Tuesday, December 31, 2013

The making of Chinese New Zealanders

by Manying Ip

This is the story of Chinese New Zealanders -

The Chinese have been in New Zealand for over 130 years, from the days of the Otago gold-rushes. Since then, this largely self-contained community has flourished and established itself successfully in its country of adoption. It became 'the Model Minority' - law-abiding hard working humble and inoffensive.

This is their story -

First published 1996

by Tandem Press

THE CHINESE IN NEW ZEALAND c.1959

By Ng Bickleen Fong, published by Hong Kong University Press, 1959.



Friday, December 27, 2013

Children of rich Chinese home alone in Canada face challenges

Despite lives of privilege, home-alone children of Chinese 'astronaut' migrants in Canada face emotional challenges and frustrations
PUBLISHED : Monday, 25 November, 2013, 4:45am
UPDATED : Friday, 29 November, 2013, 4:52pm
When Danny Kuo was 18 years old, he was living alone in a large home in the exclusive Vancouver neighbourhood of Dunbar. He was a pre-medical student at the University of British Columbia.
A new SUV, a high school graduation gift, sat outside. If he was bored with that, there was always the Lexus. That belonged to his mother, who had just returned to Taiwan to be with Danny's father, a doctor who still practised there.
Life was good for this self-described "perfect, straight-A kid", and the future looked bright.
Within three years, though, he was failing his studies and on the brink of expulsion. Worse still, he had been convicted of assault. "Yeah, that was kind of a bad year," Kuo, now 34, recalled with a mix of understatement and wonder at his behaviour.
Kuo was part of an "astronaut family" - families whose children live and study in western countries while one or both parents shuttle back and forth to Taiwan, Hong Kong or the mainland to work. Such children are often affluent, bilingual and attend top schools. They have a choice of passports, and the opportunity for a transnational lifestyle spanning the globe. With their own cars and their own homes, many are the envy of their young peers.
But the children of astronaut families also grapple with premature independence, the pain of separation from loved ones, and alienation from their places of birth. Resentful of the arrangement, some reject the work-driven choices of their parents.
Justin TseSuch are the findings of a new study into the "astronaut" phenomenon, published in last month's edition of the peer-reviewed Global Networks journal. Authors Justin Tse and Dr Johanna Waters explored the frustrations of children left behind by parents who "simultaneously isolate them in Canada and function as occasional drop-in parental supervisors".
Tse and Waters focused on Hong Kong immigrants in Vancouver, although the astronaut experience is common among well-off Chinese families around the world. And, as mainland affluence increases, it looks set to continue.
Vancouver has been shaped by waves of Chinese migration. Mainlanders now dominate, but in the 1980s and 1990s it was Hongkongers, many fearful of the handover, who transformed the city. The vast majority of the 300,000 Hong Kong residents who moved to Canada in those decades settled in greater Vancouver or Toronto. But tens of thousands eventually returned to Hong Kong to work, dividing their lives with partners and children back in Canada.
Tse, a doctoral student at the University of British Columbia's school of geography, said the situations that he encountered in his research reflected the experiences of those in his social circle.
"I had friends who were in these living arrangements," he said. "They suddenly found that they had a parent who would come home and they didn't know who this parent was, this guy who had this frozen image of them as kids. Suddenly, they were getting free advice from their dad that would have applied to them as a 12 year old, but they were 22, 23, 24 years old."
The study was based on interviews with dozens of children of astronaut parents over a 10-year period in Vancouver and Hong Kong, ending in 2010. "Katie" told the interviewers: "When I first came [to Vancouver], the first two years I cried a lot". "Jason" said he felt little attachment to his father. Hong Kong was described by "Jeremy" as a place where people "attack you mercilessly … and tend to show off". "I can't stand the competitiveness [of Hong Kong] … I would not survive," said "David".
Tse and Waters found that children of astronaut parents "often perceive [their parents] as inconsistent, fragmentary interruptions in their otherwise independent lives". The arrangement "changes the character of intra-family relations", they found.
Danny Kuo, who was not part of the study, said a burden of responsibility fell on his elder brother's shoulders when the family moved from Taiwan to Vancouver in 1992. Danny was 13. His brother, then 15, spoke acceptable English; their mother never learned the language.
"He would do most of the stuff around the house, dealing with the government and that sort of thing, and I think that kind of damaged the relationship at the time, between my brother and my mother," said Kuo. "There was a lot of responsibility."
Kuo said that even as a child he understood why his father spent most of his time in Taipei, visiting the family only once a month despite having officially migrated with them.
"I accepted the fact. Someone has got to make a living, and pay for our lifestyle," Kuo said. He added that his father was a strict disciplinarian; he felt at the time that his life actually improved when they were separated.
"My Dad, he didn't believe in anything less than perfect, so for me, there was no more ass-kicking … I was still getting straight A's in school, so when my father comes home he just sees my marks [and] he doesn't want to be a bad guy," said Kuo.
The extent of the astronaut arrangement is uncertain, but a 2007 study by the Chinese Canadian Historical Society of British Columbia found that two-thirds of male Hong Kong migrants (aged 25 to 44) actually lived and worked outside Canada.
In 1991, 40 per cent of Hong Kong migrants in Vancouver were at some stage part of transnational families, according to a study by Success, an NGO that helps immigrants.
