Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Tindus]

Here's an interesting read from the Vancouver Sun.

http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/story.html?id=c8dcdc31-d9fd-4283-ac86-72ff26923d83

The golf course's decision to limit its membership to English speakers comes shortly after the LPGA decided a very similar thing.

[grnmle]

Not really an issue. They have actually done so for years. And also it is a private club so lay off. It is people like you, that raise issues like this, who *beep* everything up.

[mithridates]

[gangpae]

[caniff]

[Tindus]

Golf club limits members to English speakers

Brad Ziemer, Vancouver Sun

Published: Friday, August 29, 2008

COQUITLAM, B.C. - A prominent private Vancouver-area golf club has developed an English-language-only policy for its prospective members, similar to the one the LPGA Tour has said it plans to implement for its international players.
Vancouver Golf Club in Coquitlam, B.C.'s second-oldest golf course, has recently begun rejecting membership applications from individuals who can't speak English.
General manager Brent Gough, whose club has played host to two previous LPGA Tour events and hopes to land another one within the next five years, said the club changed its policies after it encountered problems with some of its new Korean members.


The Coquitlam area has a large Korean population and Gough said many members of the local Korean community had joined the club in recent years. Some of them were not proficient in English.
"It got to a point where we had signed up a lot of Korean members and it wasn't long until they were breaking many of the rules and weren't participating because they couldn't read anything or speak or communicate with us," Gough said Thursday.
Gough said the club has rejected a number of recent applicants from a variety of ethnic backgrounds who have not been able to demonstrate they can speak English.
The LPGA Tour made headlines this week when it announced plans to mandate that the tour's international players learn to speak English.
Gough said Vancouver Golf Club has had no complaints about its language policy. And recent court decisions appear to give private clubs significant rights to enforce rules that would not be accepted outside their boundaries.
Last year, 36 women golfers at Marine Drive Golf Club in southwest Vancouver lost their fight to access the club's male-only Bullpen lounge. The B.C. Court of Appeal ruled that the private club's exclusionary policy does not violate the B.C. Human Rights Code. That ruling upheld a B.C. Supreme Court judgment in favour of the club and against the female complainants.
Bruce Kwon, a Coquitlam realtor of Korean descent who has been a member at Vancouver Golf Club for more than 10 years, said the English policy does not seem to be a big issue among fellow Korean-Canadian members.
"We are all treated very well at the club," Kwon said. "Personally, I really enjoy it and I think it's nice that all the members can talk to one another."