Item 3 - Interview of Norma Chan

93.7 MB (1 file) : mp3 ; 0 hr., 40 min., 57 sec.

Audio recording of interview with Norma Chan conducted by Vivienne Poy in Victoria, B.C. Interview conducted in English.

From Transcripts [Extended notes] compiled by Vivienne Poy:

Norma Chan, immigrated in 1964, (principal applicant), interviewed in Victoria

• Born in Kingston, Jamaica.
• The family immigrated to Hong Kong when Norma was about five years old, (after the 2nd. World War). Their father, who had been in Jamaica a long time, didn’t want the children to grow up there, and particularly didn’t want them to intermarry with the locals. There were 5 girls and 2 boys in the family. It was his wish that they learn Chinese language and customs.
• When they arrived in Hong Kong, they went to fetch their grandmother (father’s mother) from China.
• Their uncle, father’s brother, arranged housing for the family. Norma did not have a good first impression of Hong Kong. She found it very confusing.
• Norma went into grade 1 at a Catholic school, St Claire, on Bonham Rd. which was later moved to Pokfulum Rd. Norma stayed at the same school until graduation from High School.
• As overseas Chinese, the children didn’t know any Chinese, and were put in a special class for overseas Chinese children. The teacher did not apply much discipline to the children, and Norma regretted not learning as much as she should have.
• Norma attended secretarial school after high school graduation. It was a technical college (around 1956). The training was for one year. Her first job was with the Hong Kong Naval Depot. She had to take a boat to an island where the Depot was. She worked as a secretary for one of the officers there. When her oldest sister went to the U.S., Norma took over her job working for an import-export rice company. She was only there for a few months.
• Norma’s next job was for Jardine Engineering, and remained there for a few years, working in a steno pool for one of the Directors. Her next job was for an American import-export company. She stayed there until 1964. By then, her second oldest sister left Hong Kong for San Diego to study. There, she met her future husband, but neither could stay in the U.S. as immigrants, so, they went to Burnaby, B.C.
• By 1963, the eldest daughter had married a doctor in Hong Kong, and the rest of Norma’s sisters have left for the U.S. and Canada. Norma felt that perhaps it was time to make a move too.
• in 1963, Norma intended to visit her sister in Burnaby, B.C. She went to Canadian immigration in Hong Kong to get a visitor’s visa, but was persuaded by the immigration officer to get an immigration visa instead. “In the 60s, it was very easy to immigrate to Canada.” The immigration officer told her that if she didn’t want to stay in Canada, all she had to do was to leave.
• After all the medicals etc., Norma left for Canada in Feb. 1964. She took the President Cleveland (had a wonderful time with a lot of young people on the boat), and docked in San Francisco. She visited her American boss’s sister in Oakland, and then took a train to Vancouver.
• She stayed with her sister initially, and looked for a job. In that case, it was very easy too. She wrote letters of application to different companies, and got a job offer within 2 weeks. It was with an engineering company. “It was even easier than getting a job in Hong Kong.” With her secretarial background, she was very employable, and the working conditions were very similar. However, she found that the Chinese bosses in Hong Kong were more aggressive, and her bosses in Canada were more polite. Norma was very impressed with Canada.
• After working for a few months, Norma quit her job to travel to Phoenix, Arizona, to visit another sister. In January, 1965, she returned to Burnaby, in a [huge] snow storm. By then, her younger sister had immigrated to Victoria, B.C., (where there was very little snow) and Norma went to see her to see how she was doing.
• In Victoria, Norma shared a basement suite with her sister and her girl friend. She found work with a law firm, Owen Flood, and again, it was very easy for her to find work, it took her about a week, “there was no problem at all”. All she had to do was to go to an employment office and there she’ll find which company needed secretarial help.
• Norma met Paul Chan when she was working at Owen Flood. Paul came over to Canada in 1950, together with his mother and younger brother. Paul’s grandfather paid the head tax to come to Canada. He and his son (Paul’s father) ran a laundry in a tiny little fishing village up island.
• Norma and Paul were married in 1965. Paul worked in a saw mill and is very much a people person. When Norma got pregnant soon after, she was told that it was the policy of the company that she should resign. After the birth of their son, 9 months later, Norma went to work for the Department of Public Works. She believed that the government would treat the employees better, and that her job would be more secure. The Department became B.C. Buildings Corporation.
• When Norma had her second child in 1969, there was no such thing as maternity leave. Because her baby arrived early, she took time off the day before she was born. Normal leave taken was only for three months. “At least they let me work even when my pregnancy was showing.” Human Resources told her to write a letter to the Department to say how much she needed her job in order that she could come back to it after taking time off. She felt “degraded” that she had to write a letter saying that not getting her job back when she returned would cause tremendous hardship to her family
• “Conditions are very different now. You can take one year maternity leave with pay, and, if you want to take another year to look after your child, you can extend it for another year.”
• Norma remained with the government for 29 years, and just retired 3 years ago. Paul worked at the same saw mill for 30 years, and was let go at age 58, with a good package when the mill closed.
• Norma had always felt welcome in Canada, even though Paul, her husband, had told her about discrimination, not only against the new immigrants, but also against the Canadian-born Chinese. (Paul was a naturalized Canadian who grew up in Canada). She found Canadians very kind and nice, and she was very impressed by the country. She made comparisons between the behavior of the ordinary people in Hong Kong and those in Canada. In Canada, people would pick up magazines that have fallen from the rack in grocery stores, and bus drivers would actually back up the bus when they saw her running for it. This would not happen in Hong Kong.
• Norma believed that immigration to Canada was so easy for her was because she possessed a needed skill in this country, and that she was also English speaking, which meant that she posed no problem integrating in Canadian society.