Asia in San Francisco
June 20, 2000
By Carolyn Gan, biweekly social columnist
This summer you don’t have to travel far to get to Asia. The San Francisco Asian Art Museum is presenting a blockbuster of an exhibit, titled The Golden Age of Chinese Archaeology from now through Sept. 11. Culture vultures will love the scope and quality of nearly 240 discoveries unearthed in China over the past 20-30 years. Jade, bronze, silver and gold vessels, as well as, several life-size terra-cotta warriors from Xian are included in this awesome exhibition.
This month a special preview by Asian Art Museum docent Sally Yu Leung with arrangements by director Joyce Chan and the Foster City Art and Culture Committee gave suburbanites from the South Bay and East Bay a glimpse of these treasures. A reception was hosted by Man-U-Imports.
Reaching for the Stars
Summer readers may be interested in the new book Pan Am: An Aviation Legend, which recounts the history of the China Clipper and is documented by Barnaby Conrad III. When the flying boat first crossed the Pacific Ocean in l935, it was seen as a landmark in transportation technology, comparable to the initial supersonic concord jet flight and Apollo II landing on the moon.
Conrad noted that Anna May Wong, the famous Chinese movie actress in the early l930s, was a passenger on the China Clipper. Back then, it took almost 60 hours from San Francisco to the Philippines. But the social atmosphere and accommodations made the trip very comfortable. Airmail and cargo were carried on board. Definitely worth reading for the young and old.
Pan Am: An Aviation Legend by Barnaby Conrad is published by Woodford Press, 5900 Hollis St., Emeryville, CA 94608.
Model Fundraiser
On June 7, nine models from Shanghai stood statuesque and svelte as over l,200 patrons attended the benefit fashion show, dinner and dance for the San Francisco-based nonprofit Self-Help for the Elderly.
In the record-breaking event, over $500,000 was raised in the one evening. The Dragon Ball featured artist Chen Yifei and his New Silk Road Fashion Design Co., a live auction, a silent auction, and a grand auction of l0 luxury items. Directing the up-to-date choreography and fashion show was Chen’s able coordinator Gary Qian. Super Dad honorees were Sit Fung, Wing Koo, Kenneth Lai, Dr. Rolland Lowe, Bing Mah and Michael Zan.
Congrats
Women Health Care Executives named Jennie Chin Hansen, executive director On Lok, “Woman of the Year”.
Kudos to Darien Louie and KTSF Channel 26 as they were honored by Oakland’s Chinese Community Council recently.
Good luck to Oakland Asian Students Educational Services (OASES) as they recently won a grant of $l0,000 from Pacific Bell from the SBC Foundation.
Celebrating a five years birthday and a successful IPO was SINA.com, whose executives hosted a gala Community Appreciation Dinner at the Double Tree Hotel in San Jose, June 29.
‘Beat’ Takeshi Kitano’s Kikujiro Plays Cute, Rather Than Cool
June 8, 2000
By Kimberly Chun
Director and actor Takeshi Kitano has one of the hardest faces in Japanese film. Even before his near-fatal motorcycle accident, which temporarily paralyzed half his face, he had the cruel, cold, granite countenance of a shark. Kitano looks like a man with something—something very sick—to hide, and he’s used that to his advantage, playing a sadistic officer in Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence and assorted cops and yakuza in his own films. But what that poker face really conceals is a sentimental heart.
The majority of this thuggish-looking filmmaker, comedian, artist and TV personality’s earlier films, from Violent Cop to Hana-Bi (Fireworks), have been violent and chilly exercises, full of tongue-in-cheek humor, and imagery that seems inspired by the static frames of Ozu and the whimsy of Japanese advertising imagery. America had Quentin Tarantino. Kitano had the franchise of blood, guts and cheesy diners on the other side of the Pacific, north of the adrenaline-fueled Hong Kong action school. He injected a sense of Zen stoicism into the heated formula, and juxtaposed his irony with innocence—carefree moments of tough guys shooting the breeze on the beach, rather than shooting each other in the back. But even Kitano had to admit that it had become a formula of sorts. Hence, Kikujiro, which revels in the director’s sticky, sweet center.
Kikujiro is a cinematic equivalent of a child’s What I Did Last Summer report. School’s out for the season, and 9-year-old Masao (Yusuke Sekiguchi) has nothing to do. He lives with his grandmother, his father is dead, his mother is absent and his playmates have gone away for summer vacation. But after he discovers the photo and address of the mother he never met, he decides to look for her. His grandmother’s friend enlists her loutish husband Kikujiro (Kitano, who acts under his comedian pseudonym, “Beat” Takeshi) to accompany him on a trip to visit his mother.
Naturally, the role of father figure fits Kikujiro like a cheap suit, or in his case, a shrunken Hawaiian shirt. In the film’s funniest scenes, Kikujiro gambles away all the child’s money at the track after thinking that the boy would give him luck. A kid-hating, good-time bully in the W.C. Fields mold,Kikujiro heaps abuse on the shy, patient Masao, who is the perfect straight man. Penniless, they check into a hotel, buy aloha garb and sunglasses and hang out at the pool, which allows Masao and the shocked hotel employees to check out Kikujiro’s tattoo of a bloody demon and his bizarre swimming, or more accurately, drowning, technique. Kikujiro can’t afford to pay the bill, but the entertainment value of his loudmouth, brutish behavior seems to offer a kind of compensation.
