Soldiers,” about how Canada originally did not want to have Canadian
born Chinese as soldiers.  – photo Nick Lum

Rememberance Day services are always special for the
Chinese-Canadian veterans because by enlisting and serving for Canada,
they helped to ensure that Canadians born of Chinese descent had the
right and enfranchisement to vote.  This was given in 1947, the
same year that the Chinese “Exclusion Act” was repealed.  I have 4 grand uncles and one uncle that served in WW2.  All returned to Canada safely.  My maternal grandmother's younger brothers Daniel, Howard and Leonard Lee, plus their cousin Victor Wong, are all grandsons of Rev. Chan Yu Tan, who came to Canada in 1896.  My father's elder brother James Wong also served, and was sent to the Pacific Theatre.  Their father Wong Wah arrived in Canada in 1882.

Here
are close ups of 92 year old John Ko Bong, and Ed Lee of Pacific Unit
280. They are good friends of my grand-uncle
Daniel Lee, currently president for PU 280. – photo Nick Lum. 

But this year, I also knew many more ceremony participants. 
Cameron Cathcart is chair of the 2006 Rememberance Day Observance
Committee, and was also commentator for the event. Andre Greenwood or
the Vancouver Fire Department Band sang “Land of Hope and
Glory.”   A wreath was laid by the Canadian Club Vancouver
president Dr. Jean Watters and vice-president Renee Popov.  It was
just last Friday Nov. 3rd when we celebrated the Canadian Club
Vancouver’s 100th Anniversary at the Westin Bayshore, with Cam Cathcart
presideing as MC, with the first public presentation of the Richardson
Bagpipes.

This year the Canadian
Club of Vancouver laid a wreath to acknowledge it's 100th
anniversary.  CC member Cam Cathcart chaired and commentated the
Victory Square ceremonies – photo Todd Wong

Seaforth Highlanders posed with
Christine Chin and Todd Wong.  Of course, we invited these two
fine men in kilts to our “Kilts Night” events at Doolin's – photo Sean
for Todd

While the ceremony can be sombre and thoughful, there is much pageantry
with the pipes and drums of the many participating organizations. 
After the official ceremonies, we examined the wreaths that had been
laid, and we wathced the regiments march out.  We even discovered
a bagpiper of Asian descent…. playing in the BC regiment of Irish
Pipes and Drums.  Hmmm…. maybe we will have to invite him to
Gung Haggis Fat Choy Robbie Burns Chinese New Year dinner.

Look!  Chinese (or Asian) bagpiper! – photo Todd Wong

For more pictures taken by my friend Nick Lum
see http://www.flickr.com/photos/24064901@N00/sets/72157594371337538/