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 Local APA Fashion Designer: Colleen Quen
Fresh out of Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising and with intensive couture training at the Simmone Sethna School of French Design in San Francisco in 1998, Quen is quickly rising to the top of local fashion talent. From when her first design placed in the illustrious design contest Circada, to designing ball gowns for the opera, to dressing actress Vivica Fox at Le Bal de Fleur, a gala celebrating the famous champagne, her career has been a whirlwind. Quen’s unique, intuitive style is becoming recognized nationally. This San Francisco local claims she designs from the inside out, learning and studying her clients’ strengths to enhance their unique personalities and style. “It’s not physical, I try to understand the person and want [the clothes] to be empowering,” Quen said. Molding, steaming, shaping and shrinking natural fabrics is her forte and Quen’s mastery of her craft has earned her a reputation many aspiring fashion designers can only dream of.
 Local APA Actor: Michael Hornbuckle
When 41-year-old, Michael Hornbuckle is not slaving away in his day-job as a computer tech for a university, his mind is brewing up ideas for a future play or memorizing lines for a performance. Eccentric and wildly creative, his sense of humor is unique — to say the least. Performing is his “mistress,” a release from his day job, he says. “It’s very cathartic to go on stage and talk nonsense and drop our pants,” Hornbuckle jokes. “It’s freeing emotionally and there’s an excitement of being to express yourself creatively, trying to innovate, and diversifying images of Asian Americans.” Born in Taiwan to a Chinese mother and an American father, this San Francisco local’s future goal is to write and perform full-time. He may be L.A.-bound in the future but for now, his word of advice is: “Be honest with yourself. Make sure you’re really good at what you’re doing and then go for it and don’t give up.”
 Best APA writer: Emil Guillermo
Longtime AsianWeek columnist Emil Guillermo was overwhelmingly your vote for favorite local APA writer, and local he certainly is. Guillermo was born and raised in San Francisco, where he started out at Everett Middle School and later graduated from Lowell High. After taking a quick dip back East to attend Harvard, Guillermo returned to the Bay Area where he worked as a young reporter for KQED and even reviewed movies for Channel 4. Guillermo says his penchant for writing came about one day, at the age of 14, when he came across Norman Mailer’s Advertisements for Myself in a Tenderloin used book store. Later he was influenced by the gonzo journalism of Hunter S. Thompson and Tom Wolfe, leading to his own “amok” style today. Guillermo worked for radio and TV in the late ’70s all over this country and was host of NPR’s All Things Considered from 1989 to 1991. He began his first regular writing gig right here at AsianWeek in 1994.
“I am amok because I am not scared to express something that would otherwise be left unsaid. In the APA community … too much is left unsaid. So I say it. Sometimes with humor, sometimes with blunt candor. But always in an effort to help readers understand the truth,” he says.
Best APA radio show: Apex Express
Just over a year ago, experienced radio journalist Gina Hotta canvassed fellow APAs at KPFA, Berkeley’s ground-breaking public radio station, about the need for an APA-centric show and decided that the time was right. Thus Apex Express was born in August of 2001, coming into being “at a critical time in American history.” This weekly, hour-long show is run out of love and dedication by five or six regular contributors and has a political focus that defines it. Hotta, the show’s producer, feels that the show has been important to give a voice to not only much of the APA community but also for the civil rights struggles that this country is facing. Hotta is also interested in showcasing cultural work in the show and tries to highlight APA musicians and spoken word artists each week. Tune in Thursday nights at 7 p.m. to hear the cutting edge of the APA experience. Apex Express hosts are Rainjita Geesler, Pratap Chatterjee, Nishat Kurwa and Eric Park; contributors are Ivan Jaigirdar, Weyland Southon and Klay Ordona.
Apex Express on KPFA 94.1 or listen on the web at www.kpfa.org. You can reach Hotta and her staff at 510-848-6767 x12.
