By Katie DeRosa
“Let’s go to the Fullhouse,” one girl says. Her friends giggle as the three walk briskly past the bar, pulling their fur-trimmed hoods closer around their flushed cheeks and pulling their slender bodies closer into each other. But there is nothing to laugh about. Nowadays, they wouldn’t dream of stepping foot inside the bar.
Looking at the trendy Chinatown bar on Somerset Street West, once a popular hangout for local Chinese youth, one would never guess the tragedy that took place inside Fullhouse Karaoke and Bubble Tea last December.
Past the dusty glass doors, a dim light emanates from a single bulb in the front entrance. The wooden hostess stand still has a polished veneer. Down a short flight of stairs is a small statue of a golden lion in front of a modern bamboo screen which partitions the rest of the bar. A tilted Christmas tree looks out of place but shines with colourful bronze and purple bulbs. But the doors remain locked.
The bar was the scene of two brutal murders that shocked the quiet Chinatown community. Linhai Tian was riddled with 10 bullets while Tailang Liu was shot once in the face. Both 20-year-old students at Algonquin College, the men were killed after a confrontation in the backroom of the bar, according to media reports at the time.
The shooting has put the issue of safety on the minds of the Chinatown community and its residents.
But Somerset Coun. Diane Holmes says local police and city officials are looking to improve the dark image that has shadowed Chinatown since the murders, one step being a safety audit of the area.
Holmes and Staff Sgt. Samir Bhatnager, of the community police station on Somerset, are just two of the people working on the audit planned for later this month and managed by the Women’s Initiative for a Safer Environment, a community-based organization which promotes safety starting from the outside.
Elsie David, programming director for WISE, said communities usually call for a safety audit after a tragedy occurs. Holmes says after the murders many local businesses approached her and requested the safety assessment to fix the problems in the area.
A safety audit is where groups of people from the community take to the streets at night and look for areas that are poorly lit, dark corners, large shrubs or places that might make someone feel vulnerable.
Chinatown, which is centred between Preston and Bronson down Somerset, is marked by tiny red- brick apartments, their dusty windows shrouded by tattered curtains, cramped food markets with assorted fruits and fish for sale out front sheltered only by torn awnings and some of the best Chinese noodle houses and bubble teas in the city.
But marring most buildings is angry graffiti, one intricate mural spells out “Welcome to Chinatown” in angular black letters.
Holmes says graffiti is just one of the problems she is trying to rectify in Chinatown. More important she is trying to reduce the presence of drug dealers and prostitutes, all factors that cause people to label Chinatown as a bad area.
“Some of the streets are quite dark,” says David. “There are lots of alleyways,” which she says make people feel hesitant to walk alone at night. David said even areas that appear cluttered can give the appearance of abandonment.
Holmes says the committee will distribute flyers to businesses encouraging as many community members as possible to participate in the safety audit March 29 at 7 p.m.
“Obviously the community’s been shattered a little bit by the shooting and this allows people to take their community back,” says Jeff Keays, the councillor’s community liaison.
“It’s the community coming up with solutions to problems they identify as [threats] to public safety,” says David.
In a group of five high school students — one a resident of Chinatown — walking in the neighbourhood, 14-year-old Lina Huynh is the only girl. Barely over five feet tall the petite girl said she wouldn’t feel safe here without her friends.
Even the boys, all wearing black puffy coats and sporting a diamond earring stud or two, admit they wouldn’t come here alone at night.
But Ivy Wong, who has owned the Global Giftware across the street for more than 10 years, says she considers Chinatown a safe place.
“I was very surprised,” she says about the shooting, “because it’s very quiet this neighbourhood. There are no gangsters.”
Media reports originally labelled the murders gang related but, according to Bhatnager, investigators have now ruled that out, simply calling the shooting a “random violent act.”
Outside the Kowloon market, the Chinese grocery located next to the bar, a bulletin board has flyers for a match making service and a used car sale. But what stands out among them is a poster that reads “wanted” in bold black letters at the top. Below is the face of the man accused of the brutal crime, Fu Kwok Wei, described as armed and dangerous.
Some of the local youth said they know of gangs hanging around the area.
“There are gangs but they don’t do much,” said Lin Li, a 20-year-old student at Carleton University.
“If you don’t cause conflict, nothing will happen,” she said.
Li grew up in Chinatown but last year her family decided to move to a quiet suburb near the university.
“A lot of the families moved out, now it’s just apartments.”
Li kept her waitress job at Bubblicity, another trendy hangout for youth, located beside the Fullhouse.
She said her parents urged her to quit after the shooting but said now she just takes more precautions. She said her manager walks her to her car at midnight when her shift is over.
Many business owners in the area noticed a drop in business shortly after the shooting but people are slowly starting to trust the community again.
“People were scared but only for a moment,” says Li. “Now everything is okay.”
Wong said her business suffered for a couple weeks after the shooting but now everything is back to normal.
“I wouldn’t say everything’s necessarily back to normal,” says Bhatnager. “It’s business as usual, but I don’t think anyone in that community can forget the two students who were gunned down for no reason.”