The pair has no money for transportation, so they start hitchhiking. It doesn’t help that Kikujiro’s method of enticing potential drivers to give them a ride is to call them names and bark orders at them. Along the way, they meet a girl who juggles, a bleached-blonde boy who break-dances, a writer who steals produce and sells them by the side of the road, a pair of sweet-tempered bikers, and some temple festival bullies.
At the end of their journey, the duo encounter a surprise that is so devastating that Kikujiro suddenly develops a conscience, cuts the verbal abuse and gives Masao an “angel bell,” a good-luck token that he bullies out of the bikers. It’s as if the reality of Masao’s situation was too much to handle, and the film takes a turn for the sweet and goofy from which it never recovers.
The fun and games that in most Kitano movies offer brief, refreshing respites from the outbreaks of violence begin as a way to cheer up Masao and never seem to end. When two village hoodlums metamorphose into demons that resemble Solid Gold dancers, the final shreds of believability are finally dispensed with. What started out as a familiar tale of a reformed rascal and a shy orphan develops a terminal case of cuteness.
Too bad. Kitano has talked about breaking out of stereotype with Kikujiro. After films such as Sonatine and the most recent, award-winning Hana-Bi (Fireworks), he felt like he was stuck in a rut of violent gangster films, and he wanted to identify with his characters, while still “upsetting people’s expectations in a positive way.” It’s clear Kitano identified with Kikujiro. He has said that his father, a craftsman and unrepentant gambler who plunged his family deeply into debt, inspired the character. And the boy is a lot like himself, amused, scared and attached to a lovable scalawag.
But in spite of the fact that Kitano has said that this film is a departure, it doesn’t satisfy. Kikujiro may not be bathed in blood, but it retreads some familiar territory or tropes. As in many of Kitano’s films, there’s a road trip. There are fields of crops and idyllic scenes of Japan’s countryside. There are funny hats made of plants from the fields. There are comic or light-hearted moments en route, such as impromptu ball games or silly magic tricks. And there are the epiphanies when the antiheroes arrive at their final destination, which is usually the beach.
In the end, Kikujiro seems like a variation on a journey very much taken, with few new sights. The only new revelation is that Kitano can fall prey to self-indulgence, in the name of innocent fun, as easily as the next layabout.
Kikujiro opens June 9 at the Clay Theatre in San Francisco, the Act I in Berkeley, the Towne in San Jose, the Aquarius in Palo Alto, and the Northgate in San Rafael.
Fiesta Filipina Focuses on Family
June 8, 2000
Anh Lan Hoang
Diversity is an accurate description of the Bay Area. And one population that has greatly contributed to today’s ethnic landscape is the Filipino American community. During June 10 and 11 at the Civic Center Plaza in San Francisco, the 7th annual Fiesta Filipina 2000 will draw thousands in celebration of the June 12, 1898 Philippine Independence from Spanish rule. Philippine House of Representative speaker, Manuel Villar and Senator Gringo Honasan will share their thoughts and feelings on Filipino Independence.
Bay Area resident and founder of Fiesta Filipina, Gerry Palabyab, proclaims that “Fiesta Filipina’s mission statement is to celebrate and promote Filipino culture through the holding of concerts, exhibitions, festivals, and different kinds of forums about the Philippines.”
Palabyab, a business expert, entrepreneur, father, intellectual, and 6th grade teacher, eagerly gives impromptu crash courses on Filipino culture and history to anyone willing to listen. His passion for learning and teaching is evident by involvement with the Filipino community; Manila Bulletin U.S.A, the largest newspaper serving the Bay Area; and Fiesta Filipina. Through Fiesta Filipina, Palabyab hopes to unite Filipinos of all generations. Most importantly, the gathering symbolizes the past, present and future of Filipino culture.
Fiesta Filipina combines education and entertainment by providing hours of fun for the family. Ethnic folk dancers in colorful costumes can be viewed in addition to salsa performances. Following the shows, the dancers will demonstrate the steps and teach the origin of the costumes to anyone interested. This year’s performers include actor Richard Gomez, host Allan K and
co-host Ruby Rodriguez of the comedy show Eat Bulaga, comedian Alan K., singer Jocelyn Enriquez, pop group Freeverse, and the R&B trio Interlude.
For the kids, the members of the NBA Warriors will display their basketball tricks throughout the day. There will also be petting zoos and pony rides. Delicious Filipino food is going to be served all day.
Tickets are $7 one day, $10 both days, $3 for seniors, and free for all kids under age 12. Bring the family to Fiesta Filipina for some fun!
The Ascetic of Desire
June 8, 2000
A novel of the Kamasutra
By Yi Hai Lai
- He who wishes to obtain virtue, prosperity and sexual love in this world and the next must know this text thoroughly and, at the same time, become a master of his senses.
—Kamasutra 7.2.58
In the Golden Age of Indian history, kings, courtesans and scholars alike pursued the knowledge of kama—the sensual life. It was during this opulent time that the Kamasutra was written. The widely read treatise charted all there was to experience in sexual relationships, although virtually nothing is known about its author. In The Ascetic of Desire, author Sudhir Kakar spins the tale of Vatsyayana, a celibate guru of sensuality, and the path that lead him to the birth of the Kamasutra.
