At the end of 19th Century and at the dawn of last century, groups of brave Chinese men bid farewell to their war torn and poverty ridden home land to seek a new life and a new adventure in North America. However the road to " Golden Mountain" was riddled with hardship and personal suffering as well as a deep trenched prejudice and racial discrimination against Chinese as a whole in both United States and Canada. Canadian Chinese Immigration Acts such as Head Tax and Exclusion were precisely embodiment of such racial discrimination then. In order to pay a symbolic tribute to those early Chinese immigrants, Mr. Kenny Choy initiated this project of setting up a monument at Brandon Municipal Cemetery to pay tribute to those early trail blazers whose hardship and enduring spirits totally changed the course of their offspring 's lives. It is a moving ceremony at the cemetery today. Under the
prairie sky at the quiet corner of the cemetery facing east is the monument shaped like ancient Chinese coin with early Chinese immigrants lives depicted on it as a relief , With a young Chinese girl playing a Chinese harp , and with Kenny and Sergio and the other gentleman bowed down offering burning incense to their forefathers, the ceremony officially started. How fitting it is to choose 26 of June as the day to unveil the monument as the local Chinese community always come on this date to this cemetery to commemorate their loved ones some of whom were actual victims of the head tax acts. I set up my easel and did this oil painting on spot to mark this special occasion.
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