Category Archives: Chinese Canadian History

Less than 1% Chinese-Canadian head tax families have received a redress settlement

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Chinese-Canadian Head tax descendants are not greedy.  They just want a just settlement. 

“If the government unjustly takes a dollar from you or me, then offers an apology, but no money back – is that fair?” asked Sid Tan, long time advocate for redress of the notorious and racist head tax that was only levied against Chinese immigrants from 1885 to 1923 in an effort to keep Chinese from coming to Canada.  Co-president of the Chinese Canadian Head Tax Families Society, Tan called for continued action for a full redress that would include the sons, daughters and families of deceased head tax payers.

Even more racist and devastating to the Chinese community was the Chinese “Exclusion” Act which completely banned Chinese immigration from 1923 to 1947, which forcibly restricted the unification of families. 

I attended the AGM of the Chinese Head Tax Families Society last Sunday, and also witnessed the ceremony that honoured Margaret Mitchell with a life-time membership in the society and for her work in first bringing the Head Tax redress issue to Canadian Parliament in 1984.

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Margaret Mitchell stand between 99 year old head tax payer Charlie Quan and head tax spouse Mrs. Wong Shee Lee – photo Todd Wong

The Conservative government is only recognizing surviving head tax payers and and their spouses, still alive at the time of Harper's election.  Many have died since 1984.  My father's father died in 1964 and my mother's father died in 1953.

Many families have hung onto ancient pieces of paper in hope of a redress payment or refund.  Head tax certificates have been passed on through generations.  Wendy Yuan told me on Sunday that her husband's grandfather's certificate is now in her safe-keeping. My 97 year old grandmother still has the head tax certificate of her father and his brother – and while my grandmother was born in Canada in 1910, her father died around 1933.

The head tax payers and their families faced economic hardships and racial discrimination that lasted generations.  $500 in 1907 could buy 2 small houses in Vancouver.  It is estimated that with compound interest, full repayment with compound interest would be $300,000.  That's what Charlie Quan told the media it was worth in 2006.  The Conservative government has offered a symbolic $20,000 ex-gratia payment – but only to surviving head tax payers and spouses.

One certificate – one redress payment is only fair.

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Head tax descendant Gim Wong (centre) is the WW2 veteran who rode his motorcycle to Ottawa in 2005 to ask Prime Minister Martin to refund the Head Tax – but was refused a meeting.  He poses here with Judy Hanazawa and Grace Thompson – advocates of the Japanese-Canadian redress settlement.  Grace is also the current president of the Japanese Canadian National Council, whom we consulted with during the Chinese head tax redress campaign – photo Todd Wong

Check out the recent
Georgia Straight story about the failure of the Conservative government to fully comprehend and follow through on the Chinese head tax redress issue:

News
Features

Most head-tax families haven't gotten a penny

News Features By
Carlito Pablo

Publish Date:
November 29, 2007

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Charlie Quan hosted a feast of wild boar after he was compensated by the Harper government for paying the head tax, but many families are still waiting for justice.

Charlie Quan hosted a feast of wild boar after he
was compensated by the Harper government for paying the head tax, but many
families are still waiting for justice.

More than 23 years ago, a Vancouver East NDP
Member of Parliament stood in the House of Commons to demand redress for Chinese
head-tax payers. Margaret Mitchell was the first to bring this issue forward,
and it took more than two decades and several governments before an apology was
made, in 2006.

Now 82 and long since retired, Mitchell
remains passionate about making amends to Canadians of Chinese origin who
suffered under discriminatory immigration policies. The former MP believes that
the redress laid out by Prime Minister Stephen Harper's Conservative government
doesn't fully resolve the issue.

“There are so many aspects that are not
settled,” Mitchell told the Georgia Straight after she
was awarded an honorary membership in the Head Tax Families Society of Canada,
in Vancouver 's Chinatown
on November 25.

Only head-tax payers or their spouses who were
alive as of February 6, 2006, are entitled to $20,000 in symbolic compensation. Mitchell said
that this leaves out thousands of descendants of families who went through economic hardship and endured long separations.

The deadline for filing applications for
payments is March 31, 2008.

“I fully support the fact that the battle
must continue, and you must get coverage for inclusive redress for all the
families,” Mitchell said in her address.

Her audience included Charlie Quan, a
99-year-old head-tax payer, and Gim Wong, an elderly son of a head-tax payer
who rode his Harley-Davidson motorcycle across
Canada in the summer of 2005 to
raise awareness about the need for redress.

In an interview, Mitchell recalled that her advocacy started when two of her
Vancouver East constituents–Mak Dak Lee and Shack Lee–asked for her
help.

