CND-Canada, December 4, 1994
cnd-c...@cnd.org
(Canada Regional Service)
Sunday, December 4, 1994
Table of Contents # of Lines
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1. News Brief (3 Items) ..................................................30
2. China to Consider Canada First in Wheat Imports .......................47
3. Chinese Businesswoman Finds Success in Vancouver's Garbage ...........101
4. Mandarin: The Hottest Language of Opportunity Today ..................213
5. Letter to Editor: Would You Like To Be a Friend? ......................47
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1. News Brief (3 Items) ..................................................30
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[CND, 12/02/94] If since May you bought a canned baby clams made in China,
better check if it carries an inscribed code H14 on the can, warns the
Health Department (Canada). They may contain bacteria that could cause
botulism, a potentially fatal type of food poinsoning. Close to one
million of such 142-gram cans under the brand names Admiral, Atlantic
Pride, Aurora, Ferma, Master of the Sea, Palace, Pantry Shelf, Pastene,
Primo, Riviera and Unico have been recalled accross Canada, according to a
news report on The Gazette (Montreal) Friday. These cans were imported
from the same Chinese canery. They passed an initial food inspection,
but failed in a routine check in Montreal in October. (Yuan Liu)
___ ___ ___
[11/23/94] Called by its sponsors "the richest American prize in science,"
the Bower award from The Franklin Institute in Philadelphia has this year
been awarded to Chen Ning Yang, Albert Einstein Professor and director of the
Institute for Theoretical Physics at the State University of New York, Stony
Brook. Yang, who shared a Nobel prize with T. D. Lee in 1957, is getting
$250,000 for his formulation, with Robert Mills, of the "Yang-Mills" theory
describing subatomic interactions. (forwarded by fr...@caesar.wustl.edu;
Science Vol. 266)
___ ___ ___
[11/20/94] Postdoc Position at Technical U. of Nova Scotia, Canada.
Applications are invited for postdoctoral fellows for a project focusing on
traffic control and resource management in high-speed telecommunications
networks such as ATM-based networks. The successful candidates should have a
doctoral degree in operations research, system engineering, electrical
engineering, computer engineering, or computer science, and a solid
background in stochastic modeling, optimization, and control with
applications to communications systems/networks. Those who are interested
please contact: ya...@newton.tuns.ca
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2. China to Consider Canada First in Wheat Imports .......................47
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BEIJING - China and Canada have struck a long-term but informal
understanding that will see Beijing looking first to Ottawa to fulfil its
wheat import needs
"Our relationship with China is better than any other wheat trading
nation in the world, number one," said a Canadian trade executive in Beijing.
"It's much better than anything on paper," he said. "When
China wants wheat, we will have a very good chance to be the first sellers."
The informal understanding amounts to the same as a long-term agreement.
Since 1960, Canada has sold more than one million tonnes
of grain, mainly wheat and barley, to China. Of a total of 6.42 million
tonnes of wheat imported by China last year, 2.7 million tonnes came from
Canada.
China's total grain imports for calendar 1994 have been
estimated by industry sources at around seven million tonnes, with the
Canadians expected to pick up at least 50 percent.
Among Chretien's delegation last month were representatives of the
Canadian Wheat Board, who met high-ranking Chinese agriculture officials and
Vice Premier Zhu Rongji, responsible for the economy, Canadian sources in
Beijing said.
One source in Beijing described the relationship between
the Chinese and Canadian governments, and especially between the Canadian
Wheat Board and the China National Cereals, Oils and Foodstuffs Import and
Export Cooperation (COFCO) as "like lips and teeth".
China grows about 100 million tonnes of wheat a year and
this year expects to harvest 103 million tonnes. Demand, however, averages
110-112 million tonnes.
Estimates by the United States Department of Agriculture
and the International Wheat Council (IWC) are bullish on China's wheat import
needs over the coming year, at around 10 million tonnes. This is because the
population, which the government says is now 1.2 billion, is becoming richer
and creating a market for processed and packaged foods such as ready-made
noodles, breads and cakes. China has said this projection, which would
account for nine percent of next year's world wheat trade, is too high
because demand is cooling.
United Grain Growers in Chicago said last month that Canada
would ship between four and six million tonnes of wheat to China in
1994/95. Canadian Grain Commission figures for the first month of the
season, August, show 770,700 tonnes of wheat were shipped to China, up from
165,600 a year ago. (Forwarded by Chuck Lin and Rewritten by Gai Xie)
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3. Chinese Businesswoman Finds Success in Vancouver's Garbage ...........101
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Source: Christian Science Monitor, Nov.21, 1994.
Forwarded by Daluo Jia
[VANCOUVER] Starting with a lot of gumption, Emmie Leung, an immigrant
from Hong Kong, has built a multimillion-dollar recycling empire in Canada.
