Gung Haggis Fat Choy Dinners always emphasize BC's cultural and historical past and present. While we acknowledge the Scottish and Chinese pioneers that helped to shape this province of British Columbia, we also look to see where we are going and what kind of cultural fusion is happening. This year's program is amazing..... pictures + descriptions   more »

Every year I do media interviews. On Robbie Burns Day, I was woken up at 7am by a request from BBC Radio Scotland. Yesterday, I did an interview for French CBC television. Monday was Epoch Times. Last week the Georgia Straight did a food feature article. Somewhere in Scotland there is an interview in the Sunday Post. Even SFU, Seattle and North Shore News have stories about Gung Haggis Fat Choy Robbie Burns Chinese New Year Dinner this year. Check out the links:   more »

2009 featured photos in exhibits at Royal BC Museum and Scottish Parliament. Other highlights included the inaugural writer in residence program at Historic Joy Kogawa House, and Todd Wong's first visit to Scotland for the finale weekend of Homecoming Year. And there was the 250th anniversary of poet Robert Burns.    more »

Now Available: Tickets for Gung Haggis Fat Choy Robbie Burns Chinese New Year Dinner

- It's the 12 Anniversary of the "little dinner that could."

January 31st, Sunday 2010
Floata Seafood Restaurant
Vancouver Chinatown
Contact Firehall Arts Centre:
phone 604.689.0926

The Gung Haggis Fat Choy Robbie Burns Dinner has created an awareness of cultural fusion that has spanned international media, and been featured at the 2008 BC Canada Pavillion in Bejing during the 2008 Summer Olympics, the Royal BC Museum celebration exhibit of the 150th Anniversary of the province of BC, and a 2009 touring exhibition in Scotland titled This Is Who We Are: Scots in Canada.


Gung Haggis Fat Choy creator Todd Wong at the Scottish Parliament exhibition of THIS IS WHO WE ARE: Scots in Canada.  The exhibition featured a life sized photo of Wong and a video interview about the Gung Haggis Fat Choy Robbie Burns Chinese New Year Dinner, which features the acknowledgement of Chinese and Scottish pioneer history in Canada and contemporary culinary and cultural fusions.

Tickets are now on sale for the 12th Anniversary Dinner.
January 31st, Sunday, 2010
Floata Seafood Restaurant
Vancouver Chinatown
Doors open 5pm
Dinner starts 6pm

$60 + $5 service charge
or
$600 per table + $20 service charge
prices for students and children available.

Raffle Prizes are featured, as this dinner has traditionally been a fundraiser for: Gung Haggis Fat Choy dragon boat team, Asian Canadian Writers' Workshop/Ricepaper Magazine and Historic Joy Kogawa House.

Contact Firehall Arts Centre:
phone 604.689.0926
Visit the Firehall Box Office, 280 E. Cordova Street.
Box Office hours are: 9:30am - 5:00pm, Monday through Friday.

For media information
- contact: Todd Wong 778-846-7090
- email: gunghaggis@yahoo.ca

The origins of the dinner started with 16 people in a living room in 1998.  The next year it expanded to 40 people in a restaurant.  Soon it outgrew the first restaurant and expanded to 220 people in 2002.  Moving to a larger restaurant for 2003, and expanding to a 2-night event in 2004, serving over 500 people.  2005 saw the move to North America's largest Chinese restaurant and present home of the dinner where 570 people were accomodated.

A 2004 CBC telelevision performance special, Gung Haggis Fat Choy, was inspired by the dinner, and received two Leo nominations for best music performance, and best director of music performance.  In 2007, a CBC television documentary Generations: The Chan Legacy featured interviews with dinner creator Todd Wong, and film clips of the dinner.

A wide range of musical performers have been featured over the years including: fusion musicians Silk Road Music Ensemble, Dragon River Chinese Music Ensemble, Blackthorn celtic band, The Mad Celts, Chinese erhu master Ji-Rong Huang; opera singers Heather Pawsey, Veera Devi Khare; Jazz singer Leora Cashe.  Featured poets have included: Joy Kogawa, Rita Wong, Fred Wah, George McWhirter, Fiona Tin Wei Lam, Jim Wong-Chu, Sean Gunn and Tommy Tao.  The past 3 years have also featured sneak previews of Asian Canadian plays including: Mixie and the Half-Breeds, The Quickie, and Twisting Fortunes.

Todd Wong visits Scotland for Homecoming Year, the 250th Anniversary of the birth of Scottish poet Robert Burns.

For the 2010 dinner, creator Todd Wong has just returned from Scotland after visiting the birthplace of Scotland poet Robert Burns, and researching the displays of Burns for Homecoming Scotland, and museum exhibits on Scottish history and emmigration to Canada.  Wong is active in Chinese Canadian activities and visited Bejing and Xian in 1993.  He hopes to combine a merger of Scottish-Canadian and Chinese-Canadian history and culture in the Gung Haggis Fat Choy Robbie Burns Chinese New Year Dinner.

Another extravaganza of culinary and cultural fusion are expected for the 2010 dinner.  Details will be released each week leading up to the event.  Special guest speakers, media hosts, poets and musicians are confirmed or being confirmed.  The 2010 dinner will feature old traditions and new surprises, something borrowed and something brewed - especially created for the 2010 Gung Haggis Fat Choy Robbie Burns Dinner.

Tell your friends, and put a table of 10 together to enjoy the singalongs!
or come as a single or a double, and meet 8 brand new best friends for the evening at your table!
It's the most fun and intimate dinner for 500 you will ever attend!

The Japanese Canadian National Museum
Koto Concert - Chikako Kanehisa, a benefit concert for the National Nikkei Museum & Heritage Centre
Sunday, July 26, 2009, 3pm

Review by Devon Cooke
- for www.gunghaggisfatchoy.com

Theatre Under the Stars at Malkin Bowl in Stanley Park

July 15 to Aug. 22

Tickets $32 to $39,

www.tuts.ca

Falling in love is one of the most wonderful things in life.  There's lots of "falling in love" in the Thoroughly Modern Millie production by Theatre Under the Stars.  This makes it a wonderful choice to see with a date.

Diana Kaarina is wonderful as the title character Millie Dumount, who hops off a bus from Kansas and makes her way in New York City.  Set in 1922, Millie decides to find a rich husband, by seducing her boss.  Trouble is, first she has to get a job, and a place to live.. 

Millie settles in at the Hotel Priscilla, a place for young women.  It's on the wrong side of 42nd St., and run by the very strange Mrs. Meers - who may be Chinese or not.  Millie has a series of adventures that include getting a job as a stenographer, going to a speakeasy during prohibition, getting arrested, and going to a fabulous party in the penthouse suite of socialite Muzzy van Hossmere.