The 14-year MP recounts her experience in the head-tax redress campaign in her
memoir, No Laughing
Matter: Adventure, Activism and Politics (Granville
Island Publishing), which will have its launch at the Mount Pleasant
Neighbourhood House on Monday (December 3).

In 1885, the Canadian government imposed a $50 entry fee on Chinese immigrants. This was raised to $100 in 1900, and to
$500 in 1903. The head tax was ended in 1923 by a law that banned most Chinese immigration.
According to the Chinese Canadian National Council, approximately 81,000
Chinese paid $23 million in head taxes–about $1.2 billion in current
dollars.

Sid Chow Tan, cochair of the Head Tax Families
Society of Canada, said the redress covers less than one percent of head-tax
families because the vast majority of payers and their spouses have already
died. “Head-tax families have endured, overcome, and outlived generations
of arrogant and dismissive governments,” he said on November 25. “We
have built a movement to outlast the Stephen Harper Conservative government
should they continue to close the door on us.”

Victor Wong's grandfather paid the tax in
1912, but because his grandfather and grandmother are dead, Wong's family is
not entitled to the symbolic compensation. More than 500 head-tax payers and
surviving spouses have received payments, according to Wong, who is the Chinese Canadian National Council's executive director.

Wendy Yuan, the federal Liberal candidate for
Vancouver Kingsway, told the Straight
that her husband's grandfather was a head-tax payer. The
Yuan family has preserved the late patriarch's certificate of payment, she
said. “I've been telling my son about how it was not easy for our
ancestors,” Yuan said. “For sure, the head-tax descendants need
redress.”

http://www.straight.com/article-120320/most-head-tax-families-havent-gotten-a-penny

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3 Chinese Canadian Pioneers pass on – including Victoria born Victoria Yip and Ying Hope – former Toronto city councillor

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The Chinese Canadian head tax campaign brought a lot of Chinese Canadian pioneers and pioneer descendants together with immigrants both recent and older.

I first met Victoria Yip, when she participated in the 1986 “Saltwater City exhibit” chaired by Paul Yee.  Victoria had loaned her Chinese costumes for display for the exhibit.  She also attended the 1996 Saltwater City planning committee reunion that I organized with David Wong.  Victoria Yip and my grand mother sat together. Everybody marveled that these two women could look so well at 85 and 86 years old.

The The Yip Sang Family is one of Canada’s most famous and well-known Chinese-Canadian families. There is a display of items featured at the “Generations to Generations” display at the Chinese Cultural Centre Museum and Archives.  It was reading about the Yip family reunion that helped inspire me to create reunion dinners for the Rev. Chan Family in 1999 and 2000

Here’s a statement by CCNC

November 16, 2007

CCNC Statement On The Passing of Three Community Leaders

Toronto . CCNC National President Colleen Hua issued the following statement on the passing of Mr. James Marr, Mrs. Victoria Yip and Mr. Ying Hope:

“This week I learned of the passing of three community leaders: Mr. James Marr of Edmonton , Mrs. Victoria Yip of Ottawa and Mr. Ying Hope of Toronto . On behalf of the Chinese Canadian National Council and the Chinese Canadian community, I extend our sincere condolences to the families and friends of Mr. James Mah, Mrs. Victoria Yip and Mr. Ying Hope. These three individuals were leaders in the Chinese Canadian community and we are a stronger community and Canada is a better country because of their public and community service.”

“Mr. James Marr was one of the few living head tax payers to ride aboard the Redress Train to witness the June 22, 2006 Parliamentary apology in Ottawa . Mrs. Yip tirelessly served the community and was featured in books and TV documentaries on the few Canadian-born Chinese women who lived through the Chinese Head Tax and Exclusion Act era. Mr. Ying Hope was born in Victoria and attended high school with (late) Douglas Jung, and later settled in Toronto where he was elected and re-elected on the School Board and City Council for more than two decades.”

“Our elderly pioneers are starting to pass away including the second generation sons and daughters. We recognize these three community leaders for their trail-blazing contributions in removing barriers for future generations. CCNC urges the Canadian Government to begin a genuine, inclusive and respectful reconciliation with our seniors who directly suffered from legislated racism and exclusion.”

