Photohunt: Barbie

 

 My first reaction to Barbie is my girls have grown, and given away their barbies.


I can't resist but think of an earlier post.

Santa, I want: 1 a barbie doll,
                      2 my little pony.
                      3 Lego
                      4 a tutu skirt
                      5 paints
Wait, how many things am I allowed?
Wait, how many more am I allowed? I haven't asked for my sister, mum, dad and my best friends.

Santa, " Hurry up kid, I am not an hourly paid labourer, I can't go home until all the kids have gone."

We went to a BBQ, the city's free BBQ allows you 1 hour of free use. This gentleman was smart to bring his own barbie.




The PhotoHunt today is 'Barbie'


http://whistlestopphotohunt.blogspot.co.nz/

Keith Lock and Ah Kung

 I feel very honoured. In my search for Ah Kung's Hero Captain Fong @ Roger Cheng, I have been invited to help with a film maker in Toronto.

I have a friend in Toronto who is a film maker.  He has been working on
a script on Roger Cheng and would like to get in touch with you. I told
him I would check with you first.

This is a link to my friend, Keith Lock.  His father, Thomas,  was also
a soldier who was trained in guerrilla warfare but was not involved in
Sarawak.  This link will tell you a bit about Keith.
http://keithlock.ca/

Take care,
Larry

About Keith Lock

Born in Toronto, Keith Lock holds an M.F.A. degree in film from York University. Keith worked as Claude Jutra's assistant as well as Michael Snow's cinematographer on a number of works. His student film, Flights of Frenzy, won the Best Super 8 Award at the UNESCO 10th Muse International, Amsterdam, 1969. Credited by Cinemaya as one of the first Chinese Canadian Filmmakers, he was a founding member and first chair of the Toronto Filmmaker's Co-op, which later morphed into LIFT.

Lock has presented three films at the Toronto International Film Festival including: the experimental film, Everything Everywhere Again Alive, (1975), which was presented in TIFF's Retrospective of Canadian Cinema in 1984, and the dramatic feature, Small Pleasures (1993). His half-hour film, A Brighter Moon, received a Gemini Award Nomination for Best Short Drama in 1987. Keith was the first recipient of the Chinese Canadian National Council's Media Applause Award in 1998.

His television documentary, The Road Chosen: The Lem Wong Story, received the NFB Innoversity Conference Award, 2002 and his short film, The Dreaming House (2005), received the Best GTA Filmmaker Award at the Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival. Keith's short, Magical Coincidence, was the winner of the "So You So You Think You Can Pitch" competition at the Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival, 2011.

who is ann 3

I am a writer and blogger. I published four books. I am a New Zealander of Chinese Malaysian origin. I teach English as a Second language.

Last Oct 12th, I launched my 3 books at RH hotel, my guest of honour was Dato Sri Wong Soon Koh. The Quang Ning Association arranged for two lions to welcome the VIPs as they arrived. 

It was such a great honour.  According to this old Chinese tradition and culture, only very important events have the lions attending your function.

 My baby died 24 years ago. I have become a  spokes person for bereaved parents. I am a member of Sands and a parent advocate.

After Diary of a bereaved Mother was released,

My book was featured in the Aucklander.

http://annkitsuetchin.blogspot.co.nz/2011/06/diary-of-bereaved-mother-newspaper.html "words of healing"

I appeared in Television 1 Down Under program. It's ok to cry http://tvnz.co.nz/asia-downunder/s2011-e31-video-4453514 On baby bereavement.

http://www.youtube.com/asiadownunder#p/c/C9FEF73B56807B22/3/IZk9w-uywAs

I spoke in the Baptist Women's Annual Convention, North Island Chapter.

http://annkitsuetchin.blogspot.co.nz/2013/02/foreverinmyh

eartexhibition.html  
My book was exhibited  at the Peacock 
Art Gallery, Upton Country, Dorset, Park England.

I presented a workshop on Asian Infant Bereavement at the Sands National conference for Sands families and medical personnels for 200 attendees in September 2013, and to Colleges and schools on being a writer.