The Ascetic of Desire is a richly structured narrative of stories within a story. Through the sight and sensations of an idealistic Brahmin student, we enter the world of 4th century India. Driven by an internal restlessness, the young narrator encounters the elusive Vatsyayana and his beautiful wife. A shifting relationship develops between the young scholar and the older sage, as Vatsyayana recounts his youth in the city of Kausambi, a flourishing center of wealth, art and culture.
Vatsyayana reveals his unorthodox background as a child born in a brothel, where his mother and his aunt reigned as renowned courtesans. His education of the sensual life begins with his aunt Chandrika, a vivacious and volatile woman brimming with sexual confidence and the secrets of her trade. Vatsyayana quietly worships his aunt’s beauty as he observes the intricate play of sexual politics between her and her lovers.
Under the same roof of his early childhood, there is also the cook Ganadasa, who shares with him a connection to the senses. One passage reads: From Ganadasa , I learnt that sex is like cooking…there is nothing an accomplished man or woman can, like a good cook, do to each other which will not heighten the savor of passion…
It is in Ganadasa’s kitchen that Vatsyayana first understands the concept of differences, in taste and appetite. In him, this fires a desire to experience the larger world.
The appearance of his father marks the beginning of the next period in Vatsyayana’s life. A wealthy merchant constantly on the road, Vatsyayana’s father had been a sporadic and distant presence in his life.
When Vatsyayana turns 11 years old, however, he joins his father in his travels to the far off lands of Bactria and Kashgar, at the foothills of the Himalayas. In the desert landscape and the expatriate world of trading posts, Vatsyayana begins to see the man that his father is, and imagines journeys through unknown landscapes…in which the son gradually came to resemble the father—fearless, self-confident and audacious.
Alas, the physical journey is cut short by tragedy, and Vatsyayana returns to Kausambi to a much-declined level of activity at his mother’s house. The demands of the profession and the heart had begun to wear on the spirit of his beloved Chandrika. Vatsyayana is now under some pressure to support the household financially.
Through an amusing twist of fate, the king Udayana, an enthusiast of the sensual life, befriends Vatsyayana. In Udayana, the would-be sage has found a patron. Thus begins the transformation of the student of life and letters into the controversial scholar of eroticism.
At the point that our young scholar-narrator finds the sage, the old scholar’s notoriety already precedes him, a circumstance that veils the truth of his nature. There is the question of his self-imposed celibacy, and the role of his attractive, intellectual wife. How is the young scholar changed and changed again through his time spent with Vatsyayana?
The revelation of the whole picture runs side by side to Vatsyayana’s telling of tales. The dance of prose and emotional undercurrents culminate into a burst of destiny, where the personal past and future of the young and old man intersect inextricably.
Sudhir Kakar crafts luscious layers of mythology, psychological texture, and historical detail into this rhythmic tale. His characters sometimes read as aspects of the human psyche rather than individuals. This quality complements the book’s ability to span the history of sensuality and culture. The insights into power, sexual love, and social structure find strong echoes in postmodern life. In part a homage to the Kamasutra, in part beautiful story telling, The Ascetic of Desire is a highly enjoyable and thoughtful read.
Sudhir Kakar is a well-known author in the fields of psychoanalysis and eroticism. His non-fiction works includes, Intimate Relations, Tales of Love, and Sex and Danger among others. The Ascetic of Desire is his first novel: 301 pp. Woodstock, N.Y.: Overlook Press. $25.95.
National Day of Protest for Wen Ho Lee
June 8, 2000
ities to join forces on behalf of incarcerated scientist
By Julie D. Soo
The Coalition Against Racial and Ethnic Scapegoating (CARES) has called for a National Day of Protest to mark the sixth month of incarceration of Dr. Wen Ho Lee.
On June 8, civil rights groups in San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, Albuquerque, Detroit, Miami, Seattle, Salt Lake City, and several other cities across the country will take to the streets to express their outrage over what they say is the racial and ethnic scapegoating of Asian Americans and in particular, former Los Alamos scientist Dr. Wen Ho Lee.
The groups are demanding due process and fair treatment for Lee and that he be freed on bail. The 60-year-old scientist faces life in prison and has been held in solitary confinement since December 1999.
Despite lax media reports, the FBI, after a lengthy investigation involving more than 40 agents, did not produce evidence that Lee passed on classified information to foreign agents and therefore, did not charge him with spying. Instead, Lee has been charged with mishandling classified information, which according to recently released Department of Justice reports, was reclassified to heightened security levels only after a case was to be made against Lee.
Dozens of civil rights groups and individuals, including California elected officials State Senator Martha Scutia and Assembly members Mike Honda and Kevin Shelley, have officially joined CARES.
“The goal of our campaign is to ensure that no more Asian Americans will be treated like Dr. Lee,” said Daphne Kwok, of the Organization of Chinese Americans (OCA) in Washington, DC. “We want to stop this discrimination, stop the stereotyping that Asian Americans and other people of color are somehow suspect simply because of how we look.”
“Every American should be alarmed when the civil liberties and rights to due process of any persons are denied—and we are alarmed by the presumption of disloyalty of Asian Americans that has led to the criminal prosecution of Dr. Wen Ho Lee, “ said Karen Jo Koonan, national president of the National Lawyers Guild.
“Portraying all Asian Americans as potential security risks in the face of political tensions with China smacks of the wartime hysteria that led to the imprisonment of loyal Japanese American men, women, and children during World War II,” said Dorothy Ehrlich, of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Northern California.
