Anniversaries 2007

BCGEU Constitutional Convention

2008-05-20T20:50:00.000-07:00

The BC Government and Service Employee's Union is holding their 47th Triennial Constitutional Convention from June 6-8.

Make sure to stop at the Anniversaries of Change table at the convention to ask questions and get the latest information on this year's events.

For more information, visit:
http://www.bcgeu.ca/campaigns/convention08

The BCGEU has been a generous sponsor of the Anniversaries' Events and Publications. Their position on human rights and workers' rights echoes the efforts of the Anniversaries of Change and fight hard to ensure that the history of 1907 is not repeated.

The rights of Canadians extend into the workplace. In the workplace, we have the right to be treated fairly and without discrimination based on our gender, sex, disability, race, religion, or age.

Despite the laws that protect us such as the Canadian Human Rights Act, the Human Rights Code of British Columbia, and the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights; which our country helped write, we still face racism and discrimination in our workplaces and in our communities.

The BCGEU works closely with our national union (NUPGE) and the Canadian Labour Congress to eliminate discrimination in the workplace and in our society and continues to do so.

94th Anniversary of the Komagata Maru Incident

2008-05-20T17:56:00.000-07:00

The past few weeks have been very active concerning the Apology and Heritage Funds available.

The Anniversaries of Change, and the Komagata Maru Heritage Foundation are inviting the public to celebrate the 94th Anniversary of the Komagata Maru Incident, this Friday, May 23rd at Bear Creek Pavilion. Press will be given ample time to ask questions regarding the Federal Government's announcement, and we will be pushing hard for the Provincial Government to do the same.

1:00 PM, Bear Creak Park Pavilion; 88th Ave. and King George Hwy. Surrey B.C.

THIS 94th anniversary is also significant because it comes at a time when the diverse components of the South-Asian people living in the Lower Mainland have been attempting to come together, as one collective voice, to claim the shared heritage of the Komagata Maru episode. "It does not matter which part of the world we come from, what language we speak, what religious faith we subscribe to, if our roots go back to the South-Asian sub-continent, Komagata Maru becomes an important milestone for our South-Asian identity in Canada. We are all descendants of the sacrifices made by the Komagata Maru passengers" - that is the guiding spirit of the efforts being made.

94th Anniversary of Komagata Maru Arriving in Vancouver

Date: Friday May 23rd, 2008

94th Anniversary of Komagata Maru Remembrance

You are invited to attend this historic event. Your presence will be appreciated.

Event Details

Date: Friday, May 23rd.

Time: 1:00 PM

Location: Bear Creak Park Pavilion; 88th Ave. and King George Hwy. Surrey B.C.

Asian Canadian Cultural Organization "Unconference" at UBC March 6 and 7

2008-03-04T11:58:00.000-08:00

The Asian Canadian Cultural Organization (ACCO)is holding and "Unconference" this Thursday March 6, and Friday March 7 at UBC. This event is a collection of small, student-led workshop forums geared towards creating active discussion and awareness about Asian Canadian issues. They will be held upstairs in the Student Union Building (SUB) room 207 from 12 noon to 5pm.

Thursday Mar 6:

ACSW 101 - "Who are Asian Canadians?" Illustrating Identity and Sports for Asian Canadians

ACSW 102 - "Ying, Yang, and Me!" The Complications and Implications of Interracial Dating and Interracial Families

Friday Mar 7:

ACSW 202 - "Hey Asian Guy, Why So Angry?" A Look into Asian Stereotypes in Television and Film

ACSW 212 - "Queer + Asian = ?" Difficulties and unique challenges of being Asian in the Queer Community and being Queer in the Asian Community

Finding Memories, Tracing Roots, Chinese Canadian Family Stories and Eating Stories, a Chinese Canadian and Aboriginal Potluck

2008-02-26T00:54:00.000-08:00

The Chinese Canadian Historical Society is hosting the AGM Dinner on Saturday March 8 in honour of Brandy Lien Worrall, editor, workshop facilitator of the books, Finding Memories, Tracing Roots, Chinese Canadian Family Stories and Eating Stories, a Chinese Canadian and Aboriginal Potluck.

