Category Archives: Multicultural events

Gung Hay Fat Choy ~ GUNG HAGGIS FAT CHOY ~ Gong Xi Fa Cai

Happy Lunar New Year to everybody!

Here is the Joy TV News video that is currently running on Joy TV – Check it out!  Thank you videographer Dean Atwal for checking out our celebratory event.

  1. JoytvNewsGung Haggis Fat Choy

    Vancouver is no stranger to fusion events. One of the most anticipated is the Scottish Chinese celebration of Gung Haggis Fat Gung Haggis Fat Choy. Dean Atwal joins in the fun…

    There are many similar traditions between Chinese New Year and Scottish Hogmanay:

    1) Both celebrate the beginning of a new calendar

    2) Both emphasize food with family and friends

    3) Both make lots of noise – Chinese set off firecrackers, and Scots set off cannons in the harbour

    4) Both suggest paying off all your debts before the New Year.

Congratulations to Winnie L. Cheung, Winner of Nesika Award

Story and photos by Allan Cho

Nesika (Ne-SAY-ka) means “we, us, our” in Chinook, originating from a trade language used by many different Aboriginal groups on the Westcoast.  Used extensively in British Columbia during the 19th and early 20th centuries, Chinook was tool of communication between Aboriginals and early European traders.

Forward a hundred years, in February 2008, the Province of B.C.’s Multicultural Advisory Council sponsored the Provincial Nesika Awards to celebrate British Columbia’s cultural diversity and Indigenous communities.  Each year since,  four award winners in the individual, business, organization and youth categories are recognized at the Awards Event on Nov. 23 during B.C. Multiculturalism Week.   Elder Larry Grant giving a traditional Musqueam welcome.

 Sitting here are Mo Dhaliwal (Acting Chair); Shellina Lakhdhir (Acting Vice-Chair), John Yap, MLA, and Larry Grant (Musqueam Elder).  And the winners Julie Linkletter (President of Collingwood Neighbourhood House); John Donnelly (John Donnelly Events Management); Winnie Cheung (Women Transforming Cities); Jorge Salazar (Vancouver Foundation).

The Multicultural Advisory Council (MAC) was officially created in 1990 to provide advice to the Minister of State for Multiculturalism on issues related to multiculturalism and anti-racism.  This year, they announced the winners of the Nesika Awards.

Winnie Cheung is a dear friend of the community, and has been a tireless supporter of Asian Canadian community initiatives, particularly in the arts and culture.  Winnie has been instrumental in establishing several signature programs to foster interactions between international and local students, engage the community with UBC, and promote learning through the appreciation of cultural diversity.

Besides Women Transforming Cities, Winnie is a leader in many community organizations, serving as a board of director on the Laurier InstitutionVancouver Asian Heritage Month Society’s explorASIAN, Hong Kong Canada Business Association, and the Asian Canadian Writers’ Workshop (ACWW).   Winnie is also a published author and writer, most recently a translator for her mother’s book Childhood Lost.  Congratulations again Winnie!

The audience in the standing room-only filled room was also treated to a wonderful repertoire of music from Big World Band, a group based in Vancouver and formed in 2011 by its member musicians. The group combines musical instruments and traditions of the world in various new ways to create what it brands as a “new world music.”  Its music performances range from ancient pieces, to new recombinations and arrangements, to new compositions — the goal is to celebrate the meeting of many cultures.


For Gung Haggis, this is Allan Cho.

Chinese Canadian Stories and Japanese Canadian Tribute

I was really honoured to be part of the celebration of the Chinese Canadian Stories and the Japanese Canadian Students Tribute.   Despite a frigid, rainy evening, a large number of community friends and supporters joined in the celebration at the van der Linden Dining Hall at UBC St. John’s College.   Chinese Canadian Stories was a three-year project, that finally wrapped up earlier this year in September 2012.  A number of talented UBC students under the guidance of Professor Henry Yu took part in the creation of a fantastic website, mobile kiosk, video game, and oral histories of Chinese in Canada.

