Category Archives: Robert Burns & Burns poetry

Westender: Gung Haggis celebrates Canadian interculturalism – article by Jackie Wong

West Ender newspaper celebrates Chinese New Year and Robbie Burns Day with a profile on Todd Wong aka “Toddish McWong”

Jackie Wong interviewed me last
week, and asked me about my early years growing up in East Vancouver
and North Vancouver. This is a very nice interview that addresses some
of the cultural identity issues I faced growing up, that has led me to
creating Gung Haggis Fat Choy as an expression of BC's Scottish and
Chinese pioneer history.

Todd Wong established the annual Gung Haggis Fat Choy dinner — a merging of Chinese New Year and Robbie Burns Day celebrations — in 1998. It now draws over 500 people. “People leave [the dinner] saying, ‘That is so Canadian,’” he says.

Todd
Wong established the annual Gung Haggis Fat Choy dinner — a merging of
Chinese New Year and Robbie Burns Day celebrations — in 1998. It now
draws over 500 people. “People leave [the dinner] saying, ‘That is so
Canadian,’” he says.

Credit: Doug Shanks

NEWS: Gung Haggis celebrates Canadian interculturalism

Growing
up in East Vancouver in the 1960s, Todd Wong was one of many children
who had a surname in common with his classmates at Laura Secord
Elementary School. But when his family moved to North Vancouver when he
was 14, Wong’s Chinese ancestry distinguished him from his classmates
for the first time. “Suddenly, the only other Wong in the entire school
was my brother,” the 48-year-old librarian recalls over tea at a
Chinatown diner. “The other kids would ask if I was Chinese or
Japanese, because they didn’t know the difference at the time. I kept
being asked about Chinese culture because nobody else knew about it.”

Wong’s family has lived in Vancouver for five generations, and he
was raised in what he describes as a “Canadian” household. But it was
his immediate family’s move to North Vancouver that spurred him to
further explore his ancestry. His great-great-grandfather, Reverend
Chan Yu Tan, immigrated to Canada in 1896, and was part of Canada’s
vast pioneer history in which Chinese-Canadians are frequently
overlooked. “I’m one of the invisible-visible minorities,” he says.
“The Chinese culture I grew up learning from my families really doesn’t
exist anymore. [My ancestors] came over when China was still an
Imperial Qing dynasty.”

Wong’s curiosity about his family history led him to start
introducing Chinese New Year celebrations to uninitiated friends as
early as Grade 12. Years later, in 1998, he hosted a private dinner
that combined celebrations for Chinese New Year and for Robbie Burns
Day, the annual Scottish celebration marking the birthday of that
country’s national poet. The event gained momentum over subsequent
years as a restaurant-hosted fundraiser for Wong’s dragon boat team.

Word of the innovative celebration travelled fast, and within a few
years an annual inter-cultural celebration known as Gung Haggis Fat
Choy became a highlight on Vancouver’s cultural calendar, and has grown
to host as many as 590 attendees.

In 2008, Wong received a B.C. Community Achievement Award from
Lieutenant-Governor Stephen Point and Premier Gordon Campbell, and, as
part of B.C.’s 150th anniversary celebration, a life-sized photographic
rendering of Wong, also known as “Toddish McWong,” was installed at the
“Free Spirit” exhibition at the Royal BC Museum. Previous to earning
provincial recognition, Gung Haggis Fat Choy was the inspiration for an
annual cultural festival on SFU’s Burnaby campus, and was the subject
of a 2004 CBC television special.

“The Gung Haggis dinner is inclusive and it recognizes every part of
every person, and I think that’s important,” says Wong. “We don’t have
to be one or the other. We can be everything, all at the same time. I
don’t think we have a lot of events that speak to that.”

