(East-West Question) How do Chinese gain recognition and respect in this inland city in Canada?
China News Agency, Winnipeg, April 21 Question: In this inland city of Canada, how can Chinese gain recognition and respect?
China News Agency reporter Yu Ruidong
Manitoba is one of Canada's central prairie provinces.
Winnipeg, the capital of Manitoba, adjacent to Canada's geographic centerline, is the country's sixth-largest city by 2021 population.
Statistics show that among the population of about 1.38 million in Manitoba, there are only about 30,000 overseas Chinese.
But anyone who has visited Winnipeg's Chinatown in Manitoba, it is hard not to be impressed by the large-scale Chinese-style buildings where the Winnipeg Chinese Cultural Center is located, and the streets named after Chinese.
Philip Siu Lun Lee, who has witnessed and participated in the development of the local Chinatown for about 40 years, even served as the first Chinese Governor of Manitoba.
In the heartland of Canada, the Chinese are a minority.
Recently, Li Shaolin, Vice Chairman of the Winnipeg Chinese Cultural Center, and Patrick Choy, Senior Advisor of the Office of the President of the University of Manitoba and former Chairman of the Winnipeg Chinese Cultural Center, accepted an exclusive interview with China News Agency "East-West Question" to analyze why local Chinese write The remarkable story of Chinatown construction has won the recognition and respect of the local mainstream society.
What is the significance of Chinese being appointed to the highest official position in the province?
Li Shaolin was born in Hong Kong, and his ancestral home is Xinhui, Jiangmen, Guangdong. In the early 1960s, he went to Canada to study and settle down.
He has worked in Winnipeg City Government as a water quality expert, and is also one of the main community leaders of the Winnipeg Chinese community. He has been awarded the Queen's Golden Jubilee Medal, the Order of Canada, and the Order of Manitoba.
In 2009, Li Shaolin was appointed Governor of Manitoba.
The Governor is nominally the highest official position in the province, usually serving a five-year term.
Li Shaolin served for 6 years until his retirement in 2015.
He is the third Chinese provincial governor in Canadian history, after Lin Siqi of British Columbia and Lin Zuomin of Alberta.
"As for whether there will be more in the future, it depends on the government's understanding of the Chinese in the future and its relationship with the Chinese community." Li Shaolin said.
At the Canadian Museum of Human Rights in Winnipeg, photos of Li Shaolin as provincial governor are also displayed in the exhibition area on the history of Chinese immigration.
Chinese people do not have the advantage of population proportion in Manitoba, but they can show their representation in the political circles.
Li Shaolin, who advocates multiculturalism, said that "we Chinese should be proud of this."
How was the "Chinese style" landmark built? What are the successful experiences of Chinatown development?
The Chinese have taken root and developed in Winnipeg, the capital of Manitoba, Canada's Central Prairie Province, for nearly a century and a half.
In the early 1980s, Canada's official plan to regenerate downtown Winnipeg included Chinatown.
Li Shaolin and overseas Chinese leader Dr. Yu Yuexing established the Chinatown Development Association.
After hard work, he successfully obtained a 99-year lease term for the Chinatown site at a nominal price of $1.
Then, it actively raised funds to build residential buildings for low-income people, as well as large-scale buildings such as Chinese-style arches, gardens and Chinese cultural centers that have become landmarks.
Its efforts to benefit the Chinese community have brought Winnipeg's century-old Chinatown to life.
Overlooking Chinatown in Winnipeg, the capital of Manitoba, Canada.
(UAV photo) Photo by China News Agency reporter Yu Ruidong
Li Shaolin said that in order to rebuild Chinatown, the overseas Chinese community has formed three organizations: the Chinatown Reconstruction Association, which is responsible for overall leadership, the Chinese Cultural Center, which promotes Chinese culture and integrates into local multiculturalism, and the Housing Association, which builds residential buildings for low-income people. .
Today, the revenue of the cultural center has gradually stabilized.
Starting from scratch, Chinatown has accumulated tens of millions of Canadian dollars in properties and savings, which is very rare.
The Chinese Cultural Center focuses on serving the Chinese community.
The library here was once the only Chinese library in Winnipeg.
The center also provides tax declaration, consultation assistance, cultural translation and many other services for Chinese elders, and provides sports venues for the community.
The exterior of the Chinese Cultural Centre in Winnipeg, Canada.
Photo by China News Agency reporter Yu Ruidong
The center also focuses on promoting exchanges between the Chinese community and other ethnic groups, such as hosting a summer free market and participating in multi-ethnic cultural exchange activities.
The Winnipeg Folk Festival, which began every summer in 1970, is one of the largest and oldest multicultural festivals in the world.
The Chinese pavilion run by the Chinese is one of the "elders' associations".
For more than 30 years, the activities of the China Pavilion of the Folk Customs Festival have been held in the Chinese Cultural Center.