Alberta Lee, Dr. Lee’s daughter, will join protesters in San Francisco on June 8 at a noon rally at the Federal Building. Among those in support will be renowned author and civil rights activist Helen Zia; Rev. Cecil Williams and Janice Mirikitani of Glide Memorial Church; S.F. Supervisor Michael Yaki; Michelle Alexander of the ACLU; Karen Jo Koonan, national president of the National Lawyers Guild; George Ong, national OCA president; Diane Chin, executive director of Chinese for Affirmative Action; Lillian Galledo of Filipino American Civil Rights Advocates; Rene Saucedo of La Raza Centro Legal; and Manuel Garcia, an employee at Lawrence Livermore National Labs.
For more information, call (415) 274-6750 or log onto www.asianlawcaucus.org.
The Grande Finale
June 8, 2000
By Loan Kim Ly
After weeks of waiting and fussing over hair and wear, the much anticipated prom day has arrived. For the anti-prom goers, who probably decided to go thanks to the persuasion of their peers, the morning of prom holds little or no excitement. Having to wake up early on a Saturday just to get ready poses no thrills. Now, on the other hand, those of us who are excited about the big night tend to be either worried, or cool and energetic.
The members of each sex have different schedules and must go through different regimens to look their best and make it a night to remember. Fun and memories are the actual priorities, whereas the whole sex factor—most prom nights, after all, end in hotel rooms—has become so over-worked that it doesn’t pose a threat or cause pressure.
What Girls Face …
The fundamentals of the appearance factor consist of four components: hair, nails, make-up, and how the dress fits. Girls choose to do their hair and nails at shops, or they get it done by friends or do it themselves.
- You wake up early for once, and you’re pumped to get ready. Throwing off the heavy blanket and adjusting to the sunlight sifting through your lace curtain, you can’t stop thinking about all the things you must do. Luckily, your nails are already done—you don’t regret having to wait for two hours in the shop along with all the other last minute manicures and pedicures. After taking care of your daily routine of personal hygiene, your next stop is the hair salon. Upon your arrival at stores with names like “Sally’s Hair and Nails” or “Studio 35”, you grab a magazine and become lost in the crowd of other girls who sit in plastic chairs with their issues of Vogue and Mademoiselle against the wall. You’re called to the next empty chair. At around 4:45, you’re hair is done and you wonder why you paid so much money for what your friend calls “a overrated Afro.” Shaking your head as you look at your wristwatch you see that you are late to meet your date. Rushing home, you feel the pressures of prom night once again.
What Guys Face …
The main word you hear from guys pre-prom is “pick-up, pick-up, pick-up.”
- It’s not bad enough that you have to wear a penguin suit the entire night, but perhaps even worse, you must act the role of a tuxedo-clad dandy. You wake up knowing that you will have to play chauffeur and delivery boy. As you visualize your checklist of things to do, the phone rings and it’s your date. After questions have been answered and times and places to pick her up have been double-checked, the conversation ends. Knowing that girls will inevitably be late, you decide to proceed with the day’s mundane activities.
The End of a Chapter
Although my prom day was not as hectic, it also involved a lot of waiting around, lagging, and last minute problems. Since I did my nails ahead of time and decided to go easy on the make-up and hair, I was able to spend the day at home. In fact, the only time I had to leave the house was when I picked up my date’s boutonniere.
I was bored most of the day but around 3 o’clock I felt the rush. First of all, my cousin had borrowed my curling iron and I was out of mousse. Then I found that all my friends were stuck in the shop, which meant they would be late. And lastly, the boutonniere looked nothing like the picture but instead resembled a rose on steroids surrounded by some leaves.
After retrieving my curling iron, I rushed to do my hair (which completely straightened two hours into the evening). Everybody finally arrived at my house at 6:30 p.m., which was the time we were supposed to be at the hotel. We plastered on smiles and tried to make the best of it. Lo and behold, I went to put on my dress it was still too big. Luckily one of my friends had duct tape and through teeth clenching and muffled screams, my friends taped my dress to my body. We were off and on our way. Not so fast. Halfway to the hotel, I realized that I forgot our tickets. Finally, at about 7:30 p.m., we arrived fashionably late along with all the other couples.
There were more problems, though. First off, the line for pictures was disorganized and long. The photographers were irritable and shouting out orders like drill sergeants. People were scrambling about trying to collect money for pictures. Others had trouble just finding their dates. When I heard one of my favorite songs being played, I asked a friend to keep my place in line for pictures. And I rushed to the dance floor.
The night started off slow. But after dining on rubber chicken and hard rice and finally getting photographed, it whizzed by. Toward the end of the night, the DJ began playing slow songs and the air filled with sentimental good-byes and farewells. Although I wished I could have stayed for the last song, my date wanted to leave early because most of our friends had gone.
The odd thing about it was that despite the pocket emptying, running around, and anxiety attacks, the night was worth all the fuss. After all, you’re only a high school senior once in your life.
Loan Ly will leave for college in the fall.
Literary Diversity and the American Book Award
June 8, 2000
Last week, I was honored in Chicago by the Before Columbus Foundation as a recipient of the American Book Award.
Why?
For the kind of stuff you’re reading now—more specifically for the compilation of my columns in book form, Amok: Essays from an Asian American Perspective.
