India’s Global Talent
November 24, 2000
U.S. companies outsource to IT powerhouse
By Ron Chepesiuk
When the Gupta family goes to sleep in Virginia, more than 1,100 of their employees wake up to go work in a country that’s 12 time zones away. Rakesh, Anita and Neal Gupta are Indian American owners of TechBook, a Fairfax, Va.-based company that helps clients distribute content over the Internet. Their employees — software programmers, coders and support staff — work from the company’s plant located in Delhi, India. The “Delhi Model,” as TechBook executives like to call it, has been in operation since 1988.
“It’s the key to our success,” said Tom Cunningham, TechBook’s CEO. “The Indian talent we’ve recruited has saved us money and helped us grow.”
TechBook pioneered what has become a major trend in the American business scene. U.S. companies — from dot-com startups to multinationals — are turning to Asian countries, such as India, Singapore, Korea and the Philippines, for information technology (IT) workers. This past September, for example, Amazon.com announced its investment in a New Delhi startup Daksh.com to provide 24-hour customer service.
Reaching $51 billion in 1998, the industry of outsourcing business services is expected to grow to $81 billion in 2003, according to International Data Group in Farmington, Mass. While many countries are providing high-tech services to the global market, India, no doubt, has become the major player. Indeed, the National Association of Software and Service Companies reported that the country exports software and related services to nearly 95 countries worldwide, with about 62 percent of that total going to North America. Moreover, India’s National Taskforce on Software and IT Development estimates that more than 160 Fortune 500 companies are using Indian outsourcers. Smaller companies have followed the trend, as well.
Ten Reasons Why Businesses Outsource1) Reduces and controls operating costs
2) Gets access to world-class resources and capabilities
3) Improves the company’s focus
4) Shares risks
5) Eliminates cost of training internal staff
6) Meets tight deadlines by taking advantage of time zone differences
7) Infuses cash
8) Frees resources for other purposes
9) Makes capital funds available
10) Provides resources not available internally
“Outsourcing is the smart way of doing business in the global economy,” said Bill Plautz, co-founder and COO of the Boston-based startup U-Inspire.com, which provides inspirational and motivational content and services on the Web. Plautz and his co-partner launched U-Inspire.com in the late 1990s during his second year at Harvard Business School. They hired a U.S. company to do their business’s Web site design and programming, which in turn, outsourced the work to its affiliate in India. Plautz said that considering cost savings, they are “pleased with the results.”
2) Gets access to world-class resources and capabilities
3) Improves the company’s focus
4) Shares risks
5) Eliminates cost of training internal staff
6) Meets tight deadlines by taking advantage of time zone differences
7) Infuses cash
8) Frees resources for other purposes
9) Makes capital funds available
10) Provides resources not available internally
VIRTUAL EXCHANGE
Many factors are driving the shift toward outsourcing: an improved global technical infrastructure, new molecular software languages like Java and the emergence of virtual exchanges, such as HotBrain, eLance, Guru.com and webPRN, which have intensified the global search for IT talent.
“Technology has made it practical for our company to outsource,” Cunningham explained. “The product we deliver involves the movement of very little freight, and the information we deliver back and forth from India is captured electronically and transmitted via satellite.”
Plautz has used the virtual exchange eLance to hire programmers from India, as well as Russia and New Zealand. Venture capitalists have realized the vital role that virtual exchanges can play. Last year, for example, they poured $3.5 million into the Santa Clara, Calif.-based Hellobrain. In its first 11 months of operation, Hellobrain signed up 17,000 freelancers, 10,000 of them from countries outside the United States, including India.
Last September San-Francisco-based Guru.com announced that it had raised $44 million from several investors, including American Express, Texas Pacific Group and Credit Suisse FirstBoston.
“We are in the middle of a real economic shift in the way people are working, and there’s a huge opportunity to create a very valuable company in the middle of that movement,” said Guru.com co-founder Jon Slavet. Guru.com announced that it has signed up 300,000 freelancers and 50,000 hiring companies.
With a worldwide shortage of IT professionals — 850,000 in the U.S. market, 600,000 in Western Europe and 200,000 in Japan — the outsourcing model is expected to become even more prevalent.
“As the world gets more IT savvy, the United States will have to function in an increasingly competitive environment to fill the shortage,” said Ron Victor, president and CEO of Homeland Networks Corporation, which delivers audio and voice streaming content to Asian communities worldwide. Victor’s company has a production facility in Bombay, India, where local IT professionals help develop much of its software.
INDIA AT THE TOP OF THE GAME
India’s language, educational system and training programs have helped transform the country into an outsourcing superpower.
Indian industry officials estimate that more than 4 million technical workers in their country speak English. Victor believes that fluent command of English has given India a tremendous advantage in the outsourcing arena over other developing countries. “China and India has the same level of talent, but India has become a bigger outsourcing center because there are no communication barriers,” he explained. “Information and notes can be exchanged in English.”
Furthermore, despite its status as a Third World country, India already has an excellent educational system. “You can’t believe how seriously young people in India take their education,” said Indian American Himesh Patel, whose company Innhanse, an Orlando, Fla.-based company serving the hospitality industry, outsources software programming to India. “It’s not unusual for many of them to have multiple degrees in engineering, computer science and business.”
Furthermore, India’s work force is known internationally for its entrepreneurial spirit and a burning desire to succeed, said Patel.
A WIN-WIN SITUATION
Outsourcing benefits both U.S. companies and Indian IT professionals. For example, the trend is helping to relieve India’s critical IT worker shortage. This year an Indian government task force estimated that the country would have only 120,000 software professionals, but the demand would reach 180,000. That labor crunch could tempt 100,000 software engineers to go abroad in the next five years, according to India’s National Association of Software and Service Companies.