 Diary is used in a Canadian Hospital as a reference for NICU personnel and Cry by a counsellor.  
  
http://www.questia.com/article/1G1-375949200/ann-kit-suet-chin-chan-chen-jie-xue-2013-from-china

Auckland University library, Sarawak Council libraries and the Auckland city libraries are circulating all my books.

Book	Mail order bride / Ann Kit Suet Chin

The Sarawak engkerumungs( xylophone) , musical gongs.

The Canadian Chinese soldiers parachuted down to the mountains of Borneo. I imagine they would have heard this music.

This is a musical instrument of my country, Sarawak

The typical Iban agung ensemble will include a set of 

engkerumungs (small agungs arranged together side

by  side and played like a xylophone)

I asked my hostess if I could try, and she was happy to teach me.

I wasn't synchronized, but my mentor didn't laugh at me.

http://jennymatlock.blogspot.co.nz/

Alphabe-Thursday letter x for xylophone

Hank Wong

ESPIONAGE

London man featured in documentary on Chinese Canadians who trained as spies during Second World War 29

By Joe Belanger, The London Free Press

Friday, January 24, 2014 5:43:48 EST PM

Image: 1 of 7

Hank Wong, 94, shows pictures of himself and his late wife, Myrtle O'Hoy, taken while he was serving in Australia during World War II. He is pictured here in the Amica retirement home in London, Ontario on Tuesday January 21, 2014. CRAIG GLOVER/The London Free Press/QMI Agency

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Hank Wong may not look like he could parachute behind enemy lines on a suicide mission.
But spend about five minutes talking with the 94-year-old Londoner and you might be challenged to change your mind.
Or just watch a new documentary, Operation Oblivion, premiering Sunday on OMNI 2 television at 7 p.m., that tells the story of Wong and 12 other Chinese Canadian men who volunteered to train as spies for the British Special Operations Executive (now MI6) during the Second World War.
Their mission: To be dropped behind Japanese lines in the Pacific to fight and train local people how to disrupt, destroy, spy and resist using guerrilla tactics, explosives, hand-to-hand combat, espionage, sabotage and more.
Wong is the last surviving member of that team.
In 1940, Wong joined the Kent Regiment, spending time in Halifax helping with coastal defence, then Niagara and later different parts of British Columbia.
In the summer of 1944, he was in Palmerston, northeast of Stratford, on compassionate leave helping his sister, whose husband had died, run a restaurant.
“This man comes in wearing a black suit and bowler hat. He had an English accent. He ate his lunch but then didn’t leave. He asked if I was Henry Wong and I said ‘Yes’ and he said he wanted to talk to me.”
The man was an officer with the British Special Operations Executive. He asked Wong to join Operation Oblivion.
Wong jumped at the chance for action and wound up at a secret camp in a secluded bay near Penticton B.C.
Months later, the group was sent to Australia for more training before their mission was scrapped for reasons that remain unclear. But four of the 13 volunteered for a second mission to help free prisoners of war in the state of Sarawak in Borneo, each earning British medals for bravery.
Because theirs was a secret mission, the Canadian government never acknowledged the service by the men in Force 136. The producers have launched a petition (www.operationoblivion.com) for a permanent exhibit of their contribution at the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa.
“They wouldn’t recognize our service,” said Wong, with no hint of bitterness. “There were no medals. We were acknowledged for joining and leaving the army, but nothing in between. But if they don’t want to give us a medal, I don’t want it.“
joe.belanger@sunmedia.ca
HENRY ‘HANK’ WONG
Born: London, Ont.
Age: 94 .
Widower, three kids, five grandchildren
Military service:
— Member, Kent Regiment, August 1940 to April 1946; rose to sergeant.
— Served on secret team, Force 136, for British; mission, though scrapped, was to spy and cause havoc behind Japanese lines in the Pacific.




http://www.lfpress.com/2014/01/24/documentary-tells-story-of-chinese-canadians-who-volunteered-to-train-as-spies-during-second-world-war?utm_source=addThis&utm_medium=addthis_button_email&utm_campaign=The+last+spy+standing+|+The+London+Free+Press#.VFGetE2uGvo.email

Photohunt: Captain Roger Cheng, War Hero

Roger Kee Cheng
Born 16 May 1915
Allegiance	Canada
Service/branch	Royal Canadian Corps of Signals
Rank	Captain

Roger Cheng, Grand dad's hero.