Everything about this musical is campy, and over the top.  The music is a pastiche of well-known melodies from other productions.  The plot contains misplaced identities, misunderstood intentions, star-crossed lovers, and a kidnapping.  But the wonderful dancing and singing numbers make you forget that everything seems cliched.  Indeed, Thoroughly Modern Millie is designed to pay homage to old musicals, with tongue-in-cheek fun.

Diana Kaarina brings a lot of experience to this production.  She created the role of Miss Dorothy Brown (Millie's BFF) for the First National tour of Thoroughly Modern Millie (2003).  Kaarina brings lots of Broadway experience, having been the closing Eponine in Les Miserables (2003) and also playing roles in Rent and The Phantom of the Opera.

Kaarina brings a touching humaness to the character of Millie.  She isn't just the talk-talking gold digger who wants to marry her boss, but she also cares for her friends and is willing to make sacrifices.

All the lead roles are played well.  Meaghan Anderssen plays the ditzy Miss Dorothy Brown with great comic aplomb, which she did so very well in last year's TUTS production of Annie Get Your Gun.

Danny Balkwill plays Jimmy Smith, the poor but dashing young son of a gardener.  Audience members might recognize him as one of the competitors in Canadian Idol. 

Seth Drabinsky plays Trevor Graydon, the boss that Millie wants to marry.  Drabinsky excells in elocution, as he sings "The Speed Test" which is a Gilbert & Sullivan parody, complete with Busby Berkeley styled dancing.  Wow!

I didn't expect to see Asian-Canadian actors or Asian characters in Thoroughly Modern Millie.  But it was there in subtle ways... and not so subtle ways.  The program points out that lead actor Diana Kaarina is Half -Finnish and Half-Chinese. Either way, she is still a beauty, similar to Smallville actor Kristin Kreuk who ancestry is Half-Dutch/Half-Chinese.

The subplot involves the character of Mrs. Meers who runs the Hotel Priscilla, and also employs two Chinese henchmen for a side business of kidnapping.  Sarah Rodgers is over the top, as Mrs. Meers - so highly unbelievable character, that she can only exist in a musical.  Aaron Lau and Daeyoung Danny Kim play the characters of Ching Ho and Bun Foo.  They strive to make the characters realistic, speaking in only Chinese, and also performing some martial arts moves on stage.

While I found it refreshing to see Asian actors playing authentic Chinese characters speaking good Chinese, without being traditionally stereotyped. The stereotypes still persisted in other ways.

Racial stereotypes of Chinese in Thoroughly Modern Millie

I was shocked that this musical contained lots of out-dated Chinese stereotypes including: a Chinese laundry, kidnapping for white slavery, bad Chinese accents, and a female actor in "white face" playing a white woman masquerading as a Chinese woman. Much less culturally sensitive than Robert Downey Jr playing a black man in Tropic Thunder

Part of the sub-plot is that white girls are sold into white slavery and shipped off to China, by the character of Mrs. Meers, a white woman dressed up as a Chinese woman - who doesn't even have a proper Chinese accent - She keeps mis-prounouncing her "L's" as "R's"

She keeps saying things like "Ssssso saaaad, to be arrrr arrrrone in dis worrrrld"

I realize that this is supposed to be a fun frothy romp, and every character is stereotyped to extreme measures...

Actual Asian ethnic actors play the Asian roles and do NOT speak in bad Chinese accents - but actually in good Cantonese.  The play makes fun of the stereotypes...

But I still felt uncomfortable watching the perpetuation of racist stereotypes in this way.  There are many people in today's audience who don't realize the origins of such stereotypes, nor the harm that was caused over decades of racism.

Check out what the Asian American theatre review had to say about the two Chinese henchmen, singing "Mammy" in Chinese - originally sung by Al Jolson, wearing a "black face" when he played a black man on stage.
http://www.aatrevue.com/Old/Millie.html

The original movie was made in 1967 starring Julie Andrews and Mary Tyler Moore. Japanese-American actor comics Jack Soo and Pat Morita played the Chinese henchmen. The Broadway musical debuted in 2002, with the roles of the Chinese henchmen expanded. They only speak in proper Chinese. It's the white actress playing a white woman who disguises ... Read Moreherself as a pastiche of Asian stereotypes and accents. The purpose was to "cleverly" make fun of racial stereotypes. Almost every character is stereotyped to extremes in this post-modern Broadway musical.

It's arguable that the perpetuation of stereotypes in any form is still de-humanizing and destructive OR have we come far enough that we should be able to recognize such stereotypes for what they are, and be able to laugh at the stupidity and ridiculousness of the people who perpetuate them?

The best use of "Clever" parodying of racial stereotypes was in Marty Chan's "Mom, Dad, I'm Living With A White Girl." The stereotypes take place in the main character's dream about him mother and father becoming a dragon lady and her loyal henchman. In this case, the context is about racial and cultural stereotypes, and easily understood by the ... Read Moreaudience.

But in Millie, while the 2 Chinese characters are played very straight and respectful, speaking in good cantonese, and humourously holding up sheets of laundry for a clever display of "subtitles" - The fact remains that they are still Chinese laundry workers, part of a "white slavery" kidnapping operation.

The character of Mrs. Henessey is still a white woman pretending to be Asian, by wearing a "painted face", speaking mixed up Asian accent, and perpetuating stereotypes.  Check out youtube portrayals of Mrs. Meers.
http://www.youtube.com/results?feature=moby&search_query=thoroughly+modern+millie+they+don%27t+know&search_type=&aq=0&oq=thoroughly+modern+millie+they+d

Otherwise - the cast is GREAT!
And the lead who plays the title character Millie Dumont is Broadway veteran, Vancouver born Diana Kaarina, half-Chinese and half-Finnish.

Other reviews

Vancouver Sun review: Millie shines in a show burdened by too much business

Georgia Straight: Thoroughly Modern Millie full of relentless enthusiasm

Gay Vancouver Review: Thoroughly Modern Millie is throughouly enjoyable | Theatre

Flower Drum Song makes you laugh and sing...
It's Rogers and Hammerstein in 1950's San Francisco Chinatown!

May 29-June 14
Waterfront Theatre
Directed by Rick Tae
Produced by Joyce Lam
Vancouver Asian Canadian Theatre
www.vact.ca

This VACT production is amazing, it should become a Vancouver regular.  Who knew Asian Canadians could put on such a good song and dance musical, worthy of being included into "Theatre Under the Stars" or at any of Metro Vancouver's stages. 

Actor Jimmy Yi is a knockout!  He plays Sammy Fong the night club owner who might or might not get married to Linda Low, played coquettishly by Lannette New.  But Linda might also marry Wang Ta, played by Isaac Kwok.  Or Ta might marry Mei Li (Rosie Simon).  And somebody else also has a crush on Ta.  Sound confused?  You should be.  It's a classic Love triangle times 2 with some great songs and dance numbers thrown in.

