For many people, retirement and relaxation come hand in hand after decades of working 9 to 5. But instead of slowing down, Joseph Young is spending his golden years immersed in various Chinatown improvement projects.
Inaugurated last year as "honorary mayor of Chinatown" by Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell, Young says his top priorities for the historic district are safety and sanitation.
"Chinatown is much safer than what people think, and we have more people walking around," says the 89-year-old retired dentist in a gentle yet firm voice. Several vendors in the area credit the city’s recent sit-lie ban for cleaner streets, he says.
"They tell me, ‘There’s no bad smell now. Before, I used to wash down my storefront with a bucket every morning,’" Young says.
Barbara Young, Joseph’s wife of 60 years, says her husband serves as a liaison between the community and Caldwell and the City Council.
"It started with these little projects in Chinatown. He was the one that talked to the merchants, the non-English speaking," she says. "Part of it is he’s friendly to people and to different groups. He creates goodwill and camaraderie."
Joseph Young’s charming disposition was apparent on a recent morning stroll through the district, as he and his wife were greeted warmly by merchants and passers-by. With his fluency in Cantonese, along with his ties to various Chinese organizations, Young helps maintain clear lines of communication between the Chinese community and the city.
"It helps with him (Young) taking the message from us to the city," says Paul Min, who operates a produce stall in Kekaulike Market. "And we have so many different (Chinatown) associations. He knows all of us. Put together, we have a better idea of improving the area."
Young’s long list of community service includes posts ranging from Honolulu Fire Commission member to legislative chairman for the mayor’s Downtown/ Chinatown Task Force. He is also involved in many cultural clubs, including the Lung Doo Benevolent Society and the Chung Shan Association.
Young’s Chinatown memories date from his hanabata days in the 1930s, when he and cousins would spend spare time catching fish in the river edging Chinatown. At that time, he says, his father, an immigrant from Sun Ming Tung, a village in China, struggled with English.
"My father wasn’t good at communication skills, had nobody to help him translate," Young says. "Now the people asking me for help, they call me by my Chinese name and ask me all kine stuff."
Young’s work in Chinatown started when he was a boy, helping his father deliver produce. Back then Young’s father and two uncles operated a grocery store in Oahu Market.
As a teenager, he helped to raise and catch fish at Kuapa Fishpond — then operated by his father — in Hawaii Kai, and sold mullet, awa and shrimp to Chinatown markets.
He would wade barefoot into the shoreline to lay nets. "On a good day we (would) catch at least a hundred pounds" of fish, Young recalls.
Although education was important to the teen, he left Saint Louis School early to work as a custodian and aircraft mechanic apprentice at Hickam Field before he was drafted into the Army Air Corps and served in the Philippines during World War II. While in the military he studied vocabulary words in Reader’s Digest magazines to prepare for his eventual enrollment at the University of Hawaii.
Young went on to study dentistry at Washington University in St. Louis, then met and married Barbara soon after his return to Hawaii. They have four children and nine grandchildren.
The secret to feeling spry and healthy, Young confides, is keeping the mind active with matters such as community service. Noting that an active body helps as well, Young says he and his wife practice tai chi and take "luk tung kuen" exercise classes. They also enjoy outings to attend their grandchildren’s sports events, and make it a point to trek once a week to Chinatown from their Aina Haina home to buy groceries.
Barbara Young says that given her husband’s fond memories tied to childhood days in Chinatown, it’s fitting that his retirement years are dedicated to caring for the neighborhood and its people.
"It’s a beautiful circle," she said. "We’re, as a family, very fortunate that things do fall into place."