Ms. Leung, a divorced mother of two girls, has become nationally known
as the unstoppable force behind a $15 million (Canadian: US$11 million)
recycling company - International Paper Industries Ltd. - started 18 years
ago, before most Canadians had even heard of recycling.
Lately, the accolades bestowed upon Leung have multiplied as fast as,
well, old newspapers. In 1992, she was hailed as Canadian Woman
Entrepreneur of the Year. Last year, she was among only a dozen Canadians
featured in the annual "Honor Roll" of Maclean's magazine, the national
news weekly. It honors Canadians doing extraordinary work "away from the
spotlight," the editors said.
But well before the applause, Leung, like most successful entrepreneurs,
went through a long, hard slog before achieving her goals. And she had the
added challenge of being a foreigner.
She arrived in Winnipeg, Manitoba fresh from Hong Kong in the winter of
1972, shocked at the bitter cold but determined to get an education - at
first - she dreamed of working for a big company. She was only 21 and knew
little English. It had not yet dawned on her to start her own business.
Her first job after graduating from the University of Winnipeg with a
Bachelor's degree in business administration was as a temporary worker at a
large company. From the start, she found herself finding new ways to do
things and taking charge - not qualities her employers desired. Both she
and they were unhappy, she says.
"After I graduated and determined to be a successful woman, I looked
for a job, because I have to have a future," she says. "Unfortunately, in
1975, a woman, an Oriental, broken English, a manager." She rolls her
eyes. "I think my ego was too big - and people weren't willing to accept
me."
Soon she was on the phone to relatives in Hong Kong, complaining about
her predicament. Her father, a traditionalist, wanted her to come home. But
she refused.
"What got me into recycling was my determination, when I was small,
that I wanted to be independent," she says. "In China women stay home and
look after the family and depend on the husband to provide everything. I
didn't want that. I had to stand up on my own."
Leung saw Canada as a land of opportunity - a place where she felt she
could succeed free of the gender stereotyping of her homeland. It was her
desire for freedom that originally led her to Canada, she says.
She credits her brother with first suggesting that she start up a
recycling company. "My family was in recycling," she says. "I said to
myself, `That is where my interest is. Nobody [here in Canada] had this
business yet.' I confess, I did not have the vision [that recycling would
be a wave of the future.] I did it by default. No employers wanted me."
By this time, Leung had become a Canadian citizen. After surveying the
market, she determined that Vancouver was the place to set up her recycling
shop based on the vast amounts of paper Canadians were throwing away. She
knew that in her Asian homeland demand for natural resources, paper
included, was insatiable.
She examined transportation costs and knew she could make a profit
shipping paper to Asia's Pacific Rim. That was in 1976, and Leung was 25
years old.
Starting with $15,000, two employees, and a van, she made the mistake of
giving about half of her cash to one supplier. He promptly absconded with
the money. It was a discouraging point at which she thought the venture
would fail. But she started over.
"It's in my nature, when I have made up my mind, nothing can intimidate
it," Leung says. "I was determined to make a success."
For the first few years her company was really a trading company in raw
materials, purchasing paper in bales where she could get it, and shipping
it across the Pacific. But at that time supplies were scarce.
She started looking for a way to bolster volume. Before long, she had
convinced local politicians to let her supply homes in a few communities
with blue bags to hold old newspapers. That was in 1982, and it was
Canada's first successful municipal curb-side recycling effort.
Today, Leung's company employs more than 100 people at five collection
centers that annually process more than 100,000 tons of paper, plastic, and
metal for shipment to wherever she can get the best price.
Materials are collected from more than a million people living in almost
two dozen communities across the Vancouver area. The future of recycling,
she says, lies in finding markets for "wet" or organic kitchen waste.
The main lesson
But the main lesson that sticks with her today, aside from her beloved
recycling business, which she says she truly enjoys, is the freedom to be
herself.
"I always looked forward to Western-style living, gender equality -
that is the prime factor that motivated me," she says. "The freedom.
That's what I love most about Canada."
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4. Mandarin: The Hottest Language of Opportunity Today ..................213
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Forwarded by Yuan Liu, Nov. 19, 1994
[MONTREAL] You could feel the pride when Mr. Lam introduced Mr. Hon.
"Mr. Hon was a teacher and principal in Thailand and China for many years.
We are very happy to have Mr. Hon here."
Mr. Hon. elegant and 71, smiled as we exchanged cards: Tak-Kwong Hon,
Honorary Adviser of Montreal Chinese (Mandarin) School. He lives in St.
Hubert now.
We sat down in get acquainted over some tea and during the small talk Mr.
Lam mentioned that Mr. Hon's son owns a restaurant in Kingston, Ont.