Colleen Hua

National President

 

-30-

 

Some obituaries from media sources:

James Marr

MARR, James (MAH JIN YUET) September 14, 1911 – November 7, 2007 On November 7, 2007, James Marr of Edmonton passed away at the age of 96 years. He is survived by his sons, Tom and Dean; daughters, Ngan Tang Wong, Mae Mak, Lily (Thomas) Welsh, and Jeannie (William) Chow; 12 grandchildren; 10 great-grandchildren; sister-in-law; as well as numerous nieces and nephews. James is also survived by his sister and her family; all of Hong Kong . He was predeceased by his wife; daughter; younger brother; and a great-granddaughter. A Funeral Service will be held at 1:00 p.m. on Friday, November 16, 2007 at the Howard & McBride Chapel of Chimes Funeral Home, 10179-108 Street, Edmonton . Interment to follow at Beechmount Cemetery . Howard & McBride Chapel of Chimes, (780) 422-1141

http://www.legacy.com/CAN-Edmonton/Obituaries.asp?Page=Notice&PersonID=97953399

 

Victoria Yip

Victoria Yip (nee Lore) Loving wife, mother, grandmother and great-grandmother passed away peacefully at the age of 96 years on November 11, 2007 in Ottawa, Ontario. She was predeceased by her husband Quene (1994), who she faithfully supported during their 62 years of marriage. She was born in 1911 in Victoria, B.C, the first child of Chinese scholar Lore Neen and Chan Ling Ching. Her father instilled in her an appreciation of art, nature, beauty, and a love of learning. At the age of eleven, Victoria ‘s mother passed away, leaving her to care for three younger sisters (Louise, Mary, Helen) and two younger brothers (Martin, Abraham), while still attending Chinese school and English school. She later taught at Chinese school, while working to help support the family.

In 1935 she married Quene, 16th son of Chinese Canadian patriarch, Yip Sang, and over the years Victoria became a beloved member of this very large and well known Vancouver family. In 1942, Victoria and Quene left Vancouver with their young family and settled in Blubber Bay , a small coastal community on Texada Island , where Quene worked as a chemist. Over the next twenty-five years, while caring for three growing boys, Victoria actively participated in many community activities such as the PTA, recreation association, United Church , and bridge clubs. She also taught painting, brought in a Shakespearean play, and even produced and directed a play featuring local children.

She was renowned for her fabulous Chinese meals and made many lifelong friends on the island. Victoria welcomed and extended her hospitality to all those around her, regardless of whether they were blood relations or not. In 1967, Victoria and Quene moved back to Vancouver where she later worked as a buyer in Ming Wo Cookware. In 1980, she officially retire but continued to share her stories and experiences in the film Saltwater City and the book Voices of Chinese Canadian Women, as well as with Chinese Canadian historical writers like Paul Yee and Wayson Choy.

Two other artistic passions in her life were Chinese opera, which she attended in Victoria and Vancouver in the 1920’s and 1930’s, and oil painting, which she pursued in her fifties and sixties. In 2003, Victoria moved to the Amherst nursing home in Vancouver . Two years later, she moved to the Glebe Centre nursing home, and she spent her final days at the Ottawa General Hospital .

The family wishes to express their gratitude to the staff for their dedicated and compassionate care, and special thanks to her wonderful caregivers and especially to Carolina and Ann. Victoria will be lovingly remembered for her strength, generosity, kindness, love and devotion to her family and her many, many friends and relatives. She is survived by sister Louise, sons Rick (late Angeline), Randall (Brenda Austin) and Robert (Lisa), grandchildren Jill, Andrew, Karen, Jennifer (and partners), and Sophie, Melissa and Alison and also great grandchildren Benjamin, Andrew and Eveline.

Service and interment will be held Saturday, November 17, 10:30 am, at Forest Lawn cemetery, 3789 Royal Oak Avenue , Burnaby , BC . In Victoria ‘s memory, donations may be made to the charity of your choice.
Published in the Vancouver Sun and/or The Province from 11/15/2007 – 11/16/2007.

http://www.legacy.com/Can/Obituaries.asp?Page=LifeStory&PersonID=98022703

 

Ying Hope

From Toronto Star:
Head-tax apology his crowning triumph TheStar.com – News – Head-tax apology his crowning triumph

Former city councillor was a family man who was immensely proud of his Chinese-Canadian heritage

November 14, 2007

Paola Loriggio
Staff Reporter

Ying L.K. Hope wasn’t the type to sit around and complain – he wanted to make change happen.

That’s why at age 40, Hope took on the rough-and-tumble world of Toronto politics, becoming the first Chinese-Canadian to serve on the Toronto school board, and later on the city and Metro councils.

“What he wanted to do was make life better for his family by improving the community around us,” recalled his son, Michael.

Hope died in his sleep Monday at Sunnybrook hospital. He was 84.

Born in Victoria , Hope studied math and engineering at the University of Washington in Seattle before moving to Toronto in 1948, where he ran a successful engineering consultancy.

He launched his political career in 1963 at the Toronto Board of Education. Six years later, he was elected as alderman and represented Ward 5 for eight terms, until the late ’80s.

Though he led a very public life, Hope remained a family man at heart. He spent as much time as he could with his children, taking them out to lunch every Sunday after church, Michael Hope said.

Hope “had the best old-fashioned values that you don’t see much of any more,” his son said.

