Multiple Migrations

I knew I couldn’t visit every Hakka enclave in the world. As I wrestled with the choice of my next destination, a fortuitous meeting with a Canadian filmmaker, Cheuk Kwan, sent me to Toronto. There, I met more than a dozen Hakkas. They weren’t from just one country but, rather, they represented the worldwide Hakka migration in one place. Some had started in China, migrated once, and then moved again, settling in Canada. Others were descendants of Hakka nomads who had settled elsewhere. This was a new wave of migration, largely created when former British colonies gained independence in the twentieth century. Most Hakkas in this new Canadian wave are now professionals and businesspeople living in the metropolitan area around Toronto.