The American Book Award is a little different from the other awards out there. It’s not the Pulitzer. Or the Nobel. Or the National Book Award.
In other words, it’s not about in-bred elitist circles prone to self-congratulation. No—for that we have our queen contests.
The American Book Award is different. Since 1980, the Before Columbus Foundation has banged the drum for a more accurate sense of America’s literary voices. If you were to look at other sources, you’d come away thinking America’s literary scene was more like a doilied tray of white-bread tea sandwiches. Not a pupu platter.
It’s messier than that.
The American Book Awards are truly American, a reflection of our country’s new multi-cultural blend of concerns. You want diversity, you want inclusiveness? (There, let’s get all the PC words out there in the open). Where else will you find a roster of literary winners that include writers who are Native Americans, African Americans, Latinos, Asian Americans, and folks affectionately referred to as “crackers”? The American Book Awards celebrates them all.
The “cracker” term is most instructive. Some would say “diversity” is just code for “ethnic,” and write off the awards as a bunch of PC hooey. But then one discovers the unique talent of Janisse Ray, a naturalist and environmental activist from Baxley, Georgia who lives on a farm and wrote a beautiful book called Ecology of a Cracker Childhood. Whites are part of the new multi-cultural America, don’t you know?
So are Asian Americans.
At this year’s awards, besides myself, there were three other Asian Americans, Rahna Reiko Rizzuto’s Why She Left Us, Lifetime Achievement winner Frank Chin, the original “Chickencoop Chinaman,” and Lois Yamanaka.
Yamanaka alone is a test of the integrity of the awards.
You think it’s sooooo PC? Try Yamanaka for size. I had never met her before, but only knew about her through the comments of readers and writers, mostly Asian who had violent reactions to her book, Blu’s Hanging. The criticism centered on the depiction of Filipino men. Let’s say by their actions, especially toward women, these characters made WWF wrestlers seem quaint.
When her book came out, my Asian American writer brothers wanted to muzzle Lois. I stayed out of the dogfight. I didn’t read the book. But when I met her last week, she had the heart of an islander, greeting people with kukui leis, and talking openly about being an Asian American writer.
The warmth of the artist will no doubt help me approach her words from a different perspective. But it also made me realize even more that diversity extends to content. Diversity of expression is about having more, not less.
Remarks by less charitable fellow writers had biased me against Lois. But in art, you don’t win any debates by quieting the disturbing voice. Lois’ recognition shows the American Book Awards are hardly incubators of the politically correct.
Which I knew already since they awarded me.
Said one Foundation member to me at the ceremony, “Filipino kids will see that you won. They’re going to discover they have a voice too. They’re going to want to write.”
I hope they do. I nearly stopped. After my undergraduate years at Harvard I was accepted to St. Louis’ Washington University writing program in its first year. It wanted to be like the famed Iowa writers program. But in St. Louis. I called it Iowa with an arch.
They also had Stanley Elkin, a Jewish satirical novelist I had idolized.
After my first batch of short stories, he asked me one question: “Why do all your stories have Filipinos in them?”
This was almost enough to throw my Olivetti Lettera 45 out the window.
Fortunately, there was a visiting professor who asked me another question. It was Ishmael Reed. Of my stories, he asked, “Why don’t you put MORE Filipinos in them?”
He was right. And I’ve spent most of my life putting Filipinos and Asian Americans in everywhere I leave a mark. We’re here. We belong. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.
(Amok: Essays from an Asian American Perspective is available through amazon.com, and 1-800-AUTHORS).
National Day of Protest for Wen Ho Lee
June 8, 2000
Cities to join forces on behalf of incarcerated scientist
By Julie D. Soo
The Coalition Against Racial and Ethnic Scapegoating (CARES) has called for a National Day of Protest to mark the sixth month of incarceration of Dr. Wen Ho Lee.
On June 8, civil rights groups in San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, Albuquerque, Detroit, Miami, Seattle, Salt Lake City, and several other cities across the country will take to the streets to express their outrage over what they say is the racial and ethnic scapegoating of Asian Americans and in particular, former Los Alamos scientist Dr. Wen Ho Lee.
The groups are demanding due process and fair treatment for Lee and that he be freed on bail. The 60-year-old scientist faces life in prison and has been held in solitary confinement since December 1999.
Despite lax media reports, the FBI, after a lengthy investigation involving more than 40 agents, did not produce evidence that Lee passed on classified information to foreign agents and therefore, did not charge him with spying. Instead, Lee has been charged with mishandling classified information, which according to recently released Department of Justice reports, was reclassified to heightened security levels only after a case was to be made against Lee.
Dozens of civil rights groups and individuals, including California elected officials State Senator Martha Scutia and Assembly members Mike Honda and Kevin Shelley, have officially joined CARES.
“The goal of our campaign is to ensure that no more Asian Americans will be treated like Dr. Lee,” said Daphne Kwok, of the Organization of Chinese Americans (OCA) in Washington, DC. “We want to stop this discrimination, stop the stereotyping that Asian Americans and other people of color are somehow suspect simply because of how we look.”
“Every American should be alarmed when the civil liberties and rights to due process of any persons are denied—and we are alarmed by the presumption of disloyalty of Asian Americans that has led to the criminal prosecution of Dr. Wen Ho Lee, “ said Karen Jo Koonan, national president of the National Lawyers Guild.
