19 Reminiscence of School Life
Ms. Chung Wai Ying
Paul Yee, the author of Roses Sing on New Snow [1], is a Chinese-Canadian historian and prolific writer who currently lives in Toronto, Canada.[2] Yee is a minority writer who has written approximately 29 books since 1991. [3]
Yee is a third-generation Chinese Canadian. At his young age, there were no books about his world – the world of immigrants, racial minorities, and different histories. Inevitably, he had a typical Chinese-Canadian childhood in which he caught between two worlds. Confusion, misery and misapprehension of his place consumed him, but flourished a drive for him to search for his own roots. He has the capacity to apprehend Chinese minority and writes from an inside perspective about what it means to be a member of a visible minority living in Canada.
The story Roses Sing on New Snow takes place in Vancouver more than 100 years ago. The protagonist, Maylin, is a misfit who cooks in her father’s restaurant in Chinatown. As a metaphor, “Chinatown” connotes rootedness, a unique source of values and the social code of the Chinese. Intermingling the tension of the families and social relations, the mindset people have over time has changed. Though, the immigrants in the story reestablish and reproduce the same order and structure of Chinese society for generations in the New World. Chinatown becomes a collective evidence overflowed by New World experiences in rejection, alienation, accommodation, and acceptance. It also provides a source to unify Chinese diaspora to consolidate their beliefs, traditions, rituals, and spirits as a unique society. As a key signifier in the Chinese Canadian immigration, the name “Chinatown” stands as a historical testimony with collective identity. [4]
It is important to be proud of individuality, but also to feel a sense of community and support. Our school provides character building (CB) education to foster the development of ethical and responsible individuals. CB lessons yield collective experience. An understanding of 6 core values (responsibility, integrity, care, respect, perseverance and commitment) created through interacting and accepting ideas with others. The soft skills - the ability to accept other people’s ideas [5] will be the source to secure our beliefs.
My expectation is students of WFJLPS will possess useful and valued qualities to exhibit and implement accordingly in order to sustain a harmonious society. The school, hence, will evolve into a milieu for the reminiscence of the sameness, a group with similar interests and opinions, in their primary school life.
References:
[1] Roses Sing on New Snow was a picture book published in 1991. It was collected in an anthology — Cornerstones Canadian Language Arts 4b, by Gage Learning Corporation, Toronto in 1998
[2] Yee, Paul. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Yee
[3] Yee, Paul. Stories. 2015, http://www.paulyee.ca/stories.php
[4] Chao, Lien. Beyond Silent: Chinese Canadian Literature in English, Toronto: TSAR, 1997.
[5] Dr. Nach’s Online Resources, Overcoming Life’s Obstacles. http://drnachonline.com/