The Georgia Straight - Lessons of Taiwanfest - September 2, 2021 by The Georgia Straight

SEPTEMBER 2 – 9 / 2021 | FREE

Volume 55 | Number 2794

LABOUR MATTERS Parties seek workers’ votes

FLAMENCO PHENOM

Young guitarist impresses

Lessons of

TAIWANfest

Cultural navigator Charlie Wu shares insights in a new book to help Taiwanese across the Pacific Ocean forge a national identity

CONFUCIUS OR CONFUSED • COAST CAPITAL • 2 RIVERS REMIX • ED HILL

LABOUR

Party leaders eager to win support of working people

CONTENTS 9

with an eye to assisting those with mentalhealth challenges. The Liberals say they’ll work with community partners on a fund to support Black Canadians’ mental health.

COVER

TAIWANfest’s guiding light, Charlie Wu, argues in a new book that Taiwanese people can learn lessons about identity from Canada’s multicultural mosaic.

by Charlie Smith

n August 31, the Liberal Party of Canada promised a suite of initiatives to help Canadians cope with mental-health issues. And the timing isn’t a coincidence. Not only does it come in the lead-up to Labour Day on Monday (September 6), but it also offers a rejoinder to the federal Conservatives, who have been trying to make inroads on this issue in the federal election campaign. “In a typical year, one in five Canadians experience mental-health challenges,” Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau said in a party news release. “The pandemic intensified those existing challenges, especially for front-line health-care workers, youth, seniors, Indigenous people, people with disabilities, and racialized and Black Canadians.” The Liberal response has been to offer a permanent ongoing funding to the provinces for a new Canada Mental Health Transfer, as well as a new fund for student well-being. In addition, the Liberals have promised to develop a mental-health and wellness strategy with First Nations and a review of disability benefits and programs

September 2-9 / 2021

By Charlie Smith Cover photo by Shimon Karmel

REAL ESTATE

An all-women team is developing a new social-housing project with an international charity not far from Vancouver City Hall. By Carlito Pablo

Now he [Trudeau] wants us to believe he’ll do it after the election. – NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh

The Conservatives have promised to boost funding to provinces for mental health but not through a new transfer program. Leader Erin O’Toole decided instead to boost the annual growth rate of the Canada Health Transfer to deliver an additional $60 billion to the provinces for health care over 10 years. He also said that he’ll “encourage” employers to add mental health to employee-benefit plans with a 25 see page 4

MUSIC

As artistic director of the 2 Rivers Remix Society, Meeka Morgan gets to indulge her deep love for, and vast knowledge of, Indigenous music. By Steve Newton

e Start Here 13 ARTS 7 BEER 18 CLASSIFIED ADS 12 COMEDY 6 FINANCE 2 LABOUR 18 SAVAGE LOVE 8 TAIWANFEST 16 WHAT’S IN YOUR FRIDGE

Vancouver’s News and Entertainment Weekly Volume 55 | Number 2794

ON LABOUR DAY, LET’S RECOGNIZE OUR NURSES AND ALL WORKERS www.bcnu.org BC’s nurses and front line workers are working tirelessly. With gratitude, let’s acknowledge and support their resiliency and dedication to safe patient care.

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EDITOR Charlie Smith GENERAL MANAGER (ACTING) Sandra Oswald SECTION EDITORS Mike Usinger (ESports/Liquor/Music) Steve Newton SENIOR EDITOR Martin Dunphy STAFF WRITERS Carlito Pablo (Real Estate) Craig Takeuchi SOLUTIONS ARCHITECT Jeff Li ART DEPARTMENT MANAGER Janet McDonald

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Here’s what people are reading this week on Straight.com.

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Tommy Chong lowers asking price for West Vancouver home. COVID-19 in B.C.: Nearing 6,000 active cases and more than 1,800 new cases. Liberal sold 21 homes since 2005 that would be subject to party’s flipping tax. Female suspect arrested and charged for fire that destroyed Surrey church. Blockstream becomes B.C.’s latest billion-dollar tech titan. @GeorgiaStraight

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from page 2

percent tax credit over the first three years. The Liberals are also the only party to raise the issue of the “right to disconnect” from technology. It has been enshrined in legislation in four countries but not Canada, according to the federal government website. By passing a law, this would allow workers to disengage from mobile technologies to promote work-life balance. The Liberals say they’ll work with federally regulated employers and labour groups to codevelop such a policy for this country. If they’re reelected, the Liberals said, they’ll “introduce 10 days of paid sick leave for all federally regulated workers”. In fact, the NDP pushed for this change last September in return for supporting the throne speech and avoiding an election in 2020. This month, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh scoffed at Trudeau’s promise on sick leave, saying he had been demanding this for 18 months. “Every day since then, people went to work sick because they didn’t have another way to pay their bills,” Singh told reporters. “Now he wants us to believe he’ll do it after the election. He’s saying the right thing now, but he has no intention of doing it.” Traditionally, the NDP has been the party supported most heavily by organized labour. But in this campaign, O’Toole has surprised his opponents by stressing labour issues. He promised to give workers’ representatives a seat on corporate boards. In addition, O’Toole has pledged

THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh hopes that working people respond to his party’s promise to put pensioners at the front of the line when companies go broke. Photo by Joseph Costa/Unsplash.

to extend employment-insurance benefits for seriously ill workers to 52 weeks. And he has indicated that gig workers would become part of a separate private scheme for EI under a Conservative government. The latter pledge did not go over well with the Canadian Labour Congress, which described the promise to gig workers as a “kick in the teeth”. “The Conservatives’ plan denies over a million gig economy workers access to not only the protections of basic labour standards, but to the Canada Pension Plan

SEPTEMBER 2 – 9 / 2021

and Employment Insurance as well,” CLC president Bea Bruske said in a news release. “These workers kept Canada going during the darkest days of the pandemic, yet Erin O’Toole and the Conservatives would deny them retirement security, EI benefits, and even basic legal protections. That is reprehensible.” The CLC followed that up with a video accusing O’Toole of an “anti-worker record”, which included voting against extending emergency pandemic help for workers and proposing a law that made it

easier for corporations to “walk away from pension obligations”. The NDP, on the other hand, has made pensions a key issue in this campaign. “To that end, we will make sure that pensioners are at the front of the line when a company goes bankrupt—making sure unfunded pension liabilities owed to workers, and employees’ severance pay, are the top priority for repayment,” the party declared in its platform. “We’ll stop companies from paying out dividends and bonuses when pensions are under-funded, and we’ll create a mandatory, industry-financed pension insurance program to make sure that no worker is deprived of the retirement benefits they’ve earned through no fault of their own,” the NDP noted. The NDP platform also maintained that the federal government “has a critical role to play in protecting defined benefit pensions across the country”. “The Liberal and Conservatives’ openness to target benefit plans in the public sector, which don’t guarantee stable benefits for retirees, puts defined benefits at risk for all Canadians—and we will immediately put a stop to this chipping away of retirement security.” That’s in addition to creating a “Pension Advisory Commission to develop a longterm plan to enhance Old Age Security, boost the Guaranteed Income Supplement to lift all seniors out of poverty and strengthen the Canada Pension Plan”. g

REAL ESTATE

All-women team advances social-housing project by Carlito Pablo

Carla Guerrera is founder of Purpose Driven Development, which is based in Vancouver.

he City of Vancouver has approved a rezoning application for a socialhousing development for and by women. The developer says it’s the “first of its kind in Canada and possibly even North America”. “What is especially unique about this project is that it is being delivered by an all-women team,” Carla Guerrera told the Straight in a phone interview. Guerrera is the founder and CEO of Purpose Driven Development, a Vancouver-based company working with the Soroptimist International of Vancouver (SIV) to redevelop the charitable organization’s property on West 13th Avenue. Volunteer Soroptimist organizations operate around the world with a mission to improve the lives of girls and women. SIV’s development site is located near Cambie Street and is currently home to a three-storey affordable-rental building for senior women. A new 13-storey building will replace the current Soroptimist Apartment House that contains 21 studio and one-bedroom units. A Vancouver staff presentation to members of city council states that rents at the present site range from $450 to $800 a month. The new development at 546 West 13th Avenue will be geared toward seniors, single mothers and their children, and working women. The 13-storey building will feature a mix of 135 unit types, including studios, one-bedroom, two-bedroom and three-bedroom units. The staff presentation to council noted