But then there is also Ta's father Wang Chi Yang, played by BC Lee (now known as the former Vancouver City Councilor), who wants to lay down the family law as he insists that Ta should be married, and sets out to set up a traditional Chinese style arranged marriage.  Gee... Sammy Fong has a picture order bride just arrived into town... how convenient.

Jimmy Yi as Sammy Fong with Lannette New as Linda Low - photo courtesy of VACT

Okay... forget that the characters and the setting are Asians in San Francisco's Chinatown.  This could be a plot similar to Shakespeare's As You Like It, or Gershwin's Girl Crazy, or Lerner and Lowe's Brigadoon, or Rogers and Hammerstein's South Pacific.  Love, trying to find the right person, and the ensuing moral dilemmas are universal themes in every language and culture. 

Flower Drum Song originally debuted in 1958 on Broadway with dance great Gene Kelly choreographing the moves.  This Rogers and & Hammerstein musical has everything.  Dancing, singing, corny jokes, love stories... and controversy!  It's a classic tale of old traditions versus assimilation into the New World. Addressing social issues within the Broadway musical format is the legacy of Rogers and Hammerstein.  They aptly addressed racism, sexism and classism with their hits Oklahoma, Carousel, The King and I, South Pacific and The Sound of Music. In particular, The Sound of Music addressed how some Austrians objected to Nazi Germany taking over their country prior to WW2.  The King & I addressed how the kingdom of Siam dealt with and resisted the growing colonialism of Asia by European nations.

Set in 1950's era San Francisco, this VACT production addresses the nostalgia of the era.  Director Rick Tae has found the balance for the show in a post-modern politically correct environment, by willingly playing up the campiness of the 50's beatnik era language.

It is the older brother Ta (Isaac Kwok), the first born son, that is caught in the middle.  He wants to please his father, but he also wants to forge his own identity.  Kwok is a recent graduate from Capilano University's Musical Theatre program and does a good job in the lead role, singing and acting his way between the show's generation and love match issues.  His strong voice and good looks should could easily find him cast in leads for Brigadoon and other shows. 

Lannette New has a tough job, living up to the role of Linda Low played so excellently by Nancy Kwan in the 1961 movie.  The Low character is flamboyant role of a night club performer - sexy and independent - not your typical Chinese daughter-in-law material. New reigns in the energy with sweetness and presence.

With Vancouver's huge Chinese population, you would think ethnic Chinese actors would get tired of the perennial stereotypecasting playing Chinese waiters, kung fu baddies, chinadolls and gangsters.  But where do people get the chance to expand their horizons and resume lists?

For the past 10 years, Vancouver Asian Canadian Theatre has been producing plays to showcase Asian Canadian talent, and feature works by North American Asian playwrights such as David Henry Hwang.  Asian comedy nights have become annual features that grew into sketch comedy contests.  The Sex in Vancouver series was adapted from the Sex in Seattle series originated by Kathy Hsieh and Serin Ngai's

Producer and president, Joyce Lam also had a vision to put on Rogers and Hammerstein's Flower Drum Song as a full production in Vancouver.  Incredibly, it had never happened before.  Two years ago she saw Jimmy Yi, in the staged reading by APPLAUSE! Musical Society, and in that moment, she knew she had her casting for Sammy Fong.

Amazingly, the original 1958 production got six Tony Award nominations, and spun off some national tours and the popular 1961 musical film version. It also marked the first time in musical history that a mostly Asian cast appeared on the Broadway stage.

But the work and film fell out of favour in the late 1960's due to criticism of the gender and racial stereotyping of the era, in the wake of the rising civil rights movement.

In 2002, playwright David Henry Hwang reworked the original music and storyline for a Broadway revival that received multiple Tony nominations, a Grammy nomination for the soundtrack.

More later

Is "Flower Drum Song" an Asian-American version of "Sound of Music" by Rodgers & Hammerstein?

Just as the Von Trapp family hiked over the mountains for a chance of freedom from Nazi tyranny, the characters of Flower Drum Song find happiness in the pursuit of the "American Dream" both as immigrants coming to a new country, and as Americans finding their place.  The Flower Drum Wong musical (1958) was based on the book by C.Y. Lee (1957), and a movie version directed by Gene Kelly came out in 1961.

Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein had previously written musicals with Asian themes such as South Pacific (1949) and The King & I (1951).  Watching the movie versions as I grew up, I was always interested because they had Asian characters and actors.  The original musical and movie of Flower Drum Song became considered full of racist stereotypes during the American Civil Rights movement, but like the 1910 song "Chinatown My Chinatown" penned by Jerome & Schartz, it has an affectionate place in the hearts of many North American Asians.

About  year ago, I watched the movie version on dvd, and was amazed by the commentary from playwright David Henry Hwang, who re-wrote Flower Drum Song for a post-colonial America and stated, "I tried to write the book that Oscar Hammerstein would have written if he were Asian-American." 

I really enjoyed watching the original movie.  There are great highlights such as Nancy Kwan singing "I Enjoy Being a Girl", "A Hundred Million Miracles" performed by Miyoshi Umeki.  Most fantastic is the jazz dance sequence of the song "Chop Suey" is addresses the melting pot/cultural fusion of Asian America.  My friend Dan Seto always says that the song "Grant Avenue" is famous, and was very happy on his first visit to San Francisco to actually stand on Grant Avenue in Chinatown.  It would be as if Rodgers & Hammerstein had set the story in Vancouver Chinatown and wrote a song about "Pender Street."

Check out this press release from Vancouver Asian Canadian Theatre and buy your tickets!

VACT CELEBRATES ANNIVERSARY OF RODGERS & HAMMERSTEIN MUSICAL

WITH AN ALL-ASIAN CAST

Rodgers & Hammerstein’s FLOWER DRUM SONG * May 29 to June 14, 2009

 

 

 

VANCOUVER, BC (April 2, 2009) – Continuing to celebrate 10 successful years as the city’s premiere Asian Canadian theatre company, Vancouver Asian Canadian Theatre (VACT) is excited to announce that it will be staging Rodgers & Hammerstein’s FLOWER DRUM SONG from May 29 to June 14 at The Waterfront Theatre on Granville Island.

 

This is the very first time that this Tony award-winning Broadway musical will be presented in Vancouver as a full production, during this, the 50th anniversary of the play. Another milestone for Vancouver theatre will be the all-Asian-Canadian cast, along with an Asian Canadian production team that includes director Rick Tae, choreographer Raphael Wong, set designer Janice Chiu, costumer designers Joyce Chung, Jeannine Sheares-Moon and producer Joyce Lam. Rounding out the team will include musical director Christopher King and lighting designer Darren Hales.