Dr. Yu presented the project to the packed dining hall of St. John’s College.

There were many people from the community who participated.  Here is the UBC table.

Here is Ken Yip, president of the Chinese Canadian Historical Society of British Columbia, myself (Allan Cho), and John Yu (Henry’s father and friend of the CCHS).

The Chinese Canadian Stories involved twenty-eight communities across Canada.  From Victoria, BC’s University of Victoria to St. John’s, Newfoundland’s Headtax Redress Organization (NLHRO).

Chinese Canadian Stories began as a small project of collecting oral histories from Vancouver’s Chinese community.   Some of these oral histories are still being captured as we speak, and can be viewed online on its YouTube channel.  In this picture John Yu (standing) speaks to Larry Wong on his left.  Also sitting at the table is Bill Wong and his wife Zoey, of Modernize Tailors – subject of the documentary film “Tailor Made: Chinatown’s Last Tailors”

The night also included a very special recognition to Mary Keiko Kitagawa, leader in effort to get UBC to award degrees to 76 Nisei whose educations were affected by internment in 1941.  It was Mary who had first contacted UBC about the idea of welcoming the students back to campus and honouring their place and coming to terms with past injustices of the forceful removal and then internment.

The evening was capped off with a special honorary degree presentation to Min Yatabe.  It a very appropriate tribute during Remembrance Day weekend — Min had fought for Canada in World War II.   Big thanks goes out to Al Yoshizawa, of the Chinese Canadian Stories project, for permission to use these images.

Prior to Chinese Canadian Stories, the Initiative for Student Teaching and Research in Chinese Canadian Studies (INSTRCC) had already collected and promoted Asian Canadian Studies.  UBC has approved a new Asian Canadian Studies program, which will start in September 2013.


Reporting for Gung Haggis, this is Allan Cho

Final Day #4 at VAFF – Closing Party at Wild Rice

VAFF’s after party took place at the much beloved Wild Rice, a modern Chinese fusion restaurant on 117 West Pender Street.  Wild Rice has been host to VAFF for the past number of years, and each party has gotten bigger, better, and wilder.

It was fantastic late night of networking and socializing with celebrities, filmmakers and VAFF organizers.

Mark Lee who has been a volunteer at VAFF since 2005, making him one of the longest serving volunteers of the festival.  Mark was a founder of the Asian Canadian Cultural Organization at UBC,  Editor-in-Chief of Perspectives Newspaper, as well as a docent at the Sun Yat-sen Classical Chinese Garden.   He’s a community mover and shaker.

Among the celebrities were Olivia Cheng, from the movie Iris Chang: Rape of Nanjing and actor Rick Tae (most recently in the TV series Artic Air).

Also on hand was our friend Bev Nann, community builder, former President and founding member of ExplorASIAN and currently on the board of the the the Laurier Institution.

Mark Oh (caught in picture), did a terrific job as Volunteer Coordinator this year for VAFF.  Along with Thomas Greiner, these two gentlemen were able to bring together a collective of new volunteers and make the festival happen.  Lots of time, we don’t give enough credit to those volunteers who work so tirelessly behind the scenes to make the festival happen — they are the ones who sell the tickets, do the marketing, and operate the theatres during screening.  Kudos to you all, VAFF!

Speaking of volunteers, Callan Tay has been a mainstay at VAFF for a number of years now.  A film afficionado, Callan’s knowledge of films is unsurpassed.  He’s one of many volunteers who worked tirelessly behind the scenes, including picking out the venues to make these film festival parties a success.  Callan was last year’s Volunteer Coordinator – and stayed on throughout VAFF 2012 as a volunteer, helping steer the ship.  

For VAFF 2012, I tried to do my best Todd impersonation here as a blogger.  I had a lot of fun.  VAFF 2012 had a number of excellent films.  The quality is getting higher now.  It always helps that there’s a home-grown talent like Harry Shum Jr., and Kelly Hu, too.  With the emergence of Asian Canadian filmmakers and actors, you can see that the future is bright.