that SIV has received B.C. Housing funding under the provincial agency’s Community Housing Fund program. With this funding, the development will be able to “deepen affordability” for the new units at the project near Vancouver City Hall. The presentation stated that 20 percent of the homes will be offered at so-called deep-subsidy rates. Fifty percent of the units will be at “rent-geared-to-income rates, with an income maximum set at Housing Income Limits (HILS) levels”. B.C. Housing sets the annual HILS, which differs across cities. HILS represent the minimum annual income required to afford appropriate accommodation in the private market. In Vancouver, the 2021 HILS are as follows: $57,500 for one bedroom or smaller, $69,000 for two bedrooms, $80,000 for three bedrooms, and $88,50 in the case of four bedrooms. To illustrate, a HILS of $57,500 translates to annual rent of $17,250, using 30 percent of income for housing cost as an affordability measure. This means a monthly rent of $1,437.50. The staff presentation to council about 546 West 13th Avenue said that the remaining 30 percent of homes in the project will be offered at “affordable market rates”. Guerrera told the Straight that the market rates at the new development will be 15 percent to 20 percent below market rent in the neighbourhood. “We’ve had some great support from all three levels of government who really believed in this project,” she said. In addition to funding from the province, Guerrera said that the development is getting support from Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation through a grant and low-cost financing. For its part, the City of Vancouver is waiving $2,500,388 in development cost levy (DCL) charges because the project qualifies as social housing. A separate staff report to council explained that the city requires social housing to “include a minimum of 30 percent of units as affordable to households with incomes which fall under the B.C. Housing Income Limits (HILs) levels, while the remaining 70 percent can be at market rents”. An application booklet submitted as part of SIV’s rezoning application also acknowledged the funding support by the Vancity Community Foundation. The soroptimist organization in Vancouver has an impressive history. Online, SIV says that Vancouver professional women formed the first soroptimist club in Canada on April 24, 1926, and it became “only the second within the British Empire”. “In 1931, as the Depression hit,” the organization says, “they aligned themselves

with another group of unusual women—the Police Women of Vancouver who had established a hostel for unemployed and low income women called Dunromin. Initially they donated money but a year later took it over.” “Thus began the Soroptimist Club of Vancouver’s real estate odyssey. What began with a hostel in 1932 eventually became in 1960 Sor[o]ptimist Apartment House at 546 [W]est 13th. They were the first Soroptimist Club on the continent to open an establishment to house low income senior women. “They continued buying and selling real estate until in 1970 they partnered with the Kiwanis Club of Vancouver to open a complex of ninety suites for low income seniors,” SIV notes on its website.

In addition to the Soroptimist Apartment House, SIV co-owns with the Kiwanis Club of Vancouver a seniors’ residence called Southwynd Place (8080 Yukon Street). Vancouver city council approved the rezoning application for 546 West 13th Avenue on July 13. Guerrera said in the interview that an application for a development permit will be submitted to the city in a few weeks. Construction is expected to begin in August 2022. “We are working as a team to deliver this project in a very male-dominated industry,” Guerrera said. “We’re really focused on showcasing the leadership of women in the industry to deliver housing for women.” g

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METROLAND REALTY

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FINANCE

Coast Capital gets real with marketing campaign

by Charlie Smith

anadian financial institutions often pin their marketing campaigns around achieving grand dreams. The dream house. The dream car. And, yes, the dream vacation. But for many Canadians, the reality is that they’re soaked in debt and just trying to get by. Who is speaking to them? This month, Surrey-based Coast Capital Savings stepped forward with a marketing approach far more grounded in the day-today concerns of many Canadians. The “We’re for real” campaign doesn’t shoot for the stars. Instead, it tries to meet the credit union’s members where they’re at today. “The campaign is all about the real dif-

ference that comes with banking with a member-owned cooperative,” Coast Capital marketing vice president Andrew Rusk told the Straight by phone. This “We’re for real” approach acknowledges that many consumers are looking for something between a large chartered bank reporting to shareholders and the latest app generated by the fintech sector. “Canadians should be able to have partnership and advice that they can trust with a partner that cares how things net out at the end of the day,” Rusk said. “Because we’re member-owned, we report to our members. We don’t report to Bay Street. “We don’t report to anybody else,” he added, “which means the products we

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Coast Capital’s vice president of marketing, Andrew Rusk, wants people to know that his credit union isn’t peddling impossible dreams with its recently unveiled “We’re for real” messaging.

build, the experiences we create, and, ultimately, the advice we give to members is rooted in the best interest of our membership as opposed to anything else.” According to Statistics Canada, consumer credit and mortgage liabilities were 163.36 percent above disposable income in the first quarter of 2021. This means that for every dollar of disposable income, Canadians owed $1.63, on average. Although that’s still below the alltime high of $1.81, it’s still imposing a large burden. Perhaps an even more disturbing statistic was found in the National Bank of Canada’s most recent “Housing Affordability Monitor”. It suggested that it costs 27.2 percent more to buy a two-bedroom condo in Vancouver in comparison to renting. Just to afford a “representative condo”, it would require a household annual income of $131,975 in Vancouver, according to the monitor. There was a 68.6 percent “premium” for buying in Vancouver in comparison to the national urban composite. As a millennial who moved back to Vancouver after living in Ontario for several years, Rusk is fully aware of the high cost of housing in Vancouver. “We set the expectations of what is attainable and meet members at their level, based off the needs of what they have in that moment,” Rusk said. “And that’s why at Coast Capital, every new relationship starts with something we call a ‘money chat’.” That’s an assessment of where members are at, where they want to be going, what they feel strongly about, and also what might be creating anxiety, from a financial perspective. According to Rusk, it’s not realistic anymore to think that you can buy a home without having a plan in place to get there. “We’re able to have those conversations with members at a much more intimate and familiar level in order to help make a plan for the future that works,” he said. The Straight asked Rusk if that meant sometimes encouraging members to generate passive income to put them in a

Because we’re member-owned, we report to our members. – Coast Capital executive Andrew Rusk

better position to become a homeowner in the future. “It very often does,” he replied, “because by having a conversation with members that encapsulates the whole financial picture—as opposed to a more transactional banking relationship that you can expect from one of the major banks—it allows us to have a more realistic conversation about the future that our members envision, as well as what products and services and opportunities are best for them.” That includes an appreciation for the growing importance of the gig economy. “That’s not just the food deliveries or the Ubers of the world,” Rusk emphasized. It also encompasses entrepreneurial-minded members who are launching their own businesses on the side while retaining their primary income over the short- to medium-term. “We’re keeping an open mind on exploring all of the different ways that we can help our members and our future members achieve the goals and make those goals real—and get beyond just the dreams that we tell people they can achieve.” Coast Capital reported having 594,000 members in its most recent annual report, making it the largest credit union in Canada by this measurement. It has $20.9 billion in assets and posted net income of $35.3 million in 2020. It has subsidiaries focusing on wealth management, financial management, and auto and equipment finance. g

BEER

Left-of-the-dial beers can deliver tasty surprises by Mike Usinger

OKANAGAN SPRING TERRACE MOUNTAIN SESSION IPA

The label, in cursive script, says IPA, but this Okanagan Spring offering will confuse even seasoned beer drinkers in a blind taste test. There’s some hoppy bitterness on the tail end, but not enough that anyone will mistake Terrace Mountain Session IPA for a legendary Hart & Thistle Hop Mess Monster or Flying Monkeys Alpha Fornication. Instead of a full-blown hop bomb, Okanagan Spring’s IPA pours light and tropical, with the emphasis on light. Think Trident passion-fruit gum or Kasugai mango gummies (which taste great for no other reason than they are imported from Japan, and therefore seem twice as exotic as anything you’ll find on these shores). As an added bonus you can actually feel good about yourself as you imbibe. Partial proceeds from Terrace Mountain—named after an Okanagan spot once ravaged by fire—will aid wildfire prevention and relief in B.C.

Bubble Stash offers a subtle kiss with tropical mango and pineapple flavours. Photo by Hop Valley.

ne day, we’ll all look back on the past couple of years as one of the weirdest times in history. Think about this for a second: you’ll have more luck flying to the moon under your own power this week than popping across the bloody U.S. in a car to buy a six pack of Pyramid Apricot Ale. Given that we’re still in the middle of a pandemic that keeps on giving, what’s the point of reaching for a straightforward lager as the summer winds down? Instead, go out of the box with the following four left-of-the-dial beers.

SUPERFLUX HEAVY FRUIT BERRY BLEND

Sometimes weird is not only good, it’s a reminder that the whole point of life is to take chances. With that in mind, Superflux Heavy Fruit Berry Blend is one of the most bizarre beers you’ll ever try. Stranger than the Chapeau Banana Lambic you had at ‘t Brugs Beertje in Bruges, Batch Brewing’s Marrickville Pork Roll, or Scotland’s 67 percent ABV Snake Venom. Heavy is something of an understatement—it’s actually so thick with berry pulp, you can practically chew it. Pour it in a glass and it doesn’t look like a beer as much as a Margarita made with fresh strawberries, or a raspberry smoothie with an extra dollop of yogurt. But, even though it comes off as a distant cousin of kombucha on the fi nish, Superflux Heavy Fruit Berry Blend is most defi nitely a beer, albeit one brewed with milk sugar and a raspberry/blackberry/ strawberry puree in addition to hops

and yeast. And it will blow your freaking mind, for no other reason than, just when you thought no beer would ever surprise you again, this fruit-bombed experiment does. Added bonus: because actual berry chunks end up stuck to the glass, you’ll have zero trouble convincing yourself that you did the right thing by having a beer instead of a smoothie. Or a fresh strawberry Margarita.