With outsourcing, however, Indian IT professionals don’t have to uproot themselves. They can earn a salary that while not close to what their U.S. counterparts earn, still gives them a comfortable living. Many U.S. companies even sweeten job offers with perks — free cars, apartments and payment for their children’s education. Even with those bonuses the cost of hiring Indian professionals doesn’t come close to what it takes to pay U.S. workers with equivalent qualifications, said Patel of Inhanse.
For example, Zubir Talib, the chief technology officer for i411, an 11-employee startup in Chantilly, Va., estimated that with outsourcing his company achieved a cost savings of about 25 percent. During the past two years, i411 has collaborated with teams of programmers in India to develop tools to distribute and filter content on wireless networks.
At TechBook the costs for outsourcing are 1/20 of what it would be to do the same work in United States, according to Cunningham. “If a U.S. company outsources and isn’t doing it in Delhi, it isn’t taking advantage of all the available outsourcing opportunities,” explained the CEO.
FYI
Undoubtedly, costs will rise as India’s economy grows, and this could pose challenges for companies wanting to establish a base there. Reuters recently reported that more than 20 Indian companies were planning to offer their shares on the U.S. stock exchange by the end of 2001. Two years ago, there were no Indian business listed on the stock exchange.
When outsourcing to a country 12 time zones away, an Asian American company will need to have good business sense. It’s important to check out references and reputation and to get somebody in India to look over the contract. The business should also make sure that management at the Indian outpost is familiar with how business functions in the United States. Moreover, given the possibility for misunderstanding, the company should provide the details of outsourced projects.
“If I tell the Indian partner that I want a cool Web site, it can mean a million different things,” Plautz said. “You need to be as specific as possible … We didn’t get everything we wanted when we outsourced to India, but we share some of the blame because we didn’t articulate well enough what we wanted.”
High-Tech Sweatshop Labor Suit Ends
November 24, 2000
Cambodian American settles with former employer
By AsianWeek Staff and Associated Press
A Cambodian American who claimed he was fired after refusing to do high-tech piecework at home for less than minimum wage has settled an unfair labor practices suit with a Silicon Valley company.
Financial terms of Kamsan Mao’s settlement with Top Line Electronics were sealed. Attorneys said last week it was the first suit challenging the electronics industry’s practice of paying below minimum wage to employees working from home.
“Mr. Mao stood up to his employers and won,” said attorney Doris Ng at the San Francisco-based Equal Rights Advocates. “The settlement marks a victory for other workers because it forces Top Line to stop using workers to manufacture computer components in their homes.”
Attorneys for this case have likened the use of piecework and low wages to sweatshop practices in the garment industry. “As with sweatshops in the garment industry, the electronics assembly industry depends upon the work of hundreds of low-wage, immigrant workers,” said Hina Shah, an attorney from the Asian Law Caucus in San Francisco.
The use of immigrants — particularly those of Vietnamese descent — to make electronics parts at home has been widespread in Silicon Valley since the early 1980s. At least a dozen local contract manufacturers, ranging from small companies to multibillion-dollar giants, have been involved in piecework arrangements.
The mostly immigrant labor force sometimes is paid as little as a penny per component, sometimes barely earning minimum wage.
Mao, 33, alleged San Jose-based Top Line forced him to work from home at night and on weekends after his daily eight-hour shifts. He said he was fired in 1998 after complaining.
“After working a full eight-hour day I would come home and work another three to six hours at night and on the weekends,” Mao said in a written statement. “Sometimes I worked seven days a week for months without a break.”
Mao claimed he was sometimes paid as little as $5 for three hours of labor as he built and repaired power supplies that went into computers eventually sold to computer giants Compaq and Dell, who were not named in the suit.
Mao and others were paid for each item assembled, so-called “piecework,’’ rather than by the hour. The practice is not illegal, but the pay rate must comply with minimum wage and overtime laws.
In addition, Mao said he was exposed to noxious fumes from chemical cleansers and the smoke of soldering irons.
As part of the agreement, Top Line has agreed to stop at-home work for its employees. Carolyn Knox, the company’s attorney on the case, was not immediately available for comment.
Mao said when “people are desperate for money” they are willing to work for low wages without being aware of labor laws. “They often don’t know the law because they just came from another country and can’t speak English,” he said. “Most of the people who do electronics assembly are Asian women … Some employers do not even pay these women minimum wage and mistreat them in other ways. They should get help and learn about their rights, like I did.”
School District Settles Over English Testing
November 24, 2000
Teachers fear exams will intimidate limited-English speaking students
By Joseph Hong
A second grade student who arrived in the United States less than a year ago with hardly any English skills is asked to take a classroom exam. The test begins and all the children start to fill in the scantron bubbles. The one student, though, becomes frustrated and embarrassed. The teacher attempts to comfort her and eventually tells her to “put your head down and just rest till the test is over.”
This is the scenario some teachers fear as the San Francisco school district gave up its court battle last week to exempt limited-English students from the state-mandated Stanford 9 achievement test, which is used to rank schools in comprehension and analytical skills.
“There are kids who actually cry …” said one Sunnyvale second grade teacher who requested anonymity. “It’s not fair, it’s a waste of time for these kids,” she said. “They may have the analytical skills, which they are testing for but they just aren’t fluent in English yet to answer the questions.”
Results of the SettlementAn out-of-court settlement between the San Francisco Unified School District and the state school board has provided the following criteria for testing limited-English students:
• Test scores alone will not be used against districts as part of accountability programs; districts facing sanctions solely because of low scores will be able to get waivers from the state.
