The windows were steamed up; due, in part, to the rain hammering off the glass and also down to the excited breaths filling the air as people began to pack into a small meeting room on the second floor of a City Centre strip mall.
Animated conversations bounced off the walls and the members’ beaming smiles were outshone only by the proliferation of reds and golds scattered liberally around the room at the Richmond Chinese Community Society’s (RCCS) Chinese New Year celebration.
While some RCCS volunteers enthusiastically welcomed more guests – most of them Chinese immigrant seniors – others fussed over the bobbles on the God of Fortune’s head-dress, as he prepared to bestow mini golden roosters on all in attendance.
Three empty chairs sat apart from the crowd at the front of the room, waiting to be filled by a trio of protagonists (RCCS members), who were set to entertain the audience with a skit about a lonely, fresh-off-the-plane Chinese immigrant woman.
“She has no friends, she is depressed and she wants to go home because of the language barrier,” RCCS executive director Henry Beh said of the plot for the 10-minute play.
“But she found RCCS and she begins to meet so many new friends, she gets to exercise in classes and takes part in birthday parties.”
The star of the “show” may be fictional, but she’s very much based on the experience lived by so many newcomers to Canada from China and is the very reason RCCS members, such as David Ma and Teresita Cheung, volunteer their time at the society.
“I’ve been coming here for about eight years, mostly to help new immigrants from China; most of whom can be lonely and don’t have too many friends,” said Ma, 76, who emigrated from Hong Kong more than 50 years ago.
“When I came here, I knew very few people and didn’t know where to go. There was no Chinese community in Richmond; it was mostly farmland; I had to go to Chinatown in Downtown Vancouver.
“Helping in such a way can be very healthy and keeps me strong, as well. I get lots of happiness and when we know more people, health and happiness comes with it. It makes sense.”
Cheung, 60, who came to Canada with her son and parents more than 23 years ago, also from Hong Kong, said she joined RCCS to expedite her learning of English.
“And to meet new people and, hopefully, make new friends,” she said.
“I brought my parents here and it helped them so much. It brings a smile to their faces and to mine; you can’t underestimate how much having something like this helps everyone.”
Both Ma and Cheung are planning to celebrate Chinese New Year’s Eve next Friday, Jan. 27, with big family get togethers.
“We will do something very traditional; it’s very important for the family to be together on Chinese New Year, very important,” said Ma.
“We must have chicken and we will have pot fish soup, oysters, fat choy and Chinese preserved meats, such as sausage and duck.”
With a big grin, Ma added that he was “very excited this year; but I usually am.”
Where Ma is a “dragon,” Cheung is a “rooster” and, with it being the Year of the Rooster on the Chinese horoscope, she’s hoping for some extra good luck.
What they do have in common, however, is youthful looks, given their years.
“It’s the clean air and cleaner water that makes us look younger,” Ma said, laughing.
“And being happy for a lot of the time, that must make a big difference,” said Cheung.
The 28-year-old non-profit RCCS — which, in part, exists to “assist in the process of integration and assimilation of Chinese-Canadians into mainstream society” — now has more than 1,000 members, said Beh, adding that “70 per cent are seniors and many are volunteers.”
RCCS provides a variety of services and programs to the community, such as fitness dance, ballroom dance, Tai Chi and Yuanji classes, karaoke, yoga, Chinese brush painting, calligraphy and belly dance.
If you would like to join or volunteer with RCCS, call 604-270-7222, email Info@RCCS.ca or go online to RCCS.ca.
'Students' expanding their English horizons
“A fox once saw a crow fly off with a piece of cheese in his beak.”
With their books wide open and their chins up, the dozen or so Chinese students – most of whom are seniors – echo their volunteer instructor with their best conversational English during their weekly class.
And if they ever do catch sight of a fox witnessing a crow taking flight with a piece of cheddar in his mouth, the eager participants of the Richmond Chinese Community Society’s (RCCS) English Corner program will know exactly how to express themselves.
The informal, Monday morning class offering conversational English has been running for four years and is so popular that the society has an almost continuous waiting list.
As the instructor read out a new word, the students repeated it back before their teacher gave a more detailed definition; which was frequently greeted with a collective “oh” from his students.
Hong Kong native John Chow, who has been going to English Corner for two years, spent the vast majority of the first 18 of his 20 years in Canada conversing in Chinese.
“When I retired, I wanted to really help the community; but I realized that, to do that properly, I would have to improve my English,” said Chow.
“I used to work in the seafood department at TNT supermarket; now I volunteer in the East Cambie community.
“I feel much better, now that I can communicate in English.”
His fellow classmate, Julita Chan, has also been coming to the class for two years, after emigrating from Hong Kong in 2011.
Chan wanted to improve her listening skills and wanted to be able to read English, as well as make more friends.
“Now, when I go to the department store, for example, I can communicate properly with the staff,” she smiled.
Joanna Kato, from Taiwan, had also been living in Canada for 18 years and getting by daily in Chinese, before her children urged her to learn English.
“At their school, we were always communicating with the teachers in English and it was difficult for me,” said Kato.
“I could manage, but I wanted to express myself properly to them, so I decided to come here.”
As well as learning new words and putting them into context in sentences, the students, which can number up to 25, sing songs in English and then have lunch together, where the conversation switches between Mandarin and Cantonese.
“We understand most of what we’re all talking about,” laughed Chan of the lunch.
“But it’s great being able to sing the national anthem without having to look at the lyrics.”
Anyone interested in signing up for English Corner at the RCCS offices on Park Road in City Centre should call 604-270-7222. A group of eight classes cost $16 or $2 for one, two-hour session.