The CEO of Success, Queenie Choo, agreed that about half of ethnic Chinese immigrant families probably used the astronaut arrangement. "It's nothing new," said Choo, 56, who moved to Britain to study at the age of 18, then to Canada by herself in her early 20s. "I missed my parents a lot, but on the other hand I was glad to have my independence. I adjusted."
But some do not.
Choo said that while the children of Vancouver's astronaut families could seem privileged - "I have seen them, kids in these fast cars, and you know the money is not coming from their own pocket" - she also felt sorry for them. "It's not just about the material ... no one can replace your parents," she said. "These living arrangements, maybe they provide a shelter, a place to stay, but that does not make a home."
Tse said there was a consensus among researchers that few people migrate intending to become astronaut parents, but only choose to do so after economic challenges become clear. "There is this idea that maybe the money will hold the family together, but the reality, the emotional reality, is that money doesn't hold emotions together," Tse said.
Tse said collective memories of traumatic upheavals in Chinese history triggered a desire to migrate - "That was especially pronounced after Tiananmen Square" - but breadwinners struggled to find good jobs or business success.
Illustration: Sarene Chan"People calculated: we have to go somewhere," he said. "But then they got here [Vancouver] and discovered that they couldn't [find] work, or that Canada's business immigration programme was not ideal. They have to pay higher taxes. They can't replicate their business model from Hong Kong here.
"This is where they make this calculation [for the breadwinner to return to Hong Kong]. But the money has to stay within the family … within the Chinese ideology - 'So long as the money stays within the family then our family is together'."
He described the astronaut arrangement as an attempt to maximize a family's "economic prowess", by securing the safety net of a foreign education and nationality for children, while maintaining parental earning power. Co-author Waters, an Oxford University lecturer in human geography and fellow of Kellogg College, said an emphasis on the importance of education was a driving force. "An English-medium education continues to be prized in East Asia," she noted.
However, parents risked underestimating the negative impact of the astronaut arrangement, both emotionally and in terms of academic success. "Research is increasingly suggesting that, in many cases, it is not worth it," Waters said. She went on: "My own research on families from Hong Kong and Taiwan has suggested that households are put under tremendous strain and that, as a result of split family arrangements, children develop strained and negatively impacted relationships with their parents."
Astronaut parents, she said, "clearly want the very best for their children, but children are complex beings with emotional as well as material and educational needs".
Kuo certainly did not lack materially when his mother, after six years in Vancouver, moved back to Taiwan. Kuo's brother was already studying medicine in Montreal. "When I graduated high school, it was like, 'My work here is done'," Kuo said of his mother.
Although his parents visited regularly, Kuo set about making the most of his freedom. His social circle consisted of former school friends unburdened by the demands of pre-med study. His academic results plunged.
In Kuo's words, "one thing led to another". In 1999, he and some friends attacked someone - "We beat that guy pretty bad" - and Kuo was convicted of assault with a weapon. A first-time offender, he pleaded guilty and was put on probation, his record eventually expunged.
"I was this perfect kid," Kuo said as he recounted this life-changing experience. "I had this spotless record, you know? A UBC pre-med student. I had 40 or 50 people giving me these character references."
Kuo said he gave up his old lifestyle and became a committed Christian. He moved to the Philippines to complete his medical studies at the insistence of his father, but later returned to Vancouver. After a long process of study and certification, Kuo is now a medical resident in nearby Victoria. His father passed away in Taiwan in 2007, and his mother, now 64, moved back to Vancouver.
Tse and Waters found that despite a parental expectation that children might want to return to work in their homeland, many forged strong bonds with Vancouver and Canada. Their interviewees cited Vancouver as a leisurely place, in contrast to Hong Kong's "alienating hostility".
Such attitudes could have substantial policy implications, as governments try to anticipate migration patterns, the study said. Tse said that the next question for the adult children of astronaut families was whether there is a place for them in Vancouver's economy.
"In the literature, there is this assumption that, 'Of course the young people will want to go back there [to HK or greater China]', but if you talk to the young people there is no 'of course'," he said.
Tse and Waters urged parents to talk to their children before embarking on the astronaut lifestyle.
"Have your political and economic calculations," Tse said. "But within that, factor in what your kids are saying. When you're talking to an 11 or 12-year-old you're not after a rational opinion, you just want to find out, 'Well, how would you feel if Dad was in Hong Kong'."
"[Parents] must realise that their relationship with their child will inevitably be affected if they leave their child abroad and the child may resent this for a long time," Waters said.
Married for five years, Kuo and his Taiwanese-born wife hope for children of their own. He said he would never impose an astronaut arrangement on them. "Definitely not. I couldn't do it," he said. "I would not want to be separated from them."
But he insisted his father's choices and sacrifices were in the family's best interest. "I don't know how my Dad did it; he was a great man. It was definitely the hardest on him. He's the one who took the responsibility."


