Don Tai (Canada) Blog

By destiny, luck or fate, I live in a Toronto neighbourhood that has a high percentage of Chinese families. I have often wondered, like many families, if by neighbourhood is safe, relative to other Toronto neighbourhoods. As well, if a friend from China was about to migrate to Toronto and wanted to live in a safe Chinese neighbourhood, where would I recommend? This blog post tries to answer these questions.

Eye opening was my new job as an IT recruiter here in Toronto, Canada. As a North American born and Canadian raised and educated, I knew something was askew. Reading hundreds of resumes per week I wondered why it took so long for me to find work, though it is not exactly in my job stream. Why where there so many newly immigrated foreigners out of work? Why where there so many second generation immigrants, fluent in English and Canadian educated, having such a difficult time finding work, in our ethnically diverse Toronto?

With much eye rolling and jaw dropping I studied the photos of 2011 student dorm rooms from Beijing University, where I used to study. The article explained that there is a huge difference between foreign and Chinese student dorms. The Chinese students were complaining about discrimination. I would like to put some perspective on this subject.

In the late 1980s the Beijing University foreign student’s dorm was called Shao Yuan. It was a “U” shaped structure with 3 sections, 6 floors, each housing about 100 students. Each building had a guard on the first floor. The guard asked all Chinese to sign in. He also manned the single telephone for 100 students.

This will be the third year my Little Weed will be attending the Boys 2 Men Institute Summer Sports Camp, here in Scarborough, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Overall the camp has been very well run and my Little Weed has had loads of fun. While the last 2 years the camp was held at Stephen Leacock Collegiate, this year the camp was moved to L’Amoreaux Collegiate Institute, which is still close to our house. The worst part of this camp has always been the first day, when the kids need to be registered. Happily, today’s registration for the 2011 camp was relatively painless. Three cheers for the organizer, Hugh Keane.

It is rare for me to visit Toronto’s downtown Chinatown because I live in North-East Toronto, where we have the highest concentration of Mainland Chinese in Toronto. Today we went to MEC.ca (Mountain Equipment Co-op) for cycling gear, so stopped and had lunch in Chinatown at Spadina and Dundas. Having not been there for many years, it was interesting.

Democracy in Canada does not usually directly affect individuals in our society. Usually it is when something goes awry that one sees democracy in action. I guess we take democracy for granted, until it is somehow revoked. Some people look for trouble and get arrested, while the rest of us lead law abiding lives and stay out of trouble. For the average citizen jury duty breaks the veneer of average living and brings democracy to the fore. Jury duty is when your average citizen is called to potentially be selected as a juror for a court case. Mandated by law and therefore mandatory for all citizens over 18 years old, citizens are randomly selected for jury duty, and again randomly selected to become an actual juror. In a world of technology, where certainty and sharp contrasts prevail, I found this randomness surprisingly refreshing.

As a lifelong resident of Toronto I can attest that many fellow Torontonians wonder out loud why Chinese drivers are so terrible. I am one of them. As I live in Scarborough, a heavily Chinese area of Toronto, there are certain major intersections that I avoid due to a very high proportion of Chinese drivers that approach 100%. As my ethnic background is Chinese, I have ruled out genetics. Moreover I know many Canadian born Chinese, or Huayi, that are excellent drivers. Further, anyone from Hong Kong can attest to the prowess of their local driving skill. So why are Chinese drivers so terrible?

My local grocery store Chung Hing at Kennedy Road and Finch Avenue in Scarborough/Toronto, Canada was held up by gunpoint yesterday, Saturday February 20, 2011 at around 16:10 in the afternoon. Five black guys, faces hidden behind bandanas and guns drawn, marched into the store and demanded cash. The cash registers were locked. While these thieves would rather steal for a living, they also risk the lives of those that shop and work at this store. For me, my wife and two kids had just checked out. They were petrified. A single police car with one officer arrived just as my wife left the store. An hour later a neighbour reported that there were 12 police cars at the store, now long closed for the day.

dai/da4i (Mandarin)/Tai (Cantonese, Japanese)/Thài(Gan, Jiangxi)/Tè (Hokkien)/?ái or ??i (Vietnamese)/Dae (Korean): Ranked 57 of the 100 most common Chinese surnames (2006), gaining from 64th in 1990

1. put on; wear: put on one’s gloves, wear glasses
2. respect; honour: love and respect
3. Da4i: a surname