Reporting for Gung Haggis, this is Allan Cho

Day #4 at VAFF – White Frog Kisses the Spirit of Japan

VAFF 2012 ended with a host of great films.   Here is the lovely and vivacious VAFF executive Winnie Tam, who is this year’s Director of Marketing as well as Festival Programmer, introducing the program and giving welcoming remarks to the audience to the much anticipated Spirit of Nihonmachi and Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom.

Both films give a wonderful glimpse into Japanese culture on both sides of the Pacific Ocean.  Spirit of Nihnomachi is an excellent documentary the people behind the  annual Powell Street Festival that celebrates Japanese-Canadian culture and their history in Vancouver, while the Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom is a touching documentary of the survivors of the the March 2011 tsunami that destroyed much of their cities and lives.   Beautifully told, the film relates nature to destruction and rebirth, and examines the Japanese people’s deep-rooted relationship with the cherry blossom in helping them cope with the aftermath of one of the country’s most devastating natural disasters. Both films are testaments to the resilient nature of the Japanese people.

The festival ended with a bang, as audiences were captivated by a remarkable film White Frog.   Having an all-star cast of Harry Shum Jr., Joan Chen, Kelly Hu, and B.D. Wong, and starring the emerging Bamboo Stewart, White Frog is a coming-of-age story about 15 year old Nick Young (Booboo Stewart) who is a neglected teen with Asperger’s Syndrome.  Surprisingly produced with only under a $1 million budget, the film touched audiences deeply about Nick’s  life as he is challenged and ultimately changed forever when tragedy hits his family. Taken under the wing of his brother’s best friends, the young man goes through a personal journey that forces him out of his comfort zone and reconcile who he is and who he wants to become.   The audience was then treated to a live a Q&A session with the director of the film Quentin Lee and Writer/Producer Ellie Wen.   Afterwards, the audience was treated to a night of partying over at the Wild Rice!

Model Minority at Vancouver Asian Film Festival (Day 2 at VAFF)

VAFF picked a number of great films for Day 2 of its program.  Asian American films are getting better by the year, and one can immediately feel the intensity and the maturity of films these past few years, particularly this year’s.   There was one film that really stood out this evening, Model Minority.   There not a dry eye in the theatre by the end of the film.  An emotionally intense and thought-provoking story, Model Minority follows the downfall of a vivacious loveable girl who gets caught up with the wrong crowd, and on the wrong side of the law.

Starring the wonderful Nichole Bloom O’Connor, the movie takes us on a journey of one L.A. teenager’s descent into the seamy underworld of drug dealers and juvenile prison — her life spinning out of control amidst a family in turmoil.  We watch on helplessly as Kayla the underprivileged Japanese American 16-year-old seemingly throws away her all the promise and ambition built up her entire life in a mere matter of months as she innocently falls in love, only to discover that the blood of her family is truly thicker than water, as the saying goes.  This film has already won a number of awards, including the LA Asian Pacific Film Festival, Las Vegas Film Festival, and the Asian American International Film Festival in New York, and it doesn’t surprise that this film will spawn the careers of actors and director.

The evening ended with a pair of remarkable films, Lost Lagoon and a Day is Far Too Long.  These two films shows the breathaking beauty of Vancouver — often, those who live here don’t get to see our city on the big screen, so it’s always a treat when a great story uses the landscape of familiarity of Vancouver as a backdrop to stories about displacement and migration.  Sponsored by the Korean community organization, c3society, these two films are fitting tributes to the vibrant diversity of the city of Vancouver’s large Korean community.  We often forget that great films are not limited to hallyu — it is also found in the talent on home soil.

VAFF 2012 is celebrating its 16th birthday.   Can you believe it’s been sixteen years of great films by VAFF?    The festival started off with a question, why isn’t there a film festival in Canada celebrating Asian Canadian films?