“Portraying all Asian Americans as potential security risks in the face of political tensions with China smacks of the wartime hysteria that led to the imprisonment of loyal Japanese American men, women, and children during World War II,” said Dorothy Ehrlich, of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Northern California.
Alberta Lee, Dr. Lee’s daughter, will join protesters in San Francisco on June 8 at a noon rally at the Federal Building. Among those in support will be renowned author and civil rights activist Helen Zia; Rev. Cecil Williams and Janice Mirikitani of Glide Memorial Church; S.F. Supervisor Michael Yaki; Michelle Alexander of the ACLU; Karen Jo Koonan, national president of the National Lawyers Guild; George Ong, national OCA president; Diane Chin, executive director of Chinese for Affirmative Action; Lillian Galledo of Filipino American Civil Rights Advocates; Rene Saucedo of La Raza Centro Legal; and Manuel Garcia, an employee at Lawrence Livermore National Labs.
For more information, call (415) 274-6750 or log onto www.asianlawcaucus.org.
Desegregated Labor
June 8, 2000
While some of our ancestors jumped off of Spanish galleons and swam to shore, or came here in semi-indentured status to work in agriculture or railroad building, others may have come here as merchants, students or free (but poor) laborers. Asian American history continues with stories of how our ancestors made a few bucks, started a small business, and ended up doing well for themselves and their families.
In reality, though, the stories don’t always tell the tale of the “American Dream.” Labor segregation has also been a constant theme for Asian Americans. We are not genetically pre-disposed to hold a laundry iron or spend our days in sweltering, steamy kitchens, as some thought we were in the 19th and early 20th centuries. And neither are we all technological drones or number-crunching madmen chained to a computer in the back room of a large corporation, as current mythology would have one believe.
Having worked in the commercial, academic, political, and government sectors over the last 20 years, I have seen how the “model minority myth” has created opportunities for Asian Americans. On the other hand, some stereotypes have held us back, and, in the broader scheme of things, even model minority myth confines, by perpetuating a hierarchical system with whites on top, and by allowing us to unfairly benefit at the expense of others.
For the commercial sector, I remember conducting diversity training for Fortune 500 corporations in the mid-1980s. Asian American technical staffs often complained that they were passed over for promotions because of their accents or because they were not used to the U.S. system in which those who beat their own drums were rewarded, while those who trumpeted the accomplishments of the team remained anonymous. Moreover, said the workers, managers liked them to stay in secondary positions on their teams because they didn’t ask too many questions or cause problems. Indeed, many were known for working extra hours, and were usually pretty smart. (Selective immigration of top students from Asian countries had fueled this perception.)
I worked with these Asian American employees to help them learn the corporate culture. But I also got managers to realize that they had to adapt to a global economy where the majority of future customers, colleagues, and business partners would be from cultures that valued relationships as much as daily profit margins.
Today, as a manager myself in an Internet start-up, I see plenty of Asian American executives. I spent a few weeks at an office of Lucent Technologies, where the vast majority of technical people had Asian backgrounds. There, no one complained that they couldn’t understand the accent of the manager who is from Pakistan, and no one cared that many of the workers brought food in plastic containers and ate with chopsticks. Labor segregation, at least in that facility, was non-existent.
When I first started teaching undergraduate and law school classes in the early 1980s, it was a rarity to see an Asian American. I fondly recall Neil Gotanda, Mari Matsuda, Jan Ting, and the other pioneers in the legal academy, reaching out to help at conferences. Today, a thriving Asian American Law Professor Group has a listserv, and just had a conference hosted by Eric Yamamoto, a law professor at the University of Hawaii. And recently, Fred Yen at Boston College Law School was named the school’s Associate Dean for Academic Affairs—he will now decide curriculum issues for all students, not just Asian Americans.
Historically, Asian Americans have gotten work in the government sector because, while the pay is lower than the corporate sector, there tends to be less discrimination. (Although before the 1970s, Asian Americans were excluded from some jobs because of their immigration or naturalization status). Today, there are several Asian American federal employee organizations in Washington, D.C., with Asian Americans in jobs from the top to bottom of governmental agencies.
Overall, Asian Americans have made a lot of strides in terms of workplace opportunity, through our own efforts and through the efforts of other people of good will. While more work remains, let’s savor the fact that an Asian American dressed in a tuxedo at a high-level reception isn’t necessarily assumed to be the waiter.
Some Groups See Rise in Teen Pregnancy
June 8, 2000
By Tom Lee
Asian Pacific Islanders currently have one of the fastest growing teenage pregnancy rates in the nation, at a time when U.S. teen births overall are decreasing.
According to a government report, in states with a high percentage of APIs, such as California, the birth rates of API teens under the age of 15 have jumped significantly between 1986 and 1996. In fact, of the state’s 61,107 teenage births in 1997—compared to 68,284 such births two years prior—2,779 were by API mothers, found the State of California, Department of Health Services.
Because of the rising number of APIs in the United States and the growing number of teenagers, teen pregnancy is expected to continue to be a problem. In California alone, the overall teenage population will grow 35 percent by the year 2005.
“Just from our experience in the community, we see pregnancy increasingly becoming an issue in the community,” said Rina Mehta, development associate at Asian and Pacific Islanders for Reproductive Health. “It’s more prevalent now because of the rising population.”