Chan Kee Seng, born 1882 in China

My Ah Kung (Grand father Kee Seng) used to tell me about the war stories from the 1880’s. He told me that the Japanese used to have an army camp in Upper Lanang Road by Tai Kuon School not far from our house. It was probably five minutes walk. He recalled the time when the Allies landed soldiers from Kapit by parachute and the allies enlisted the locals and they swept aside the Japanese all the way down to Sibu. The leader of the Allied troops was an American Chinese Captain Fong. The Ibans called him Capitan Jina (Chinaman) The Allies used to strafe the local school by plane to scare the Japanese. He also told me when he and the clans in China had to fight the bandits attacking the village. He said we were landlords in China and very wealthy. He proudly said that our family had 2 big silos to store the grains. My Ah Kung and I shared a bed and he tells me his stories every night when we go to sleep. Mother put an end to that when she told him that I was still a school boy and needed my sleep!***Charles

I heard that he was Canadian Chinese Captain. He was big boy and with a bit of exaggeration he became a towering Chinaman and bigger than any white soldiers. He could be Canadian Chinese! Ah Kung said that in those days all persons of authority were Europeans and never a Chinese. The Chinese has to kow tow to Europeans. This Chinese captain commanded a company of white soldiers (about 100 soldiers to a Company). Ah Kung said whenever the Chinese captain gave orders to the white soldiers the white soldiers will stand to attention and give a big "da bag! (salute) and scream " yes captain sir!" That was why the locals were very impressed and the Ibans called him Capitan Jina! The Chinese would clap hands when they see the white soldiers take orders from this Chinaman! Fancy white people give a "da bag" to a china man! So this man must be very very powerful! I believed that from that time the Ibans started to give the Jina (Chinese) more respect! ****Joseph

Father's story: Ah Kung and others were surprised to hear from the Ibans of a Tuan Cina. Tuan, "Sir" was only meant for the white man. To the Iban: Cina, Chinese then were only farmers, and lowly coolies whom they encountered on the boats. So this Canadian Captain of Chinese origin was really a somebody being called a Tuan. So Ah Kung was so proud to be associated with the Sir. In jubilation, Ah Kung and his fellow villagers of Kwong Tung ba rushed to Tai Kuon School to welcome the arrival of their Canadian Chinaman Captain. They wanted to witness the triumphant victory of the Allies led by their own tall Cina captain over the shameful defeat of the short abominable bespectacled Japanese. The Chinese spat “Phui!!!” in disgust and shouted curses and “Bangsai go do a shit.” The onlookers including the Ibans cheered vigorously. There were peals or claps of thunder, but these didn’t come from the sky.  They came from ripple after ripple of applause as the Japanese surrendered their rifles, long swords, scabbards and short knives. The villagers sneered and jeered. They said they were told that a Japanese soldier never gave up his weapon, unless he admitted defeat, a Japanese soldier would rather die than surrender. Ah Kung and his friends were like blood hounds waiting to watch the Japanese commit Seppuku or hara-kiri. One couldn’t blame them for their jingoistic euphoria, after all these Japanese were men from hell. But these were cowards, they didn’t commit Seppuku to the disappointment of the spectators.  Instead they chose to become PoWs***Henry

The above three narration of the same event were by my three brothers told to them by my Grand Father Kee Seng or by my Father Hiu Fei.  

 Captain Fong is likely to be an alias of Roger Cheng. I am pleased that we could piece together Captain Fong, and validate Ah Kung's story. I am so excited that with our connection, we can dare say Captain Fong wasn't a figment of Ah Kung's imagination.

