Douglas Jung
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Douglas Jung (鄭天崋, pinyin: Zhèng Tiānhuá) (February 24, 1924 - February 1, 2002) was the first ethnic Chinese Member of Parliament (MP) for the Canadian House of Commons.
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Early life
Douglas Jung was born in Victoria, British Columbia on February 24, 1924. During his childhood, the Government of Canada passed numerous pieces of legislation that disenfranchised Chinese in Canada. So he, and a group of young men from British Columbia, thought that serving in the Canadian Army during World War II could change the fortunes of Chinese in Canada.
Although Jung enlisted himself in the Canadian Army back in 1939, he did not receive his first assignment until 1944, mainly because the politicans in Ottawa and Victoria did not want to deal with the issues of enfranchising the Chinese after the war. Jung and a group of Chinese-Canadian soldiers were sent to British Malaya as a special operation to train the local guerillas to resist the Japanese Imperial Army occupying Malaya and Singapore.
After the war, Chinese in Canada were enfranchised in 1947. Veterans Affairs Canada granted Jung and his Chinese-Canadian comrades a university education. Jung graduated from the University of British Columbia in 1953 with degrees in Bachelors of Arts and Bachelors of Law. He was called to the British Columbia Bar in 1954.
Political career
Douglas Jung joined the Progressive Conservative Party in the early 1950s (he vowed not to join the Liberal Party of Canada because of its racist legislation against Chinese in the past). Jung was elected as an MP in 1957, representing the riding of Vancouver Centre, under the John Diefenbaker government. In his maiden speech in the House of Commons he urged Canada to take a leading role in serving as a bridge to the Pacific Rim Countries.
Jung's other achievements include introducing a Private Member's Bill in 1962 that granted amnesty to illegal immigrants from Hong Kong, also known as "Paper Sons". He also represented Canada in the United Nations as Chairman of the Legal Delegation to the United Nations.
His profusion of honour included the Order of Canada and the Order of British Columbia, the highest honours a citizen can receive from the federal and provincial governments, respectively. Other awards came from the Chinese Benevolent Association, S.U.C.C.S.S. Chinese Cultural Centre, Chinese Canadian National Council and Chinese Association in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, Thunder Bay and Toronto, Ontario, as well as the Quebec Japanese Canadian Citizenship Association in Montreal.
Other achievements
Jung was also a prominent figure in the community, especially the Vancouver Chinese community. They include: Life President of Army Navy Air Force Veterans in Canada Unit #280, Patron of S.U.C.C.E.S.S.: Director of the Vancouver Symphony. B.C.: Deputy Director of the Governor General's 1992 Regional Celebration of Canada 125th Anniversary. Director of the Far East Relations of the Former Parliamentarians Association and the President of Japan Karate Association of Canada which awarded him a sixth degree Black Belt.
| Preceded by: Ralph Campney, Liberal | Member of Parliament for Vancouver Centre (1957-1962) | Succeeded by: Jack R. Nicholson, Liberal |