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Chong, Gim Suey : Gim Suey Chong: Our Quiet Man by Raymond Douglas Chong with Michael George Chong Year of Arrival 1932 |
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HOYPING 
Gim Suey Chong with Grandfather in Hoyping.
Our father, Gim Suey Chong, was our quiet man. He was a 4th generation sojourner to Gold Mountain, America. He and his forefathers were from Yung Lew Gong, Village of the Dragon, in the heart of Hoyping near the magnificent Pearl River Delta of Kwangtung Province of China, southwest of Hong Kong. Gim was born in the 9th gray brick house on the 6th narrow alley on December 26, 1922, Year of the Dog, to father, Moi Chung, and mother, Cun Chuen Wong. He lived and studied in the poor farm village. Moi Chung was a 3rd generation sojourner who had arrived in San Francisco through Angel Island Immigration Station in 1912 as a student. In 1923, after Gim’s birth, he left China for Boston. Gin's grandfather, Hoy Lun Chung was a 2nd generation sojourner and also the Village chief. He was an entrepreneur and had gambling hall and opium den in Boston Chinatown. Bein Yiu Chung, his great grandfather, the 1st generation sojourner, was the pioneer at Gold Mountain. In 1865, he arrived in San Francisco to help build the Transcontinental Railroad. Gim lived in the ancient village founded in 1466, with its ancestral hall for school and recreation and its Diaolou, Castle in the Sky, as sentinel. With other boys, he roamed the river glen of rice fields and banana groves at the foot of Mount of the Eight Immortals near Hill of the Flying Swan, ancestral tombs. |
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Choy, Ben (Buck-tone) : Stories from a Paper Son by Larisa Proulx Year of Arrival 1930 |
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Ben Choy (Choy Buck-tone) was born in China, in a little village called Wing Ho Wan in 1917. His father left for Australia soon after he was born. There he worked as a cook and squandered all his earnings at the gambling table. Ben remembers seeing his father only twice in his life—in 1927, when his father returned to China for a visit, and in 1963, after his father had retired in Macau. The decision to bring Ben to America was made by his father in 1930. “As a thirteen-year-old, I couldn’t refuse,” said Ben. “When they say, you go, then I go!” |
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Curgus, Sanja : Sanja's immigration story by Alice Cary Year of Arrival 1987 |
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Sanja Curgus was born in what is now known as Sarajevo, Bosnia. When she was born it was actually referred to as Yugoslavia, but due to a series of conflicts Yugoslavia was dismantled into several different independent countries. Her family came to this country in 1987. The plan was to only stay in the United States for one year. At the time Sanja was nine years old and her parents were in their early 30's. The family left what is now known as Bosnia and moved to Bellingham Washington because her farther was offered a visiting professorship at Western Washington University, but the family never moved back to Bosnia. |
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Delevett, Kim : Finding My Way Home by Kim and Peter Delevett Year of Arrival 1975 |
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Pham Kim Phuong, who came to the U.S. as a child in April 1975 when Saigon fell to the Communists, recounts her journey back to Vietnam. In an emotional turn of events, she revisits her home town and finds long-lost relatives who have kept her memory alive despite years of separation. |
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Der, Gwing : Memories of Centenarian Gwing Der (aka Der Nea Yick & Nelson Der) by Nancy F. Fong, Dorothy Fong, and Sandra Tye Year of Arrival 1926 |
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The following narrative was culled from previous interviews conducted with Mr. Der (including two interviews by UC Davis Pacific Regional Humanities Center’s Phong Chau in November 2004, and Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation’s Executive Director Eddie Wong in June 2010). |
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Din (Gong Bow Gwun), Hew : Not one, not two, but three paper names! by Grant Din Year of Arrival 1912 |
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Gong Bow Gwun, later known as Hew Din, came over from China as Ow Luen in 1912 on the SS Manchuria, which docked in San Francisco on August 15, 1912. He received his Certificate of Identity on September 7, 1912 after three weeks on Angel Island. Like many Chinese immigrants trying to come over during the Chinese Exclusion Acts, he came over as a son of a native born American citizen, which if true would mean he was immigrating legally. His paper father was from Namhoi, in Guangdong Province; in reality, he was from a village called Lok Cheung in the Fah Yuen district, now known as Huadu or Hua Xian. |
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Dong, Kingman : Angel Island Memories by Dong Kingman Year of Arrival 1911 |
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Dong Kingman, the internationally renowned artist, was born in Oakland Chinatown on March 31, 1911. When he was five years old, his father sold his clothing store and moved the family to Hong Kong. When he was 18 years old, his father decided to send the children back to the United States. |
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Emayan, Kumar : Escape Through Education by Meagan Travlos Year of Arrival 1997 |
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Kumar Emayan was born in Point Pedro, Sri Lanka on September 1, 1961. Born to educators, a principal for a mother and chemistry professor for a father, the importance of education to a successful life was forefront growing up. He attended the local schools through high school and because of his affluent parents, was able to leave Sri Lanka to attend the University of London in England, leaving behind his younger siblings and parents. He now lives in Berkeley, California in the United States. Mr. Emayan received his Ph.D. from the Imperial College at the University of London and is a research scientist at a pharmaceutical company that makes drugs to combat pulmonary fibrosis. |
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Eng, James L. : James L. Eng’s Odyssey by James L. Eng Year of Arrival 1931 |
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Our ancestral home was in Fook Lim Village in Hoysan, AKA Taishan, county in Quangdong Province, China. The village is approximately sixty five miles west of Hong Kong.
My grandfather, Ng Ming Sun, left his wife and two young sons to return to Mexico for the second time. During his first visit, he realized that Mexico would not serve his future. His new plan was to work in the United States to help his family and later, retire to China.
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Felipe, Eliseo : Angel Island Profile: Eliseo Felipe by Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation Year of Arrival 1933 |
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Eliseo Felipe, a 100 year-old retired serviceman, shares his journey to the United States and his pride in becoming an American. |
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Fong, Jimmy Mee Ning : Angel Island Story by Madeleine Fong Year of Arrival 1936 |
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Jimmy Ning Fong (aka Fong Mee Ning) of Sacramento, California thinks his Angel Island experience did not have much of an effect on him. He can recall it well and likes to start with the day he first left his home in China. |
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Fong, Benjamin : My Life by Benjamin Fong Year of Arrival 1946 |
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Veteran Antioch elementary school teacher, Benjamin Fong, recounts his arrival on Angel Island at age 5, his settlement in Oakland Chinatown, his military service and educational career. |
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Fong, Gain : The Story of Gain Fong by Cindy Sue Year of Arrival 1917 |
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Granddaughter Cindy Sue describes the life of Gain Fong, who emigrated from Canton at age 15 in 1917. Like many immigrants, Mr. Gong began his stay in the U.S. as a laborer and eventually saved enough money to start a grocery business in Castro Valley, California. His legacy endures through the values of hard work, sacrifice, and education that he instilled in his children and grandchildren. |
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