Annual General Meeting & Our Honourees

Like every non-profit society, we hold an Annual General Meeting to conduct business including electing board members, making important decisions, and informing members of past and future events. In addition, each year, we honour individuals and/or organisations for their contribution to Chinese-Canadian history. 

Past Honourees

2007 - professor 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.

2008 - Brandy Lien-Worrall-Soriano

Brandy Lien-Worrall is a writer, editor, book designer, and community arts event organiser. In 2008, she was enrolled in the MFA Creative Writing programme at the University of British Columbia, and was the associate editor of the Amerasia Journal - the premier journal for Asian American Studies published by UCLA.

​Brandy was instrumental in the highly successful launches of three books of family stories resulting from the CCHSBC Writing Workshops in which she facilitated. She was also the editor of all three books - ​Finding Memories, Tracing Routes: Chinese Canadian Family Stories (2006), English & Bilingual Editions; and​ Eating Stories: a Chinese Canadian and Aboriginal Potluck (2007).

2009 - Dr. Wallace Chung & Dr. Madeline Chung

 Dr. Wallace Chung was born in Victoria, BC, attended both UBC & McGill University, and was amongst the early Chinese Canadians to embark on a professional medical career. Wally specialised in vascular surgery throughout his forty year career, retiring from UBC as Professor of Surgery and UBC Hospital's Head of the Department of Surgery in 1991.

​Dr. Madeline Chung was born in Shanghai, China, and grew up in Hong Kong. She came to North American in 1949, specializing in obstetrics and gynecology. Like Wally, she had a forty plus year career in Vancouver where she delivered over 6500 babies. In 1999, she was made an honourary Life Member of the British Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons.

​Both Wally and Madeline are active members of their community. Wally contributed his time generously to various organisations including the Canadian Multiculturalism Council, British Columbia Heritage Trust, the Vancouver Chinese Cultural Centre and the Vancouver Maritime Museum. He was awarded the Order of Canada in 2005. Madeline was a founding member of the True Light Chinese School in Vancouver. In addition, they generously donated the Chung Collection to UBC which includes many rare and unique items: documents, books, maps, posters, paintings, photographs, silver, glass, ceramic ware and other artifacts in Chinese Canadian history. The Chung Collection is one of the most exceptional and extensive collections of its kind in North America. It is both a personal collection and a national treasure.

2010 - Larry Wong

Larry is a Founding Director and Past President of CCHSBC. He grew up in Chinatown with a tailor father who emigrated from China in 1911. Larry has a lengthy history of community service and membership in many organisations. He has been a director, as well as, curator and historian for the Chinese Canadian Military Museum. He produced a veteran's oral history project funding by ​Canadian Heritage​. 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.

2011 - Professor Jan Walls

Jan is a founding board member of CCHSBC, a board member of numerous community, service and cultural organisations, an internationally recognised scholar, and a super friendly person who exudes energy and engagement of many things Chinese and Chinese-Canadian.

He has been a professor of Chinese and Asian Studies at UBC, the University of Victoria, and at Simon Fraser University. He founded and directed the Centre for Pacific and Oriental Studies at UVic. In addition to teaching, he served as the First Secretary for Cultural and Scientific Affairs at the Canadian Embassy in Beijing (1981-1983), and was the Senior Vice President of the newly established Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada (1985-1987), where he founded and developed the first Education and Cultural Affairs programmes. He is the founding director of the David Lam Centre for International Communications and the Asia-Canada Programme at Simon Fraser University.

2012 - Joe Wai (1940-2017)

Joe chose to dedicate his professional life to socially responsible community initiatives and was particularly passionate about the preservation and revitalisation of Vancouver's Chinatown and the adjacent Strathcona neighbourhood. He was a leader in the fight to stop the freeway through Gastown, Chinatown and Strathcona, and upon winning that fight, was instrumental in securing the former freeway interchange site for the Chinese Cultural Centre and the Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden.

​As an architect for significant Chinatown projects, Joe consistently demonstrated cultural sensitivity and respect for history as evidenced in his various projects.

In the fall of 2016, Joe was nominated and awarded the Architectural Institute of British Columbia's Lifetime Achievement Award. His iconic architectural designs shaped Vancouver's Chinatown and Strathcona neighbourhoods, as did his activism. "He cared about the issues, but he also cared about the people who came together to argue, and cajole, and sometimes shout at each other about what was best for their community," said Dr. Henry Yu.