 

Other notable highlights include actor and former Vancouver city councillor BC Lee and local Asian comedian Tom Chin, in a cast of eighteen that stars Issac Kwok as young and impressionable Wang Ta, Rosie Simon as shy pre-arranged bride Mei Li, Jimmy Yi as hipster nightclub owner Sammy Fong and Lannette New as ready-for-the-altar showgirl Linda Low.

 

And adding to the experience, VACT will include the use of sur-titles – Chinese text that’s displayed above the stage so that non-English speaking Chinese members of the audience will be able to follow along with the lyrics and the dialogue. This is the second time that VACT has decided to use this visual aid to welcome as many members of the local Asian community as possible – the first time being VACT’s successful run last summer of the Asian version of Neil Simon’s THE ODD COUPLE.

 

Rodgers & Hammerstein’s FLOWER DRUM SONG, set in San Francisco’s Chinatown of the late 50’s, takes a “colourful” approach to the age-old conflict that affects even the traditional immigrant family – the Generation Gap. Sammy’s folks have arranged a bride for him from China, hoping to sever his relationship with showgirl Linda. Mei Li arrives shy and naive – totally wrong for the modernized Sammy. But, she just may be the ticket for Sammy’s buddy Ta, whose dad is trying to prevent his kids from discovering rock ‘n roll, baseball, sports cars – a losing battle. However, Ta is smitten with the sexy Linda – because she “enjoys being a girl.” Suddenly Sammy has to figure out how to get Ta and Mei together so he can be with Linda. Of course, singing and dancing ensues.

 

FLOWER DRUM SONG, first performed on Broadway in 1958, is seeing a revival lately. It had fallen out of favour over the years as diversity awareness redefined how minorities should be portrayed in the media. However, VACT’s production will keep all of the original language of the play and attitudes of the day intact. “Doing this, our audience will be able to see the distinction in how far we’ve come and also be able to reminisce about the past with a satirical sense of humour, “ says director Rick Tae. “It’s just amazing how far we’ve come,” adds producer and VACT founder Joyce Lam.  “We have 18 terrific actors and singers in this cast. I remember clearly 10 years ago how we struggled to find 3 experienced Asian actors in all of Vancouver for our first play.”

 

For more information, including cast and crew bios, please visit http://www.vact.ca.

 

Event Details

Rodgers & Hammerstein’s FLOWER DRUM SONG

@ The Waterfront Theatre

1412 Cartwright Street, Granville Island, Vancouver

May 28: Preview

May 29, 30, 31, June 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14

 

Tickets Details

Purchase in Advance:

By phone (604) 684-2787 with a $2.50 service charge

By online www.vact.ca or wwww.ticketstonight.ca

Group Rates, please call (778) 885-1973

 

*Preview performance Thursday May 28 at 8pm - $20

(only available online at www.vact.ca or cash-only at door)

*All Wednesday/Thursday/Friday/Saturday evening performances at 8pm –

$29 in advance/$35 cash-only at door

*Saturday/Sunday matinees at 2pm (except Wednesday June 3 matinee at 1pm) –

$24 in advance/$30 cash-only at door

 

*Limited Rush Tickets: $17.50 cash-only at the door (max 2 per person)

*Students and Seniors (65+): $20 cash-only at door

What is the C-Word that is the meaning of life?

The C-Word cast (Foreground, from left): Preet Cheema (Akesh Gill), Grace Chin (Kelly Cho), Sheryl Thompson (Ashley Hennessey). (Background, from left): Fane Tse (Steve Chung), Raahul Singh (Pal Prasad). Photo by Terry Wong, courtesy of The C-word.

The C-Word  April 2, 3, 4, 9, 10, 11, 2009
written by Grace Chin
at the Playwrights Theatre Centre on Granville Island, Vancouver

The C-Word is an engaging play... even before you sit down in the seats.  What is the C-Word?  Is it for  Chinese?  Or the derogatory Chink word?  Does it mean Coloured?  Is it a four letter word that belongs below the belt?  One for male appendage, or for female anatomy?

Is the C-Word something more abstract, profound and perhaps "Complicated"?

Or is it "Compassion" or "Cheating"?

In the opening scene, "The Love Guru" is giving a seminar on how to get some action for his male clients.  Pal Prasad (played by Raahul Singh), gives a short talk about goals, and what it takes to follow through.  It's about intention and going after what you want.  It could be any personal development seminar, but this is about the C-word.

Next we meet girlfriends Kelly Cho and Akesh Gill played by Grace Chin and Preet Cheema.  They are on a shopping trip and talking about Kelly's upcoming wedding plans.  Soon we learn that Kelly has a live-in boyfriend named Steve Chung (Fane Tse) who is a yellow guy, while Akesh is single, but she doesn't like brown guys.

Things become complicated when Steve goes to see his old friend Pal to ask for some advice, and compare his relationship and impending marriage with Kelly to Pal's long term "open relationship" to a blonde woman named Ashley (Sheryl Thompsson).  What follows becomes an intercultural Vancouver-style dramedy of errors, innuendo, suppositions on the study of relationships. 

Excuse me... the proper words are cheating, commitment, compassion, change, comic and consolation - after all this is "The C-Word."

"The C-Word" is the third play by Grace Chin.  Twisting Fortunes was co-written with her TF Productions partner Charlie Cho, and was a delightful comedic romp, set to Vancouver's caffeine drive.  "The Quickie", Chin's first solo playwright experience, explored multicultural speed dating.  "The C-Word" goes to the next level, exploring a search for meaning in relationships.  This is Chin's most frank and sexual play to date, and hints at the darker sides of relationships and human nature, not to mention weddings.

In all three productions, Vancouver's multicultural society is the setting, but it is the intercultural nature of the characters where the culture clashes occur.  It's not just a Chinese-Canadian 2nd generation immigrant experience that is explored, but also South Asian this time around too.  And somehow this is juxtoposed with what might be mainstream Canadian or possibly alternative sexual lifestyles.

From the beginning, the characters are all interesting and engaging.  The topics are easily relateable to the audience... unless you don't have any friends of a different ethnicity, or have never dated.  The pacing is good, and the diaglogue never flags.

The casting all works.  Raahul Singh has fun being the egotistical "Love Guru" and his character makes reference to the Mike Myers movie.  More cultural references abound as character development exploration occurs when Kelly and Ashley try to figure each other out, and what their men may see in each other.  Here the extremely self-critical Kelly tries to get a handle on the brazen Ashely, she labels a "Samantha" compared to her "Miranda" - or is she really a Carrie Bradshaw?  Grace Chin actually displays a bit of each of the Sex in the City characters in her role of Kelly.

