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Titre: Interview with Joyce Chan, Part 2 of 3
Date : February 16, 1985
Donateur : Chan, Joyce
Sujet : China, Immigration, Family Life, Education, Work, Food, Inter-generational Relations, Language, War and War Effort
Province : British Columbia
Set: 2 of 3
Langue : CAN
Référence de l’article : CHI-11171-CHA / CHI-VICTORIA-2

Chan, Joyce

Over 130 interviews with Chinese Canadian women were conducted for the book Jin Guo: Voices of Chinese Canadian Women. Produced in 1992 by the Women’s Book Committee of the Chinese Canadian National Council, Jin Guo was intended to fill the gap in historical accounts of Chinese Canadian women’s history. Researchers traveled across Canada to interview Chinese Canadian women of various ages and backgrounds. The book’s authors, Amy Go, Winnie Ng, Dora Nipp, Julia Tao, Terry Woo and May Yee, organized the book around themes and patterns that emerged across multiple interviews – feelings of isolation and culture shock upon arrival in Canada, memories of parent-child relationships, the importance of education, the working lives of women, discrimination, cultural identity, marriage and dating, family life, perspectives on aging and retirement, and examples community activism. The interviews conducted for this project are stored at the Multicultural History Society of Ontario’s archives. This collections database includes a large cross-section of interviews conducted for Jin Guo – in English, Cantonese and Mandarin.

In this interview, Joyce Chan discusses her father’s emigration from China to Hong Kong, her own immigration to Canada as a student, and her life in Victoria, British Columbia. Joyce’s father was a landowner in China, and was denounced under Communist rule. He left China for Hong Kong in 1950 or 1951, and Joyce followed in 1955. His business ventures in Hong Kong went bankrupt in 1967. Joyce and her sister applied to come to Canada as students; they immigrated in 1969.

Joyce describes differences between Hong Kong and Victoria. She describes her daily routine in Canada, including her English studies, her work in a clothing factory, and her sister’s work in a restaurant. She recalls being singled out for bringing Chinese food to work for lunch. Joyce believes that Chinese people are generally hard workers. She explains that through hard work, you will be recognized.

Joyce married in 1976, and had a son. She notes that he does not speak any Chinese.