ROY MAH: 1918 - 2007
Union Organizer, Human Rights Activist, Soldier, Publisher, Community Leader
Roy Mah passed away on June 22, 2007 at the age of 89.
Mah was born in Edmonton in 1918. In 1943 at the age of 25, Mah was recruited as a union organizer for the IWA while still a history student at the University of Victoria. He was also the Secretary of the Chinese Youth Association in Victoria.
Even though he was born in Canada, Roy and thousands of other Chinese Canadians were not recognized as citizens. Roy attended a segregated school in Victoria and instinctively rebelled against inequality and other forms of discrimination.
As an IWA organizer, Roy began organizing workers of Chinese origin into the Victoria local of the IWA. He traveled up and down the Coast organizing workers in such places as Duncan, Youbou, Nanaimo, Comox, and Port Alberni.
On the mainland, Roy worked under the tutelage of then IWA District Council officer Nigel Morgan and BC District Council President Harold Pritchett to organizer workers from Vancouver to Hope.
At the time white workers were paid an average of $0.75 to $1.00 per hour while "orientals" were paid less than half that wage.
Roy became one of the union's most successful organizers, bringing from 1,800 to 2,000 Chinese Canadian workers into IWA Local 118 alone!
He was also the first editor of a Cantonese version of the BC Lumberworker.
According to Roy, learning about the labour movement was a great experience. "I thought that's exactly what the Chinese people needed because they were working for 25 to 40 cents an hour."
In 1943, the IWA won equal wages for workers, irregardless of race, origin, or creed. It was a tremendous victory for all British Columbians.
In 1943, Roy became one of the first Chinese Canadians to answer the draft. Roy served in a special Chinese Canadian unit called Force 136, which operated as an intelligence unit behind enemy lines in Malaysia. He rose to the rank of sergeant.
Joining the Canadian army was a controversial issue in the Chinese community during the war. Part of the community objected to be called upon to serve in time of war while at the same time being denied rights and citizenship.
Roy believed that by enrolling in the Canadian army and fighting overseas, Chinese Canadians would receive the respect and credentials necessary to eventually be granted citizenship and the right to vote.
Roy returned to the IWA after the war and continued his organizing successes until 1948.
In 1953, Roy utilized his skills learned as editor of the LumberWorker to publish the first Chinese Canadian newspaper, the Chinatown News. Roy published the paper for more than 42 years.
In 2002, Roy was awarded the Order of British Columbia.
- from the Allied Worker, IWA newsletter, August 2003