He was also very proud of his Chinese-Canadian heritage, a pride he strove to instill in his children.

He used his political clout to demand a public apology from the Canadian government for the Chinese head tax, a discriminatory fee charged for each Chinese immigrant in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Hope’s own grandparents were part of a wave of cheap labour imported from China to work on the railways and in mines, all of whom had to pay the notorious tax.

The government’s official apology last year was Hope’s crowning achievement, his son said.

Hope then seized the chance to fulfill another long-time dream. Along with a coalition of Chinese- Canadian groups, he helped chronicle the struggles of that community in an exhibit earlier this year.

Though out of politics for years, Hope worked until recent months as a civil engineer and real estate agent, a career he began at 70.

Relatives gathered yesterday at the family home in Toronto . Hope leaves behind his wife of 14 years, Audrey, and four children, Jim, Judy, Michael and Madeline, from his first marriage to Alice Hope.

The viewing is set for tomorrow from 2 to 4 p.m. and 7 to 9 p.m. at the York Cemetery chapel, 160 Beecroft Rd. A funeral will take place Friday at 1 p.m.

http://www.thestar.com/printArticle/276238

 

 

Eating Stories with the Chinese Canadian Historical Society – book launch

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Tonight is the night I get to see my contributions in print for the book: Eating Stories A Chinese-Canadian and Aboriginal Potluck.

Brandy
will be on CBC Radio Friday morning with Rick Cluff, Morning Edition, at about
7:50AM.

Also some hot news from
Henry.  Jerry Kwok has done a
wonderful job with the 8 min. teaser film on the workshop. It's downloadable at
http://www.instrcc.ubc.ca/CCHS/CCHS_workshop.wmv .  

We are having an author's book launch tonight at the Rhizome Cafe on Broadway, before the official book launch at the Vancouver Museum Sunday Nov. 25th at the Vancouver Museum.

It was a wonderful pleasure to meet so many people interested in the writing process, and how to improve their own writing skills.  People were so interested in food, our workshop discussions often took forays into Chinese-Canadian history, memories of food and family, as well as cultural traditions and differences.

The first book, Tracing Roots, by the CCHS is especially memorable for me because my cousin Hayne Wai contributed stories about his mother and our uncles.  It was great to be able to take the book home as a gift to my parents, and show them the paragraphs featuring “Uncle James,” “Auntie Rose,” and my father  – “Uncle Bill” to my cousin or “Bok-Sook” (#8 Uncle).

Tonight all the writing workshop participants get to take home copies of the book.  I will get to show my parents my published contributions of photographs and paragraphs, which introduce the stories of how I developed my love for salmon, my creation of Gung Haggis Fat Choy, and how our dragon boat team cooks up it's own haggis won ton.  This anthology features 2 current (Dan Seto and myself – Todd Wong) and two past paddlers (Grace Chow and Meena Wong) from the Gung Haggis Fat Choy dragon boat team.

Brandy
Lien-Worrall, our workshop leader and anthology editor, will be on CBC Radio Friday morning with Rick Cluff, Morning Edition, at about
7:50AM.

Also some hot news from
Henry.  Jerry Kwok has done a
wonderful job with the 8 min. teaser film on the workshop. It's downloadable at
http://www.instrcc.ubc.ca/CCHS/CCHS_workshop.wmv .  

FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:  info@cchsbc.ca

http://www.cchsbc.ca

 

Meals and Memories Come
Alive in New Collection of Chinese Canadian and Aboriginal Food and Family
Stories

Groundbreaking work
captures authors’ personal stories of family and community

 

VANCOUVER – The
Chinese Canadian Historical Society (CCHS) is pleased to announce the
publication of Eating Stories: A Chinese
Canadian and Aboriginal Potluck, edited by Brandy Liên Worrall and with
Foreword by Margaret Gallagher.

Following the
success of the first workshop and the resulting book publication, Finding Memories, Tracing Routes
(English and bilingual English-Chinese editions), CCHS held a second writing
workshop with the theme of “Food and Family”, which had nearly tripled in
size.  Twenty-three participants of
Chinese Canadian or Aboriginal backgrounds researched, discussed, and wrote
their memories of family gatherings, home cooking, restaurant outings, and
other stories cooked up by the smells, tastes, sounds, sights, and textures
that bring families and communities together. 
Together with their stories, 37 family recipes and over 170 images
complete the collection.  Additional
contributors include Imogene Lim, Lisa Moore, Janice Wong, and Henry Yu.

George
McWhirter, Vancouver’s Poet Laureate, says of this groundbreaking collection:
“I want one of those meals and to be in one of those families.  If I can’t be that in actuality, these
stories make me a guest of all, complete with recipes for me to try out on my
own, after.  These are more than
literate tellings of family food rituals and recipes; they are elegantly and
pungently related. . .In the process, these pieces become evocative literature
and unforgettable history.”