INNIS & GUNN ISLAY WHISKY CASK LAPHROAIG

With fall almost upon us, it’s time to dream of ways to make the most of the season. While pumpkin-spice lattes, Halloween,

and a global campaign against leafblowers are all fine starts, nothing compares to the thought of a week in Islay, Scotland. Imagine kicking back on the craggy slopes of the Oa, watching the autumn fog roll in off the sea. The beauty of Innis & Gunn Islay Whisky Cask Laphroaig is that you start painting pictures in your mind right from the first sip: remote Scottish cabins where central heating consists of a roaring centuries-old fireplace; made-for-Instagram peatlands of Flow Country in Sutherland; and, um, Islay whisky—smoky, complex, and mind-bendingly unique. The label reads “amber ale”, but there’s an indisputable heaviness to Innis & Gunn Islay Whisky Cask Laphroaig. Chalk that up to 12 weeks maturing in 10-yearold single malt Scotch whisky casks from the Laphroaig distillery. What you get right out of the bottle is gorgeous heavy smoke—bold and unapologetically frontand-centre. Pour it cold and you won’t be disappointed, but let it warm up a bit and you’ll dream of autumn peatfires in Scotland where Madagascar vanilla beans and dark French-roast coffee are part of the undeniable magic. g

HOP VALLEY BREWING CO. BUBBLE STASH IPA

India Pale Ales—especially those produced in the Pacific Northwest—have a tendency to alienate those who don’t subscribe to the mantra “the hoppier the better”. Bubble Stash is crafted to appeal to those who’d like to be part of the IPA party but not if that means cultivating a taste for fresh-cut pine tips and extra-bitter red grapefruit. The key ingredient in Bubble Stash, which has its roots in Oregon but is crashing the Canadian market via its parent company, Molson, is something called Cryo Hops. In industry-speak, Cryo Hops are “the concentrated lupulin of whole-leaf hops containing resins and aromatic oils. It is designed to provide intense hop flavor and aroma, enabling brewers to efficiently dose large quantities of alpha acids and oils without introducing astringent flavors or vegetative material.” Translated: there’s tropical mango and pineapple flavours in each sip of Bubble Stash, but expect a subtle kiss instead of a steel-yourself IPA punch. Welcome to the Pacific Northwest India Pale Ale party, even if you haven’t gone all in.

Check out the Georgia Straight’s upcoming issue on September 23rd and discover our readers favourite places to eat, drink and hang out. Voting is now closed for our Golden Plates contest. st. Thank you to our sponsors: Brix & Mortar restaurant, Chambar, bar, Mink akfast Co., Chocolate, Cazba, Secret Garden Tea Company, OEB Breakfast Water Street Café, Terra Breads, Rocky Mountain Flatbread, tbread, PUD.CA, Les Faux Bourgeois, LaSalle College Vancouver, SPUD.CA, Calabash Bistro, Cactus Club, La Belle Patate, Chickpea, Burrowing Owl Wine, Beaucoup Bakery

Visit STRAIGHT.COM for details. etails. #GOLDENPLATES 2021

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TAIWANFEST

Scholar raises red flag over official Confucianism

by Charlie Smith

his is the 2,500th year since the death of Confucius, one of the most influential thinkers in human history. This month, his birthday will be celebrated as “Teachers’ Day” in Taiwan and at festivals in many parts of the People’s Republic of China on September 28. But Confucius’s teachings are widely misunderstood, according to Josephine Chiu-Duke, a professor of Chinese intellectual history at the University of British Columbia. “If we want to understand what Confucian teaching is all about, the number one thing we have to distinguish is between what scholars in the field would call ‘classical Confucianism’ and ‘Confucianism as a state ideology’—in other words, ‘official Confucianism’,” Chiu-Duke told the Georgia Straight in a phone interview. In an online presentation at this year’s TAIWANfest in Vancouver, Duke will explain why the difference between classical and official Confucianism is extremely important for the world. Because official Confucianism strongly influences the thinking of the authoritarian leaders of the People’s Republic of China, this has profound implications for human liberty. Classical Confucianism refers to the teachings of Confucius and the secondmost-important Confucian scholar, Mencius, who lived from 372 BCE to 289 BCE. Confucius and Mencius both advocated for a “reciprocal relationship” between the ruler and the people, fathers and sons, and husbands and wives. “In The Book of Mencius, Mencius even talks about if the ruler treated you like a stranger—if the ruler treats you like dirt— you can treat him like an enemy,” ChiuDuke said. “And Mencius even said it is all right to kill a tyrant. So tyrannicide is justified in Mencius’s teachings.” Official Confucianism, which emerged under the strong-willed Emperor Wu Ti in the second and first centuries BCE, claimed to be based on Confucian teaching. Chiu-Duke acknowledged that the emperor retained the Confucian concept of the Mandate of Heaven, which bestows power on a just ruler as the “Son of Heaven”. Under this principle, the ruler could be overthrown if he was unworthy and lost this mandate, which would be reflected in natural disasters that would be followed by justifiable revolts. But Chiu-Duke also said that official Confucianism reflected the “legalistic teaching” of the Western Han dynasty court under Emperor Wu’s reign. Chiu-Duke maintained that this official Confucianism “absolutized” the relationship between the emperor and subjects, rulers and minister, fathers and 8

THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT

Chinese officials cite Confucius to promote deference to the state, but UBC’s Josephine Chiu-Duke points out that classical Confucianism endorses rebellion when it’s justified. Photo by Erika Wittlieb.

And Mencius even said it is all right to kill a tyrant. So tyrannicide is justified in Mencius’s teachings. – UBC professor of Chinese intellectual history Josephine Chiu-Duke

sons, and husbands and wives. “The minister is bound by the ruler and so on and so forth,” she said. ”In other words, the reciprocal relationship between ministers and rulers, sons and fathers, and wife and husband no longer exists.” Chiu-Duke pointed out that official Confucianism was a compromise between the Han dynasty and Confucian scholars. Emperor Wu would have never accepted Mencius’s advocacy for tyrannicide for rulers who stepped out of line. However, by establishing Confucianism as state ideology, the Western Han dynasty ensured that anybody who wanted to enter government service had to familiarize themselves with five texts then established as the five Confucian classics. “They also rely on these classics as the source to judge the dynastic political affairs and even rely on these kind of textual sources to try legal cases,” Chiu-Duke said. She emphasized that classical Confucianism imposes a moral obligation on the ruler to improve the well-being of the people. And she suggested that this doesn’t exist to anywhere near the same degree in official Confucianism.

SEPTEMBER 2 – 9 / 2021

In addition, she said, classical Confucianism scholars promoted a belief in “moral autonomy”. “When they talk about moral autonomy, it already has the implication of personal choice,” Chiu-Duke said. “It already has this idea of free choice, even though they did not use that kind of concept or words to express the modern idea of freedom and human rights. I think this is really important.” MOREOVER, CHIU-DUKE said that throughout history until modern times, educated Chinese people tried to stick with classical Confucian principles as espoused by Confucius and Mencius when trying to protest against abusive leaders. For example, she noted that even though the May 4 student movement in 1919 appeared outwardly to want to overthrow everything traditional, the way they acted on behalf of Chinese people and Chinese society reflected the spirit of classical Confucianism. The same tradition was on display with the student protests in Tiananmen Square, which was crushed by the People’s Liberation Army on June 3 and 4, 1989, on the orders of the Chinese government.

Even in Mao’s era, Chiu-Duke said, there were heavily persecuted scholars whose writings, which were revealed after committing suicide, reflected the spirit of classical Confucianism. The same spirit has existed in Taiwan and was on display in the struggle to end authoritarian rule in the four decades following the Second World War and bring about democracy. In 2014, the Sunflower student-movement demonstrators in Taiwan railed against a trade pact with China. Chiu-Duke said that most of these students were probably not aware that they weren’t the first generation to fight for democracy in Taiwan. “But scholars certainly know,” she declared. “And many scholars who teach at university in Taiwan…are aware of this important tradition of protest in Chinese history. And that history has been preserved the best in Taiwan. And you see the result of that tradition in Taiwan.” This is one reason why Chiu-Duke thinks the world should be paying far more attention to Taiwan: because it is where classical Confucian concepts—”one of the most valuable civilizational values”—have been preserved. “And not just preserved,” she added, “but really practised in people’s daily life, whether they are aware of it or not. So Taiwan, in my view, is sort of a symbol of civilization.” Taiwan was the first country in Asia to legalize same-sex marriage. It has a vibrant film, music, and arts sector and a strong environmental ethic, which is reflected in the country’s ability to grow its economy while reducing greenhouse-gas emissions. And it remains one of the most democratic societies on Earth. “This is something so precious,” ChiuDuke said. “I think it’s not just for people in Taiwan. This is something our community, our society—and free society in any corner of the world—should be aware of. This is really what I believe.” Chiu-Duke conceded that she wasn’t truly conscious of all of this until about nine or 10 years ago. But this realization came to her as a result of observing the struggle of Hong Kong people for more liberty from the People’s Republic of China rulers. “Hong Kong people inspired me so much,” Chiu-Duke said. “They really are something. I think that even they themselves surprised themselves. “In a sense,” she continued, “people’s longing for justice—people’s longing for freedom—is such that it really touches you.” g Josephine Chiu-Duke will deliver an online presentation entitled Confucius or Confusions at TAIWANfest, which runs from September 2 to 12. For more information, visit VancouverTAIWANfest.ca.

