Chan, Katy
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, Katy Chan discusses her identity as a Chinese Canadian, her participation in community activities, her job as a graphic artist, and her view of gender roles.
Katy believes in the importance of supporting community needs and representing Chinese culture in a way that challenges stereotypes. She also thinks that people should seek out a career that makes them happy.
When Katy immigrated to Victoria, British Columbia from Hong Kong in 1976, she did not face any real cultural barriers, though she comments about adjusting to the slower pace of Canadian life. She was not impressed by her observations of other Chinese students on the campus of the University of Victoria because they seemed divided into cliques and activities were limited to social events with little cultural focus. For a while, she was President of the course union in the Pacific and Oriental Studies department and sponsored activities that highlighted positive and diverse aspects of Chinese culture.
Katy discusses the W5 protests and their impact on her outlook towards racism. She explains that she started a Chinese community organization in Chinatown, highlighting some of the organization’s initiatives such as ESL classes and workshops for new immigrants who faced language barriers. Eventually, Katy stopped work on the projects due to time constraints, lack of support and resistance from the community.
Katy expresses satisfaction with her career as a graphic artist. She talks about the sexism she faced during her career, especially with her involvement in the Chinese community. Katy also discusses her view of Canadian politics, interracial marriages, and the role of women in the community.
Katy’s final remark about her experience in Canada is that she feels there is a lack of culture and heritage. She does not feel as if she has a Canadian identity, and is disappointed with Victoria’s lack of employment. She believes more funding for the arts is needed in order to reflect the diversity of the country.
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