![[gc] The times we live in (part 1)](http://www.uglychinesecanadian.com/wp-content/themes/parallelus-unite/includes/timthumb.php?src=/wp-content/themes/parallelus-unite/images/content/placeholder-(556x133).gif&w=566&h=133&zc=1)
The UGLY Chinese Canadian blog will now have a number of guest contributors – identified by the preceding initials: [gc] We’ve opened up our blog to people who wish to share and contribute thoughts and stories to our blog.
Today’s guest contributor is “Lega“.
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A commentary by Lega
Is dialogue the way to go? Part 1
Background – As a (CBC) Canadian Born Chinese person, I have witnessed big changes in our Chinatown community over the years. Since world war II as a youngster growing up in Chinatown was a magical time for us.
In OLD Chinatown, Pender Street was actually 2 blocks of intense commercial activities. On one side east of Main it was filled with merchants, a few restaurants, office spaces, barbers and poultry stores. on the west side of Main were basically comprised of restaurants, gaming houses, Tongs, Barber shops with shoe shine stands , supper clubs, steam baths and various dry goods stores.
IT was good times for all – everyone knew one another and we were safe. Hastings Street was a sight to behold, a microcosm bursting with enormous energy boasting the opulent vaudeville Theatre- The Odeon hastings or (Pantages) where we were treated to some of the best live talent that our $0.50 admission could buy- 2 movies and a show – saw Gary Cooper, The Will Mastin trio featuring a young Sammy Davis Jr, and many more performers who went on to bigger and better things in their careers. In the downtown Eastside core were theatres; the Rex, the Lux, the State and the Star.
The State theatre also offered movies with vaudeville shows basically with local talent. The Star offered the $0.5 tickets for the kids on Saturdays to see the serials, The Lightning, Buck Rogers, Flash Gordon etc, The Rex was ornate and regal with its special circular exit passageways within the lobby area.
The Lux featured cowboy movies. ( The prologue or introduction is from my manuscript in progress – Once upon a time, Camelot was the Downtown Eastside)
We fast forward now through the 50’s, 60’s 70’s and finally the 80’s- Chinatown and the adjacent enclave of Gastown along with commerce on Hasting Street were doing just fine. The beginnings of change in OLD Chinatown was inperceptible at first since all the pioneer families were still active. The changes actually began when wealthy overseas ‘fresh off the boat’ (FOB) Chinese arrived to buy up huge chunks of real estate – all high rise apartment buildings for unheard of prices at the time.
In the interim, we began to see new immigrants from Hong Kong all businessmen equipped with cell phones way before it was fashionable or in use here. All brought their bad manners, all were loud and boisterous in public places.it was the birth of the ugly Chinese to the locals.
The ugly Chinese immigrant at the time began their own subtle forms of discrimination coining the word ‘jook sing’ a derogatory term use on local borns who could not speak the language.
They even scorned those of the older ‘low wah kew’ (pioneer) generation with their village dialects. So the subtle dismantling of Old Chinatown began with these seemingly innocous events.
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More to come in Part two
Great memories there Lega. thank you!
And remeber our Strathcona neighborhood? Those many lazy summer days running anround Maclean park, swimming in the outdoor pool, hide go seek, kick the can. Those were the good days when life mattered and people care for one another. Sitting on the porch outside talking to neighbors. I miss the good Vancouver and Chinatown.
I dont think the Fobs is to blame for all the downfall of chinatown. but they sure helped add nails to the coffin. Especially the immigrnats now trying to run some of the chinatown boards. This is Canada.
I want also to write on this web. How can I send you my writings?
thanks,
BOB
The eras mentioned were before my time. However I am seeing changes for the worst in the past decade. I’m no historian nor orator so I can only relate my experience through my humble eyes. There were incidents accounted in Chinese forums such as drivers came to bloody blows at Yaohan Center in Richmond and TNT underground parking lots at Metrotown. I witnessed one at the multiple-storey carpark above TNT Richmond. This poster scratched another car while backing out of a car park lot and sped off for reason of not-knowing-what-to-do. There you have not only a problem of English deficiency but a lack of moral character: http://tinyurl.com/y925tyv
I could go on, but I’m tired.
