Did they really have to use these words?
This Vancouver Sun story talks about how much the city has changed since the Hong Kong handover. The first paragraph seems promising - looking back at old slurs and suggesting they have no place in today's Vancouver:
Remember "Hongcouver?" You don't hear that word much anymore in the polite society of Vancouver, a city that has grown into Canada's - and North America's - most effortlessly Asian metropolis.
But a decade or so, ago you could hear the term "Hongcouver" everywhere.
It was an era's impolitic catch-phrase for the xenophobia and palpable occidental unease in Vancouver at the prospect of a profound upheaval in society. A sleepy city had suddenly found itself a magnet for one of the most significant - and wealthiest - immigration waves to ever hit Canada: the Hong Kong Chinese, who sought out Vancouver as a safe haven after the British colony returned to Chinese rule on July 1, 1997.
Okay, but now check this out later in the article:
Recall the words and debates - now rarely worth a headline - that polarized the city a decade or more ago, when Hong Kong's human tsunami began hitting Vancouver in the mid-'80s and late '90s.
Human tsunami??? In addition to the fact that tsunami is a Japanese word, and the fact that China and Hong Kong have not been historically affected by tsunamis except by way of travelling to other countries... how ridiculous is this, given the intro?
And don't forget the simmering tensions in Richmond, where many of the Hong Kong immigrants first gravitated, radically changing the racial mix of the community in a few short years -- not to mention its shopping habits. Malls opened up full of Chinese stores, in effect creating a new, well-heeled and modern Chinatown on Vancouver's outskirts. On hot summer nights, you could hear the exotic clicking off (sic) mah-jong tiles on Richmond's quiet streets, where half the residents were suddenly Chinese.
Aaaagh! Exotic! Do you have to label something as exotic because it's Asian? Could you really hear mah-jong tiles from the streets? I'd like to see a source on that. Then later, under "9 Ways The Hong Kong Handover Changed Vancouver For Good", they say:
5. Debut of 'astronaut' families and the safe, stable 'Switzerland of the Pacific'
Vancouver is now a global city that is one stop within the Pacific world. Two thirds of male Canadians of Hong Kong origin between the ages of 25 and 40 live and work outside Canada. Large numbers of Vancouver residents have multiple homes throughout the world, creating great demand for real estate in Vancouver, but also leaving many condominiums unused for portions of the year. Like Switzerland for Europe, Vancouver is considered a safe place for storing money (not in banks, but in real estate) and a good place to send children to school.
Umm... from whose point of view is it a good thing that Vancouver's real estate is being used as a money locker? Investment in the city is wonderful (and the other "8 ways" I totally agree with), but the transformation of Vancouver's real estate market - due, I'm sure, to more than just an immigration wave - has only really been a boon for existing property owners and people who sell condos. Oh, and maybe property taxes. But as for the less endowed, it's pushed up the cost of living to a breaking point that makes people settle for overpriced mediocre housing, and pushes small businesses into serving "upper crust" clientele to afford their existence, or getting out of the way for a big chain with money to take over their lease.
Man, I miss living in a city with more than one newspaper. (Okay, the Sun and Province are physically two different newspapers, but really, they're the same thing served by the same conglomerate at a 90-degree angle with stories on different pages)
Remember "Hongcouver?" You don't hear that word much anymore in the polite society of Vancouver, a city that has grown into Canada's - and North America's - most effortlessly Asian metropolis.
But a decade or so, ago you could hear the term "Hongcouver" everywhere.
It was an era's impolitic catch-phrase for the xenophobia and palpable occidental unease in Vancouver at the prospect of a profound upheaval in society. A sleepy city had suddenly found itself a magnet for one of the most significant - and wealthiest - immigration waves to ever hit Canada: the Hong Kong Chinese, who sought out Vancouver as a safe haven after the British colony returned to Chinese rule on July 1, 1997.
Okay, but now check this out later in the article:
Recall the words and debates - now rarely worth a headline - that polarized the city a decade or more ago, when Hong Kong's human tsunami began hitting Vancouver in the mid-'80s and late '90s.
Human tsunami??? In addition to the fact that tsunami is a Japanese word, and the fact that China and Hong Kong have not been historically affected by tsunamis except by way of travelling to other countries... how ridiculous is this, given the intro?
And don't forget the simmering tensions in Richmond, where many of the Hong Kong immigrants first gravitated, radically changing the racial mix of the community in a few short years -- not to mention its shopping habits. Malls opened up full of Chinese stores, in effect creating a new, well-heeled and modern Chinatown on Vancouver's outskirts. On hot summer nights, you could hear the exotic clicking off (sic) mah-jong tiles on Richmond's quiet streets, where half the residents were suddenly Chinese.
Aaaagh! Exotic! Do you have to label something as exotic because it's Asian? Could you really hear mah-jong tiles from the streets? I'd like to see a source on that. Then later, under "9 Ways The Hong Kong Handover Changed Vancouver For Good", they say:
5. Debut of 'astronaut' families and the safe, stable 'Switzerland of the Pacific'
Vancouver is now a global city that is one stop within the Pacific world. Two thirds of male Canadians of Hong Kong origin between the ages of 25 and 40 live and work outside Canada. Large numbers of Vancouver residents have multiple homes throughout the world, creating great demand for real estate in Vancouver, but also leaving many condominiums unused for portions of the year. Like Switzerland for Europe, Vancouver is considered a safe place for storing money (not in banks, but in real estate) and a good place to send children to school.
Umm... from whose point of view is it a good thing that Vancouver's real estate is being used as a money locker? Investment in the city is wonderful (and the other "8 ways" I totally agree with), but the transformation of Vancouver's real estate market - due, I'm sure, to more than just an immigration wave - has only really been a boon for existing property owners and people who sell condos. Oh, and maybe property taxes. But as for the less endowed, it's pushed up the cost of living to a breaking point that makes people settle for overpriced mediocre housing, and pushes small businesses into serving "upper crust" clientele to afford their existence, or getting out of the way for a big chain with money to take over their lease.
Man, I miss living in a city with more than one newspaper. (Okay, the Sun and Province are physically two different newspapers, but really, they're the same thing served by the same conglomerate at a 90-degree angle with stories on different pages)