2 THE VOICE, THURSDAY, MARCH 5, 2015 EDITOR VIVIAN CHUI Cws Break-ins spur translation need Written communication in Chinese is now available from a community policing centre By XIAO XU hinese residents living in South Vancouver now receive letters from the local policing centre in their mother tongue. The Kerrisdale Oakridge Marpole Community Policing Centre (KOM CPC) announced to the Vancouver po- lice board on Feb. 20 that letters to resi- dents have now been translated into Chinese. Earlier this year, a series of break- ins occurred in the southwest area of Vancouver and Chinese residents were among the victims. To help these resi- dents solve crime-related problems, KOM CPC sent them letters both in English and Chinese. According to KOM CPC Const. Ryan Hooper, the policing centre officially started the Chinese translation service last year. “[We did so] because the area has a large population of either Mandarin or Cantonese speaking residents,” Hoop- er said. “Not everybody has the ability to speak English or probably to read English well.” Tony Bulic, executive director of KOM CPC, said they can translate the letters into any language that the resi- dents ask for. “We have a lot of officers that speak different languages,” Bulic said. “We don’t care what language, we just want to deliver the right message.” KOM CPC emphasizes their Chinese translation service because Chinese is the largest ethnic group in this area. Chinese was reported to be the most spoken non-official language in the area, accounting for 79 per cent of all languages, according to the Vancouver Economic Commission’s 2009 Kerris- dale Village Neighbourhood Profile. A Vancouver school board report on cultural diversity in the last two years lists three secondary schools in the Marpole-Oakridge and Kerrisdale with a higher than average percentage of Chinese-speaking students. Mandy Ho, a tailor at the Vancci Bou- tique on West Boulevard for more than a decade, said an increasing number of Chinese customers have come to the boutique in recent years, but she hasn’t noticed an improvement of Chinese services in the area. The storefront in- cludes the boutique’s name in Chinese. She said booklets with information about the area are all in English. “Tt would be much better if it has a Chinese translation,” she said in Chi- nese, pointing at the Kerrisdale Insider, a shopping and services guide. 66 Not every- body has the ability to speak English or probably to read English well CONST. RYAN HOOPER KERRISDALE OAKRIDGE MAR- POLE COMMUNITY POLICING CENTRE — XIAO XU photo There is no shortage of Chinese sig- nage on 41st Avenue in Kerrisdale. hSs _— Premature budding from warm weather may dis- rupt cherry tree-inspired events across Vancouver By TONY SU changes to this year’s popular Van- couver Cherry Blossom Festival. Inspired by Vancouver’s cherry trees, the festival takes place between April 2 and 29 and features events such as Sakura Days Japan Fair at VanDu- sen Botanical Garden. “A lot of people come especially if it’s nice out,” said Jagdesh Atwal, a barista who has worked at Truffles Fine Foods, the cafe at VanDusen, for three years. Atwal said she’s seen the event grow over the years. The founding executive director of the Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festi- val, Linda Poole, said she’s worried this year that all the blossoms will be gone Be: blossoms could mean some if the beautiful weather persists. Poole has directed the festival for nine years and she can only recall ear- ly blooming once before during the 2010 spring season, although the festi- val was on hiatus that year because of the Winter Olympic Games. “The Whitcomb and Accolades [cherry trees] are about three weeks early,” said Poole. “So we don’t know if the other cultivars are going to also come early.” Poole said she might have to move some of the scheduled festival events earlier, if the trees start to wither in the weeks leading up to April. Andrew Black, a UBC applied biolo- gy professor specializing in agricul- ture, said early blooming isn’t unusual as plants grow faster under the sun. “TThe sun is] really good for warm- ing the soil up, because you're getting the radiation striking the soil surface directly,” Black said. Poole said she’s hoping for cold weather in the next few weeks to slow (Left and right) The festival organizer is hoping that cold weather may slow down the blooming process for early cherry blossoms. TONY SU photos se oe Ea TONY SU photo Linda Poole, founder of the Vancou- ver Cherry Blossom Festival. down the growth, because the last thing she said she wants is to have no cherry blossoms for the festival. “[The blossoms] may be out for 10 days,” she said. “They’re the most beautiful when they first come out.” mnshine threatens bloom fest CHERRY Events CHERRY JAM DOWNTOWN CONCERT Time: 12:00 p.m to 1:20 p.m. Date: April 2 Venue: Burrard station SAKURA ILLUMINATION Time: 9:00 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. Date: April 3 Venue: Sunset Beach Park KITE DANCE Time: 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Date: April 5 Venue: Vanier Park Source: www.vebf.ca Seniors get new funding A city grant provides tem- porary support for seniors’ programs in Marpole By MONA BUTLER ith short-term funding from Wi: City of Vancouver, pro- grams for seniors in the Mar- pole area are in session again at St. Augustine’s Anglican Church. In December 2018, a flood in the Mar- pole Place Neighbourhood House forced it to relocate its programs from the old fire hall to the nearby St. Au- gustine’s Church on Hudson Street. By last November, however, money from independent sources ran out. The city recently gave the neigh- bouring Marpole Oakridge Family Place a grant to hire an outreach coor- dinator for four months to review and help organize the displaced seniors’ programs, now called the Hudson St. Seniors Hub. Heather Friday, who has been at- tending programs at the neighbour- hood house for three years, said that the old location had a lot more pro- grams and facilities such as a computer lab and a room for kids to play in. There were daily programs at the old location but now at St. Augustine’s, the majority of the programs run only on Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays. “Tt took a long time to get things run- ning again,” Friday said. St. Augustine’s Rev. Andrew Halla- day was part of a committee about homelessness at the neighbourhood house and offered his church hall so that the programs could resume. “We have about 12 programs run- ning right now,” said Halladay. “Among them, a Thursday dinner and a Friday breakfast, a knitting group, an exercise group and a thrift shop in the church basement.” Before, St. Augustine’s had a few programs of its own, but was depen- dent on the number of volunteers. As far as moving back into the old location goes, Halladay doesn’t know what to expect. “The fire hall is owned by the city. The plans for that are their business and they haven’t shared them with us.”