They Call Us Bruce - Episode 60: They Call Us Canadians

Jeff Yang and Phil Yu present an unfiltered conversation about what's happening in Asian America.



What's up, podcast listeners? We've got another episode of our podcast They Call Us Bruce. (Almost) each week, my good friend, writer/columnist Jeff Yang and I host an unfiltered conversation about what's happening in Asian America, with a strong focus on media, entertainment and popular culture.

On this episode, we welcome Canadian actors Paul Sun-Hyung Lee (Kim's Convenience) and Samantha Wan (Second Jen). They discuss the unique flavor and challenges of telling stories north of the border, and The Good, The Bad and The WTF of being Asian Canadian.

Badass store owner fights off robber... with bananas

He messed with the wrong lady and her fruit.



File under badass... and bananas. This one comes to us from Canada, where a Mississauga convenience store owner fought off a would-be robber with a bunch of bananas.

Mississauga store owner fights off robber with bananas, video shows

69-year-old Seungae Kim was behind the counter at A&J Convenience, the store she owns and operates with her husband, on Saturday night when a masked man came in and demanded she open the cash register.

She refused. When the man got up on to the counter, Kim and her husband sprung into action. She grabbed the closest thing in reach -- a big bunch of bananas -- are started swinging. And kept swinging.

"Then he jumped up to the counter. My husband pushed him down," Kim told CP24. "Then I was scared my husband was going to be hurt, so I got the bananas and started to hit him so hard and he ran away."

The incident was caught on the store's surveillance video, which shows Kim fighting off the suspect, who fled on foot empty-handed -- but not before she flung the fruit at him as he ran away.

She's white, dammit, and she wants to see a white doctor.

"Can I see a doctor please that's white, that doesn't have brown teeth, that speaks English?"



This one comes from our neighbors to the north... A woman at a Toronto-area clinic was caught on video demanding for a "white doctor" who "doesn't have brown teeth" and "speaks English" to treat her son.

Video shows woman demand a 'white doctor' treat son at Mississauga, Ont., clinic

The video was filmed on Sunday at the Rapid Access to Medical Specialists walk-in clinic in Mississauga, Ontario, where the woman was awaiting treatment for her son, who was apparently experiencing chest pains.

Except she made clear that she wanted a very specific kind of care.

"So you're telling me that my kid has chest pains, he's going to have to sit here until 4 o'clock?" she asks a clinic employee. "Can I see a doctor please that's white, that doesn't have brown teeth, that speaks English?"

Woman tells supermarket employees to "Go back to China"

Racist rant, erroneous claims about the law caught on video in Toronto-area Chinese supermarket.



This one comes to us from our neighbors to the north... A woman in a Toronto-area Chinese supermarket was caught on camera scolding employees for not speaking English and telling them to "Go back to China!"

'Go back to China': Outrage over racist rant caught on video

The video, recorded last Friday at the Foody Mart in Scarborough, Ontario, shows a white woman in a motorized wheelchair shouting at several Chinese employees at a -- heh heh -- Chinese food counter, after realizing they couldn't speak fluent English. That's when she told them to, you know, go back to China.

"They should go back to China," the woman tells one man, who was attempting to translate and mediate the situation. "Go back to China! This is Canada. If you're going to work here, it is the law to know English."

No, lady. This is indeed Canada, but it is not the law to know English. According to Canada's Official Languages Act, workers at private businesses don't need to speak English. Only employees at federal institutions are required to provide service in French or English.

So yeah, nobody's going back to China.

Sikh gurdwara vandalized with swastikas and profanity

The Sikh Society of Calgary was found defaced with spray-painted hate symbols.



This one comes to us from Canada... but I'm okay with blaming Trump for this too. In Calgary, police are investigating a possible hate crime after someone vandalized a Sikh gurdwara with hate graffiti.