This year’s event, on January 25, rings in the Year of the Ox at
Floata Seafood Restaurant in Chinatown. Inter-cultural dinnertime
performers include the Scottish/Chinese Silk Road Ensemble,
multilingual opera soprano Heather Pawsey, DJ Timothy Wisdom, and
rapping bagpiper Joe McDonald. The Gung Haggis Fat Choy dinner is a
10-course traditional Chinese banquet that also features haggis, the
traditional Scottish dish that is a Robbie Burns Day favourite.
Proceeds from ticket sales go to the Historic Joy Kogawa House Society,
the Asian Canadian Writers’ Workshop/Ricepaper magazine, and the Gung
Haggis Fat Choy dragon boat team.

“It’s about hybridization — Haggis wonton, haggis lettuce wrap —
where we purposefully put haggis in Chinese cooking,” says Wong.
“People leave saying, ‘That is so Canadian.’”

While Wong often finds himself “running to catch up” with the
momentum Gung Haggis has created over the years, the event shows no
signs of slowing down. It’s even spread to Seattle’s Chinatown, where
150 attended the first event there in 2007. “People are continuing to
discover the spirit of Gung Haggis Fat Choy,” he says. “It’s something
everyone can participate in. I would like to see Gung Haggis dinners
across the country. I think that’s how you contribute to Canada being
better. It’s the good-heartedness of how you describe Canadians, and
that openness to other cultures.”

The “good-heartedness” Wong describes as a trademark of his event
also translates to political points on the municipal scene. At the 2008
Gung Haggis dinner, Wong notes that the 10 Vancouver city councillors
who were later voted into office in the November municipal election
were at the event, including Gregor Robertson and a kilt-wearing
Raymond Louie. This year’s special guests include Musqueam elder Larry
Grant; Leith Davis of the SFU Centre for Scottish Studies; Jan Walls,
formerly of SFU’s International Communications program; and
poet-translator Tommy Tao. This year’s Gung Haggis dinner is also the
only dinner in the province to feature one of 250 limited-edition
bottles of 37-year-old Famous Grouse scotch, made in a limited batch
for Robbie Burns celebrations around the world.

“We’ve always attracted people who are good-hearted and open to
interculturalism,” Wong says proudly. “That’s the Vancouver I see. We
want to create the Vancouver we believe in.”

For more information on Gung Haggis Fat Choy and to buy tickets, visit www.GungHaggisFatChoy.com

Georgia Straight: Why Canada will never have an Obama, except maybe Todd Wong

2008_Dec 033 by you.

I didn't expect to be in the same Georgia Straight Headline as Obama… but maybe because it's because I am a person of colour?

re: Why Canada will never have an Obama, except maybe Todd Wong

http://www.straight.com/article-197382/why-canada-will-never-have-obama-except-maybe-todd-wong

I told the Georgia Straight's Pieta Woolley –
that it was author Terry Glavin who first told me about bi-racial Gov. James
Douglas's
vision for a British Columbia that could welcome people from
every corner of the world… that it was Douglas who invited Black
Americans from San Francisco when he heard that were being
discriminated against…

BC's history is not the two solitudes
of English and French – but it is the 3 pioneer cultures of First
Nations, Scottish, and Chinese.  But we have had to go through the
Potlatch Law, the Chinese Head Tax and Exclusion Act, the Komagata
Maru, the Internment of Japanese Canadians – before we could understand
ourselves and our future.

It
has taken 150 years for us to finally understand the multicultural/
intercultural vision that Douglas wanted for BC, instead of BC as a
“White Man's Province” in the years that followed Douglas.

The Obama presidency in the United States is historic.  He has a vision to bring people together, to move beyond racial divides, perceived stereotypes and the cultures of blame and “otherness.”

My own life views have been shaped by growing up as a multi-generational racial minority in Canada.  I have learned about the discrimination and hatred faced and overcome by my ancestors, since the time my maternal great-great-grandfather Rev. Chan Yu Tan arrived in 1896, as a Methodist lay preacher for the Chinese Methodist Church of Canada.  Similarly, my paternal grandfather also faced many challenges arriving in Canada in 1882 at the young age of 16.

