Matt Fong Withdraws from Army Nomination (in National News) Broken Trust: Rally of solidarity for Japantown YWCA (in Bay Area News) The Picky Eater: Cold Soba Noodles (in A&E) Paying Attention: Fighting for homosexual rights in India (in Opinion)

Native Hawaiians Deserve Better Coverage

Dear Editor: This letter is in response to “Do Native Hawaiians Count?” (July 5). What exactly is your paper trying to say? That there is an attempt to spell
Liliuokalani’s name is admirable, but it is misspelled as Lili’uokalani. There is no apostrophe in her name. The glottal stop is used as a pronunciation guide.

While what may be happening in Washington on the issue of Native Hawaiian rights may be news, it is nothing new. Throughout history, people periodically become self-righteous and objectify Native Hawaiians and then, amnesia. With the exception of the Hawaiian newpaper Ka Wai Ola and the Honolulu Weekly, there is little concern about Hawaiians — unless kanaka (Native Hawaiians) are commodified.

Last year, an issue of Amerasia Journal featured an article on Asian settler colonialism. It detailed Japanese and white colonization of Hawaii. Why is that overlooked in “Do Hawaiians Count?” Poka Laenui is only one of the many democratic voices of sovereignty. Too bad the article failed to provide comparison by overlooking activists Kekuni, Bumpy and others.

Furthermore, in the calendar section of AsianWeek on June 29, there is a listing for “The Hawaiian Sweethearts.” What are Cecily Chow and Charlie Chin trying to prove? Their tiny disclaimer that they are neither Hawaiian nor sweethearts contradicts the Asian American Theater’s Web site that presents their performance as a “Hawaiian” event.

A couple months ago, AsianWeek published “Pearl Harbor — Movie to Premier in Hawaii” (May 17). It was concerned about how the movie might impact Japanese Americans. Too bad there wasn’t any coverage on how kanaka felt about the bombing of Pu’uloa (which used to be loaded with oysters and clams until the military filled it). There wasn’t anything written about the Japanese killing 48 civilians from Pearl City to Waikiki and the many others who were wounded. My parents’ house is located in Mo’ili’ili, miles away from Pu’uloa, and neighbors still talk about the bombing.

Even today, folks in Wai’anae on one side of Mt. Ka’ala hear the military practice bombing all the time. When the Ehime Maru, the Japanese fishing vessel with students, was hit by the navy sub recently, it was kanaka who went out and prayed over the bodies, not Christians or Buddhists.

Since your editorial boldly announces “Payback Time,” if anyone feels they want to assist Hawaii, contribute funds to Alu Like, the Native Hawaiian Library Project or the Cultural Learning Center at Ka’ala.

Carolyn Lei-lanilau
via e-mail

Conan O’Brien Guests Perpetuates Anti-Asian Hate

Editor’s Note: The following letter was originally sent to Jeff Ross and Lorne Michaels of NBC, 30 Rockefeller Plaza, New York, N.Y., 10112; or 3000 W. Alameda Ave., Burbank, Calif., 91523.

Dear Editor: I was very offended last week to hear Shara Silverman, a guest on the Conan O’Brien Show, say the word “Chink” while describing how she would use this term to avoid serving jury duty. I would like to know why this word was not deleted during the interview with O’Brien. If a guest had used the “N” word, would you have the decency to delete it off the air?

Silverman used “Chink” more than once during the show. The sad part about this interview was that O’Brien continued to laugh with your guest, essentially, perpetuating the notion that her racist comments were acceptable.

Who is responsible when such degrading words are used on the air?

Leon Bernido
via e-mail

Kudos to the Picky Eater

Dear Editor: Let me tell you how refreshing it is to read a critique of an Asian or Asian American dish by an Asian American. After reading reviews of critics who thought nhogk mam, the fish sauce at Vietnamese restaurants, was not gravy-like enough, and critics who think that anything without MSG is fine Asian food, I am delighted with the new addition to your arts and entertainment section.

Great job, Ji Hyun Lim.

Cheryl David
via e-mail

Unequal Treatment

Dear Editor: Allow me to join the debate about columnist Emil Guillermo, following the letters by Ryan J. Shih (“Identity Crisis,” June 28), and Chris Bucoy-Brown (“Asian American Does Not Equal Chinese American,” July 5).

As a Chinese Filipino Tsinoy, ethnic Chinese born in the Philippines, I think I can speak with some authority regarding the cross-cultural gap and racism, oftentimes experienced between Filipino and Chinese cultures, as a whole.

I personally think that his mistreatment by the Hong Kong police (“My International Incident,” May 24) while covering a story at the Hong Kong Convention Center was downright despicable. Many people in Hong Kong, like many Filipinos, remain to this day afflicted with a colonial mentality, which tends to look down upon fellow Asians relative to white people. Colonial mentality is a disease that endures within Asian America, as well as in the Asia Pacific region, as a vestige of centuries of Western colonialism and imperialism.

Consequently, the Hong Kong policeman, holding him on the basis of possession of a one-inch utility knife, in my mind, smacks of the vestigial colonial mentality in the Hong Kong police force. It would not have happened if Emil Guillermo were white.

It is also not dissimilar from the racial profiling many minority people experience in America at the hands of many local police forces.

I would also venture to say that some Chinese in Hong Kong have been abusive and racist in their treatment toward Filipinos, Indonesians, Malaysians, Indians, Sri-Lankans and others who have lived in the former British colony in search of jobs and opportunities.

Like Guillermo, I have oftentimes traveled to Asian countries including China, Taiwan and Hong Kong, and found my fellow Chinese in Hong Kong, or Taipei, or Beijing would provide preferential and deferential “first-class” treatment to people of European descent, while treating us fellow Chinese or Asians shabbily and discriminatorily.

By writing about his trip to Hong Kong, Guillermo has brought this issue out of the closet. And I applaud him for doing it.

Edward Liu
San Francisco

AsianWeek welcomes letters commenting on our coverage and other topics of interes to Asian Pacific Americans. Please keep letters as brief as possible (we reserve the right to edit letters for length and style), and include your name and a daytime telephone number for verification. For letters by conventional mail, address to: AsianWeek, 809 Sacramento Street, San Francisco, California 94108, U.S.A.