Big, big thanks to the staff at the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic in Halifax, in particular Jenny Nodelman and Andrew Aulenback. Also kudos to my good friend and fellow author John Boileau, Global TV Halifax Morning Show host Paul Brothers, CityNews Radio Morning Anchor Dan Ahlstrant, and my publisher Dundurn Press. The Global TV interview is easily found online as is the CityNews Radio interview, part of the Todd Veinotte Show, aired live October 6. Overall, a fantastic week and I’m very grateful for all the support.
Photo: Andrew Aulenback, Maritime Museum of the Atlantic
Hope you can join us in Lyndhurst, Ontario, for a signing at the Lyndhurst Branch of the Leeds and Thousand Island Public Library. The event is part of the popular Turkey Fair, which draws thousands of visitors to the Eastern Ontario village.
Dr. Raymond Chong recently visited Vancouver, where–with “tremendous melancholy”–he stood on the bustling waterfront trying to picture his father’s arrival on the Empress of Asia in April 1932. His father, Gim Suey Chong, was just a boy when he set foot in Canada. His long and risky voyage across the Pacific and into Canada and the United States is captured in Oceans of Fate: Peace and Peril Aboard the Steamship Empress of Asia.
In the days after Raymond Chong’s visit to Vancouver, he composed a poem for his father, and he has granted me permission to include it here. I am very grateful to Raymond for sharing his poem as it serves to bridge our understanding of past events and the impact they have today. For reference, I’ve included a photo of Gim Suey Chong, along with an image of the big, gleaming passenger liner.
Young Gim Suey Chong. Source: Dr. Raymond ChongThe sparkling Empress of Asia. Source: Vancouver City Archives
Saltwater City
In the Year of the Water Monkey
After a transpacific voyage
From the Pearl of the Orient–Hong Kong,
On a spring dawn,
The RMS Empress of Asia, the Greyhound of the Pacific,
Steams into Burrard Inlet,
Surrounded by an emerald rainforest,
To arrive at Canadian Pacific Railway Pier B-C,
In the Saltwater City–Vancouver,
Of the Great White North–Canada.
Aboard the steerage,
Gim Suey Chong, a young boy from Hoyping,
Watches in awe and fear
As he observes the bustling passenger terminal.
Amidst the silhouette of Edwardian skyscrapers,
He tepidly wanders to the grand Canadian Pacific Railway Waterfront Station,
With its Chateauesque style,
Red brick facade, iconic columns, and scenic murals.
There, he embarks
On the Canadian Pacific Railway Imperial Limited train,
Heading to Beantown–Boston,
To pursue his American Dream
On Gold Mountain.
In the Year of the Wood Snake
Ninety-three years later,
I eerily retrace my father’s sojourn
In Saltwater City.
Amid the sheeny towers
Of Modernist Downtown,
Surrounded by the majestic North Shore Mountains,
I hauntingly observe Canada Place
With its iconic sails.
As I walk along the Waterfront,
Teeming with hustle,
I edgily reflect on The Station,
With its neoclassical grandeur.
This spring Aurora,
I poignantly remember my dear father–Gim Suey Chong.
Dated December 6, 1932, this postcard showing the Empress of Asia was addressed to a Mr. A.Y. Brown of Acton, Ontario. The initials of the sender appear to be A.S.
A 1932 postcard of the Empress of Asia. First published by the Coast Publishing Co., Vancouver.
Friend and researcher Glenn Wright was attending a postcard show in Merrickville, Ontario, when he made the find while “browsing ships.” The postcard didn’t make it into Oceans of Fate, and so I thought I should share it on the website, with a big thank you to Glenn.
A variety of postcards of the Empress of Asia and her sister ship the Empress of Russia were produced during the 1920s and 1930s. This one published by the Coast Publishing Co. of Vancouver.
The reverse side of the 1932 Empress of Asia postcard.
The handwritten message on the reverse side states the sender was “Just leaving to have lunch with Aunt Lizzie and Mrs. Fatheringham. We went over Saturday partly to see this “awfully big” boat go out at eleven–a great thing to see….”
The postcard was post marked three days after the Empress of Asia commenced her outbound transpacific crossing from Vancouver on December 3, 1932. The ship’s master was Captain A.V.R. Lovegrove.
British Columbia Book Launch for Oceans of Fate, Friday, March 14th, Maritime Museum of British Columbia, Victoria. The event begins at 3 p.m.
Book signing for Oceans of Fate, Sunday, March 16, Indigo bookstore, Robson Street, Vancouver. The event begins at 12 noon and runs until 5 p.m.
Eastern Ontario Book Launch for Oceans of Fate, Tuesday, April 22nd, Merrickville, Ontario, Royal Canadian Legion hall. Starting at 7 p.m.
Book signing for Oceans of Fate, Saturday, May 17, 2025, Octopus Books, Ottawa, 116 Third Avenue (at Bank Street), 11 a.m. to 1 p.m
Courtesy Octopus Books
Courtesy Octopus Books, a proudly independent bookstore in Ottawa.
Book signing for Oceans of Fate, Saturday, May 24, 2025, Merrickville Book Emporium, 105 Wellington Street East, Merrickville, Ontario, 1-3 p.m.
The Merrickville Book Emporium, 105 Wellington Street East, Merrickville, is hosting a book signing, Saturday, May 24, 2025, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Hope to see you there!
Book Talk for Oceans of Fate, Monday, June 16, Brockville Probus, at Royal Canadian Legion Branch, Park Street, Brockville, 10 a.m.
Book Signing for Oceans of Fate, Saturday, September 20, Lyndhurst Branch, Leeds and Thousands Islands Public Library, Lyndhurst, Ontario, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., during the village’s popular annual Turkey Fair.
Book Talk for Oceans of Fate, Tuesday, October 7, 2025, Maritime Museum of the Atlantic, Halifax, N.S.
The October/November 2024 issue of Canada’s History Magazine features a separate article I wrote on the last hours of the Empress of Asia. The magazine can easily be subscribed to or purchased where magazines are sold. Meanwhile, the release date for the book Oceans of Fate: Peace and Peril Aboard the Steamship Empress of Asia is February 18, 2025–published by Dundurn Press.
The opening spread of the Canada’s History Magazine article.
Very grateful to Dr. Catherine Paterson, the Commonwealth War Graves Commission’s Regional Manager for Canada and the Americas who has told me that the long-awaited headstones for Chinese Labour Corps members Han Hsiang T’ai (Han Xiangtai, No. 31277) and Chang Hsueh P’u (Zhang Xuepu, No. 51100) have been installed at Quebec City (Mount Hermon) Cemetery. The markers are located in Section C.
The newly installed headstones in Quebec City for Han Hsiang T’ai and Chang Hsueh P’u. Photo courtesy: Dr. Catherine Paterson, CWGC
Dr. Paterson and the team at the Canadian agency of the CWGC office in Ottawa offered tremendous assistance during the research phase of Harry Livingstone’s Forgotten Men: Canadians and the Chinese Labour Corps in the First World War, published in 2019.
Both men were bound for war-torn Europe to work behind the lines during the First World War, and died while travelling across Canada as part of large CLC contingents in 1917.