Saturday March 8, 2008, 6:00 PM
Foo’s Ho Ho Restaurant, 102 East Pender Street, Vancouver (AGM precedes at 5:00PM, please join!)
Tickets $30 before March 1; after March 1, $40 (subject to availability)

Featuring a tribute to Brandy, traditional Cantonese cuisine, and Assaulted Fish - Pan-Asian comedy troupe, and lots of door prizes!
For more information and reservations, please email CCHS at info@cchsbc.ca

The Anniversaries of Change Supports No One is Illegal - Vancouver

2008-02-26T00:39:00.000-08:00

No One is Illegal-Vancouver is a grassroots anti-colonial
immigrant/refugee rights community collective with leadership from members
of migrant and/or racialized backgrounds. As a movement for self-determination that challenges the ideology of immigration controls, NOII-Vancouver is in full confrontation with Canadian border policies; denouncing and taking action to combat racial profiling, detention and deportation, the national security apparatus, law enforcement brutality, and exploitative working conditions of migrants.

The Anniversaries of Change invites you to to join NOII in a series of events to commemorate March 21-International Day for the Elimination of Racism. March 21 marks the anniversary of the 1960 Sharpeville Massacre in South Africa when police opened fire on hundreds of South Africans protesting against Apartheid's passbook laws, killing 67 and wounding 186...

*** March 1st: An evening of film, speakers, spoken word, and more ***

Award winning film Continuous Journey; opening talk by critically acclaimed writer and activist Lee Maracle; spoken word and poetry from inspiring community members Rita Wong, Sadhu Binning, and Raul Gatica.

Location: Multipurpose Room (2nd floor), Bonsor Community Centre
6550 Bonsor Avenue (1 block east of Metrotown Skytrain Station)
Pay what you can. Child friendly. Wheel chair accessible.

***Community March Against Racism***

Join us on March 21, International Day for the Elimination of Racism, to
show our communities collective strength in challenging ongoing racism.
Canadian multiculturalism is not enough!

Friday March 21 at 1 pm
Meet at Clark Park on Commercial Drive and 14th

Reel Asian Book Launch February 28, 2008

2008-02-26T00:35:00.000-08:00

Far East Filmmaking meets the West Coast
Celebrate the Year of the Rat with the Vancouver Reel Asian
Book Launch
On Thursday, February 28, celebrate the publication of Reel Asian: Asian Canada
On Screen on Canada’s west coast with a book launch at VIVO Media Arts. The
first anthology of its kind, Reel Asian, co-published with the Toronto Reel Asian
International Film Festival, examines East and Southeast Asian Canadian contributions
to independent film and video and marks the eleventh year of the
groundbreaking filmfestival. Fromartist-run centres, theories of hyphenation,
gay and lesbian cinema, newmedia technologies and sweet 'n' sour controversies,
Reel Asian is a multi-faceted picture of independent Asian film in Canada
and features a substantial selection of images and stills.
Reel Asian features the work of Vancouver-based filmmakers such as Karin Lee, Mina Shum, Wayne Yung, Paul Wong, Anne-Marie Fleming and Ho Tam, among others.

The Vancouver launch will feature a program of short screenings
of work by some of the filmmakers and a night-long party.
Reel Asian: Asian Canada On Screen Vancouver Launch
co-hosted by Cineworks, Centre A and On Edge
sponsored by the Canada Council for the Arts, BC Arts Council, British Columbia and the City of Vancouver
VIVO Media Arts Centre, 1965 Main Street
Vancouver, BC
Thursday, February 28, 2008
7:00 pm
Free

After the Riots

2007-10-28T18:45:00.000-07:00

AFTER THE RIOTS — FREE movies
SUNDAY OCT. 28 @ 8:00PM
Heart of the City Festival
Carnegie Community Centre Theatre — 401 Main St.

