Jeremiah Mari Gan Carag.
“Our voices within Asian heritage and culture goes beyond this region,” Tolentino shares, speaking on the importance of Asian Heritage Month which occurs annually in May. “The deepness of Asian heritage is the fact that we have such a breadth of Asian culture that is very much alive in this country.”
As part of its EXchanges 2025 program – co-facilitated by Diane Roberts, Rosemary Georgeson and Lopa Sircar – this workshop encourages participants to explore their ancestry through creative expressions.
Asian Heritage Month is a chance to recognize the diversity of Asian communities and their contributions within and beyond Canada, says Tolentino.
“I’ve had the good fortune to create work that highlights my culture as Filipino,” he adds. “A lot of work that I’ve created [is] transcontinental; [they] had a lot of roots in the Philippines but [were] also expressed in a contemporary manner from a Western view.”
Co. ERASGA has connected Filipino and other artists of colour across the country’s diasporas – even extending their reach to the Philippines.
Tolentino was first introduced to dance in the Philippines, participating in traditional Filipino dances at school. After immigrating to Canada in 1983, he continued with dance classes, eventually falling in love with the contemporary style’s liberating feeling.
“The freedom to not so much elevate the body, but to be grounded,” he explains. “It’s that relationship of weight and body to the earth.”
The founding of Co. ERASGA in 2000 resulted from Tolentino’s desire to dance and choreograph his own works – a journey that involved overcoming financial barriers.
“I think back on how I’ve gone through the ups and downs of what it’s like to be an artist in this city,” he shares. “But to continue to persist, to be an artist, to create a voice for me as an Asian artist…there’s so much story behind it.”
In the company’s early days, funding was a challenge. Tolentino recalls how artists of colour struggled to be recognized in the mainstream media when creating works related to their heritage. The founder is grateful that tides are shifting, as artists of colour continue to gain prominence on various art scenes.
An honouring of roots – through a transcontinental connection – has been central to Tolentino’s work. Since 2014, the company has offered the AET Koreograpiya Award (or the Alvin Erasga Tolentino Choreographic Award) to support Filipino dancers working in the Philippines.
“There’s just so many talented artists in the Philippines, but [they] really have no access to this kind of opportunity,” he shares. “It’s not a lot of support, but it’s enough to give a little bit of freedom to a young artist to develop a craft, to develop a piece of project, or maybe to take professional development.”
The upcoming Vancouver workshop provides participants with the opportunity to connect with their roots. Open to anyone, regardless of their artistic backgrounds, the workshop will encourage participants to explore ancestry through their memory, body and connections to the environment.
“Each individual can offer a word, a text, and then eventually it turns into a kind of movement,” Tolentino shares of the workshop. “Moving together, connecting to the very idea that our corporal, our body is connected together, that we’re not separate, we’re all connected.”
For the past four years and counting, the company has focused on addressing environmental changes through land-based practices. The founder is currently working with three Indigenous choreographers – Michelle Olson, Starr Muranko and Margaret Grenier – on Eternal Gestures.
“And the things that I’m learning is really going back to grade one and making me realize why I dance; that dance is more than dance, dance belongs to everybody,” he adds, speaking of his role as an interpreter rather than creator. “That it is about community, that it is about family, that it is about relationship to all the things around us.”
Set to premiere in October, Tolentino sees this project as a “gift” to the company and its community, an opportunity to honour these three matriarchs as mothers, sisters, caregivers and knowledge keepers. The founder has no plans of slowing down – he hopes to continue collaborating with Indigenous communities and provide new artists a necessary platform.
“I have work that needs to be danced, and I want to be the representation of my craft, but also of who I am as an individual and as an artist of colour for the last 25 years and moving forward – that cannot stop, that has to continue,” he adds.
Celebrations like Asian Heritage Month provide spaces for communities to express themselves, says local artist and educator Jeremiah Mari Gan Carag. A trained opera singer, Carag is also an active performer in the local theatre scene, particularly in projects showcasing his Filipino heritage.
“I think [Filipino stories are] more relatable to me than being in a Renaissance wig and singing in Italian,” he shares, while noting his appreciation for the operatic arts.
For the artist, engaging with Filipino stories not only feels more genuine, but also empowering. He has been workshopping Davey Samuel Calderon’s Deep Fried: A Pinoy Musical! which explores the effects of gentrification on the Filipino community in Joyce-Collingwood.
“One of my values is presenting the truth, and I think the only way that you’re able to do that is if you’re engaged and connected,” he shares.
His individual artistic practice has also been rooted in Filipino culture through the musical genre of Kundiman. Traditionally a serenade professing love and loyalty, the form has taken on different shapes, evolving into patriotic hymns and even lullabies. Carag’s performance at last year’s ExplorASIAN Festival was inspired by the Kundiman’s evolution both within the Philippines and its diasporas – a sign of the genre’s ability to express Filipino stories.
“I was experimenting with the idea of a theatrical production of Kundiman,” he recalls. “But this time interweaving it with my own immigrant experience and also other people’s experience.”
Carag is a music facilitator in Co. ERASGA’s MigARTion project. The project has offered migrants from the Filipino community and beyond the opportunity to engage in artistic practices – ranging from singing, drawing, writing, dancing and acting. Spearheaded by Tolentino and his team, MigARTion’s other facilitors include writer Christopher Nasaire, theatre director Dennis Gupa and poet Karla Comanda.
“The intention is to engage migrant communities with arts because sometimes it’s not always as accessible to them,” Carag explains. “The hope is that they’re able to use art to express themselves.”