Much of the action revolves around Kelly and Pal, but while Steve's character seems stalled and doesn't give Fane Tse a big range to play with, Preet Cheema gets to push her character Akesh in the 2nd Act.  Supporting actors Lili Lau Cook and Vincent Cheng provide wonderfully surprising turns as Kelly's parents.  Mel Tuck directs this ensemble cast.

Previous productions

a take-out love story	an accidentally Asian romantic dramedy

Web: www.scriptingaloud.ca/cword

See previews in Review Vancouver and Vancouverplays.com.

The C-Word is a new play by Grace Chin...

Gung Haggis members saw her first play Twisting Fortunes and the 2nd play "The Quickie"

Both were featured as sneak preview excerpts at Gung Haggis Fat Choy dinners in 2007 and 2008.

Check out Grace's play "The C-Word"

The C-Word cast (from left): Preet Cheema (Akesh Gill), Sheryl Thompson (Ashley Hennessey), Grace Chin (Kelly Cho), Fane Tse (Steve Chung), Raahul Singh (Pal Prasad). Photo by Terry Wong, wonger.ca

From http://www.scriptingaloud.ca/cword/

If cheating is colour blind, so is commitment, increasingly a "C-word" to both sexes. How do you deal with intercultural cheating, commitment, and consequences? The C-Word, a contemporary, set-in-Vancouver dramedy directed by Mel Tuck, invites an intimate in-and-out of the bedroom view of four friends' lives when infidelity and unforeseen consequences force them to choose to whom, and to what, they must commit. More

Playwrights Theatre Centre, Granville Island
1398 Cartwright Street, Vancouver, BC

Thurs Apr 2 - Sat Apr 4
Thurs Apr 9 - Sat Apr 11
All shows 8 pm

Tickets:
$18 online (PayPal)
"2 for $30" Thursday April 9
$20 at the door

DOOR PRIZES MOST NIGHTS

To buy tickets in advance and for more information:
www.scriptingaloud.ca/cword
cwordplay@gmail.com

Celticfest is one of Vancouver's most exciting ethno-cultural festivals:
Saturday I will check out "Battle of the Bards" King O' Men (about Robbie Burns, and the annual Gung Haggis Fat Choy entry in the St. Patrick's Day Parade.

Celticfest started on Wednesday and goes to Sunday March 15th.  St. Patrick's Day is on Tuesday March 17th.

Check out the website: www.celticfestvancouver.com for lots of great events featuring Ashley McIssac, Lunasa, Irish Pipes Regiment, Battle of the Bards etc. etc.

This year there is a play about Robbie Burns, titled King O'Men - featuring bagpiper Rob McDonald and actor John Hardie.  All the more to celebrate the 250th Anniversary of the birth of poet Robert Burns.

I was involved in the augural "Battle of the Bards" event last year, playing poet Robbie Burns.  It's a great fun event, where performers "channel" the spirit of the poets, and read the poems.   Check out my story from last year: www.GungHaggisFatChoy.com :: Toddish McWong's "Robert Burns" wins Battle of the Bards

The annual St. Patrick's Day Parade is lots of fun too!  We usually hang out at the Celticfest Village following the parade.  This year's parade is on Georgia St.  Starting at Broughton, the parade route heads East ending at Howe St.  The Village is on the North lawn of the Vancouver Art Gallery.

Check out my story from last year: www.GungHaggisFatChoy.com :: Gung Haggis Fat Choy puts a dragon (not a snake) in the parade.

Here are 3 events that I will be attending - hope to see you there!

Saturday March 14 2:00 PM – 6:00 PM

Battle of the Bards - A Literary Pub Crawl and Grand Finale Three cheers! The Battle of the Bards is back for 2009, whisking you along on a flying tour of Granville Street’s best Irish pubs. Dynamic spoken word artists Sean McGarragle, Duncan Shields and Warren Dean Fulton channel W.B. Yeats, Oscar Wilde and Robbie Burns respectively as they duke it out to be crowned “top bard” in an on-the-move poetry slam-style contest, judged by members of the audience in each venue. The crawl culminates at The Cellar, where the bards will do final “battle” with Vancouver’s first official poet laureate George McWhirter presiding over the event. Expect plenty of artistic license as the performers offer their own hilarious perspectives on the masters with the help of improv fiddler Caitlan Read. Who will be this year’s “top bard”? Why don’t you be the judge!

Pub Crawl Round 1 - 2:00 PM @ Doolin's Irish Pub Round 2 – 2:45 PM @ Ceili’s Irish Pub Round 3 – 3:30 PM @ Johnnie Fox's Irish Snug No admission charge @ Pub Crawl venues Open Mic & Finale Event The Cellar, 1006 Granville St. @ Nelson 4:25 PM to 6:00 PM

Saturday March 14 2 shows: 2:00 PM & 4:00 PM

King o' Men - A Robbie Burns Stage Play & 250th Birthday Tribute Featuring John Hardie & Rob MacDonald A literary and musical costumed event that will send you spinning back in time to the glorious days of Scotland’s most legendary poet and lyricist. 2009 marks the 250th anniversary of the birth of Robbie Burns, a cultural icon in Scotland and around the world. This tribute features Rob MacDonald, a local piper, Chairman of “A Swarm of Drones” and a Burns aficionado. He’ll be telling the fascinating story of the life and times of Burns and playing some of the tunes Robert set words to. His performance will be followed by King o’ Men, an exciting new one-man play directed by writer and actor John Hardie and making its Vancouver premiere at CelticFest. The production imagines one of Burns’ closest and oldest friends reminiscing to a curious journalist following the news of the great poet’s final passing. This show will appeal to loyal fans of Scotland's favourite literary son as well as those who are new to Burns’ story and works. Here's what Chris White, Artistic Director of the Ottawa Folk Festival, had to say about a recent production of the play at the National Arts Centre: "With minimal set and few props, Hardie delivered the piece with enormous skill and subtlety, somehow managing to be humorous, informative and intensely moving all at once. The performance, which elicited an overwhelmingly positive audience response, is one that I will be forever grateful to have witnessed."

Tom Lee Music - Music Hall 3rd floor - 929 Granville St.

Sunday March 15
11:30 AM

6th Annual St. Patrick's Day Parade

Where can you find hundreds of thousands of people, all seized with Celtic fever? At the St. Patrick’s Day Parade, of course! This year the parade travels a new route along Georgia Street, beginning at Broughton St., ending up at the Celtic Village outside the Vancouver Art Gallery at Georgia and Howe. Round up your family and friends (and favourite green attire) and enjoy the spectacle of over 2,000 colourfully costumed participants, from pipers and drummers to acrobats and stilt-walkers. The price is still right – absolutely free!