“This
collection is amazing in terms of the scope of experiences in these Canadian
communities, from the 1930s all the way to present day,” states editor and
workshop facilitator Brandy Liên Worrall. 
“Reading these stories is just like sitting in a Chinatown café eating
apple tarts in the 1960s or going to a barbecue at the reservation, catching
salmon and having a good time. This is really history you can eat.”

Writers include
Jacquie Adams, Jennifer Chan, Shirley Chan, Allan Cho, Grace Chow, Lilly Chow,
Betty Ho, George Jung, Jackie Lee-Son, Roy Mah, Gordy Mark, Amy Perrault, Dan
Seto, Bob Sung, Hayne Wai, Evelyn Wong, Larry Wong, Todd Wong, Harley A. Wylie,
May Yan-Mountain, Candace Yip, Gail Yip, and Ken Yip.  The Chinese Canadian Historical Society of BC would like to
acknowledge the support from the Provincial Capital Commission for the
participation of two First Nations authors in the writing workshop.

An “authors
reception” will be held at Rhizome Café (317 East Broadway) on Thursday, November 22, 2007, at 7:00 PM.  This intimate event will have a short
presentation and author readings.  Media
interest in this event, including requests for interviews with the authors,
should be directed to Nancy Fong, nancy.wy.fong@gmail.com.  Media attendance to this event is by RSVP
only.

The “Eating
Stories: A Chinese Canadian and Aboriginal Potluck” book launch, hosted by
CBC’s Margaret Gallagher, will be held at the Vancouver Museum on Sunday, November 25, 2007, at 4:00 PM.  Authors will read from the book, as well as
answer questions from the audience.  In addition, New Voices: Chinese Canadian Narratives of
Post-1967 Diaspora, a post-secondary student-initiated anthology of
literary and artistic works by Chinese Canadians living in the Lower Mainland,
will be also launched that day. This book is now available at http://www.newvoicesproject.org/
.

Copies of Eating
Stories can be purchased at the authors reception and the launch.  For more information, bulk and educational
orders, and press kits, email nancy.wy.fong@gmail.com.  Copies may also be purchased online at http://www.lulu.com/cchsbc.  Proceeds go toward the “Edgar Wickberg
Scholarship for Chinese Canadian History.”

ABOUT the CHINESE CANADIAN
HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA

The
Chinese Canadian Historical Society of British Columbia (CCHSBC) is a broadly
based membership society with educational goals.  Our main objective is to bring out the untold history of ethnic
Chinese within the history of British Columbia.  We achieve this through sustained efforts at document
preservation, research, family and oral history promotion, public education
programmes, an active website, and many other initiatives.

MEDIA
CONTACT-ENGLISH AND CHINESE [interviews &
press kits]: nancy.wy.fong@gmail.com

Eating Stories, a Chinese Canadian and Aboriginal Potluck: book launch Nov 25th at Vancouver Museum

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Mayor Larry Campbell, Toddish McWong, Enid Campbell – photo Naoko Watanabe at the 2005 Gung Haggis Fat Choy dinner.

Everybody loves stories about food.  Recipes or restaurants, people will reminisce over their favorite memories of food… how it was made… who made it… what their favorite dish is…

In January I took a writing workshop with the Chinese Historical Society of BC.  The theme was “Food and Family” and taught by Brandy Lien-Worrall. 

23
participants in a writing workshop wrote their memories of family
gatherings, home cooking, restaurant outings and other stories cooked
up by the smells, sounds, sights, and textures that bring families and
communities together.

The writers include myself – Todd Wong, the
creator of Gung Haggis Haggis Fat Choy, Dan Seto current Gung Haggis
dragonboat paddler, my cousin Hayne Wai – president of CCHS, + many friends such as: Meena Wong, George Jung and Gordie Mark – who were active during the Chinese head tax campaign, community activist Shirley Chan, Chinese-Canadian Military Museum curator Larry Wong and ex-Gung Haggis paddler Grace Chow and myself.

 

Dan Seto signing books at the CCHS 2006 book launch for Tracing Family Roots.
Dan Seto with noodles at Sha Lin Noodle House.

         

November, 25, Sunday, 4-6 PM. CCHS Book Launch,
Eating Stories, a Chinese Canadian and Aboriginal Potluck.

Vancouver Museum, 1110 Chestnut Street, Vancouver. 

CCHS is pleased to welcome everyone to the book launch for Eating
Stories: A Chinese Canadian and Aboriginal Potluck, edited by Brandy
Liên Worrall and with Foreword by Margaret Gallagher. Following the
success of the first workshop and the resulting book publication,
Finding Memories, Tracing Routes (English and bilingual English-Chinese
editions), CCHS held a second writing workshop with the theme of “Food
and Family.”

