Golden Inheritance

The Wallace B. Chung and Madeline H. Chung Collection at UBC Library, penned by local author and UBC alumnus Larissa Buijs, provides an overview of Dr. Wallace B. Chung and his family, profiles the dedication and dynamics behind the Chung Collection, and offers an in-depth examination of its three themes: early British Columbia history, immigration and settlement, and the Canadian Pacific Railway Company.

The result is an absorbing read, accompanied by an array of images that speak to an exceptional collection, its passionate collector, and the broader forces that inspired the Chung Collection and helped shape today’s Canada.

As author Larissa Buijs writes, “The strengths of the Chung Collection lie not only in the merits of its titanic array of primary source materials–many of which would be nearly impossible to find today–but also in the invaluable perspective it offers on the development of Canada from a Western Canadian and, in particular, Chinese Canadian viewpoint.”

Dr. Chung has personally dedicated Golden Inheritance to his parents, Chung Ham and Chung Hung Sze, and to the pioneers whose toil and sacrifices have made their dream of Gold Mountain a reality for all those who followed them.

Dr. Wallace B. Chung was the first Chinese Canadian to head a surgery department in Canada. Appointed to the UBC Hospital and Vancouver General Hospital, he was instrumental in establishing vascular surgery as a specialty recognized by the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada. When he retired in 1991, he had served as Professor of Surgery at UBC and Head of the Department of Surgery at the UBC Hospital. Dr. Chung has dedicated his life to community service, philanthropy, and the preservation of cultural heritage. He has served on the boards of the Chinese Cultural Centre in Vancouver, the BC Heritage Trust, and the Canadian Multiculturalism Council, where he shaped the 1987 Multiculturalism Act. He was awarded the Order of Canada in 2005 and the Order of British Columbia in 2006.

Larissa Buijs is a freelance writer and Senior Writer, Development and Alumni Engagement at UBC. She lives in Vancouver.