​In January 2017, Joe suffered an aneurysm and left behind an undeniable legacy of activism and generosity. He is survived by his wife Lynn and his son Jonathan.  

2013 - Fred Mah

For four decades, Fred Mah has been one of Chinatown's strongest advocates playing a role in countless community associations and civic committees. Fred served as an active member of numerous community organisations and trade delegations. He was a founding member of the Vancouver-Guangzhou Friendship Society and the BC-Guangdong Business Council, serving as president for both organisations. He organised countless Chinatown parades, art exhibits, photo and opera exchanges.

​Fred was a founding member of the Vancouver Chinese Cultural Centre, and CCHSBC. He chaired the Chinatown Visioning Committee for Chinatown Revitalisation, and founded the Friends of False Creek and the Chinatown Society Heritage Building Association.

2014 - Elder Larry Grant & Leader Howard Grant

Elder Larry Grant is of mixed Chinese and Musqueam ancestry. He was raised in Musqueam traditional territory and attended Vancouver Technical Secondary School. After retiring as a longshoreman, he enrolled in the First Nations Language Program at UBC to reconnect with his mother's ancestral language - hәn̓q̓әmin̓әm̓. Today, he is the Elder-in-Residence and adjunct professor at UBC's First Nations House of learning where he welcomes visitors, students, and staff from around the world.

​Howard Grant is Larry's brother, also born and raised in Musqueam traditional territory. Howard is a knowledge keeper in the Musqueam community. He has been a Councillor on Musqueam Band Council for the past 14 terms, and he has 30 years of combined experience working in First Nations and federal governments. In 2014, he as the Executive Director at the First Nations Summit.

​In the Fall of 2013, Larry and Howard, along with other family members returned to their father's ancestral village, Sek Kei, in the Zhongshan County, Guangdong Province. Their journey was documented in the Award Winning documentary - ​All Our Father's Relations​.

2015 - Professor Jean Barman

Jean Barman is a CCHSBC Founding Director, Professor Emeritus, Author and Historian of British Columbia. She received the 2014 George Woodcock Lifetime Achievement Award recognising her long career in bringing the province's history to life. This annual award honours a BC author whose outstanding literary career and contributions to society span several decades and Jean's name is added to the Writers Walk of Fame on the north plaza of Library Square in Vancouver.

​Jean has written and edited more than 20 books and 50 articles and chapters, many are acclaimed works on the history of

BC, Canada, women, Chinese Canadians and indigenous peoples. A recipient of the City of Vancouver's Book Award in 2006 for Stanley Park's Secret​, Jean was also awarded the Lieutenant Governor's Medal for Historical Writing in 2004 for ​Sojourning Sisters.
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​Jean has been active with the BC Heritage Trust and other historical organisations. She was inducted as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada in 2002 and was a recipient of the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal in 2012 as well as many more literary and recognition awards.

2016 - Modernize Tailors & The Wong Family

The Wong Family with Minister Teresa Wat at the 2016 AGM Dinner.

Modernize Tailors has been outfitting Vancouverites for over 100 years. It is now the oldest existing family-owned business in Chinatown.

​Wong Kung Lai arrived in Vancouver in 1911 and started work as a house boy on the west side of the city. He soon was able to step into an apprenticeship with a tailor from England. Two years later, after learning the trade, he set up his own shop.

​With his future prospects secure, Wong Kung Lai headed to China in 1920 to marry Chun Man Ming. The couple returned to Vancouver in 1921 and settled into life in the city with their nine children.

Modernize Tailors was one of many tailor shops in Chinatown. Despite the competition, the firm thrived. In its heyday, the shop was a sever-day-a-week operation with 20 employees.

​Sons, Jack and Bill, received their engineering degrees from UBC, but with no real employment opportunities the brothers started working in the tailor shop. They eventually took over the shop with Jack handling the layout and cutting, and Bill taking on the ironing and pressing. Jack passed away in 2013 but the firm continues today with Bill continuing to come to work each day.

​Modernize Tailors' suits were made for people from all walks of life and were a rite of passage for many. Vancouver writer and historian Larry Wong fondly remembers his visit to the shop for his graduation suit in 1957. Over the years, they have outfitted legions of stylish Vancouverites including many of Hollywood's stars in town on film projects.

​Generations of Wong family members have become outstanding leaders in business, community, and philanthropy with significant contributions to the social and cultural life of BC.

