David Lam fought racism with his philanthropy

By Blake Bromley

David Lam ended his battle with prostate cancer earlier this month. I was in Shanghai, and my wife phoned to pass on the sad news.
A quarter century has passed since David came into Vancouver’s attention through an article by Denny Boyd in the Vancouver Sun. Before then, no one had heard of the Hong Kong immigrant, and since then, David became one of the most public and cherished figures in B.C..
When Denny contacted David about the column, you wouldn’t believe how difficult it was to persuade David to go to lunch with him. David went because I convinced him that in the mid-80s in Vancouver it was important to demonstrate that Chinese immigrants donated to charity.
My arguments in favour of meeting with Denny focused on the good which could come from publicizing the generosity of a recent immigrant from Hong Kong. David agreed to go in order to gain a platform to encourage other Chinese immigrants to use a portion of their wealth for charity. Meeting with Denny in 1985 was not an exercise in self promotion. Instead, it was an exercise in David sacrificing some of cherished privacy to promote the best interests of his community.
David’s philanthropy affected the organizations he gave to, and also the city as a whole. David’s million dollar gift to Regent College was more than an enormous gift, for example; it became a watershed in Vancouver philanthropy.
And there was resentment back then -- not untinged by racism -- in certain establishment circles, towards this unknown immigrant who quietly raised the threshold of the “large gift” to one million dollars. Many people were initially more threatened than grateful. I have painful memories of going to meetings with charity boards and powerful Shaughnessy philanthropists, and explaining to them whom David Lam was, and that his money was “clean.”
But David persevered. He understood the strategic potential of philanthropy as well as anyone with whom I have worked. His public giving was directed to projects and institutions that worked to bring harmony and social progress to the communities in which he lived, rather than simply to his favourite charities.
When it came to choosing where to give, David never made any significant gifts without his wife, Dorothy’s consent. Dorothy frequently reminded David of the importance of giving to needs in their own community. She would quote Chinese proverbs on the merits of taking caring of their own, but she agreed with David they were also ultimately taking care of “their own” by being seen to take care of those who were not “their own.”
And when they did make large gifts to causes and charities in the Chinese and Christian communities, which was often, they didn’t publicize them because the Lams believed publicizing those cases would promote the Lams rather than the best interests of charity.
Because of the size and frequency of their gifts, the press attributed far more wealth to David and Dorothy than they ever had. In fact, David and Dorothy gave in a very considered way. They gave out of a deeply Christian concept of stewardship and a disciplined commitment to help others.
And they gave because even though they did amass considerable wealth, they never forgot their memories of having almost nothing. The year after the 1966 riots in Hong Kong, they left everything behind and immigrated to Vancouver. With the mindset of an immigrant who knew what it was to begin a new life in a foreign country with no finances, Dorothy kept a small amount of gold to be prepared for that contingency.
It was my privilege to become friends with David and Dorothy. The first time they came to our house for dinner after becoming Lieutenant Governor, he promised to have his driver take my children aged 8, 10 and 12 for a joyride in his official limousine. Then he remembered that the car could not fly the Lieutenant Governor’s flag unless he was actually in it. Consequently, he piled in with my excited kids and they went cruising the neighbourhood looking for friends my kids could impress by being seen with the Lieutenant Governor. Dorothy, the Chatelaine of Government House, stayed and helped in the kitchen with the final preparations for the meal.
David, like Dorothy, who went years before him, will be missed. The family has asked that flowers not be sent to his memorial. But for me, remembering David without flowers is impossible. Some needy persons are going to get bouquets of flowers in memory of David, so that they can share some of the joy, solace and inspiration that David invariably found in flowers.