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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 (2016-17)
John Atkin (President)
John is a civic historian/author who conducts tours exploring Vancouver which offers interesting and offbeat insights to the city's architecture, history, and neighbourhoods. He conducts unique popular walking tours and has published/co-authored five books: Heritage Walks Around Vancouver, Strathcona: Vancouver's First Neighbourhood, Vancouver Walks, Skytrain Explorer, and the Changing City. He co-founded and served as Vice-President and President of Heritage Vancouver
Sarah Ling (Vice-President)
Sarah is completing her Master in Arts at the University of British Columbia, through which she works with the Musqueam Nation to revitalize the intercultural history of Chinese market gardening in their community and stories of UBC-First Nations relations. She develops multimedia resources that foster a better understanding of local Indigenous topics and Chinese Canadian history. Sarah is co-author of a multilingual Musqueam children's book ʔi ɬeʔ nem̓ ʔəm̓xasəm̓, 我們出去走走啦!, Let’s Take a Walk! with Elder Larry Grant and Producer of All Our Father's Relations, a documentary film currently in post-production. She is the Media and Communications Assistant for the First Nations and Endangered Languages Program at UBC.
Susanna Ng (Vice-President)
Born in Hong Kong, Susanna studied at UBC where she received her Bachelor of Arts degree. She has been working in Vancouver's Chinese media industry since the mid-90s and also did a stint in communications with the BC Provincial Government. Her lifelong passion has always been in learning and researching Chinese history. Her interest in Chinese Canadian history began in her UBC years when she was a research assistant for Professor Edgar Wickberg. Susanna speaks Cantonese, Mandarin and some Taishanese.
Joyce Tang (Secretary)
Joyce's first introduction to Chinese Canadian history was during her studies at UBC for her first undergraduate degree in History. It was in Professor Henry Yu's class where Joyce delved into her own family history, leading to discoveries of ties to Canada. While Joyce eventually became an educator by trade, her love of history didn't diminish leading to both being one of CCHSBC's first coordinators in the early years of the society, as well as her return in 2015 to become a Board member. In the time that she had stepped away from the society, Joyce went on to study Business Administration and completed her Master in Business Administration from the University of Liverpool in 2013. At present, Joyce is a University Guidance Counsellor at an independent school in West Vancouver.
Gail Yip (Treasurer)
Gail is a fourth-generation Chinese-Canadian. Her roots line in two British Columbia Chinatowns that no longer exist today - New Westminster and Nanaimo. She has extensive community volunteer experience. Gail is a co-author of Finding Memories, Tracing Routes and Eating Stories: A Chinese Canadian and Aboriginal Potluck. She is currently co-writing the History of Burnaby Schools 1894-Present, along with four other volunteer writers.
Rob Ho
Rob is a doctoral candidate in the Graduate School of Education & Information Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles. His dissertation research compares the public university experience of second-generation Asian Canadian and Asian American students in Vancouver and Los Angeles. He teaches in the Asia-Canada Program at SFU. Raised in Kamloops, Rob received his Bachelor of Arts from Carleton University and Master of Arts from the University of Toronto.
Laifong Leung
Laifong taught Chinese literature, language and calligraphy at the University of Alberta. Her publications include books on classical Chinese poetry, post-Mao literature, and a Mandarin language textbook. Her courseware Concise Interactive Chinese (www.ciccic.ca) is ready for Mandarin learners. Laifong's new books include History of Literacy Interactions between Chinese and Canada (written in Chinese) and Contemporary Chinese Fiction Writers: Biography, Bibliography and Critical Assessment (forthcoming in English). She is co-founder and chair of the Chinese Canadian Writers Association and editor of the e-journal of the Canadian Teaching Chinese as a Second Language Association. She also speaks Taishanese, Cantonese, and Mandarin.
Emily Ooi
Emily works for the City of Richmond as the Educational Programs Coordinator, Richmond Museum. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in History and a Bachelor of Education in Secondary Social Studies from the University of British Columbia. Beyond CCHSBC, Emily also sits on the Richmond School District's Aboriginal Education Enhancement Agreement Committee, the BC Field Trip Fair Organizing Committee, and is part of the Lower Mainland Museum Educators group. Emily is currently enrolled in the Master of Museum Education program at UBC.
John Price
John teaches history at the University of Victoria and his graduate research focus was on Post-War Japan. His recent research includes Canada-East Asian relations with published articles on Canada and the Cold War in East Asia. His most recent book is Orienting Canada: Race, Empire and the Transpacific. John's current research is on Victoria Cheung, the first Chinese Canadian to graduate from the University of Toronto Medical School, and the longest-serving medical missionary to China.
Dan Seto
Dan graduated from Simon Fraser University in Business Administration and worked in sales, marketing, publishing and promotions. He has been an avid dragon boat and outrigger racer, and also co-authored Finding Memories, Tracing Routes and Eating Stories: A Chinese Canadian and Aboriginal Potluck. Dan established Chinese Canadian Roots TV Channel on YouTube which features his mother's Chinese village recipes, travels to his ancestral villages, and documentation of CCHSBC events.
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.
Henry Yu
Henry is an Professor in History at the University of British Columbia (UBC), teaching Chinese Canadian and trans-Pacific migration history, and the Principal of St. John's College at UBC. His interest focuses on the older and newer waves of Chinese settlement in Canada, how both have been central to Vancouver and BC history, and how they connect to the movements of Chinese and other migrants throughout the Pacific. Henry received his Bachelor of Arts Honours History from UBC, Master of Arts and PhD from Princeton University. He returned to UBC in 2003 after having taught at UCLA for 10 years.
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.