• The state also agree to relax a rule designed to prevent teachers from raising scores by influencing parents of low-performing students to sign waivers exempting them from the test. Teachers were prohibited from speaking to parents about the tests’ financial impact or educational value. Now, the state has agreed that teachers and parents can discuss the tests and decide together on the waivers.
• The state agrees not to use poor scores against students when deciding whether they qualify for honors courses or special programs.
The San Francisco Unified School District was the only district in California that defied the state school board and exempted students with less than 30 months of English instruction from taking the Stanford 9 test given to students in grades two through 11 each spring.
• Test scores alone will not be used against districts as part of accountability programs; districts facing sanctions solely because of low scores will be able to get waivers from the state.
• The state also agree to relax a rule designed to prevent teachers from raising scores by influencing parents of low-performing students to sign waivers exempting them from the test. Teachers were prohibited from speaking to parents about the tests’ financial impact or educational value. Now, the state has agreed that teachers and parents can discuss the tests and decide together on the waivers.
• The state agrees not to use poor scores against students when deciding whether they qualify for honors courses or special programs.
As a result, some 5,400 students in the city have never been tested.
However, last Thursday the cash-strapped SFUSD signed an agreement with the state school board to test these students. In return, the district will be eligible for at least $640,000 the state withheld for not testing last year.
The Stanford Achievement Test Edition 9 is the only statewide mandatory exam given to schoolchildren. It covers reading, writing, math, and in the higher levels, history, science and social science as well.
It was given last spring to 4.4 million public school students, which was the second year California students took the test.
It’s a high-stakes exercise for schools as well as for students, since the state uses the results to reward successful schools and identify low-performing ones.
Cash funding is awarded to school districts based on meeting certain goals in test scores from one year to the next. Struggling schools that show academic progress are eligible for rewards of up to $150 per pupil and $1,600 per staff member.
But under the new agreement, the scores of students with less than 30 months English instruction will not be factored in the overall score of the district for potential cash awards.
State school officials have been saying that testing is the only way for school districts to be accountable for ensuring the success of every student.
“We don’t think that the test is harmful [to students] … It has always been our stance that we should test where they are academically in English … The only outcome may be additional remedial classes, which in the long term is very positive,” said Rae Belisle, staff counsel for the State Board of Education.
Some students may still be exempted if their parents request that they not take the test and the children meet certain requirements. But parents may not know their rights since the agreement states that “the school district and its employees shall not solicit or encourage any written exemption request on behalf of any child or group of children.”
Darlene Lim, president of the Association of Chinese Teachers and teacher at Gordon J. Lau Elementary School in Chinatown, said testing these children may put unwarranted pressure on them.
“When it is shown that students have weaknesses in certain skills, the parents push them on that … they become very anxious because of that. They feel pressure to raise the test scores because so much attention had been given to it.”
Associated Press contributed to this report.
Bitter Revelations
November 24, 2000
After decades of silence, former ‘comfort women’ demand apology, reparations
By Joseph Hong
At age 17, Soon Duk Kim was taken from her native Korea and sent to China to become a “comfort woman” — the euphemism coined by the Japanese Army during World War II for the estimated 200,000 young women, mostly Koreans, but also Chinese and Filipinos, enslaved for the purpose of providing sex to Japanese soldiers in military brothels in Northeast and Southeast Asia during the 1930s and early ’40s.
One of the many signs held aloft during the emotional rally. Photo by Joseph Hong.
Last Wednesday, in front of the downtown Japanese consulate in San Francisco, Kim now age 80, was joined by approximately 40 demonstrators, including civil rights organizers, a Buddhist monk, and several Korean drummers in a loud and emotional rally calling on the Japanese government to apologize officially and pay restitution.
The protesters marched in the streets chanting “Reveal the truth” and held up colorful posters with some reading “Japan Raped Our Grandmas.” Korean drummers pounded and danced as members of the Japanese consulate watched with curious onlookers.
The elderly Kim marched and chanted for an hour. At one point during the rally, she took the megaphone and began relaying her story to the crowd in her native Korean, but had to stop because she became too tired.
During a later interview, Kim talked about how, at the age of 17, she along with other unsuspecting women were manipulated, captured and brought to government sanctioned military brothels in Asia.
As a teenager, Kim knew that Korean women were being mobilized to help with the war efforts during the Japanese occupation of Korea in 1937. She and about 50 women were led to sign papers, which they believed were contracts to become factory workers in Japan. They were loaded on a ship. But when the women disembarked, they saw and smelled the rotting corpses of Chinese civilians. They soon realized they were not in Japan, but near occupied Shanghai, China.
Kim and the others were then taken to a so-called “comfort station” where long lines of soldiers waited their turn to have sex with the women in small rooms. For the next three years Kim and others were forced to have sex with up to 30 soldiers a day. Kim’s story resembles those of other women in her generation living in Asia, and those now living in the United States, who have come forward only in the last decade to demand an official apology and restitution from the Japanese government.
“I never knew about this till now and I’m a quarter Japanese … I’m just appalled,” said Jeff Tacorda while watching the rally.
The protesters ranged in all ages, from octogenarians to a group of high school students who skipped class to attend the rally. “We need public knowledge and general awareness of this issue …” protester Ann Menzi, 56, said. “Life has been taken away from them. They are old now and we can’t let this issue die away with them.”
Another protester, Japanese American and civil rights activist Yuri Kochiyama, who over 30 years ago held the assassinated Malcom X in her arms as he lay dying, took the megaphone and declared to the crowd: “We must all unite and assert our outrage at Japan’s human rights violation and in whatever way possible fight against such war time atrocities so that it may never happen again.”
