I am going to share my personal experiences with four of these Chinese princes and princesses of Vancouver.
One summer afternoon three years ago, I was walking on a major street in Richmond, a suburb heavily populated by Chinese immigrants. A Ferrari sped by, almost running over a mom pushing a stroller on the pedestrian crosswalk. A police car was approaching from the opposite direction and managed to pull the Ferrari over to the curb. When I passed by the two cars, the policeman stood next to the Ferrari, trying to issue an infraction ticket for speeding and dangerous driving to the young Chinese man driving the Ferrari. That young man could not be more than eighteen years old. While the policeman was writing out the ticket, the young chatted nonchalantly on his cell phone as if nothing wrong happened.
A few years ago, I volunteered to do translation for a study on the Diet Habits of Chinese Diabetic Patients. The medical student, that was hired as the research assistant for the study, is a girl from Shanghai, China. This young woman has no work ethics and is egotistical. She would make me do her work. When I confronted her with this issue, she retaliated by not reimbursing me the bus fares which include a monthly bus pass and single bus tickets in the amount of $120 CAD. She created her own rules for the transcription of the interviews and got away not paying me a single penny, claiming that I did not comply to her rules. When I expressed my displeasure, she just smirked at me.
A couple weeks ago, one of my roommates hit me with her fist when we got into a heated disagreement. Her family immigrated to Canada a few years ago but she would not stay in the house that her parents bought because she did not want to be under the watch of her relatives and grandparents. Like some youngsters, she is messy and does not clean up after herself. Instead of using the doorbell, she kicks the front door when she locks herself out. She swears and lies often.
To end my blog on a high note, I would you tell you the story of Victor. This story also took place three years ago in Richmond. I was supposed to attend an orientation meeting for volunteers for an annual event. I was walking in circles at the wharf for twenty minutes, trying to find the meeting place. A young Chinese man came to my rescue. His name is Victor; he was also looking for the meeting place. Eventually, his parents had to drive us to the other end of the dock. Victoria immigrated into Canada in 2011 and landed in a small town in Nova Scotia. There were hardly any Chinese immigrants in that part of Canada. The family learned to speak English and integrated into mainstream society in no time. They moved to Vancouver in 2015 only because Victor was accepted into UBC. His parents could not bear to be separated from their only son. Victor is a well-mannered, bilingual young man who likes to give back to the community. In my eyes, he is a true Prince of Vancouver.
