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Old neighbourhood feel being lost as new merchants move in, say longtime residents Don Descoteau News staff
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Ken Ng mixes a batch of filling for tarts as his wife Ling Tang gathers up a batch of spring rolls and buns in the kitchen area of their shop in Chinatown, Victoria BBQ and Bakery. The couple has operated the business for 12 years and say the neighbourhood has changed a lot in that time. iconic red Gate of Harmonious Interest, built in 1981, is a favourite photo subject – the behindthe-scenes make up of Chinatown is becoming less about traditional community and more about selling the image. Many longtime merchants have left in the 12 years that Ng and Tang have run their shop at 1714 Government St., he says. “Some stores have closed down, some have become other types of stores and some were sold to different people.” Not only are there less people from China running businesses in the area, Ng adds, Chinese
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Chinatown’s transformation The Victoria BBQ House and Bakery in Chinatown is a cozy little shop, the kind of place one can imagine growing up around as a kid. Helen Ng, 19, enjoyed that experience with her younger brother, Jacky, now 16. She still pops in to see her parents, Ken Ng and Ling Tang, every so often after classes at the University of Victoria, “just to chill.” Are she or Jacky destined to follow in their parents’ footsteps and one day take over the business? “I want to do my own “Some stores thing,” says Helen, who have closed plans to study criminology down, some have at Simon Fraser University next year. “They somebecome other times jokingly ask me, or say you should continue types of stores this. But really, I always and some were thought I’d do something sold to different else.” Jacky is a computer scipeople.” ence whiz who doesn’t – Ken Ng spend a great deal of time in the shop. The Ngs’ story is common around Victoria’s Chinatown. Parents who have owned and operated businesses in the neighbourhood for years as a way to support their families have encouraged their children to pursue post-secondary education and make something more of their lives. “Running a business is hard and I don’t want my children to have to work as hard,” Ken says through the interpretation of Helen. “Sometimes we work 10 hours a day.” Chinatown is indeed changing. While to the outsider or infrequent visitor, there are still plenty of shops and restaurants that allow a sampling of Chinese culture – the
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Victorians seem to be frequenting the area less. Business is not without its bright spots, however. Tang says a woman from Toronto who lived in the city 10 years ago and frequented the bakery stopped in recently to pick up some items and have a short visit. “Many of our parents had businesses in Chinatown due to necessity,” says Victoria Coun. Charlayne Thornton-Joe, a third-generation Chinese resident of the region. PleaSe See: Children forge careers, Page A10