Presented by Downtown Vancouver Business Improvement Association

BLOGGERS RULE at the Vancouver Opera... Live Blogging for Rigoletto!

Local Bloggers sat in the lobby during intermission, live blogging opening night at Rigoletto. (l-r) Monique Trottier "So Misguided", Rebecca Bollwit "Miss 604", Tanya "Netchick", Kimli "Delicious Juice" - photo Todd Wong

Opera is one of the most intercultural art forms.  It forces its audience to listen to foreign languages, as it tells stories from different cultures.  Okay, it also presents a lot of stereotypes and racial chariactures too!  But today's productions will balance historic stereotypes with 21st Century sensitivity for cultural diversity.

Vancouver Opera has been one of the most innovative arts organizations to find new ways to market themselves, whether creating Manga comics for promotion, marketing to the Asian population base in Vancouver with the Voices of the Pacific Rim recital, or beginning live blogging with Carmen and now Rigoletto operas.

Opening Saturday Night at Vancouver Opera, there are lots of people dressed up in the finery.  The lineups are deep and long for the cappucinos or wine.  Over at the East side of the lobby, 6 bloggers sit madly typing into their laptop computers during intermission.  It's Live Blogging Night at the Opera.  It started with a few bloggers being invited to blog Carmen in January.  And now a few more have been invited to blog Rigoletto. 

Some of the audience members are curious.  Some are demanding.  Some are complaining about the sound in the balcony.  One audience member insists that they are not having a true opera experience unless they are drinking wine.  One of the bloggers writes that she is having sooo much fun people watching, she finds it hard to touch type at the same time.

I bring out my camera and ask the bloggers for a picture.  Actually I yell out, "Bloggers... smile for the camera!"

They all look up and smile.  I will post the picture laters...

I recognize Miss 604 Blogger, Rebbecca Bollwitt.  She recognizes me and writes on her blog that "We were just visited by Karen Hamilton of TinyBites.ca who is here to enjoy the show as well as Gung Haggis Fat Choy.

Rebbecca Bollwit "Miss 604", Todd Wong "Gung Haggis Fat Choy", Tanya "Netchick" - photo A. Youngberg/T. Wong

Back on January 18th, she was live blogging the Canucks hockey game.  I comment that she probably wishes she was at the Canucks vs San Jose game.  She says "yeah." 

It turns out that blogger NetChick is a rower, now interested in dragon boat paddling.  I tell her that my Gung Haggis Fat Choy dragon boat team has been featured on television documentaries for German and French public television, as well as the CBC.  It would be pretty cool, if she joined our dragon boat team... we have lots of opportunities for blogging.  Oops, I forgot to tell her we will have a parade entry in the annual St. Patrick's Day Parade.

At the opera, it's always interesting to see who is there in the audience.  I spy an older couple, a male caucasian with an Asian woman.  They are always at major arts events.  I think he used to work at the CBC.

I chat with Doug Tuck, VOA Marketing and Selina Rajani, Communications/Media.  I introduce them to my date for the evening, Alexandra Youngberg, my CUPE 391 Vancouver Library workers president.  Alex loves this production of Rigoletto.  She loves music and sings in a choir.  Alex has even sung O Solo Mio, while I played my accordion.

The 2nd and 3rd Acts are wonderful ( I will write my formal review tomorrow).  Some members of the audience give a standing ovation to Eglise Gutierrez who plays Gilda, Rigoletto's daughter.  We all stand up up for Donnie Ray Albert who plays Rigoletto.  It's quite the multicultural cast.  Donnie Ray is African-American, born in Louisiana.  Eglise is born in Cuba.  Sam Chung, Chinese-Canadian born in Winnipeg, steps out of the Vancouver Opera chorus to play his first supporting role with Vancouver Opera in the role of Matteo Borsa. I congratulate Sam at the reception following.

During the reception, I also chat with Michael Mori, who is hapa Japanese-Canadian.  Kinza Tyrell, chorus master tells me how exciting this production is, and asks me how I know Sam and Michael.  "Well... through events at Joy Kogawa House, because we really supported, and raved about the Naomi's Road opera. 

James Wright, VOA General Director congratulates the cast at the opening night reception - photo T. Wong

My old friend Walter Quan is here!  We first met back in 1986, while we were volunteers for the Salt Water City exhibit celebrating 100 years of Vancouver Chinatown history.  We recently had lunch in Victoria 2 weeks ago, when I had to return the life-size photos to the Royal BC Museum.

Opera Manager James Wright spots me, and waves at me.  So does orchestra concertmaster Mark Ferris, who along with his wife Gloria, have been friends for years. Mark performed at the 2004 Gung Haggis Fat Choy dinner. Meanwhile, the bloggers are noshing at the food tables, taking pictures of the event, and chatting amongst themselves.

I think it's great that Vancouver Opera is connecting with bloggers.  Back in December 2004, I blogged my own review of the VOA production of Madama Butterfly: Madama Butterfly Review: Vancouver Opera Nov 27 to Dec 11.

Since then, I have also reviewed:


Check out the opera night blogs:

• 
  Miss 604
  Rigoletto and Blogger Night at the Opera
• 
  
• So Misguided

  It’s Not Over Until ... Rigoletto Cries Out

  
  
• NetChick

  Live blogging Rigoletto

  
  
• 
  delicious juice

  rigoletto!

  
  
• A View from the Isle

  And we begin, Blogger Night at the Opera: Rigoletto commences
• 
  

Gung Haggis Fat Choy is always a wonderful event for photographs. Special thanks to our incredible photographers Patrick Tam, Lydia Nagai and VFK. If you like their photos, please contact them and purchase them. We have asked them to put "water marks" on their photos, so that we will advertise and promote them. They help us with our event, because they believe in the community work and social consciousness raising that we do. + PICTURES   more »

Hi everybody... A wonderful job by everybody last night - Veteran Gung Haggis performers Joe McDonald and Heather pronounced last night as "The Best Gung Haggis Dinner yet" And Dr. Leith Davis said it was the best Burns Supper she had ever attended - and she just spent 2 weeks in Scotland for Homecoming Scotland! Congratulations to everybody. The energy was brilliantly contagious and fun. There were lots of nice surprises in the program, with the Mayor reading a Burns poem, a treatise on the details of scotch drinking, Parks Commissioner Stuart Mackinnon singing A Man's A Man For A' That, and hip hop artist Ndidi Cascade coming up from the audience to rap a verse of Burns' Address to A Haggis.   more »

What Scottish clan is CBC TV News anchor Gloria Macarenko from?

Celebrity Media co-hosts are confirmed!
Gloria Macarenko, CBC TV News anchor "Vancouver at Six"
Catherine Barr, Metro News / Radio 650 AM


Gloria Macarenko from CBC TV's "Vancouver at Six"
Gloria first got to learn about deep-fried haggis won ton when I brought some down to her newscast, when CBC was promoting the 2004 Gung Haggis Fat Choy television performance special.

