Daniel Lee 1920 - January 26, 2010 

With sorrow... we share the news that Grand-Uncle Daniel Lee passed away this morning of January 26th, 2010.  He had been in the Burnaby Hospital since Wednesday.  His daughter Grace,  she said it was quite sudden - his going into the hospital.  I had been receiving reports from my mother Betty, as her mother Mabel (Dan's oldest sister at 99 years old) was visiting the hospital each day.

Uncle Dan was born the 11th child of 14, the 5th son of seven to jeweler Ernest Lee, and Kate Chan Lee - the 2nd child, and 1st daughter of Rev. Chan Yu Tan.  As a young child he spent some time living in Nanaimo with his grandparents Rev. and Mrs. Chan Yu Tan, after the early death of his father.

When Dan was 20 years old he tried to enlist in the Canadian Army, but was turned away because at that time they did not allow any Chinese Canadians.  Instead, he went to aircraft mechanics school in Toronto and graduated two years later.  By 1942, Chinese were allowed into the Army due to pressure from Great Britain.  Dan Lee was one of the the first Chinese-Canadians accepted into the Canadian Air Force.  Soon, he was joined in England, by his brothers Howard and Leonard, plus cousin Victor Wong, who were enroute to the Pacific Theatre to serve with the Army special forces.

In the years after WW2, Dan Lee and his fellow Canadian born veterans would continue to face racial discrimination and prejudice.  The were not allowed to join any of the existing Canadian Legions for veteran soldiers.  They turned to the oldest veteran organization, the Army, Navy, Air Force Vets of Canada and were accepted to form their own unit - Pacific Unit 280.  After WW2, he and his fellow veterans and good friend Roy Mah, petitioned the Canadian Government to gain voting rights for Chinese Canadians, and also to repeal the Chinese Exclusion Act.  This was accomplished in 1947.

 

But the challenges weren't over yet.  Every year Uncle Dan would write a letter to Ottawa asking for an apology for the Chinese head tax and exclusion act.  The Chinese head tax redress movement took on a larger significance after MP Margaret Mitchell brought the issue up in Parliament in 1984, and also when Prime Minister Mulroney apologized to Japanese Canadians in 1988 for the the government's interning of them during WW2.

In the 1980's, Dan Lee would continue to work head tax apology issue.  With Douglas Jung, a former veteran, lawyer, Member of Parliament, and the Chinese Benevolent Association, they proposed that a national organization be formed to deal with the Head Tax issue.  Dan Lee became one of the founders of the National Congress of Chinese Canadians(NCCC) and a national conference was held.  After many years, an apology was finally made in Canadian Parliament by Prime Minister Harper in 2006.

In 1998, the Chinese Canadian Military Museum was founded.  Dan Lee's air force uniform was one of the first displays.

In 1999, we held the first Rev. Chan Legacy Family Reunion.  Uncle Dan was a consultant for the committee.  At the reunion, it was Dan Lee who gave the Elder Address, as he talked about his grandfather Rev. Chan Yu Tan. 

In 2002, the Rev. Chan Yu Tan family was featured in the Chinese Cultural Centre Museum exhibit "Three Canadian Chinese Pioneer Families"  - pictures of Uncle Dan and the contributions of himself and his brothers and cousin were included.  

In 2007, Dan Lee is one of the lead stories in the film documentary Heroes Remember, produced by the Chinese Canadian Military Museum.

Dan Lee's dedication to community service is exemplary.  In 2004, Dan Lee received the Award of  Merit from Dominion Command.  It is one of the highest honours a veteran can receive.  Uncle Dan told me that to receive an Award of Merit, you must first receive the Medal for Appreciation, which he received in 1987.  In 1999 he next received the Award for Service.

And through all these years, Uncle Dan would sell poppies in downtown Vancouver for Remembrance Day, and help organize the Poppy Drive every November.  He was one of the best sellers.  He was also one of the organizers of the Victory Square Cenotaph Remembrance Day ceremonies.  In 2004, Remembrance Day ceremonies began at the Canadian Chinese Pioneer Monument in Chinatown.  The veterans of Unit 280 would attend both Victory Square and Chinatown ceremonies, even if it was raining and cold.

The contributions that Dan Lee made, will last and be remembered, while he will be missed.

We offer support and love to Uncle Dan, his wife Irene, and their children Vincent and Grace.

