News...From the Mission
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News...From the mission June 2021 Welcome Friends, Members and Supporters of the Chinese Canadian Military Museum. In this issue ... We are alive and well! Like many of you, when we were first President’s Message locked down, we believed everything would be back to normal Past President’s Overview shortly. Little did any of us know what was in store. It has been of 10 Years 15 long months with no clear date as to when we can safely resume our public activities. Tribute to Howe Lee Which isn’t to say that we haven’t been busy. At the beginning of The Finding Freddy Lee Project 2020, retired B.C. Supreme Court Judge Randall Wong became our new president and we have continued to work on projects, CCMMS in the Community undertake research and stay involved in the community. WWII Veterans Inspire New Exhibitions We thought it was time to let you, a valued member, supporter or friend, know what we’ve been up to. So we have issued this Lost Canadians newsletter, the first in over two years. Precious Artifacts Honour Roll: 2019 - 2021 Chaplain’s Corner Help Support Our Work c. 1944 (L to R) Louie King; James Wong and Norman Low. All three men served with Force 136 in Southeast Asia. President’s Message In January 2020, I was elected, along with ten other Board Members, as the new President and Executive of the Chinese Canadian Military Museum Society (CCMMS). CCMMS was created 23 years ago by a group of Chinese Canadian World War II Army, Navy and Airforce Veterans and was led by the late Colonel Howe Lee who served as the founding President of the Museum. All Board Members are volunteers who fervently believe in the purposes of the Museum, which are to educate, preserve and honour the legacy of Retired Judge Randall Chinese Canadian military veterans. These men and women, despite being Wong, who served on the denied the rights of Canadian citizenship, gallantly served in the Armed B.C. Supreme Court, is the Forces in both World Wars I and II. Their valour and sacrifices made it museum’s third president in possible for succeeding generations to obtain all the political and social its 23-year history. benefits we now enjoy and take for granted. Each Board Member brings special skills and expertise to the team and I am confident that, working collaboratively, our Board will continue to advance the aims of our Military Museum. In the year 2020, the Board contemplated two ideas: The commemoration of 75 years since the end of the Second World War; and the goal to work with families to ensure that Veterans’ contributions continue to be remembered. Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic caused health concerns and economic shutdowns, which interrupted operations and public visits. As a non-profit society, we operate on a tight budget relying on membership fees, donations and some project-related grants. But we always have big ambitions: • Updates to our exhibits. • Re-cataloguing all donated artifacts so that they can be better preserved for future generations to view and study. • Exploring how to further showcase the names of Chinese Canadian veterans which are currently listed on the large plaque in the courtyard of the Chinese Cultural Centre in Vancouver. • Organize presentations, films and talks about the history of Chinese Canadian veterans for the families of the veterans and the community. This year, as we commemorate 76 years since the end of the Second World War, I hope to see you and your family when health regulations are lifted and we can finally meet in person again. 2 Past President’s Overview of 10 years When I was invited to take up the leadership role with the museum, I put it off until when I had no more valid reasons to defer it. For many years, I was very much involved with the naval reserve and Metro Vancouver’s Royal Canadian Navy’s 100th anniversary centennial celebration (2010). When those activities ended, I ran out of excuses. Another reason why I joined CCMMS was that we used to meet at Foo’s Ho Ho restaurant in Chinatown. The country-style Chinese food was excellent and I didn’t want to miss it as we would dine right after the meeting was over. Further, “Uncle” John Ko and his wife Ida were very good to my family and I was also involved with the ANAVETS Pacific Unit number 280’s Drum & Bugle Corps when I was a teenager. Seriously, having met the Chinese Canadian veterans over the years, and learning of their struggles, I was Commander (Ret’d) determined to do what I could to help preserve their legacy. King Wan, President from 2010 - 2019 A great deal of impressive work was done from the opening of the museum in 1998 up to that point and the good work was well recognized by those who came to visit our