Owners of Chenpapa Give $5,000 To Charity On Last Day Before Retirement
HALIFAX – For 35 years, the owners of Chenpapa have been known, not only for their great Asian cuisine but for their kindness and generosity. On Saturday, February 6, Yi Chiao Chen and Pi Yeng Chen served the last of their customers before retiring. But, true to their nature, the couple did one last act of generosity by donating $5,000 of the money they made on their last day to IWK.
Pay Chen, Yi Chiao and Pi Yeng’s daughter, who lives in Toronto, has been receiving an outpouring of kind messages and memories from longtime customers on her Twitter account. For many people in Halifax, the Seaport Farmers Market won’t be the same without Chenpapa.
“They have customers who still see them through the decades,” explained Pay. “They are very loyal to my parents.”
“I think it’s quite sweet that they will give them gifts at Christmas. My mom will Facetime me and will want to show me the homemade treats that people have left for them.”
Yi Chiao and his wife Pi Yeng immigrated to Halifax from Taiwan in 1977. For most of their lives in the city, the couple was self-employed through their various food establishments, such as Alderney Landing and the old West End Mall.
Starting in the 1980s, Chenpapa became a staple of the Saturday farmers’ markets in downtown Halifax. In 2010, Chenpapa moved to the newly opened Seaport Farmers’ Market location, where they would become one of the few vendors open throughout the week.
Pay recalls how, despite not having a lot of money, her folks would always try to give what they could. International students in Halifax would often get to know the couple at Saturday markets, where Yi Chiao and Pi Yeng would make sure the youngsters had something to eat.
“For a lot of international students, they found comfort in an older couple that was like a grandma and grandpa who could speak their native language,” says Pay.
But becoming a beloved business couple in Halifax came with a lot of sacrifices. To Pay, it seemed as though her parents never stopped working in order to make ends meet, and there was no such thing as a day off.
“For many years, they didn’t have a lot of money. Growing up, they worked seven days a week. My memories are of them always working.”
“They worked early in the morning and they worked straight through the night.”
As Pay explains it, Yi Chiao and Pi Yeng have opposite work personalities that created a recipe for success when combined. Pi Yeng is the superior cook, while Yi Chiao is a customer-pleaser with his sense of humour.
“My Dad’s the funny one, he’s a bit of a clown. My Mom does the cooking; my Dad isn’t particularly skilled in the kitchen, so my Mom’s the workhorse,” says Pay with a chuckle.
“My mom works at five times the speed of my dad.”
Because of their hard work, Pay and her only brother got to live a life of opportunity. Pay went into a career of television production and even wrote for children’s TV shows. Her brother is currently working for the RCMP.
“They were working so we could have more choices and opportunities; the opportunities they didn’t have as immigrants,” explains Pay.
“That’s very much the immigrant story: the parents that come over, they work really hard, they may work jobs that they’re overqualified for because they want to give their kids the opportunities they didn’t have.”
Even though the Chens worked a lot, they were able to form a tight-knit group with the other hardworking vendors who gave up their weekends to make some money. At the end of the market day, the vendors would often give each other small gifts of their homemade products to take home.
“None of the vendors had much to eat during the day or had any time to drink,” said Pay. “By early afternoon, they’ve been up and working for hours and what’s left over gets shared around.”
“My mom will come home with the most random vegetables because maybe that’s what didn’t sell that day and a farmer gave her a case of it.”
Even though the Chens will be sure to miss the community of market vendors, it was the right time to retire under the circumstances. Covid-19 has been especially difficult for restaurants and eateries. And to top it all off, the Seaport Farmers’ Market is moving to a new location.
But one thing is for sure: Many Halifax consumers and customers won’t soon forget the mark left by Chenpapa.