Twenty-three participants of Chinese Canadian or
Aboriginal backgrounds researched, discussed, and wrote their memories
of family gatherings, home cooking, restaurant outings, and other
stories cooked up by the smells, tastes, sounds, sights, and textures
that bring families and communities together. In addition to their
stories, there are 37 recipes and over 170 images. Writers include
Jacquie Adams, Jennifer Chan, Shirley Chan, Allan Cho, Grace Chow,
Lilly Chow, Betty Ho, George Jung, Jackie Lee-Son, Roy Mah, Gordy Mark,
Amy Perrault, Dan Seto, Bob Sung, Hayne Wai, Evelyn Wong, Larry Wong,
Todd Wong, Harley A. Wylie, May Yan-Mountain, Candace Yip, Gail Yip,
and Ken Yip. Additional contributors include Imogene Lim, Lisa Moore,
Janice Wong, and Henry Yu.  

Please join us for the official launch of this unique book and meet the authors! 

THE JADE RUBIES, book launch by Valerie Wong Oct 28

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THE JADE RUBIES, book launch by Valerie Wong Oct 28

My cousin Valerie Wong is having a Vancouver book launch this weekend.
It is an independently published work of fiction.

JADE RUBIES – book launch

Sunday, October
28th,
3 – 5PM
Saffron Fourth Avenue Gourmet Foods,

2836 West Fourth Ave.,  Vancouver, B. C. 

Valerie is a great-grand-daughter of Rev. Chan Yu Tan.  She grew up in
Vancouver and was childhood friends with Wayson Choy.  She has written
a fiction book titled “the Jade Rubies.” 

 
As a young girl, Valerie heard many stories about Chinese handmaidens in
Canada.  The topic was fascinating, at times bittersweet, but also oddly
literating to learn just how strong the human spirit can be. She lives in San Jose CA

Please come, enjoy good company, and the publication by one of our Chan Clan members,

Cheers, Todd Wong
778-846-7090

TRIASPORA: artistic telling of Chinese Canadian history through music, dance and multimedia

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TRIASPORA: artistic telling of Chinese Canadian history through music, dance and multimedia


Triaspora (with Orchid Ensemble, Moving Dragon Dance)
September 21 and 22, 7:30pm
Telus Studio Theatre, Chan Centre at UBC

I am really looking forward to this exploration of Chinese Canadian history.  Lan Tung and the Orchid Ensemble are incredible musicians and I have enjoyed their performances this past year, especially performing flamenco music with Mozaico Flamenco.  Lan first told me about this project last year, as she was actively engaged in searching out images of old Canadian Chinatowns – particularly Nanaimo.

This production has been previewed recently by both the Vancouver Sun East meets West in three ways in mixing Triaspora and twice in the Georgia Straight with Janet Smith's Dance | Critics' Picks: Dancers spin visions of angst and beauty …and Alex Varty's Arts Features | A whole new breed

I am particularly excited becasue Lan Tung the leader of Orchid Ensemble, Moving Dragon's Chengxin Wei and composer Jin Zhang, are all immigrants to Canada.  I have heard many immigration stories about the Chinese coming to Canada from  many Chinese-Canadian pioneer descendants (and have also been telling them in the CBC documentary Generations: The Chan Legacy), so it will be refreshing to witness the production with fresh eyes and ears of these newcomers.

Telus Studio Theatre, Chan Centre at UBC

Telus Studio Theatre, Chan Centre at UBC
 
Stories of Chinese Canadians come to life in Triaspora, featuring music by the Orchid Ensemble, dance by Moving Dragon and multimedia performance by Aleksandra Dulic and Kenneth Newby

Inspired by real life stories collected from personal interviews and archives, Triaspora explores
the Chinese Canadian experience, incorporating Asian traditions with
contemporary expression, filling the Chan Centre with an exhilarating
mix of style, movement and sound.  Triaspora
draws on numerous insightful interviews from different generations of
Chinese Canadians, while examining the search for cultural identity and
social acceptance.
 
The collaborative ensemble injects the work with their various
artistic talents. Moving Dragon, founded by Chengxin Wei and Jessica Jone, punctuates Chinese dance tradition with contemporary
thought and movement; The Orchid Ensemble combines Chinese traditional
musical instruments with western percussion, performing original scores
by Canadian composers Michael Vincent, Jin Zhang, Mark Armanini and Ya-wen Wang; and leading media artists Kenneth Newby and Aleksandra Dulic punctuate the space with their interactive multimedia exhibit.
 