During these workshops, the facilitator guides participants in breathwork for singing and ways to interpret a piece. Participants often find an outlet for expressing difficult emotions – one that also promotes wellness and challenges the idea of art as an elitist endeavour.
Co. ERASGA has designed the project to offer financial incentives, including bus tickets and free meals for participants. A sign of its success, the project has also gone on tour visiting Montreal, Ottawa, Winnipeg, Edmonton and Victoria. For Carag, facilitating these MigARTion workshops has transformed him into a student, learning from the participants.
“Art is a reflection of community, and I think that it’s worth sharing,” he adds. “I think we are also better artists because of the community.”
To celebrate Asian Heritage Month and their milestone year, Co. ERASGA will also screen the critically-acclaimed film SOLA – showcasing three solos choregraphed by Tolentino in 1999 and performed at the Firehall Arts Centre in 2000 – for free on their website during the month of May.
For more information on Co. ERASGA, see www.companyerasgadance.ca
For more information on Jeremiah Mari Gan Carag, see www.facebook.com/jeremiahmaricarag
The event welcomes professor Vivek Kumar (PhD) of Jawaharlal Nehru University whose new book examines the erasure of the late Indian stateman Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar (1891–1956) from academia while highlighting the doctor’s commitment to a truly equal Indian society.
“To have social justice, you have to have equality, liberty and fraternity,” Kumar says of Ambedkar’s vision for modern India. “Ambedkar says that ‘I have not borrowed equality, liberty and fraternity from the French slogan…I have taken the metaphor from my master, the Buddha.”
Kumar adds that India’s now-abolished Hindu caste system had five categories: the Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas, Shudras and Dalits. Each caste was assigned professions and roles in society. The Brahmins, for example, were the priestly class and the Kshatriyas were responsible for defending the country, while the Shudras were labourers.
“The difficulty of understanding caste is because people belong to the same colour and they belong to the same religion,” the professor adds. “Yet, there is discrimination and exclusion.”
The Dalits were the lowest social class under the system. They faced what Kumar refers to as “traditional discrimination”: exclusion from numerous public spaces and societal institutions.
“They were not allowed to enter in the schools; they were not allowed to come in the marriage processions,” the professor explains, adding that the group even had different graveyards. “They could not take water from the same source as the upper [class].”
Referring to this structure as a “closed system,” Kumar notes that one cannot move up or down in social class. According to him, once India modernized and became a constitutional democracy, people were granted equal rights, yet the discriminatory effects of the caste system did not disappear.
“Now there are different types of discrimination,” he says, noting the disproportional representation of Dalits in judiciary, bureaucratic and academic systems. “If India has become really modern and democratic, then at least, [the Dalits] should have gotten representation to the tune of their proportion of population.”
This lack of representation has continued even after applying affirmative action policies. Professor Kumar further notes that Ambedkar, the architect of the Indian Constitution who also belonged to the Dalit class, faced discrimination even though he was intimately involved in the struggle for Indian independence and worked with Hindu leaders such as Gandhi and Nehru. Such discrimination seems to have influenced his conversion from Hinduism to Buddhism – he encouraged others to do so – near the end of his life.
“Ambedkar has suffered erasure from the academia,” Kumar says. “His contributions are very gigantic, but yet he has been reduced [to] only a Dalit leader.”
According to Kumar, one of Ambedkar’s core tenets was the belief that a free society granted freedom to everyone. He further notes that out of the three Buddhist tenets – fraternity, equality and liberty – it was the first that Ambedkar prioritized.
“[Ambedkar] says that you can make a law for equality, you can make a law for liberty, but you cannot make a law for fraternity,” he explains, adding the latter manifests itself through actions, values and wisdom. “As far as Buddhism is concerned, if there is fraternity, equality and liberty will come on their own.”
Ambedkar extended these values to his treatment of other minorities within Indian society, including women and Muslims. Kumar cites the leader’s work to abolish dowries, permit divorces, create maternity leave and ensure equal distribution of inheritance – all while welcoming women into the political sphere.
He further notes that Ambedkar recognized Muslim minorities’ right to religious, linguistic and educational freedom. Kumar observes how Western worldviews often interpret social movements as threats to the state’s existence; he suggests interpreting them as expressing gaps in democracy instead.
“If modernity will come, tradition will be wiped out; if there is a movement, state will be wiped out,” he says of the western perspective, pointing to the west’s history of revolutions. “Today, movement is not for displacement; movement is for telling people that there is a deficit of democracy.”
The talk is presented in collaboration with SFU’s Institute for the Humanities, along with other organizations, and is supported by a grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.
For more information, see https://www.sfu.ca/global-asia/new-events-community/events.html
“My message for this Dalit Heritage Month is fighting for regaining humanity for everyone, irrespective of caste, gender [and] race,” the associate professor shares. “Dalit movements and Dalit history provide an important avenue to look at social justice movements across the world.”
Presented by Poetic Justice Foundation, the talk, followed by a panel discussion, will focus on building community, advocating for social justice and combatting discrimination.
Dalits, also known as ‘untouchables,’ were the lowest class in India’s caste system. They faced major discrimination, including exclusion from societal institutions – the effects of which are still felt today. For Jangam, the caste system’s ‘invisible’ way of discrimination allows it to insidiously impact social connections even in the present time.
“[Caste] operates in a very powerful way because it [involves] access to friendships [and] access to social networks,” he explains. “And the social networks help people get into professional networks.”
Jangam identifies as coming from a Dalit background, making these experiences deeply personal. He recognizes education as a way to escape caste-based discrimination and its effect of poverty.