TAIWANFEST Publisher recalls fight over Taiwan trade deal with China

by Carlito Pablo

s Canadians gear up to choose a new government on September 20, many may think that casting a ballot is all there is to democracy. Although voting is a cornerstone of a representative system, elections are but one component of a democratic society. As Taiwanese publisher Rex How notes, democracy is not simply a political arrangement. It’s a way of life. “It’s a lifestyle,” How told the Straight via Zoom from Taipei, “and in this lifestyle, we have to know how to speak to each other. We should know each others’ interests, and then how to share and exchange them.” How, an author as well, shared his views in advance of his talk on September 4 as part of this year’s TAIWANFest celebration in Vancouver. He considers reading to be “so important to democacy, because the essence of what democracy is how do we speak ourselves and how we listen to others and understand each other”.

The final way is I have to resign and I have to be a protester. – publisher Rex How

How noted that he is a believer of John Dewey, an American political thinker and educator. In his 1916 book Democracy and Education: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Education, Dewey wrote: “A democracy is more than a form of government; it is primarily a mode of associated living, of conjoint communicated experience.” In Dewey’s view, an “undesirable society” is “one which internally and externally sets up barriers to free intercourse and communication of experience”. This is why How believes that a wellread citizenry and a democratic society are vital to each other. “In every system opposite to democracy, the people in power want to control the souls of others, and the way to control the others’ souls is to let them know only a certain amount of knowledge,” he said. For How, reading is not only a means see page 12

New book tells TAIWANfest maestro’s story

by Charlie Smith

ast year, the managing director of the Asian-Canadian Special Events Association created a great deal of discussion in the Taiwanese diaspora by writing a commentary in the Georgia Straight. The piece was entitled “I’m a Taiwanese Canadian, not a Chinese Canadian”. In it, Charlie Wu discussed some of the complexities of his identity—and why he refuses to be pigeonholed as being Chinese. The article is one of many ways in which Wu has promoted Taiwanese culture and raised the profile of Taiwanese Canadians in Canada. This advocacy led the Taiwanese-Canadian Association to recently grant Wu with its Outstanding TaiwaneseCanadian Award for 2021. Wu, the senior organizer behind TAIWANfest in Vancouver, has also been recognized in Taiwan for the way he’s reshaping Canadians’ perceptions about the independent East Asian island nation. Gūsa, a Taiwanese publisher, will soon release a new book, Taiwan: The World’s Answer (a direct translation of the Chinese-language title), which tells of Wu’s experiences with the festival. He dictated it to writer Sisi Chang and it was translated by Kai-Chun Huang. “While the book is written for the Taiwanese people in Taiwan or around the world, I really want to thank every Canadian who might have played a role in this journey to find my identity,” Wu told the Straight. “I am also very proud and honoured to tell the world that Canada is the best place in the world to discover who you really are.” Wu left Taiwan when he was 15. He readily admitted that as a young man, many of his views about his country of birth were “one-sided” because he was educated in a school system overseen by an authoritarian Kuomintang government. It was a creation of Chinese nationalist leader Chiang Kai-shek, whose supporters fled with him from China to Taiwan after losing the Chinese Civil War to the Communists. The book highlights how TAIWANfest’s partnerships with various East Asian countries in successive years helped Wu understand how diverse Taiwan really is. Through the arts and culture presented at TAIWANfest, he learned much more about how Taiwan has been shaped by the influences of many other countries, including Vietnam, the Philippines, South Korea, and Hong Kong—as well as by former colonizers such as Japan and mainland China. The book relies on examples from different years of TAIWANfest to reinforce Wu’s outward-looking, inclusive, and contemporary philosophy. For Wu, relevance trumps tradition at TAIWANfest because he’s focused on building events that reinforce connections between people of all ages to their heritage and the broader community.

Asian-Canadian Special Events Association managing director Charlie Wu is looking forward to his ghost-written new book and the return of live TAIWANfest events. Photo by Shimon Karmel.

We’re about being a platform where conversations and dialogues can take place… – TAIWANfest organizer Charlie Wu

This explains why Taiwanese pop bands like Mayday and Sorry Youth, as well as fashion and visual arts, have played such a big part in TAIWANfest over the years. Another way to remain relevant came when traditional Chinese medicine practitioners offered treatments to passersby on Granville Street in prepandemic times. Other pre-COVID-19 festival hallmarks included the sharing of food at different venues and the Taiwan Bookstore on Granville Street. “We’re about being a platform where conversations and dialogues can take place with other communities,” Wu said. THEN THERE’S THE Indigenous history of Taiwan, which parallels many aspects of Canada’s Indigenous history. Over several years, Wu has gone to great lengths through TAIWANfest and another festival, LunarFest, to forge trans-Pacific connections between Indigenous peoples on both sides of the ocean. “What the book is trying to convey to the readers in Taiwan is this is a great time: Taiwan is democratic,” Wu said. “We actually should perhaps come up with a new narrative about Taiwan going forward. We can do the same here in Canada. It’s a Taiwanese story, but it’s an exercise that every single community could do, especially the newcomers’ communities.” The Taipei-based editor of Wu’s book, Joshua Wang, told the Straight by phone that Taiwan’s identity and nationality have never been very clear, which is why Wu’s story is

so timely. The country has long been under pressure from the much larger People’s Republic of China, which denies the reality of the island nation’s independence. According to Wang, Wu repeatedly emphasized in the book that Taiwan’s residents have to shatter the framework around how they understand their country. “Charlie Wu encourages us, a lot, to resist the idea that there is only one China and there is only one type of Taiwanese,” Wang said. “Usually, we tend to think that Taiwanese have the same face. Actually, Taiwan is very diversified. Just like any other country and other cultures, it always changes.” In this regard, it’s similar to Canada. Wu noted that the way diversity is celebrated in Canada offered him an opportunity to engage in difficult conversations and be exposed to unconventional perspectives, which helped him in his reflections on his own identity. “Many years ago, an Indigenous elder told me that reconciliation in Canada isn’t just about the very first peoples on this land; it is about finding their own way to reconcile with everyone’s own past,” Wu related. “It was in a conversation with Japanese Canadian author Terry Watada that I realized there are different meanings of being hyphenated in Canada.” Canadian theatre artist Sangeeta Wylie shared her empathy for the Vietnamese boat people, which was reflected in her play we the same. That influenced Wu’s thinking about Vietnamese people in Taiwan when he formed a partnership with that country for one edition of TAIWANfest. And it was Vancouver police officer Darren Ramdour, who’s of Mauritian ancestry, “who approached me in his uniform and told me with a serious face that TAIWANfest should have an edition to dialogue with Africa”. “I witnessed the beauty of people coming together for each other,” Wu declared. g TAIWANfest runs from September 2 to 12 with virtual and in-person events in Vancouver.

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THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT

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THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT

TAIWANFEST

Ed Hill finds the funny in his family and friends

by Steve Newton

hen I found out I was going to be interviewing Taiwanese Canadian comedian Ed Hill, I figured it might be good if I tried to make him laugh at least once. So I came up with what I thought might be a chuckle-inducing comment about the heritage of Aidan Parker, the writerimprovisor-actor who will host Hill’s headlining performance at TAIWANfest’s Rethink Asia: Dialogue Through Comedy event on September 5. “I understand Aidan Parker is a Chinese Irish Canadian,” I said. “So does he get drunk on ice wine a lot?” Hill guffawed at that—out of kindness, I suppose, because I’d totally botched my lame attempt at a stereotype-based joke. I’d meant to say rice wine, not ice. So much for my career in comedy. Hill’s future in laugh-wrangling, on the other hand, is more promising. He currently has a comedy special on Amazon Prime, Candy and Smiley, that draws heavily on how he views his Taiwanese parents and his relationship with them. The film depicts him sitting in a chair, telling stories of his family life to a gathering of about eight friends, coworkers, and relatives— because two weeks before they were gonna shoot it in front of a larger audience at the Chan Centre, the COVID-19 lockdown hit. “We came up with the idea of a story circle,” Hill says from his home in Langley, “like from Indigenous culture, almost, and to have people join the circle as the story goes on. It was different, I have to say that. It had a little more emotional density to it.

Comedian Ed Hill got advice from mentor Louie Anderson in L.A. Photo by Brandon Hart.