But I have also learned about the importance of communities working together.  My life path has involved me with many community organizations such as Canadian University Press, Hope Cancer Health Centre, Terry Fox Run Organization, Canadian Mental Health Association, Chinese Cultural Centre, Dr. Sun Yat Sen Gardens, Asian Canadian Writers' Workshop, Vancouver Asian Heritage Month Society, and many many more.

In the past few years, I have learned much about Robert Burns' views on social justice, equality, political change, speaking up for others, love of life.  These are as important today as there were 250 years ago in Burns' time, or 150 years ago in Douglas' time.  Maybe it's actually more important today, because we have the choice to embrace our responsibilities or to take them for granted.  We have the choice today, to choose to be selfish or community minded.  We have the choice today –  not tomorrow – not yesterday, but the choice is today –  to make a difference or not.

Why Canada will never have an Obama, except maybe Todd Wong

Yesterday (January 20), the world’s most powerful man placed his hand on Lincoln’s Bible and became the 44th president of the U.S. Next week, on a dark day in Ottawa, Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s government will present a budget, and a coalition led by Michael Ignatieff, Jack Layton, and Gilles Duceppe might take the opportunity to bring it down.

While the U.S. has its super-leader, Canada has the old, clichéd
“crisis in leadership”. Looking south, it’s easy to feel, well, a
little jealous.

So, who is Canada’s Barack Obama? Who can lead us out of years of deadlocked minorities?

I argue that not only is an Obama figure not waiting in the wings; he or she simply can’t exist here.

Here’s why: Obama represents the high-minded ideals of the 1791 U.S.
Bill of Rights, while Canada treats our history like yesterday’s soup
cans.

Americans love their history. In his inaugural speech—really, in every
speech—Obama took every opportunity to join his personal story to the
greater story of the United States. It’s an easy connection to make.
For Canada to breed an Obama, we have to have a better picture of what
Canada means, and promote someone who’s comfortable tying his or her
own story to Canada’s not-always-glorious history.

As a kid, Obama grew up without a dad around, in relative obscurity. He
is the biracial son of an African immigrant and a white-bread Kansas
hippie, and was raised by his grandmother in Hawaii. Now he’s
president. That speaks to opportunity.

Think quick: what document was Canada built on? If you guessed the British North America Act of 1867, you’re right. It’s not exactly stirring stuff.

Frankly, it would be difficult to know if someone came along who
represented the early ideals of Canada. He or she must speak English
and French and respect the authority of the Queen’s representative, but
apart from that, it’s pretty fuzzy.

So who is Canada’s Obama? Justin Trudeau’s name
has been floated, but there’s a couple of problems. First, he’s
Canadian royalty—the son of a prime minister, he has been immersed in
privilege forever. Second, he’s a white guy. Third, he hasn’t
established a career for himself yet, beyond teaching high school
French. Sure, he’s a young dad, charismatic, attractive, and extremely
well-spoken, but he’s already entrenched in party politics. And that is
Obama’s magic. He seemingly came out of nowhere.

Here’s my nominee for an Obama in Canada: Todd Wong, the founder of Gung Haggis Fat Choy.

The wildly charismatic Vancouverite is a leader in bridging cultures
in an unpretentious, original way. His Gung Haggis Fat Choy event has
been replicated all over the world. A fifth-generation Chinese
Canadian, Wong also lobbied to save Joy Kogawa’s childhood home and for head-tax redress. He organizes dragon-boat teams.

But what’s sold me on Wong as Canada’s Obama is that he’s a Vancouver
library assistant. It’s a humble job, but it’s a little like Obama’s
background as a community organizer. At least the way Wong does it.

On the picket line in 2007, he played his accordion and organized a strike reading series with Hiromi Goto, Stan Persky,
and others. At Gung Haggis Fat Choy, politicians from every party come
out for deep fried haggis wontons. He describes the event, to be celebrated this year on January 25 at Floata Seafood Restaurant in Chinatown, as something that “represents Canada in the 21st century”.