Local APA Nonprofit: API Wellness Center
Sixteen years ago, a small fledgling organization had the idea of educating the Asian Pacific Islander community about the importance of safe sex. Years later, and 50-staff members strong, the API Wellness Center has become the hub of education and outreach to the gay APA community. HIV care and prevention is at the core of their purpose. Staff members speak multiple languages and are active in dispensing free condoms, providing HIV testing and education. Said Lance Toma, director of programs, “We’re looked at nationally as having progressive, innovative models of servicing delivery. We provide a nurturing place yet we are able to outreach in San Francisco, San Mateo and Alameda County.”
 Local APA Politician: Leland Yee
For the past 13 years, Leland Yee has provided public service to the folks of San Francisco and now he’s heading to the State Assembly. He was on the school board for eight years and is currently finishing out his second term as supervisor for District 4, the Sunset. As an APA politician, Yee has provided a voice for the huge APA community in the city. Yee immigrated to San Francisco from China at the age of three. He received his bachelor’s from UC Berkeley and masters from San Francisco State University. A long-time advocate for children, Yee has worked hard improving the city’s schools and commitment to students.
 Local APA Athlete: Tsuyoshi Shinjo
Ever since he arrived in San Francisco, via an offseason trade with the New York Mets, Giants outfielder Tsuyoshi Shinjo has received media and fan attention more befitting a rockstar than a professional baseball player. His Hollywood style and infectious smile, and fact that he is among the few Japanese-born position players in the Major Leagues has made him into a marketing sparkplug for the Giants. Everything from Shinjo bobbleheads to Shinjo’s signature orange sweatbands sold consistently well during the season. Shinjo’s play on the field was that of a solid reserve outfielder who could occasionally start when needed and his impressive defensive skills made him a valuable asset to the 2002 National League pennant-winning team. Shinjo also became the first Japanese-born player to play in a World Series, gathering one hit and one run in six at-bats during the fall classic.
Local APA Arts Organization: Kearny Street Workshop
Last year, the plummeting economy was causing drastic cuts to arts funding and APA arts organizations were starting to look like an endangered species. But Kearny Street Workshop had seen all that turmoil before — and survived to become the oldest pan-Asian American, multidisciplinary arts organization, celebrating its 30th birthday this year. A child of the original Asian American Movement, born in the iconic International Hotel, KSW was growing stagnant a few years ago. So APAture, the annual emerging artists’ festival, was created, debuting in 1999 to an unexpectedly effusive reception from the community. Some of the festival organizers went on to found the Alliance of Emerging Creative Artists (AECA) and Locus; some stayed on with KSW, helping the festival grow and mature each year. Outside the September festival, KSW remains an invaluable resource to local artists of all ages, holding year-round writing classes, poetry readings and artists’ salons.
 Local APA DJ Crew: Dhamaal
Come to Club Six in San Francisco on the third Friday of any month and you’ll see the cutting edge of the Asian Massive scene. Attracting a crowd of scenesters, APA professionals, beat junkies and those just looking to dance, Dhamaal’s parties have everything from breakbeat fusion with live tablas in the basement to Indian classical music in the lounge upstairs, with beautiful visuals draped throughout. Dhamaal, which used to be known as Azaad, came together some three and a half years ago at a house party thrown by Janaka Atugota. “I had turn tables and a few people brought their tablas and we ended up micing them and people were really into it,” Atugota explains. That party got shut down by the cops early but it was just a few months later that the group had their first club gig. They began playing at 111 Minna and had a residency there for two years, but decided it was time to move on because of space issues and because the crowd was getting a little too “martini,” as Janaka put it. Last year, Dhamaal moved to Club Six and the two-floor venue allowed them to separate the Indian classical music into its own space.