Legal Troubles
Impounded sports cars used for illegal street racing. Photo: CBCThe children of well-off astronaut families appear to have everything going for them, but they are sometimes in the spotlight for the wrong reasons.
THE FAST AND THE FURIOUS
One afternoon in August 2011, 13 young drivers decided to use Vancouver's Highway 99 as a drag strip.
Driving Ferraris, Lamborghinis and other high-end sports cars worth a total of C$2million (HK$14.74 million) the racers blocked other drivers to allow friends to speed alongside each other at up to 200km/h. Most were in their teens and all were under 21, according to media reports.
The drivers were presumed to have astronaut parents: the few names that were released were Chinese, the drivers appeared East Asian, and several were identified as students of elite St George's boarding school. The school released a statement that pointedly did not deny the claims. One Audi R8 boasted a lucky "888" number plate.
Although C$196 fines were the maximum allowed, the lesson proved more expensive for some of the boys (or their parents). Four cars were confiscated under laws allowing seizure of assets used in unlawful activity.
FATAL VISIT
Guo Lianjie and husband Tang Jihui flew to Vancouver in May 2012, for a reunion with their son, Tang Yuanxi, who had been studying at community colleges for six years.
But the day before their return flight to Guangdong, Guo vanished. Two weeks later, the slight bespectacled son appeared distraught alongside his father to beg for information about her whereabouts.
But police say Tang Yuanxi murdered Guo and packed her remains in a suitcase that washed up on a distant island. Tang is also charged with conspiring to kill his father. Police have not commented on a motive. A trial is scheduled for next year.
MY DAD, THE TRIAD
The most notorious astronaut family in Vancouver is that of Lai Tong Sang. The infamy has nothing to do with the behaviour of his son and two daughters.
Authorities allege Lai headed the Wo On Lok triad when the young family migrated in 1996 amid a gang war with "Broken Tooth" Wan Kuok-koi. Triads hired to assassinate Lai shot up the family's Vancouver home in 1997.
This year, immigration authorities had Lai's residency revoked. His whereabouts remain unknown, but he is not believed to have lived in Canada for many years. He participated in this year's immigration hearing by phone from Macau. His wife and children were allowed to stay in Canada.