“Being a Dalit, one of the important ethical responsibilities I feel is to advocate for anti-caste movements,” he shares, emphasizing the need to address discrimination. “That is one of the reasons that I often travel and talk about [the topic] in different universities and public platforms.”
According to the associate professor, Dalits have also faced discrimination in the South Asian academic circle: the topic has been nearly invisible in scholarship focusing on colonial and anti-colonial nationalism. Jangam observes this erasure changing with racial justice movements like Black Lives Matter encouraging global leaders to look at different forms of discrimination.
“There is a growing interest in South Asian academia to explore caste and how caste affects not only diaspora, but also within India,” he says. “We have new reflections and critical studies on caste and caste-based discrimination.”
Jangam is a co-founder of South Asian Dalit Adivasi Network (SADAN), which advocates for eliminating caste discrimination. This work involves forming alliances with other anti-discrimination organizations, including the Poetic Justice Foundation. For the associate professor, such connections are key to combatting discrimination.
“We have been working for the last four or five years on the anti-caste movement in Canada,” Jangam shares of his work with SADAN. “We have developed this intersectional alliance with the different organizations related to South Asian communities.”
He notes that the Ontario Human Rights Commission has issued a policy statement on caste discrimination. SADAN is currently working on a Canada-wide survey project to learn about the effects of caste structures in the country. For the associate professor, Dalit History Month is important because it recognizes the group’s centuries-long struggle to regain their humanity in the face of caste oppression.
“We see each other’s humanity, we recognize each other’s humanity,” he adds. “Ultimately, that is very important for a multicultural, multi-religious country like Canada which embraces diversity as an important aspect of its existence.”
When it comes to social justice movements, the associate professor advocates for communication across different communities – leading to more knowledge about their past and present.
Moderated by Sharanjit Kaur Sandhra (PhD) from Belonging Matters Consulting, the panel discussion also features Neha Gupta (PhD) of UBC Okanagan and Anita Lal (Poetic Justice Foundation). Participants are invited to the Kelowna launch of OVERCASTE – Confront. Disrupt. Evolve., an exhibit examining personal stories and historical contexts surrounding casteism in Canada.
For more information, see www.sikhheritagebc.ca/anand-2025/arc-of-justice-opening-space-for-anti-racist-and-anti-casteist-narratives and https://events.ok.ubc.ca/event/arc-of-justice-panel-discussion-exhibit
Arianna Dagnino, cultural events coordinator at the Dante Alighieri Society of BC.
“[AI] is a tool that enables us as humans to learn and be more creative,” he says. “Copyright law should not only protect that, but it should encourage it in every possible way.”
The UNESCO World Book and Copyright Day returns April 23. While AI breaks frontiers, literary traditions such as North Vancouver City Library’s Persian Book Club and local participation in the Italian Strega Prize selection remain community strongholds.
According to Festinger, fair dealing rights is a defense against copyright infringement in Canada. In the Canadian context, these rights allow non-copyright holders to use copyrighted materials for specific purposes, such as those involving research, education, private study and criticism, so long as certain conditions are met.
This defense is particularly relevant to what Festinger calls “AI ingestion of copyright materials lawsuits” – an increasing number of cases where copyright holders have sued companies for using their materials to train AI programs.
“The basic defense that will be argued [is] ‘it’s fair for us to educate the AI because we’re not really educating the AI, we’re educating people through the AI,’” Festinger explains. “The AI is just a pass through, so from a user’s rights perspective, the users of ChatGPT have a right to use these materials.”
The professor adds that when AI is accused of reproducing copyrighted materials, one must consider conventional understandings of plagiarism: it is often the plagiarist who is liable for copyright infringement, not the tool used to plagiarize. For Festinger, the idea of AI as simply a tool is central to understanding its implications in copyright law.
“The AI can be the paint, the AI can be the paintbrush, the AI can be the typewriter or the keyboard or the computer,” he says. “But only humans right now are capable of being creative.”
Festinger notes that the American Copyright Office has confirmed that a solely AI-created work is not copyrightable – a decision he sees the Canadian Copyright Office upholding. According to him, the question of whether AI-created works can receive copyright relies on the degree of human intervention.
However, the courts have yet to devise a standard test for determining just how much of a human touch is required. Festinger sees AI’s impacts on copyright law as comparable to the popularization of the internet. He notes that during the 1990s, Canadian courts reaffirmed user rights while protecting authorship in response to the unrestricted international distribution of materials via the internet.
“We are extremely lucky to have a court, the Supreme Court of Canada, that has been thoughtful about copyright and technological change, and specifically about the role of learning and education,” he adds.
Literary gatherings have been part of Persian culture for centuries, says Shideh Taleban, a library services coordinator at North Vancouver City Library. Traditionally known as bazaars-e adabi, these Persian literary salons brought together intellectuals, artists and book lovers – an experience Taleban recreates with the library’s Persian Book Club.
“We’re seeing firsthand how attending our book club helps foster a sense of belonging amongst participants,” the librarian says, adding members include both newcomers and long-term residents. “Many newcomers share how the book club helps combat social isolation.”
Taleban inherited the book club (est. 2013) from the former Persian librarian, Fereshteh Kashefi, who was also instrumental in developing the library’s Persian collection. The club now meets on the last Wednesday of each month – except for December, July and August. As its facilitator, Taleban guides the Persian discussions and ensures that all participants, including those who haven’t finished the book, can participate.
“A successful book club is about more than just books; it’s about people,” she says. “When members feel a sense of belonging and look forward to discussions, the club becomes a meaningful part of their lives.”