Not only focused on their own promotion, Dhamaal has been bringing big names in the Asian Massive scene to San Francisco, like Karsh Kale and the Swaraj collective from the U.K. Dhamaal was also recently a featured artist at Kearny Street Workshop’s APAture. A multicultural and talent mix, Dhamaal includes DJs, instrumentalists and visual artists: they are Maneesh Kenia, Kyle Burrows, Michael Cheng, Dhruva Ganesan, Adheesh Sathaye, Shabi Farooq, Ferhan Qureshi, Parag Chordia, Jense Dorias, Gustavo Sandi, Musa Ahmed and Janaka Atugota.
Catch Dhamaal’s latest extravangza at Club Six this Friday, featuring DJ Cheb I Sabbah, at 60 Sixth Street at Market, S.F. $10. For info: dhamaalsf@yahoo.org.
 Local APA musician: Francis Wong
The great thing about Francis Wong is that he would deserve this honor even if he chose to rest on the laurels he’s gathered as a musician. The even greater thing about Francis Wong is that he chooses not to. This tireless musician, community leader, activist and father of two rambunctious offspring has already accomplished more at age 45 than many others do in a lifetime. As a saxophonist, composer and bandleader, Wong has bridged musical traditions, bringing the very American genre of jazz together with traditional Chinese and Japanese music, and has collaborated with Jon Jang, the late Glenn Horiuchi, Anthony Brown, Tatsu Aoki and other luminaries. As a community leader, his current credits include acting as co-founder and creative director of Asian Improv aRts, executive producer of San Francisco’s annual Asian American Jazz festival and president of Justice Matters Institute.
Meanwhile, Wong is cementing his lasting legacy by serving as mentor to a younger generation of artists and activists — not the least of whom are his own children, Kenjo, 5, and Megumi, 9, who can be found chatting up the adults at most of Wong’s events. Yet Wong remains circumspect about his accomplishments, parceling out most of the credit to others. His collaborators, on the other hand, overflow with praise for him.
“Francis embodies the soul of Asian America,” declare Dina Shek and Vinay Patel, who work with Wong at Asian Improv aRts. “And through the music he plays and the community he builds,” they add, “he guides the younger generation.”
 Local APA Broadcaster: Vic Lee
For more than three decades, award-winning KRON-TV reporter Vic Lee has provided a familiar face to the people in the Bay Area. Born in Shanghai, Lee moved to Japan at the age of three when his father took on a foreign correspondent position in Tokyo. “It’s in my genes, my dad was a famous journalist in Asia,” Lee says. “I always knew that what he did was a fun and exciting line of work.” At 18, Lee came to the United States as a foreign student and attended San Jose State University. Initially, Lee had thought about going into law, but after a field trip to a law library, he knew he wanted to do journalism.
With more than 30 years of television reporting under his belt, Lee has been to many places and seen many faces. During the mid-1980s, Lee was the Asian Affairs reporter at KRON. For one-and-a-half years, Lee was the only reporter in the Bay Area with this beat. “I really pushed for this beat, because I felt that the language, community and interest of APAs were underrepresented.” Although Lee thrives on hard news reporting, he said he enjoys doing feature stories. “I love doing fun stories. For example I met this lady who professed to know the secrets of good cat massages,” Lee says laughing. “I’m a pussy cat, no pun intended.”
But there is one story that will remain indelible in Lee’s mind. In 1984, Northern California was pounded with three major storms back-to-back. Lee was covering the Napa Valley region. “I was getting ready to do my live shot from this completely dark and deserted country location. The only light source was from the camera. All of a sudden I lose my footing and fall into the bank and I get swept away by the current. I almost drowned.” Lee said three guys came out of nowhere and pulled him out and he made his way back to his cameraman and did his live shot. But, the cameraman said there never were three guys there because they were in the middle of nowhere. “To this day, I believe in angels,” Lee says.
Despite discrimination and being told that being a television reporter “weren’t in the cards,” Lee was able to go with his heart and become a great storyteller. “That’s all I am, I tell stories. It’s not brain surgery.”
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