Bay Area organizer Helen Kim shouts out demands for justice. Photo by Joseph Hong
A contingent of four protesters: Kim, two Bay Area organizers, and a Buddhist monk simply known as “Hyejin,” met with the Japanese deputy consulate general, Takahito Narumiya, in a closed door meeting after the rally. The organizers said they presented the Japanese official with approximately 100 signatures, signed that day, demanding the Japanese government officially address the comfort women issue.
In a phone interview, Narumiya said he is personally sorry for what had happened to the women but insisted the Japanese government had already apologized in 1995, adding, “all claims concerning damages in World War II have been settled in 1951.” The official declined to comment further due to pending lawsuits filed in Washington, D.C. ,against the Japanese government by former comfort women living in the United States.
ýrotest organizers, however, say that for years the Japanese government “has destroyed or hidden official documents on the military comfort women system,” and it wasn’t until 1993 that the government even acknowledged the existence of “comfort women,” after testimonies of former victims were made public in 1991.
Kim was one of the lucky ones. After three years in China, she was sent home in 1940 after she begged a Japanese officer to take pity on her since she was suffering from an illness. Comfort women usually “mysteriously disappeared” when they became pregnant or ill with venereal disease. Many others, during the retreat of the defeated Japanese military, were rounded up and killed, according to testimonies in 1991 by Kim and other former comfort women. Still more, scarred from the emotional and physical abuse, committed suicide.
For decades Kim hid her wartime past because of shame. Many, including Kim, did not go back to their homes after the war because they could not face their families. Because of venereal disease many became sterile and suffer from physical ailments such as endometriosis, fallopian tube disorder and bladder infections.
In 1992 Kim found some relief after “a difficult and lonely life” working as a housekeeper and running a succession of small businesses. She moved into the House of Sharing, started by Hyejin, where former comfort women live and seek peace in each others’ shared experience.
After 60 years of silence, Kim eventually found the courage to testify about had happened to her. Through a translator, she said, “We must all be really conscious of this issue … We must take ownership of it so this issue can be resolved and that it may never again happen to anyone.”
Dark Days
November 24, 2000
Dark Days, a feature length documentary about a community of homeless people living in a train tunnel beneath Manhattan is a remarkable film, not only for its sensitive and fascinating exploration of the homeless in New York, but for the actual filmmaking process. Filmmaker Marc Singer abandoned life on the outside to spend all of his time in the tunnel, making it his home for two years. Dark Days is an eye-opening experience that shatters the myths of homeless with the strength and universality of the people it represents.
At its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival this January, Dark Days took home three awards: Best Cinematography, Freedom of Expression and the Audience Award for Documentary. At its recent opening in New York, the film broke the box office record at Film Forum previously held by Paris is Burning.
Dark Days opens in the Bay Area on Nov. 24: Lumiere in San Francisco, UC Theater in Berkeley, Towne 3 in San Jose; and Dec. 1 at the Rafael Center in San Rafael.
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Drums of North and South Korea
November 24, 2000
In the non-Western tradition of “theater in the round,” performances usually take place at “the center of the village.” Such performances serve the practical purpose of affirming life in a spectacle where both performers and audience members participate.
My desire to experience this style of theater performance was fulfilled this week at the Korean Youth Cultural Center (KYCC) 14th annual fall show, which includes their second presentation of Mandang-Kut. What is a Mandang-Kut? It’s a Korean open-air village festival-a theater in the round, Korean style.
The energy that night was a welcoming, thoughtful and festive one. The theme Unnatural Separation aimed to illustrate separation on a multitude of levels, North/South Korea, performer/audience, native Korean/Korean Americans, and the younger/older generation.
The audience was led from the lobby, where two monitors were showing a video of reunited families in Pyongyang and Seoul, to the performance space by a loud procession of drummers, cymbals and flute players. Masked dancers and singers dressed in traditional imperial attire joined in. Then came a man dressed as a ragged beggar, two women holding two large nine-foot vertical banners and one woman passing out Korean flat bread from a basket.
As the audience followed their lead, we were obligated to enter from one of two doors. Those whose hand had been marked in blue had to enter from the right door and those in red entered from the left. Groups of family and friends in the audience were broken up and seated separately around the performance space - we were now divided like the 38th parallel line. The place was packed. In the front, people sat on reed mats, while in the middle were two rows of chairs, and still more people stood in the back. There were around 200 people there that night.
The first performance was the Kosa or blessing ceremony. The audience watched as all the performers bowed and wished for a meaningful performance. They also said a prayer for those whose lives have been deeply impacted by the war.
Next on the agenda was a folk dance, Ip-ch’um, performed by guest artist Mi-Sook Yoon. This performance attempts to express the tension and release of han. Han can be described as the collective consciousness of the Korean people. It is spoken of in terms of their historical and current anxieties and sufferings.
Wearing a simple red and white traditional Korean dress and holding a large white scarf, Yoon, using purposely restrictive movements, did a slow tension-filled dance. Toward the end she started twirling the scarf, which created a feeling of relief though the tension remained on her somber face. She seemed to be telling the audience that han can be relieved but never fully banished.
The performance continued with two songs relating to the separation of North and South Korea. Then something unexpected happened. Both audience and performers took part in the game of patty-cake. There was no stage at this point, just one big patty-cake orgy. Like the program said, “who knew patty-cake could be so stylish and fun.” Well, I don’t know about stylish, since the participant had to sit in the bathroom squatting position but it looked fun with everyone smiling and laughing.
The audience was then told to go back and take seats on separate sides again. Two mask dances were performed, one originating from the North and one from Kyongsan Namdo in the most southern part of Korea. This was followed by a crazy tug-of-war with serious audience participation. At this point members of the audience became the entertainers. The game attempted to demonstrate the power of gathering strength.