Peace & Blessings to all, Todd Wong - Vancouver

As part of his commitment to community, Dan annually organized the poppy campaign in Vancouver. It's not surprising he was a top-seller. For his community efforts Dan has received many veteran honours, such as the Award of Appreciation, and Award for Service - but none higher than the Award of Merit from Dominion Command in 2004. It's a fitting tribute to the grandson who evidently learned his values and strong faith in community from his Methodist Church pioneer, Grandfather Chan Yu Tan.

See VIDEO of Daniel Lee from the Chinese Canadian Military Museum

Watch "Tailor Made - the last Chinese tailor shop in Vancouver Chinatown"

'Tailor Made' is being broadcast again in BC on Knowledge Network on the following dates:

• May 26/2009  10:00PM
• May 27/2009   2:00AM
• May 27/2009    7:00PM
  

  http://tvschedule.knowledgenetwork.ca/knsch/KNSeriesPage.jsp?seriesID=101539&seriesTitle=tailormade

"Tailor Made"is a wonderful documentary about the last tailor shop in Vancouver Chinatown.  It opened in 1913.   It made most of the zoot suits in Vancouver during the 1940's.  Sean Connery's picture is there with the tailors Bill and Jack Wong.  It's a Chinatown success story, that mirrors the history of Vancouver Chinatown, as the original tailor had to pay a head tax to come to Vancouver, as his two sons fought for Canada during WW2 when Chinese weren't allowed to vote, as his sons were unabled to get hired as UBC graduated engineers due to still prevailing racist sentiments, and how the youngest son became one of Vancouver's leading philanthropists and cultural leaders.

Bill Wong the tailor loves to attended the Gung Haggis Fat Choy Dinner.  His son Steven paddles on our Gung Haggis Fat Choy dragon boat team.  This is a wonderful documentary that received a standing ovation at the Whistler Film Festival.

Bill and Jack's younger brother Milton Wong is one of Vancouver's important figures, and former chancellor of SFU, and known as the "grandfather of dragon boat racing" in Vancouver.  Both Milton and Steven were interviewed for a German public television documentary addressing multiculturalism in Vancouver.  The Gung Haggis Fat Choy dragon boat team was featured too!
Check out: http://wstreaming.zdf.de/zdf/veryhigh/071219_toronto_vancouver.asx

My own family has known the Wongs for many year, my aunts and uncles went to school with many of the Wong family members.  My uncle Laddie works as a tailor at Modernize Tailors.

In 2004, both the "Wong Way" dragon boat team and the Gung Haggis Fat Choy dragon boat team participated in a workshop to carve dragon boat heads at the Round House Community Centre.


Check the Modernize Tailors Website:
http://www.modernizetailors.blogspot.com/





Knowledge Network: Tailor Made http://tvschedule.knowledgenetwork.ca/knsch/KNSeriesPage.jsp?seriesID=101539&seriesTitle=tailormade

'Tailor Made' is being broadcast again in BC on Knowledge Network on the following dates:

• May 26/2009  10:00PM
• May 27/2009   2:00AM
• May 27/2009    7:00PM
  

Donna Lee's short documentary film, Broken Family, on the head tax redress movement and my family, is in a CBC Radio Canada contest called Migrations. It's made it to the semi-final rounds of a people's choice online voting competition.    more »

The Heart of the City Festival celebrates Chinese food and Chinese buildings - with stories of pioneers and their descendants

CHINESE CANADIAN HISTORICAL SOCIETY WRITERS
Sunday November 2, 1:30pm – 2:30pm
Chinese Benevolent Association of Vancouver, 108 E. Pender 3rd floor

Readings from the book "Eating Stories: A Chinese Canadian & Aboriginal Potluck" were featured at the at the Chinese Benevolent Association on Sunday.  The book was published by the Chinese Canadian Historical Society last year and quickly sold out its first printing.  I was part of the writing workshops that helped to create this anthology of stories about food, culture and history.

Scheduled to read were moderator George Jung, Dan Seto, Larry Wong and Bob Sung. Also scheduled was Shirley Chan, but she asked me to fill in for her late Saturday.... so I was a surprise reader.

The reading started off with a welcome and an historical explanation of the Chinatown heritage buildings such as the Chinese Benevolent Association, and how the many clan associations served to help the pioneer Chinese in Vancouver and Canada.