 http://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1364563/children-rich-chinese-home-alone-canada-face-challenges

Friday, November 1, 2013

Por Por’s Cookbook

Tuesday, 29 October 2013
Por Por’s Cookbook

Ever wondered how to make Cantonese style 1,000-year-old pickled duck egg? Is there a difference between this and salty duck egg? What’s the Cantonese word for black-eared fungus? Lynda travels to Ashburton in the South Island to check out Por Por’s Cookbook, exploring the life stories and recipes from 15 Chinese grandmothers across New Zealand. Literally hot off the press, this brand-new publication by editor and author Carolyn King (nee Wong) is a sumptuous fusion of oral history and recipes handed down through the generations between mother and daughter from old Canton in Southern China to present-day New Zealand.
Gallery: Por Por's Cookbook
For more information about Por Por's Cookbook email carolynking@clear.net.nz

Asian Report for 29 October 2013 - Por Pors Cookbook ( 11′ 50″ )

15:33 Lynda Chanwai-Earle is in Ashburton to meet the author of a unique publication, 'Por Pors Cookbook'. It's literally hot-off-the-press and contains a collection of recipes and stories from Chinese grandmothers across New Zealand.

Monday, September 23, 2013

Second Burial, NZ Chinese Experience 1883 and 1903

'Newsletter Tauranga West Coasters Association
vol 9 no5"


A book, "Second Burial, NZ Chinese Experience 1883 and 1903" written by Helen Wong and
published recently is of interest to Coasters.   Chinese goldminers came to NZ hoping to find
riches and then to return home. Many died here and the Chinese believed that that after death the
soul hovers over a grave. If a Chinese man died in a foreign country his soul would be homeless
and unable to rest until his body was shipped back to China. Local newspapers in 1883 reported
that bodies were being removed from the Greymouth and Reefton cemeteries. Again in 1901
the exhumation of Chinese from 40 cemeteries around the country saw the remains cleaned,
washed, wrapped in linen and placed in watertight zinc coffins which were soldered shut. The
steamer Ventnor left Dunedin with 263 coffins, picked up 173 in Greymouth and a further 86 in
Wellington. The steamer was bound for Hong Kong but tragically it struck Cape Egmont and
foundered with the loss of all coffins. The steamer Energy was employed to locate the wreck and
recover the bodies but very few were found.

Friday, May 24, 2013

Ventnor Trail Part 1


http://podcast.radionz.co.nz/aft/nzsociety-20130524-1420-nz_society_-_the_ventnor_trail_part_1-00.ogg

S.S. Ventnor Historical Trail

The Radio NZ Documentary about the S.S. Ventnor Historical Trail and the very memorable road trip to the far North to commemorate Ching Ming will begin broadcasting tomorrow afternoon from 2:30pm on the Afternoons Programme with Jim Mora.

This is a four part documentary, so each 12 minute segment will broadcast at the same time each Friday over the next month as follows:

Fri 24 May, 2:30pm: Part 1 – 499 Hungry Ghosts

This opening programme introduces the history, the powhiri at Te Roroa HQ and the Bei Jey ceremony at Kawerua Beach.

Fri 31 May, 2:30pm: Part 2 – Bei Jey, what about aspects of Tapu?

This segment focuses on discussing difference in cultural rituals with members of our community and Kaumatua Alex Nathan from Te Roroa Iwi during the Bei Jey ceremony at Kawerua Beach.