"Chinese restaurant?" asked the visitor. "Uncle Tom's?"
"Yes. Tong's. Uncle Tong's Buffet."
We were in Chinatown, in the third floor office of the Association Chao
Chow du Quebec Canada. It's on Cote St. between the Chinese Catholic
Community Centre and Wing's Noodles. The sign on the wall downstairs said
this was the place to learn one of the world's hottest languages.
"Do you want to learn Chinese Mandarin?" aked the flyer. "Experienced
teachers from Beijing. Under their guidance you will be able to make
basic Chinese conversation in a very short time . . . 16 weeks . . . $55 .
. . For more information call Mrs. Gu or Mrs. Qiu. . ."
The reporter called Mrs. Gu and that led to Mr. Lam who has just handed
over his card: Lam Dai Tong, president. Association Chao Chow du Quebec
Canada.
There were two sides to the card. The other side announced that the Chao
Chow president was also the president of Lam Inc., an import/export firm
on St. Laurent Blvd. Everything from teapots to fashions.
Before we tackled the study of Mandarin, the reporter needed to know more
about the Chao Chow connection.
Mr. Lam, 46, said he was very happy to explain because he was a great
believer in multicultural understanding.
At this point, however, we were joined by Mr. Ung Khun Chhong and his
colleague Mr. Chea Chinhor. Mr. Lam explained that the two men worked
here at the association. Among many other things, they made the rice
soup.
"Have you been here long, Mr. Ung?"
Mr. Ung, 67, explained in Chinese - Mr. Lam translated - that he arrived
with his children from Cambodia in 1980.
He says he had five children but two died. One starved and one was killed
by the Khmer Rouge. The other three are here."
Mr. Chea said he arrived in 1979 and he was the father of six children.
"Five were born in Cambodia and one was born here. My mother was from
Cambodia but my father was from Chao Chow."
"Chao Chow was a city in the province of Canton," explained Mr. Lam. "It
is split into four cities today. More than 10 million people in Chao Chow
district. About 1000 Chinese in the greater Montreal area came from Chao
Chow - and they speak the Chao Chow dialect."
"Would that be Cantonese?"
No it wouldn't. The writing is the same but the pronunciation isn't the
same at all.
"There are many, many dialects in China but the national language is
Mandarin. The standard is the way. Mandarin is spoken in Beijing.
Most professionals in China would choose Beijing Mandarin."
Mr. Lam says that's the one you want to know, too. Chao Chow is nice but
Mandarin is the one that will help you sell the hockey sticks.
Principal Tak-Kwong Hon showed us a list of the 40 students who study
Mandarin here on Saturday and Sunday mornings. Some of the names on the
list sounded less Chinese than others: Jean-Claude, Mike, Allan, Ginette,
Liz, Jean-Francois. . . .
"It's more than China," said Mr. Lam. "You need Mandarin for many
countries today - Taiwan, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Hong Kong. . . ."
Did Lam Dai Tong speak Mandarin himself?
"Oh yes. The more languages the better, right? I speak Mandarin, Chao
Chow and Cantonese. And Vietnamese."
"French and English, too."
"Oh yes. To improve the cultural understanding. My children speak
Cantonese, English and French, too. But we don't want our children to
spend too much time on the dialects. Mandarin is most important."
He showed the reporter around the Chao Chow clubhouse. There were many
pictures of banquets and other gala cultural events held here, Ping-Pong
tables, old stringed instruments that weren't made by Fender or Yamaha,
Mr. Chea's soup and tea kitchen, boxes of Mandarin textbooks donated to
the school by the government of Taiwan. . . .
"Chinese people love Chinatown," said Mr. Lam. "Many of them live in the
suburbs and this is where they can speak their language, find their
groceries, music, restaurants. . . . Espectially old people who don't
speak enough French or English to get 100 per cent involved in Canadian
society. This is where they can talk to the barber.
"People from Chao Chow know they can come up here, speak their dialect,
read the newspapers. It helps them fight the homesickness. Homesickness
is not good for Canada."
Two old men were playing a board game.
"Chinese checkers?"
"Chiness chess," said Mr. Lam.
* * *
Saturday morning in Chinatown - and not everybody is here for the chow
mein.
Cars are bumper to bumper as parents drop their children off at the
Chinese Catholic Community Centre.
Next door, at the Chinese Mandarin School. Mr. Lam's 12-year-old son Nhat
Sheng and his pals are getting a few last swings in at the Ping-Pong
tables. One minute they're speaking Chinese, the next it's unaccented
English or French. As easy, it seems. as shifting gears on a 10-speed.
At 9 o'clock sharp Principal Hon stepped into the middle of the room and
rang an old-fashioned school bell. Everybody rushed to their desks.
