Review: All Our Ordinary Stories

Wong examines her relationships with her parents

Many second-generation Chinese-Canadians or Americans feel a cultural and generational gap between themselves and their parents. Some children are the family translator for documents to doctor appointments, have difficulty communicating because they don't have a strong grasp of their parents' native tongue or culture.

These observations are captured in Teresa Wong's All Our Ordinary Stories, where she attempts to be closer to her parents by trying to understand their hardships and values. However she feels hampered by her elementary Cantonese skills, only knowing words for physical objects and not feelings or thoughts.

The graphic novel is relatable

The graphic novel opens with Wong coming to terms with her mother's stroke, and her father expecting his daughter to take on the caregiver role. Despite Wong's simplistic drawings, they clearly convey emotions and the reader immediately becomes vested in the story she is telling.

Wong delves into her childhood, having to translate everything for her parents, whose education level was stunted by the upheavals of the Cultural Revolution, some of the most fraught passages in the book.

As youths, her parents separately swam from China to Hong Kong, a perilous journey attempted by an estimated tens of thousands of people, but only a fraction made it alive. 

When Wong asks her mother to tell her more about her escape, her mother tells her it was "ordinary", that everyone she knew swam too.

It is this pragmatic attitude of wanting to move on with their lives that is a cultural and age gap that Wong encounters with her parents, or is it not wanting to be re-traumatised? Wong can't tell which it is.

She finally gets some insight into her parents' previous lives when visiting China with them, watching how they interact with relatives and friends, though she still feels held back by her inability to fully comprehend their conversations.

Her stories resonate with immigrants

Not only did her parents make the leap of faith to come to Canada, it turns out her great grandfather did as well back in 1912, who went back to China three times, making the long journey by boat to get married and have children. Not only did he have to work hard to pay off the C$500 headtax, but also was separated from his family for decades because of the 1923 Exclusion Act.

In All Our Ordinary Stories, the reader can see how much thought Wong has put into crafting her graphic novel, in how she tells it through the drawings and words. And in some ways her stories are relatable to many immigrant families, with the parents -- and in the case of Wong's great grandfather -- trying to carve out a better life for themselves and their progeny.

While Wong may not be able to get the full story of her parents' lives and get to know them the way she hoped she would, this book is proof that she has tried very hard to appreciate what they have done.

All Our Ordinary Stories may seem like a graphic novel about identifying as Chinese, it is a Canadian story about taking the risk of establishing roots in a new country.

Discussing Being Under the White Gaze

There were a lot of people waiting for Cheung to sign books

This evening I went to a book talk at the Vancouver Public Library featuring journalist Christopher Cheung with his new book, Under the White Gaze, which talks about how people of colour are represented in the media and how we can do better when reporting about them.

The room was packed out tonight, many of them Cheung's friends, and many Asians who felt the topic resonated with them.

Author Kevin Chong was tasked with asking Cheung some questions about himself and his book before the Q&A session.

Cheung's first book

Cheung explained he grew up in Oakridge and as a child his classmates were multicultural, as illustrated by the snacks they shared during recess, from Japanese dried seaweed to Iranian fruit leather. He feels this informed him of the Vancouver he lived in and felt there were stories to tell.

That's what led him to become a journalist, working for the Vancouver Courier and then Metro Daily, both of which he notes no longer exist. He has been at the Tyee for many years now and went from writing 500-word news articles in the Courier to now 2,000 words in the Tyee.

A good example of how minorities are not represented was when Cheung saw how developers prided themselves on creating tax-free spaces for residents to create community gardens and share the fruits of their labour.

He found this quite odd considering his grandfather and his neighbours have been growing vegetables for decades and sharing their harvests. Cheung used this as a way to get other mainstream media to realise they are not observing what is happening around them and just following a press release.

Chong noted a chapter in the book focuses on the four Ds: Darlings, Deviance, Delicious, and Damage.

When asked to explain, Cheung said it was inspired by CBC broadcaster Duncan McCue, who asked an Indigenous elder how they were covered in the media. He replied: drumming, dancing, drunk and dead.

He is very passionate about Vancouver

Cheung came up with his own four Ds when it came to ethnic minorities:

Darlings are model minorities, extreme examples of people who work very long hours and that is considered success despite the heavy toll;

Deviance is criminalising people of colour. One example is complaining about Chinese signs in Richmond;

Delicious is about ethnic food stories, and "calendar journalism" where Chinese food is covered during Chinese New Year;

Damage is about refugees, victims of colour who have terrible things that happen to them.