Every person in the circle knows a piece of the story, so there’s that common shared experience to work, while usually when you perform for an audience, a lot of them are strangers, so it’s more a one-way type of performance. With this one, you can definitely see the reciprocation.” Hill was urged to find what’s funny about family by his mentor and personal friend, American comedian Louie Anderson, whom he met at a workshop at the Comedy Store in L.A. “Louie talks a lot about his family,” Hill says, “and that’s one thing he told me to do one time when we were working together. You know, when you’re younger you’re just

like, ‘I don’t want to talk about my parents; who wants to know about those geezers?,’ but what he said was the early experience with your family is what ultimately makes you who you are, and it’s something that we all have experience with. Everybody’s got a family. It doesn’t matter if it was a positive experience, negative experience, dramatic experience, profound experience—they have experience with these people in their lives, and some things will translate as universal. And I took that to heart.” Hill grew up in Taipei, Taiwan, and emigrated here with his family at the age of 10. At the time, his father said they were going on vacation. “He’s not a man of many words,” Hill points out. “But I think, deep down, we knew we were leaving [for good], because who says goodbye to everybody?” Hill moved to Langley with his wife about a year ago—”It’s way cheaper out here!”—but before that he lived in Coquitlam and Vancouver proper. His overall impression of the local comedy scene is that there are a lot of funny folks here. “There’s quite a bit of talent in Vancouver,” he says. “It’s definitely a scene that’s resilient and a scene that’s very... I mean, the audience is hard to please sometimes. It’s hard to make them laugh, but I think it’s because there’s so much stuff that goes through here. They’ve seen a lot, so it’s hard to impress the people here.” One local comedy act that Hill has grown fond of is Fistful of Kicks, the allAsian improv group that will join him and Parker at TAIWANfest.

from page 9

“to entertain ourselves or to expand our visions”. It should also spur action. How demonstrated this himself when he led Taiwanese publishers in opposing a 2013 trade deal that the Kuomintang government negotiated with China. He was at the time a national adviser to then–president Ma Ying-jeou on art, cultural, and social issues, a post he held starting in 2009. Known as the Cross-Strait Service Trade Agreement (CSSTA), the deal would have opened up investments from both sides in a wide array of industries, including publishing. How explained to the Straight that the publishing industry in China is not only bigger than that in Taiwan but the companies are all owned and controlled by the Communist government of China. He said the trade deal would have led to a major inroad into the Taiwanese publishing industry. “It’s very unfair because in Taiwan all the publishing houses are private companies, all the bookstores and distributors are independent, and there is not a single one that owns publishing and distribution and printing and bookstores,” How said. How recalled having explained the situation to the Taiwanese president at the time. When the leader refused to 12

THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT

SEPTEMBER 2 – 9 / 2021

Taiwanese publisher Rex How quit as an adviser to a former president so he could speak out against China’s influence.

listen, the publisher began to speak out publicly. He organized forums and public events. “The final way is I have to resign and I have to be a protester,” said How, who stepped down as adviser in 2013. How’s objection to the CSSTA was one of many acts of resistance that led to the Sunf lower Student Movement of 2014. In that year, students and allied civic groups occupied Taiwan’s parliament for weeks and mobilized popular opposition against closer economic integration with China,

“The show’s about having a dialogue through comedy,” he says, “and comedy is not just standup. Improv is also a very important part of comedy, so I kind of invited [Fistful of Kicks] to do what they do. They’ll be able to show people that it’s more than just telling jokes.” As for what Hill will be performing at TAIWANfest himself, people don’t need to worry about hearing any retreads. “The material is gonna be a hundred percent new,” he promises. “It’s gonna be the follow-up to Candy and Smiley. Partially, it’s courtesy to the audience, so you don’t come watch something that you’ve already seen on TV. But it will be a different exploration of who I am as a person at this stage, you know, since the pandemic happened. Now the world knows a little bit about who I am and where I came from, and it’s more of who I want to be. “One of the things that I’m going to be discussing is the cultural identity of the Asian person here in North America and what that means to me now as an adult. And also my relationship with the women in my life. In Asian culture, especially, a lot of times we see strength emanate from, you know, the male figures. But what I started realizing as I get older is that true strength came from the women. And these women—whether it’s my mom, my wife, so on and so forth—that’s what held everything together.” g Ed Hill performs with Fistful of Kicks and host Aidan Parker on September 5 at the Annex (823 Seymour) as part of TAIWANfest.

which considers the island country as a wayward province. The trade deal was not ratified by the legislative assembly. About two years later, in 2016, the Kuomintang party was defeated in a general election. The Democratic Progressive Party took over, and its first female leader, Tsai Ing-wen, became president of the country. Tsai and the DPP won reelection in 2020. By his act of courage, How showed that he had learned well from another author he mentioned during the interview. That was Englishman John Ruskin, who was also an artist, art critic, philosopher, and social reformer during the Victorian era. During his time, Ruskin spoke and wrote about the ills of society. His book on political economy, Unto This Last, later inspired a young Indian lawyer named Mahatma Gandhi. Russian novelist Leo Tolstoy famously said about Ruskin: “He was one of those rare men who think with their hearts, and so he thought and said not only what he himself had seen and felt, but what everyone will think and say in the future.” How wants to live this way, by following a moral imperative and doing what he believes is right. “I cannot be silenced,” How said. “I have to speak out.” g Rex How’s prerecorded talk will be available online on September 4. For details: vancouvertaiwanfest.ca

ARTS

Flamenco festival lures phenom for two free shows by Charlie Smith

An hour later, Jafelin Helten & Friends will perform. “La China” said that Helten sings a form of Latin jazz with Cuban musicians, describing their music as “quite a bit of fusion” that includes bolero. “It actually takes on a whole celebratory Latin American flavour.” The weekend afternoons of flamenco at Granville Island will conclude with Bonnie Stewart & Friends. Stewart, like “La China”, has been dancing for two decades. According to “La China”, members of Stewart’s group are all protégés of the festival’s executive director, Rosario Ancer, who hails from Mexico and is one of the first-gen flamenco artists in the city. “La China” pointed out that very few members of B.C.’s flamenco community are

ethnically Spanish. She traces her roots back to China, hence her name. Nieto is MexicanAmerican. Triana is Colombian Canadian, and Helten’s roots go back to Venezuela. Guitarists Peter Mole and Kani are Canadian The Spanish think that flamenco is theirs, “La China” said, whereas the Roma argue that it’s their art form. “The truth is it includes three different religions,” she said. “It includes Judaism; it has Catholic and Christian roots; and it also has Moorish and Arabic and Islamic roots as well.” g The Vancouver International Flamenco Festival’s free performances take place from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday (September 4 and 5) at the Picnic Pavilion stage at Granville Island.

Longtime Vancouver dancer Kasandra “La China” describes Iminah Kani as a “killer guitarist” who’s far younger than her peers playing flamenco music in B.C. Photo by Karissa Chandrakate.

lmost all of B.C.’s flamenco guitarists are male. And for the most part, they’re all middle age at a minimum, according to longtime Vancouver flamenco dancer Kasandra “La China”. But not Iminah Kani, a 24-year-old wunderkind from Victoria by way of Salt Spring Island. “Iminah Kani is a killer guitarist and she’s a woman and she’s really young, too,” gushed “La China” in a phone interview with the Straight. “She’s a protégé of [Victoria flamenco guitarist] Gareth Owen.” Kani is scheduled to play two performances with Peña Flamenca at Granville Island this weekend (September 4 and 5) as part of the free portion of the Vancouver International Flamenco Festival (September 4 to 26). The event nurtures the art form’s hybridized roots, which include Sephardic, Persian, Roma, and Indian influences. When reached by phone in Victoria, Kani said that she was first exposed to flamenco when she began listening to the Gipsy Kings, which popularized flamenco rumba around the world. But it was Paco de Lucía, a Spanish flamenco guitar virtuoso, who really knocked her socks off, particularly when he played his hit “Entre dos aguas”. She described it as an amazing song and felt compelled to figure out how to play it. “Flamenco is a huge undertaking to learn,” Kani acknowledged. “There are so many different styles and so much technique.” Cante jondo means “deep song” in Spanish. This term is often used to describe the deepest and most serious form of flamenco music coming out of Andalusia, which is the southernmost autonomous community in Spain. “I enjoy how expressive it is,” Kani said. “I feel like it’s able to encompass a lot of different emotions. A lot of the songs are very jondo.” Her mother was born in Kuwait and raised in Egypt; her maternal grandfather was a singer from Morocco.