"We don't want to waste time," said Mr. Lam as he peeked into the tiny
classrooms. "We have home-work and examinations here."
Fen Hua Lu is one of the teachers. "Teacher and champion Chinese dancer,"
says Principal Hon of Fen Hua Lu.
In another class Zhong Jianyu, armed with a master's degree in education
from the Universite de Montreal, is helping her adult students with
pronunciation - zhu, zhua, zhuai, zhui, zhuan, zhun, zhuang, zhong.
"Where did you learn French?"
"Beijing," said the teacher who is 39.
Most of her students are Chinese - but not all.
Emmanuel Filosi, 22, is a Montrealer in his final year of mechanical
engineering at McGill. Fluent in English and French - "and a little
Italian from my father," he says his presence in the class is job-related.
"China is where the development is and that's where the jobs are going
to be. My chances will be if I can speak the language. I took a summer
course at McGill last year. Reading and writing, five hours a day for two
and a half months. I learned 750 characters - 15 or 20 a day - but you
can't do much with that. You need 4,000 characters to get along."
Huguette Bellon is here, too.
"Why?" asked the reporter. "Mandarin seems like pretty hard work."
"I moved here from France 13 years ago," she said. "I live in the
neighborhood and always been that but her acupuncturist is Chinese and
she'd been influenced by his "tr s grande culture" - as well as his
needles.
Jean-Claude Santerre, 41, was working hard at the back of the class.
Fluent in French and English, he also was studying Chinese "pournt to add
a title extra to my life," said Santerre. "I want to learn to speak and
write Mandarin - and I will. I love Chinatown and I've made friends here.
They are always happy to visit with me. We share experiences and they
help me with my homework.
"My father taught us to be interested in other cultures. He was a banker
and he loved to speak English. That's the way I learned to speak English
- from a friend at St. Bruno when I was a boy. He helped me with English
and I helped him with Frenchude Santerre's seat mate, another bilingual
Montrealer, was in real-estate development - and he was headed for China
with his wife next spring.
The man asked that his name not be published here now "because I'm the
head of a Canadian company that is involved in a joint venture with the
Chinese - and the deal hasn't been made public yet. But it will be very
shortly. We're going to be building single-unit housing - over 500 units
annually. Later we'll be in condo and commercial construction. As a bu
I've known that China was where the action is but I never thought
events would lead to any moving there. We expect to be in China for three
years and we want to enjoy the experience to the fullest. Knowing
something of the language will help."
Was he happy with Principal Hon's school?
"Very much. You're in a Chinese environment and our teacher is very good.
I'm just a beginner but just hearing the sounds of the language helps you
feel closer to the people."
A. L. Chan-Yu-Tin, a retired accountant, and Paul Hotom, who works for the
government of Qbec, already feel close to the people because both are
Chinese - bu speak to them.
"We both speak Cantonese," said Mr. Hotom. "But people are arriving in
Montreal now who speak only Mandarin." Both men are fluent in French:
Paul Hotom is from Mauritius, Mr. Chan-Yu-Tin learned it in Madagascar.
Mario Poulin, 42, sits behind Mr. Chan-Yu-Tin and Paul Hotom in the Sunday
morning class. A teacher at Edouard-Montpetit CEGEP [a Quebec form of
pre-university college - Editor] in Longueuil, he says travel to Asia
changed his life. Why am I here? Because Chinese culture is so vast
and important. Visit Hong Kong and you'll know, what I mean. You can
actually feel the energy."
Marin says Mandarin is the language of opportunity today: the time has
come to go beyond the won ton.
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5. Letter to Editor: Would You Like To Be a Friend? ......................47
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_From: r00...@pbhrzx.uni-paderborn.de, Nov 28 03:11:04 1994
Dear Editor:
I'm a chinese student pursuing my doctoral study in Germany. Living alone
in a foreign country like Germany, I feel it so hard to get contact with
the people here and find friends. The people here are simply too cold.
The only thing I can do is working, working and working. I stay all day
long in the labortory, working like a machine. Sometimes I even can only
say two words during the day, " Morgen (morning)!" and "Tschuss (bye)!".
I just can't endure it, but I have to because I have to work here to get
my title. In Germany there are almost no women in the Dept. of Electrical
Engineering. As the only woman pursuing Ph.D. in the department, I feel so
lonely. I want to find some friends who also feel lonely during their
studies abroad so that we can exchange some ideas or feelings through
the e-mail and help one another.
I am the regular reader of the "China News digest". You are almost my only
friend during my lonely life in Germany. Could you help me to publish this
short announcement in the "China New Digest"? Hope you would not take this
idea as absurd. Thank you very much!
My e-mail address is: r00...@pbhrzx.uni-paderborn.de, I'm looking forward
to receiving the expected mails from friends.
With best wishes
Hou
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