“Anyone in that room could be part of your family,” he told the Straight.

Here’s where it falls apart. Wong has no interest in politics.

“If I get into politics, I wouldn’t be able to do the kind of community service work I do now,” he told the Straight.

That may be true, Todd. But I, for one, think that as prime minister
you could be one wicked Obama-esque orator, reinvigorate our connection
to history, and offer a fresh face to represent the new Canada.

So, how about it?

Free Event: Gung Haggis Fat Choy World Poetry Night at Vancouver Public Library

Jan 26/09–Gung Haggis Fat Choy at the VPL!

Vancouver Public Library
Central Branch
350 West Georgia St.
Alma Van Dusen and Peter McKay rooms
7:30 PM on Monday, January 26th
(the day after the BIG Gung Haggis Fat Choy Robbie Burns Chinese New Year's Eve Dinner at the Floata Restaurant January 25th)

Every year we do a FREE poetry evening at the Vanocuver Public Library in partnership with World Poetry collective.  Ariadne Sawyer and Alejandro Mujica-Olea are the wonderful organizers of World Poetry, which presents poetry readings at the Vancouver Public Library each month.

We bring together contemporary Scottish-Canadian and Chinese-Canadian poets, as well as reading Robbie Burns and presenting something very traditionally Chinese for Chinese New Year.  Many years ago, I noticed that there wasn't a Robbie Burns poetry night at the Vancouver Public Library, so I called up Ariadne, and we created something special.

Here's the message from Ariadne:

The World Poetry Reading Series and co-sponsors explorASIAN and the Asian Canadian Writers Workshop
invite you to celebrate the poetic traditions of Robbie Burns Day and
Chinese New Year with a distinctly Canadian twist — multilingually,
from Scotland, China, and countries around the world.
Hosts: Todd Wong (AKA Toddish McWong, right) and Diego Bastianutti.
Featured Poets:
•   Steve Duncan
•   Tommy W.K. Tao
•   James Mullin
•   Rita Wong

Featured Performances:
•   Ji-Rong Huang — Chinese Erhu
•   Ariadne Sawyer — Dragon Dream Dance
•   Bob Wilkins — Gung Haggis Fat Choy Pipe Band

Admission: FREE!
(But come early — seating is limited.)
Contact: 604-331-3603

100 pounds of haggis at a Chinese New Year dinner? That's Gung Haggis Fat Choy!

What do you do with 100 pounds of haggis at a Chinese New Year Dinner?

Gung Haggis 2008 Dinner 177 by you.

Kilted guest at 2008 Gung Haggis Fat Choy dinner tries the haggis dim sum – photo VFK

Have you tried our haggis dim sum yet?  Each year since 2004, we have been presenting variations of deep-fried haggis won ton.  We have also mixed haggis into spring rolls and pork dumplings – but the deep-fried haggis won ton is my favorite.  Afterall, I hear the Scots like deep-fried Mars bars – and that must taste like a little bit of deep-fried choclate heaven.

Dim Sum can be translated as “pieces of the heart” or “touch the heart” or “pieces of heaven.”  These are small portions of food that are succulent and delicious.  But what happens when you add haggis to this little heavenly morsels?  Will haggis, one of the world's most celebrated and reviled foods ascend to the celestial kingdom?

But you cannot give a proper “Address to A Haggis” if it's already cut up into little wee piece.

Traditional Scots still like to see a traditional haggis at a Burns Dinner.  We serve a one pounder of haggis to each table.  It might be not enough for 10 Scots guests – but it is more than enough for 10 non-Scottish diners.  To solve the problem we encourage people to share.

We also serve a 7 pound banquet haggis that is “as lang's my arm” to our head table.  This ensures that it is pretty in pictures… as well as extra leftovers for any of our guests.