Dan Seto was the first reader.  He read his short story "Fong Luen Tong New Year Banquet" about the society set up for people with the names "Seto" or "Sit."

Bob Sung read second.  He read the story "A Lesson in Communication" about trying to impress a White Girl on a date in a Chinese restaurant, and how he kept mispronouncing the Chinese words so much that the waiter was laughing at him.

Larry Wong read third.  He read the story "Evening With Pop (1949)" about how his father would always bring food home late at night to share with him and his sister.

I read fourth.  I explained that my contributions were a blend of pictures and their descriptions.  The first picture I showed was me with my grandmother and girlfriend at Mother's Day 2007.

The second picture was me when I was 16 years old, holding two freshly caught salmon.  I explained how my mother's favorite way to cook fish was steamed with hot oil.

The third picture was the first picture ever taken of me wearing a kilt, back in 1993.  I was a tour guide at Simon Fraser University, and volunteers were needed to help with the university's traditional Robbie Burns ceremony.  This was when I first coined the phrase "Gung Haggis Fat Choy."

The final picture was taken at the 2005 Gung Haggis Fat Choy dinner with me holding a large haggis on a plate, while then Mayor Larry Campbell stabbed it with a knife.  I explained the origins of the dinner, and how it grew into a famous mix of cultural fusion of Chinese and Scottish food and culture.

George Jung was the final reader.  George read his story "Applesauce" which described how 102 year old Mrs. Der had climbed two steep flights of stairs to demand "Where is the money, the frefund for the head tax that my husband paid?"  He describes how Mrs. Der met Prime Minister Stephen Harper, and how the redress ex-gratia payment arrived too late after she dies.

 I counted 18 current and past Gung Haggis paddlers + Hillary's mom - in the audience - enough for a dragon boat team in competition! and 1/3 of the audience ..  Former paddler Elwin Xie had earlier in the day conducted his Chinese Laundry Boy tour of Chinatown for the Heart of the City Festival.

I acknowledged Savanah Walling in the audience - she is the co-founder of the Heart of the City Festival.  I met her in April when we both received the BC Community Achievement Award.

Sunday Night, CCHS writer Shirley Chan gave a reading of some of her writings from the Eating Stories book, following the presentation of the documentary Mary Lee Chan Takes on City Hall.  The film is about how Shirley's mother helped to stop the demolition of Strathcona neighborhood for freeway development.  Shirley's daughter Emma paddled on the Gung Haggis dragon boat team last summer.

See more pictures at:

Gung Haggis Fat Choy dragon boat team is BUSY this Sunday:
Paddler Stuart Mackinnon is running for Vancouver Parksboard
Paddler Dan Seto is giving a reading for Heart of the City Festival.

Gung Haggis paddler Stuart Mackinnon is running for Vancouver Parks Board.  Here he poses with his good friend Andrea Reimer who is running for Vancouver City Council - photo Todd Wong

For the past two Sundays, Gung Haggis Fat Choy dragon boat team continues to paddle for fun and fitness, after our last "race" at the Ft. Langley Canoe Club Cranberry Festival Regatta.  We have paddled to David Lam Park, then to Granville Island, here we have docked the boat and gone for a refreshing drink of juice, coffee, hot chocolate or even sake. 

Tomorrow Sunday Nov. 2nd is a very busy day, so it is important that we know how many paddlers are coming.   We have moved the 1:30 practice back to 3:00 to try to accommodate paddlers activities - so please contact Stephen Mirowski to indicate if you can attend.

Some team members are helping Stuart Mackinnon in the morning put his pamphlets in neighborhoods, as Stuart is running for Vancouver Parksboard for the Nov. 15th Civic election.  If you would like to help - please contact Stuart or Julie Wong: 

On Sunday, Stuart will be speaking at the all candidates Parks board meeting at the Roundhouse community centre, while paddler Dan Seto does a reading at the Chinese Benovolent Society.  I might also be reading along with Dan, as I have been asked to be a last-minute stand-in for fellow writer Shirley Chan.  We will be reading from the book Eating Stories: A Chinese Canadian and Aboriginal Potluck.