View Clip

I'm really happy that CBC TV news anchor Gloria Macarenko is coming to co-host the 2009 Gung Haggis Fat Choy dinner with myself and Catherine Barr.  It turns out that Gloria and Catherine also know each other and are really looking forward to having some fun at the Gung Haggis dinner.

I looked in a tartan clan wesbite and found MacA'chailles, MacAchounich, MacAdam, MacAdie, MacAindra,  MacAldonich, MacAlduie,  MacAlex,  MacAlister, MacAllen, MacAndeoir, MacAndrew, MacAngus,  MacAra, MacAree, MacAskill, MacAslan, MacAuselan, and MacAy... but no MacArenko!

What clan is Catherine Barr from?  I found there are clans named Barrie and Barron, and of course there is MacNeil of Barra, or the Barra MacNeils.  I know that Catherine's family has a family tartan... In fact, it was her father Robert Barr that introduced me to the Burns Club of Vancouver about 5 years ago.  Last year Cat managed to get 10 kilted men on stage all singing a "Toast to the Lassies" - what will she lead us into this year?

Special musical performers:


Silk Road Music Ensemble:
Qiu Xia He and Andre Thibault have become good friends since I first met them on the set of the 2004 CBC television performance special "Gung Haggis Fat Choy."  I really appreciated what they were doing musically, and they really appreciated what I was doing.  They have performed at the Gung Haggis dinner in 2004, 2007.  Qiu Xia plays virtuoso pipa (Chinese lute) and Andre can play fiery flamenco music - but they also play scottish and french-canadian reels and jigs too!  For their 2009 Gung Haggis performance they are adding a Scottish-Canadian percussionist, Liam MacDonald.

Gung Haggis Fat Choy Pipe & Drums
Last year, Bob Wilkins approached me with the idea of creating a Gung Haggis Fat Choy pipe band... with lion dancers and chinese drums.  Okay... I was hooked.  Our paths have crossed in our mutual appreciation of BC Scottish and Chinese pioneer histories, and Bob has a vision of a multicultural pipe band that could also incorporate BC's Chinese cultural history and traditions. Okay... we have the pipers but are still searching for Chinese lion dancers.


Heather Pawsey opera soprano
Heather sings in Mandarin, Cree, Italian, French, German, Spanish and probably Russian and Scottish too!  Heather has graced stages with Vancouver Opera, Vancouver Symphony and many other ensemble and chamber groups throughout BC. She always lights up the stage when she comes to Gung Haggis dinners, such as 2004 and 2007.  Heather grew up wearing kilts on the Saskatchewan prairies, and she really loves the Gung Haggis concept.  In 2008 she was paired with DJ Timothy Wisdom to create something new and exciting.  She called me up and said "Todd - I've got something for you and Gung Haggis!"

Timothy Wisdom DJ
I only met Timothy last week, when he came to the Gung Haggis Fat Choy rehearsal dinner on January 11th.  He brought with him a dvd of his performance with Heather Pawsey.  What was on it?  Opera with hip hop beats... Scottish and Chinese musical notes and references...  And hopefully Timothy will spin some tunes after the Gung Haggis dinner, so we can party until midnight for a countdown to Chinese New Year! "Best Party Rockin DJ in Vancouver…a sonic genius" - Vancouver Folk Festival  "so much exhilaration in his sets...slaying audiences" - E13 Records

Joe McDonald, our "rapping bagpiper"
I first met Joe McDonald when he performed with a South Asian tabla drummer in 2001.  I saw the kind of world music sounds they were creating and three weeks later, his music ensemble Brave Waves was performing at the Gung Haggis Fat Choy dinner.  Joe has performed at every Gung Haggis dinner since, including the Gung Haggis Fat Choy CBC television performance special too!  A few years ago, we starting "rapping" the Robbie Burns immortal poem "Address to a Haggis."  We created an MP3 file with Trevor Chan of the No Luck Club... and it is going to be played on BBC Radio Scotland's Robbie Burns radio special on January 25th for Burns' 250th birthday - Woo-hoo!

Adrienne Wong - Neworld Theatre actor/writer for "Mixie and the Half-Breeds"
Adreinne is a long time friend of Gung Haggis Fat Choy.  She co-hosted the 2004 dinner, and in 2003 she paddled on the Gung Haggis Fat Choy dragon boat team.  Growing up with Chinese and French ancestry, heritage and culture, Adrienne knows what it's like to walk in both worlds, as well as in-between.  She's written a new theatrical play called "Mixie and the Half-Breeds."  We think it's perfect for a Gung Haggis Fat Choy world... and she's going to give us a sneak preview before the show opens later this year. I saw Adrienne give a stage reading of "My Name is Rachel Corrie" last fall - fantastic!

Special guests include:
Larry Grant, Musqueam Elder
Rita Wong, 2008 BC Book Poetry Prize winner "Forage"
Dr. Leith Davis, SFU Centre for Scottish Studies
Jan Walls, former SFU Director of International Communications
Tommy Tao, poet translator
Chuck Lew QC, keeper for the flame for 49 years of Burns Dinners for the Vancouver Chinatown Lions Club.
+ 1 bottle of 37 year old Famous Grouse scotch - one of only 250 made to be featured at Burns Suppers around the world.

I am always amazed by the talents, dedication and accomplishments of the people that I know and see in our communities.   While 2008 was a year for me blessed with personal recognition from the Province of BC, and the Royal BC Museum, I am inspired by the people that I know.


2008 BC Community Achievement Award recipients: 45 of BC's most dedicated citizens stand with Premier Gordon Campbell and Lt. Gov. Stephen Point, and BC Achievement Foundation Chair Keith Mitchell, following the ceremonies. I can be spotted wearing my cream jacket directly behind Premier Campbell.  I am standing between my Vancouver arts community friends Naomi Singer on my left, and Savannah Walling on my right,Terry Hunter is immediately behind Savannah.  Also on my left is fellow kilt wearer Gordon Barrett in his Irish Pipes and Drums uniform - too bad you can't see our kilts.  http://www.bcachievement.com/community/2008/


2008 raised the first real possibility of Vancouver's first Chinese-Canadian mayor with Raymond Louie running for the mayoral nomination of the Vision Vancouver party.  Former SFU wrestler Carol Huynh won Canada's first gold medal at the Beijing Olympics.  Octogenarian Bill Wong, was the subject of a CBC documentary film "Tailor Made."

