Person

Fong, Tong

• 馮茂松

1907-1972

FONG Tong was born on February 3, 1907 in the village of Zhu Liu He (朱六合), Heshan (鹤山市), 廣東 Guangdong, China (中国). At the age of 14, he departed from Hong Kong for Canada on the S.S. Protesilaus, landing in Victoria on May 27, 1921.

An uncle, An Zhao (安兆), was responsible for bringing the young boy to Canada. Tong had to pay the $500 head tax.

It is believed that Tong attended school for two years before he started working in his uncle’s laundry shop in Frontier, Saskatchewan. He eventually became a waiter and made his way to Toronto to work in a restaurant. He worked both in the kitchen and as wait staff before becoming a partner in the White Rose Grill restaurant on Queen Street in Toronto.

Tong married his first wife, Ren Wan Zhen (任煥轉) in 1925. According to family ancestral records, the marriage was performed in the village without Tong being present. He was represented by an effigy as the groom.

Tong traveled to China to visit his first wife on two occasions, returning to Canada in 1931 and 1937. On the second visit, he and Ren Wan Zhen had a daughter, whom they named Qiu Lian (秋蓮) (b. April 3, 1936).

After the repeal of the Chinese Exclusion Act in 1947, Tong returned to China and married his second wife, Lee Toy How, (李財好) in 1948. Subsequently, son Kim (健民) was born in 1949. Tong returned to Canada 40 days after Kim was born, but did not have enough money to bring his wife and son over to Canada until 1957.

In addition to Kim, Tong and Toy How were blessed with four other children in Canada: Rosemarie (白玫), Irene (白蘭), Jack (植民), and Yoeman (佑民), all born in Toronto.

In thinking about Tong's life, his son, Kim M. Fong, remarks: "It's hard to imagine how difficult it must have been for a 14-year-old boy to leave his family in China to work in a foreign land. He carried the heavy burden of sending money back to support his relatives in China, as well as to repay his head tax debt.

There's no doubt our father worked hard all his life. The only holiday our family can ever recall was a day trip from Toronto to Niagara Falls. However, we will forever be grateful for all the struggles and sacrifices that our father had to endure, in order to provide a better life for his family in Canada.”

Regretfully, Tong passed away on April 10, 1972, after suffering a debilitating stroke from which he never recovered.

Description supplied by collector/curator