Fri 7 June, 2:30pm: Part 3 – the pilgrimage to Mitimiti

This segment focuses on travelling to Mitimiti, the powhiri at Te Matihetihe Marae and the unveiling of the Red Gate Plaque

Fri 14 June, 2:30pm: Part 4 – Appeasing ancestors

This segment focuses on interviews with the descendants of Choi Sew Hoy, the Skipper who fishes off the Ventnor wreck and Wong Liu Shueng on appeasing our ancestors.

If you miss the live broadcast you will be able to listen the podcast after it has been posted by going online to our website www.radionz.co.nz

Saturday, March 30, 2013

Second Burial: New Zealand Chinese Experience 1883 and 1902

Second Burial: New Zealand Chinese Experience 1883 and 1902 - Researched by Helen Wong
ISBN 978-0-473-24298-5


The Cantonese custom of secondary burial, the idea of exhuming the dead, cleaning the bones, and then burying them again, helps to explain why so many (overseas) Chinese were not only willing to exhume their dead but also to clean the bones and put them in containers for shipment back to China. * Reburial: Exhuming the Dead and Returning Them to China http://www.cinarc.org/Death-2.html#anchor_14

There were two periods of mass exhumation of Chinese in New Zealand, organised for the Panyu people, by the Dunedin Sew Hoy family.

In 1883, 286 Chinese from the South Island were repatriated on the Hoi How.

And in 1902, 499 were aboard the ill fated Ventnor when it sank 10 miles off the Hokianga Heads. This time Panyu men from both the South Island and the North Island were included, as well as eleven Wellington men from the Jung Seng county of China.

helen.familytree at gmail.com

To purchase email helen dot familytree @ gmail.com

Wednesday, February 6, 2013

Chinese in Dunedin 1905

We have received from Mr Wong Tape a cheque for £25 3s Ocl, collected from Chinese residents, for the Hospital Extension' Fund. The following is the detailed list:—Toons Lee (gardens) 10s Cd, Hip Fong Tie 10s Od. Yo"g King Yin IDs Gd. K.wo".ig Lee (gardens) 10 s Gd. Ycung Sum 10s 0:1, Dsniel Ynt T<ce' 10.5 Gd, Wall Sang 10s ;Gcl. On Lee (ccok c llop") ]os. Pe'er Ah Chew 10s,' Yip Chong IDs, James Cliin Sing 10s, Sun Young Ghong 10s, Joe -Ciiing 10s, Chik Kmig 10s.' Kum Yo'm Leo 10 s, Leong Man 10s. Joe Say 10s, Foil Han Ying us. Yip Chan ss, Paiil Chan os, Clian Tuck Pon ss. Chuee Lee ssr Tung AYali 59, Key. "Villi-m Chan ss. Jfathev; Chin;! Hoy ss, C. Hon Yep ss. See Wall ss, Joe Bun ss, Joe Kill ss. Wong Tuck ss. Wong Sni liun ss, Wong Hak ss, J. Chuie Kum ss. Wong Kew ss. Shu Shee ss. Ng JJoii ss. Wong Mo ss, Y'eung Yuen ss, Shu Yon ss, Wong Toong Yow Ss. Toong Quon ss. Jvoo Choo ss, Kwok Man Cheuk' ss, Wong Chung "i'ee ss, Ciini Ting Choy 4s. Yeung La; 3s, Chan Yun Kv.-ee 3s, Yeupg Kum 3s, Chi Chi Hoy 3s, Leong Yut Chong .is, Ho Yee'fiip 3=" Chafi Sang ."s, Lqong ICwai Lun 3s, Wong Kung 3s, Tommy Joe 3s. Wong Sing 2s Gd, Laii Hihg Si fid, Chin Fo?i 2s Gd,' "Ping Quong 2s 0:1. Ycung Kuiiii '2$ Gd, Wong Yau Foon 2s Gd, Ho Yiipg
Sing 2s fid, Yeung Wing Tin 2s Gil, Young Kui Liuig 2s (id, Tso Kvyni 2s Gd, Soo Kee 2s 'Gd, Wong Ham 25,6 d, Chui Yung Kiirn 2s Gd, Tso Sing 2s' Gd, Yip Bor 2s pel, Wong' Yeo 2a Gd, Lai Won Hoy 2s Gd, Lee Sun 2a Gel, Chi Hon 2s Gd, Chung Nam 2s (id, Wong King 2s Gd, Clia'n Sai On 2s Gd, Soo Chou Yait 2s Gd, Chang Sui 2s Gd, Paiig Yun Cliueii 2s Gil, Soo Muk Siiin 2s Gd, 0. Ben Sing 2s Cd, l'so Plug Sing 2s Gd. Tso Ho 2s Gd, Cheong Kwoug 2s Gd, Wong Tan 2s Gd, Wong Looug 2s. Yjp Bun 2s, Wong Sik Tang 2s, Kwok Cheong Ycong 2s. L;ui Lut 2s. Ng Ping 2s, Tun Hung 2s'. Yip Lin Tai 2s. Fung Pak 2s, Soo Tai 2s, ToongLock 2s, Joe How 2s, Wong Nga. 2s, Tso Ngn't 2?, Yip Yin 2s, Chan Moon 2s, Soo Chong 2s, Wong Hoong 2s, Lui Kg 2s, Chang' Tin 2s. ,Wco Sang 2s, Geo. Weo 2s, Wong Foon 2a, Wong Hin' Kwong 2s, Wong How Ting 23, Chan ice 2s, Chan Yung Kee 2s. Soo Ho Yaii' Ssj Wong jo Ching "2s, Wong Cluing Yow 2s, Ycung Chin 2s, Ts'e Wai Is Gd, Ho Chin la Gd. Yip Ko Is, Lau Fool; Is, Yenim Chung Is, Chan Choy Is, Tse Chan Is, Chi Ping Is, Choy Cheong' Is, Tse Shing Is. B. Wong Tape'lOsGd;—total, £25 3s Gd. Otago Daily Times , Issue 13449, 24 November 1905, Page 4

