New Chinese memorial unveiled to stand guard over St. John's cemetery

After two-and-a-half years of planning and fundraising, the Chinese community in St. John's came out in droves for the revitalization ceremony for the Chinese Memorial Monument — which included the unveiling of two newly-crafted granite lions.

Poor weather didn't deter the crowd of around 75 people who turned up to witness the ceremony at Mount Pleasant Cemetery in the city's west end, which included a lion dance troupe.

Co-organizer Bill Ping says the monument represents the hardships the early Chinese community faced in Newfoundland and Labrador.

"They didn't have it easy back then, you know, given the head tax and the Exclusion Act and everything that was going on," Ping said.

"It just kind of represents the hard work that they did to establish the Chinese community here in Newfoundland."

The memorial's refurbishment was a last request of Dr. Kim Hong, a prominent member of the community who died in 2020.

"All the money was raised from the Chinese community and yeah, they all pulled together. People donated a lot of money," said Ping. He estimates they raised about $34,000 to make it happen.

Peter So, one of the other lead organizers on the project, says one lion is a female watching over a baby lion, while the male lion has a globe underneath its legs, which represents the world. They will now guard the cemetery.

"Some people may say that the male is the one that's guarding the outside of the house. The female is the one that's guarding the inside. That means caring and nurturing of the people," said So.

They were made in China's Shandong province and then shipped across Canada to make it to St. John's. Both are over a metre tall and weigh a hefty tonne each.

So said the male lion was a bit "naughty," because at one point they lost track of it en route to St. John's. He said on a stop in Toronto, the lion had been sent to Vancouver and then back to Toronto, before getting stuck in Port aux Basques.

"I lost a lot of sleep," said So.

Francis Tam, president of the Chinese Association of Newfoundland and Labrador, says the process of getting the lions from China and through customs was amazing. He added it was a lot of hard work getting the steps and the foundation to the memorial rebuilt.

"But it takes something like this to really show that the Chinese community can be unified and we all come together when there's a time of importance," Tam said.