2 records – page 1 of 1.

Interview with Kanwal Singh Neel

https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/museumdescription19607
Repository
Burnaby Village Museum
Date
[1973-2023] (interview content), interviewed 5 Jul. 2023
Collection/Fonds
Burnaby Village Museum fonds
Description Level
Item
Physical Description
1 video recording (mp4) (50 min., 32 sec.) : digital, col., sd., stereo ; 30 fps
Scope and Content
Item consists of a recording of an oral history interview with Kanwal Singh Neel conducted by Burnaby Village Museum Registrar, Rajdeep. The interview was conducted and recorded on the Zoom platform. 00:00 – 00:06:47 Kanwal shares some of the mentors that influenced him in his life, education and …
Repository
Burnaby Village Museum
Collection/Fonds
Burnaby Village Museum fonds
Series
Museum Oral Histories series
Subseries
Many Voices Project Interviews subseries
Description Level
Item
Physical Description
1 video recording (mp4) (50 min., 32 sec.) : digital, col., sd., stereo ; 30 fps
Material Details
Interviewer: Rajdeep Interviewee: Kanwal Singh Neel Interview Date: July 5, 2023 Total Number of tracks: 1 Total Length of all Tracks: 50 min., 32 sec. Recording Device: Zoom video communication platform
Scope and Content
Item consists of a recording of an oral history interview with Kanwal Singh Neel conducted by Burnaby Village Museum Registrar, Rajdeep. The interview was conducted and recorded on the Zoom platform. 00:00 – 00:06:47 Kanwal shares some of the mentors that influenced him in his life, education and career, how his three-year grandson has been an inspiration and how important it is to educate yourself in different ways. 00:06:48 - 00:19:02 Kanwal talks about the diversity in the schools that he’s encountered over the years as a student and as an educator and shares his experiences getting hired as an educator on public television and being known as "the math guy". 00:19:03 - 00:46:39 Kanwal talks about the “Friends of Simon” tutoring out-reach program and his involvement. 00:26:40 - 00:30:24 Kanwal shares his experiences officiating the Canada Summer Games, the Harry Jerome Track Classic, the Commonwealth Games and other world class sporting events. 00:30:25 - 00:38:58 Kanwal describes a typical day while working at Simon Fraser University as Associate Director of Professional Programs, as a sports official and his involvement with Friends of Simon. Kanwal speaks about the importance of finding a balance between staying connected, finding your purpose and carrying on the passions that you enjoy. Kanwal talks about some of his favourite places in Burnaby including Simon Fraser University, Burnaby Mountain, Deer Lake and Central Park. 00:38:59 - 00:43:31 Kanwal talks about the changes that he’s seen in the lower mainland over his life time including; diminishing agricultural land, the fishing industry, public transportation, housing and retail infrastructure and homelessness. 00:43:32 - 00:50:32 Kanwal talks about his involvement with the Punjabi Cultural Association, the introduction of Punjabi language courses in public schools and his involvement in a Bhangra event. Kanwal imparts a final message to youth of today emphasizing the importance of, building relationships, giving back to your community, learning through education and being respectful of your own journey and others.
History
Interviewee biography: Kanwal Singh Neel was born in Mombasa, Kenya in 1953 and immigrated with his family to Canada in 1969. For the first few weeks after immigrating the family stayed at the Sikh Temple on Second Avenue before moving into a house which they rented. Kanwal attended Kitsilano Secondary School and later transferred to Steveston High School when his family moved to Richmond. In 1972, Kanwal and friends formed a bhangra group "Punjab Cultural Association" and in 1974 they performed at the World Exposition in Spokane, Washington. The group performed at various venues including the Pacific National Exhibition and other cities in the Province. In 1973, Kanwal was an officiate during the Canada Summer Games at Swangard Stadium in Burnaby. Kanwal obtained a Bachelor’s of Science Degree from University of British Columbia in computer science and mathematics and got his first teaching job in 1977. In 1978, he was an officiate of the Commonwealth Games in Edmonton, Alberta. Over the next ten years he devoted himself to becoming an educator and during this time he became more involved with the B.C. Math Teachers Association. Kanwal and his wife Nancy married in 1982 and have two daughters. In the early 1990's, Kanwal joined Simon Fraser University as a faculty associate to work, train and mentor student teachers. Kanwal became President of the B.C. Math Teachers Association and travelled throughout the province to help solve issues being faced by students. In 1993, he co-hosted a TV show "Math Shop" on The Knowledge Network and he later co-authored a textbook series titled "Math Makes Sense". Kanwal continued to advance his knowledge in the field of mathematics obtaining a Doctorate from Simon Fraser University in 2008. Kanwal developed his doctoral work in Haida Gwaii, studying the mathematics that the Haida peoples used in day to day life, applying the applications and integrating the mathematics concepts with their cultural knowledge. Kanwal also worked with the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Nation and the Stó:lō Nation in helping to develop resources for them. Kanwal has been recognized with various awards and honours including being awarded an honorary doctorate by Kwantlen Polytechnic University and in 2017 as an inductee in the Sports Wall of Fame in Richmond for his outstanding contribution to amateur sport as an International Athletics Official. Since retirement, Kanwal continues to be involved in a project at Simon Fraser University "Friends of Simon" where university students go out and mentor and tutor immigrant and refugee children from South Asia and Africa and other countries. Interviewer biography: Rajdeep was born and raised in the Lower Mainland and is of Punjabi (South Asian) descent. She has an Associate of Arts degree in Asian Studies from Kwantlen Polytechnic University, a Bachelor of Arts (Hons.) in Anthropology from the University of British Columbia. She is a student in the Restoration of Natural Systems program at the University of Victoria. Rajdeep works at Simon Fraser University as a Program Assistant and as a researcher with the City of Burnaby. At Burnaby Village Museum, Rajdeep contributed to the exhibit “Truths Not Often Told: Being South Asian in Burnaby”.