One hundred years after the Vancouver anti-Asian race riots, we reflect upon the past and question what the future holds for Asian migrants and First Nations people in Canada. A special program of works by Asian, Aboriginal and South Asian media artists have been selected from the Riot in Vancouver Film Series which commemorated four significant anniversaries that affected Asian migration and citizenship in Canada from 1907, 1947, 1967 and 1997. This program of short films confronts and questions notions of displacement, family, language, race, culture and sexuality. It includes documentaries, experimental works and animation by senior and emerging Canadian or Vancouver-based filmmakers and video artists. It includes documentaries, experimental works and animation by senior and emerging Canadian or Vancouver-based filmmakers and video artists including Paul Wong, Richard Fung, Cherie Valentina Stocken, Lillian Chan, Dorothy Christian, Michael Fukushima, Shani Mootoo and Yun Lam Li. Curated by Karin Lee. Curated by Karin Lee. Presented with support from Anniversaries of Change 2007.

Total running time: 90 minutes.
Cost: Free

Also here is the link to the festival site:
http://www.vancouvermovingtheatre.com/HOTC/Oct28.html

Programmer: Karin Lee

From The Georgia Straight: Commemorating A Race Riot

2007-09-01T14:39:00.000-07:00

On September 7, representatives from five communities: Chinese, Japanese, South Asian, aboriginal, and labour will commemorate Vancouver's anti-Asian riot of 1907.

On that day a hundred years ago, a Caucasian mob attacked local residents and smashed storefront windows in Chinatown and Japantown. The riot took place after a march organized by the Asiatic Exclusion League that wound up in a rally at City Hall, which was then located on Main Street. With banners reading Stand for a White Canada, the demonstrators, including politicians and labour leaders, called for an end to Asian immigration to British Columbia.

Henry Yu, an associate professor of history at UBC, explains that the 1907 riot is a link in the chain of Canada's racist history. In an interview with the Georgia Straight, he noted that the rising anti-Asian sentiment at that time was occurring as First Nations peoples were in the process of being moved to reserves.

Yu pointed out that white supremacy was the political tool that united Caucasians in what he said was essentially a land grab of traditional Native territories and the removal of Asians from jobs to make way for new settlers. "What did they unite around?" he asked. "Two main things: one, get rid of the Natives; two, get rid of the Asians."

Landmarks in the 1907 riot

*Shanghai Alley and Canton Alley were the economic and cultural centres of the Chinese community. Every window in this area was smashed by rioters.

*Vancouver City Hall was on Main Street next to today's Carnegie Centre. A rally led by the Asiatic Exclusion League ended there before the rioting began.

*The present-day Firehall Arts Centre at 280 Cordova Street was the site of the firehall, and next door was the police station. A sidewalk mosaic com- memorating the riot is at the southwest corner of Gore and Powell streets.

*Oppenheimer Park, then called the Powell Street Grounds, was the centre of "Little Yokohama". Barricades were set up at the entrance of Japantown. The rioters made it as far as Powell's 500 block.

*A building was erected in 1906 housing the Japanese Language School and Japanese Hall at 475 and 487 Alexander Street. Two days after the riot, it was attacked, and the language school was set on fire; there was little damage.

Source: http://www.anniversaries07.ca

The federal government ordered an inquiry in the aftermath of the riot and damages were subsequently paid out to Chinese and Japanese merchants. But as Yu pointed out, what followed was a series of actions that institutionalized anti-Asian discrimination. These include the Hayashi-Lemieux Agreement of 1908 between Canada and Japan that limited Japanese immigration.

Another was the creation by Parliament of the 1908 "continuous journey" regulation that amended the Immigration Act. This was invoked to bar people from what was then known as British India by requiring a continuous journey, without stops, from a prospective immigrant's homeland to Canada. (Ottawa's shutting down of the only direct shipping line between India and Vancouver effectively ensured no Indian immigrants would be allowed.) In an attempt to challenge the regulation, the chartered ship Komagata Maru left Hong Kong and travelled to Vancouver in 1914 with more than 350 passengers from Punjab, most of them Sikhs. The ship was forced to leave after sitting in Burrard Inlet for two months; two months later, in India, some of the passengers ended up being shot and killed by British colonial soldiers.

