2024 Asian Heritage Month Events
Evolution of Diverse Asian Cuisines in Toronto | AHM talk at the Toronto City Hall Library
Date: Friday, May 3, 2024 | 12:30 p.m. to 2:00 p.m.
Venue: City Hall Library, Toronto Public Library
Speakers: Professor Chef Leo Chan and Mr. Gordan Lam
Admission is free.
i) Annual Asian Heritage Month Food Talk
Once Upon a time in Chinatown: The Evolution of Chinese Food in Toronto
Photograph by Arlene Chan
Photograph by Arlene Chan
Leo Chan and Gordon Lam will relate food evolution in Toronto to early Chinese family organizations and the community. Mr. Gordon Lam, President and CEO of Lem Si Ho Tong Society (Lem Family Association), will join Professor Chef Chan in conversation. Leslie Yip, VP of Sing Tao Media Group, may be the moderator. The relationship of the Chan and Lem families with the Toronto Chinese restaurants have a long history. Two current Chinese family heads and an individual like Leslie Yip will give this talk additional dimensions.
About Leo Chan:
Leo Chan was born in Macau and grew up in Hong Kong and Toronto. Along with Professor Gian Paolo Michelini, he co-founded the Cambridge Food and Wine Society of Canada in 1988. He is also a founding member of the 8 Precious Pearls Research Group of Chinese food history. Professor Chef Chan is immensely active in the hospitality industry and has contributed much to the Toronto community. Among his numerous achievements are his being one of the original members of Les Compagnons des vins de France, Toronto Chapter, a member of the German Wine Society & the Opimian Wine Society and the Board of Directors of the Ontario Restaurant Association. In addition, he was Advisor to the Ontario Chinese Restaurant & Food Services Association, appointed Ambassador representing the Toronto Cathay Lions Club, District A7 to regional and international meetings in Canada and United States. His varied community work includes his being appointed by Government of Ontario to the Ontario Science Centre Board of Directors, and elected to the Board of Directors of the Grapes of Humanity Canada, Toronto Chapter. He was also a volunteer supervisor of the 2015 Toronto Pan Am Games & Parapan Am Games. His community service includes being an Executive of the Cornell Hotel Society, Toronto Chapter; President of the Toronto Cathay Lions Club; Board of Governor, The Doctors Hospital, Toronto; and he was on the Board of Directors of Ontario Science Centre, Mon Sheong Foundation Home for the Aged, and Mon Sheong Foundation Chinese School; IMF-TD Bank Gala at the Art Gallery of Toronto and Annual Dragon Ball, Toronto. He is the Founder & Chairman of the VinCambridge Annual Food & Wine Festival Gala, Annual Trillium Chefs Canada Awards Dinner, in addition to being a Member of the Friends of Toronto Public Library, South Chapter.
About Gordon Lam:
Mr. Gordon Lam has been an active community volunteer and leader. He is the President of the Lem Si Ho Tong Society, which was founded in Toronto in 1920 and is one of the oldest and biggest Chinese Canadian family associations in Toronto. Moreover, Gordon has been a tireless contributor to the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada. For five times (2005, 2006, 2007, 2017 and 2018) over a 14-year period, Gordon has served as a member of the organizing committee for Sing for Your Heart, the largest fundraising annual gala of the foundation’s Chinese Canadian Council. His persistence has contributed to the increased awareness of stroke, heart disease and their treatment in the Ontario Chinese Canadian community. Furthermore, Gordon was a founding board member of the Chinese Canadian Heart and Brain Association (CCHABA), a non-profit organization established in 2019 by a group of dedicated Cardiologists and Neurologists along with several volunteer board members. Its mission is to promote and raise the awareness and knowledge of heart diseases and brain disorders among the Chinese Canadian community. Gordon also played a very important role in organizing the Heart and Brain Health Symposiums in 2019, 2020 2022 and 2023. Gordon is a Queen Elizabeth Platinum Jubilee Award recipient as well as a COVID-19 Humanitarian Service Medal recipient.
ii) Mini Art and Photo Exhibition on Food Themes, curated by Dr. Lien Chao and Mr. Tam Kam Chiu
Date: Wednesday May 1, 2024 to Friday May 10, 2024
Venue: City Hall Library, Toronto Public Library
Curators: Mr. Tam Kam Chiu for photography, and Dr. Lien Chao for visual art
Visual Artist Ms. Irene Hung with Dr. Lien Chao and Mr. Tam Kam Chiu
Curators Dr. Lien Chao for visual art, Mr. Tam Kam Chiu for photography
Art and Photo Mini-Exhibition at City Hall Library
Event co-organizers: Asian Heritage Month—Canadian Foundation for Asian Culture (Central Ontario) Inc.; Toronto Public Library; Asian Institute at the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy, University of Toronto; Richard Charles Lee Canada Hong Kong Library, University of Toronto; Chinese Canadian Photography Society of Toronto; WE Artists’ Group; Social Services Network; Cambridge Food and Wine Society
Asian Heritage Month Festival is partially funded by the Government of Canada through the Department of Canadian Heritage and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council. Asian Canadian Artists in Digital Age is funded by Canada Council for the Arts Digital Strategy Fund