Joseph Yu Kai Wong () is a Canadian physician and philanthropist. He founded the

Yee Hong Centre for Geriatric Care The Yee Hong Centre for Geriatric Care in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, is a residential community for senior citizens, particularly those unable to care for themselves. History The Yee Hong Centre for Geriatric Care, formerly the Chinese Community ...

in 1987. He served as the chairman for the

United Way United Way is an international network of over 1,800 local nonprofit organization, nonprofit fundraising affiliates. Prior to 2015, United Way was the largest nonprofit organization in the United States by donations from the public. Individual Un ...

Greater Toronto The Greater Toronto Area, commonly referred to as the GTA, includes the Toronto, City of Toronto and the regional municipality, regional municipalities of Regional Municipality of Durham, Durham, Regional Municipality of Halton, Halton, Regional ...

from 1990 to 1992 and has been honorary chair since 1994. He was named Man of the Year in 1986 by the

Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part of Torstar's Daily News Brands (Torstar), Daily News Brands division. ...

, and one of Toronto's most influential people in 1991 and 1992 by

Toronto Life ''Toronto Life'' is a monthly magazine about entertainment, politics and life in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. ''Toronto Life'' also publishes a number of annual special interest guides about the city, including ''Real Estate'', ''Stylebook'', ''Eati ...

magazine. He was awarded the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada () is a Canadian state order, national order and the second-highest Award, honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the Canadian Centennial, ce ...

in 1993. Wong was the winner of the 2005 Power of Humanity award, presented to him by former

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

President

Mikhail Gorbachev Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev (2 March 1931 – 30 August 2022) was a Soviet and Russian politician who served as the last leader of the Soviet Union from 1985 to dissolution of the Soviet Union, the country's dissolution in 1991. He served a ...

. Most recently, he was named one of the 180 most influential people in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

's history by the

for the city's 180th birthday, under the Community Builders category.

Personal life

Wong came to Canada from Hong Kong to study medicine at

McGill University McGill University (French: Université McGill) is an English-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill University, Vol. I. For the Advancement of Learning, ...

, but he studied electrical engineering due to restrictions to foreign students. He later studied medicine at

Albert Einstein College of Medicine The Albert Einstein College of Medicine is a Private university, private medical school in New York City. Founded in 1953, Einstein is an independent degree-granting institution within the Montefiore Einstein Health System. Einstein hosts Doc ...

Yeshiva University Yeshiva University is a Private university, private Modern Orthodox Judaism, Orthodox Jewish university with four campuses in New York City.

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

and returned to

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

after graduation. A practicing family doctor in Toronto, Wong is a married father of two sons.

Social activism

Wong became interested in social activism after viewing the "Campus Giveaway" report by CTV's '' W5,'' as he felt the report inaccurately portrayed Canadian university students of Chinese descent by depicting them as undeserving foreign students. This event prompted Wong to help found the

Chinese Canadian National Council The Chinese Canadian National Council (CCNC) (), known in the Chinese-Canadian community as Equal Rights Council (平權會), is an organization whose purpose is to promote equity, social justice, inclusive civic participation, and respect for d ...

and serve as its first president. Wong also helped to campaign for the redress of the discriminatory Head Tax applied to Chinese labourers entering

from the late 19th century to 1947. As a board member of the

of Greater Toronto, Wong helped to change the organization's image by enlisting the city's Chinese community to hold their first-ever fundraising Walkathon in 1983. He later served as chair of the board and remains an honorary chair. Wong is also the founder and chair of the Association for Learning and Preserving the History of World War II in Asia in Toronto ( Toronto ALPHA). His work with Toronto ALPHA has led to the province of Ontario to become the first jurisdiction in the western world to include the history of the Second World War in Asia in the high school curriculum.

ALPHA Education

In 1997 Wong founded Alpha Education, a Toronto-based NGO that focuses on educating individuals on the overlooked events of

World War II in Asia The Pacific War, sometimes called the Asia–Pacific War or the Pacific Theatre, was the Theater (warfare), theatre of World War II fought between the Empire of Japan and the Allies of World War II, Allies in East Asia, East and Southeast As ...

. In particular, ALPHA emphasizes the values of justice, peace, and reconciliation with respect to the atrocities committed by the

Imperial Japanese Army The Imperial Japanese Army (IJA; , ''Dai-Nippon Teikoku Rikugun'', "Army of the Greater Japanese Empire") was the principal ground force of the Empire of Japan from 1871 to 1945. It played a central role in Japan’s rapid modernization during th ...

during the time. The organization fulfills its mission through its "four directions": educating educators and students, empowering youth, supporting research, and connecting with the community. Its current projects include the sorting, transcribing, analyzing, and annotating a large collection of primary sources related to World War II in Asia, and material includes images, videos, interviews, and official documents, as well as the creation of ALPHA Education University Chapters, which work to extend ALPHA's mission across Ontario. It has participated in several events, which include a parliamentary motion by federal parties in Ottawa to pass a motion to recognize Japan's use of sex slaves during World War II, the production of

Iris Chang Iris Shun-Ru Chang (traditional Chinese: 張純如; March 28, 1968November 9, 2004) was an American journalist, historian, and political activist. She is best known for her best-selling 1997 account of the Nanjing Massacre, ''The Rape of Nankin ...

's the ''Rape of Nanking'', the Memorandum of Understanding, and the support of Private Member's Bill #79, an Act to proclaim the Nanjing Massacre Commemorative Day.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wong, Joseph Yu Kai Canadian people of Hong Kong descent Canadian philanthropists Canadian geriatricians Living people Members of the Order of Canada McGill University Faculty of Engineering alumni People from Toronto Year of birth missing (living people)

Personal life

Social activism

ALPHA Education

See also

References