Over the years, there’s been pressure from within and without to turn to more foreign films, to have films in Asian languages so that it could appeal to newer immigrant audiences or those more familiar with the latest Asian blockbusters.   There’s plenty of those films at the Vancouver International Film Festival.  So why do we need more?   Courageously, VAFF has stuck to its mission and mandate to promote great Asian Canadian and Asian American films by North American film makers.  That’s the only way to grow our industry.  Through home-grown talent.

VAFF’s volunteer staff has also been stellar throughout the years.   Led Mark Oh and Thomas Greiner, this year’s volunteers ran a smooth campaign.  Lots of times, we forget just how critical the work of volunteers are to the success of a film festival.  Lots of festivals do not succeed because of its inability to retain volunteers.   There is little accolade behind volunteering, but it’s always these individuals who make the difference.

Congratulations to everyone at VAFF 2012 for a great ending to Day 2 of the festival.   Look at the packed audiences as they leave International Village.   The after party continued at LaCasita, where everyone enjoyed themselvesa late night drink and Mexican cuisine.  Well deserved!

VAFF Program 1 – Opening Day with Daylight Savings, Sequel to Surrogate Valentine

It’s hard not to get choked up (at least a little, if you’re human) when the credits come and you’re left reflecting on your own life at the end of Daylight Savings.   Remarkable film, awesome performances, and a startling balance of lightheartedness and emotional depth makes Daylight Savings a hit sequel to Surrogate Valentine.   In the prequel, Danny Boyle’s film revolved around a sad sack musician love-struck with a girl seemingly eons out of his league.  You felt pity, but nothing more than that for Goh Nakamura.  With Daylight Savings evolves a far different Goh, one who has matured and toughened up — a Goh who still quite doesn’t know what he wants in life, but puts himself out there in search of it regardless of what he ends up with.

Goh Nakamura is a singer, writer, and actor.   His previous movie, Surrogate Valentine, drew rave reviews, including one in the New York Times about the witty and likeable, but awkward way in which his lines falls so naturally with the moment and context.


Goh is also a beautiful singer, and it showed as he treated the VAFF afterparty audience to a selection of his songs from Surrogate Valentine and Daylight Savings.


Yea-Ming Chen is a Taiwanese American singer who is in an emerging Indie rock band, Dreamdate. What was amazing about Daylight Savings is that both these actors are not professionally trained, but were discovered at other film festivals.  Although heavily scripted, the film relied entirely on the chemistry between these two actors who had rehearsed and played out their lines together in public spaces like stories and bars to ensure the spontaneity and naturalness of their characters.


Reporting for Gung Haggis, this is Allan Cho

Daylight Savings at Vancouver Asian Film Festival 2012 – Opening Day

Kudos to Barbara Lee, Grace Chin, Kathy Leung, and the Vancouver Asian Film Festival (VAFF) gang on putting on such a wonderful show on opening night.    It’s risky business to follow up with a hugely successful Surrogate Valentine, which brought audiences to their feet last November 2011 in applause and cheer, with a sequel which might or might not live up to expectations.  Rest assured, VAFF wisely selected a winner for an opener.  It was eerie, as Daylight Savings brought the same smiles to the faces of audiences.   What a great way to open a festival.

Goh Nakamura and Yea-ming Chen gives a remarkably funny and touching performance in Daylight Savings as two hurt lovers in search of themselves.  Just as Goh gives up all hope for love after breaking up his girlfriend,The Professor, he is instantly captivated by Yea-Ming at a house party.  Chasing after destiny, Goh begins his  journey on a wing and a prayer to find her Las Vegas with the help of his screwball cousin Mike and junkie Will.     They meet, they fall in love, they make love – Yea-Ming is everything Goh believes he wants in life.   Yet he is never quite able to leave his baggage behind as he still holds onto his girlfriend’s plant.  Leaving us to wonder at the age old adage of love is all about timing.

The second feature film, Bleached, was a surprisingly witty but heart-wrenching film about a love-struck Filipino-American teenager, Lenny who gives in to becoming a guinea pig model to skin-lightening cream given to her by her vain, image-obsessed mother.   Only to discover a shocking twist.

