Montville Residents Work to Integrate Chinese Culture

Margaret Lam Yen came to America about 45 years ago from Hong Kong. For about 40 of those years, she has been living in , and despite her origin, she considers the township her home.

"Montville's always my hometown," she said Monday.

The philanthropist and entrepreneur said that despite cultural barriers, she has never had trouble making friends in the United States.

"It's easy for me to make friends with Americans," she said. "If you have a group and everybody is wanting to do something for the community, it's easy to get along and it's easy to make friends."

Yen and her husband, David, were named  William Paterson University Legacy honorees Friday and honored with a special reception at The Villa in Mountain Lakes. The event was attended by many friends of the Yens, as well as Montville Township Mayor Tim Braden, Montville Township Committee members and board of education members, Yen said. More than 40 Montville residents celebrated the Yens in support.

"I feel really honored and I have lots of good friends there who attended," Yen said.

The Yens have worked to promote the fusion of Chinese culture in America by supporting the William Paterson University Center for Chinese Art and serving for multiple Chinese organizations locally. Margaret Lam Yen founded the Chinese Festival of New Jersey, according to her biography on William Paterson University's website, and David Yen, who was born in Bejing, China, but fled with his family just before World War II, served as vice president of the New Jersey Alliance for Preserving the History of World War II in Asia and president of the Edison Chinese Lion's Club.

Margaret Lam Yen said she learned English when she was a child and that her father inspired her at a young age to promote her culture wherever she went.

"(To) promote Chinese culture into the American society, this is my wish all my life. I wanted to do this and I have a chance to be able to do this," Yen said.

Yen said that after moving to America, she found that many Chinese immigrants seemed unhappy. She was determined to work toward creating a culture that helps Chinese people feel more comfortable with American society. She has helped do this by not only teaching Chinese people about American culture, but by teaching Americans about her culture as well.

"I think a lot of Americans didn't understand, didn't know about China and its a good thing to help everybody understand each other," she said.

Yen said she is grateful for the university's center, which she and her husband support through donations, and the work being done there to integrate the cultures.

"I am grateful to William Paterson because they respect my approach to be able to fund the Center for Chinese Art," she said. "Establishing something like that is a two-way channel."