Selfish
According to the media these days, getting into politics seems to be an easy way to increase personal gain at someone else's expense. The article by Kenny Yum headlined, 'Struggle to tread the corridors of power' (Sunday Morning Post, March 9), reinforced this. The story, dealing with Chinese in Canadian politics, was based on interviews with several Chinese rights advocates in Toronto.
The common line was that more Chinese needed to enter politics to ensure the Chinese community got its fair share. Olivia Chow Chi-wai, an immigrant from Hong Kong, demanded the government provide a range of services including job training and language programmes for recent arrivals to the country. Another interviewee urged the wealthy Chinese to make demands of those politicians to whose party they were donating money.
These kinds of comments represent some of the problems with politics in Canada today. Everyone seems to be fighting for gain for their own interest group, rather than trying to benefit the nation as a whole. It's this self-serving attitude by special interest groups combined with spineless politicians that has helped cripple the country with debt. Let's face it, all immigrants to Canada from Hong Kong can easily afford to pay for their own English or French language training. They can also declare all their offshore assets like the rest of the taxpaying population.
If you want to get into politics, fine, but get in for the right reasons. Those politicians that are there for the right reasons should stick with the programme despite foot stamping and threats by self-centred interest groups.
R. LAGERWAY Discovery Bay Kenny Yum's story about Chinese Canadian figures 'emerging from the political shadows' (Sunday Morning Post, March 9) left out more about Chinese Canadian participation in public life than it told, because it focused exclusively on Ontario.
It ignored the careers of Raymond Chan, Liberal MP for Richmond and Minister of State for the Asia Pacific region, Jenny Kwan, MPP in the British Columbia Legislature, Maggie Yip, past member of Vancouver City Council and above all, David Lam, the greatly respected past Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia (BC). These people, all born in Hong Kong, are only the most prominent of Chinese Canadians in public life in western Canada.