Chinese-Canadian families and their restaurants get their stories told in Sons & Daughters
But it was not until decades later that she thought about the restaurant again. The London-based creative producer and director was on maternity leave after having her first child and became interested in learning more about her roots.
She decided that she wanted to go on a road trip in Canada to visit the cafe with her father, Steffan, and ask about his memories of growing up there.
That turned into an idea to also speak to other Chinese-Canadian immigrants who have operated cafes – which Suyin defines as small family-owned restaurants – along the Canadian Pacific Railway, a train line that weaves across the country from Montreal to Vancouver.
'The thing that was most important to me, and the questions that informed the journey were, why did you come here? And then, obviously, what was it like when you came? But also, what did you want to pass on?' says Suyin, who is now in her forties.
Suyin Looui and her father Steffan, the father-daughter duo behind Sons & Daughters. Photo: Suyin Looui
The result is a Webby Award-nominated multimedia online project called Sons & Daughters that documents her family's journey to Canada and tells the stories of 30 other Chinese-Canadian cafe and restaurant owners and their families.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
South China Morning Post
2 days ago
- South China Morning Post
Hong Kong-born artist's works finally shown again 36 years after dying young
Born in Hong Kong in 1954, Josephine Cheung Shuk-fong died in 1989 just as she was starting to make a mark on the art world. The painter grew up in Sheung Shui, then a rural part of the city, and died in Toronto, Canada, from lung cancer at the age of 35. Cheung moved to Canada in the 1970s and spent the rest of her short life there, apart from a year in New York. The paintings she left behind either went into storage at her husband's Montreal gallery or were sold privately, while others were kept at her family's home in Toronto. They disappeared from view completely. That changed in June, when Alisan Fine Arts' New York gallery held a commemorative exhibition of Cheung's works that blend abstract expressionism and figurative painting. Untitled (1984), by Josephine Cheung. Photo: Josephine Cheung Behind the exhibition is a moving story of a loyal friend's tireless campaign to restore Cheung's place in art history. Hong Kong-born Nancy Mei-yu Tong is a New York-based documentary filmmaker.
South China Morning Post
2 days ago
- South China Morning Post
US could require up to US$15,000 bonds for some tourist visas under pilot programme
The United States could require bonds of up to US$15,000 for some tourist and business visas under a pilot programme launching in two weeks, a government notice said on Monday, an effort that aims to crack down on visitors who overstay their visas. The programme gives US consular officers the discretion to impose bonds on visitors from countries with high rates of visa overstays, according to a Federal Register notice. Bonds could also be applied to people coming from countries where screening and vetting information is deemed insufficient, the notice said. US President Donald Trump has made cracking down on illegal immigration a focus of his presidency, boosting resources to secure the border and arresting people in the US illegally. He issued a travel ban in June that fully or partially blocks citizens of 19 nations from entering the US on national security grounds. Trump's immigration policies have led some visitors to skip travel to the United States . Transatlantic airfares dropped to rates last seen before the Covid-19 pandemic in May and travel from Canada and Mexico to the US fell by 20 per cent year-over-year. Effective from August 20, the new visa programme will last for around a year, the government notice said. Consular officers will have three options for visa applicants subjected to the bonds: US$5,000, US$10,000 or US$15,000, but will generally be expected to require at least US$10,000, it said.
South China Morning Post
4 days ago
- South China Morning Post
Chinese-Canadian families and their restaurants get their stories told in Sons & Daughters
Suyin Looui has a faint memory of visiting Oxbow Restaurant as a child. The diner was opened by her grandfather, Louie Ser Dour, in the Canadian town of Oxbow in southeast Saskatchewan, and served dishes such as chop suey and chow mein. But it was not until decades later that she thought about the restaurant again. The London-based creative producer and director was on maternity leave after having her first child and became interested in learning more about her roots. She decided that she wanted to go on a road trip in Canada to visit the cafe with her father, Steffan, and ask about his memories of growing up there. That turned into an idea to also speak to other Chinese-Canadian immigrants who have operated cafes – which Suyin defines as small family-owned restaurants – along the Canadian Pacific Railway, a train line that weaves across the country from Montreal to Vancouver. 'The thing that was most important to me, and the questions that informed the journey were, why did you come here? And then, obviously, what was it like when you came? But also, what did you want to pass on?' says Suyin, who is now in her forties. Suyin Looui and her father Steffan, the father-daughter duo behind Sons & Daughters. Photo: Suyin Looui The result is a Webby Award-nominated multimedia online project called Sons & Daughters that documents her family's journey to Canada and tells the stories of 30 other Chinese-Canadian cafe and restaurant owners and their families.