In 1923, the Chinese Exclusion Act replaced the head-tax policy and banned Chinese immigration to Canada. This was repealed in 1947 when Chinese and South Asian immigrants were finally allowed to vote. The right to vote was granted to First Nations peoples in 1960.

"Between 1907 and 1947, there was this fantasy of Canada being only for whites," Yu said. "Their phrase was 'white Canada forever'. That meant white Canada forever in the future and white Canada in the past."

Jim Sinclair, president of the B.C. Federation of Labour, told the Straight that although labour unions played a role in the 1907 riot, workers "were victims too" by employers who decided it was good for business to use cheap Asian labour.

"We opposed immigration from countries such as China," Sinclair said. "People from Japan were brought in to break strikes. It divided workers and it was a shame."

Sinclair said that Canadian society at that time was a racist society and white workers were caught up in it. "It was a while before, thankfully, the labour movement got ourselves in the right direction, which was to say that the enemy wasn't Chinese workers but employers who used workers and divided us along racial lines," he said. He also noted that organized labour today acknowledges events like the 1907 riot.

The executive director of the Asian Canadian Writers Workshop said a broader acknowledgement of events like the 1907 riot can be achieved if the histories of minority groups are taught in B.C. schools. "About a quarter of the population is minorities, and yet how come the school system doesn't really bring this kind of history?" Jim Wong-Chu told the Straight. "Most of the people I know, the young Asians, the only time they are exposed to history about ethnic minorities is when they get to university."

Full article on The Georgia Straight here.

Thoughts on the 1907 anti-Asian riot

Film series focuses on city's history from Asian Canadian perspective

2007-08-19T17:43:00.000-07:00

Mark Hasiuk
Vancouver Courier
Friday, August 17, 2007

A film series chronicling the history of Asian-Canadians in Vancouver is being presented every Friday evening this month at the Chinatown Night Market.

The film series, entitled Riot in Vancouver, features a collection of short films depicting the events and aftermath of four pinnacle years in four eras of the past century. The subjects include Vancouver's 1907 anti-Asian riots, Asian-Canadians winning the right to vote in 1947, and British handover of Hong Kong back to China in 1997.

This Friday, the third instalment in the series entitled Forces of Migration showcases six short films, ranging in length from three to 26 minutes, which highlight the turbulent year 1967, when restrictions on Asian immigration to Canada were lifted.

Cindy Mochizuki, curator of the 1967 project, spent months researching filmmakers in Vancouver and around the country to collect material for tonight's presentation.

Mochizuki, a 30-year-old video animation artist and Hastings-Sunrise resident, said film is the perfect medium to explore issues that are rarely discussed in the Asian-Canadian community and Vancouver as a whole.

"Each of the artists use a different narrative, either poetically or experimentally, to talk about some of the more traumatic and difficult issues," she said. "So film is an effective way of opening up these issues for discussion."

Mochizuki's film selections include Vancouver artist Kira Wu's Whitewash, about an Asian-Canadian girl who, after watching a TV commercial about a whitening laundry detergent, attempts to rid her skin of pigmentation in the bathtub.

Other films chosen by Mochizuki include Toronto-based video artist Samuel Kiehoon Lee's documentary How to Make Kimchi: According to My Kun-Umma, which depicts a Korean woman's efforts to maintain her ancestral roots in Canada.

Unlike other series presenters, Mochizuki includes two works by First Nations filmmakers. Vancouver artist Dorothy Christian's Spiritual Land Claim chronicles the "Sixties Scoop" that saw large numbers of First Nations children placed in white foster homes.

