Communauté sino-montréalaise : Janet Sui Jing Lumb

A musician by night and an activist by day, Janet Lumb brims with energy. With sparkling eyes, she builds bridges between communities to encourage intercultural and intergenerational exchange.

As part of the exhibition Dialogue with Montréal’s Chinese Community, the MEM met with members of the Chinese community in Montréal. This is Janet Sui Jing Lumb’s story.

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A mother’s legacy

Janet Lumb

Full length portrait of a woman wearing rubber boots and a cap in a vacant lot in Chinatown.

Jennifer Li. MEM - Centre des mémoires montréalaises.

Born in Toronto, Janet spent much of her childhood helping her parents, Jean Lumb and Doyle Lumb, in their legendary Chinatown restaurant, the Kwong Chow Chop Suey House. Under Jean’s management, the popular restaurant attracted a mixed clientele and quickly became a favourite meeting place for journalists and politicians. For Jean, food was more than sustenance: it was a way to promote her culture and change how other Canadians viewed the Chinese community. In response to a wave of expropriations in the neighbourhood, she became more involved in heritage preservation and created the Save Chinatown Committee to prevent further demolition. She also travelled to Chinatowns across Canada to encourage similar efforts. Jean’s advocacy left a deep mark on Janet. “I attribute all of my good community-oriented qualities to my mother,” says Janet. “She was a fighter and a pioneer in the struggle for the rights of Chinese Canadians. In the 1920s, after being turned down by two white schools, she went to a segregated school for Indigenous and Asian students. She fought for voting rights in 1941. And she lobbied against gentrification in the Toronto area. She was the first Chinese Canadian woman to receive the Order of Canada.”

A cause to call her own

In the 1970s and ’80s, Janet worked as a social worker in youth group homes in Vancouver. She was the only racialized person on staff, and on her days off, the mostly Indigenous residents would ask for her. “I was like them,” recalls Janet. “I understood what it meant to be different. I wasn’t rich and I came from a cultural minority.” These early work experiences sharpened her awareness of social inequities, as well as her sense of empathy and generosity.

Asia on stage

Janet moved to Montréal in the late 1980s. In 1995, she and Bernard Truong founded Festival Accès Asie. Coinciding with Asian Heritage Month, the Montreal-based, Canada-wide annual event showcases the talent of Asian artists. Trained as a composer and saxophone player, Janet’s goals is to dismantle the stereotypes and barriers of mainstream culture, and to expose the general public to Asian art and stories.

A greener Chinatown

Janet Lumb jardin

View of a community garden, with rows of plants growing in fabric pots. In the background, a wall separates the garden from the street and surrounding buildings.

Janet Lumb

Among Janet’s most important contributions to the Chinatown community is the Green Chinatown Montreal project. Janet and her fellow organizers created the community garden to address the lack of green space in the downtown neighbourhood. Initially located in front of the Chinese Hospital, the garden was meant to offer a therapeutic outdoor activity for patients. But it quickly became a friendly space for sharing and discovery. It also helped to reduce the social isolation of the neighbourhood’s Chinese seniors, many of whom became involved in the development of the organic garden—an unexpected development. “Many elderly residents came and insisted on teaching us the proper techniques for harvesting certain Asian vegetables!” says Janet. “It led to some amazing exchanges across generations and cultures.” The community garden has since moved several times. Today it is located at the northeast end of Parthenais and Masson, far from Chinatown.

Bringing back the garden

Janet Lumb jardin 2

Close-up of plants with green foliage growing in a fabric bag.

Janet Lumb

Like her mother, Janet has waged a number of hard battles. Her activism has made her a role model, inspiring others in the community. She continues to fight against discrimination and for the preservation of Chinese culture, working closely with several groups, including the Progressive Chinese of Québec and the Montreal Chinatown Working Group. As versatile as ever, she still shares her love of music through various projects. Today, however, her greatest wish is to bring the community garden back to Chinatown as a place of sharing and exchange for its residents.

林瑞贞

蒙特利尔唐人街绿色空间
「我喜爱透过创作绿色空间来提倡社区及跨世代精神。」

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「我们成立蒙特利尔唐人街绿色空间小组是由于附近缺乏此类空间。唐人街第一个社区花园是位于中华医院旁边。当项目开始时，许多老人家来看我们，并坚持要教导我们收割某些亚洲蔬菜的正确技巧！社区花园得以让这些长者打破社会孤立，并与其他志愿者分享他们的技能。看到这些跨世代及跨文化的联系在社区中形成，真是太奇秒了！」- 林瑞贞

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La traduction en chinois simplifié a été faite par Serena Xiong (熊吟) et révisé par Philippe Liu (刘秦宁).

林瑞貞

滿地可唐人街綠色空間
「我喜愛透過創作綠色空間來提倡社區及跨代精神。」

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「我們成立滿地可唐人街綠色空間小組是由於附近缺乏此類空間。唐人街第一個社區花園是位於中國醫院旁邊。當項目開始時，許多老人家來看我們，並堅持要教導我們收割某些亞洲蔬菜的正確技巧！社區花園減少了長者的社會疏離感，他們也和其他義工分享了自己的知識。看到這些跨世代及跨文化的聯繫在社區中形成，真是太奇秒了！」- 林瑞貞

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