Sue Tang: Giving with Passion and Building the Chinese-Canadian Community
Written by Deborah Lau-Yu
Images provided by Sue Tang
As a special spotlight on one of our committee members, Sue Tang is a special individual who has not only well-achieved in her professional career, she is also a role model when it comes to volunteering and building community. Recently, Sue was recognized as one of the Chinese-Canadian Legends, which celebrates many veterans in the community for their decades of achievement. Amongst other winners which included Dr. Chester Ho, David Leung, photographer James Lin, Jenny Pu, and Daniel Quan-Watson.
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Sue has volunteered her time and donated to many meaningful charities and organizations including SickKids Foundation, Fete Chinoise’s Love at Mid-Autumn, Yee Hong Community Wellness Foundation, Hong Fook Mental Health Foundation, Yellow Brick House, and the Chinese Professionals Association of Canada.
Having grown up in a poor family in Asia, Sue came to Canada to pursue university education to change her future. Through diligence, hard work and strong interpersonal skills, she forged a very successful career and she became the first Chinese vice-president at IBM Canada. At the height of her career, Sue suffered a setback when she lost her husband. It was charity work that gave her a way to find new meaning in life, which brought dance into her life. She competes regularly at dance competitions and exhibitions with her partner, and shares her experiences with others in the community. Through her passion for dance, she has planned and led many fundraising events for various charitable organizations, and has used dance to help seniors suffering from Parkinson’s and other chronic diseases with her “I Can Dance” programme. She also actively shares her experience to encourage young people to pursue self improvement.
It is important for our generation to have role models like Sue to look up to. She breaks past barriers and stereotypes and applies her passion to philanthropy in new and creative ways that empower others, and her immigrant story is a testament to the spirit of possibility when we put our mind to whatever it is we are set out to achieve.