For the most part, however, the issue hasn’t been addressed. Prevailing myths of API communities being very affluent and privileged, said Mehta, lead people to doubt there’s a problem. “The general public believes APIs are well off, healthy and successful. It goes hand-in-hand with the model minority myth,” she said.
But the stereotypes and overall statistics are not necessarily an accurate reflection of the API community. Certain ethnic groups have disproportionally high rates of teen pregnancy, while others, such as Chinese, Korean, and Asian Indian groups, maintain the lowest rates of all populations. In particular, one ethnic group with a growing teen birth rate is the Cambodian community.
Births from Cambodian teen mothers made up 5 percent of all teen births in California, according to the 1990 U.S. Census. The only other API group that has more of such births is the Laotian community, which makes up 9 percent of all California teen births. The statistics for current figures will not be known until the 2000 U.S. Census has been tabulated, but API community advocates are predicting similar numbers, and they say the high pregnancy rates are largely due to poor socio-economic conditions in these communities. Indeed in 1990, 40 percent of Cambodian and 30 percent of Laotian families were living in poverty.
“There is a [correlation] between rates of pregnancy and Southeast Asian teens,” said Ann Cheatham, research coordinator for Asians and Pacific Islanders for Reproductive Health. “Their poverty rates are much higher, they don’t have access to health care services, and there’s a lack of access to education.”
Even with these ethnic groups increasing in population, mostly concentrated in California, no studies with formal statistics have been done to address the problems of these communities. And no studies will be implemented until the public perceives there to be a problem, said Mehta. “The lack of data presents a circular problem. With no data, there is no issue [to bring up],” she said. “There’s not a lot of research to address this problem.”
However, some have started to look into the problem. The Long Beach Unified School District, along with the city of Long Beach, where the largest Cambodian community in the United States lives, sponsored an informal survey of high school girls. Out of 400 female API students at Polytechnic High School, almost 80 percent said they experienced sexual harassment; 16 percent claim to have also been harassed by teachers or staff. Half of the girls who participated in the survey said the aggravation impacted their ability to learn, and negatively affected their participation in class and in extra-curricular activities.
This harassment, along with poverty rates, are root causes for the high rates of teenage pregnancy in the Cambodian community, Cheatham contended. “We believe harassment contributes to a large percentage of [the rates],” she explained. “We see sexual harassment especially in recently-arrived immigrant families. Being female and being immigrants are factors that stack up against them as targets. It reflects people’s racism and anti-immigration [mentality].”
Mehta agreed: “A lot of things need to be done or else poverty will equal inequality. We need to look at gender inequality. We need to eliminate sexism and racism from our society. These are the [underlying] causes of high [teenage pregnancy rates].”
Educating the communities about safe sex is one of the first steps that can be taken to help reduce the pregnancy rates. Even though sex is rarely talked about in these Asian communities, starting a flow of conversation is crucial in addressing the problem, said Mehta. “There are some barriers to talking about reproductive health and sexuality. People need to recognize it as a problem and be willing to talk about it,” she said. “That is just one of the barriers.”
SUNY Binghamton Wrestler Pleads Guilty to Attempted Assault
June 8, 2000
API advocates want the Justice Department to investigate
By Heather Harlan
Two white State University of New York (SUNY), Binghamton students pleaded guilty to charges stemming from an alleged bias attack against a group of Asian American students at the school. One of the Asian students suffered a skull fracture, cerebral hemorrhaging and a concussion from the Feb. 27 incident. Three others sustained less serious injuries.
Nicholas Richetti pleaded guilty to attempted assault charges on June 1 in Broome County court, He was sentenced to eight consecutive weekends in prison and five years probation. Richetti also agreed to make full restitution to the victims. During the court proceeding, he admitted to throwing the first punch during the attack.
Christopher Taylor pleaded guilty May 18 to disorderly conduct and was sentenced to 50 hours of community service and a $250 fine. As part of his plea agreement, the charges were reduced from second-degree gang assault.
Chad Scott is expected to be arraigned later this month after a grand jury indicted him on misdemeanor charges after rejecting charges of third-degree assault. The misdemeanor charge carries a maximum sentence of one year. Scott is currently free on bail after his initial arrest.
The three alleged attackers, who are all white and members of the school’s wrestling team, are accused of beating and kicking the four Asian American students outside of a dormitory while yelling racial slurs. Three of the alleged victims were Korean American, and one was Chinese American.
ºfter school disciplinary proceedings that were held in April, Richetti was expelled from the university. Scott was suspended for two years, and Taylor was allowed to remain in school.
Last month, the university administration ordered all members of the wrestling team to participate in programs on diversity, conflict resolution and alcohol awareness. The three alleged attackers were reportedly drunk during the incident, according to school officials.
A lawyer representing the Asian American students said she was disappointed with the outcomes of the criminal proceedings.
“Justice has not been served and we are seeking a federal investigation into the attack,” said Sin Yen Ling, an attorney with the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF). Ling urged members of the community to write to Acting Assistant Attorney Bill Lann Lee in support of a federal civil rights investigation.
At a press conference held at AALDEF’s New York office, John E. Lee, the most seriously injured of the Asian American students spoke out publicly for the first time about the night he was assaulted. “My friends and I were singled out and attacked because of the color of our skin,” he said. “I constantly wonder what would have happened if my three friends were not there to defend me. Would my attackers have just left me there? Would I have suffered permanent head injuries? Or the scariest question was, would I have died? I am not sure what the answers are, but what I do know is that had I been white, this would not have happened to me.”