GHFC2008 VF2_1709.JPG
Bagpiper Joe McDonald does the honours at the 2008 Gung Haggis Fat Choy dinner – photo VFK.

His knife see rustic Labour dight,
An' cut you up wi' ready sleight,
Trenching your gushing entrails bright,
Like ony ditch;
And then, O what a glorious sight,
Warm-reekin, rich!

– 3rd verse from Robert Burns poem “Address to A Haggis”

Now imagine layering a little bit of haggis with Chinese plum sauce, adding crispy noodles, finely diced vegetables and Chinese water chestnuts, and serving on a delicate leaf of lettuce.  This is our Gung Haggis lettuce wrap, a cultural and culinalry fusion twist. But people say they have never seen people eat so much haggis, or eat haggis so quickly!

And what does our traditional haggis maker think of all this?

In 2006, we were paid a high compliment when haggis rancher Peter Black attended the Gung Haggis Fat Choy dinner with his family!  Peter loved what we had done with his haggis.

Peter Black & Sons, at Park Royal Mall in West Vancouver, is BC's largest producer of haggis.  Peter's haggis is a family secret with extra spices.  It is different from a traditional lard recipe – which I have occasionally gagged on.  I describe a Peter Black haggis to be like a nice liver pate, suitable for serving with crackers at your next Super Bowl party.

Be sure to visit Peter Black & Sons at Park Royal South – because there is an annual display of “live wild haggis.”  Often the haggis is sleeping, and you have to be very careful not to disturb it – but if you're quiet, you can sneak up on it.

DSC_5535
Peter Black & Sons with family at the 2006 Gung Haggis Fat Choy dinner, linking hands to sing Auld Lang Syne to bring a finale to the dinner event – photo Ray Shum

Here are some of the menus from our past dinners:

2008 Gung Haggis Fat Choy menu announced: now with Mongolian Beef to celebrate Year of the Rat

2007 Menu for Gung Haggis Fat Choy™:Toddish McWong's Robbie Burns Chinese New Year Dinner

2006 Menu for Gung Haggis Fat Choy™: Toddish McWong's Robbie Burns Chinese New Year Dinner – Celebrating the Year of the Dog

2005 Menu for Gung Haggis Fat Choy� at Floata Restaurant

Vancouver's Robert Burns statue is a copy of the George Lawson original from Ayr Scotland

The same Robert Burns statue in Vancouver's Stanley Park can also be seen in other Canadian cities + Paris, Australia and Belfast.

Dr. Leith Davis, Director of the Centre for Scottish Studies, Simon Fraser University, sent me a note saying:

The
following cities have copies of the same statue that Vancouver does
(all are copies of the original by George Lawson which is in Ayr,
Scotland):
Halifax,
Winnipeg,
Montreal,
Melbourne, Australia
Belfast,
Paris
cheers,
Leith










Robert Burns Statue in Ayr Scotland

Burns Statue Original plaster maquette or George Lawson designed statue of Robert Burns

from http://www.burnsheritagepark.com/collection.htm

Statues to Robert Burns are to be found across the world, in London,
Toronto, Sydney, Auckland and New York, to name but a few. This is a
plaster maquette produced by George Lawson for the statue that was
erected in Ayr in 1891. Such was the popularity of Lawson's statue that
full-sized copies were made for Melbourne, Vancouver, Montreal and
Winnipeg and smaller copies for Belfast and the Sorbonne in Paris. The
Sorbonne statue was carefully hidden during the German occupation of
Paris in the 1940s, to prevent it falling into the hands of the Nazis.


Robert Burns statue in Halifax

Burns Statue in Winnipeg


burns_robert_2.jpg (46425 bytes)

Statue de Robert Burns

Carré Dominion

Montréal-Québec

Robert Burns Memorial, Treasury Gardens, Melbourne, Australia

Robert Burns Memorial in Melbourne Australia