"Things like that are rarely talked about, nor are there accessible forms of media out there that people can obtain," said Mochizuki. "There are some parts of history that are still invisible--that we need to be reminded of."

Mochizuki's own family history is highlighted by dramatic events in the Asian-Canadian experience. A fourth generation Japanese-Canadian, her father's family was interned during the Second World War. "It's interesting to step back and look at Canadian history, and look at the changes and shifts that are happening, or what hasn't happened."

Riot in Vancouver is sponsored by Anniversaries of Change, a group of local organizations aimed at promoting Asian heritage.

See http://www.anniversaries07.ca for more information.

Photo credit: Photo-Dan Toulgoet of Video animation artist Cindy Mochizuki

Seven for '07 Deadline EXTENSION

2007-08-13T00:23:00.000-07:00

On September 8 2007, there will be an all-day public event at the Vancouver Public Library Central Branch that will include panels, displays, multimedia, and performing arts. We are currently soliciting short poems (maximum 20 lines) from local writers addressing the themes of this year of anniversaries. Please note: writers do not have be of Asian descent and submissions do not have to directly address the historical events being commemorated. We are seeking entries that can, in conjunction with other community events, creatively provoke reflection on the current state of diversity and justice in Vancouver and British Columbia.

Seven poems will be chosen and circulated in the following ways:

Large wall-size posters of each poem will be produced and displayed in the VPL atrium on September 8
Smaller posters with all seven poems will be printed and widely distributed as part of commemorative activities in the fall. We will extend a token honorarium to each writer chosen to participate in Seven for '07

Please email entries to instrcc.events@gmail.com by August 17, 2007. Please attach entries in either .pdf or .rtf formats and ensure that no identifying notes or markers are included in the file. In the body of the email, please provide the following information:

name
address
telephone number
contact email
a short (maximum 40 words) biographical statement

After a blind review process, chosen writers will be contacted in order to arrange publication details.

For more information about Seven for '07 please contact Chris Lee (UBC Department of English) at leechr@interchange.ubc.ca. More information about the Anniversaries of Change can be found on http://www.anniversaries07.ca. Thank you for your interest!

Festival of Art and Social Change

2007-08-10T14:46:00.000-07:00

An upcoming exciting sneak preview of the People's History of Canada/Kanada Posters...

Saturday August 12th noon-5pm
Under the Volcano Poster Project Tent
Festival of Art and Social Change
Whey-Ah-Wichen (Cates Park)
Tsleil-Waututh territory in North Vancouver

Information (including free transport): http://volcano.resist.ca

The People's History of Canada/Kanada Posters Project is a collaborative effort between eleven grassroots artists Afuwa Granger, Alex Mah, Ange Sterritt, Annie Banks, Elogyny Tharmendran, Kara Sievewright, Naomi Moyer, Tania Willard, Riel Manywounds, Setareh Mohammadi, Tyler Toews and No One is Illegal-Vancouver.

A series of pieces will explore various moments of repression and resistance in Canadian history. The artists working on this Project come from a diversity of communities and almost all carry his/herstories and direct experiences of colonization and displacement that are being engaged within the Project.

We invite you to check out this powerful series of work on Saturday August 12th. Thank you to all those who made this project possible.

Asahi Baseball

2007-08-05T16:03:00.000-07:00

Come watch the 2nd annual Powell Street baseball game and celebrate the Asahi legacy!

Invitation to Annual Walk for Komagata Maru

2007-07-20T01:04:00.000-07:00

Komagata Maru Heritage Foundation in Remembrance of 93nd anniversary of the departure of the Komagata Maru from Vancouver on July 23rd 1914.

We invite all Canadians to join us for our Annual Walk for Komagata Maru.

When: Sunday July 22, 2007

Time: 2:00 PM to 5:00 PM

Where: Stanley Park-Lumberman's Arch

Live Broadcasting by Radio Sher –e- Punjab

We will get together at Lumberman's Arch at 2PM and start the walk at 2:30 PM. For participants who want to take the full walk, it will be about 5 Kilometers.

