Saturday, September 19, 2009

 

 

Thank you for the opportunity to celebrate with you the launch of Inside Chinatown

This event marks the culmination of years of work – gathering photos, collecting stories, tracing history

 

Kileasa Wong and Robert Amos – your years of commitment to this project are truly outstanding – you have provided the people of Victoria, and beyond, with a wonderful gift.

 

A gift of memory and promise.

 

This book conveys the history of Chinatown – which is the history of Victoria.

 

 

What makes this book so compelling is that you tell all the stories - the good and the bad – the shining light of community service, the dark shadows of racism.

 

It is visually engaging, historically vital, and full of insight and stories.

 

It gives us a real and uncensored peek into Victoria’s Chinatown and the Chinese community that has so passionately kept their traditions and culture thriving.

 

It honours the past and looks to the future.

 

This book is certainly a labour of love - and one that we all gain great benefit from

 

As a society we are always better for expanding our knowledge and understanding.

 

I would like to congratulate Kileasa Wong and Robert Amos for adding to our collective knowledge - and for playing their part in ensuring Chinatown and the Chinese community here in Victoria continues to thrive and shine.

 

Victoria’s Chinatown is the oldest in Canada.

 

It was in the early years of our history that the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association was born – in 1884.

The CCBA provided care and assistance to these early citizens under the most trying and harrowing circumstances, in a strange and often inhospitable land.

 

After a century and a quarter the CCBA, made up of many organizations, is still contributing to the welfare of the Chinese Canadian community.

 

For the first time in this book we hear from each of the 29 member organizations that make up the CCBA – their story, pictures, and traditions.

 

Groups formed by family name, county of origin, or political affiliation are proudly presented – each in their own chapter.

 

The end result is picture of Chinatown that is diverse, unique, and thriving – a community that has come to shape the larger community of Victoria in a very deep and intimate way.

 

Chinatown is a vital part of our City

 

It is part of our history, our current identity, and vital to our future.

 

Its longevity and success are paramount to the overall success of the City.

 

In closing – I just want to commend Kileasa Wong and Robert Amos again.

 

This book is an outstanding accomplishment.

 

On behalf of the City, I want to say thank you for your efforts - and for giving us the opportunity to share the wonders of Victoria’s Chinatown with the world.