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Oral histories are intimate conversations between and among people who have generously agreed to share these recordings with BHS’s archives and researchers. Please listen in the spirit with which these were shared. BHS abides by the General Principles & Best Practices for Oral History as agreed upon by the Oral History Association and expects that use of this material will be done with respect for these professional ethics.
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[Last name, First name], Oral history interview conducted by [Interviewer’s First name Last name], [Month DD, YYYY], [Title of Collection], [Call #]; Brooklyn Historical Society.
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Yee Hoen
Oral history interview conducted by Ka-Kam Chui
August 15, 1993
Call number: 1994.007.13
0:25 - 开场白：介绍受访者、地址、日期、及采访人 Introduction of narrator and interviewer’s names, interview location, and date
1:13 - 住在日落公园的原因、生活环境、朋友、租屋、将来想搬去哪里 Choosing Sunset Park, living environment, friends, rent, where to move in future
13:28 - 比较纽约的几个唐人街, 现在的工作，喜欢的购物、办喜丧、聚会、吃饭的地方 NY's Chinatowns; current work; Best places for: shopping, wedding, funeral, party, eating
23:47 - 对现在居住的社区的看法，对华人社区的期许 Views on living in her community, expectation for future development of Chinese community
31:18 - 与外国人的交流，被人打劫，有无遭遇种族歧视 Communication with foreigners, experience of being robbed, feeling racial discrimination
41:51 - 比较住过的地方，日落公园、雷哥公园、香港、威斯特彻斯特 Comparing the places she has lived: Sunset Park, Rego Park, Hong Kong, and Westchester
44:44 - 与邻居的交往，附近的宗教、华人团体，如何跟人介绍自己的社区 Her neighbors, religious and Chinese associations nearby, introducing her own community
49:04 - 工作经历，上班坐地铁，同事 Her work experience, taking a subway to her job, her colleagues
57:39 - 语言，休闲娱乐、唱歌、看电视，看医生，庆祝中国外国节日 Language, entertainment, KTV, TV shows, Chinese/Western contrasts: doctors and holidays
67:10 - 身份认同，婚姻状况 Nationality and identity, marital status
Interview Description
Oral History Interview with Yee Hoen
Yee "Curie" Hoen immigrated to New York City from Hong Kong as a young adult and moved to the Sunset Park neighborhood of Brooklyn in the late 1980s. A single woman in her forties, Hoen's life revolved around her career in radio broadcasting at the Chung Wah Commercial Broadcasting Company. When not working, she spent time singing karaoke and Cantonese opera with the Man Chi Opera Society, and attending Sunset Park's traditional Chinese festivals.
In this interview, Yee "Curie" Hoen describes her life as a single, female Chinese immigrant living alone in the Sunset Park neighborhood of Brooklyn. Leung recounts the process of getting a job as a disk jockey at a Chinese radio station and her promotion to supervisor of the Programming Department. She discusses neighborhood ethnic relations and crime (including being mugged). Hoen tells of her leisure activities; singing karaoke and opera, attending Sunset Park's traditional Chinese festivals, and watching soap operas. Interview conducted by Ka-Kam Chui.
Brooklyn Historical Society collaborated with the Chinatown History Museum (now the Museum of Chinese in America) in order to conduct a series of oral histories with residents of the Sunset Park neighborhood of Brooklyn. The Cantonese, Mandarin, and English language interviews focused on what was then a new presence of Chinese and Asian immigrants concentrated along Eighth Avenue. Among the topics that are explored in the interviews are tensions between different groups of Chinese immigrants, crime and safety in the neighborhood, Sunset Park's relationship to Manhattan's Chinatown, and how long-term residents of Sunset Park had adjusted to the area's "newcomers."
Citation
Hoen, Yee, Oral history interview conducted by Ka-Kam Chui, August 15, 1993, New Neighbors: Sunset Park's Chinese Community records, 1994.007.13; Brooklyn Historical Society.People
- Brooklyn Chinese American Association
- Hoen, Yee
- Mak, Paul
Topics
- Chinese Americans
- Community organizing
- Crime
- Emigration and immigration
- Festivals
- Housing
- Immigrants
- Local transit
- Opera
- Radio
Places
- Brooklyn (New York, N.Y.)
- Chinatown (Brooklyn, New York, N.Y.)
- Chinatown (New York, N.Y.)
- Sunset Park (New York, N.Y.)
Finding Aid
New Neighbors: Sunset Park's Chinese Community records