Lega, I welcome your thoughts. Just like to point out one misconception and that is the use of the term “jook sing”. I heard that term used in the 50’s, it was used by the LoWahKews so I didn’t think we should pin that on the New Immigrants. And to me, it’s always done in a teasing way, like “oh, he’s a jook sing, he’s like a “QuiDoy”, no manners.”, or “He’s a jook sing, he’s big and strong but dumb to the Chinese ways”.
In my opinion, the people from Hong Kong and Taiwan have contributed much to the development of the Chinese Canadian community. We should work hard to bridge the gap rather than enlarging the divide.
I had fond memories of the good old days too, but today’s Canada is no longer the same Canada we grew up in.
While we distinguish ourselves into CBCs and FOBs, white people look at us all as the same – immigrants. A good example would be Harper’s apology for the Head Taxes and Chinese Exclusion Act, he was saying it to the recent immigrants, to him, all Chinese are immigrants regardless how long you have been here.
Deep down inside, the white people think that we are all Chinese, why should we think any different.
United we stand divided we fall.
Thank you everyone for your comments.
So nice to see a respected elder from Vancouver’s pioneer Chinese-Canadian community share his thoughts. Thanks Lega!
ChinkTalk, I agree with you 100% on your thought:
“… the people from Hong Kong and Taiwan have contributed much to the development of the Chinese Canadian community. We should work hard to bridge the gap rather than enlarging the divide.”
Yes let’s not magnify our differences.
This was especially true during that whole Head tax response a few years back.
Many of my banana colleagues took to the streets to protest, which was good and necessary, but I went on Chinese media to reach out for support from our recent immigrant population – as their numbers are so much larger than Canadian borns. And “numbers” seem to be all our elected officials wake up to.
I remember struggling on the various Chinese language talk shows, but thankfully, former (late) city councillor Don Lee, and human rights activist, Thekla Lit were there to assist me in my translations.
ChinkTalk and Happy, I hope you both will contribute commentary to this blog… you two are always a wonderful breath of reason.
Great some dialogue.
Our local artists are virtually unknown. Lets give credit where credit is due. CBC performers have been ignored and discriminated by a two prong attack. Mainstream- we have some outstanding local born musicians who have worked the local scene for a long time. They are just as good or better than many we have seen at the jazz festivals. I asked them why they were not included at theses jazz festivals. Was it over exposure? Was it becuase they were not qualified? Or was it plain racism or stereotyping that we are not as good or better? Why are we not included?
Secondly- the FOBS bring their own talent for overseas for our audiences here for our dollars as foreign exchange while giving nothing back -without even an attempt to enlist some of the locals. I have not seen any outreach from either SUCCESS, Fairchild of anyone else for that matter to engage local borns in any meaningful way as paid performers and that will be the rhetorical question posed at the end of my series. Why are we not included? Isn’t Canada suppose to be inclusive? The squeaky wheel has just begun because it is time wouldn’t you think?
Ha ha.. has anyone seen the Miss-Mao-farting-on-Lenin’s head-statue by newly imported artists.
Morale of the story: China needs to be taught a lesson on freedom of expression
http://blog.vancouverbiennale.com/?tag=louise-gadd
Hello,
1) Yes, there is a disconnect between the “multi-generation” chinese in canada, and the “immigrant-generation” chinese in canada. There must be things done to close this gap. Many many things need to be and can be done by many groups of people.
This blog, for example, does not target the immigrant-generational audience. Are there immigrant readers coming and reading this blog? it seems like you’ve got a good base of multi-generational readers. If you can also attract some immigrant generational readers, this blog could really help in drawing closer the gap.
2) The first-generationer and the multi-generationer chinese in canada are always being ignored! This group is ignored by Canada and by China! If the CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corp) represents Canadian interests, and Fairchild media represents the immigrant interests, which media corp is for this group? Hmph! (nobody loves us…)