Clinician praises city’s spirit of multiculturalism
In addition to being a busy family and child therapist in VCH Richmond Community and Family Health, Dr.Chak Au also serves as an elected Richmond City Councillor.
Below you’ll find an opinion piece written by Au that appeared in the January 16 edition of the Richmond Review. In it, he speaks to Richmond’s rich and diverse multicultural community.
Dr. Chak Au is a VCH Richmond clinician and an elected councillor for the City of Richmond.
Richmond’s Highway to Heaven sends a message to the world
2015 has just begun and I believe many of us have made a wish that the world be a safer and more peaceful place in the New Year. I also believe that, in view of what is currently happening in many places around the world, many of us feel we are blessed by living in a country like Canada.
In Richmond, we are perhaps among the most blessed in Canada because we live up to the true spirit of multiculturalism. We are a community of many peoples and diverse faiths. According to the 2011 Census, immigrants make up 60 percent of the City’s population, with over 100 languages spoken and over 160 different ethnic origins. We take pride of the fact that people from a vast array of faiths, religions, and spiritual practices are living in great harmony throughout our city.
The most symbolic representation of this intercultural harmony is the “Highway to Heaven,” where over 20 prominent places of worship are found on a 2.5-kilometre stretch of No. 5 Road. In 1990, to meet the growing demand for places of worship, the City adopted a planning policy to support religious buildings to be constructed on agricultural land along No. 5 Road.
Since then, this area has become a hub of the world’s most widely-practiced religions, including Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, and Sikhism. There are at least two mosques, eight Christian churches (six of which are Chinese-Canadian congregations), three Buddhist temples, two Hindu temples, a Sikh Gurdwara, and six faith-based schools. The Highway to Heaven placed in the Top 50 in the Seven Wonders of Canada competition organized by the CBC in 2007.
What is more remarkable is the high level of engagement among these religious groups to promote mutual understanding and cooperation. For example, various schools have established strong relationships with each other, providing opportunities for their students to participate in shared activities and learn about the faiths of others. Two years ago, the Highway to Heaven Association was formed to discuss issues of common interest and organize joint events such as participating in the Canada Day celebration.
I do hope that the harmony we experience in Richmond can send a strong message to people around the world that, by working together, cultural and religious acceptance goes a long way in promoting peace.
-Chak Au