Please check out both of these worthy events:

CHINESE CANADIAN HISTORICAL SOCIETY WRITERS
Sunday November 2, 1:30pm – 2:30pm
Chinese Benevolent Association of Vancouver, 108 E. Pender 3rd floor

ALL CANDIDATES MEETING for Park Board Commissioners.
presented by Roundhouse Community
Arts and Recreation Society
Sunday, November 2, 2008
2:00pm to 4:00pm
(Performance Centre)

Redress for the WW2 internment of Japanese Canadians is one of Canada's most significant actions to address Canada's past racist history.

This weekend there is a conference to acknowledge the 20th Anniversary of the Japanese Canadian Redress.  http://redressanniversary.najc.ca/redress

Highlights include panel discussions on related topics, plus music and performances by dancer Jay Hirabayashi, and poets/authors Roy Miki and Hiromi Goto.

Conference Schedule

Day 1: Friday, September 19

Host Venue: Vancouver Japanese Language School and Japanese Hall, Vancouver, B.C.

Theme: Reflecting the past in the present

View Friday's Schedule

Day 2: Saturday, September 20

Venue: Nikkei Place and Alan Emmott Centre, Burnaby

Theme: In the present, imagining the future

View Saturday's Schedule

Day 2: Sunday, September 21

Venue: Nikkei Place and Alan Emmott Centre, Burnaby

View Sunday's Schedule

It was the 6 year old Canadian-born Generation Joy Kogawa that was put on a train in 1942 and sent with her 10 year old brother, Anglican priest father and mother, to the internment camps in the Kootenays.  This was done in the wake of Japan's bombing of the US naval base Pearl Harbour in Hawaii, and fears of a Japanese invasion of Canada's Pacific coast.  But no similar action was done against German ancestry descendants.   All Japanese-Canadians on the coast were sent to internment camps, and while there they suffered the indignity of having their houses and properties confiscated and auctioned off, supposedly to help pay for their internment.  The anti-Japanese racism extended years beyond WW2, as Canadian parliament enacted a dispersal policy, to restrict Japanese-Canadians from returning to the West Coast, sending them instead to work on beet farms across Canada, or to be "re-patriated" to Japan - even if they were born in Canada!

In 1988, Prime Minister Mulroney signed a redress settlement with Art Miki, and made an apology in Parliament.  This redress process also set in motion a redress movement for the Chinese Head Tax, when NDP MP Margaret Mitchell brought the issue to Parliament in 1984.  In 2006, Prime Minister Harper officially apologized for the Chinese Head Tax (initiated in 1885) and Chinese Exclusion Act (1923-1945), but failed to give a redress payment for all head tax certificates, whereas all Japanese-Canadians born up to 1947 were eligible for redress settlement.

I have been privileged to be involved in the struggle to save the childhood home of Joy Kogawa from demolition.  Kogawa's novel Obasan brought the Japanese-Canadian internment and struggle for redress to Canadians through literature.  NDP leader Ed Broadbent read a passage from Obasan in the House of Commons during the 1988 Parliamentary redress.

Ethnic issues and the Canadian Federal Election: Why the federal politicians are now paying attention.

As I drove into work this morning, CBC Radio's "The Current" was interviewing a Muslim-Canadian in Quebec and a Chinese-Canadian in Vancouver about the importance of ethnic issues for this upcoming federal election.

The Chinese head tax issue was cited by one of the interviewees as being an issue that caused problems for the Paul Martin and the Liberals.  Without a broad-based consultation of Chinese-Canadians directly affected by the head tax issue, the Liberals went ahead with their ACE program (Acknowledgement, Commemoration and Education) without an apology or a payment settlement plan.  This raised the ire of not only Chinese Canadians head tax descendants but also many non-Chinese Canadians who said this was unfair and unjust.  In the ensuing demonstrations and protest movement, I got to know Gabriel Yiu as one of many community activists working to bring the issue to public knowledge and government settlement.

Stephen Harper and his Vancouver colleagues saw the winds changing, and jumped on the head tax band wagon.  Even Liberals Ujjal Dosanjh, David Emerson and Stephen Owen found a "second opinion" distancing themselves from Paul Martin and Raymond Chan plan.  Harper eventually made an official apology in Parliament.  This was important because the Head Tax and Chinese Exclusion Act had been federal law.  The Conservatives also gave a settlement to surviving head tax payers and spouses, but not anybody who died before they were elected.  This was very unfair, as 99% of head tax payers and spouses were already dead.