Swastikas spray painted on Sikh gurdwara in Calgary

On Thursday morning, the grounds of the Sikh Society of Calgary were found defaced with graffiti depicting a swastika and profanity. The six affected areas included several exterior building walls, doors and a sign.

The Trump Effect jumps over the border... into Canada

Richmond residents find racist pamphlets in their mailboxes.



Because America is not big enough to contain the current state of hate, it seems that the Trump Effect has hopped its way over the border... into Canada. This week in Richmond, which has a large Asian population, racist pamphlets taking aim at Chinese people were distributed to several homes.

Racist flyers turn up in Richmond mailboxes

The flyers, which declare "Step aside whitey, the Chinese are taking over," appear to be an attempt to draw white recipients to an "alt-right" website. The author's grievances include "being marginalized in the community your forefathers built" and living amongst "neighbors who refuse to speak your language." That would probably be Chinese people they're alluding to.

Sim Bhullar acquired by Toronto Raptors' D-League team

7-foor-5 center is the first player of Indian descent to play in the NBA.



Sim Bhullar, the first player of Indian descent to play in the NBA, is headed back home to Canada. The Toronto Raptors' Development League affiliate Raptors 905 has acquired the 7-foot-5 center, who hails from Toronto.

Raptors 905 trade for Brampton's Sim Bhullar

The Raptors 905 acquired the rights to Bhullar, who made his NBA debut last year with the Sacramento Kings, in a trade last week with the Reno Bighorns farm team in exchange for the rights to guard Ricky Ledo.

Bhullar was born in Toronto before moving to the United States for high school.

That band Viet Cong says they're changing their crappy name

"We are not here to cause pain or remind people of atrocities of the past."



About damn time. After protests, petitions, canceled shows and many, many angry conversations, the band of four Canadian white dudes who make music as "Viet Cong" have announced they are changing their name.

Viet Cong Are Changing Their Name

The Calgary-based post-punk band has operating for several years under the shitty band name Viet Cong. Despite hearing from members of the Vietnamese community over the painful historical connotations of the name, and getting several shows canceled over the controversy, the band had refused to change the name.

"It's just a band name. It's just what we called ourselves," frontman Matt Flegel said in an interview.

At some point, I guess they realized it wasn't "just a band name." Over the weekend, the band released a statement explaining that after many "valuable conversations with the members of the Vietnamese community" they have decided to change the name of the band.

Who is putting these "Chinese Driver" stickers on their cars?

Community members in the Vancouver area say the decal is a racist stereotype.



C is for Chinese Driver? In Canada, a fake "Chinese Driver" decal being sold in the Vancouver area are getting some negative attention from community leaders who say the stickers are racist.

Chinese driver signs find disapproval in Richmond

The sticker is similar in size, shaping and lettering to decals required by British Columbia for drivers in the graduated license program. Except for, you know, "Chinese Driver" spelled out underneath.

The joke being, of course, that Asians are not particularly good behind the wheel of an automobile. It appears that someone is making a buck from one of our favorite persistent Asian stereotypes.

Meet the four white dudes who call themselves "Viet Cong"

Oberlin College cancels show over Canadian band's controversial name.



File under shitty band names. Meet the Calgary-based post-punk band that calls itself Viet Cong. A concert promoter recently canceled a show at Oberlin College because of controversy over the band's name.

Viet Cong Show Canceled Due to "Offensive" Band Name

Okay, bros. Of all the ridiculous things you could call yourself, you picked "Viet Cong." Where did you come up with that name? Why? Surely, you had to know that members of the Vietnamese community would it offensive.

"It's just a band name. It's just what we called ourselves," frontman Matt Flegel says in an interview.

In another interview, Flegel explains further, "That comes from our drummer, and from us being teenagers and watching movies. The Viet Cong were always the bad asses in movies." This might be the dumbest reason behind a band name ever. Too many teenage viewings of Full Metal Jacket.

