I don't eat chicken feet – I eat haggis.
I AM CANADIAN
I was just checking up on Susanna Ng's blog site Chinese in Vancouver, when I discovered this wee little article head-tax-families-turn-mischievious.html
commenting about the upcoming anniversary commemoration for the Nov.
24th head tax redress rally against the signing of the Liberal
government's Agreement in Principle – which would have NOT given an
apology, no individual compensation, and given community funds to a
newly formed foundation headed by an ethnic Chinese born and raised in
Malaysia – who had nothing to do with being a head tax
descendant.
The weird thing is a comment by somebody named M. Shanfeld who goes off
on a rant about some oath called “faan Ching fuk ming ” He writes that
it “means undermine and overthrow by any sly
underhanded means the Ching and support Chinese taking control from the
Ching” – this refers to the overthrow of the last emperor and the
corrupt Ching Dynasty by Dr. Sun Yat Sen and his followers who created
the Repulic of China. Dr. Sun Yat Sen is known as the father of
Modern China. He came to Vancouver three times, to help raise
money for the “revolution.”
My great-great-grandfather Rev. Chan Yu Tan – met with Dr. Sun Yat Sen during at least one of his Vancouver visits. My cousin Joe Wai is architect of the Dr. Sun Yat Sen Classical Chinese Gardens in Vancouver, named after the good doctor.
It's amazing that in this day and age that many so-called “Canadians”
might feel threatened by immigrants. Afterall it is immigrants
that built this country (after taking the land from First Nations
people). But some of the Chinese-Canaidan pioneer descendants
felt resentful of the 1980's immigration waves from Hong Kong, and some
of the established Hong Kong Chinese-Canadians now feel resentful of
the newest immigration waves from China. I guess that some white
Canadians might feel resentful of recent immigration – regardless of
colour or culture.
Anyways… Mr. Shanfeld takes his rant further and goes on to say that Chinese want to take over Canada.
Here is my response to Mr. Shanfeld.
I don't know which century
you are living in – but this is no longer the 19th century of 1895 when
the Chinese Head tax was initiated. This is now the 21st century and
there are now at least 7 generations of Canadians of Chinese ancestry
in my family.
This issue is Canadian – not the politics of China – that's a different issue.
I
was at the Nov 26th Rally. In fact, I was the second protester to
arrive
after organizer Mr. Sid Tan. “The power of One!”said Sid to
onlookers. When he saw me arrive, he corrected himself, “The
power of Two!” I arrived with placards to inform the
public that the United Nations had asked Canada to apologize and make
redress – just like New Zealand had done.
The people at the Nov
26, 2005 rally were not interested in “taking over Canada” – We just
want to be recognized as “Canadians.” For generations Chinese Canadians
have been systemically marginalized and ignored. This is what the
redress package and apology is for – the Head Tax and Exclusion Act
that was designed to preserve a “White Canada.”
And now… we
have many White and Chinese mixed race couples producing new
generations of babies that will grow up embracing their multicultural
heritage. Canada is not about US vs Them. Canada is about “Living
Together.” Haven't you been listening or reading the Th?nk Vancouver
theme of CBC Radio One and the Georgia Straight?
I don't know what Mr. Shenfeld is talking about…
As a 5th Generation Canadian – who just happens to be blessed with beautiful Chinese DNA – I regard myself as 100% Canadian.
I
don't speak Chinglish, but understand some words and phrases in
Mandarin and Cantonese. I am fluent in English
and conversational in French. I was born in Vancouver – not
Hongcouver.
My parents and my grandmother were born in BC, not China. My cousin
Rhonda is a First Nations Indian Chief – not a member of the Red Guard.
I race dragon boats in Canada and the US – not in China. Even though I
travelled to Beijing and Taipei, when my highschool friends went to
Europe, I couldn't
recognize the Chinese national anthem – I sing O Canada. I am not a
member of the Chinese National Congress – I am a director of the
Canadian Club Vancouver. I don't eat chicken feet – I eat haggis with
sweet and sour sauce.
I AM
CANADIAN!
Check out the original Molson Canadian “My name is Joe, I am Canadian rant”
YouTube – I AM CANADIAN !
todd, this is my response posted after yours…
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hi todd, perhaps i've used the wrong word in my headline… by sarcastic i didn't mean the meeting was a negative thing. in fact, i found it smart that head tax families soc chose to meet at CCC to commemorate anniversary of AIP… coz to me it's really a satire against AIP et al. i only found it interesting. i don't know what the better word is… perhaps next time i should check my thesaurus first 😛
however, not-so-perfect english ability shouldn't undermine me being a canadian i have tried my best polishing my english. but afterall it wasn't my mother tongue despite the immense effort i've put in over so many years.
i consider myself a canadian with strong chinese roots. as a first generation immigrant, i have been fighting all along to clarify my identity. i remembered i wanted so much to cry when i found myself completely confused about myself a few years back when i attended the welcoming gala for China's former premier Zhu Rongji, and when everybody stood up to sing the chinese anthem, then the canadian….
but i am so sure that my “home” is vancouver, not hong kong.