Now Harper and the Conservatives are playing to the South Asian community for votes.  They are addressing the Komagat Maru incident but not giving an apology.

Gabriel Yiu has written a wonderful commentary, that I am re-publishing here:

South Asian community shouldn’t miss opportunity to redress Komagata Maru incident

Gabriel Yiu 

Global Chinese Press column 5.9.2008

Also submitted to Indo-Canadian Voice

 

In late 2005, the federal election was in full swing.  In the Chinese community, the Head Tax redress was the hottest issue.  The Liberals ran a close race against the Conservatives, so both parties made extraordinary efforts to fetch votes.

 

Raymond Chan, the Liberal Multicultural Minister at the time, set up a meeting in Vancouver Chinatown for his boss, Paul Martin, to make an announcement to redress the Chinese Head Tax.  This so-called “historical” redress offered no apology and no compensation, only a sum of money for community organizations.

 

The Liberals’ “historical” redress triggered Chinese activists like myself to step forward to fight it because it was unjust.

 

My view on the Head Tax is like this. For all the historical unjust matters and tragedies, the present-day government can decide not to take any action.  After all, we have enough more press modern issues for our politicians to handle.  However, if today’s government decided to redress this historical matter, the redress should be examined with today’s morals and values. The government offering an apology for an unjust historical wrong is the basic requirement.  A redress on the Head Tax without an apology is an insult to the Chinese community.

 

The CBC Early Edition interviewed me and Raymond Chan on the Liberals’ redress program.  I expressed my view and stated that community opinions expressed on Chinese open-line shows were one-sided -- overwhelmingly opposing the Liberal plan.  After I hung up, it was Raymond Chan’s turn. He said “Gabriel Yiu was lying” and “Gabriel Yiu was misleading the community....”  Wow, a federal cabinet minister scolded me in public on an English-language radio.  I wondered whether I was being attacked or being elevated.

 

After the election, the Conservative government made an apology for the Chinese Head Tax and the Chinese Exclusion Act.  So far, I haven’t seen any community come up and sue the government on other past historical wrong.  Raymond Chan’s claim that a government apology would open the floodgates to lawsuits that would cost taxpayers huge amounts of money has never materialized.  So who was lying and misleading the community in the last election?

 

Due to the strong reaction in the Chinese community, Prime Minister Martin was forced to change his position in the middle of his election campaign.  In an interview conducted on a Chinese radio channel, Martin apologized for the Chinese Head Tax.  A CBC reporter interviewed me and said I must be happy about it and my reply surprised the journalist.  I said, what kind of apology was that? Paul Martin didn’t offer his apology in a national press conference but merely uttered it in an ethnic language radio interview.  How sincere was it?  More importantly, the Chinese Head Tax and Chinese Exclusion Act were legislated in the Parliament.  If the government of Canada truly felt remorse, an apology should be made in the Parliament.  In the following week, Paul Martin promised to apologize in the Parliament after the election.

 

South Asian readers must find this familiar, mustn’t they? (That’s right, I’m submitting this commentary to both Chinese and South Asian newspapers.)  Looks like history is repeating itself.  Frankly, I am quite surprised to see Prime Minister Harper and Multicultural Minister Jason Kenney, who scored almost full marks on the Chinese Head Tax redress file, would screw up like this and repeat the mistake of Paul Martin/Raymond Chan.  It’s also incredible to see that Kenney, who has been working hard to connect to ethnic communities, should rule out immediately apology in the Parliament. Why should he draw such a hard line?  Was it a slip of the tongue?  Or is it an attitude problem?

Since the Conservative government has already apologized to Chinese and aboriginals in the Parliament, why would Harper insist in not apologizing to South Asians on the Komagata Maru affair?

The 2006 federal election had helped resolve the humiliation of the Chinese in the last century.  The South Asian community should grab this coming opportunity to put a fair and just full stop on the Komagata Maru incident.