Let me preempt the next segment of the program with this: If you haven’t seen a good poong-mul performance, I urge you witness one of them before you die. Poong-mul is like taiko drumming on speed. It has the same thunderous sound of taiko, but the drummers hold their instrument as they play, dance, twirl, and jump around to the beat. The drums vary in shape from two-sided hourglass, round, to smaller drums held by one hand. There were also cymbals and gongs of different sizes and shapes. The musicians wore these festive headpieces that kind of looked like the Swiss guards helmets with a bunch of cheerleader’s pom-poms stuck to it. The drummers from KYCC, Cal and Stanford gave it everything they had.
The finale was the Daedongnori or “group play.” Performers urged the audience to join in and participate in all sorts of games such as forming a big bunny hop line. Up to this point in the show, I was a little shy and stuck mostly to the sidelines. But in the end, I was dragged out with the other audience members. It felt natural and good to participate with everyone: young and old, dancers and drummers, performers and audience members. In the end, the spirit of a Korean village community prevailed, and we were simply united, perhaps the way Korea will be one day.
Taken Away
November 24, 2000
They served the staple wine and cheese. But the usual cool and detached art slummers stayed out of sight. Billed as an art opening, the Quest for Justice: The Story of Korean Comfort Women as Told through Their Art event played out like a global community gathering. Some 50 people of all stylistic persuasions crammed into the bright, small space of the San Francisco Arts Commission Gallery: Urban, suburban, monastic, eclectic, national and international alike. No doubt most of them were there to be near the petite 80 year old Soon-Duk Kim, one of the artists featured in the show.
Quest for Justice is a political art tour that ends its U.S. appearance in San Francisco. It aims to pressure the Japanese government to make just reparations to the Korean “comfort women” who suffered as sex slaves for World War II Japanese soldiers, and to raise international awareness of sex crimes today.
With her friend and supporter Buddhist monk Hyejin by her side, Soon Duk Kim represented herself as well as Bok-Dong Kim, Yong-Nyeo Lee and the late Duk-Kyung Kang, all former “comfort women” whose art is fast becoming the mouth piece for other sex crime victims worldwide.
In the gallery, the painting and drawings are divided into five headings ,which in turn represent five emotional focuses: Purity, Taken Away, The Comfort Station, Bitterness and Hope. Each artist has work dispersed throughout the categories. From left to right upon entering the space, the viewer experiences a timeline of images. Scenes of spring and harvest season denote purity before the war. The pictorial narration continues with the young women’s initial separation from their families, their journey by boat to war zones, life at the “comfort stations,” the painful, often shame-filled life after the War, then finally, signs of healing and hope. Though the subject matter of these pieces is hardly elementary, many were done in a naïf style. The lines possess a child’s innocence, but the use of symbolic objects and caricature figures has a directness that western political painter Daumier would have envied.
At the show, Kim sat patiently through a round of flash-bulb picture-taking. She swung her legs gently through the opening remarks. Then, she resolutely walked to the first painting to her left and began explaining its personal meaning to the crowded roomful of people.
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| “Innocence Lost” by Duk-Kyung Kang, 1995 Acrylic on canvas. |
“At That Time, Over There” shows a young girl in the fetal position on the ground while shadowed soldier figures stand over her, watching. “This was when I first arrived in Shanghai,” says Kim. The picture turns out to be a record of her first rape by a Japanese soldier while others stand in line waiting for their turn. Kim then moves to her late friend Duk-Kyung’s piece called “Lost Innocence,” which also shows a naked girl curled into herself. She is under a blossoming cherry tree from the trunk of which emerges a soldier with his fist pointed at the succumbing girl. The man’s hand and arm resemble a phallus in its hard outline.
The paintings of Kim and Kang were the highlight of the show. The two different styles play off each other well. They seem to extend beyond style into subject, or rather, focus. Duk-Kyung Kang found a lot of energy in the theme of retribution. In “Apologize Before Us”, she defined with strong pencil outlines the proud, upright figure of a young Korean woman who holds a knife embedded into a bleeding Japanese flag. Under the dripping emblem kneels a small apologetic Japanese soldier. In contrast, Soon-Duk Kim employs line subtly to describe herself as a child. She would rather remember her youth than what happened beyond, though some of her childhood depictions have threatening undertones. One such piece is “Colonial Mushroom Taxation,” which shows a very young Kim squatting on the forest floor picking mushrooms to be sent to Japan. Strangely, if you look longer, the trees behind the girl start to recall the soldiers in the shadow described earlier “To me this piece is more loaded with ominous meaning,” said B. Nguyen, a graphic designer at the opening. “It says that atrocities begin with the littlest signs.”
Kim has been causing quite a stir in the 79 days that she has been traveling in the United States with her artwork. Before it reached America, the Quest for Justice art tour showed in 50 locations in Japan from 1997-98. When Kim first painted, she had no idea she would be traveling all over Japan and the United States with it.
The journey really began in 1991 when Kim heard the testimony of Hak-Soon Kim halmoni, the first of the sex crime survivors to speak publicly in Korea of her experiences in the World War II “comfort stations.” Halmoni literally means “grandmother” in Korean. It is an affectionate way of referring to the surviving “comfort women.” Soon-Duk Kim thought, “I had the same experiences, I should do it too.” Day in and day out, she would hear news of Japanese officials denying atrocities had been committed.
As more halmonis came forward with their stories, Kim found the courage to do the same. In 1992, Hyejin and others of the Buddhist and social communities helped found the House of Sharing, a living quarters and support system for former comfort women. There are currently 10 women living at the House with Hyejin as their caretaker. For many of them, living at home had become difficult after the truth was revealed. Many felt silence to be the only way to preserve their sexual innocence in their families’ eyes. After the House was established, Hyejin asked the residents to think of something they had always wanted to do but never had a chance to. They said, “We would love to study, none of us have ever been to school.” Hyejin posted an ad for a tutor, and among the five candidates that replied, one was also an art teacher. What began as writing lessons soon turned into art sessions that gave the halmonis a new way to express all that had been repressed. Their art is concrete proof of their will to survive.