Creator
Burnaby Village Museum
Subjects
Persons - South Asian Canadians
Education
Social Issues
Social Issues - Racism
Sports
Events - Competitions
Housing
Performances
Names
Neel, Kanwal Singh
Simon Fraser University
Friends of Simon
Canada Summer Games
Swangard Stadium
Punjabi Cultural Association
Responsibility
Rajdeep
Geographic Access
Burnaby Mountain Conservation Area
Central Park
Accession Code
BV023.16.11
Date
[1973-2023] (interview content), interviewed 5 Jul. 2023
Media Type
Moving Images
Notes
Title based on contents of item
Images
Less detail

Scraps and Dragons

https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/museumdescription14273
Repository
Burnaby Village Museum
Date
Oct. 2020
Collection/Fonds
Burnaby Village Museum fonds
Description Level
Item
Physical Description
3 video recordings (mp4) (11 min., 19 sec.) : digital, col., sd., stereo, subtitles
Scope and Content
Item consists of part one in a two part video series "A Taste of History" created by Debbie Liang and Joty Gill, University of British Columbia alumni and graduates from the Asian Canadian & Asian Migration Studies program (ACAM). Part one is titled "Scraps and Dragons". The film provides backgroun…
Repository
Burnaby Village Museum
Collection/Fonds
Burnaby Village Museum fonds
Series
UBC Partnership series
Subseries
A Taste of History Video series - 2020 subseries
Description Level
Item
Physical Description
3 video recordings (mp4) (11 min., 19 sec.) : digital, col., sd., stereo, subtitles
Material Details
Script: Debbie Liang; Joty Gill Narration: Debbie Liang Editor: Debbie Liang Subtitles: English; Simplified Chinese; Traditional Chinese Video Appearances: Kathy Lee; Eleanor Lee Interviews filmed by: Eleanor Lee Interview questions: Eleanor Lee; Debbie Liang Illustrations and Animations: Debbie Liang Photos, Images & B-roll: Vegetable letters from Shutterstock; Green onion and carrot footage from Debbie Liang; Chop Suey image courtesy of pulaw from Flickr, Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC By 2.0); Chop Suey from Shutterstock; Menus by Amy Wilson; Gold Dragon booklet cover and menu image- courtesy of UBC RBSC Chung Collection (RBSC-ARC-1679-CCTX-309-122); Chop Suey Nation book cover, image courtesy of Douglas & MacIntyre; Dragon Inn: City of Burnaby Archives, 556-239 photo by John McCarron; Larry Lee, image courtesy of Eleanor Lee; VanTech, image courtesy of Mike from Flickr, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic (CC BY-SA 2.0); Bamboo Terrace, image courtesy of Rob from Flickr, public domain; Map image courtesy of Sentinel 2 from wikimedia Creative Commons; Salad bar inside of Dragon Inn Restaurant, Burnaby Village Museum, BV017.37.3; John Lee: City of Burnaby Archives, 535-0415, photo by Brian Langdeau; Photograph - Bar Inside the Dragon Inn Restaurant - Burnaby Village Museum, BV017.37.2; Chopping Mushrooms, footage courtesy of Pressmaster from pexels.com; Chopping Parsley, footage courtesy of Pressmaster from pexels.com; Kwan Luck from Debbie Liang; Crystall Mall as taken from the north side of Kingsway in Burnaby, image courtesy of w:en: Colin Keigher from wikimedia, Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 Generic license; Lok's Produce at Crystal mall (Burnaby) in the Underground Chinese Produce Market image courtesy of William Chen from wikimedia, Creative Commons Attribution Share Alike 4.0 International license; Crystal Mall foodcourt, image courtesy of Jay Friedman, Gastrolust; Restaurant and Dragon Innn art by Debbie Liang Music and Sound Effects: "Alison", "Acoustic Mediation 2" from audionautix; "Slow Motion", "Creative Minds" & "Cute" from bensound.com; "Kitchen sounds" & "Pop" from Debbie Liang; "Ding sound effect" from freesoundlibrary Video adapted from 2019 BVM intern project by Debbie Liang and Marcela Gomez Special thanks to: UBC: Joanna Yang, Jenny Lu, Denise Fong, Henry Yu; BVM: Kate Petrusa, Amy Wilson Changes to music may have been made for the purposes of this video
