Making the India-China link to Caribbean

By William Doyle-Marshall
Britain’s role in connecting Calcutta and Hong Kong to the Caribbean was explored at the fourth Toronto Hakka Conference at York University in June  by scholars and  members of the community under the theme “Many Places, One People– Chee Gan Ngin”.
    Senator Vivian Poy welcomed Hakka scholars, researchers and advocates from around the world to focus on the importance of Hakka culture and the impact of its people across the oceans. “For centuries many Hakka like her grandfather, have left their ancestral homes to make their fortunes in the outside world. At this conference they heard about the Hakkas in China, Malaysia, India, Mauritius, Caribbean, Taiwan and of course Canada. “Those who survived and have done well managed to showoff their families back home with conspicuous extravagance,” the senator noted.
   As a Hakka on her mother side Senator Poy  has been coopted into these conferences because the topic is familiar to her. “Being a Hakka woman, my mother was quite a match for my father and I am proud to share many of her attributes,” Senator Poy confessed. “Outsiders don’t seem to know how strong Hakka women are; that they were feminists way before the term was coined,” she surmised.
  Hakka women sported a traditional hat at the conference which is distinct from other Chinese women to the extent that they never bound their feet. It symbolizes the Hakka Mother – independence of women which increases the independence of men to go abroad to earn and develop wealth.  This is a choice made by Hakka people due to an ancient time when this practice was not followed, conference co-chair reminisced..
 Calcutta and Hong Kong are very well connected by the British group as Chinese were renowned as architectural experts in the ship building trade, Dr. Keith Lowe, conference co-chair disclosed at a pre-conference press assembly. The Jamaican-born scholar and community advocate said because of the Hakka people’s skills, their buildings have no nails – all wooden buildings interlocked.
  This means they can build ships. “Our ship builders went to India to help them in that industry – the very first one. So we developed a community in Calcutta,” Dr. Lowe disclosed.
  That very self-contained Hakka community in India was attached with Hong Kong through the British connection and it is still alive and strong after four-five generations who still speak Hakka. They have their own schools, their own teachers and their connections with China and Taiwan.
   “So that’s a particular distinct community which indeed had problems because during the border war with China in 1962, the Indian Government took away their leaders and put them in a concentration camp in Rajasthan,” Dr. Lowe recalled..
   Many families lost their homes, their livelihood, their property and now they are beginning to tell that story that is not very well known. Internment of the Chinese people of Calcutta, India were largely Hakka. Shedding light on this hidden information about Hakka’s of India was one of the exciting parts of this conference as Hakka advocates and scholars began unfolding that story which until now has not yet been told.
 The Hakka Chinese community of Toronto presented the international conference on Hakka culture in partnership with York University. Since 2000 the conference (held every four years) has become the premier learning event in the Diaspora of about 40 million Hakka spread over more than 40 countries around the world including Caribbean states, Malaysia, Mauritius, South East Asia and Canada.
   Senator Vivienne Poy, Chancellor-Emerita, University of Toronto and G. Raymond Chang, Chancellor of Ryerson University addressed the opening of the conference and Dr. Shiu Loon Kong delivered the keynote address on “Legacy and Continuity”.
  Hakka Chinese people moved out to different parts of the world because they lived in the hilly parts of the country and with their population increase it was difficult to earn a living there. As a result they moved out to Malaysia, South East Asia, Taiwan, the Caribbean, India, almost every corner of the world, Nam Low, conference consultant explained.
   According to Dr. Lowe, the Hakka Chinese people want to impress on everyone in this modern world, “we are one people really, one planet and in fact we are demonstrating that the Hakka way of living is sustainable, good for the planet because our architecture in Fujian province, our homes there are built out of raw earth.”
   “We’ve used the technology of rand earth to create monumental structures which withstand earthquake, which are cool in summer and warm in winter, which develop a communal lifestyle, shared resources, economical use of all resources so that we are living in harmony with nature; and at the same time embracing new technology,” Dr. Lowe said.
June24, 2012