In 2017, one year after this celebration, Bill passed away peacefully in his sleep. Bill is survived by his wife of 66 years, Zoe, his children Stephen, Glenna, Susan and Peter, and grandchildren Karen and Michael. 

2017 - Strathcona Property Owners and Tenants Association (SPOTA)

​SPOTA was formed in 1968 by area residents to stop Vancouver City Hall's final phase of urban renewal bulldozing of their community and replacing it with large public housing complexes and a freeway thoroughfare. The organisation was successful in negotiating a tri-level government agreement for a comprehensive neighbourhood improvement programme, the Strathcona Rehabilitation Project (1971-74), the first of its kind in Canada. In 1973, the Canadian federal government introduced national neighbourhood improvement programmes based on the Strathcona experience. For SPOTA, neighbourhood rehabilitation also included providing affordable family housing to restore the community fabric. Between 1974 and 1980, the community organisation built over 170 units of affordable, co-operative and seniors housing to restore a stronger residential base.

“We are proud to acknowledge and celebrate SPOTA’s vision and successful fight to save the neighbourhood, pilot Canada’s first neighbourhood improvement program, and build affordable family housing” said CCHSBC President John Atkin. “SPOTA’s legacy goes much beyond Strathcona and Vancouver. The organization changed national urban policies and entrenched citizen participation” as a requirement in urban planning".

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2018 - HONOURABLE JUSTICE RANDALL WONG

Over his fifty-year career in law, Justice Randall Wong achieved a number of incredible firsts: the first in his family to attend university, the first Chinese Canadian provincial Crown Counsel (1967), and the first Chinese Canadian federally appointed judge (1981). 

He was inspired to pursue law in his teenage years while working at his father's restaurant, the Ovaltine Cafe, which was frequented by police officers, judges, and others who worked at the nearby police station. When he became a judge at the age of 33, he was one of the youngest appointees to the bench in BC and in Canada. Reflecting on his time, Justice Wong said to host Rick Cluff on CBC's Early Edition (2016):

"Back in those days there was no training to prepare you to be a judge. ... I remembered some of the judges that I most admired, and I basically tried to emulate them."

When he retired on April 14th, 2016, his birthday, a special sitting was held in his honour. At this point, he was the longest serving judge in BC, appointed to the Supreme Courts of British Columbia, the Yukon and the Northwest Territories, and Nunavut's Court of Justice. Practicing at a time when Chinese Canadians rarely studied law due to earlier prohibitions, Justice Wong is truly a pioneer of Canadian law. 

2019 - Colonel Howe Lee (2021)

Retired Colonel Howe Lee is a third-generation Chinese Canadian born in Armstrong, BC. Howe is well known for his very distinguished military career of 35 years, which included command positions as the CO of 156 Company, RCASC, the 2I/C of The Royal Westminster Regiment, the CO of the 12th Service Battalion, and numerous staff positions with Brigade. He concluded his military service with an appointment as Honourary Colonel of the 39 Service Battalion. At a community level, Howe has excelled in his leadership with numerous national, provincial, and municipal organisations, both military and civilian. Howe is the founder and first President of the Chinese Canadian Military Museum, which tells the history of Chinese Canadian Veterans in both the First and Second World Wars. In addition, Howe helps with the coordination of cadet programs, promotes Veterans' Week and Remembrance Day in public schools, and plans and participates in local Remembrance Day ceremonies. In May of 2016, Howe was awarded the Meritorious Service Medal (Civil Division) in recognition of his "outstanding accomplishments that set an example for others to follow and bring benefit to our country". In addition to his work with the CCMM, Howe is also a founding board member for CCHSBC, and while he stepped down from the board, Howe continues to conduct our election of board members annually.

In March of 2021, Colonel Lee passed away.

2020 - Paul Yee

Paul Yee - Born in Spalding, Saskatchewan, author, historian, and archivist Paul Yee grew up in Vancouver’s Chinatown. Yee’s involvement with Chinese Canadian history dates back to his high school and university years with community engagement and academic research. He attended Lord Strathcona Elementary School, Britannia Secondary School, and earned degrees in Canadian History from the University of British Columbia (B.A., 1978; M.A., 1983). His M.A. thesis title is “Chinese Business in Vancouver, 1886-1914”.

Yee’s career as an archivist began as a summer student at the City of Vancouver Archives, and later a full-time archivist (1979-1987). He went on to work as the multicultural coordinator at the Archives of Ontario (1988-1991), and subsequently as a policy analyst at the Ontario Ministry of Citizenship (1991-1997). 