A screening of Daisil Kim-Gibson’s 57-minute version of Silence Broken-Korean Comfort Women, a documentary made up of interviews, historical footage and some reenactment, also highlighted the exhibition. The key elements to this film are the testimonies of about six halmonis and the counter-points by Japanese University professors and former World War II soldiers. A frank and captivating film, Silence Broken garnered a Rockerfeller Fellowship for Kim-Gibson, who was a professor at Mount Holyoke, and then a federal and state government employee before she picked up filmmaking in 1988. The 52 year-old Korean American filmmaker’s visit from New York coincided with the Quest for Justice’s San Francisco debut. During the opening and earlier at a press conference, Kim-Gibson faithfully translated for the Korean-speaking Kim and Hyejin. Kim-Gibson had a lyrical command of words and a respectful yet playful affection for the halmoni who sat next to her on stage. When Kim halmoni described her family’s reaction to public testimony, Kim-Gibson translated that they were “a little bit pissed off, because she had not consulted them first.”
Later at the gallery, she recounted how she became involved with the cause of the halmonis. “I met Soon Duk Kim and other former ‘comfort women’ in 1992 in Washington, D.C. I was living there at the time. I translated for them at one of the conferences and their pain was like electricity.” She brought to attention the fact that this is an issue that should concern everyone. “It’s not just something that happened to some girl, it’s a crime against humanity that has been ignored for half a century. It is triple discrimination: of sex, race and class.”
In the paintings and drawings of the halmoni and Daisil Kim-Gibson’s documentary, art has performed one of its truest functions as a record of human history, and a reminder of man’s capacity for self-destruction. Perhaps that is why those who came to be a part of this particular evening showed none of the studied detachment seen too often at the typical gallery show.
Quest for Justice runs through Dec. 2 at the San Francisco Art Commission Gallery at 401 Van Ness Avenue. For gallery hours call 415-554-6080. For more information on the Korean “Comfort Women” art tour go to www.museology.org. For information on Daisil kim-Gibson visit www.twotigers.org.
Abduction Nightmare for College Community
November 8, 2000
By Nicholas Eranios/AP
The tea room at the local branch of a Japanese college has a name that translates as “place of tranquility, far to the east of Japan.” Mukogawa Fort Wright Institute is well east of Japan, but it is far from tranquil.
The abduction and rapes of two female students Nov. 11 have traumatized the campus and upset many in Spokane, Wa.
Part of the uproar concerns police response. Although they arrested three suspects within a week, police bungled their investigation of a similar attack two weeks earlier and failed to alert the community about potential predators.
The case has gained a lurid twist with revelations that the suspects are members of a sexual bondage and sadomasochism ring active just outside the city.
It is further complicated by efforts being made by police and college officials to withhold details of the attack and the identities of the victims, who face the possibility of being stigmatized when they return to Japan.
“We’re trying to pull this veil of anonymity over them,” said Barbara Love, director of programs at Mukogawa. “The whole truth would be so devastating.”
In Japan, it is uncommon to publicly discuss sexual attacks, Love said. The school’s 160 students don’t know which of their classmates were assaulted.
The parents of one of the students flew immediately to Spokane to comfort their daughter, Love said. But the student wanted to finish her final month in Spokane, so the parents returned to Japan.
“If she goes back to Japan, everybody would say, ‘What are you doing here? You’re supposed to be in the U.S.,”’ Love said. “It’s better that they’re here.”
Mukogawa was established 10 years ago on the wooded grounds of the turn-of-the-century Fort George Wright, a former Army fort and defunct Catholic women’s college. It’s a branch of the prestigious Mukogawa Women’s University of Nishinomiya, Japan.
Students are sophomore English majors who spend about four months at the Spokane campus to immerse themselves in English and U.S. culture. The young women choose the quarter abroad on their way to careers in banking, government, education and technology.
Japanese officials chose Spokane, a city of 190,000 with a small minority population, in part because they felt it would be a safe environment for their students. That feeling of safety may have been the girls’ undoing, said Hiroshi Takaoka, executive vice president of Mukogawa in Spokane.
“Our students go shopping and meet many people downtown,” Takaoka said. “They meet so many people who are so kind.”
On the morning of Nov. 11, three students were waiting at a bus stop near campus when a woman drove up and offered them a ride downtown. The students told police they gratefully accepted.
But the students were then taken down a remote road and handcuffed, they told police. One of the Japanese women, moved to a second car, apparently talked her kidnapper into releasing her at a downtown bus station, but the two others were taken to a house in the Spokane Valley, about 10 miles east of the city, and raped, police said. The young women were later pushed out of a car near their campus.
“This area needs as much culture as we can get, and international students are an excellent way to get it,” said Spokane Police Chief Roger Bragdon. “This community has to send a message that we are a safe community.”
Police have asked reporters not to identify the students and have tried to minimize details of the assault. The victims have been described only by their ages, 18 to 20. Court documents refer to them only by their initials.
Three suspects Bragdon called “local jerks” were arrested Nov. 18 — after an anonymous e-mail tip — and have been charged with kidnapping, rape and assault.
Edmund F. Ball, 40, and David Dailey, 38, are jailed on $1 million bail each. Lana Vickery, 43, is held on $750,000 bail.
Each is charged with three counts of first-degree kidnapping, two counts of first-degree rape and two counts of intimidating a witness — the victims said they were told their captors were videotaping the rapes and would send the tape to their fathers in Japan if the women reported the attack.
