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Fermín Chan, right, and Taiwan's Ambassador Tomás Ping-fu Hou, left in blue suit with back to the camera, paint the eyes on the dragon to begin the celebration of the Chinese-Panamanian Cultural Center's new library

The Chinese-Panamanian Cultural Center expands

photos and story by Eric Jackson

The late businessman Fermín Chan Fong-tien, an immigrant and naturalized Panamanian who in his time headed the Chinese Association of Panama and other community organizations, is now honored by a new wing of the Chinese-Panamanian Cultural Center, the Biblioteca Fermín Chan, a library with a small auditorium. The departed community leader's son, also named Fermín Chan, the ambassador from Taiwan, Tomás Ping-fu Hou, and Juan Tam, a PanCanal retiree, community historian and activist, were among the dignitaries on hand for the celebration.

Also particating were students from the Instituto Sun Yat-sen, a private school with instruction in Mandarin and Spanish and classes in other languages that has an excellent academic reputation.

This reporter was somewhat taken by surprise, having received an email from Tam about a book presentation to be held at the new facility a couple of days before and not knowing the larger context of the author's special day.

Arriving a half-hour or so early, the opportunity was taken to browse through the library and its collection of Chinese, Spanish and English books. The illustrated cookbooks immediately caught the eye and some recipes were quickly noted, but alas, no books in English or Spanish specializing in the spicier of China's regional cuisines. (That would make sense, in a way, as the great majority of the members of Panama's Chinese community trace their roots to Guangzghou province, with its famous Cantonese food.) Many of the books were donated by members of the local Chinese community, and some apparently by the government of Taiwan. The library includes a quiet and brightly lit reading area and a number of computers with fast Internet connections.

In a few minutes the celebration started out downstairs with the painting of the dragon's eyes, and spilled out into the parking lot with the actual dragon dancing.

The high school boys danced the dragon...

while the girls kept the beat

Then the guests, dignitaries and journalists from the local Spanish, Chinese and English media gathered upstairs for the presentation of Juan Tam's book, Huellas Chinas en Panamá: 150 años de presencia. The book will be the subject of a review in a later edition of The Panama News, and some of its subject matter that was some time ago presented to the Panama Historical Society was also reported upon in this online publication. It's a ground-breaking history of Panama's Chinese community, which constantly refers to the changing political, economic and cultural contexts of Panama, China, the Americas and the world as it explains what was going on with the particular people of its focus. An earlier draft had been translated into Chinese by Taiwan's consul in Colon, Jorge Shyu Guang-pu and published in that language.

(Chinese is a number of spoken languages or "dialects" that are not particularly mutually intelligible, but which all use the same written language. Written Chinese consists of ideograms, characters that each stand for a word, in contrast with other alphabets like the Roman one in which the English you are now reading is written in letters that represent sounds.)

A second-tier functionary from the National Institute of Culture (INAC) read a statement from the institute's director, Rainier Rodríguez, that was most notable for its acknowledgement that about five percent of Panama's population is of Chinese ancestry. For many years, mostly to save the minority white caste that dominates the Panamanian government and economic elites from embarrassing questions, the national censuses have not taken any data about race, ethnicity, languages spoken in the home or national origin. Thus this statement by a representative of the Torrijos administration, regardless of its accuracy or prominence in the presentation, was a break from recent official traditions.

Alexandra Scheldjerup, a more important personality on the national cultural scene than the INAC officials, spoke of her friendship with Juan Tam, of the Chinese contributions to Panamanian and world culture, of the triumphs and tragedies and difficulties that were the Chinese immigrants' lot. "Every immigrant is a hero, whether known or not," she opined.

Tam's book, Scheldjerup said, is "a work of first order for all of Panama," that for not only the Chinese it's a guide to "our culture, our roots and our multicultural present."

Ambassador Hou spoke in Mandarin, with Spanish translation. He began with a tactful a reminder of one aspect of Panama's underdevelopment, the lack of a world class library anywhere in the country. "Being a researcher is very difficult," he noted, even in the United States, with great libraries that are open to the public. "But here you have to go door to door, and for that I admire [Tam's] courage. If I ever have to do a doctoral dissertation, I'll consult with Juan Tam."

About the population figures, Hou admitted that "in Panama we don't have exact information on how many Chinese there are," but added that there are enough so that "at election time the politicians have to take the Chinese into account." He said that the Chinese, like the other parts of the Panamanian cultural mosaic, have made positive contributions and brought along some negative things with them as well, and noted that the Chinese culture is evolving as well, for example by the rising status of women. "Today in Panama, the Chinese community is fully integrated into society, and working together with others for a better Panama," he concluded.

Tam himself let the book itself do most of his talking, but also spoke of the long process of producing it and a few of the notable moments in Chinese-Panamanian history. One of them, in the photo montage on the book's front cover, is a somber-looking Arnulfo Arias standing next to a smiling Carlos Loo --- then the president of the Chinese Association of Panama --- a recognition of sorts by one of the Chinese community's most strident foes that the concept "Panamanian" has, had and always will have its Chinese element.

Cultural crossroads: Juan Tam embraces Alexandra Scheldjerup,

with Ambassador Tomás Ping-fu Hou in the background

Dragon dancing at dedication to Chinese-Panamanian Cultural Center addition
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