While recent discussions have focused on contemporary Persian literature, the club has also explored translated World Literature, including Romain Gary’s The Life Before Us and Irvin D. Yalom’s When Nietzsche Wept. With member recommendations and her own research in mind, Taleban compiles a short-list of titles. After consultation with the former Persian librarian, a book is selected and announced to members a month ahead of the meeting.
“We typically have open conversations that explore various aspects of the book, including the author’s background, writing style, themes and our personal interpretations,” adds Taleban. “Naturally, related social topics often come up as well.”
The library’s collection of Persian books – 1,147 fiction titles and 1,714 non-fiction titles – is also a source of pride. With its hybrid format, the club has also drawn remote participants, including those living in Toronto and Iran. It has also hosted renowned Persian authors, such as Parinoush Saniee and the late Mohammad Mohammadali, foregrounding the culture’s deep reverence for the literary arts.
“Poetry, in particular, has been integrated into daily life,” the librarian shares. “Many Iranians can recite lines from Hafez or Rumi from memory, and their works are often consulted for guidance, much like one would seek wisdom from a mentor or spiritual teacher.”
Italian writing is notable for its elaborate and free-flowing structure; one that resembles a lava lamp, says Arianna Dagnino, the cultural events coordinator for the Dante Alighieri Society of BC. The organization is part of the international Dante Alighieri Society, which is headquartered in Rome and has 480 chapters worldwide. After passing a selection process, the local Society was recognized as a literary presidium (or literary centre) of the prestigious Strega Prize in 2020 – a program that Dagnino now oversees.
“The society’s literary presidia serves as hubs for promoting reading and contemporary Italian literature,” she explains.
The Strega Prize (est. 1947) is Italy’s highest literary honour – often seen as the Italian counterpart to the American Pulitzer Prize. Awarded annually, the winner is recognized as the best Italian-language text of prose fiction. For Dagnino, the prize is not only symbolic of Italy’s literary scene, but also its cultural heritage.
“The process [of selecting a winner] not only recognizes literary excellence but also aims to reflect and influence the broader cultural and social changes occurring in Italy,” she explains, noting these discussions have sparked controversies.
This focus on culture is central to the prize’s history; it was developed from renowned writers Maria and Goffredo Bellonci’s literary salons, amici della Domenica or Sunday Friends. According to Dagnino, the Sunday Friends where instrumental in recreating normalcy and community amongst the Italian cultural elite following the second world war.
Jury members from the local Society now participates in this tradition by selecting their top three choices out of 12 nominees and sending one collective, summary ballot to the central office. Votes from all the literary presidiums are then compiled into one submission from the Dante Alighieri Society.
“The Dante Society of BC evaluates nominees based on their proficiency in the Italian language and their engagement with Italian literature,” shares Dagnino.
Her favourite Strega Prize winners are Natalia Ginzburg’s Lessico famigliare (Family Sayings, 1963), Umberto Eco’s Il nome della rose (The Name of the Rose, 1981) and Primo Levi’s La chiave a stella (The Wrench, 1979). The local Society also hosts book clubs, film screenings, networking events and educational programs.
Honouring the renowned Italian poet, the Society will host “Celebrating Dante: A Piano Recital” on April 12 at the Vancouver School of Music, featuring acclaimed pianist Emilio De Mercato.
“You’ll enjoy a captivating program featuring works by Schumann, Liszt and Mussorgsky, inspired by literature and art, including Dante’s Divine Comedy,” Dagnino adds.
The event is free, but donations are welcomed. Those with a strong grasp of the Italian language interested in serving on the local Strega Prize jury are invited to contact the Society.
Dagnino also cowrites the English-Italian bilingual newsletter, Canadiensis, with UBC sociology instructor Stefano Gulmanelli. The two plan to embark on a Canada-wide trip to document the country’s changing cultural and social landscape.
For more information on World Book and Copyright Day, see www.unesco.org/en/days/world-book-and-copyright
For more information on North Vancouver City Library’s Persian book club, see www.nvcl.ca/persian-book-club
For more information on the Dante Alighieri Society of BC, see www.dantesocietybc.ca/
For more information on Canadiensis, see www.canadiensis.substack.com
Larry Chin.
“Language is so important,” says Chin, who is of Hakka descent. “If you’re a Hakka person, it is your identity.”
Chin was inspired to join Tsung Tsin after witnessing his late great uncle’s involvement. He also attributes his family’s immigration to Canada to two great uncles – both of whom left east Malaysia during the 60s just as Pierre Trudeau was working on his multiculturalism policies. According to Chin, this region of Malaysia, where Qilin dances are popular, is notable for its high population of Hakka people.
“What’s interesting about east Malaysia is that most people can speak about five different dialects in a single sentence,” he explains. “Typically, Hakka people speak Hakka at home, [and] they had to learn other dialects.”
He adds that there are about five to six major variations of Hakka, along with addition subgroups. The Hakkas’ migration at different times and to various parts of the world makes it challenging to account for the exact number of variations – the Taiwan-based Hakka Affairs Council recognizes five main dialects and several less popular ones.
At the local Tsung Tsin events, Chin most often hears the Malaysian and Hong Kongese versions. The former of which reflects how the organization’s current membership is predominantly from southeast Asia, particularly east Malaysia. For the board member, the organization’s two most popular dialects are mutually comprehensible.
“As I start going to the major Fujian area, it starts to sound a little bit more like mandarin, and then the Taiwan version is one that I have the toughest time understanding,” he shares, noting that the language is often ‘frozen’ to the time of the speakers’ migration out of China. “I can make out about half of the words…the tones are different.”