Tuesday, January 1, 2013

Mr. George Sang,

SEARCHING FOR A POLITICAL  BLUE-BIRD.  Now, it happened the other day that the "Square Deal" Party got to Taumaranui and was met with all sotfts of requests to all of which was given ''that jocular phrase of 'Oom Bill-" A Square Deal." To the many requests "Truth" need, not refer, but there was one, and as it comes from the Auckland "Herald" there should the no need of its veracity. The "Herald" reports as follows:— Mr. Shortland introduced Mr. George Sang, an educated Chinaman and highly-respected citizen of Taumaranui who wished to bring over to New, Zealand his wife and child, and two nephews from China. The Prime Minister said if Mrs. Sang paid the poll-tax and passed the education test she would be admitted. Mr. Shortland thought that m the circumstances the conditions should be dispensed with. Mr. Massey said the matter would bo looked into. Miv Shortland, "Truth" might mention, is a local lawyer, otherwise some people might want to know why Mr. Geo. Sang, an educated Chinkie. etc., didn't ask for a "Square Deal" of his, own accord. In the face of things/ however, Lawyer Shortland has some assurance; m -fact, "Truth" doesn't hesitate to declare that Mr. Shortland, m making such a request of the Price Minister, has a pretty' tough cuticle. Why should Mrs. Geo. Sang and his child and two nephews, be admitted free of the poll-tax, ,and all conditions dispensed with? Why could not Mr. Massey have saild at once that  

THE THING WAS IMPOSSIBLE;
that we have too many Chinamen as it is in the country, and that there would be no general regret expressed if the Chinaman m New Zealand took up his capital and, allowed himself to be driven out. "Truth" doesn't quite follow Mr. Massey. How does he propose to have the matter looked into? Does he propose to ascertain if there is a way of defeating the excellent provisions of our immigration laws? Is the great statesman finding himself up against treaty rights, or is it that' he Is not capable of giving, a straightforward answer? "Truth" wonders! It will be an exceedingly sorry day for Mr Massey Whenever he sets out to set at nought our White Now Zealand policy. This matter, on Mr Massey's promise, wants watching. NZ Truth , Issue 411, 10 May 1913, Page 4

CHINESE PARADISE.FOR HUNGRY HORSE.