Larry Wong, curator of Canadian Chinese Military Museum. 

http://www.rcsigs.ca/index.php/Cheng,_Roger_K

Roger Kee Cheng served as a member of the Royal Canadian Corps of Signals during the Second World War. He saw service in Ottawa prior to undertaking commando and guerrilla training for his subsequent service in the Molucca Islands and Borneo.

Early Life

Roger Cheng of Lillooet British Columbia was living in Vancouver before he joined the military. He graduated from McGill University Engineering School in 1938 with a degree in Electrical Engineering.

Military Service

After completing Signals training at A-7 Canadian Signal Training Centre Lieutenant Cheng was taken on strength of Canadian Signals Experimentation Establishment (CSEE) on 11 August 1942.

He disembarked in Australia on 22 November 1944 where he served with Services Reconnaissance Department (British Military Establishment No. 100) British Security Coordination until 31 October 1945. During this time he was employed on special operational duties in the Molucca Islands and Borneo from 13 July to 24 October 1945.

On 8 December 1945 Captain Cheng embarked at Brisbane Australia on board SS "English Prince" for return to Canada (Unattached List, NDHQ)^[1]

Notes

In the portrait shown of Captain Cheng he is wearing parachute wings from the 3rd Royal Australian Regiment. He presumably wore these in preference to Canadian wings as he earned them, "having qualified by completing sufficient descents to be deemed as operationally trained"^[2] while serving in the South Pacific.

Blog Post^[3]

Born on 16 May 1915 Roger Kee Cheng went on to graduate as an electrical engineer from McGill University in 1938, be commissioned as the first Chinese-Canadian officer in the Royal Canadian Corps of Signals in 1941, and serve in Borneo as a member of the Services Reconnaissance Department (SRD) component of the Special Operations Executive (SOE) in 1945.

Second-Lieutenant Cheng began his officer training on 3 October 1941, probably at the Officer Training Centre in Brockville, Ontario. He was promoted Lieutenant (Lt) on 23 May, 1942, and completed his officer training at the Canadian Signal Training Centre in Kingston, Ontario, on 10 August, 1942.

Lt Cheng was then posted to the Canadian Signals Experimental Establishment (CSEE) in Ottawa, and promptly attached to the Royal Canadian Ordnance Corps (RCOC), and seconded to the Master General of Ordnance (MGO) Branch of the Director of Electrical and Communications Design (DECD). On 1 October, 1943 he was made an Acting Captain. On 27 May 1944, he ceased his attachment and secondment, and was taken on strength of No. 11 District Depot in British Columbia.

From 28 May until 26 August, 1944, at which time he started five days embarkation leave, it is probable that Lt Cheng, was a member of an original group of Chinese-Canadians who became known as the Kendall Group, and underwent special training in British Columbia's Okanagan Valley.

On 3 September, 1944, having finished his embarkation leave, Lt Cheng was promoted Captain, and posted to the "Q List", signifying that he was now officially on loan to the British forces. While details of his activities between then and 6 August, 1945, are sketchy, indications are that he, and five other Chinese-Canadians were landed, on that date, in Sarawk, in northern Borneo, by Catalina Flying Boat Upon arrival, the group joined a small British team which was gathering information on the movements of the Japanese as well as about conditions in prison camps in Kuching, the capital of Sarawak, where about 25,000 British prisoners of war were being held. The day after the team landed, the Americans dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima. Although Japan surrendered, many isolated Japanese units refused to accept defeat and the war dragged on for months. The team's major accomplishment was assisting in transferring many emaciated prisoners to Australia before returning home themselves.

On 31 October, 1945, Capt Cheng was attached for all purposes from the SRD to. No 1 Canadian Special Wireless Group, a signals intelligence organization that had arrived in McMillan's Road Camp, Darwin, Australia on 18 April, 1945. He returned to Canada on 5 January, 1946, at which time he was again taken on the strength of No. 11 Disrtict Depot. On 7 March, 1946, Roger Kee Cheng was discharged from the Canadian Army.