Chin envisions his language classes to be practical, bringing students outside a traditional classroom. While he is still finalizing the plans, he hopes to teach Hakka through activities like cooking classes, walks around Chinatown and grocery shopping. As for the choice of dialect, Chin remains open to all the options but will most likely begin with the one he knows best– the Southern Guangdong version.
While the Tsung Tsin association was only registered under the Societies Act in 1971, a local Hakka club has existed in Vancouver since 1944. Chin notes that the club’s early days saw a high percentage of Hakkas from Guangdong. He sees this trend as aligning with historical factors driving migration out of China, including the second Sino-Japanese war.
“During the mid-late 1800s, Hakka people dispersed all over the world, partly because of opportunity and partly because of the turmoil at home,” he adds, citing the Caribbean, Mauritius and Jamaica as other places where the Hakkas settled.
Chin adds that, in 1982, the Tsung Tsin association had roughly 300 members; by 1990, the number had grown to around 900 members. Today, the number of active members is in the hundreds, while there are around 2, 000 members registered.
With an interest in history and cultural heritage, Chin serves on the board of directors of the Chinese Canadian Historical Society of B.C. His research into Hakka migration suggests that there were around four to five major waves throughout history – the last of which related to the opening of shipping lanes by the British and other foreign powers.
“There was a lot of wars going on, a lot of strife and struggle, and you wouldn’t declare that you were Hakka,” he explains, referring to persecution of the group during the Qing Dynasty.
He adds that these tensions could be felt overseas as well, relegating the language to only being spoken in the privacy of one’s home. Despite this history, Chin points out that the Hakkas have played a major role in Chinese Canadian history. Chang Toy of the historic Sam Kee Company was of Hakka heritage.
Translating its name as ‘to uphold righteousness,” he sees the organization as embodying the Hakka people’s contributions to Canadian society, which is shared by the rest of the Chinese Canadian community.
“Like many Chinese societies, [we’re] benevolent in nature, that’s [our] mandate,” Chin says. “One of the things we want to do is continue that, give when we can and help when we can.”
As for how the organization’s name is pronounced, Chin remarks that it depends on the dialect.
The UN Chinese Language Day returns April 20. This is one of two articles focused on exploring Hakka language and culture.
For more information, see www.hakkabc.com
Nora Butz, president of Yen Wo Society.
“It’s a place to go and honour ancestors and to remember and be respectful of those that came before us,” adds Nye, whose Hakka father regularly visited the temple.
The Next Great Save helps charities and non-profit organizations preserve heritage sites. Daily voting for this year’s finalists takes place now until April 17.
Officially established in 1876, the temple’s origins date to the 1860s Gold Rush. A Hakka miner placed a statute of Tam Kung – the deity of seafaring – near Johnson Street ravine, creating a roadside shrine. By the following decade, the statue was moved to its current location at 1713 Government Street, now known as the Yen Wo Society building.
Yen Wo Society, a Hakka association established in 1905, is the temple’s guardian. For Nora Butz, president of the Society, the temple has long been a unifying force in Victoria’s Chinatown – connecting not just Hakka immigrants, but the broader Chinese community.
“When [the statute] came to Victoria, and the temple was built, the Hakka population was quite small,” she adds. “It was open to other Chinese people, and they all came to the temple to worship.”
This spirit of inclusivity is central to the Society’s development plans. If they win the Next Great Save, the prize money will be used to build a welcome reception and interpretation centre with the hopes of engaging younger generations.
“It’s important for new generations and incoming generations to have access in terms of a reception and interpretation centre, so that tours, materials, displays, and so on can be offered in Chinese and English,” Nye adds.
They have also built an ascending system that would make the 52 steps up to the shrine more accessible for seniors. For the past few years, their team has been raising funds to address building deficiencies, including leaky roofs and windows. Having completed phase one of their renovations, which involved bracing the roof for earthquakes, Yen Wo Society hopes to begin phase two this summer.
“The original estimate came in at six hundred thousand dollars,” Butz shares. “And we were just devastated because there was no way we could have done any of the renovations without assistance.”
For the society members, Tam Kung Temple holds more than religious value; it is also a treasured container of immigration history. Butz notes how in its early days, the temple served as a post office for newly arrived immigrants without a permanent address. Tam Kung’s caregivers would read letters to community members, and at times, store them in the temple.
This tradition led Butz and her team to a curious discovery this summer: hundreds of letters written during the 1800s locked away in an old desk. They plan to translate and catalogue these letters, preserving them as historical artifacts.
“Much will be discovered when those are translated,” Nye adds. “I know it’s going to be a great interest in time to come.”
On their fathers’ sides, both Nye and Butz are Hakkas, a distinct Chinese ethnic, linguistic and cultural group. Due to war and other social upheavals, the Hakkas have been largely nomadic, bringing their language and culture to form diasporas around the world. Butz recalls her recent trip to the World Hakka Conference in Luoyang, China, where she and other Canadian delegates met people of Hakka descent from Malaysia, India, Germany and Australia.
“I was amazed how these people in their 60s, 70s and have been in [Canada] for years and years, and they all spoke it,” she shares, noting how she hadn’t heard the Hakka language since her childhood in Hong Kong. “That language is not dead; it’s really thriving as a matter of fact.”
Despite their heritage, Butz and Nye did not find their own connection to Tam Kung Temple until later in life. This community work has allowed Butz to form a deeper connection with her roots – one that is reminiscent of her late father’s experience.
“When we immigrated from Hong Kong, the first thing was to seek out other Hakka people in Victoria,” she shares. “He was directed to the temple in which he found likeminded people.”