Ins Choi's 'Kim's Convenience' adapted for Canadian TV

CBC picks up a single-camera comedy series based on the award-winning play.


Ins Choi, Paul Sun-Hyung Lee, Jane Luk, Chantelle Han and Andre Sills in Soulpepper's 'Kim's Convenience'
Hmm... is it the Fresh Off The Boat effect? Some interesting television news out of Canada.... CBC has picked up a new series based on Ins Choi's award-winning 2011 play Kim's Convenience for the 2015-16 season.

CBC renews Schitt's Creek and Murdoch Mysteries, cancels Strange Empire

The single-camera comedy will center on convenience store owner Mr. Kim, a Korean immigrant and fiery patriarch, as he struggles with changes within his business, family and their Toronto community of Regent Park.

Kim's Convenience won Best New Play at the 2011 Toronto Fringe Festival, as well as two Toronto Theatre Critics awards in 2012, for Best Actor in a Play for Paul Sun Hyung Lee and Best Canadian Play.

Here's the full description of the play, which is available in paperback from Amazon:

Mai Duong needs your help.

Leukemia patient urgently needs a bone marrow or umbilical cord stem cell transplant



Mai Duong is a 34-year-old woman from Montreal who is fighting for her life. Last year, she was diagnosed with acute leukemia, and beat it. But 10 months after being given a clean bill of health, she relapsed. Leukemia. "For the second time, because life's a bitch." But she is not going down without a fight.

Leukemia patient calls on visible minorities to donate stem cells

Mai, the mother of a 4-year-old, is currently in the hospital receiving chemotherapy treatment, but her chances of survival will be greatly increased by a stem cell donation, either through cord blood or a bone marrow transplant -- most likely, from a compatible donor of Vietnamese descent, like herself.

Unfortunately, only 19 percent of bone marrow donors in Quebec are non-white. And just one percent of the bone marrow registry is composed of Vietnamese people. Mai's brother, who had a 30 percent chance of matching, was not a match. So she's turning to you, good people of the internet, to get the word out.

Canadian sitcom producer apologizes for offensive tweets

"In my hasty attempt to be funny I carelessly hurt many in the Asian community."

The cast of Spun Out
The latest in Twitter racism, coming out of Canada... In Toronto, a television producer has apologized for a series of racially insensitive tweets directed at fellow Chinese travelers during a recent flight.

Spun Out producer's tweets anger Asian community

Brent Piaskoski, executive producer of the Canadian sitcom Spun Out was traveling over the weekend when he became increasingly irritated by fellow plane passengers -- particularly those annoying Asian ones who were talking too loudly, lining up aggressively and eating too vigorously for his liking.

So, of course, he took to Twitter to express his frustrations. The July 12 tweets have since been deleted, but the Toronto Star reproduced some of Piakoski's best gems:

Happy Canada Day from Tess Paras

Music video parody mocks Avril Lavigne's "Hello Kitty"



The music video for "Hello Kitty" was allegedly pop star Avril Lavigne's homage to Japanese pop culture. It was a special kind of awful. As I noted, Gwen Stefani was doing this shit like ten years ago.

Many agreed. Actress Tess Paras, the mastermind behind that brilliant Hollywood-skewering "Royals" parody "Typecast," was inspired to write her own musical homage to Avril Lavigne's home country of Canada -- its celebrities, hobbies, foods, and of course, the national animal, The Beaver.

What better way for us Americans to celebrate July 1 -- Canada Day? Take a look:

British Columbia apologizes for historical anti-Chinese laws

Premier Christy Clark issues formal apology for racist and discriminatory past policies



News from the north! B.C. says sorry. Last week, the Chinese community in British Columbia received a formal apology from the provincial government for racist past policies that targeted immigrants and residents.

Chinese community gets apology from B.C. for historical wrongs

On Thursday, British Columbia's premier Christy Clark issued the apology, aiming to make amends for more than a hundred historical laws, regulations and policies that discriminated against people of Chinese descent since the 1870s, such as denying immigrants the right to vote and charging them a head tax to immigrate.