Yee is an award-winning author whose writing has illuminated the experiences of Chinese Canadians in works of both fiction and nonfiction for children, young adults, and adults. His seminal publication, Saltwater City: An Illustrated History of the Chinese in Vancouver (1988) won the Vancouver Book Award in 1989. Saltwater City is based on the exhibit titled the same featured at the Chinese Cultural Centre as part of Vancouver’s centennial celebrations - the first exhibit to showcase artifacts, oral histories, and written records of Chinese Canadians living in Vancouver in the 19th and 20th centuries. Yee’s children’s picture book, Ghost Train (1996), illustrated by Harvey Chan, won the Governor General’s Award for English-language children’s literature (text), and was produced as a play in 2001. Other notable titles from Yee’s prolific writing career, which include over two dozen books and an opera, include: Tales from Gold Mountain (1989), Struggle and Hope: The Story of Chinese Canadians (1996), and A Superior Man (2015). While writing poetry and short stories in his free time during his career as an archivist and policy analyst, Yee began writing full-time in 1997 and is a member of the Writers Union of Canada (TWUC) and the Canadian Society of Children’s Authors, Illustrators, and Performers (CANSCAIP). 

While he has been living in Toronto since 1988, Yee was actively engaged in Vancouver’s Chinese Canadian community during his time here. Yee was a founding member of the Pender Guy Radio Collective, volunteer at the Vancouver Chinese Cultural Centre (1974-1987), member of Katari Taiko (Japanese drumming group), as well as member and editor with the Asian Canadian Writers Workshop, a group of writers with whom he published the anthology, Inalienable Rice (1979), and the Vancouver edition of Asianadian magazine (1980). In 2008, Yee donated his personal papers, photographs, audio recordings and other media to the City of Vancouver Archives; they have since been digitized and are available for research online.

2022 - Lily chow

​​Lily Chow was born in Malaysia and immigrated to Canada in 1967. In addition to being a historian and researcher, she was a high school teacher and Mandarin instructor at the University of Northern British Columbia before retirement.

Her book publications include Sojourners in the North (1996), Chasing Their Dreams (2000), Legends of Four Chinese Sages (2007), Blood and Sweat over the Railway Tracks (2014), and Blossoms in the Gold Mountains (2018). She has also written for Ricepaper Magazine, the BC Historical News, the Chinese Times, and the Prince George Citizen. Lily won the Jeanne Clarke Memorial Local History Award with Sojourners in the North, and has received grants from the Canadian Heritage Branch and the Federal Government (1993 & 1998). She has been awarded with two Queen Elizabeth II’s Jubilee Medals (2002 & 2012) for her outstanding community spirit and academic research. Lily was appointed to Order of Canada in 2021. Her newest book, Hard is the Journey, will be published in 2022. Currently, she resides in Victoria, BC.

2023 - Hayne Wai

Originally from Hong Kong, Hayne arrived in Vancouver at the age of five with three words of English. He grew up on the West Side where very few Chinese Canadian families lived. After high school, Hayne entered UBC to study Political Science.

​During his fourth year at the university, he attended a noon-hour speaker from Chinatown and learned about the Head Tax on early Chinese migrants, the Chinese Exclusion act, denial of citizenship and state-sanctioned racism against the early community. He was shaken and greatlly disappointed that the university courses on Canadian politics omitted this history of racism. Post-secondary courses on Canada in those years did not include discrimination and racism such as the Indian Acts and residential schools, Japanese Canadian internment, early Black pioneers of BC, the Komagata Maru, and Jewish refugees fleeing Nazi persecution. Hayne reflected on how Canada was presented with a “white lens” with a somewhat Disneyesque nation building framework. 

It was during his final year at UBC that started the genesis of Hayne's community awareness - Joe (Hayne's older brother) took Hayne to a community celebration dinner celebrating the defeat of the Chinatown Freeway, Round 1. Joe, along with others had fought against a freeway scheme that would have cut through Chinatown. Hayne's life-long journey into Chinese Canadian history started in his grad school years at Queen's University. 