“I never met him but I’ve heard his music and I think that was also an inspiration for me as well, just the feeling of that,” Kani revealed. “I’m somehow culturally tied to this music.” She likened flamenco music to a melting pot, encompassing a range of cultures. It’s a point also stressed by “La China”, who teaches this art form, which brings together guitar, singing, dancing, and hand-clapping, also known as palmas. “La China” said that flamenco actually has two broad lineages. One is the Spanish dance, which incorporates all the folk dances from all cities and regions of Spain. “The Spanish dance comes from aristocratic origins, so those dancers were trained in the conservatory,” she said. “They were fully trained dancers to perform for royalty.” Flamenco music, on the other hand, originated from marginalized races in Andalusia—and particularly from those with Roma bloodlines who traced their roots back to northern India. They made their way across northern Africa before eventually residing in southern Spain. “In Vancouver, we have a very hybridized form of what we consider to be flamenco,” “La China” noted. This hybridity will be reflected in the performances at Granville Island. “La China” will perform with her company, Mozaico Flamenco. She noted that this opening act will also feature youths dancing solos alongside legendary septuagenarian choreographer Oscar Nieto. “He’s going to be singing the show, and then, if we’re lucky, he might dance a bit.” Mozaico Flamenco embraces cuadro flamenco, which goes back to 1850s-era Andalusia. After that, it’s Kani’s turn onstage, followed by Jhoely Triana, who has a background in modern dance and ballet. According to “La China”, she’s also into salsa, samba, and Brazilian dancing in addition to flamenco. “So it will be interesting to see her try to do a full show of pure flamenco to contemporary flamenco,” she said. SEPTEMBER 2 – 9 / 2021

THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT

ARTS

Visual arts moves into spotlight at TAIWANfest

Lady Hao Hao, Cheng Chin-wen, and Chen Cheng-po are among those who are attracting attention

by Charlie Smith

his year’s TAIWANfest offers programming for music lovers, those interested in current affairs, film aficionados, and anyone interested in Taiwanese cuisine. Plus, the festival is hosting the fifth of its annual Dialogues With Asia series, this time focusing on South Korea. But for some, the greatest appeal of TAIWANfest is its visual-arts component. Last week, the Straight covered Taiwanese-born artist Lady Hao Hao’s playful yet exceedingly serious Just Taiwan series of graphic images, which lampoon the propensity of

THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT

some to label this independent nation as “Chinese Taipei”. This online exhibition appears alongside another exhibition on the TAIWANfest website entitled Cultures Fermented, by artist Cheng Chin-wen. In depicting a giant urn, Cheng likens the development of Taiwanese and South Korean culture to the process of fermentation, with Confucianism and historical occupation by Japan as two of the base ingredients. “The evolution of culture is just like the fermentation of food,” an accompanying video states. “Through different chapters

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Their respect for the forest and the land…is a generational contrast – Li-po Chen

in history, various traditions, and social movements, the making of today’s Taiwanese and Korean cultures has been gradually accumulating and transforming.” Taiwan and South Korea each performed the astonishing feat of transforming themselves from martial law to thriving democracies, which is also shown in the urn. And some freedom advocates in both countries paid a heavy price to achieve liberty for their compatriots. These efforts to create new narratives have become a staple of TAIWANfest’s Dialogues With Asia series. But another way in which the festival has helped reinforce a new national narrative is by elevating awareness of one of Taiwan’s most famous painters, Chen Cheng-po (also known as Tan Ting-pho). He was influenced by a Japanese artist, Ishikawa Kinichiro, who was among those who introduced western watercolours to the island when it was colonized by Japan from 1895 to 1945. Chen’s life story reflected the tumultuous history of his homeland in the early to middle part of the 20th century. He loved Chinese literature and moved to Shanghai, where he taught western art. But he was not welcome in China after hostilities broke out between Japan and China because he came from what was then Japanese territory. After he returned to Taiwan, Chen then ran into trouble with the Kuomintang government, which took control of the island after the Japanese surrendered. The KMT under Chiang Kai-shek killed him in the notorious February 28 Incident in 1947 because he was considered part of the Taiwanese elite. He perished along with thouands of other Taiwanese people. Chen’s eldest grandson, Li-po Chen, chairs the Chen Cheng-po Cultural Foundation, and he will be among those giving videotaped presentations at this year’s TAIWANfest. His is called Mountains, Seas, and Plains and explains how his grandfather’s many oil paintings reflected the landscape of Taiwan. In an interview with the Straight through a translator, Li-po Chen noted that

Chen Cheng-po’s West Huifang, 1932 was painted when Taiwan was a Japanese colony.

his grandfather was trained as a teacher under the Japanese education system and taught elementary school for four years in addition to his formal art instruction from Japanese painters. “Despite this kind of training background, he was never shaped into conventional Japanese elite,” Li-po Chen said. “On the other hand, after he became famous, he devoted his career to fostering an identity that differs from the contemporary western or classical Japanese styles. He had always wanted to see if this search of identity could help his home of Taiwan establish her unique cultural perspective.” According to Li-po Chen, his father “shouldered the strong and undeniable devotion to find the most truthful positioning of Taiwan’s history” through his work. “Exploring all the scattered material facts to adequately interpreting his artistic visions is what we are dedicated to do— and the result is our ultimate responsibility,” he said. He noted that there are also some parallels between Chen Cheng-po and Emily Carr, who is one of B.C.’s most famous painters. That’s because both demonstrated strong passion and empathy that were always felt beyond their frames. “Their respect for the forest and the land, as well as for the Indigenous peoples and their traditions, is a generational contrast,” Li-po Chen said, “and a good reflection for the contemporary generations of artists who focus on expressionism or the modernity of the arts.” g TAIWANfest runs from September 2 to 12 with virtual and in-person events in Vancouver.

MUSIC

Meeka Morgan fights fire with Indigenous music

by Steve Newton

hen Meeka Morgan picks up the phone at her home in Ashcroft, she’s feeling quite relieved. The wildfires that have been devastating that area aren’t burning out of control anymore. “It was very horrible,” Morgan says, “there was just fire encroaching from all directions at one point. Looking at the evacuation-alert map, everywhere in our region was either red or yellow. And the smoke is gone—thank goodness. It doesn’t look like it’s turning into night at 1 p.m.” Less than an hour’s drive away, though, the small town of Lytton wasn’t so lucky. On June 30, after making headlines for recording the hottest-ever temperatures in Canada three days in a row, most of the village burned to the ground in a horrific blaze. The 2 Rivers Remix Society, of which Morgan is artistic director, had its office there. “It’s our host community, our host nation, and all of the people that I work with—the directors of the society—are either from the town or the nation of Lytton. Over $50,000 of equipment we just purchased was all burnt; we lost our arts projects that we exhibit at our festivals. “My very close colleague’s home was incinerated as well,” she adds. “It’s quite jarring to get that kind of news and then to see the devastation after, and then to keep going at what we’re doing. But that’s probably the only thing that’s keeping us in a space where we can function.” Since 2018, the 2 Rivers Remix Society has been presenting its Indigenous music festival in Lytton, which is also known as ‘Q’əmcín. Last year, it managed to secure an appearance by Buffy Sainte-Marie, although the COVID-19 pandemic meant the three-day event had to be presented online. “We had hired Buffy even before the pandemic had started,” Morgan recalls. “It was one of our dreams to have our major musical cultural icon. We had wanted to bring her live, but when we came closer to the date, we realized

performances that she did online, I was just so blown away.” Another act Morgan is psyched about seeing this year is festival coheadliner Digging Roots, a Juno-winning bluesrock band composed of the husband and wife team of Raven Kanatakta and ShoShona Kish. “They’ve been together for quite a long time,” she points out. “I even remember hearing about them over 20 years ago in musical circles, where at that time you just didn’t hear very many indigenous people on the lineups at any of the bigger festivals.” Other acts taking part include Kinnie Starr, Leela Gilday, PIQSIQ, Old Soul Rebel, Murray Porter, Shawnee Kish, and Amanda Rheaume. Morgan’s own group, the contemporary Indigenous fusion trio Melawmen Collective, will perform as well, which makes the event even more special for her. Over the phone, the passion she brings to her roles as both artist and artistic director is easy to detect. It sounds like she really loves her job. “I do!” she asserts. “And like I said, with what happened to the town, if I didn’t have this work, I would probably be feeling really lost. To be able to help get people’s spirits lifted and to support our artists during this time—and not just our artists, but our production crews that are so important in our work. All those people are suffering too in the industry. So any way that we can support those people during this time is such an honour. “And because of the fire, we’ve really had to shift gears and focus on our support of our village of ‘Q’əmcín, which is also known as Lytton, and so we are fundraising to support the fire evacuees, and that can be done at help.2rmx.ca. It’s The people are all displaced, but they are still there in their hearts. And they will be there again.” g

2 Rivers Remix Society artistic director Meeka Morgan is a huge fan of Lido Pimienta. Photo by Billie Jean Gabriel.

that things weren’t changing, so we asked if she would instead do a personalized video, which was just incredible.” This weekend, the 2 Rivers Remix: We Are Still Here! Virtual Feast Edition will raise funds for the Lytton evacuees. More than 30 Indigenous performers will take part, but Morgan knows which one she will be most thrilled to see. “For sure Lido Pimienta,” she says. “She’s an AfroIndigenous Colombian, and a Polaris prize winner [from 2017]. I hadn’t actually heard of her until after that time, but once I did I just couldn’t believe that she hasn’t been on my radar before, because I can’t get enough of her. She is pushing the boundaries because she is bringing her Indigenous heritage, knowledge, her ways of being into the mainstream. She challenges our western ways of hearing things, even. So when I took a look at some of the

The 2 Rivers Remix: We Are Still Here! Virtual Feast Edition takes place online September 4 to 6. Register at virtualfeast.ca.