Triaspora not only reflects
the crossing of three disciplines (music, dance and multimedia), but
also incorporates the three themes (fire, water and travel). These themes inspire many layers of meaning to the overall collaborative work. In Triaspora, water, which at one time used to cover Vancouver¡¦s Chinatown and was
also the only medium to carry immigrants to the new country, symbolizes
their emergence from a repressed world to a new frontier. Like water,
which changes its form in natural cycles, the Chinese community
continues to transform and renew with each generation. The theme of
fire takes inspiration from a major fire that burned Nanaimo Chinatown
to the ground in 1960.  Fire also represents struggle, hardship and the
opportunity for regeneration and rebirth. Traveling
is a familiar reality for the immigrant generation. Canada¡¦s economic
lifeline – highway 401 and Steve Reich¡¦s famous composition Different Trains inspired the music for the final theme in the piece.
 
Triaspora will
be performed on Friday, September 21 and Saturday, September 22 (with
Reception to follow) at the Chan Centre at UBC Telus Studio Theatre. 

Reconciliation Dinner: Addressing the 1907 Anti-Asian riot and a century of change

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Reconciliation Dinner: Addressing the 1907 Anti-Asian riot and a century of change


The dinner was good.  In the theme of Anniversaries of Change, it
wasn't stuck on an anti-anti-asian theme.   There were a few speeches
by George Chow, the organizer of the event, and a welcoming by Larry
Grant of the Musqueam Nation – whom I invited to come as a special
guest to the next Gung Haggis Fat Choy dinner.

There was a short panel discussion where members from different aspects of the community gave their take about the anniversary of change.  Dr. Henry Yu spoke first.  He is also the chair of the Anniversaries of Change committee.

Rika Uto, spoke about the Japanese community.  She is also the chair of the Japanese Language School.
 
Bill Saunders spoke from a labour perspective, acknowledging that many of labour's members have all been immigrants throughout our province's history. 

Harley Wylie reminded everybody that the 1907 riot took place on traditional Musqueam lands, and gave a First Nations perspective.

Sketch comedy troupe Assaulted Fish, performed riffs on Asian and caucasian stereotypes…. very funny!

During
the 2nd dinner break, I decided to explore the North side of the room and stopped by to say hello to my friend Meena Wong who was sitting with her friends from SUCCESS.  Last year Meena arranged for me to be interviewed by the SUCCESS youth leadership training
program.

I saw the students from the SUCCESS youth leadership training
program at their table, some were holding their cell phones, text messaging their friends. 
I asked them how they were enjoying the dinner. I told them that
there were many many cultural and community leaders in the room, and
would they like to meet people, and learn networking skills.  I asked
if they would like to meet Minister of Multiculturalism Jason Kenney. 
They said yes…

So a table of 10 students + their 3 adult sponsors followed me to the
front of the stage… where city councillor George Chow was getting up
from his seat.  I introduced them to George, and he shared some wisdom
with this group that I introduced as “future community leaders”

Then we went over to Jason Kenney's table where SUCCESS ceo Tung Chan
presided over introductions.  Kenney told the kids about the naming of
the Douglas Jung building, and the contributions that Jung and the
Chinese Canadian veterans had made for the community.

I asked the kids that since Kenney had told them about the veterans –
would they like to meet some Chinese Canadian Veterans…  They said
yes!  I introduced them to Col. Howe Lee, founder of the Chinese
Canadian Military Museum (whom Barb met on Nov 11) and Peggy Lee, the
first Chinese Canadian woman volunteer in the military auxillary.

“Who's next Todd?” somebody asked.  Darn… they were enjoying meeting community leaders.

“Let's go meet the people I have been sitting with.” I replied.

I introduced them to City Councillors Heather Deal and Raymond Louie. 
Heather is also a biologist with the David Suzuki Foundation, and I
told the kids that if they ever visit the Vancouver Aquarium, they will
see a life size picture of Heather that they can take a picture with. 
Raymond is a descendant of one of the earliest Chinese pioneers Yip
Sang… and also used to ride bicycles competitively and helped to
found the Taiwanese Dragon Boat races.

Andrea Reimer was there too!  The first Green Party member elected…
to Vancouver School Board – where I first met her when I did a
presentation to include Asian Heritage Month as part of the school
curriculum.  She is executive director of the Wilderness Committee and
recently was trained by former US vice-president Al Gore to give
presentations of “An Inconvenient Truth” – If you want to talk to
somebody about helping to save the environment… talk to Andrea.

Dr. Kerry Jang is an award winning medical doctor from the UBC school
of Psychiatry, but now he is turning his energy to community service.  Last year Jang received the BC Community Service Award. 
The students thought this was good.