Hayne has held a number of positions over the years that have allowed him to become involved in many community issues. This has included working in Ottawa for a Vancouver cabinet minister, with community organisations in Strathcona, Raymur, and Chinatown n the 1970s, for the Vancouver Centennial Commissions preparing for the 100th anniversary of the City in 1986, and volunteering with other Chinese Canadian community members to build a large exhibition at the Chinese Cultural Centre - Saltwater City, 100 Years of the Chinese in Vancouver. Additionally, Hayne joined the Canadian Human Rights Commission in 1985 as Section 15, the Equality component of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, came into force. He also  worked for the provincial Ministry of Multiculturalism to promote inclusive policies, culturally responsive services and anti-racism with government ministries, agencies and community organizations in B.C. Throughout these years Hayne served on federal, provincial, and local advisory committees on anti-racism, diversity, human rights and multiculturalism.

​After leaving government, Hayne was a sessional instructor in the Faculty of Education at the University of B.C., teaching courses on social issues in education, and also teaching in the School of Social Work. It was an opportunity to share his government and community experiences with future teachers.

​In 2004, Hayne became a founding member of the Chinese Canadian Historical Society of BC and later served as President. With CCHSBC, in 2006, Hayne wrote about his maternal grandparents coming to Canada and an uncle who served in WWII along with other Chinese Canadians, although they did not have citizenship nor voting rights, and published his stories in two of CCHSBC's publications. In 2008 Hayne joined the board of the Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Chinese Classical Chinese Garden in Chinatown as he wanted to learn more about Chinese culture and history in addition to his knowledge of Chinese Canadian history. 

Hayne is a recipient of the Government of Canada, Commemorative Medal, 125th Anniversary of Canada (1994), and the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal (2012). Hayne is encouraged by a new generation of young advocates dedicated to Chinatown's heritage, community service, and for an inclusive Canada. They remind him of his own journey in community involvement going back many years. He feels it is important that Chinese Canadian history be shared and promoted for future generations and that the heritage of First Nations peoples and all migrants be learned and respected.

Biography Contributors: Hayne Wai, Nafisa Golwala (PCHC), Joyce Tang (CCHSBC)

2024 - cchsbc 20th anniversary

Every year, CCHSBC hosts a celebratory dinner honouring a deserving community member who has made significant contributions to the Chinese Canadian community. Unlike previous years, 2024 was a little different. Instead of recognizing a single person for his/her contribution, we wanted to recognize all those who have contributed to the Chinese Canadian Historical Society of BC over the last twenty years!

2025 - WINNIE CHEUNG

​Winnie L. Cheung was born to refugee parents in Hong Kong, where she grew up amidst the convergence of people from China and all over the world. She attended university in Hong Kong and New Zealand, and adopted Vancouver as her home in 1986. Winnie has worked tirelessly as an educator and community-builder to promote international relations and intercultural understanding between first-generation immigrants and local-born Canadians.

Her leadership in fostering multiculturalism and inclusivity have been recognized by Rotary International, the University of British Columbia, the City of Vancouver, the City of Burnaby, and the Provincial Government of BC. A published writer, editor, translator and art lover, she works collaboratively to create public platforms for meaningful dialogues and story-telling to discover and strengthen the common bonds in our diverse community. 

Fascinated by the forces behind people’s migration, Winnie is curious to know how individuals’ identities are shaped by the knowledge of their families’ history. She believes in building understanding to bridge differences through conversation and other forms of creative engagements.

2026 - wendy au

​Wendy Au retired as Assistant City Manager for the City of Vancouver in June 2018. Throughout her 39-year career, Wendy played a pivotal role in shaping meaningful change within the City of Vancouver. Her leadership was instrumental in guiding two significant initiatives: the City’s Formal Apology to the Chinese Community, which addressed historical injustices and promoted healing, and the City of Reconciliation initiative, aimed at building stronger relationships with Indigenous peoples and fostering a more inclusive and equitable city for all residents.

A dedicated advocate for Chinatown and Strathcona neighbourhoods, she promoted social justice and diversity through the Hastings Training Institute on Diversity and the Vancouver Agreement, a tri-level intergovernmental initiative. Her commitment extended to cultural and heritage conservation, ensuring the city’s rich history and vibrant communities were preserved and celebrated.

Wendy served six years as lay governor of the Law Foundation of BC and was a director on the Vancouver Coastal Health Board. Wendy Au’s contributions have been recognized with notable honours, including the 2012 YWCA Women of Distinction Award for Non-Profit and Public Service, the YWCA Connecting the Community Award, and the 2017 Vancouver City Service Award. These accolades highlight her lasting impact on Vancouver and her unwavering dedication to public service.