Nye has also touched a part of her family’s history through this work. With the help of historian Jenny Clayton, the Canadian government recognized the Tam Kung Temple as a National Historic Site in February. It was also Clayton who discovered documents pertaining to Nye’s father and relatives – bringing history just a little bit closer.
“I always had a reverence for the place and an appreciation for the hard work of ancestors,” Nye shares, remembering her father’s calls to visit Tam Kung.
For more information on the Tam Kung Temple and Yen Wo Society, see www.tamkungtemple.ca
To vote in the Next Great Save, see www.nextgreatsave.nationaltrustcanada.ca/2025
Harri de Wijze.
“If you say, ‘hey, I’m not Dutch, can I come?’ Everybody will scream out ‘yes,’ and you are very welcome,” de Wijze explains. “Everybody’s willing to tell you about everything.”
While the Dutch recognize April 27 as King’s Day or Koningsdag (honoring the current King Willem-Alexander’s birthday), De Esdoorn will hold their celebrations – including traditional games for kids – on April 26.
Originally from the southwest Dutch region of Zeeland (sometimes spelled Zealand), de Wijze has fond childhood memories of the holiday, then known as Queen’s Day (when the reigning monarch was female). These memories include playing games, such as spijkerpoepen (‘nail pooping’) where participants tie a string around their waist and a nail on the other end, then attempt to lower the nail into a bottle. Another game is koekhappen (‘cookie biting’) where participants, who are sometimes blindfolded, try to bite suspended pieces of cake, gingerbread or cookie without using their hands.
“When I was a kid you go through the obstacles course, you would decorate your bicycle,” he adds of another tradition. “And there were two prizes, one for the person that went through the obstacles course the best or the fastest, and the other one was for how you decorated your bicycle.”
Not just for children, the holiday also appeals to adults. The chair says adults will join in the revelry with street performances, DJ sets and the Vrijmarkten (‘flea markets’). These markets – for all ages – allow people to sell secondhand goods without a permit. From old toys and outgrown clothes to designer clothing and unique household goods, the chances of special findings are high.
“It’s big in every city, in every town,” he adds. “King’s Day is the only day that you can buy and sell without paying taxes except for [on] food and drinks.”
The revellers also dress in orange – carrying out the Dutch tradition of oranjegekte (“orange madness”). Symbolizing both national unity and pride, the colour’s central role in Dutch culture is traced back to Willem (or William) of Orange who led the revolt against Spain, resulting in the creation of the United Provinces of the Netherlands, predecessor of today’s Netherlands.
“He was the biggest freedom fighter that was from royalty, and he was from the House of Orange, the Orange Nassau,” de Wijze explains. “During any birthday of a royalty, there is a small strip of orange that is hung at the top at the point of the flag.”
De Esdoorn’s goal is to bring these celebrations to Vancouver – particularly for the kids who attend their language school. In the past, the school has collaborated with other Dutch organizations, including the Dutch Business Club and the Dutch Network as well as their consulate to hold King’s Day celebrations.
“I think what it really is that the Dutch community loves to do with King’s Day is celebrate with whoever wants to celebrate it,” adds de Wijze. “King’s Day is very open.”
Throughout the year, De Esdoorn provides language lessons for children and adults and holds a variety of cultural events. Founded in 2015, the school is registered as a non-profit organization under the name “De Esdoorn – Dutch Language and Culture School Society.”
Celebrating its tenth anniversary this year, de Wijze ponders how far the school has come from humble beginnings in a church basement with just a few students.
“It started with two mothers, and they wanted their kids to understand where they were coming from,” he says. “And so, by starting the school, they wanted to pass on the knowledge of the culture, and of course, the language.”
A source of pride for the community, De Esdoorn became the first Dutch language school in Canada to be licensed by Dutch Education Worldwide in 2019. de Wijze adds that the school is largely run by volunteers, donating their professional knowledge and skills. For him, De Esdoorn is not just a school for learning languages – it is also a place for preserving culture.
“The main thing is to share responsibility for caring for each other and passing on that part of our culture,” he adds, emphasizing the love and care for others.
In partnership with De Esdoorn and other local Dutch organizations, The Dutch Network will also host family-friendly King’s Day celebrations on May 3 at the Pipe Shop and Shipbuilders’ Square in North Vancouver.
For more information on De Esdoorn, see www.esdoorn.ca
For more information on The Dutch Network’s celebrations, see www.kingsday.dutchnetwork.ca
“It’s a shared experience where a lot of folks here don’t have their families around them, and really want that feeling of community,” Ettayebi says. “We hope to create that for them while creating it for ourselves.”
As spring approaches, Ettayebi is looking forward to hosting outdoor events, including hiking trips, picnics and bike rides or walks along the seawall. Events welcome both Arabic and non-Arabic speakers – encouraging friendships across linguistic and cultural differences.
Born to a Moroccan father and a Palestinian mother, Ettayebi has lived in Morocco, the United States and Ontario, Canada. No stranger to cultural hybridity, she identifies as a “third culture kid” – a term referring to individuals raised in cultures different from their parents. It wasn’t until her move to Vancouver that she started to crave a deeper connection with her Arab heritage.
“I missed hearing Arabic being spoken. I missed being around the food, the jokes and the humour,” she shares. “And that’s when I started looking for community.”
The search brought her to ArabsVan – a group founded in 2019 by Salhi who sought to fulfill a similar desire. After meeting at one of the first events Salhi organized, the two began working together. They started to plan café hangouts or neighbourhood walks, drawing the attention of newcomers also in search for the feeling of home.
