There is no computer at the Wongs’ Benevolent Association in Vancouver’s Chinatown.
Everything is done by mail, from paying utility bills to contacting members for an event, just as it was when the Chinese community organization was founded in 1912, said vice-president Jeffrey Wong.
“We actually stamp and print out invitations and write addresses, and send them all out through the post,” said Wong.
But in a blow to the association, Canada Post has announced it plans to shut Chinatown’s only post office at Main and East Hastings streets on Nov. 12 as part of sweeping cost-saving measures.
It has triggered a campaign to save the facility, which supporters have called a lifeline for the community.
Canada Post said all its retail operations and business decisions go through an extensive review process to evaluate customer needs.
Wong said the post office is vital to the area, while a petition to save it from closure says it serves some of the city’s most vulnerable and marginalized residents.
Wong said it was “definitely a shame” to hear of the planned closure, which would force cultural association operators and seniors in the neighbourhood to find another way to communicate.
“Especially in these days and age, the elders are getting older,” said Wong. “If they start moving out, then it’s just another inconvenience to everyone in the community.”
Activist group Save Chinatown YVR launched the online petition, calling on Canada Post not to stamp out the Chinatown post office.
The petition says the post office serves low-income people, seniors, migrants and people with disabilities who rely on the mail for government documents and income assistance cheques.
“The loss of this branch would deepen inequity and isolation in a community already facing displacement and gentrification,” the petition says.
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On Monday, the post office was busy with customers, many of them seniors who were shocked to be told it was scheduled for closure.
Vancouver resident Danny Lei said in an interview in Mandarin that the closure would make seniors’ lives more difficult.
“It’s OK (for those who) have cars and drive, but it will cause lots of inconvenience for many seniors,” said Lei, who lives outside the area.
He sighed as he said the Canada Post decision was beyond their control.
“There is nothing else we can do, even though many residents in Chinatown are upset with that,” said Lei. “Things change with the times, and there is no way to stop it.”
Melody Ma, who started the petition, disagrees.
“This isn’t just a business closing or a franchise closing. This post office is a lifeline to the neighbourhood,” said Ma.
“The neighbourhood is already facing rapid gentrification from real estate development pressures as well as government policy. It’s the last thing this neighbourhood needs, like a post office being ripped out of the neighbourhood that people depend on.”
Canada Post said the decision to close that location came after it and the business owners “mutually agreed.”
It said customers can visit the post office in the London Drugs on Abbott Street, about 650 metres away.
Maggie Lord, board president of the non-profit Carnegie Community Centre Association, said that is too far for residents, including herself.
“We have so many seniors and people with disabilities in the area. They’re walking with their walkers and their wheelchairs,” said Lord.
“Most people in this neighbourhood don’t have cars. A lot of us walk. Some of us take the bus, but even taking the bus out of our area to do something different is a big deal,” Lord added.
Lord said there had been a post office in Chinatown since 1897, when one opened on the same block as the current Main Street location.
“I’m going to take a motion to my board to write to Canada Post to say we need this post office. I don’t know how that will go, but we’re gonna keep on,” she said.
Ma said she wanted all levels of government to work out a solution.
“But the most important thing is for Canada Post and for all relevant authorities to find a solution to keep the post office open in Chinatown as soon as possible,” she said.
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