VAFF’s founder and President Barbara Lee was on hand at the opening to welcome friends and supporters of VAFF.  The after-party at the Kentizen was rocking with celebrities, friends, and community supporters.  

We caught up with our good friends over the years, including Grace Chin, who has become this year’s Festival Director, Kathy Leung (author of Red Letters, Mark Oh (VAFF 2012’s Volunteer Director), Iven Tse (VAFF board member), Peter Leung, Winnie Tam, Patricia Lim (Ricepaper Magazine) Callan Tay, Gavin Hee (MAMM Sponsor), Mark Lee.

The party began with a celebration of the sweet-16 celebration cake cutting at the Kentizen Fusion Lounge, followed by a beautiful night of musical performances by Goh Nakamura and Yea-Ming Chen.

Barbara Lee has been a bastion of strength and perseverance in the sixteen years of VAFF’s history.

Starting off with a dream to start a small film festival, VAFF has grown to become a cultural mainstay, featuring the who’s who in the Vancouver community, and has spawned offshoot festivals across the city.  Congratulations to you, well done!


Reporting for Gung Haggis, this is Allan Cho

June 21st… 23 years cancer free on National Aboriginal Day

June 21st, it’s National Aboriginal Day, so I wore my Robert Davidson t-shirt, with my Yellow Macleod kilt for Kilts Night @ Doolin’s Irish Pub.  And I met Jaime Sanchez, who introduced himself to me, identifying our mutual friend David Wong.  I think Jaime looked at me, and said “You must know David Wong… who else would know a Chinese guy wearing a Aboriginal design t-shirt with a Scottish kilt.”

June 21st was National Aboriginal Day… Kilts Night… my nephew’s 9th birthday… and also the 23rd anniversary of my near-fatal cancer diagnosis in 1989. Here’s a blog story I wrote 5 years ago, how they year’s longest day, on Solstice, became my longest night. Sure glad I’m alive now – otherwise, I wouldn’t have been able to go to Kilts Night last night… 😉

Here is a blog story I wrote 5 years ago on the 17th anniversary anniversary of my cancer diagnosis:

Summer Solstice: My longest day 17 years ago « Gung HAGGIS Fat Choy

17 years ago, my doctor asked me to come down for a visit. I had just been to the doctor on the Monday, June 19th. For a few months I had…

BC Book Prizes

The BC Book Prizes took place on May 12, at the Djavad Mowafaghian Cinema at SFU Woodwards, Goldcorp Centre for the Arts.  I always enjoy this event probably because 1) I enjoy books a lot 2) because the books and the authors themselves address what it means to be Canadian and a British Columbian.  Even if they are writing about Paris or elsewhere… there is still as sense of pride that the authors are from BC, and they are addressing world issues, or simply creating joy for young readers.
Host Charles Demers poses with Brian Brett – winner of the Lt. Governors Award for Literary Excellence, while Alan Twigg snaps a picture for BC Book World.  Alan is one of the founders of the BC Book Prizes.   In 2010, Charles’ book “Vancouver Special” was a finalist for the Hubert Evans Non-Fiction Prize.  It is a special book for me, because Charles writes about Gung Haggis Fat Choy Dinner and “Toddish McWong” in his section about Chinatown.
Grant Laurence, his wife Jill Barber, and Todd Wong.  Last year Grant won the Bill Duthie Booksellers’ Choice Award for his book “Adventures in Solitude: What Not to Wear to a Nude Potluck and Other Stories from Desolation Sound,” which was also a finalist for the Roderick Haig-Brown Regional Prize.   Last year, we tried to invite Grant to a Desolation Sound version of Gung Haggis Fat Choy Dinner in Okeover, while I was attending Okeover Ceilidh Weekend at the summer home of my friend Allan McMordie.  But a week later, Allan kayaked by Grant’s cabin, and they chatted.
JJ Lee strikes a pose with Linda Johnston, a board member for the BC Book Prizes. JJ’s book “The Measure of a Man: The Story of a Father, a Son, and a Suit” was nominated for the Hubert Evans Non-fiction Prize.   I have known Linda for many years, initially as a fellow board member for Canadian Club Vancouver.  I first met JJ when he was a member of the Hot Sauce Posse, a skit comedy troupe composed of writers and producers from CBC Radio in Vancouver.
Ann-Marie Metten, Todd Wong, JJ Lee and his wife Melissa.  Ann-Marie served on the board of the BC Book Prizes for many years.  In fact, she is the reason why I first attended in 2006.  We met in 2005 and joined forces to re-create and re-invigorate the Save Kogawa House committee.   In 2006, the house was saved from threat of demolition and purchased by TLC: The Land Conservancy of BC.  Now she is our volunteer Executive Director, and I am Chair of the Historic Joy Kogawa House Society.  We work with the literary community and help to present events, and create the writer-in-residence program at Historic Joy Kogawa House.
Here is a list of winners and notable intercultural finalists:

