Douglas Jung: Difference between revisions

{{Short description|Canadian politician (1924–2002)}}

{{MoreUse citationsmdy neededdates|date=AprilMarch 20212023}}{{Infobox officeholder

| name = Mr. Douglas Jung

| death_place = [[Vancouver|Vancouver]], [[British Columbia]], Canada]]

| Major Ross Jung (brother)

| Flight-Lieutenant Arthur Ernest Jung {{Smaller|[[Royal Canadian Air Force|RCAF]]}} (brother)

| allegiance = [[Allies of World War II|Allied forces]]Canada

| branch = {{[[Canadian Army|Canada}}]], [[Special Operations Executive]]

| awards = * [[Canadian Forces' Decoration]]

| battles = [[World War II]]

* [[Japanese occupation of British Borneo#Liberation|British Borneo campaign]]

'''Douglas Jung''', {{Post-nominals|country=CAN|CM|OBC|CD|MP}} ({{zh|first=t|t=鄭天華|s=郑天华|j=zeng6 tin1 waa6}}; February 25, 1924 – January 4, 2002) was a Canadian lawyer, politician, military officer, and [[Special Operations Executive]] secret agent.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|title=Biography of Captain Douglas Jung SOA|url=https://www.burmastar.org.uk/stories/captain-douglas-jung/|last=W. Chong|date=|website=[[Burma Star Association]]|language=en|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160102221214/http://www.burmastar.org.uk:80/stories/captain-douglas-jung/ |archive-date=January 2, 2016-01-02 |access-date=2020-05-May 20, 2020}}</ref> A [[Progressive Conservative Party of Canada|Conservative]], he was the first member of a [[List of visible minority politicians in Canada|visible minority]] elected to the [[Parliament of Canada]], as well as the first Canadian [[Member of Parliament (Canada)|Member of Parliament]] (MP) of [[Chinese Canadian|Chinese]] and [[Asian Canadian|Asian]] descent in the [[House of Commons of Canada]].

Douglas Jung was born in [[Victoria, British Columbia|Victoria]], [[British Columbia]], on February 25, 1924.<ref>{{cite web|title=Douglas Jung|url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/douglas-jung|author=Edward Butts|website=[[thecanadianencyclopedia.ca]]|language=en|date=11 February 11, 2019|access-date=6 January 6, 2021|publication-date=}}.</ref> During his childhood, the [[Government of Canada]] passed numerous pieces of legislation that disenfranchised Chinese in Canada. Jung and a group of young men from British Columbia enlisted in the [[Canadian Army]] during [[World War II]] in order to change the status of Chinese Canadians. Jung explained his reasons for enlisting as: "Some of us realized that unless we volunteered to serve Canada during this hour of need, we would be in a very difficult position after the war ended to demand our rights as Canadian citizens because the Canadian government would say to us, "What did you do during the war when everybody else was out fighting for Canada? What did you do?" So a few of us volunteered to serve, and my group was probably the first to join up."<ref name="Lowe">{{cite web |last1=Lowe |first1=Wesley |title=Douglas Jung |url=https://www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/remembrance/those-who-served/chinese-canadian-veterans/profile/jungd |website=Veterans Affairs Canada |access-date=9 March 9, 2021}}</ref>

Although Jung enlisted in the [[Canadian Army]] in 1939, he did not receive his first assignment until 1944, mainly because politicians in Ottawa and Victoria did not want to deal with the issues of enfranchising the Chinese after the war. However, [[Winston Churchill]]'s wartime [[Special Operations Executive]] recruited Jung and a group of Chinese-Canadian soldiers into [[Force 136]], a team of secret agents who deployed to [[British Malaya]] to train local guerrillas to resist the [[Japanese invasion of Malaya|Japanese Imperial Army occupying Malaya]] and [[Singapore]]. The mission for the Asian Canadian soldiers was known as Operation ''Oblivion''. They received parachute training at Australia and prepared themselves to fight in [[South West Pacific theatre of World War II|South West Pacific]]. However, the operation came to an abrupt cancellation. Jung instead deployed to Japanese-occupied [[British Borneo]] and [[New Guinea]], and leadled his troops in [[search and rescue]] missions.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite web|title=Force 136: Chinese Canadian Heroes|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zyR-45QROac|last=|first=|date=10 November 10, 2017|website=Storyhive|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180404154046/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zyR-45QROac |archive-date=April 4, 2018-04-04 |access-date=20 May 20, 2020}}</ref>

[[File:Douglas Jung building.jpg|thumb|The Douglas Jung federal building.]]

On September 7, 2007, the Hon. [[Jason Kenney]], Secretary of State (Multiculturalism and Canadian Identity) announced that the federal building located at 401 Burrard Street in [[Vancouver]] would be named after Douglas Jung, as the first Chinese-Canadian elected to Parliament.<ref>{{Cite news|title=Blocked from polls as 'Oriental,' he now cherishes his vote|url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/british-columbia/blocked-from-polls-as-oriental-he-now-cherishes-his-vote/article624568/|access-date=2021-04-April 22, 2021}}</ref>

While marching with fellow veterans in 1995, Jung suffered a serious heart attack. He never completely recovered and died in 2002 due to related complications.<ref>{{Cite news|title=Lawyer-MP led a life full of firsts|url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/incoming/lawyer-mp-led-a-life-full-of-firsts/article1021136/|access-date=2021-04-April 22, 2021}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=Fong|first=Petti|date=January 9, 2002|title=First Chinese-Canadian MP changed stereotypes|work=[[Vancouver Sun]]}}</ref>

[[Category:Canadian politicianspeople of Chinese descent]]