Hai Su, Traditional Chinese Medicine practitioner, “My mission is to help each person get better”

When he started working as a Traditional Chinese Medicine practitioner in London, Hai Su brought speaking notes to every appointment.
The notes contained all the questions he needed to ask in English: “Do you have pain? What kind of pain? How long have you had pain? Is it sharp or dull?”
Eventually he memorized them. But for a while in those early days, he still had to write down all the answers, too. That way, he could check the translation to be sure he understood.
“I needed to take notes for every single sentence,” said Hai, whose first language is Mandarin. “At that time, my English was still very poor.”
So, he did what he needed to do to communicate with the people he was trying to help. Because helping people has always been Hai’s goal.
That was back in 2006, shortly after Hai had moved to London from China to give his daughter the opportunity to grow up in Canada. It was before his daughter and parents  joined him in Canada, and before he bought his house in Northwest London or opened his own business.
Fourteen years later, Hai is now the owner of Shang Gong Chinese Medical Wellness Centre, with more than 3,000 clients in London’s Hyde Park neighbourhood. In 2010, he married his wife Lin Yuan-Su, who also immigrated to Canada from China, and together they had a child in 2016.
Hai attributes much of his settlement success to the kindness of Canadian friends he met through school and work after arriving in London. He was open to meeting new people and despite feeling insecure about his language barrier, he accepted offers to join new friends for visits, dinners and even Christmas parties.
He tried to stick to “small talk,” until he became more familiar with English, and he still enjoys connecting with people who speak Mandarin like he does.
Aside from language, the biggest challenge Hai said he faced in those early years was the food. He likes trying new things, but he missed the taste of food that he remembered from China.
He used to travel to Toronto to find the food he was craving, but as London has become more diverse and multicultural over the past decade, he is happy that food is much easier to find these days.
Hai said he would encourage all newcomers to Canada to try to “enjoy the journey,” and focus on what they want out of life in their new country, especially when they find themselves facing new obstacles and cultural barriers. His dream of helping people has motivated him.
And his wife, Lin Yuan-Su said Hai’s positive attitude has played a big part.  
“Nothing bothers him. He has a calm demeanour,” Lin said. “He’s so focused on what he’s doing, the diagnosis and treatment of his patients. His mission is to help each person get better.”