The walk finishes finishes by 4:00 pm. At the Lumberman's Arch, speakers from 4:00 to 5:00 PM will share brief history of the Komaqata Maru incident.

A special Ceremony will be performed at Portal Park.

Directions:

For more information please contact Harbhajan S. Gill at (604) 763-1736 or Kulvir S. Bains at (604) 614-5353 or Dalbir Pabla at (604) 219-0725. Please visit our website for other details.

* Vancouver Parks Board encourages to carpool or use public transportation.

Vancouver Mayor Declares "Roy Mah Day"

2007-07-14T21:01:00.000-07:00

ROY MAH DAY

At today's City Council meeting, Mayor Sam Sullivan declared July 12, 2007 as "Roy Mah Day" in the City of Vancouver. The following is a copy of the Proclamation: "ROY MAH DAY"

WHEREAS Mr. Roy Quock Quon Mah, born on March 29, 1919, received the Order of British Columbia in 2003, passed away gently in Vancouver, BC on June 22, 2007; and

AND WHEREAS Mr. Roy Mah urged fellow Chinese Canadians to join him in volunteering for service in WWII with the hopes of winning a vote for his community and was awarded the 1939-45 Star, the War Medal, the Burma Star and the Canadian Volunteer Service Medal; and

AND WHEREAS Mr. Roy Mah was instrumental in lobbying Ottawa to grant the vote to all Chinese Canadians and triumphantly voted for the first time when he was 30 years old; and

AND WHEREAS Mr. Roy Mah founded and published for 42 years the Chinatown News which became the most influential English language magazine on the life of Chinese in North America; and

AND WHEREAS A celebration of Mr. Roy Mah’s remarkable life and contributions that helped transform Canada into a multilingual and multicultural society will be held at the Chinese Cultural Centre on July 12, 2007:

NOW, THEREFORE, I, Samuel Sullivan, Mayor of the City of Vancouver, DO HEREBY PROCLAIM Thursday, July 12th, 2007 as

"ROY MAH DAY"

in the City of Vancouver.

Samuel C. Sullivan,
MAYOR

- From the City of Vancouver dated July 10, 2007, Mayor Sam C. Sullivan

Remembering Roy Mah

2007-07-14T20:53:00.000-07:00

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

A Decade of Hongcouver Forum

2007-06-24T20:08:00.000-07:00

Please see full size Hong Kong Forum poster here.

Return to Anniversaries 2007 main site

Student Projects Featured at Vancouver Museum

2007-06-13T00:56:00.000-07:00

This Sunday, June 10, we had a small number of student projects presented at the Vancouver Museum. This event debuted a number of university student projects inspired by the series of important anniversaries in 2007 for Vancouver and Canada as a society connected to the Asia Pacific world. 2007 is the 100th Anniversary of the anti-Asian riots of 1907 that targeted Chinese, Japanese, and South Asian residents of Vancouver, but it also marks the 60th, 40th and 10th anniversary of other watershed moments of change that transformed our society. This diverse set of student projects reflected the rich, and often silenced voices of generations of Chinese and other Asian Canadians, speaking to us about the importance of trans-Pacific migrants in the making us who we are.

This is Vancouver from the 1907 Anti-Asian Riots to Hongcouver: A Century of Change through Students' Eyes.

Here are details of Student Projects as follows:

"The 1907 Anti-Asian Riots from the Perspective of the Victims"

Student: Woan-Jen Wang

Featured in this week's issue of the Georgia Straight, Wang's detective work in finding Chinese and Japanese language newspaper reports on the anti-Asian riots of 1907 allow us to hear again the voices of those who were targeted. Silenced by the dominance of English-language newspaper accounts that skewed reporting on the riots towards the perspectives of the anti-Asian rioters, the forgotten points of view of the Chinese and Japanese are recovered by Ms. Wang, translated into English, and organized into an accessible online database.