“Typically, people find us when they’re new to Vancouver, and then they develop their own friendships, either through the group or through other connections,” Ettayebi shares. “Then, they move on, and we get new folks who are looking for that connection.”
Jibreal then joined as an organizer in 2022. After eliciting feedback from members, the organizers realized that food and music brought people together. The events then evolved to partnerships with musicians, artists and businesses – all to showcase the diversity of Arab cultures. Last fall, they hosted a Tawla event (Arabic backgammon) with Syrian restaurant Tayybeh.
“Seeing people still be friends after they met in one of our events a couple years ago …is just really special,” Ettayebi reflects.
Two years ago, Ettayebi was recognized as one of Canadian Arab Institute’s 30 Under 30. The list honours young Arab individuals who have shown excellence, leadership and commitment to their heritage. For her, the honour highlights the need for more media coverage of the Arab community.
“I’m very humbled to have received the recognition, but I think there’s so many Arabs doing amazing things, and sometimes there isn’t that publicity,” she shares, adding her inclusion was only possible with the support of her ArabsVan community. “I think the real focus is just elevating Arab culture.”
Ettayebi has spent her career working on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives. In a world where these initiatives can be interpreted as corporate tools, she sees DEI as foregrounding people and the communities they create.
“It’s about being nice to your neighbour, being nice to someone whose background is completely different than you, getting to know them more, being curious,” she explains.
ArabsVan exemplifies this openness to other cultures. In recent years, the group has developed larger community events, welcoming the attention and participation of non-Arabs. Ettayebi adds that participants have also included those who grew up in the Middle East but may not be of Arab heritage.
“A big part of that is just we realized the [Arab] population here isn’t huge compared to other parts of Canada, and so a lot of folks have never been exposed to Arab culture,” Ettayebi shares.
The group welcomes all those who are interested in learning about Arab cultures, regardless of their ethnic heritage. Their plans involve continuing to support the local Arab community, while broadening their reach to other communities – a move that Ettayebi sees as enriching the city’s cultural fabric.
“No two Arabs are the same; no Arab cultures are the same,” she shares. “There’s rich history, rich arts, the music, the language; there’s so much in it that I think goes unnoticed.”
April is Arab Heritage Month in Canada, and ArabsVan is one of many local organizations supporting B.C.’s Arab community.
For more information, see www.arabsvan.ca and www.instagram.com/arabsvan
For more information on Canadian Arab Institute’s 2023 30 Under 30 list, see www.canadianarabinstitute.org/30-under-30
Lara Aknin | Photo courtesy of SFU
“The particulars of what people buy vary across culture, like the ways in which we show we care vary by culture,” Aknin explains. “In some places that might look like a fancy roast pig dinner, and in other places, it might look like a spa treatment.”
The director of SFU’s Helping and Happiness Lab, Aknin has spent the past ten years researching this connection between happiness and “prosocial spending,” or the spending of money to help others. Her research shows that generosity leads to higher emotional rewards under three conditions. The first of which is volition: the spending must feel like a free choice.
“The second is that it tends to be more emotionally rewarding when people give in ways that are relational,” the professor explains. “So, usually taking someone for lunch or giving face-to-face has a greater positive impact than just sending [money through] PayPal.”
As for the last condition, the giver must feel that their spending had a positive impact. This criterion is easier achieved through face-to-face interactions, as the spender can immediately see the gift’s positive reception. Positive feedback, however, can also be delivered through indirect means.
“You can imagine making a donation to a charity when you hear about all the wonderful acts or all the wonderful things your money has done as opposed to never hearing back,” she adds. “When you hear about all that positive impact, it’s really wonderful, and you feel good about your gift.”
Factors – such as the level of closeness between spender and recipient – can also influence happiness levels. According to Aknin, studies show that emotional rewards of spending tend to increase when people spend on those whom they regard as “near and dear.”
While the benefits of prosocial spending exist across cultures, Aknin observes how people’s spending choices vary. A study of North American students found that they spend money on food, birthday gifts and flowers for their mother.
“In South Africa and Uganda, we ran very similar experiments and asked people to tell us how they spend money on others,” Aknin explains. “People are buying food, but [also] medication [and] airtime, which is a really big deal with cell phone plans.”
The professor adds that South Africans and Ugandans were also making life-saving purchasers and helping with their friend’s or family’s educational expenses. For her, the universal benefit of prosocial spending shows human dependency on one another.
“It’s easiest sometimes to just retreat and appreciate solitude,” the professor notes. “But I think one of the greatest sources of happiness is other people, and that’s one of the reasons generosity has relatively, robustly, consistently shown this effect.”
Aknin’s first became interested in studying emotions following an undergraduate psychology course at the University of British Columbia (UBC). After discovering that a plethora of literature on negative emotions already existed, she turned to exploring what researchers call “positive affect.”
Her graduate studies were supervised by UBC professor Elizabeth Dunn, a leading happiness researcher. To define happiness, Aknin draws on American psychologist Ed Diener’s tripartite model of the emotion – a framework that has influenced her personal understanding.
“The first two parts are about your more short-term emotions, and it’s the presence of positive emotions,” Aknin explains, adding that the definition also incorporates the absence of negative emotions. “The third and final component is about not just how you feel in the moment, but rather how you take stock of your life as a whole.”
In recent years, Denmark has held its place as the second happiest country in the world. For Ann-Kathrine Havemose, lecturer of Danish and Scandinavian studies at UBC, Danes tend to identify happiness as a feeling of contentment or satisfaction – a sign of its practical culture.
