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The Chinese Canadian Historical Society of British Columbia was registered under the Society Act of British Columbia on May 18, 2004.
Our Vision - The Chinese Canadian Historical Society of British Columbia is a non-profit, participatory provincial organization dedicated to broadening our shared understanding of history of the Chinese in British Columbia through research, documentation, preservation and education. Board Meetings are held on the first Monday of every month (except when it falls on a Statutory Holiday). |
Board of Directors (2020-21)
Sarah Ling | 凌慧意 (President)
Sarah has a background in public history, cultural heritage, community building, and visual storytelling. Born and raised in Prince Rupert, BC on unceded Tsimshian territory, Sarah received her Master of Arts (Interdisciplinary Studies, UBC) where she conducted community-based research on the intercultural history of Chinese market gardening on the Musqueam reserve. She is the co-editor of Journeys of Hope (2018) and lead producer of the award-winning documentary film All Our Father's Relations (2016). She serves as the Member-at-Large on the City of Vancouver's Chinatown Historic Area Planning Committee. She is the Exhibition and Program Manager for the Chinese Canadian Museum. Sarah has been a CCHSBC Board of Director since 2015 and has served as President since 2018.
John Atkin (Vice-President)
John is a civic historian and author who conducts many walking tours around the city and province. His tours offer interesting and offbeat insight to the city's architecture, history, and neighbourhoods. John's publications include: Heritage Walks Around Vancouver, Strathcona: Vancouver's First Neighbourhood, Vancouver Walks, Skytrain Explorer, and Changing City. He co-founded and served as Vice-President and President of Heritage Vancouver Society. He is currently the President of the Dr. Sun-Yat Sen Classical Chinese Garden. John has been a CCHSBC board member since 2012, and has served as Co-Chair, President and Co-Vice-President.
Rob Ho (Vice-President)
Rob is a Ph.D. Candidate in the Graduate School of Education and Information Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles, and his dissertation examines the impact of Asian students at a major Canadian research university. He has taught at UBC, SFU, UCLA, and Douglas College. Raised in Kamloops, Rob received his Bachelor of Arts from Carleton University and his Master of Arts from the University of Toronto. He has published research articles about Asian Canadian Studies, the model minority myth in Canada, and Asian American student activism. A longtime Board Director, Rob has served as the Co-Vice President of CCHSBC since 2018 and currently chairs the Awards Committee.
JOYCE TANG (SECRETARY-TREASURER)
While an educator by trade (University Guidance Counselor), Joyce has a great love for history and was introduced to Chinese Canadian history in her final year of undergraduate studies at UBC (BA History). Despite stepping away to build a career in education and business, Joyce's passion for history didn't diminish, leading to both being one of CCHSBC's first coordinators in the early years of the society, as well as returning in 2015 to become a board member. During her break from CCHSBC, Joyce completed her Masters in Business Administration (University of Liverpool). She is currently CCHSBC's Secretary-Treasurer.
Dominique Bautista
Currently on Leave of Absence (as of November 2020) - Born in Vancouver with roots across the transpacific, Dominique is a high school humanities teacher in Richmond. She received her Bachelor of Arts (Asian Canadian & Asian Migration) and holds her Bachelor of Education in English and Social Sciences. Her teaching and academic interests are in anti-racism education and policy, and the histories of migration of disaporic communities as told through storytelling. She has served as a CCHSBC Board Member since 2017, guiding student community-based research about 105 Keefer and youth activism in Chinatown.
Larry Chin (MEMBERSHIP COORDINATOR)
Larry Chin is an active volunteer for cultural organizations and initiatives in Vancouver’s Chinatown. He is an avid photographer in the neighborhood and enjoys capturing landscape, architecture, and candid photography. He is a member of the Hakka (Tsung Tsin) Association and co-founder of Chinatown Wonders. Born in Malaysia, he immigrated with his family to Fort McMurray, northern Alberta. He is the founder of Telicam Technology, a company specializing in camera technology for transportation to address risk management. Larry joined the CCHSBC board in 2020 and chairs the publications committee.
Catherine Clement
Catherine is a community curator and designer. Her first experience with Vancouver’s Chinatown was when she was six and spent a summer living with her Chinese grandmother. Once a week, she accompanied her Poh Poh to a Mah Jong game followed by grocery shopping on East Pender. It would be a long time before Catherine saw Chinatown again. Since her return to the community, she has served as the curator for the Chinese Canadian Military Museum. In 2017, she also art directed the Chinatown History Windows, a project that used 22 storefront windows to share the history of the neighbourhood. More recently, Catherine curated an exhibition on Yucho Chow, Chinatown’s first and most prolific photographer. She followed that exhibit with a CCHSBC book of his works called Chinatown Through A Wide Lens: The Hidden Photographs of Yucho Chow.