In August, I attended the 150 Years in Golden Mountain Gala in Victoria, where my grand-uncles Daniel Lee and Victor Wong received the awards on behalf of Chinese Canadian veterans.  I also stood with them as descendants of Rev. Chan Yu Tan (my great-great-grandfather and their grandfather) who received a community achievement award for this work as a pioneer missionary for Chinese communities in BC.

Last year I wrote: Chinese-Canadians that inspired me in 2007

Here is a list of the Chinese-Canadians that I found inspiring in 2008:

The Royal BC Museum created an exhibit to celebrate 150 years of BC History and BC people, called "Free Spirit".  They also created a life-size photo collage display called "The Party"to which they invited 150 of BC's most interesting people.  The first 132 people were selected by the museum, then in August six invitees were "voted in" including myself.  More people were voted in for November.

Check out "The Party" display at the Royal BC Museum
http://www.freespiritbc.ca/virtualexhibition/theparty.aspx

Cindy Lee (T&T)
Hon. David Lam
James Cheng (architect)
Peter Joe  (Sunrise Tofu)
Tong Louie
Todd Wong
Ida Chong MLA
Carol Huyhn Olympic Gold Medalist

Adrienne Wong is an actor.  In 2008 she starred in the one woman play "My Name is Rachel Corrie" for Neworld Theatre.  It opened in Montreal than played in Vancouver to packed houses for an extended run.  
http://www.gunghaggisfatchoy.com/blog/_archives/2008/1/18/3473659.html

Rhonda Larrabee is my mother's cousin. Rhonda single-handedly re-established the Qayqayt "New Westminster" First Nations Band.  Unfortunately she wasn't included in the CBC documentatry Generations: The Chan Legacy, because the executive producer thought that Rhonda's story really deserved her own documentary.  Surprise!  CTV made a documentary on Rhonda titled "One Women Tribe"
http://www.gunghaggisfatchoy.com/blog/_archives/2008/3/14/3580742.html

Bill Wong Modernize Tailors - Bill is the octogenarian former UBC Engineering grad who couldn't get hired in post-war Canada because of racism, so he put his energies into his father's tailor shop.  Tailor Made is the CBC documentary about Chinatown's Modernize Tailors featuring brothers Bill and Jack Wong and their family story.
http://www.gunghaggisfatchoy.com/blog/_archives/2008/2/9/3514584.html

Tailor Made: CBC TV documentary highlights Modernize Tailors' 80 year history in Vancouver Chinatown
http://www.gunghaggisfatchoy.com/blog/_archives/2008/2/12/3520713.html

Grace Chin is a writer/actor.  She wrote and performed in "The Quickie" is very Vancouver play about diversity and expectations in relationships.  Last year was her first written theatre play with partner Charlie Cho.  "The Quickie" is written solo by Grace.  Wow... now if only I could get my own writing projects off the back burner!
http://www.gunghaggisfatchoy.com/blog/_archives/2008/2/10/3515872.html

Brandy Lien-Worrall - In 2007 Brandy led 2 writing workshops which produced the book Eating Stories: Chinese and Aboriginal pot luck.  She also bravely battled breast cancer. 
Chinese Canadian Historical Society of BC honours Brandy Lien-Worrall
http://www.gunghaggisfatchoy.com/blog/_archives/2008/3/10/3573332.html

Wayson Choy wrote a new autobiography titled Not Yet: A Memoir of Living and Almost Dying. In 2002, I met Wayson when his novel Jade Peony was the inaugural choice for the One Book One Vancouver program.  I was on the committee, where I learned that Wayson had almost died earlier that year.  We were so fortunate that Wayson's health recovered, and that he has written two more splendid books sinced.  The Governor General Award nominated "All That Matters" and now his memoir "Not Yet."
Wayson Choy gives "spirited" reading for Vancouver Cultural Olympiad
http://www.gunghaggisfatchoy.com/blog/_archives/2008/3/12/3577512.html

Chinese-Canadians are top Canadians figure skaters! Patrick Chan and Mira Leung
http://www.gunghaggisfatchoy.com/blog/_archives/2008/3/24/3599475.html
Patrick Chan, the 17 year old teenager who is Canada's current reigning Men's National winner  finished ninth in his World Championships debut.  Chan only last year had won silver at the World Junior Championships, and last November won gold at the Grand Prix in Paris.  Mira Leung finished 14th.
 
Wallace Chung donated his personal collection to UBC.  He is a philanthropist, and recipient of Order of Canada and Order of BC... and he loves Chinese Canadian history.  Check out this Vancouver Sun story about the Wallace Chung Collection at UBC.  $5 million, 25,000 items and UBC = a collection with special meaning http://www.gunghaggisfatchoy.com/blog/_archives/2008/5/10/3683632.html

Raymond Louie – ran for the Vision Vancouver's mayor nomination in the spring  – and in the fall he was nominated for a NAAAP award.  I endorsed Raymond for his nomination: Todd Wong supports Raymond Louie's campaign to be Vancouver Mayor. Raymond came second to Gregor Robertson for the mayor nomination, and on November 15th, he was re-elected to Vancouver City Council with the highest number of votes for councilors.


Dr. Kerry Jang ran for City Councilor.  He is a hard-working community builder, who is also on a national committee for Mental Health, and a professor of Psychiatry at the UBC School of Medicine. It was easy to give my endorsement for Kerry.  In 2006 he was named academic of the year.  In 2007, he was named to the BC Community Achievement Award.  In 2008, he was elected a rookie Vancouver city councilor.

Joyce Lam's Vancouver Asian Canadian Theatre put on the Neil Simon play "The Odd Couple" with an all Asian + 1 cast.  And she continues producing the annual Asian Comedy Night and  Etch-YOUR-SketchOFF
Odd Couple - Friendship with an Asian style twist on the Neil Simon play
check out www.vact.ca

Victoria celebrates 150 years of Chinese Canadian History with a grand dinner and awards.
It was a grand party at the Empress Hotel in Victoria, organized by the Victoria Chinatown Commerce Association.  My great-great-grandfather Rev. Chan Yu Tan was awarded a Community Achievement Award. and my grand-uncles Daniel Lee and Victor Wong represented the Chinese-Canadian veterans for their special award.
http://www.gunghaggisfatchoy.com/blog/_archives/2008/8/11/3833528.html

In Memoriam:

Ed Wickberg
Ed Wickberg is known in our community circles as an honourary Chinese Canadian.  He was a professor emeritus for the UBC History department.  He contributed so much to the understanding of Chinese Canadian history and was the founding president for the Chinese Canadian Historical Society of BC.
http://www.uglychinesecanadian.com/?p=403

Betty Ho
I met Betty during the writing workshops for the Chinese Canadian Historical Society.  Our contributions were published together in the anthology Eating Stories.  She always brought smiles and great positive energy wherever she sent. 
Betty Ho goes to that big kitchen in the sky.