Lum, Raymond
Raymond Lum is a photographer who resides in Vancouver, British Columbia. His father, Ming Lum (also known as ‘Tommy’), immigrated to Canada in 1922 from China. When Ming returned to China to visit in 1929, his family arranged for him to marry Irene Lum (née Tseng Yook Lahn) who came from a neighbouring village. The couple were separated for a decade during the Exclusion Period (1923-1947), while Irene lived with her in-laws in China. Raymond describes this period of separation as ‘awful’ because Irene was treated poorly by her mother-in-law and was not permitted to see her own family. In 1940, Irene came to Canada as a ‘paper daughter’, taking on the identity of a deceased woman in order to join her husband. She departed on one of the last boats leaving Hong Kong harbour before the Japanese captured the city. Ming and Irene worked side-by-side at Canada Produce, a busy grocery store on Granville Street in Vancouver. The Lums raised Raymond in an apartment above the store, and Irene had little time for socializing because she was, in Raymond’s words, ‘bound to the store.’ Raymond describes growing up in Vancouver, caught between the traditional expectations of his parents’ generation and his own aspirations as a Canadian-born youth.
In part two of a two-part interview, Raymond Lum continues to discuss his parents’ experiences in Vancouver, British Columbia. He talks about his parents’ family business, Canada Produce, and the roles that his mother took on in the business and in the family. Raymond fondly reminisces about the lively Chinatown of his childhood, but also recalls some less positive aspects of the neighbourhood, such as criminal activity, drug use, and gambling. Raymond remembers attending Chinese school and his parents’ expectations for him regarding language, culture, and education. He clarifies that his parents’ long-term outlook changed after the Communists took power of Ch
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