There was no individual compensation offered as part of the apology, but it was announced that the government would put $1 million into a legacy fund that would be used to fund educational initiatives.

Here is the full text of the motion:

Sears employee fired for racist remark

"Let me guess, you just came off the boat?"



Retail racism! Caught on camera... This one comes to us from our neighbors to the north, where Sears Canada has fired an employee for making a racist remark during an altercation with an Asian customer.

Sears Employee's Racist Remark Caught On Video

The racially charged incident went down at the Sears location in the Polo Park Shopping Centre in Winnipeg. During the heated exchange, which was caught on a video and posted to Facebook, the employee says to the customer, "Let me guess, you came off the boat?" Oh hellllll no.

Incensed by the derogatory remark, the customer goes OFF, unleashing a tirade on the guy and calling him, among other things, a "racist fuck." He clearly wants to kick his ass. Can you really blame him? Check it out:

Newspaper compares Japanese wrestling win to Pearl Harbor

"Japan has never had such an easy time of it since their surprise attack on Pearl Harbour..."



I'm sure this reporter thought he was being rather clever.

This week, The Cochrane Times, a weekly publication out of Alberta, Canada, ran a story about visitors from the Japanese National High School Wrestling Team defeating a local team. The best way to describe the match, of course, was to liken the Japanese wrestlers' win to the attack on Pearl Harbor.

Cochrane Times compares Japanese wrestling win to Pearl Harbor

Seriously, it's been over seventy years, and that is the best you can do? The reporter, Patrick Price, invokes the Pearl Harbor reference in his very first paragraph. Couldn't wait to bust that one out:

Hockey's first Asian player inducted to BC Hall of Fame

Larry Kwong's pioneering pro hockey moment was brief but historic.



Sports news from the north... Last week, the first person of Asian descent to play in a NHL game was inducted into the B.C. Sports Hall of Fame: 1st Chinese-Canadian in NHL inducted to B.C. Hall of Fame.

On March 13, 1948, Larry Kwong got called up from the minor leagues and laced up his skates to play for the New York Rangers. He only played for less than a period in one game against the Montreal Canadiens, but in that moment, this Chinese-Canadian kid from Vernon BC broke professional hockey's color line.

He never played in another pro game again. But on Thursday, Larry Kwong, now 90, was immortalized for his pioneering contribution to the sport:

Boy peeing in mall trash can sparks internet outrage

When you gotta go, you gotta go.



Thank you to the bajillion of you who sent me this photo of a kid peeing into a trash can.

The photo, which recently blazed its way through social media last week, shows a woman holding a young boy urinating into a garbage bin in the middle of the Richmond Centre Mall in British Columbia. And yes, the boy and the woman are Asian: Boy peeing in B.C. mall trash bin photo sparks online debate.

Of course, the photo sparked fierce online debate about cultural norms and public etiquette. Some commenters were quick to assume that the little urinator and his mom were from mainland China, where they asserted that public pissing and pooping were quite common. So taking a leak into a mall trash can? No big thing.

Tribunal finds restaurant guilty of racial discrimination

The Shark Club is ordered to pay Indian complainants $10,000 each for denying them entry.



News of discrimination out of the Vancouver area... The B.C. Human Rights Tribunal recently ruled that a restaurant in Langley racially discriminated against three patrons of Indian descent when they were denied entry: Human rights tribunal finds men were racially discriminated against by Langley Shark Club.

Surinderjit Rai, Manjit Gill and Manjinder Gill tried to get into a graduation party at the Shark Club two years ago, but were told they could not join the rest of their party already in the restaurant and given bogus excuses by the doorman about reservations and tickets, while white customers were not given the same treatment.

The tribunal ordered to the Shark Club to pay the three complainants $10,000 each for injury to dignity and self-respect: