Montreal·Carrying Our Cultures

This advocate fights for the working class of Chinatown

“When you come to Chinatown, you don’t feel like an outsider. You feel like you’re part of a community,” says May Chiu, activist and advocate for her Montreal neighbourhood.

May Chiu carries her culture by calling out oppression where she sees it

Chinatown’s relentless advocate

4 months ago
Duration 2:30
May Chiu carries her culture by calling out oppression where she sees it. This video is part of the CBC Quebec series Carrying Our Cultures.

May Chiu has always stood up for Chinatown in Montreal. 

"When you come to Chinatown, you don't feel like an outsider. You feel like you're part of a community," says the activist and advocate for her community.

Two women talk surrounded by book shelves.
May Chiu is a co-ordinator for the Chinatown Roundtable. (Tim Chin)

Chiu wants to make sure the people of Chinatown get the support they need, especially the working class. 

Living in the city for over three decades, Chiu says the neighbourhood has long been a place for the marginalized. She thinks of immigrant families and parents who Chiu has seen work so hard to push their families to success.

City streets.
Montreal's Chinatown has stood for more than a century. (Tim Chin)

To Chiu, those families and individuals represent why it's so important to advocate for Chinatown. 

"I have kids, and I want them to grow up in a world where there is social justice," she says. 

The month of May marks Asian Heritage Month. For it, CBC Quebec is asking: How do you carry your culture? Throughout May, we’ll be exploring this question through five profiles of Asian Montrealers. Today, we are meeting May Chiu. She is a community activist and the co-ordinator of the Chinatown Roundtable. CBC’s Jessica Wu sat down with May Chiu to learn more. Jessica Wu tells us more about that conversation.

To mark Asian Heritage Month, CBC Quebec connected with Asian communities to ask them: How do you carry your cultural heritage, in big ways or small? Learn more about the series here.

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