The Chinese Varsity Club (CVC) video made to entice first-year students to join up at the University of British Columbia (UBC) in Canada caused outrage and complaints last week, both on-campus and in Vancouver’s large Chinese community.
The Chinese Varsity Club (CVC) video made to entice first-year students to join up at the University of British Columbia (UBC) in Canada caused outrage and complaints last week, both on-campus and in Vancouver’s large Chinese community.
Featuring a well-spoken Asian woman representing the CVC, and a supposedly recent immigrant Asian male representing the “Typical Honger Club”, the video aims at recreating the popular Mac vs. PC television ads to promote the CVC, and separate from the other Asian clubs at UBC.
UBC’s student newspaper, the Ubyssey, reported that the man in the video put on a thick Chinese accent, stumbling over words and confusing the word “variety” with “Viagra” while constantly flashing the peace sign with both hands. “Honger” is a slang word meaning someone who is a recent immigrant from Hong Kong.
The Alma Mater Society, which is the governing body of the student population, was made aware of the video by four complaints from other clubs and organizations. They ruled that the video was offensive, and that some members of the club involved in its creation would have to go through equity training. The CVC was also banned from their table on the first day of club recruitment in the student building and must write letters of apology to all four complainants. And, of course, they were required to remove the video from their website, although at the time of this article’s writing, the Ubyssey had posted a video report on the incident on their website, including an excerpt of the banned video.
“Not everyone is as lucky as they are to be born here and be taught in English,” Coleman Lu, Secretary Treasurer of the Chinese Collegiate Society- one of the clubs that brought forth a complaint- told the Ubyssey. “They label us as a ‘Typical Honger Club’ which is discriminating towards all of our members.” On its website, the CVC describes itself as a “social club” established by a few Asian students 78 years ago, making it by far the oldest Chinese community-based club.
In the Frequently Asked Question section, under the heading “What separates CVC from other Asian clubs?” it reads: “With 76 years to evolve, CVC prides itself as a multi- cultural club, with a multi-ethnic member base, and a multi-ethnic exec team. Do not feel pushed away simply by the name of the club!” The “About CVC” section features a photograph of a large group of CVC members, all of whom are Asian.
UBC is located in Vancouver, on the west coast of Canada. The Chinese community is Vancouver’s largest minority group, and 30% of Vancouver homes speak either Mandarin or Cantonese as their first language.