Cai Zhenchao, a senior consultant in the Office of the President of the University of Manitoba and former chairman of the Winnipeg Chinese Cultural Center, pointed out that with the increase of Chinese, a larger-scale venue is needed to unite the community.
The successful experience in Chinatown's reconstruction is that everyone is united and dedicated.
For more than 30 years, the full support of the Chinese in the community has driven the growth of the cultural center at every stage.
The James Road in front of the Winnipeg Chinese Cultural Center is named as a memorial road for the late Dr. Yu Yuexing, a deceased overseas Chinese leader who devoted himself to public welfare and made outstanding contributions.
A street in a newly developed neighborhood in eastern Winnipeg has been named "Philip Lee Drive."
This is evidence of the efforts of the Chinese community to be recognized by the local mainstream society.
At present, a major challenge facing Li Shaolin and his colleagues is to organize the second phase of Chinatown reconstruction, which requires the continued help and funding of all sectors of society.
They are striving to build another old people's home, so that the elders of the clan can have a home in the city.
A street in a newly developed neighborhood in the east of Winnipeg, Canada, has been named "Philip Lee Drive".
Photo by China News Agency reporter Yu Ruidong
What are the challenges for the development of the Chinese community in Winnipeg?
Li Shaolin said that there is a new trend in the development of the Chinese community in Winnipeg, and the increase in the percentage of the Chinese population is increasingly due to immigrants from mainland China.
In the past, Cantonese was almost exclusively spoken in Wencheng Chinatown, but now a large part of it speaks Mandarin.
Associations formed by immigrants from mainland China are also becoming more active, making it easier for new immigrants to integrate.
"Everyone is Chinese. We should think and do things for the welfare of the Chinese public," Li Shaolin said. "I hope I can learn more Mandarin, and immigrants from mainland China can also learn some Cantonese, so that everyone can communicate more easily."
Cai Zhenchao said that community development requires groups, places and funds.
The Chinese community is growing, but many immigrants from mainland China live in southern Winnipeg.
How the Chinese Cultural Center located in the city center can better serve the new immigrants in the future requires thinking and coordination.
Promoting the integration of Chinese immigrants is a matter of great importance to Li Shaolin and his colleagues.
Li Shaolin encouraged the Chinese to take part in more community activities such as the Folk Festival, because this would attract more non-Chinese people to visit Chinatown and learn more about Chinese culture.
The exterior of the Chinese Cultural Centre in Winnipeg, Canada.
Photo by China News Agency reporter Yu Ruidong
At the same time, Li Shaolin hopes that more young Chinese will participate in the elections, so as to enhance the influence of ethnic groups in the fields of politics and law.
When Chinese are running for election and politics, they must be more united.
"If you don't run for elections, ignore politics, and don't understand the government's policies, people won't think about you," he said. "We have to fight for the community. If we didn't fight for the government, we wouldn't be able to achieve China's prosperity. The port was rebuilt."
Cai Zhenchao said that since he came to a different country, he must integrate into the local society.
Otherwise, the Chinese may be ostracized, resulting in inferior development opportunities to others. "Especially, they must be interested in politics. In Western countries, only voting has the right to speak. If you don't have the right to speak, you may always be discriminated against."
What can Chinese people living in Western countries do to promote the relationship between their home country and their country of origin?
"The most important thing is to be able to tell the story of China well to Westerners," Cai Zhenchao said. "The Western media can 'successfully' portray the good or the ugly so vividly because they can 'tell the story well'."
He believes that many Chinese practices or cultural concepts are also recognized by Westerners, but the general public in Western society often lacks relevant information.
Overseas Chinese living overseas should work hard to make Westerners have a correct understanding of China and let them understand China's practices in many things.
(Finish)
Interviewee Profile:
Li Shaolin, Philip Siu Lun Lee, ancestral home in Xinhui, Jiangmen, Guangdong, was born in Hong Kong, and went to Canada to study and settle in the early 1960s.
He once worked in the Winnipeg City Government as a water quality expert; he is also one of the main community leaders of the Winnipeg Chinese community.
From 2009 to 2015, he served as the 24th provincial governor of Manitoba, becoming the third Chinese provincial governor in Canadian history.
He has been awarded the Queen's Golden Jubilee Medal, the Order of Canada, and the Order of Manitoba.
He is currently the Vice Chairman of Winnipeg Chinese Cultural Center, Chairman of Chinatown Development Association, and Vice Chairman of Chinatown Housing Association.
Cai Zhenchao (right), Patrick Choy, Ph.D. in Biochemistry, M.D., Senior Advisor of the Office of the President of the University of Manitoba, Director of the Board of Directors and Former Chairman of the Winnipeg Chinese Cultural Center, and Vice Chairman of the Chinatown Development Association.
He used to be the associate dean of the University of Manitoba School of Medicine, the president of the Canadian Biochemical Society, etc., and was awarded the Order of Manitoba.