It almost didn’t happen. I was on my way to Whitehorse, Yukon to meet my future husband. It was May 1968. Ron Scollon had been planning a trip to Alaska since Black Day in July 1967. They were burning down … more »
Category:
Non-Fiction
The inevitable question I encounter every shift. Clad in a tight black tank top and minuscule skirt, I have a petite build under my work uniform.
I’m 4’11” and have long, dark hair. Strong calves. Chinese and Vietnamese.
I make … more »
War was the farthest thing from Maki’s mind even after three years since the war had started in Europe in 1941, as life in Canada had remained peaceful, normal and predictable. People went about their daily activities, raised families and … more »
… more »I joined a traveling circus troupe one summer and toured with them along the BC coast and its surrounding islands. One of the remote locations we performed at is called Malcolm Island. It has an estimated population of 500 hundred
Nitaro Hamaguchi was born on March 18, 1879 in Kumamoto, Japan. His family was very poor and starving. As the eldest son, his duty was to look after his parents and siblings. He had heard that Canada was a wild, … more »
There’s a map of the Philippines that hangs across my bed in a gilded bronze frame. It’s from a 1935 Rand McNally World Atlas. I paid $400 for it ten years ago at an antique shop in Toronto because the … more »
“I don’t want to say ‘hi’ to people at school,” I said. “What if they don’t say ‘hi’ back to me?”
“Well, when we do nice things, we should do them without expecting anything in return,” said Auntie Guan, looking … more »
The Burnaby Art Gallery’s exhibition of Anna Wong: A Traveller on Two Roads is a refreshing approach to the Asian Canadian narrative. As the first major retrospective of Canadian artist and master printmaker, Anna Wong (1930-2013), it is long overdue … more »
Remember the “Comfort Women”
I was 15 and living in Vancouver when I first learned about the ‘comfort women’, a terrible euphemism for tens of thousands of young women sexually enslaved by the Japanese military. My mother had read about … more »
Summer rain dripped down, thinning the air. Although it was a warm day, the fried Chinese cruller dipped in hot soy milk made for a refreshing breakfast. The soup dumplings and hot tea were another welcome and complementary pairing. We … more »