Chan, Shirley
Shirley Chan was born in Vancouver, British Columbia. Her mother, Mary Lee Chan (née Lee Wo Soon), was also born in Vancouver but migrated to China as a child in the 1920s with her family. Mary’s refusal to enter into an arranged marriage with a Chinese Canadian businessman angered her father, causing him to stop sending remittances to the family. This determination helped Mary survive war-torn China and long bouts of separation from her husband, Wah Goh (Walter) Chan, whom she met while teaching in China. Pregnant with her second child, Shirley, Mary set out alone for Canada in 1947 with her Canadian birth certificate in hand. She began to work in factories immediately upon her arrival, saving up enough money to bring over her husband in 1949 followed by her first daughter, Jane, in 1951. Mary was an outgoing, vocal presence in Vancouver’s Chinese community; Shirley says she challenged gender and cultural stereotypes.
When planners and politicians threatened to bulldoze Vancouver’s Chinatown and the nearby Strathcona neighbourhood, which had already been partially redeveloped, Mary took matters into her own hands. She went door-to-door to alert her neighbours with her teenaged daughter, Shirley, in tow. When Shirley was in university in the late 1960s, the two became instrumental in forming the Strathcona Property Owners and Tenants Association (SPOTA), which successfully halted the city’s plans. Since then, Shirley has continued her work with communities in various capacities: in social service organizations, in government agencies, and in politics. In 2007, Shirley became the CEO of Better Opportunities for Business, a non-profit organization that supports local business development and job creation in inner-city Vancouver.
On a visit to China, Shirley Chan discovered that this photo still hangs on the wall of Mary Lee Chan’s family home. The photo was probably taken in the late 1940s, shortly before Mary (left, seated) departed war-torn China for Canada. Jane's clothing displays Mary’s handiwork – the English word 'clever' is embroidered on her dress. As a girl in China, Mary went to live in a special 'girls house', where young women receive an education in sewing and other domestic skills.
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