Tong, Poy
Poy Tong was born in Guangdong Province, China. His mother, Hew Ting, raised her three sons in China while her husband, Tung Shew Nan (also known as Dong Shou), worked overseas in Canada. After The Chinese Immigration Act, 1923 was repealed, Hew Ting and her sons applied to come to Canada. Only she and Poy were approved to receive visas because her other sons’ answers were deemed unacceptable by immigration officials at the Canadian Consulate in Hong Kong. Hew Ting waited six months in the hopes that the family could travel together, but was forced to leave behind her two sons in China when Canadian immigration threatened to cancel the visas. After making appeals to Canadian Immigration, the Tungs were reunited with their remaining sons, who joined the family months later in the town of Delhi, Ontario. The Tungs lived above the family’s restaurant and each family member was expected to contribute to the successful operation of the business. After moving to Toronto as an adult, Poy Tong worked for Canada Post and raised a family with his wife, Yuen Har. At the time of the interview, Poy Tong was a volunteer in school literacy programs.
Tung Shew Nan paid $500 in head tax when he entered Canada in 1918, which was equivalent to approximately two years of labour. Almost a century later, Tung Shew Nan’s widow Hew Ting poses with her compensation cheque from the Canadian government. These cheques were issued to the surviving head tax payers and their spouses following an official apology in 2006 by Prime Minister Stephen Harper. In a speech, Harper recognized the head tax as ‘a grave injustice, and one we are morally obligated to acknowledge.’
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