Lai, Chan and Chen all immigrated to North America around middle school age—young enough to assimilate into American culture, but old enough to retain fluent Chinese and be fully bicultural.
Chan, who was born in Hong Kong and went to elementary school in Taiwan, is the incumbent supervisor running for reelection in District 1, which covers the Richmond District. With a large Asian population and many Chinese-owned businesses, the neighborhood is considered a “second Chinatown.”
Lai, a former San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency board member appointed by Mayor London Breed, is an outspoken public safety activist with some moderates supporting her. She is running in District 3 to represent Chinatown, Nob Hill, North Beach and the downtown area. Raised in Hong Kong, she later moved to Canada and Shanghai before settling in the U.S.
Chen, a progressive labor union leader active in national Chinese American groups, is vying for the southwestern District 11 seat, which has the largest Asian and Pacific Islander percentage among all the supervisorial districts. She’s from Guangzhou and moved to San Francisco at the age of 15.
Read the full article here