“It’s not about feeling joy every day; it’s about feeling like nothing is wrong,” Havemose adds. “In Denmark, if I have food, I have a house, and I have a good life, or like relatively [a good life], it’s fine.”
Born and raised in Denmark, Havemose notes that Danes may not openly share their feelings, but their sense of contributing to a community is strong– even when that contribution is in the form of taxes.
“I think a lot of people are happy and content with paying their taxes because it creates a safety net, not just for the individual, but for the whole as a group,” she adds.
The Danish idea of hygge – the feeling of coziness and comfort within a small community– also plays a role in the cultural understanding of happiness. The lecturer shares that her Danish social circle tend to spend on things that benefit the community, such as purchasing food for a movie night. Havemose also observes how Danish culture treats time as a commodity, a reflection of its historic worker’s movement to secure a work-life balance.
“If we think about spending, it’s not only money,” she adds. “It’s also time and giving time, so volunteering for things or participating in association work…like my parents are part of an art group that go and purchase art, spent time together, go on vacations to look for more art.”
Havemose also points to the Law of Jante or Janteloven for potentially shaping Danish ideas surrounding money. Originating from a 1930s satirical novel, these ‘laws’ include rules that dictate how people should behave in society, including not feeling as though one is more special than another.
“People with a lot of money are not as keen to show it off as people in countries where, being the best, or being the richest, or being the smartest dressed is important,” she explains. “Because in Denmark, if you show off, you are considered a bad person.”
The lecturer notes that other Danes may have different perspectives. However, her lived experience suggests that money does not buy happiness in Danish culture, although it is necessary for ensuring people’s basic needs are met.
For Havemose, a key difference between North American and Danish cultures is their understanding of freedom: the former recognize it as a “freedom to” something, while the latter sees it as a “freedom from” something.
“You have freedom from worry,” Havemose adds of the Danish experience. “You have freedom from having to think about when’s your next meal? When’s your next paycheque?”
For more information on International Day of Happiness, see www.un.org/en/observances/happiness-day
For more information on Lara Aknin’s Helping and Happiness Lab, see www.sfu.ca/psychology/research/hhl.html
For more information on Ann-Kathrine Havemose, see cenes.ubc.ca/profile/ann-kathrine-havemose
“There used to be an Angolan Association here in B.C.,” adds Lukengo Miguel, vice-president of the AABC. “What we did is just get more involved on the executive part of the Association, and help bring back different programs and collaborate more to help the community.”
Lima and his executive team officially registered the AABC as a non-profit in Feb. 2024, continuing the work of local Angolans to establish strong community ties.
Both executive members came to B.C. from other provinces: Lima attended Trent University (Peterborough, Ont.), while Miguel attended a technological institution (Calgary, Alta.). Miguel recalls feeling a stronger sense of community in Alberta’s largest city, as most Angolans lived near each other. In contrast, he observes that Angolans in B.C. are spread around the province and the high cost of living calls for a busier lifestyle.
“Since 2018, the connection with the local Angolan community started by first getting to know one person,” Miguel shares of their work to engage the community. “And then that person introduces us to everyone else that lives here, and from there we started a new WhatsApp group.”
They strive to find ways for the community to develop together, be it through immigration support, mental health education or financial resources. Their financial literacy workshops have discussed topics like credit-building, tax-saving accounts and homeownership.
“[Our events] are not limited only for those who are Angolan,” the president shares. “We do have a lot of members that come to the events, with other community members – some are very consistent, [and] there they are, they are part of it.”
Responsive to their community, the executives recently identified the need for culturally sensitive mental health support, particularly for Angolan men. Miguel notes that the lack of Black healthcare providers with similar lived experiences makes addressing mental health a difficult process.
“There’s a lot more discussion in regard to mental health [and] self-development, and instead of us just spending time in doing that ourselves, we get together,” Miguel explains, adding they are planning a mental health event for May.
A large part of the AABC’s work is also simply having fun with each other – bringing the spirit of their tropical, coastal country to B.C. Miguel notes that Angolans are “culturally very happy people,” as embodied through their annual carnival celebrations. Lima adds that Angola’s carnival highlights their culture’s African heritage with music, particularly drumming, from before Portuguese colonialism – a reflection of their diverse culture.
“I would say, like 20 years ago, it was mostly Portuguese and Angolan people residing in Angola, but today is different,” Miguel shares, adding that the country has seen increased immigration from Asia.
According to Lima, Angola’s economy is rapidly developing, partly due to its wealth of natural resources. The country’s capital will host this year’s U.S.-Africa Business Summit in June.
“The downtown of Luanda, Angola looks like you are in Miami, so it’s very, very much upgraded,” Lima adds, while noting that the gap between the rich and poor is still significant. “There’s 38 million people there, it’s almost just as big as Canada, so it has a lot of potential.”
While Portuguese is the national language, there is a variety of other languages enriching Angola’s culture, including Kongo, Kimbundu and Umbundu. For Miguel, it is important to preserve these languages for the younger generation – an initiative the AABC is looking into for the future.
As Angolans celebrate half a century of independence in November, Lima’s motivation to continue expanding the Association, while working a full-time job and balancing family responsibilities is simple: “To unite the Angolan people of British Columbia.”
Angola will commemorate the Day of the Liberation of Southern Africa on March 23, a day for remembering the Cuito Cuanavale battle in 1988 where the Angolans, with the support of Cubans, fought against South Africa’s apartheid troops, leading to Namibia’s independence.
For more information, see www.linkedin.com/company/angolan-association-of-british-columbia