"1947 and the Chinese Canadian Fight for Citizenship"

Students: Stephanie Mui and Cameron Wong

Two students discover that the privileges and rights they enjoy as Canadian citizens came out of the sacrifice of a generation of Chinese Canadian veterans who courageously fought for the right to vote, earning full citizenship rights for Chinese in the Canada Citizenship Act of 1947 and beginning the dismantling of legal racist discrimination that had been built in the aftermath of 1907 riots.

"Why Do Indians Love Chinese Food?"

Students: Karrmen Crey and Amy Perreault

A pair of Aboriginal students who graduated from the First Nations Studies Program at UBC look at the long history of relations between Aboriginal peoples and the Chinese who lived in Vancouver and around British Columbia, asking why only fragmented memories of these interactions remain. Showing a clip from their film project, Crey and Perreault explore how food memories provide a rich source to rediscover these forgotten spaces of engagement, bringing to life in particular the community life of Chinese restaurants.

"The New Vancouver: The 1967 Immigration Act and the 1997 Hong Kong Handover"

A series of student projects focus on the new waves of Chinese migrants who have remade Vancouver, in particular the large migrations that followed the reform of immigration to a non-racist, points-based system in 1967, and those migrants from Hong Kong who came before the 1997 handover of Hong Kong from Great Britain to the People's Republic
of China.

"Beyond Chinatown: Re-Making Vancouver"

Student: Denise Wong

Building on the work of previous student projects--such as the web-based project of Kaori Lau that explores the neighborhood around Victoria Drive and 41st Avenue.

Ms. Wong shows how Chinese Canadians have re-made every part of Vancouver. Extending well beyond Chinatown, the symbolic and historical heart of Chinese Canadian communities, Wong shows the rich diversity of new waves of migrants and the extensive effects they have had on every part of the city.

"New Voices Project"

Students: Johnson Chan, Viola Chan, Nancy Fong, Eugene Lin, Robert Parungao, Heather Joan Tam, Araya Vivorakij, and Zizian Zhong

The New Voices Project is a group of students whose collective goal is to explore the wide range of new migrants who self-identify as "Chinese," even as the sheer diversity of migrants belie any
definition of what it means to be "Chinese." The students will both discuss the literary volume that they are creating, as well as presenting their installation at the Vancouver Museum entitled "8 Chinese Canadians," described below.

"8 Chinese Canadians"

Installation

Artists: Eugene Lin, Heather Joan Tam, Araya Vivorakij

This installation is a component of New Voices Project, a student-initiated, non-profit community project primarily aimed to publish an anthology of literary and artistic works by self-identified Chinese Canadians of the recent diaspora in Lower Mainland British Columbia.

The participants of this installation are members of the New Voices Project. We are a group of university students eager to find new ways to represent ourselves in Canadian culture and society. "8 Chinese Canadians" is our collective self-portrait, represented through our personal belongings instead of pictorial images. The displayed items here are: things filled with personal meaning; things that reflect our intellectual interests; things that constitute our daily lives; and
things that give us simple pleasure.

This exhibit is ongoing until July 16, 2007.

Chineseness is an important part of who we are, given its social, cultural, and historical meanings. Frequently, traditional Chinese iconographies and motifs are used as representations of Chinese identity, despite their reference to cultural norms of the past and their failure to reflect the changing standards, concerns and values in today's society.

To situate ourselves and reflect on who we are in the present social context, we have chosen to display objects that reveal traces of their owners' cultural backgrounds, social positions, interpersonal relationships, interests and hobbies, and rights and privileges--aspects of our lives that shape our complex, shifting identities.

Lastly, in a society where our way of life is largely influenced by consumer culture, perhaps nothing can be more relevant in representing our presence, participation, and identities in today's culture than things themselves.

This event was sponsored by the Vancouver Museum, the Anniversaries07 Committee, the Initiative for Student Teaching and Research on Chinese Canadians (INSTRCC) at UBC, and the Chinese Canadian Historical Society of B.C.

Return to Anniversaries 2007 main site