WITNESS TO HISTORY; VALLEY EDUCATOR CHAN VISITING HONG KONG.Byline: Lisa Van Proyen Daily News Staff Writer As the world watches Hong Kong's transition back to China, Pacoima elementary school elementary school: see school. Principal Yvonne Chan will be there to juggle her own changes. Within a 2-1/2-week visit, the Northridge resident, who was born in Hong Kong Hong Kong (hŏng kŏng), Mandarin Xianggang, special administrative region of China, formerly a British crown colony (2005 est. pop. 6,899,000), land area 422 sq mi (1,092 sq km), adjacent to Guangdong prov. , and later lived in China, must learn her status in the two countries. She must decide what to do with her home and property in Hong Kong - put it into her son's name or take advantage of booming times and sell, using the money to fulfill her relatives' dreams of one day moving to the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. . She also must prove to the government that she is entitled to take over the corner grocery store that her late father owned. ``I have to gather up enough evidence to show that my father did own it. . . . Neighbors and uncles (in China) must verify that yes, we lived there and that I was the only child,'' she said by telephone Wednesday night, hours before her 14-hour flight to Hong Kong, where she plans to stay until July 14 - before, during and after the hand-over. ``I'm going to be there three days before so that whatever needs to be done under the Hong Kong government will be done. . . . I will be there a few days before to see it as a British colony. I want to see the preparation and discussions politically with what's going to happen.'' Chan, who immigrated to the United States at age 17, paid top dollar to be in Hong Kong to see her homeland handed back to China. But she maintained the $1,600 airplane airplane, aeroplane, or aircraft, heavier-than-air vehicle, mechanically driven and fitted with fixed wings that support it in flight through the dynamic action of the air. ticket is well worth it. ``I want to get some feeling - a tone about the people,'' said Chan, who has gained national attention in the United States for her innovative and cost-saving approaches at the Vaughn Next Century Learning Center in Pacoima, the first Los Angeles Unified School District The Los Angeles Unified School District (the "LAUSD") is the largest (in terms of number of students) public school system in California and the second-largest in the United States. Only the New York City Department of Education has a larger student population. campus in the San Fernando Valley San Fernando Valley Valley, southern California, U.S. Northwest of central Los Angeles, the valley is bounded by the San Gabriel, Santa Susana, and Santa Monica mountains and the Simi Hills. to become a charter school. ``It is important for me to see if the two systems will work. I don't think so,'' she said. Chan regularly visits both China and Hong Kong and said she is very skeptical about Hong Kong reverting to Chinese sovereignty. While a school principal in mainland China earns $100 a month, a waiter in Hong Kong gets $100 a tip, she said. ``Now how can the people stand to see that the people in the other country have so much?'' she asked. ``It reminds me of what the people have right here in L.A., with the riots in Watts.'' Chan is concerned about the welfare of her homeland. ``There may be a lot of robbing of the rich. Are they going to play Robin Hood Robin Hood, legendary hero of 12th-century England who robbed the rich to help the poor. Chivalrous, manly, fair, and always ready for a joke, Robin Hood reflected many of the ideals of the English yeoman. in Hong Kong?'' she asked. The 52-year-old likened the two countries to her own school, a campus that has virtual autonomy from the Los Angeles Unified School District. ``You have one school district, but two systems,'' she said. ``I'm a charter school, with the technology and the class-size reduction. I don't think Vaughn is welcome in the system.'' Born in Kowloon, Hong Kong - Chan spent her childhood hopping from Hong Kong to China, where she lived until age 12 - when the border tightened, she said. She and her family returned to Hong Kong, where Chan received a scholarship to attend an affluent English school English school Dominant school in painting in England from the 18th century to c. 1850. From 1730 to 1750 two distinctive British forms of painting were perfected by William Hogarth: genre scenes depicting the “modern moral subject,” and the small-scale run by nuns. Besides her many aunts, uncles and cousins, Chan also plans to visit the nuns during her stay. ``They influenced me about how good the U.S. is,'' she said. They told her about Disneyland. ``I wanted to come to Disneyland - which is Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. .'' A self-described ``failing student,'' Chan was highly motivated to migrate to America, so she pushed herself up to the top 1 percent of her class. She saved $100, and on foreign student status emigrated by boat, landing in San Francisco San Francisco (săn frănsĭs`kō), city (1990 pop. 723,959), coextensive with San Francisco co., W Calif., on the tip of a peninsula between the Pacific Ocean and San Francisco Bay, which are connected by the strait known as the Golden - the first in her family to come to America. Her mother gave her a basket of Chinese herbs Chinese herbs are herbs originating from China. They are widely used in Chinese cuisine. The use of Chinese herbs is a very popular tradition. “Many of the modern day drugs have been developed from these herbs such as the treatments for asthma and hay fever from Chinese to sell - which yielded $300, she said. She said the money paid for a trip to Fresno - the area the nuns had guided her to live for inexpensive housing and to avoid ``tricky'' people in Los Angeles and the competition in San Francisco. In Fresno, she attended a city college while working at a restaurant, where she earned $1 an hour and got free food. She had enough of Fresno after six months, moving on to Los Angeles. ``I went to Disneyland immediately - that very day,'' she said. She continued her education at Cal State Northridge and earned a doctoral degree in education at UCLA UCLA University of California at Los Angeles UCLA University Center for Learning Assistance (Illinois State University) UCLA University of Carrollton, TX and Lower Addison, TX . While visiting Hong Kong and China, Chan will also evaluate the educational systems. Chan last visited the countries in 1992, after her mother passed away. She said the changeover (programming) changeover - The time when a new system has been tested successfully and replaces the old system. concept then was remote in people's minds. ``People were still thinking well, it's five years away. Some people thought it would never happen,'' she said. CAPTION(S): Photo PHOTO A family photo shows a very young Yvonne Chan, front center, with cousins in Hong Kong. |
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