Why it matters.

In an occasional series of articles, we ask people involved in the Campaign to tell us why it matters, Steve Lau writes in his capacity as Chair of the Chinese in Britain Forum, the Campaign’s lead body.

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To embark upon such a venture as the Ensuring We Remember Campaign isn’t done lightly – we have set ourselves a three year timeframe for unveiling a national memorial to the men of the Chinese Labour Corps, for which we have no funding, no site and no design. Although three years is, in one sense, a very short period of time, it is a long time to sustain a campaign. And let’s not forget that the Campaign is being delivered through a strategic partnership or community, education, political and faith organisations, who have divergent views and agendas. The obstacles to success are certainly not insignificant.

So why do it? I suppose there are many answers to this question and different people will tell different reasons and what matters most to them, reflecting the divergent views and agendas that I have mentioned.

Of course, with Chinese heritage I feel an affinity to these men. Growing up in the 60’s, 70’s and even 80’s, things were very different to the way they are now, so yes, in part I can empathise to a certain extent, to a shared feeling of being different. There is certainly a case that the men of the Chinese Labour Corps were treated unfairly – but we can hardly claim that the First World War was fair to anyone.

But it is their unfair treatment after the war that really calls for action. That they were never commemorated in any of the 43,000-plus First World War memorials in the UK is an injustice bordering on an outrage.

Such incidences provide a string of reasons to do what we are doing. But for me it is more than the sum of all these things. I feel a duty, or obligation, perhaps some might say a calling. It not only seems right, but it feels as though I have a specific part to play in putting things right. I don’t feel alone in this – I’ve seen others who have also been affected in this way. I’ve even warned people who have said the story sounds really interesting and they plan to do more research on the subject, “be careful, they might grab you and not let you go!”

Having been involved in Chinese community affairs for a couple of decades what I can say from my own experiences is that this issue is unique in the sense that it has a universal appeal to the different sub-sections of the community – and despite it’s monolithic appearance to the outside world, there are a great number of them. Doubtless, as we travel the long road to 14th August, 2017, we will have disagreements. Choosing a design acceptable to all the partners will prove a challenge. But for now there’s a rare moment of unity and common purpose.

I’m confident that ultimately this unity, common vision and common ambitions will see us through. Whatever differences of opinion may arise, they won’t be over the basic belief that the 96,000 volunteers of the Chinese Labour Corps were hard done by, and a memorial to them in the UK will be built.

Deng Xiaoping famously said that China’s journey to modernity, would be like crossing a river by feeling the stones. The imagery is powerful. We know where we are going to, quite how we will get there is less clear. It will be determined by circumstances, as we discover and negotiate the best route, step by step. Of course, Deng Xiaoping also said the process of China’s modernisation would take one hundred years. Our journey is somewhat shorter, and as I write, we have 154 weeks and counting!