As a result, Cheung wants to push beyond these tropes and have minorities better represented in the media.

During the Q&A section there were some good questions, but there was a bizarre first question from a Caucasian woman in front, wondering why there were so many Asians in the audience tonight and complaining that there isn't multiculturalism in Canada, and how we live in silos. 

Many of us were taken aback by what she said, so much so that an elderly second-generation Chinese-Canadian woman wanted to engage with her, but after the event was over, the Caucasian woman said she didn't want to talk to her and fled the room!

Meanwhile the Chinese-Canadian asked if the book was for her, as she had repressed her Chinese-ness for most of her life and only in the last 20 years has begun embracing her heritage. But Cheung believes she can still read the book...

A man in the audience asked Cheung and Chong about being "bananas", an outdated term to describe Canadian-born Chinese who are "yellow on the outside, white on the inside". I hadn't heard that term being used for so long and particularly now when people try so hard to be politically correct.

In any event it was a good discussion and has inspired me to read the book!

Okanagan: Chinese-Canadian Cuisine in Penticton

First time trying ginger beef, a dish not found in Vancouver

This morning we set off from Osoyoos to Kelowna. It's about a two-hour drive, but we broke it up with a stop in Penticton for an early lunch.

After a few days of Western food we went in search for Asian cuisine and on Penticton's Main Street we found Wild Ginger.

It occupies what was probably previously a Western restaurant as it as an open bar near the entrance and contemporary decor that has no hint of Asian-ness.

Cantonese-style chow mein that hit the spot

The restaurant opened at 11.30am and we walked in soon afterwards, and already there were several tables occupied by Caucasians. 

The waitress was very busy running around in a black knit top and skirt with matching runners, giving people water and taking orders, while a young man in a white T-shirt and navy apron served large portions of food to customers and then ran back to the kitchen each time.

Hearing us speak Cantonese, the waitress was thrilled to be able to talk to us in her native tongue. She later explained she came here to learn English and got married. The young man also chatted with us. We were impressed he was born and raised in Penticton and his Cantonese was pretty good. He also spoke the Toi Shan dialect.

The menu is Asian in the sense of Chinese, Thai and Vietnamese. There's pho and spring rolls, wonton soup, Thai coconut prawns, chicken potstickers, Thai red curry chicken, kung pao chicken, and pineapple fried rice to name a few.

As soon as I saw ginger beef on the menu I had to try it. It's not something you find in Vancouver -- it's an invention in Alberta, where beef is plentiful. Originally the chef was trying to create a beef snack to go with beer, and thought of something slightly crunchy, savoury and sweet. While it's called ginger beef, it's a misnomer because there is no ginger in it.

Singapore noodles with prawns and char siu

It came in finger-like pieces, deep-fried and then enveloped in a sweet-and-sour sauce with some peppers. The texture is slightly chewy and meaty, and would go best with some white rice. But we had also ordered other carbs -- Cantonese style chow mein, where pan-fried noodles came with pieces of chicken, beef, shrimp, and vegetables like broccoli, cauliflower, and carrots.

We also had Singapore noodles -- a Hong Kong invented dish that had bits of char siu, prawns, peppers and bean sprouts that gave it a nice fresh crunch. Another dish was pineapple sweet and sour pork, the pieces of pork that were on the small side, making it more crunch and less meat.

Nevertheless we enjoyed having our "Asian" fix and the warm hospitality at Wild Ginger. The two hours we were there the restaurant had a steady stream of customers which was impressive, a testament of its culinary appeal to the community. The cheap prices might also have something to do with it too!

Wild Ginger

340 Main Street

Penticton, BC

Vancouver's First Chinese-Canadian Mayor

Sim giving his inaugural speech at The Orpheum today

Quite amazing to witness history -- Vancouver having its first person of colour -- a Chinese-Canadian -- sworn in as the Mayor.

Ken Sim wanted this four years ago, was narrowly beaten by Kennedy Stewart, and in that time Sim has plotted to win last month's election -- which he won handily.

He also has seven other city councillors, some of them seasoned politicians to have a comfortable majority in City Hall. Will that help him get things done? His voters certainly hope so.