CHRISTY FONG
Christy is a Han Chinese settler with an academic background in community histories and digital humanities. Bridging her technical skills with her research interests, she explores local histories via art, technology, and community engagement. Her multimedia thesis studies the 1968-1979 Barbecue Meat Fights in Vancouver's Chinatown (Winner of CCHSBC’s Edgar Wickberg Undergraduate Research Award - 2016). Her other projects include the documentary short Under Fire: Inside a Chinese Roasted Meats Shop in Vancouver (2016); a virtual field trip of Vancouver's Chinatown based on SKY Lee's Disappearing Moon Cafe (2017); and the Pender Guy Radio Listening Party (2017). In 2017, Christy joined CCHSBC as a board member, where she continues to connect public education with community histories. She received her BA in English Literature honours and Asian Canadian & Asian Migration Studies (UBC). She is currently an IT Business Analyst at UBC.
Vive Wong
Vive completed her M.Ed with a focus in Equity Studies in Education at Simon Fraser University. Inspired by her family story, she focused her studies in examining the historical relationships between Indigenous and Chinese communities in B.C. She is a youth advocate, community developer and social justice educator who has worked with the public education sector, non-for-profits, and community service providers to promote community engagement and youth empowerment through the lens of equity. Wanting to reconnect with the Vancouver Chinatown community, Vive volunteered with CCHSBC and recently became a member of the Chinatown Legacy Stewardship Group’s Relationship Building, Public Education, and Capacity Building (REC) Committee. Currently, Vive is a Community Schools Coordinator with the Vancouver Schools Board developing youth leadership programs, community partnership and services.
Henry Yu
As a founding member of CCHSBC, Henry has been a long-standing and active member of our board and the Chinese Canadian community for the last sixteen years. Over the years, Henry has been the Co-Chair of of the City of Vancouver's "Dialogues Between First Nations, Urban Aboriginal, and Immigrant Communities in Vancouver" and the Province of BC's Legacy Initiatives Advisory Council, served on various City of Vancouver committees that advised on historical discrimination against Chinese people, and Vancouver's Historic Chinatown. In addition to all his community engagement work, Henry is an Associate Professor in History and in Asian Canadian & Asian Migration Studies (ACAM), the Director of the Initiative of Student Teaching and Research in Chinese Canadian Studies (INSTRCC) and the Principal of St. John's Graduate College at UBC.
Past Presidents
Dr. Edgar Wickberg (1927-2008)
Professor Emeritus, University of British Columbia, Founding President of CCHSBC. Ed taught in the Department of History from 1969 to 1992 and published numerous research on the overseas Chinese. He was a coordinator of the team which published the first major research on the Chinese in Canada - China to Canada: A History of the Chinese Communities (McClelland and Stewart, 1982). In gratitude for his vision and his hard work as the Founding President, CCHSBC created the Edgar Wickberg Scholarship in 2006 to honour his lifetime of passion for Chinese Canadian history.
Larry Wong
A longtime community organization board member, author, and researcher on Vancouver's Chinatown and Chinese Canadian history, Larry is a board member and curator of the Chinese Canadian Military Museum. In addition, Larry is also CCHSBC's local history, host of "Ask Larry". He is the co-author to Eating Stories: A Chinese Canadian and Aboriginal Potluck, and the author of Dim Sum Stories: A Chinatown Childhood.
Hayne Wai
A former public servant, Hayne was most recently a sessional instructor at UBC's Faculty of Education. Hayne has served on Federal, Provincial, and local boards on anti-racism, multiculturalism, and diversity. Hayne is a founding CCHSBC board member and was a Trustee of the Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden. He is also the co-author in Finding Memories, Tracing Routes and Eating Stories: A Chinese Canadian and Aboriginal Potluck.
Gordon Mark
Born in Grande Prairie, Alberta, Gordy is a past regional director for a federal government department. He has a strong interest in Chinese Canadian history and genealogical research and contributed to the development of the Vancouver Public Library Chinese Canadian Genealogy website. He is a co-author in Eating Stories: A Chinese Canadian and Aboriginal Potluck.
Colleen McGuinness
A consultant who also serves as the Executive Director of the BC Guangdong Business Council & Vancouver Guangzhou Friendship Society, Collen has been involved for many years with development of ties between Vancouver and Guangzhou, and BC and the Guangdong province. She was a Trustee of the Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden and member of the City of Vancouver Chinatown Area Planning Advisory Committee.
Ken Yip
A retired biomedical engineer, Ken is a part-time healthcare technology consultant and part-time BCIT faculty member. He has researched his grandfather in Cranbrook during the 1870's, his father in World War II as part of the Canadian/British Army SOE Force in Burma, and Chinese Market Gardens in Metro Vancouver. He is a co-author of Finding Memories, Tracing Routes and Eating Stories: A Chinese Canadian and Aboriginal Potluck.
Robert (bob) sung
A 4th generation Canadian, Bob has a passion for culinary arts and history. He attended the University of Hawaii studying Business Administration, as well as the Durbrulle Culinary Institute of Professional Chef Training. His personal and business life has revolved around the food/hospitality industry for many years. Bob's main goal is to educate and entertain from a culinary and cultural approach. In addition to CCHSBC, Bob is a member of the Vancouver Chinatown Revitalization Committee and an advisor to the Asian Heritage Month Society.