References

1. Jump up↑ 1 Canadian Special Wireless Group - Part II Orders - 9 Jan 46
2. Jump up↑ 1 Canadian Special Wireless Group - Part II Orders - 26 Nov 45
3. Jump up↑ http://semaphoretosatellite.blogspot.ca/2011/10/captain-rk-cheng.html
4.  
5.  
6. Photohunt : Hero
7. http://whistlestopphotohunt.blogspot.co.nz/
8.  
9. unt.blogspot.co.nz/

Chinese Canadian Heros

Roger Cheng, Grand dad's hero.




 in Canada, men and women of Chinese descent, who were born in Canada, were not allowed to vote. As well, the 1923 Exclusion Act was still in effect. That Act essentially banned Chinese Immigration to Canada. Despite this discrimination, when the WWII broke out, Chinese men and women volunteered in the hundreds to fight for Canada. They enlisted in every branch of the armed forces and participated in every theatre of war. The result: on May 14, 1947 Chinese-Canadians were finally granted the right to vote.

Uncommon valour. Reluctant heroes. Unsung soldiers.

These are the phrases that describe the Chinese-Canadian men and women who took part in the Second World War. It is a little known story and reminds us of racist times when the government simply didn't want Chinese-Canadians in the war effort. Regrettably, it is also a story that is fast-disappearing as our war Veterans reach their late eighties and their remembrances pass with them.

Most Canadians cannot even fathom there was a time in this country when Chinese-Canadians were denied the right to vote and banned from entering the professions. But this was the reality for the young men and women of Chinese-Canadian descent, the majority born on Canadian soil, at the outbreak of the Second World War. Why then, did they volunteer and risk their lives for a country that denied them the fundamental rights we now take for granted?

You are invited to share the recollections of these courageous men and women. Heroes Rememberpresents twenty-one war Veterans who speak candidly of their wartime efforts. Some of their stories have seldom been told because they evoke dark, buried memories, while others brim with a youthful “can-do” spirit. There are also stories from the politically astute; those determined to win the vote for Chinese-Canadians by proving their loyalty and serving. Together, these remarkable recollections lay testimony to the Chinese-Canadians who knowingly or not, created fundamental political and social change in Canada.

http://www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/remembrance/those-who-served/chinese-canadian-veterans

http://www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/remembrance/those-who-served/chinese-canadian-veterans

http://www.rcsigs.ca/index.php/Cheng,_Roger_K

chinese-canadian-history/

  Roger Cheng, my grand dad's hero.

http://www.ccmms.ca/chinese-canadian-history/

The Chinese in Canada were subjected to a head tax like the poll tax in New Zealand.

From the time Chinese first arrived in British Columbia in 1858 until 1874, they were like any other migrants: they occupied lower paid jobs. While people of Caucasian descent were paid $2 a day, the Chinese accepted $1.35 a day for the same work.

However, Chinese were also treated different than any other immigrants in two important ways: they were forbidden to vote until after WWII, and they were subjected to a head tax.

The Chinese were always considered “heathens” and by 1875  the government declared, “Chinese of the Province of British Columbia may not make application to have their names inserted in any list of voters and are disqualified from voting at any elections.”

A decade later, in 1885 the Chinese became prey to a head tax.  The head tax was designed to discourage Chinese from entering Canada. The tax started at $50, and less than four decades later (1903) had risen to $500 per person, a fortune at that time.

When World War I was declared in 1914, approximately 200 Chinese volunteered for the Canadian Army.  Marjorie Wong in her book, The Dragon and the Maple Leaf,  listed some of the men from British Columbia, including two brothers from Shuswap area: Wee Hong Louie and Wee Tan Louie.  The widow of Wee Tan donated his helmet to the Chinese Canadian Military Museum which is on display.

ABC Wed Letter P for Private

a Private is the lowest rank in the military. These solders are probably privates in the Canadian Army.



My grand dad was a private citizen in Sarawak Borneo.

Yet, their lives were connected. Grand dad had a Hero who was the Captain of the Canadian Army.

Hi Larry,

Thanks for confirming that our Ah Kung's hero isn't a figment of his imagination.

Before these Canadian Chinese soldiers, the Chinese in Sarawak/Borneo were looked down and regarded as country bumpkins. The Ibans aka dayaks were head hunters, and to have the Captain as the boss of even the white soldiers was hard to imagine. This subsequently made the Ibans respect the Chinese.