Ten councillors took their oath of office as well

The inauguration was held at The Orpheum, which holds some 2,700 people, though not sure if the balcony seats were filled. 

It was a long ceremony that included three leaders from the Musqueam Indian Band, Squamish Nation, and Tsleil-Wauthuth Nation, and a fully integrated speech from five religious leaders -- Roman Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Hindu and Muslim who spoke a few words constantly rotating.

When it came down to it, Sim flubbed one of the lines of his oath, but everyone in the audience was there to cheer him on. The atmosphere in the auditorium was that of optimism and hope, because as he says so himself: "You can't lose if you don't give up".

His inaugural speech was a basic repeat of his victory speech a few weeks ago, reiterating how 135 years after the government imposed the Chinese head tax, Vancouver now had the first Chinese-Canadian mayor.

Sim again thanked his predecessors, "standing on their shoulders" to get to where he is today, including David Lam, Douglas Jung, B.C. Lee, Sophia Leung and Kerry Jang.

Honourable Judge Mah administers oath of office

He also set the tone for co-operation with other councillors as well as other branches of government, and critics of his ABC Vancouver party. There were already protests yesterday in the Downtown Eastside calling for more to be done to house the homeless.

That will be one of his first orders of office, fulfilling his promise of dealing with that as well as crime and drugs in the city by hiring 100 police officers and 100 mental health nurses. After the ceremony, Sim acknowledged this cannot be achieved without federal and provincial funding. But media were still wondering where he is going to get all these people from...

Nevertheless Sim promises to work on this and many other issues in his four years in office and his 100 days in office starts next Monday.

First Canadian Charged with NSL

Former Sing Tao editor Ho is charged with violating NSL

Depressing news coming out of Hong Kong -- the 47 activists, lawmakers and academics who are charged with "conspiracy to subversion" for organising an unofficial primary election among pan-democrats two years ago, will not have a trial by jury. Instead three judges picked by the government will hear their case.

This is the first time in 177 years in Hong Kong's common law legal system for this to happen, but since the national security law was implemented in July 2020, the judiciary is perceived as less than egalitarian.

Lai will be tried in a non-jury trial

A few hours later it was announced that Apple Daily founder and tycoon Jimmy Lai Chee-ying's case will also be a non-jury trial, as directed in both cases by the justice minister.

The verdicts are a foregone conclusion.

Across the Pacific there's a person who has been charged with subversion too.

Victor Ho Leung-mau is a former editor of Sing Tao in Vancouver. On July 27, he and two others held a press conference in Toronto to announce the formation of Hong Kong Parliament Electoral Organizing Committee. 

It has a really long name, but its goal is to establish a "Hong Kong parliament" in exile. One of the founding members is ex-lawmaker-elect Baggio Leung Chung-hang. The 35-year-old sought asylum in the United States following the implementation of the national security law.

The group wants to follow the examples of Uyghurs who have their own World Uyghur Congress, and Tibetans have the Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile, and set up a political body for the Hong Kong diaspora. 

Leung is also charged with subverting state power

"It is the Committee's belief that only a genuine democratic election could literally [speak up] for the people of Hong Kong," a statement read.

Days after the two-hour press conference, the Hong Kong government issued a statement that stated Ho was wanted for allegedly subverting state power.

"How did we suddenly get to a place where I have become like a fugitive... just because I was talking about a political concept that can or can't really materialise?" he said to the Vancouver Sun.

Well, the Security Bureau takes any threat seriously. And surely Ho should have known forming such a committee was bound to attract attention from the Hong Kong authorities? If not, he is naive at how far Beijing will go to crush dissent.

His friends and family are worried, not just for him, but for themselves being associated with who the Hong Kong government now considers a serious threat.

"We are Chinese-Canadians in Canada and now we have to hold back from joining in such a conceptual exercise related to Hong Kong. When we came here, we thought we could live in an open society without fear. Now, you have fear, because they are saying [the national security law] applies worldwide. I myself am not scared, but I have family members who are," he said.

Ho and another co-founder of the committee

Two Members of Parliament have written letters, as well as the Chinese-Canadian Concern Group on the Chinese Communist Party's Human Rights Violations, telling Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly to publicly oppose Hong Kong's actions.

No response yet, but the response has to be strong to demonstrate Canada's commitment to universal rights and freedoms...