Biographical/introductory information

 

Hermes: To start off, I wanted to ask, have you ever lived in…this area [Riversdale], around here, or… [did you] come over here often…?

 

Ms. Tsang: …Around here, sometimes I come over to find people to chat with, and when there are gatherings, there’s some…secondary school association, meetings and such. Normally I rarely come over this way…I rarely came here before because I lived [far away]. 

…

So…I came in 1990…

…

Hermes: That’s a long time. Where were you before you came here?

 

Ms. Tsang: Before I came here I was in Guelph….

…

 

Experience in/relationship to Riversdale and Saskatoon’s Chinese Community

 

Ms. Tsang: In the second year [in Saskatoon], I became  president of the Women’s Association here… I mean as a person, I can’t stay at home…

… 

No there’s a…I’ve done lots of things, like Folkfest and those, amazing. My daughter…I’d bring her along and so on…

…

Hermes: What were those events like? I mean if there were any, like you said, for the big festivals…[Were they] Chinese events, [like] Lunar New Year, Mid-Autumn, that kind of thing?...What festivals were they, how were they celebrated?

 

Ms. Tsang: Uh, back then at Folkfest, there were singing rounds…I did some things with my own choir too…So I mean, I really like going out and doing things…The Chinese Association, I was secretary for one term. I mean as a person, I can’t stay at home, I like going out. Yes, even when my husband was very, very busy, sometimes in Chinatown, whether or not there was anything on, I’d go out and chat with people, or a few I knew well would go and chat. That’s how it was. 

…

 

Hermes: I wanted to bring [the conversation] back a bit to…the place [Riversdale] itself. So in the past, you and this area…I mean you said you might not come here often, but how did you feel about this place? I mean Riversdale, Chinatown, how did it feel?

 

Ms. Tsang: How I feel, lately, it seems to have gotten much quieter. The Chinese…they’ve grown old and moved away, and the next group hasn’t taken over.

…

Before we had a…they had the Chinese Benevolent Association. Yes, now it’s quiet. Before it was all mahjong, now it’s very quiet, no one, nothing. 

 

Hermes: Tell me a bit more about what it was like before?

 

Ms. Tsang: Before…the street, or when they played mahjong, there was lots going on, those, I mean the old…like Mr. Ng’s group…

…

Hermes: What was it like?

 

Ms. Tsang: Much quieter…mm, I mean old, they’ve got old. The young ones have of course left…It’s become mostly people in their 60s and 70s, but they rarely come out. I mean now they’re mostly, uh, at home, or these things. So they have their own…groups, there’s a mahjong group, and that group has become more active, always travelling, and the older group, they’ve become very quiet. 

 

Hermes: So it went from organized socializing to people’s own private circles?

 

Ms. Tsang: Right, Ok… it was big before, but now there aren’t many programs…

 

Discussion on cultural preservation: 

 

Hermes: So is there anything…maybe something you’d like to share about your experience here…or anything you want to share that you don’t want people to forget?...

…

Ms. Tsang: I think this group, uh, has been cut off for a while. The old group, some retired, some passed away, so it ended up with nobody. Because the young ones, everyone has their own household, right, young couples, young families, and they have to work, and earning money now is pretty hard…so their group…it’s changed, there’s a break in the middle…But now there’s a group in their 60s and 70s who should come out and do things, but you don’t see that group come out and do much. That group should come out and take over. Mm. They play mahjong, sing, so…go and have fun, that kind of thing…

 

Hermes…I mean you could say, yes…this sums up how important passing things on is.

 

Ms. Tsang: Yes, the group carrying it on is old, like them…they can’t do [much], they’re already very old. Yes, yes. I think there’s just no one…here looking after things. Like us, I’m 84, what do you expect me to do?

 

Hermes: You look so energetic, I couldn’t tell! 

 

Ms. Tsang: Thank you, that’s how it is right? So you… you young people, you have families, have to go to work, have to work, have to make a living. And now life isn’t so good, it’s tense. That group…especially the people around twenty should come out, yes…going off to play…mahjong, going on cruises, that sort of thing, so here there’s a leg missing.

…

Well, actually, look at Chinatown here, lots of things have closed down, closed down.I don’t know, did you grow up here all along?

 

Hermes: No I didn’t, no

 

Ms. Tsang: So you don’t know.

 

Hermes: Right…tell me about it…what was it like before?

 

Ms. Tsang: I mean before, there were lots of restaurants, it was thriving. Before, there were some…when I came there were quite a lot…lots of grocery stores…and now, one after another, they’ve closed and they’re all gone…

 

Hermes: Right, I mean on 20th street, like that?

 

Ms. Tsang: On this street a few have already closed…

…

And now…there are lots of those Chinese grocery stores, the ones selling high tax goods, things changed, and those people closed a few. I mean, it’s hard to do business, small shops find business hard….

…

 

(now changing to a discussion of community associations - Chinese community associations specifically)

 

Ms. Tsang: Ah, but the old ones have gotten much older, and there’s another group, like my daughter’s group, lots of them graduated and all left, and their parents all followed them away, so you don’t see that group of people anymore. Yes. What’s missing here is people, nobody to organize. Lots of them, I know lots who are sixty, seventy…over seventy, they don’t come out to organize. Doing it yourself is really tiring, all that preparation… So it’s really hard to organize, really…you have to be selfless, I mean you need some good…I mean you have to do it, someone has to step up and do it. So all the associations are gone…The Chinese Association is gone too, right, all gone…just two of the old ones left…very old ones. 

 

Hermes: So what do you think is most needed? I mean besides organizing events, what else do you think needs to be done?

 

Ms. Tsang: I mean, if there are those times…sigh, I don’t know what to do. Anyway, if you don’t have…a group of people coming out to look after things, it’s a big problem. The most important thing is to find someone to step up and organize.