exhibits. However, after 12 years, the displays looked a tad tired and needed updating to make the museum more appealing in order to attract visitors. One of my objectives was to find ways to refresh and update the exhibitions. I was very fortunate as the museum was blessed with very dedicated members such as John Ko (a different John Ko with the same name), Kelly Kwong, curators Larry Wong and Catherine Clement who were most helpful in providing suggestions, ideas and advice on how to move forward. One of my first orders of business was to secure funding for the continuation of our museum to develop and grow our exhibitions. An application to the Department of Canadian Heritage for a grant under The Community Historical Recognition Program (CHRP) was accepted. According to the grant provisions, CCMMS was required to deliver an exhibition that would be shown both in Ottawa and Vancouver. The Ottawa exhibit was to be a joint effort by our museum with support from the Canadian War Museum (CWM). The exhibits were to be completed and delivered by the 2011/2012 timeframe. At that time, the contractor who was hired to design and develop the displays, did not measure up to the requirements of the exhibition, and delivered a below par show at the Vancouver venue. The deliverable in Ottawa would be under the close scrutiny and watchful eyes of the Heritage Canada’s staff thus a subpar exhibit was not an option. Luckily, our first curator, Larry Wong, came to the rescue. With a team of dedicated CCMMS members and our Canadian War Museum colleagues, we produced in warp speed a display that met the high standard expected for showing at the Canadian War Museum. The catchy exhibition title “One War, Two Victories” was coined by our padre, Wesley Lowe. The exhibit was initially to be shown at the CWM for just the summer of 2012 summer. However, at the end of the day, CWM asked that it be kept on display until the following year. This enabled more visitors and school classes in Ontario to view the displays and learn about the contributions of Chinese Canadian veterans who served in the Canadian Forces in World War II. Like many members who join the museum with the intention of helping to preserve the legacies of our veterans, it doesn’t matter what position one holds on the executive: each role is equally important for the continued development and betterment of the museum. I thank everyone who stepped up in giving his/her time, experience and effort in the growth of CCMMS to what it has become today. Kudos to all of you! 3 Tribute to Howe Lee - Founding president By Alfred Woo Colonel Howe Lee (1932 - 2021). We gratefully acknowledge the late Col Howe Lee’s distinguished service to Canada as a member of the Canadian Armed Forces. There were many media tributes to Howe, including those in the Chinese media. The best English one I read was the dedication in the April 15, 2021, edition of The Globe and Mail, a national newspaper. Without duplicating all that has been written, I want to share other examples of Colonel Lee’s volunteerism, which has positively impacted the community and country. The Chinese Cultural Centre, located in the heart of Vancouver Chinatown, has long struggled to sustain its operations. The Centre was financially marginalized, capital repairs were needed, and staffing was deficient. It was in that light that Colonel Lee was challenged to join the Centre’s Board of Directors in the early 1990’s. His organizational exactitude helped to instill more discipline into the Centre’s operations. The public financing to build a Chinatown memorial on the Keefer Triangle at the corner of Keefer and Columbia Streets in Vancouver was due to expire owing to organizational discord. Colonel Lee, and another Chinatown community leader, rushed to rescue the project. They expeditiously settled upon a design, commissioned its construction, and erected the monument in the tight time-frame remaining. The stylized structure is dedicated to the Chinese pioneers, represented by the veteran and railroad figures, and is the favoured site for many community observances including the annual Remembrance Day service. Yes, Howe will always be remembered for founding the Chinese Canadian Military Museum. Yet his vision of commemorating the historic military service of Chinese Canadians in WWII was initially declined by a group of veterans who were not keen to dredge up the past and did not feel their service merited special attention. Notwithstanding, Howe was adamant to preserve and publish their legacy by forming the museum. This was further cemented by release of a bilingual booklet by the Department of National Defense entitled “Fighting for Canada: Chinese and Japanese Canadians in Military Service”, in which he was an acknowledged contributor.