Scope and Content
Item consists of part one in a two part video series "A Taste of History" created by Debbie Liang and Joty Gill, University of British Columbia alumni and graduates from the Asian Canadian & Asian Migration Studies program (ACAM). Part one is titled "Scraps and Dragons". The film provides background information on the origins of the Chinese-Canadian culinary dish "chop suey" and tells the story of Chinese Canadian Chop Suey restaurants, highlighting the history of the "Dragon Inn" chop suey restaurant owned by Larry Lee. The film is supported with voice over in english, subtitles, animation, historical and family photographs and interviews with family members, Kathy Lee and Eleanor Lee. One version of the film is supported with subtitles in English while two other versions of the film are supported with subtitles in Simplified Chinese and Traditional Chinese.
History
In 2020, due to the restrictions of COVID-19, University of British Columbia student interns with the Burnaby Village Museum Chinese Canadian History in Burnaby project were asked to create virtual experiences to reimagine Burnaby Village Museum's historical Chinese Canadian programming in remote online spaces. Debbie Liang and Joty Gill (UBC alumni and graduates of Dr. Henry Yu's 2019 summer ACAM 390A Global Seminar to Aisa) returned to work with Burnaby Village Museum to create two short films showcasing the history of Chinese Canadian Chop Suey restaurants and piggeries in Burnaby. Larry Lee was born in Kaiping, Guangdong, China and immigrated to Canada in 1949 at the age of sixteen to reunite with his father, Lee Soon. Larry Lee's father had been in Canada for years before his son immigrated to join him. Larry attended Vancouver Technical Secondary School and learned English and carpentry. After he graduated, he was hired by Mr. Wong. Larry and Mr. Wong operated an IGA grocery store at Lonsdale in North Vancouver. Following this, Larry worked as a cashier for his father at "Bamboo Terrace" Chinese restaurant in Vancouver's Chinatown. In 1958, he married his wife Kathy and one year later, in 1959 he started a new business of his own. Larry opened the "Dragon Inn" chop suey restaurant at 2516 Kingsway (at Slocan) in Vancouver. Once the restaurant was doing well, Larry opened the "Park Inn" at Kingsway and 25th Avenue. The "Park Inn" was the first Chinese food restaurant with a smorgasboard in Vancouver. With the success of these restaurants and subsequent restaurants Larry Lee opened three other "Dragon Inn" chop suey restaurants located at; 4510 Kingsway and Willingdon in Burnaby (1964); 250 Columbia Street in New Westminster (1971) and Hastings and Willingdon (1990s). In the 1990s Larry retained ownership of the Dragon Inn at 4510 Kingsway and Willingdon and sold the other restaurants. In 1996, Larry sold the property of the Dragon Inn and surrounding lots located at Kingsway and Willingdon to make way for the construction of Crystal Mall. Larry and Kathy Lee had eight children who all worked in the family run restaurants until they were sold.
Creator
Liang, Debbie
Debbie Liang
Subjects
Persons - Chinese Canadians
Buildings - Commercial - Restaurants
Names
Lee, Larry
Lee, Kathy
Lee, Eleanor
Liang, Debbie
Gill, Joty
Burnaby Village Museum
University of British Columbia
Responsibility
University of British Columbia
UBC Initiative for Student Teaching and Research in Chinese Canadian Studies
Burnaby Village Museum
Geographic Access
Vancouver
New Westminster
Street Address
4510 Kingsway
Accession Code
BV020.28.6
Access Restriction
No restrictions
Reproduction Restriction
No known restrictions
Date
Oct. 2020
Media Type
Moving Images
Historic Neighbourhood
Central Park (Historic Neighbourhood)
Planning Study Area
Marlborough Area
Notes
Transcribed title
Images
Video
Less detail