You are mixing two separate issues here: that of your upbringing in HK under British rule and that of your experience in Vancouver.
The HK under British rule dated back to 1842. There were a lot of discriminations and racial prejudice. Until late 60's for example, The HongHong & Shanghai bank would not allow anybody of Chinese origin to dine in their executive dining room. So a British secretary could but a Chinese manager could not. In some parks: "華人與狗不能进内" sign was posted (pre WWII). I hated history textbooks which sidestepped events such as Opium War and stopped at 1939. I hated the up turning noses of those Brits who treated Chinese with disdain. Those and others made me not to go back to HK and work during those days. I did not want to live as a second class citizen.
Your experience in Vancouver is a phenomenon as a result of massive immigration from HK as the uncertainty of the future of HK drew near. It was not a gradual change but a step increase of HK Chinese population who brought their own culture and habits alien to the locals. That created a tremendous pressure for the local governments and people to adapt.
It is almost natural to expect resentment. People who do not speak their language (Many do, but their parents don't. The kids mostly don't). They do not know how and may not want to socialize with their neighbours. They drove the price of real estate sky high, out of reach for some locals. How do you feel if you were one of the locals?
I am only explaining the why. Now I do not condone racism, but that was the recipe for racial conflict.
Your experience borne out of that resentment was expected. I know that too since my brother immigrated about that time too to Vancouver. I tried to encourage him and his family to come to Ottawa instead, but it was too cold and too far from HK as my brother had business there.
To sum it up, I can understand your experience in Vancouver but you need to look beyond. Yes, anti-Chinese sentiment is more acute in Western Canada but honestly it is not too bad. I am well traveled. I know. But to think it is better in Europe, you are just kidding yourself. UK is no better. The rest of Europe was not subjected to massive Chinese immigration but you just have to look at the Turks in Germany and the Morrocans in France.
Maybe your feeling of being prejudiced cannot be cured. In that case you may be better off going back to HK. But if you are continuing to stay here, you need to find peace within yourself. For every racial remark directed to you, there are at least twice more number of people who are friendly and generous. Ignorant people are everywhere, in Canada, China and other places. Learn to shrug it off.
I don't harbour any hatred towards the British anymore, nor do I towards the Japanese. I do not forget. History teaches us valuable lessons.
Thanks for your reply and your kind words. I am extremely traumatised by my experience and I cannot change how I feel. Sometimes I find that everyday is a struggle because of racism. Thank God, like you said, I escaped to Ottawa and I am now feeling much, much better. I still think that eventually I will move back to Hong Kong after I have retired. I did not like the Chinese government but have since accepted that probably it is not such a bad idea to live under Chinese rule because at least people will not treat you like dirt just because of the way you look. Immediately after 1997, I looked back at HK under British rule with nostalgia but now I think HK will be better off the way it is now, so I move on.
For the benefits of the readers who do not know Hong Kong well, let me also share some of my experience under colonial rule. I remember that when I took the HKCE exam, everybody knew that the Opium War would never come up as a question. The Chinese history curriculum stopped on Oct. 1, 1949, the date of the founding of PRC; all the modern literary work that we studied in the Chinese Language courses were written in 1920s or 1930s, etc... how abnormal when you think back.
My father told me that in the 1950s, the upper deck of the trams and the cross-harbour ferries only admitted Europeans, regardless of your ability to pay. His company had separate canteens and washrooms for Europeans and Eurasians, and Chinese. I read that HK Bank actually had three kinds of washrooms: Europeans, Eurasians (mostly Portuguese from Macau) and Chinese; the managers were British, supervisors Portuguese and the clerks Chinese. Government officials were not allowed to speak Chinese, and therefore if a local official talked to client who spoke Cantonese only, they would have to get an interpretor!
I have also travelled widely in the UK and Europe and am aware of the intense racism there, but they are not directed towards East Asians, but rather towards blacks and Muslims in France, Turks in Germany and blacks and Indians in the UK, etc. I know it sounds selfish but I am fine as long as I am not targeted. Here in Ottawa, people have problems with Muslims and blacks as well esp Somalis, but they largely leave me alone. I have also heard that due to the influx of Chinese immigrants in countries like Italy, Spain, etc., racism towards Asians is now way up in those countries.
Now that I am much older, I feel that I need to learn more about my original heritage; and that is why I am learning Potungua and Japanese. Probably one day I would need them if I did decide to move back to HK.
BTW, is your brother still in Vancouver? My brother lives there too and he told me that things have improved quite a bit since I left, although I am not convinced