Half-Blood Blues Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize Winner! Half-Blood Blues – by Esi Edugyan

this is notable because it tells the story of black-American jazz musicians in the salons of Paris and the cabarets of Germany in the 1940’s of WW2.

 Eating Dirt  Hubert Evans Non-Fiction Prize Winner! Eating Dirt – by Charlotte Gill

 Drink the Bitter Root  finalist -Drink the Bitter Root by Gary Geddes

this is notable because Gary Geddes traveled to Africa to explore the post-genocide, post-Somalia Affair and child soldier issues in Rwanda, Uganda, The Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia and Somaliland.  Gary won the Lt. Governor’s Award for Literary Achievement in 2008, and read at Historic Joy Kogawa House in 2009 with his friend and inaugural writer-in-residence at Kogawa House, John Asfour.

 The Measure of a Man: The Story of a Father, a Son, and a Suit  finalist The Measure of a Man: The Story of a Father, a Son, and a Suit by JJ Lee

This is notable because JJ Lee tells the story of his Chinese immigrant father, and how he apprentices as a tailor at Vancouver Chinatown’s last tailor shop “Modernize Tailors”, run by my family friends Bill and Jack Wong.  This book was also a finalist for  Charles Taylor Prize for Literary Non-Fiction (2012) and Governor General’s Literary Award – Non-Fiction (2012).

 Something Fierce  finalist Something Fierce by Carmen Aguirre

This is notable because Carmen writes about her childhood growing up as a revolutionary in Pinochet’s dictatorship in Chile.  She describes fleeing Chile to Canada as a child, then returning to Chile to become part of the resistance movement.

crawlspace  Dorothy Livesay Poetry Prize Winner! crawlspace by John Pass

Demeter Goes Skydiving  finalist Demeter Goes Skydiving by Susan McCaslin

This is notable because it conjures up all the gods, goddesses and demi-gods of ancient Greece.  And Susan used to teach Joy Kogawa’s book Obasan

Discovery Passages  Discovery Passages  by Garry Thomas Morse

This is notable because “With its continuous poetic dialogue of “discovery” and “recovery”, Discovery Passages sets out to recover the appropriated, stolen and scattered world of the author’s ancestral people, the Kwakwaka’wakw.”

The Chuck Davis History of Metropolitan Vancouver  Roderick Haig-Brown Regional Prize

Winner! The Chuck Davis History of Metropolitan Vancouver  by Chuck Davis

This is notable because the history of Japanese, Chinese, First Nations and South Asians are all included in the history of Metropolitan Vancouver, as well as the history of Scots, Irish, Italians, Jewish and English immigrants and descendants.

 

Blood Red Road  Sheila A. Egoff Children’s Literature Prize Winner! Blood Red Road  by Moira Young

 

When I Was Small   Christie Harris Illustrated Children’s Literature Prize Winner! When I Was Small by Sara O’Leary – Illustrated by Julie Morstad