Ball, Dailey and Vickery have pleaded innocent. Trial is set for Jan. 22.
Dailey told police he and Ball were involved in a group called the “Bondage Discipline Sadist Masochist Club” that held regular group sex parties at the Spokane Valley house, court documents said.
Vickery told police it was Ball’s idea to target Asian students because he believed they would be submissive and would not go to police for fear of dishonoring their families.
Ball spent some time in Japan as an exchange student, and police found books on Japanese language and culture in his home, documents said.
Despite the arrests, police are under a cloud because they failed to alert the public to a similar abduction just two weeks before — an attack in which Dailey and Vickery have now been charged with attempted first-degree kidnapping.
In that case, two Japanese students from nearby Eastern Washington University were walking near downtown Spokane on Oct. 28 when they accepted a ride from a man and a woman. They were shocked with a stun gun but managed to escape and call police, according to court documents.
The officer who interviewed them, however, failed to file a police report, and detectives were not alerted. The incident was basically ignored until the abduction of the Mukogawa students two weeks later.
When the first abduction was made public, police initially said the language barrier had prevented a more thorough investigation. The department has since said it is conducting an internal review of what went wrong.
One prominent educator called the lapse “incompetence and gross negligence.”
Terry Brown, who was instrumental in bringing Mukogawa to Spokane when he was head of Community Colleges of Spokane, says police should have told Mukogawa officials about the earlier abductions so they could have warned their students.
Brown is urging the council to demand Bragdon’s resignation.
Announcements, workshops, and opportunities for community, family and career.
November 8, 2000
REGIONS:
Northern California
National
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| NORTHERN CALIFORNIA |
ANNOUNCEMENTS
2000 Holiday Lunch The San Francisco Education Fund invites you to honor San Francisco teachers at the 2000 Holiday Lunch on Dec. 14 at noon. The event will take place in the Grand Ballroom at the Hyatt Regency at Market St. and Drumm St. For more information please contact Kathy Turner at 415-912-2929.
AHS Holiday Toy Drive Asian Health Services seeking donations of new, unwrapped toys for low-income pediatric patients. Donations will be accepted at the Asian Health Services lobby, 818 Webster St, Oakland. For more information please call 510-986-6830 x295
Celebrate Senior Volunteers Learn about the Experience Corps movement of older adults helping children to succeed in public schools and join us in celebrating the contributions of our wonderful volunteers. Holiday party held on Dec. 18, 12 p.m. to 2 p.m. at 3925 Noriega St., San Francisco. Sponsored by the Sunset Neighborhood Beacon Center. For more information call 415-759-3690.
Children’s Services Fund As a collaborative between Wu Yee Children’s Services, Whitney Young Child Development Center and Children’s Council of San Francisco, The San Francisco Vendor Voucher Program assists San Francisco low-to-moderate income families in paying for licensed childcare for children 0-13 years old. Through the program, parents will be free to choose any licensed child care provider, as well as receive childcare counseling. Registration is ongoing and enrollment is based upon availability of open-slots. For more information and application forms, call Wu Yee Children’s Services, 415-391-8993.)
Flu Shot Flu shots are available for the community at the Chinatown YMCA, 855 Sacramento Street. Monday, Dec. 11, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Service provided by the VNA & Hospice of Northern California. Cost $12. For more information call Gary at 576-9622.
Free Computer Recycling Recycle your old computer for free. The San Francisco Recycling Program and participating computer stores and recyclers are offering a computer recycling service for San Francisco residents and small businesses. Simply take your old computer to one of ten drop-off locations for recycling. Call 415-RECYCLE for more information.
KCI & IIC Millennium Benefit Gala Please join the Korean Center, Inc. and the Intercultural Institute of California for its Millennium Benefit Gala on Saturday Dec. 30 at the St. Francis Hotel in San Francisco. Tickets start at $150. Black Tie/ Korean dress optional. In 1995, the Korean Center incorporated the Intercultural Institute of California to provide students with educational opportunities to fulfill their academic needs as well as empower them with knowledge to participate in a multi-ethnic society. For more information contact 415-441-1881 or iic@iic.edu.
Saturday Sports CampsCome join our basketball or Soccer Camps this Fall. Boys and girls ages 8-12 are welcome. Beginners and advanced players encouraged to join. October 21-December 9. Financial aid is available. Please contact Ben Stewart, Youth program director (415) 576-9622. (Chinatown YMCA, 855 Sacramento Street, San Francisco, CA 94108)
SAIL Writing Contest Save Angel Island League is proud to announce two bilingual (Chinese and English) writing contests on the topic of “The Meaning of Angel Island History in 21st Century America to Me.” Adult contest 1st prize - $1,000; high school contest 1st prize - $500 . Please submit to Save Angel Island League, P.O. Box 3468, Berkeley, CA 94703. Deadline: January 15, 2001. Contact Chia-Chia Chien for details. 925-932-3492 (Fax).
Winter Wonderland The Nisei Ski Club will hold their annual winter dance Winter Wonderland on Saturday, Dec. 9 at the Mountain View Buddhist Temple. The dance, highlighting the upcoming ski and snowboard season, will feature something for everyone. On the agenda: ballroom dancing and lessons, general meeting, information session on ski trips and membership application. Please call Annette Li in the North Bay San Francisco are at 415-351-2620; Doug Gor in the Peninsula and South Bay at 408-567-0150; and Doug Higashi in the East Bay at 510-522-7961 for details. (Mountain View Buddhist Temple, 575 North Shoreline Boulevard, Mountain View)
VOLUNTEERING
Acupuncturist, Haight Ashbury Free Medical Clinic Are you a licensed acupuncturist? You can help members of diverse communities during all stages of HIV. Provide acupuncture and Chinese herbal treatment on a weekly basis and help maintain the acupuncture clinic. Contact Scott Wallin at 415-487-5638 ext. 123.