My brothers remember from Ah Kung this "Big and Tall" Chinese whom they address as Captain Fong. We don't know how that Captain Fong, but it certainly took place, The word, "DAPAK" a local term for salute, was used when the white soldiers even "DAPAK"ed this Captain Fong was something incredible for a white man to do to a Chinese man. This elevated the Chinese position.

Another thing why my Ah Kung was so proud was the Canadians were Cantonese. We the Cantonese was a minority immigrant group who came to Sarawak/Borneo later and were country bumpkins to the early group, the Foochows. By having the Canadian Chinese speak Cantonese, the same language, as us, was something that made Ah Kung so very proud.

Where that court was held at Lanang Road, was only a few minutes from our house was a great significant thing. I can imagine my Ah Kung and our relatives would have gone up to their Captain China and make themselves to be known. ( My Ah Kung was the elder of the village.)

That is very interesting that the Capt. Roger Cheng was considered as a superior over the Whites.  Mind you, Roger had an engineering degree and when he joined the Army, he automatically became an Officer.  And he was a big man.
Larry Wong from Vancouver, Canada.  I am the curator of the Chinese Canadian Military Museum 
https://www.facebook.com/ChineseCanadianMilitaryMuseum?fref=ts

http://abcwednesday-mrsnesbitt.blogspot.co.nz/

Larry Wong from Vancouver, Canada. curator of the Chinese Canadian Military museum.

Henry Albert Hank Wong

saw service in the Pacific
Henry Albert (Hank) Wong enlisted in the army in 1940. He served with the Kent regiment until he was recruited for Operation Oblivion, in 1944.

Larry Wong

To

Me

CC

Catherine Clement

Today at 5:14 PM

Hello Ann,

I presume you are in New Zealand?

This is Larry Wong from Vancouver, Canada.  I am the curator of the museum.

Thanks for your Facebook message to the Chinese Canadian Military Museum
and your excerpt from your publication, From China to Borneo and Beyond.

Your story of the nine men from Canada is very interesting and
revealing.  Revealing because when those men returned to Canada, they
could not tell their story or give details of their mission. They were
trained in secret and indeed, they were swore to secrecy under the
Official Secrecy Act of Canada for at least twenty years. All we knew
was that they went overseas to live with a tribe of headhunters in
Borneo and when they returned, they were decorated with the highest
military honour (at that time), the Military Medal.

Out of the nine men, only one is still alive and that's Hank Wong of
London, Ontario.  In a documentary made two years ago, the secret
training was re-enacted with Norman as a narrator.  The attached link is
to the film maker's website.  The documentary has not been released
commercially but certainly you can read about the making of the documentary.

http://mediamonkey.ca/operation-oblivion/


Are you familiar with a Canadian publication, The Dragon and the Maple
Leaf?  It was researched and written by Marjorie Wong.  She
self-published it 1994 under Pirie Publishing, P.O. Box 39073, London,
Ontario.  It is now out of print but may be available at your local
library.  The ISBN is 0-9698086-0-7.  Unfortunately she passed away in
2001 and her husband, Norman, soon followed.  Norman Wong was the cousin
to Hank or Henry Wong who was in Operation Oblivion, the name given to
the secret training.  The book contained much detail of the training and
much to Marjorie's research, she interviewed many of the soldiers after
the war.-  It still the only such written history of our Chinese
Canadian soldiers.

During their training here in Canada, it was assumed they may not return
and whether you know it or not, each men had a cyanide pill in case they
were captured by the enemy.

Your book has much details of their mission, a very interesting insight,
indeed.  I am happy that their mission was a success and had such an
influence on you, a generation later.  For you to remember and write
their stories is a tribute to their bravery and gallantry.  You have
added another dimension.  Not even their families know about their mission.