Lee said he continues to suffer from his injuries and must take daily doses of medication and visit a doctor once a week, while continuing to attend classes.
In statements distributed at the AALDEF press conference, Asian American advocacy groups voiced support for Lee and the other Asian American students.
“The outcome so far of this case once again sends a strong current out to our community that individuals who commit racially motivated crimes are getting away with a slap on the wrist,” said George M. Ong, National President of the Organization of Chinese Americans, in a press release. “OCA urges the federal government to continue prosecuting this case until justice is achieved.”
Some called for stronger hate crime legislation. New York state does not currently have a hate crimes law in the books.
“How many more of our brothers and sisters must be killed or beaten before the government recognizes that hate can be the primary motivation for a crime?” said Remina Vinluan, co-chair of the New York chapter of Filipino Civil Rights Advocates (FiLCRA), in a written statement.
Already, a coalition including OCA, FilCRA, Asian Law Caucus and National Asian Pacific American Legal Organization have pledged to launch a letter-writing campaign and circulate petitions urging a federal investigation, said Ling. The FBI has already conducted a preliminary investigation. The results, which will not be released to the public, will be handed to the Justice Department. “Then it’s up to the Justice Department to pursue it or not,” said Ling.
Alleged Killer Faces Trial
June 8, 2000
Korean American accused of slaying ex-girlfriend in twisted love triangle
By Heather Harlan
The trial of a young heir to a Korean leather-goods fortune accused of brutally murdering a Columbia University law student began in New York City with an accusation that the killing was part of a twisted lovers game.
Prosecutors alleged Edmund Ko slashed the throat of ex-girlfriend Lynda Hong in an effort to prove his love to a jealous new girlfriend.
In court, prosecutors played a video of the crime scene, taken March 20, 1998. The grisly tape showed Hong’s barefoot, bloody body lying face down on the floor of her apartment amidst textbooks and papers. After viewing the tape, Hong’s younger sister, Amy began sobbing loudly and was led out to the hall by friends.
During opening arguments in Manhattan Supreme Court, Assistant District Attorney Ann Prunty said that Ko killed Hong, his ex-girlfriend, in her Morningside Heights apartment March 18, 1998 and took her wallet to give to his new companion, Claudia Seong, as a trophy to show what he had done for her.
Ko’s defense lawyer, Jack Litman, however, insisted in his opening statement that it was Seong, not Ko, who was responsible for Hong’s death. Litman said Seong was obsessively jealous of Ko’s former girlfriends and suggested that she ordered a friend, Jae Young Shin to murder Hong. Shin’s whereabouts are unknown; however, he is believed to have fled to Korea. Neither Shin nor Seong have been charged with any crimes in this case.
Both the prosecution and the defense described Seong, who is eight years older than Ko, as controlling, manipulative and obsessively jealous. Prunty told the court that four months before Hong’s murder, Seong repeatedly slashed Diane Kim, another ex-girlfriend of Ko’s, across the face, legs and head, while Ko and Seong’s younger sister, Young Joo, held her down. Charges in that case are pending in New Jersey. Seong also allegedly ordered Ko to sever ties with all his former girlfriends and other friends.
Hong, a young law student, had seemed so full of promise. She was expected to graduate in May 1998, and to begin work at the prestigious law firm Cravath, Swain and Moore. She had known Ko since their days as undergraduates at Cornell University.
Ko, too, seemed destined to lead a successful life, friends said. After graduating Cornell in 1996, he joined Macy’s executive training program. Six months later he was promoted to associate buyer. Around that time, friends say, he met Seong, who lived in Edgewater, N.J., with her 4-year-old daughter from a previous relationship.
After meeting Seong, prosecutors said, Ko’s life changed dramatically. Prunty told the court that Ko quit his job, became distant from his family, and moved into Seong’s apartment. At the same time, however, Seong remained jealous of Hong, according to Prunty. Ko remained in contact with Hong, though they had broken up years earlier.
Litman said that the day before the murder, in response to an order by Shin to stay away from Ko, Hong referred to Seong as a prostitute. Seong became enraged when she heard this and decided to have Hong killed, the defense attorney told the jury.
“Claudia Seong was making all the rules,” said Litman. “She wanted Lynda Hong dead. When she learned that Hong had called her a prostitute she sought revenge.”
The murder shocked the Korean American community when Hong was found dead two days after she was killed, lying in a pool of blood with her throat slashed ear to ear. Ko was arrested the next day and charged with her murder.
Prosecutors said physical evidence proves that Ko was the assailant.
Prunty said Ko’s hair was found on bloody clothing left at the murder scene. Prunty added that a bloody footprint found at the murder scene, as well as a phone call made from a pay phone around the corner from Hong’s apartment, can be attributed to Ko.
“The crime scene alone will prove to you that Edmund Ko killed her,” Prunty said.
Hong’s best friend Se Ok was on the phone with Hong minutes before she is believed to have died, according to Prunty. Ok is expected to testify that just before she hung up, the doorbell in Hong’s apartment rang and Hong said, “It’s Ed, I have to go.”
Litman said Ko does not deny being at Hong’s apartment that night, but denies killing her.
“He didn’t kill her,” Litman told the jury. “He spoke to her. He left in about half-an-hour.”
