Rosalie Tung, a professor of international business at Simon Fraser University, will tell conference attendees how many of these second-generation players have facilitated trade from B.C. to Asia. "The word diaspora used to be used in a pejorative sense to describe the plight of people removed from their homeland, but now it really signifies a dividend where trade is concerned," Tung said.
When it comes to Chinatown, Tung emphasizes that there is a delicate balance. "All of us need symbols and [Chinatown] is a place that has geographical significance. But to revitalize it from the standpoint of Chinatown being the heart and centre, and that everything emanates from there, it could be very confining because then, in a sense, it would bring Chinatown back to the pejorative status it once had in the early days when it was more of a ghetto, the only place Chinese could live and transact business."
EXCERPT FROM:
http://www.vancouversun.com/Movers+shakers+pitch+revitalize+Chinatown/1583015/story.html
Charles Wankel
IMD-L list director