You might ask: what happened to them after their return.  Well, John Ko
Bong opened a sporting goods shop next to his father who was a watch
maker.  Roy Chan worked for the post office and was active in a Canadian
Army Reserve band.  George Lock became the first Chinese pharmacist in
Toronto.  Doug Jung became a lawyer and was the first Chinese Canadian
Member of Parliament in 1957.  Henry Wong became a union organizer in
his hometown.



Again, many thanks,

Sincerely,
Larry

Canadian Chinese soldiers and Mum and Dad.

From China to Borneo and Beyond 海外华人的中国魂: 从中国，到南洋，到更远: Family Photo 1970 and 2013., 陳鹞飛/陈鹞飞

				From China to Borneo and Beyond 海外华人的中国魂:... In 1970, just before Charles went to New Zealand, we went to Art Friend with Ah Kung to take this photo. That was the last time Ah Kung saw Charles. He ...
				View on annkitsuet-chinchan....	Preview by Yahoo

 

Here's a photo taken in 1970. My Ah Kung was about 80. Mum and Dad were war bride and groom. They were forced to marry because of the Japanese soldiers.  Mum at 15, her parents forced her to marry so she wouldn't be forcefully taken away by the Japanese as a sex slave, and Dad, 20 so he wouldn't be conscripted to the Japanese War. Dad was already forced into civilian Japanese worker.

Cheers,

Ann

Canadian Chinese Soldiers and Ah Kung.

Dear Larry,

Thank you for your long email. I wonder if I can connect with Norman Wong and tell him on behalf of our late Ah Kung aka granddad the Chinese people's gratitude to these Canadian Chinese soldiers.

Before these Canadian Chinese soldiers, the Chinese in Sarawak/Borneo were looked down and regarded as country bumpkins. The Ibans aka dayaks were head hunters, and to have the Captain as the boss of even the white soldiers was hard to imagine. This subsequently made the Ibans respect the Chinese.

My brothers remember from Ah Kung this "Big and Tall" Chinese whom they address as Captain Fong. We don't know how that Captain Fong, but it certainly took place, The word, "DAPAK" a local term for salute, was used when the white soldiers even "DAPAK"ed this Captain Fong was something incredible for a white man to do to a Chinese man. This elevated the Chinese position.

If I can have Norman's address, I would like to send him a copy of my book. My book is available in Auckland libraries and Sarawak libraries.

In 1975-77, I studied in Windsor Ontario. Yes, I now live in New Zealand.

My Ah Kung wore the same type of Chinese high collar Chinese top and fisherman's pants, and short hair all his life.

Am I allowed to post your email on my blog and facebook?

Cheers,

Ann

Hank Wong, sole survivor of the project Oblivion who fought in Sarawak/Borneo.

http://www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/remembrance/those-who-served/chinese-canadian-veterans/profile/wongh#transcript

I was excited to learn from Larry Wong, the curator of the Canadian Chinese military Museum that Hank Wong is the sole survivor (2014) of the Chinese soldiers who was recruited for Operation Oblivion. This validated the Chapter I wrote about the World War Two, and how my Grand Dad and Dad had witnessed the surrender of the Japanese Soldiers.

What got me really excited was it confirmed the Captain Fong Grand Dad described. and it was not a figment of his imagination. Captain Fong as described in previous post was probably Roger Cheng. Captain Cheng most likely used an alias.

Henry Albert (Hank) Wong enlisted in the army in 1940. He served with the Kent regiment until he was recruited for Operation Oblivion, in 1944. « View Transcript

Click image to make bigger.

Larry Wong (Interviewer)

Hank Wong was born in the heartland of Ontario and was not considered a Canadian citizen because of his race.

Hank Wong (Interviewee)

During my youth I belonged to the Sea Scouts, so as. as a Sea Scout, I'm naturally going to be in the navy. I was going to join the navy. So with my gang, we went up to join the navy, and all my gang, all got in; five of them, and I didn't get in.

Larry

You didn't get into the navy because you were Chinese?

Hank

Lt-Cmdr Hunter . brought out a little black book and he says, "Hank you can't go in the navy. They don't, they're not allowed to. They're not allowed to bring Chinese into the navy. You must be of white race." So after I left my boys I went downstairs with, the recruiting was upstairs, went down to the army.