 

Jason Kenney affirmed the announcement below. In addition, he named Wesley Lowe, to head the advisory panel which will oversee the evaluation of projects and disbursement of funds. While this announcement does not give recognition to the 99.3% of head tax certificates where the head tax payers or spouses are pre-deceased. It allows the community to move forward to create projects that are commemorative and educational, to help all Canadians understand the terrible systemic racism that Canada perpetuated against a single ethnic cultural group that spanned over 62 years, by means of the Chinese head tax (1885-1923), and the Exclusion Act (1923-1947).   more »

Raymond Louie could be Vancouver's first Chinese-Canadian mayor. He is a multi-generational Vancouverite from the East Side. He is a second term Vancouver city councilor. My statement of endorsement is now featured on Raymond Louie's website: "Raymond Louie actually lives the culturally diverse Gung Haggis Fat Choy lifestyle that is my creative world. His own family straddles many cultures and many generations, and he actively demonstrates that he understands the many facets that can make our city shine like a diamond. I have seen how Raymond makes things happen as a city councilor, bringing together different groups and perspectives such as arts, economics, heritage and cultures. As a mayor that empowers others to be their best, Raymond will be dynamic and our jewel of a city should shine even brighter."   more »

If my grandfather was alive, he would have been 140 years old. IMPOSSIBLE!!! He worked hard to pay back the head tax, most likely borrowed from relatives and family friends. $500 was charged from 1903 to 1923, after initially imposed at $50 in 1885 and raised to $100 in 1900..... It is time to fulfill the CCNC's proposal to the Conservative government submitted in 2005. Or did Stephen Harper and Jason Kenney conveniently forget about the sons and daughters left behind by their pre-deceased head tax payers and spouses.   more »

Last year in 2006, the Vancouver Sun published a list of 100 Influential Chinese-Canadians in B.C. in BC.... to much criticism - positive and negative.  I commented on my blog article: GungHaggisFatChoy :: Vancouver Sun: 100 Influential Chinese...

I am now working on my list of "Chinese-Canadians that inspired me in 2007"

I was inspired by seeing the name of Roy Mah, in the Vancouver Sun's list of people we lost in 2007, and shared the idea with my friend George Jung.   Rather than create a list of newsworthy or influential Chinese Canadians, we decided on CC's that inspired us.  This way there is NO official requirement or standards.  It is  very subjective and personal.

I also emailed some friends to create their own lists:  David Wong and Gabriel Yu have sent me replies.  David's list can be viewed on http://www.uglychinesecanadian.com

In no order, other than who came to mind first, who has crossed my path, and reviewing my blog www.gunghaggisfatchoy.com to remind myself who I wrote about in 2007.


Roy Mah - the founder of Chinatown News, was written about in the Vancouver Sun after celebrating his 90th birthday, as well as when the City of Vancouver declared July 12th Roy Mah Day, in recognition of his memorial service.  I have known Roy since I submitted an article back in the early '80's.  When he would make his regular trips to the Vancouver Public Library Central Branch, he would also wave to me sitting at the Information desk.
  
  
Thekla Lit for her work with Alpha Canada, promoting the film Rape of Nanjing, and inviting media and public to meet Comfort Women survivors.  Gabriel says that a columnist on the Global Chinese Press has named Thekla the Chinese-Canadian of 2007, as she and her husband Joseph have been busy on these issues for a long decade.  I got to know Thekla when she joined the committee for Chinese Head Tax Redress campaign in the months preceding the 2006 federal election.  She is a very smart women, not afraid to say what she thinks.


James Erlandsen - the young Eurasian SFU Student needing a bone marrow donor as he fights leukemia (James was named honourary drummer for the Gung Haggis Fat Choy Dragon boat team).  James reminded me so much of my own 1989 battle with cancer, even going to the same high school and university.  There have been ups and downs, and he still puts on a brave face.  I did a City TV interview with James, when James and I met for the first time.  It was James' cousin Aynsley who first contacted me about writing about James for my blog.
  
 
Tracey Hinder - the 15 year old inaugural BC CanSpell champion, featured in the CBC documentary GENERATIONS: The Chan Legacy.  People constantly told me after watching the documentary that they  thought that my young cousin Tracey was great in it.  She was very inspiring for the future of Canada, especially with Tracey's Eurasian heritage, learning Mandarin and being involved with her school's multiculturalism club.  This summer Tracey started an e-newsletter titled "Becoming Green" that gives suggestions how to create a more environmentally friendly lifestyle.  I knew from the beginning that Tracey had to be in the documentary.  The documentary also featured family elders Victor Wong, Helen Lee, and Gary Lee, artist/author Janice Wong and myself.  Read my blog stories about Generations: The Chan Legacy
Tracey Hinder, Betty Wong and Todd Wong re: Generations: The Chan Legacy