Then we went over to the next table where I introduced them first to my
friend Charlie Cho, CBC researcher, writer, and now a playwright of
“Twisting Fortunes.”  I first met Charlie when he was editor of
Ricepaper Magazine. 

Also on the table was Charlie Smith, editor of the Georgia Straight. 
Back in 1993, Charlie called me up for my first ever radio interview. 
I had just received the SFU Terry Fox Medal for courage in adversity
and dedication to community, and it was Charlie who put me on CBC
Radio's “Early Edition.”

Next we introduced Joan Andersen, Regional Director of CBC Radio in
British Columbia.  I have known Joan many years through some of my
involvements with CBC Radio.  She was surprised last year when she had
the honour of presenting me with my 30 year service pin, in her role of
Vancouver Public Library Board Chair.

The editor of the Sing Tao Chinese language newspaper was sitting next
to Joan, so they got to meet him too!  But one of the first questions
was to Charlie Cho… asking about Ricepaper Magazine.

Cheers, Todd

It's the 100th anniversary today of the 1907 Anti-Asian Riots

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It's the 100th anniversary today of the 1907 Anti-Asian Riots

It is known in Chinese-Canadian stories as “The Night the White Boys Played.” It was a time when anti-asian sentiment in Vancouver raised to a pitch that resulted in broken windows, smashed storefronts, and physical violence in Vancouver's Chinatown.  The angry mob also went to Japantown – but citizens there had heard about the attack on Chinatown and had prepared themselves as they repelled the invaders.

A lot has changed in Vancouver's last 100 years.  Many Asians and the Caucasians have met, fell in love and had babies.  In my family, the 7th generation of Rev. Chan Yu Tan is only 1/4 Chinese.  The family wing that married First Nations produced my mom's cousin Rhonda Larrabee, now Chief of the Qayqayt Band (New Westminster). 

Chinese and Japanese, First Nations and South Asians all have as much right to being Canadian as Irish, Scottish, French, English and Ukranians.  All have contributed many ways to help build this nations called Canada.  It was remarkable to watch the recent Generations documentary series on CBC Newsworld as 6 families from across Canada had their family stories told and intertwined with Canadian history.  I was involved with the episode The Chan Legacy which told the story of my great-great grandfather's 1896 arrival in Victoria BC, and how subsequent generations have contributed community service to Canada, and helped others integrate into Canadian society.

Check out the www.Anniversaries07.ca website

REFRACT: who we are
The Vancouver of yesterday, today, and tomorrow.

Anniversaries is a
Vancouver-based consortium of Asian-Canadian institutions and
organizations marking 2007 as an anniversary year in the search for
justice and a multicultural Canada.

RECORD: what we're about

1907, 1947, 1967, and 1997
represent watershed moments in the story of Asian migrants in Canada.
From the anti-Asian riots of 1907, to the hard-won franchise of �47 and
new immigration act of �67 through the handover of Hong Kong a decade
ago, Anniversaries is dedicated to claiming these transformative
markers of struggle and triumph.

RECONCILE: Join Anniversaries of Change …

In
2007 we invite you to join Anniversaries of Change as together we begin
writing the next chapter in the evolving story of Transpacific Canada.

Share the moment by coming to the Reconciliation Dinner on September 7 at Floata Restaurant, Vancouver

Check out all the media action the Anniversaries of Change got this
week! And listen to CBC's Early Edition this week (Tuesday and
Wednesday mornings) for more interviews.

The Georgia Straight
http://www.straight.com/article-107637/commemorating-a-race-riot

The Courier
http://www.canada.com/vancouvercourier/news/story.html?id=27e737a2-acbb-4671-a6c1-5f39adaee1d8&k=77221

The Sun (and click on the link on the right under “Related Links” for a video of additional coverage)
http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/story.html?id=ada365e9-fba9-427e-8829-3c860bca9a81&k=27005

Vancouver Sun: When Racism Ruled

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Vancouver Sun: When Racism Ruled

On Saturday, the Vancouver Sun published a story about the infamous Anti-Asian riots on Sept 7th 1907.  These anniversary of  the riots are being given an academic treatment in a colloquiuem this weekend at SFU Harbour Centre

My father's father Wong Wah was living in Victoria at the time, since 1891.  My grandmother's grandfather the Rev. Chan Yu Tan had recently arrived in Victoria in 1896.  The Chinese Methodist Church had a mission in Vancouver, that was started by his brother Rev. Chan Sing Kai – who had arrived in Canada in 1888.

Check out the Vancouver Sun story:

When racism ruled

When racism ruled. Vancouver has come a long way since the anti-Asian race riots of … Catherine Rolfsen, with research by librarian Carolyn, Vancouver Sun …
www.canada.com/vancouversun/story.html?id=ada365e9-fba9-427e-8829-3c860bca9a81&k=27005 – 69k –