Asian Neighborhood Design; Seismic Retrofit Employment Consortium Help in the office while gaining skills in employment development and placement, and help give low-income individuals more advantages in today’s job market. Some computer required and training will be provided. Contact William Bishop at 415-586-1011.
Asian Women’s Shelter Opportunities exist to provide emotional and practical support for residents. Volunteers can assist clients with basic needs, accompany residents to appointments and organize activities for children. Bilingual and bi-cultural skills are helpful. (For more information, call 415-751-7110.)
Asians Over Age 55 Needed This New Year, become an Experience Corps volunteer and help children excel in school and in life. Join the movement of older adults serving children in San Francisco public school. Help out in classrooms, provide homework assistance, read one-on-one, supervise recreational activities, or run after school programs. Make a difference by giving children in our communities caring Asian American adult role models. A monthly tax-free stipend of $150 is available for volunteers who serve 15 hours per week. No prior experience necessary. For more information call Lori Byer at 415-759-3690.
Citizenship Class Teacher San Francisco-based On Lok needs people who can help guide elderly clients to become citizens. Contact the volunteer coordinator at 415-550-2230.
Counselors Needed There are many rewards and challenges in parenting children. Everyone needs someone to talk to sometimes. Parental Stress Service’s 24-hour family hotline offers supportive counseling to families who need to be heard. As a telephone Hotline Counselor, you can make a difference in our community, helping to protect children and strengthen families while doing satisfying work in a team environment. To learn more about opportunities, call 510-893-9230.
Graphic Designing The UCSF Clinical Cancer Center needs you to lend your artistic talents this holiday season. We need you to create graphic designs for holiday cards, donation postcards or a prescription pad for doctors to use in referring patients to particular services available at our center. Please contact Elizabeth Ortega Lau at 415-885-3693
HICAP Volunteers Needed Would you like to help seniors make informed decisions about Medicare and other health insurance questions? If so, the Health Insurance Counseling and Advocacy Program (HICAP) needs you. Train to be a volunteer counselor and help seniors understand their health care rights and options with Medicare, HMOs and long term care insurance. Enjoy working with friendly dedicated staff and peers and contribute positively to your community. Call us at 510-839-0393
San Francisco Women Against Rape Anti-Rape Activists needed to support sexual assault survivors. San Francisco Women Against Rape Crisis Counselor training for women of color begins Nov. 9. Find out more at 415-861-2024 x311
Survivors International The group seeks a volunteer activity guide for two or more hours a week to help refugees master English and become familiar with parks, museums, banks, post offices, public transportation and free cultural activities in the Bay Area. (For more information, contact Tracy Deskin at 415-765-6999.)
Translation Volunteers The Asian and Pacific Islander Wellness Center is looking for volunteers to translate and proofread documents. (For more information, call Bryan Pangilinan at 415-292-3420, Ext. 360.)
WORKSHOPS
English Classes The Chinatown YMCA offers free morning English classes with bilingual counselors to help Cantonese speakers with limited English skills. Enrollment is open. (For more information, call 415-928-4419.)
Everything to do With Parenting Parents Place is offering workshops for families with children of all ages. All groups and workshops are held at Parents Place, 3272 California St., San Francisco. To register call 415-563-0335 x122 or register online at www.jfcs.org/pplgroup2000d.html. Call 563-1041 to find out January through March workshops.
Free Counseling for Seniors Do you or someone you care for need support with a difficult life transition? Get help from one who’s been there. Senior Peer Counseling trains volunteers over 55 to assist fellow seniors through emotional support, problem solving and compassionate listening. All services are voluntary and free of charge. For information or referral call Family Service Agency at 415-474-7310 for Nancy Alpert, LCSW
Free Legal Clinic Legal consultation for seniors is available for general legal rights, immigration and naturalization, housing and eviction, and public benefits. Services provided by Khin Mai Aung, staff attorney from the Asian Law Caucus, at Self-Help for the Elderly. Dates are: Nov. 11, Dec. 13, 27 from 9 a.m. to noon. No appointments. For more information contact Northeast Senior Center at 415-438-4800 (407 Sansome Street, 4th floor, San Francisco)
Free Traditional Chinese Music Lessons The Chinese Culture Center is pleased to announce the commencement of ongoing workshops and lessons in traditional Chinese music, taught by acclaimed multi-instrumentalist Hong Wang, the artistic director of Melody of China, Inc. Beginning and intermediate classes will be held on Sunday from 10 a.m. to noon. Advanced classes for music teachers are on Thursday from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. and Sunday 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. The registration fee is $15, but all classes are free. Please bring your own instruments. For more information call 415-986-1822 (Chinese Culture Foundation, 750 Kearny Street, 3rd floor, San Francisco)
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| NATIONAL |
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Auditions for Karaoke Nights Asian American Media Development is pleased to announce auditions for the first Asian American TV series to premiere on the World Wide Web. Karaoke Nights will be a situation comedy featuring an all Asian American cast. Open call will be held at Cal State L.A., Phase II Housing on Dec 9 and10 between 9 a.m. and 7 p.m. Go to www.hotpoptv.com for scene breakdowns and character descriptions, audition requirements and the address for audition tape submissions.
Going Home Pie Town Productions is bringing a new heartwarming show to Home & Garden Television. Going Home is a half-hour long program that follows real-life people returning to their hometowns and their childhood homes. If you know of anyone who is going home (domestic travel only please) please contact us. We are taping 65 episodes and looking for energetic people from all around the country with positive memories about their hometown. For more information contact Amy Rosenberg 323-851-2333 x284.
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