Sounds of Korea and Taiwan come to Vancouver

by Charlie Smith

aiwan’s road to democracy in the 1980s was paved by indie music. And, to a certain extent, so was South Korea’s as well. But now both countries are also producing pop music that attracts hordes of fans in countries around the world. If you’re in the mood to enjoy some of this music from East Asia, check out these five virtual performances at this year’s TAIWANfest, which runs from September 2 to 12. THE TUNE

Most of us have heard of K-pop superstars BTS and iKon and the rapper PSY. But if you’re looking for a band that still retains some Korean traditions within modern music, you might want to check out The Tune. Billed as a world-music band, it plays Korean instruments such as the haegeum (traditional string), janggu (traditional percussion), and piri and taepyeongso (traditional woodwinds). And their shamanistic tunes are packaged in a contemporary and

The Tune’s shamanistic music is augmented by the use of traditional Korean instruments.

modern look, demonstrating that Korean music doesn’t have to pander completely to western tastes to attract an audience. SORRY YOUTH

This popular Taiwanese band is paying tribute to overseas elders who fought for Taiwanese democracy from abroad from the 1960s through the 1980s. Some of these activists live

in Canada and paid a tremendous price for their activism, being barred from returning to their homeland to visit friends and families. Sorry Youth’s song “Justice in Time” is dedicated to these elders, who haven’t always received their due for their contributions toward liberating Taiwan from martial law.

FLYING DANCE STUDIOS

SUANA EMUY CILANGASAY

YAWAY MAWRING

Music producer, singer-songwriter, and theatre artist Suana Emuy Cilangasay didn’t know about his Indigenous heritage until he visited his mother’s Amis hometown in the mountains of eastern Taiwan. That led him on a search for his identity, which involved giving up his Chinese name and studying tribal languages with the help of his grandmother, mother, and godmother. Cilangasay also teamed up with Cree visual artist Kent Monkman on a music video. It features Monkman’s stunning paintings of Canada’s shameful treatment of Indigenous peoples juxtaposed with powerful vocals and memorable traditional and western instrumental music.

In another TAIWANfest nod to South Korea, the leader of Vancouver’s Flying Dance Studios, YingYing Wang, demonstrates how K-pop is reaching out across the Pacific Ocean and shaping not only stylistic tastes but also hip-hop moves in our town. Taiwan’s Yaway Mawring writes and sings in the Indigenous Atayal language. But she didn’t always do this—it was only after she became a mother that she felt it was necessary to embrace her mother’s language in her compositions. Her first album, Swasieq, is named after her First Nation and it captured two Golden Melody Awards in Taiwan. Her second disc, ‘Iaqu’ ‘Tayal’ (Let’s Sing Together) has a grand ambition: through nursery songs for children in Atayal, she’s hoping to help revive the language for her young listeners. g TAIWANfest runs from September 2 to 12 with virtual and in-person events in Vancouver.

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THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT

MUSIC

What’s in Your Fridge: Celestial Ruin’s Larissa Dawn

by Mike Usinger

hat’s In Your Fridge is where the Straight asks interesting Vancouverites about their life-changing concerts, favourite albums, and, most importantly, what’s sitting beside the Heinz ketchup in their custom-made Big Chill Retropolitan 20.6-cubic-foot refrigerators.

Boys. I think I was three or four years old. I remember staying awake until I heard them play “Elvira” then fell asleep! LIFE-CHANGING CONCERT

ON THE GRILL

Larissa Dawn, vocalist for Vancouverbased hard-rock band Celestial Ruin. WHO ARE YOU

I was born in Langley, B.C., and have been performing since I was five years old. I trained in various performing-arts disciplines, including singing, dancing, acting, and circus arts/aerial acrobatics. I spent a year and a half in the Musical Theatre program at Capilano College before dropping out to get some real-world experience. I quickly landed an agent and ended up being cast in the Horse Raven Theatre production of Tony n’ Tina’s Wedding, where I spent four years with the company. After the show ended, a friend posted videos of me singing at a local karaoke bar on her social media. Not long after that, an indie label in Calgary

Larissa Dawn has been trained to sing, dance, act, and perform aerial acrobatics, which provided her with an ideal education to embark on a rock ‘n’ roll career with Celestial Ruin.

contacted me and asked if I was interested in auditioning for a new female-fronted band that was forming in Vancouver. In what was probably the most unusual audition of my life, after singing a few songs at karaoke— “Bad Romance” by Lady Gaga and “Somebody to Love” by Queen—for drummer Adam Todd, I was asked to join the band. I have been singing and writing for Celestial Ruin for over 10 years. In that time,

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we have released two albums—The Awakening and Pandora—and three standalone singles, the latest being our new single, “See U Nxt Tuezday”, produced by Jay Van Poederooyen (Hinder, Devin Townsend, Nickelback). The video for the track was directed by Dave Benedict (Default, Bonds of Mara). FIRST CONCERT

My grandma took me to see the Oak Ridge

I know this might sound crazy coming from a rock singer, but it was the Backstreet Boys at Rogers Arena. I was still in high school and was a huge fan. The energy was insane! So many people screaming, dancing, and singing every line of every song! But for me it was more than that. Watching them up there on that giant stage, singing and dancing live, made me realize, “I want and need to do that.” I remember listening to their harmonies and crying because it sounded so beautiful. I left the show that night with a new dream: to tour the world doing arena shows. TOP THREE RECORDS

Lady Gaga The Fame/The Fame Monster This collection of music changed the way I viewed “pop” singers. She was so much more than that. She was a boss! Her lyrics and melodies were so unique. She basically created a new genre of pop music. I can throw on these two albums anytime and I just wanna sing and dance all night. see next page

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THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT

SEPTEMBER 2 – 9 / 2021

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In This Moment Black Widow This album changed my entire opinion of what metal music “should” be. I saw Maria Brink for the first time and she was a complete goddess. When she screams, she sounds like a beast but still very feminine. I was drawn to the music and I loved her style. A combination of metal and industrial with touches of pop thrown in. This was the album that made me want to learn to scream. I watch hours of videos of Maria singing. Where she positioned her body, her mouth, how she breathed! I don’t think I would have ever thought I could learn to scream and still feel beautiful while doing it if it wasn’t for Black Widow and Maria. Brooks and Dunn Brand New Man I secretly love country music. Especially the country music that came out in the ’90s. This was the first cassette tape my grandma bought for me. I listened to it nonstop and memorized every single word. My favourite songs were “Brand New Man” and “Boot Scootin’ Boogie”. It was the first time any of my family realized that I could sing. I am very grateful to them for introducing me to country music, and to this day this album is still on my phone. FAVOURITE MUSIC VIDEO

Michael Jackson “Thriller” Hands down, Michael Jackson’s “Thriller”. This video is fire! The story, the dancing, the makeup. I’m a horror-movie junkie and thought this video was so creative

and was unlike anything that anyone had ever put out before. Michael always went above and beyond.This video was also the start of my interest in makeup artistry. I loved zombies and anything scary. I graduated from John Casablanca Institute for makeup artistry in 2009. WHAT’S IN YOUR FRIDGE

Three jars of dill pickles. I love pickles and have no less than three jars in the fridge at all times. You might call it a pickle addiction. I eat pickles every day and drink pickle juice after my workouts. Pickle juice also keeps my voice in great shape and is good for digestion and gut health. So dill-icious! Cheese. An insane amount of cheese! I am a cheese monster. I eat cheese with almost everything. Right now my fridge is packed with Brie, goat feta, smoked Havarti, freshshaved Parmesan, Gruyère, Swiss, Gouda, blue cheese, and my favourite Amber Ale Cheddar from Save on Foods. And surprise, surprise—cheese goes great with pickles! I even dip cheese in dill dressing. I read that cheese addiction is a real thing and I am guilty as charged. Dairy crack. Bunny food. I have a huge drawer of veggies for my bunny, Roger. He is beyond spoiled. He loves kale, cilantro, carrots, parsley, spinach, and the tops from baby bok choy and radishes. It would be fair to say he runs the house and Mike and I are just the servants! g

MUSIC

Fairs, Festivals, and Events Recovery Fund announced

by Steve Newton

he provincial government will begin accepting applications to support B.C.-based events through its new Fairs, Festivals, and Events Recovery Fund. B.C. is providing up to $12.9 million in one-time grants to eligible event organizers to support their efforts to resume safely. Grant amounts for each event will be up to 20 percent of the total event budget—to a maximum of $250,000 per application— and eligible events include sport, arts, and culture events, community celebrations, agricultural fairs, rodeos, and exhibitions. Eligible expenses include operational costs, health and safety measures, venue rental, marketing, wages, and promotion. “We know that people have been missing community fairs, festivals, and events, and organizers have made tremendous sacrifices to keep us all safe,” Minister of Tourism, Arts, Culture, and Sport Melanie Mark said in a news release. “We’re proud to support local events, so people can gather safely with family and friends, in groups and close to home, as we continue to navi-

