I don't know if I could be selfless enough to fight for a country that treated me like a second-class citizen, but that's exactly what thousands of Chinese-Canadians did during the Second World War.
A new special exhibition details the history of Chinese-Canadian veterans who fought and died for Canada, but were subjected to discriminatory laws back home. It was due to the sacrifices made by Chinese Second World War veterans that Chinese immigrants living in Canada finally won the right to become Canadian citizens in 1947, which also allowed them to vote and work as professionals.
JAN. 24 TO 27
Chinese-Canadian Veterans: Loyalty to Country is a four-day exhibit at the Chinese Cultural Centre in Chinatown. It was created to weave together stories of individual Second World War veterans and their families through photographs, documentation and personal artifacts.
The exhibit, organized by the Chinese Canadian Military Museum Society, explores the overall impact of Chinese-Canadian veterans' participation in the war and highlights many local stories, such as one about a son who volunteered to fight despite his parents being forced to pay the discriminatory Head Tax.
The Chinese Cultural Centre is located at 50 East Pender St. An opening reception takes place Jan. 24 at 3 p.m.
JAN. 23, 28 AND FEB. 4, 7
The Alzheimer Society of B.C. is presenting three workshops over the next month including Advocacy, Jan. 23; Family Caregiver Series, Jan. 28 and Feb. 4; and the Personal Planning Forum Feb. 7. Please call 604-742-4927 for details and to register.
JAN. 26
The press release for this event describes Commercial Drive as "fiercely independent, wildly entertaining, multi-cultural, multi-ethnic and multi-sexual with a reputation to match." I had no idea. I've always considered Commercial Drive as the home of slow service due to its laid-back vibe.
And now the Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»Historical Society is offering a speaker series designed to enlighten misinformed residents such as myself to the fascinating history of the area. The Drive: A History of Commercial Drive is being presented by Jak King at the Museum of Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»Jan. 26 at 7: 30 p.m. in the Joyce Walley Room.
UNTIL JAN. 31
I wasn't quite sure how to describe this next exhibit, so I'm using the description offered by the city's Public Art Program. And even though I don't understand it, I know it must be important because it's a work by Douglas Coupland.
"Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»Codes is the latest manifestation of recent new work by Douglas Coupland that extends the graphic black and white QR code into the realm of colourful modernist painting while retaining the code's original interactive function." A QR [quick response] code is a matrix barcode originally designed to track vehicles during manufacturing. Who knew? Now you see them everywhere.
Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»Codes is being projected on Canada Line video screens as part of the city's Public Art Program for Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»125.
[email protected] Twitter: @sthomas10