Henry Yu - UBC professor of History, chair and organizer of the Anniversaries for Change '07 events recognizing the 100th anniversary of the Anti-Asian Riots in Chinatown.  Henry has organized events at UBC and throughout Vancouver recognizing the impact on Vancouver made by the 1907 Anti-Asian riot in Vancouver Chinatown, the 1947 franchise for Chinese Canadians enabling them full citizenship rights, the new immigration act of 1967, and the 1997 handover of Hong Kong.  Henry has attended many Gung Haggis Fat Choy and Asian Canadian Writers' Workshop events over the past few years.  Henry always seems to have boundless enthusiasm and energy for all his projects.  But this past year was also significantly inspiring because he also became a cancer support person for his wife (see below).


Brandy Lien-Worrall - editor of Eating Stories: a Chinese Canadian and Aboriginal Potluck and All Mixed Up - a Hapa anthology.  It is easy to be impressed by all the writing and editing projects that Brandy is involved in.  I got to know Brandy better when I took the writing workshops sponsored by the Chinese Canadian Historical Society of BC.  I truly learned what an incredible dynamo she is. She pushed us to write creatively, and from the heart.  And it was fun to have my stories and pictures published in Eating Stories. Read: Eating Stories, a Chinese Canadian and Aboriginal Potluck: book launch Nov 25th at Vancouver Museum.  But more important to recognize is that Brandy finished editing Eating Stories in between chemotherapy treatments, after she was diagnosed with cancer in the summer.  Soon she started up a cancer blog in addition to her poem a day blog, and her 12 other blogs...  Just like James Erlandsen, Brandy is Eurasian... and also reminds me of my own cancer experience. 


Larry Wong, Todd Wong, Shirley Chan, Janice Wong with editor Brandy Lien Worrall at the Eating Stories anthology official book launch at Vancouver Museum - photo Deb Martin

more to come....

Jen Sookfong Lee -

Margaret Gallagher

Karin Lee

Bill Wong

Vicki Wong

Joseph Wu

Tricia Collins

see part II
More Chjinese Canadians that Inpired me in 2007: part 2

Head Tax survivors Mrs. Der and Ralph Lee

Sid Tan - head tax activist

Bev Wong - community activist on bone marrow and blood donors

Douglas Jung building at 401 Burrard St. 

Lan Tung, leader of Orchid Ensemble, incredible musician and creator of Triaspora

Wesley Lowe - film maker, creator of I Am the Canadian Delegate - story of Douglas Jung

George Chow - city councilor

Raymond Louie - city councilor

Jenny Kwan - MLA

Jim Chu - 1st Vancouver police chief of Asian ancestry

Assaulted Fish - sketch comedy troupe

Vancouver Asian Canadian Theatre VACT presented three productions in 2007, Cowboy VS Samaurai, Asian Comedy Night, and Bondage.

Twisting Fortunes duo - Charlie Cho and Grace Chin

Chinese Canadian veterans

I had a very interesting phone call from Toronto on Monday... a producer from CBC Radio's "The Current" phoned me to ask my views on the latest Canadian census results on language and immigration released December 4th. The questions considered the issues of should Canada adopt a 3rd official language. The CBC Radio producer also asked me if I was aware that Singapore now had four official languages. I told her that New Brunswick is the only province in Canada with two official languages, and that Singapore is a city-state. Hmmm..... food for thought....   more »

"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.... 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.    more »

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... Here's the statement by CCNC National President Colleen Hua issued the following statement on the passing of Mr. James Marr, Mrs. Victoria Yip and Mr. Ying Hope:   more »

What is the Redress Express, and what does it have to do with racism? 2007 is a significant year for anniversaries in Asian-Canadian history: 1907 - 100 year anniversary of the Chinatown riots by the Anti-Asiatic League 1947 - the end of the Chinese Exclusion Act and the beginning of franchise rights including voting for Canadians of Chinese ancestry. ~~~~~~~~~~ - Sid Chow Tan is now an "Artist" after his brief 5 minute talk & 10 minute video presentatsion of the journey of Head Tax Redress; Hank Bull (curator plus) stated that "If Sid's video isn't art, then I don't know what is!" - Victor Wong had an excellent talk on Head Tax & Redress titled "True Grits, Kwan Gung and Luck: The Inside Stories of the Head Tax Redress Campaign"   more »