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gate our way through this pandemic.” Applications are being accepted until October 1, 2021, for eligible events that take place between July 1, 2021, and September 30, 2022. g

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SEPTEMBER 2 – 9 / 2021

THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT

SAVAGE LOVE

Man’s lesbian wife just might not be into threesomes by Dan Savage

b HELLO! I AM a heterosexual man! My wife came out as a lesbian after 30 years of marriage. We have children together and we love each other. Therefore, we’ve decided not to divorce. We visited some therapists and they all coerced us to divorce, even though we really do not want that. We believe that an open relationship would satisfy both of us. I’ve always wanted a threesome anyway! We read some books about opening up a relationship and we feel like we could make an open marriage work. And we know there are others out there, so we know it’s possible! Divorce is not in our plan. My questions are… 1. Is it normal for therapists to force a couple to divorce when the couple does not want that? 2. Can open relationships be awesome relationships? - Shrinks Hereabouts Revel In Not Knowing Shit

Hello! I am a gay man! My answers are…

1. Calm down. Only your wife can force you to get a divorce, SHRINKS, and you’re still married. Which means you haven’t been coerced into doing anything. And while I wouldn’t describe what you encountered as normal, SHRINKS, there are a lot of therapists and counsellors out there who regard preserving and protecting monogamy—its practice by individual couples, its position as a sacrosanct norm—as their chief responsibility. Now I don’t know whereabouts you live, SHRINKS, but a married couple that sees more than one therapist or counsellor in a big city like mine is gonna encounter at least one open to helping married couples negotiate the transition to nonmonogamy. But there’s a really simple way for couples like you to make sure you’re not wasting your time on anti-open and/or sex-negative counsellors, SHRINK, and

When a woman came out as a lesbian to her husband, he wanted to know why therapists are encouraging them to divorce when he wants to enjoy threesomes. Photo by Isi Parente/Unsplash.

that’s to ask the therapist or counsellor what their positions are on open relationships before making your first appointment. Zooming way out for a second: it’s flabbergasting that so many couples counsellors think a marriage that isn’t monogamous—or one that has to become nonmonogamous for both parties to remain happy in it—isn’t worth saving. The bias against nonmonogamous relationships is so insidious that even people whose job it is to help couples that wanna stay together figure out how they can do that will urge couples to divorce instead of exploring nonmonogamy. Never mind suggesting nonmonogamy to a couple that is clearly being failed by—not failing at—monogamy. Okay, now let’s talk about those threesomes. Your wife came out as a lesbian, SHRINKS; she didn’t come out as bisexual, so it doesn’t follow that you’re in line to have a bunch of threesomes. Even if your wife had come out as bisexual, SHRINKS, that doesn’t mean you hit the pussy lottery and you’re going to be having a lot of threesomes now. Or any threesomes. Maybe you and the wife discussed this, and she wants

CARPENTER POSITION

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b AFTER A DECADE of celibacy, I started a strictly sexual tryst with a much younger man. He is lovely. We both agreed on terms: no strings. This is the first time I’ve ever had

- Somehow This Resentment Is Not Good

I think you need to ask yourself why you’re sabotaging a good thing here. There are limitations you’ve placed on this relationship (no strings, the sex you want) for what I assume are emotional reasons, STRING, and there are limitations he’s placed on this relationship (not when he’s parenting; not what he’s working) for purely logistical reasons. If your decade of celibacy and your aversion to possessive neediness were reactions to negative experiences you had with past sexual partners—with men who were controlling or abusive—then you might be reacting to the limitations your fuck buddy needs to set as if he were attempting to control you, like past sex partners may have. In reality, of course, it’s not him who’s controlling you here but circumstances beyond his control. When you feel resentful of him, STRING, go look in a mirror and say, “My reaction, while understandable given my history, and potentially helpful, isn’t entirely rational in this instance. It isn’t fair to him, and I’m not going to let it cheat me out of sex I enjoy with someone I like.” Repeat as necessary. g

Employment EMPLOYMENT

AYAC Construction Solutions Ltd. (New Westminster, BC. Canada) COMPENSATION: $29.00 -$40.00 drawings and sketches to determine specifications and calculate (depending on experience). requirements. - 40 Hours per week - Prepare layouts in conformance to - Employment type: full-time building codes, using measuring - Experience: Min. 2-3 years of tools-Build foundations, install experience required. floor beams, lay sub-flooring and - Languages: English. Written and Oral Spanish a bonus. erect walls and roof systems. - Duties: Measure, cut, shape, as- - Pour and Place concrete. semble and join materials made COMPENSATION: of wood, wood substitutes, lightweight steel and other materials. $29.00 to $40.00/hour (depending on experience) - Maintain, repair and renovate residences and wooden structures. APPLY BY EMAIL : info@ayacconstruction.com - Read and interpret blueprints,

to have sex with you despite being a lesbian but if you haven’t heard that from your wife’s mouth, SHRINKS, you might wanna tamp down those expectations. And if you haven’t heard that from your wife and you’ve been excitedly telling every couples counsellor you see about all the threesomes you’re looking forward to having now that your wife is a dyke, SHRINKS, it’s possible that all those couples counsellors urged you to get divorced because your wife was sitting next to you on the couch blinking out distress signals. 2. Open relationships can be awesome! They can also suck! If you’re happy and the wife’s happy and her future girlfriends and/ or your thirds are happy, that’s awesome. But if you and/or the wife are unhappy after opening the marriage up, SHRINKS, then you’ll either have to close it again or you’ll end up having to take the advice of all those shrinks and end it.

sex with a relative stranger for such an extended period. It has been two months. This is also the first time I’ve been honest about what I wanted sexually. So it’s a good thing. There is no possessive neediness; I have more freedom, etcetera. But because I have more time on my hands and a proclivity for fantasizing, I have started to resent the fact that we always follow his schedule. It’s understandable, as he works hard and shares custody with an ex and is younger than I am. Intellectually, I know and accept that. I just need help reconciling myself to these limitations. I like the sex a lot. It’s what I want.

Aqua Painting Co. Ltd.

is Hiring Painters. Greater Vancouver, BC Wage - $ 25.00 /hour. Perm, FT. Requirements: good English, exp. 2-3 years, high school. Main duties: Read work order or receive instructions from supervisor; Determine the amount of painting materials required for a project; Prepare surfaces to be painted: repair cracks and holes, clean surfaces; Select premixed paints or mix and thin paint; Apply paint, wallpaper or other materials to exterior and interior surfaces; Assemble and erect scaffolding and swing stages. Company’s business address: 14-4160 Bond St., Burnaby BC V5H 1G2 Please apply by e-mail: aqua.painting.co@gmail.com

Better Care Appliance Repair Inc. is looking for Appliance Servicers,Greater Vancouver, BC. Perm, F/T (40 hrs/w), Wage - $ 24 /hr. Main duties: Service and repair all kinds of appliances of different brands, Conduct appliance diagnosis, Identify reasons of breakdown, Disassemble appliance, Repair or replace components, and reassemble appliance, Perform maintenance work, Adjust and reprogram appliances, Interact with our customers, Maintain records of performed work. Requirements: 1-2 years of experience or completion of an apprenticeship program. Good English, High school Company’s business address: 48 W 20th Ave, Vancouver BC V5Y 2C1 Please apply by e-mail: bettercareappliance@gmail.com

FMI Brands Inc.

dba Outland Living is looking for an e-commerce manager, Perm, F/T. Wage - $ 38 hourly. Extended medical benefits; dental, life, long term disability insurance. Requirements: good English, several years of exp., high school; a bachelor's degree or a college diploma is an asset. Main duties: Manage daily operations of the e-commerce department; Set goals, oversee progress monitoring; Be responsible for the online sales of the brand; Develop and implement e-commerce strategy, execute sales campaigns; Research market; Hire, train and motivate staff; Plan and control budget;Prepare reports. Company’s business address and job location: #107-19052 26 Avenue, Surrey, BC V3Z 3V7 Please apply by e-mail: employment.outlandliving@gmail.com

Laborers/Warehouse

The Long & McQuade Distribution Center located in Delta, BC is looking for Full-time Warehouse Associates. Join our team and enjoy:a competitive compensation package a competitive benefits plan (including medical, dental, prescription drugs, short and long term disability, life insurance and travel insurance) an optional pension plan (with contributions matched by Long & McQuade!), staff purchase benefits & opportunities for advancement Email your resume to: BCDCjobs@long-mcquade.com to apply today!

Wages are negotiable depending on experience. Benefits available. Own vehicle required. Work is physically demanding. Must be a team player! Send resume to info@evolutionconcepts.ca

Hospitality/Food Service

Calabash Bistro

HIRING Part-Time Front of House Staff. Seeking Bartenders, Servers, Hosts. Gastown. karmen@calabashbistro.com

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The Georgia Straight - Lessons of Taiwanfest - September 2, 2021

Articles inside

ARTS

TAIWANFEST

COMEDY

BEER

LABOUR

FINANCE