CHINESE PARADISE.FOR HUNGRY HORSE. AUCKLAND (NZ.), July 5.
A horsebreaker. Lancelot Goodger, got drunk; and rode his horse into a Chmese greengrocer's shop at Te Aroha.
He tied the horse to the counter, and it ate all the cabbages, lettuce, and radishes within reach.
It was eating bananas when the terrified Chinese dashed into the street, shrieking for the policé.
Goodger was sent to gaol for six weeks.Cairns Post Monday 7 July 1941

CHINESE AND NEW ZEALAND

CHINESE AND NEW ZEALAND. AUCKLAND. April 20,
The Government has decided that no permits be granted this year for the admission of Chinese to New Zealand. for permanent residence. Previously permits were limited to 100 yearly. A temporary residency of six months will be allowed this year.Two thouaand Chinese applied for permaits for permanent residecey but all were refused  The Brisbane Courier Wednesday 21 April 1926

CHINESE IN NEW ZEALAND.

CHINESE IN NEW ZEALAND.
Auckland, June 11.
It has been decided to put a complete check to the arrival of Chinese with letters of naturalisation belonging to Chinamen who have departed from the colony. The Government will uut issue any more letters pending an amendment of the law by which Chinamen who become naturalised are photographed.
Friday 12 June 1896 The Advertiser

Violent Struggle In Auckland House

MURDER OF CHINESE Violent Struggle In Auckland House AUCKLAND, May 23: Lee Hoy Chong (48), a retired Chinese market gardener, was found murdered in the kitchen ette of his home in Saker street, city, this morning. Two Maori girls found the body lying on the floor. There was a large wound in the top of the left temple-which ap peared to have been caused by a blunt instrument. Indications were that Lee was attacked at the foot of a stair way as .a trail of blood led to the kitchenette. In the room there were signs of a violent struggle. Footprints led from the kitchenette to the back fence. No weapon has yet been found.-A.A.P.-Reuters.Wednesday 24 May 1950 The West Australian

COMMITTED SUICIDE.

A Chinese, Young Chung Jack, aged about 50, was found hanging in premises at the corner of Frederick and Tory Streets at about 8.30 p.m. yesterday. It appeared that death had taken place about six hours previously. The body was taken to the morgue. The deceased had been a resident of New Zealand for about 30 years. Evening Post, Volume CXXV, Issue 73, 28 March 1938, Page 11

 A verdict that the deceased took his life by hanging himself at his premises at Wellington, on March 27 was returned by..tha Coroner (Mr. E. Gilbertson) at the inquest today into the death of a Chinese, Young Chung Jack A note left by the deceased, stating his intention of taking his life was produced.Evening Post Volume CXXV Issue 75, 30 March 1938 Page 13
 
COMMITTED SUICIDE.BROKEN HEARTED CHINESE. AUCKLAND. April 3.
  The tragic, letter left behind by a Chinese, Chung Jack, who.was found hagging in his house in Wellington: Last year, one evening in August or September while I was listening to the radio broadcast of the Sino-Japanese war news, some fiendish, heartless thief came and stole my money," he wrote. "I dared not say anything, I could. but grieve in silence. It was like closing things behind locked doors,.for who would have believed the theft. I have no means of replacing the sum now. Before me there is only the road of: death. My shame is so great that I cannot face my friends, so I have decided to commit suicide. In my death. I wish my brothers and sisters continuous. and unlimited success and prosperity, so that even in my grave my heart could yet expand with happiness. My grief cannot be fully conveyed, nor is  my bitterness 
ex- pressible. Alas to think it should end like this. This is my farewell note,'
written in..tears." Cairns Post Monday 4 April 1938