Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
of $6,000 a month. Undoubtedly a previous business selling herbal reme-
dies in Hong Kong had prepared the Chens for this market niche, aimed at
the mainstream as well as the ethnic market. The So family has also made a
relatively easy transition. Mr. So is Vice-President of a Taiwanese develop-
ment company. He entered Canada as an entrepreneur and established an
import-export business sending hot tubs to construction companies in
Taiwan. This carefully planned venture, employing one or two other people,
will allow the terms and conditions of his visa to be met. But he is also pre-
paring the ground for his Taiwanese company to enter the development
sector in Canada. When interviewed he was commanding a modest Canadian
income of some $50,000 a year.
Across all 24 interviews, family biographies were surprising, in some
cases shocking, in most cases including tragic moments. For the wives of
absent astronauts, for men phasing into retirement, for families living on
savings until their residency period for citizenship is complete, small part-
time jobs as painters, gardeners, even as we saw in Chapter 1, newspaper
delivery boys, pay a few bills and provide an interest. I was told at the time
of the interviews that child-care had become a popular part-time position.
The short course on child-care at the local regional college was said to be
filled by immigrants. One respondent told me about her next-door neigh-
bour in a 3000 square foot house, with a swimming pool and a three-car
garage. The husband had run a business with limited success until its terms
and conditions had been lifted. He then returned to Hong Kong to work
and his wife began a child-care service for three children in her home.
Asking $650 a month for each child the business would pay enough to get
by as a secondary income, as pocket money.
Nothing we were to hear in much wider subsequent research challenged
the results of this exploratory survey. A focus group with members of a
dozen households held at the same time as the interviews produced similar
personal stories. A leader in the Taiwanese business community spoke for
his compatriots:
I think business is so hard for us to do. That is so surprising the first time we
lose our invested money. All gone! That's why we are surprised and disap-
pointed. The people there they are like, they cheat me. My investment money,
all gone… We still have money but we are afraid, afraid to invest…
Another businessman, this one an entrepreneur not an investor, chipped
in: 'But what I mean is the first experience to us about business is loss of
money. We are afraid of… There are, we have $150,000. I mean most of us
lost this kind of money, 80 percent. That's our first experience.' A
Chinese-Canadian pastor told me about an incident in an English language
programme held at his church in a wealthy district. In one class economic