Now yes, about discrimination or anything like that. I was paraded for the Colonel before I was able to join and they. the. I guess the recruiting officer who was asked and he says, "Are we. are we allowing Chinese boys in the army?" And he says, "Well what's. what's his background?" And I told him I was a tech for a number of years and I got a motor mechanic degree, and he says, "Good, he's my, he's my driver." So I got in the army. And but a very a short while later, because I was speeding, I didn't drive him anymore (laughs).

In 1940, the Kent Regiment moved out to New Westminster and they. they. the whole, the whole Fraser Delta was covered by .We, we protected the whole thing 'cause the Japanese had already shelled. shelled the coast in, in Vancouver, Vancouver Island. So then. then when the. Japanese were coming down through Kiska. Remember that? They. they attacked Kiska. Well, then they. we sent a whole brigade of troops up to Terrace and Prince George and all down the line. There was no roads in those days. We had to use the railroad, and we were training up there all through the two years up in that area. And then we broke up the Kent Regiment to guard all Bella-Bella and Ocean Falls and, and Nanaimo and Vancouver and Victoria. All the little stations along there, we. we guarded that.

Larry

While on leave, Hank received an intriguing letter that both discharged him from regular duties and recruited him to a dangerous mission.

It turned out that Hank had been recruited for what would be known as Operation Oblivion, an elite guerilla unit dispatched to harass the enemy in Hong Kong.

Hank

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I went down to the old Vancouver Hotel. In one of the big ballrooms they had this table set up and all these guys with the red tabs and red hats on and Major Kendall was standing at the window with a. not facing us. And I was paraded in and he, as soon as he heard me talk, he turned right around. He says, "Are you Chinese?" And I says, "Yes I am." And he says, "'Cause you don't have an accent." And I says, "Well, I don't speak Chinese." And he said, "Wow." He said, "Well what's your background?" I told him my background was weapons and machinery. I was a weapons instructor. So he says, "Well that's okay, put him in." So that's how, that's how I got in. And then he sent me over to the camp. camp Commando Bay and that, that's where I was. See it wasn't called Commando Bay then, it was called Goose Bay.

Larry

How long were you at Goose Bay?

Hank

About four months. Four months intensive training

Larry

Now you mentioned that not all the Chinese spoke Chinese.

Hank

No. So they set up schools. Kendall's wife became our teacher, and they brought out this book. It's like. like it's like a primary book, and if you speak Chinese now, it's called. (speaks Chinese) which means a thousand words. But don't forget, I never spoke. My wife says to me, "If they ever caught you they'd have killed you, 'cause you can't speak Chinese. And also with that accent you got, you'd never get anywhere."

Larry

So what happened after your training was completed at Goose Bay?

Hank

Well then we were sent. We're okay. We're sent to Australia. We packed up and we're going on our way to Australia. We did the full training and the crash training. Like a five mile run every morning, do all your, all your exercises and your. your training, flying, coming out of airplanes and jumping. and jumping 13 foot walls. Jumping off the walls. did all that for to toughen you all up. Oh, it was. That was wonderful, yeah.

Larry

So you earned your parachute wings then?

Hank

Got the wings. Got the. got everything going, oh yeah. Never used it. Yeah, five jumps, five jumps, yeah.

Larry

So what happened after your training in Australia? Where did you go?

Hank

The war stopped, August the 15th. When the war stopped, everything stopped. They just told us "go home." They had no way of getting us home. If you stop and think of it, the Americans had all the troops, all the machines, all the air, all the airplanes and all the vessels to take all their boys home. The war's over now, right? We're talking a million soldiers. How are you going to get the Canadians home? We had to work our way home on tramp steamers. Anytime a, a tramp steamer came in and unloaded its cargo, they had no new cargo to take home so they'd put on the soldiers, but they have to work back; they have to sign on and work back. So in our case, we had the. the Kitsilano Park, which is about a 25-ton freighter. We had to work our way back by chipping decks.

Did you Know?

Did you know that Hank learned to speak Chinese as part of his training in an elite Canadian guerilla unit?