It's great to see another story of immigrants contributing to Saint John - the growing Chinese community has already transformed parts of Millidgville around the University - I look forward to seeing some of it Uptown. Wouldn't it be nice to see some neon signs in Mandarian on King St or Prince William?
Published Monday February 12th, 2007
Appeared on page C4
Pair of vocal mayors help Chinese immigrants open bar
CANDICE MAC LEAN
TELEGRAPH-JOURNAL
They weren't perched on the bow of a ship like the stars of the 1997 film Titanic, but when mayors Norm McFarlane of Saint John and Grace Losier of Grand Bay-Westfield belted out a classic Celine Dion love ballad Friday, they drew a crowd all the same.
The pair sang the epic My Heart Will Go On to a group of about 30 people who gathered for the opening of Sunstar Lounge, a karaoke bar set in the city's historic uptown.
Owner and third-year University of New Brunswick student Yuki Huang and her boyfriend and partner Yang Fu thought Saint John could use a hit of Chinese popular culture.
"We wanted to do something different for international students, especially Chinese students," Huang said, amid a buzz of local business people who showed up for the afternoon opening. "Karaoke is very popular in China."
When McFarlane reluctantly took the karaoke stage, his deep, sometimes off-key voice clashed with Dion's. Losier, however, carried the tune quite well.
Everyone in the room giggled at the pair's efforts.
Before his Dion debut, McFarlane touched on the importance of immigrants opening new businesses in the city.
"To me it puts the roots down. Once they bought a building it means they're going to stay here and create a business here," he said, noting that while in China, he had dinner with Huang's parents and brother. "We're becoming a very cultural capital in New Brunswick and for Atlantic Canada because we've got different nationalities coming in."
Huang's parents plan to move to Saint John in March or April.
Sunstar Lounge, located on Grannan Street just around the corner from Germain, is a fresh addition to the local bar scene. It has four individual karaoke rooms, each set with modern mustard-yellow carpet and furniture, each equipped with its own karaoke set that will play any choice from 10,000 Chinese karaoke songs and 200 English songs.
The bar's two larger rooms - one a disco dance area and the other a bar area - were filled with people sipping on Chinese herbal tea Friday.
"We want to feature local people too and show them our culture," said Huang, 27.
"It's important to take people in the community and make them feel welcome and provide them with a sense of place," said Losier, noting that the Huangs may do business in Grand Bay-Westfield when they relocate.
"Allowing them to have some things they enjoy from their own country here where they've made their home, I think, is just extremely important in us maintaining their presence in our community."
The individual karaoke rooms at the bar can be rented out to a group of friends privately, Huang said, or enjoyed by a group on a regular bar night. She said the final operating hours are still preliminary, but Sunstar Lounge should be open from noon until 2 a.m. seven days a week.
In the afternoon, the bar would cater to business people who can drink Chinese tea and eat snacks.
"Today I stand here really happy because we've used our own hands," Fu said. "I hope our business will
be successful."
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