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Giving Thanks

By May Chow and Ji Hyun Lim
AsianWeek Staff Writers

Thanksgiving may have been the beginning of what later became 200 years of genocide to the native peoples of this country, but the idea of giving thanks remains a noble one. This year, AsianWeek wanted to give heartfelt thanks to those who often go ovürlooked in their daily work. We asked around at hospitals, community organizations, schools and even MUNI to see who deserved a hearty round of gratitude. This holiday season, we ask you to give an extra set of thanks to those whom you normally take for granted.

Thank You, Jerry Wong
Passenger Service Department at MUNI  

A bumpy ride, a grumpy driver, the bus passing destination stops and late buses are some of the many complaints 53-year-old Jerry Wong deals with working in the Passenger Service Department — otherwise known as the Complaints and Commendations Department — at San Francisco’s Municipal Railway and bus services, otherwise known as MUNI.

The MUNI system transports some 700,000 riders everyday. Even with such numerous riders, just seven people, staggered from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., work at the Passenger Service Department, seven days a week. These MUNI employees are assigned to listen to anything riders need to discuss, whether it is a complaint about a rude driver or a lost item.

“We hear four letter words shouted at us and we can’t let [passengers] upset us,” Wong said. “You have to hear them out and try to resolve them.”

Wong has been working for MUNI for the past 27 years. He started as a telephone information clerk, giving directions and bus times. Now, he responds to both complaints and commendations and resolves them by being an empathetic listener.

Personable and amiable, Wong can soothe the most irate customer. His voice on the other end of the line can remind you of the neighbor who buys your niece’s Girl Scouts cookies or the kid you went to school with who wears glasses and smiles a lot. Wong requests no pictures and would like to stay an anonymous face listening to your complaints.

Wong admittedly enjoys his job and realizes that the key to being a good listener is to “put yourself in their shoes,” he said. Because thousands of people depend on public transportation, if something goes wrong, it could ruin their day.

Believe it or not, Wong does feel appreciated despite the nature of his job. “People are people and they’re appreciative that there’s someone on the other end,” he said. “That’s rewarding and sometimes we get repeat callers to chit-chat.”

Kuusela Hilo

Thank You, Kuusela Hilo
Justice for Screeners

Lacking support from their local union, airport screeners from the Bay Area’s three major airports found out that they had one young Stanford student who was standing right next to them. Kuusela Hilo, a Filipino American, provided not only support but also a voice that carried all the way to the steps of San Francisco City Hall, attracting the attention of supervisors Gerardo Sandoval and Chris Daly.

Hilo is a community organizer for Justice for Screeners, which is part of Filipinos for Global Justice. Hilo said Justice for Screeners was formed in February after it began to seem as though screeners at the San Francisco International Airport, Mineta San Jose International Airport and Oakland Airport would face layoffs after Sept. 11.

“We couldn’t afford not to do anything,” Hilo said. “It really hit home after one of my friends’ auntie got laid off. We’re all connected to one another. And this screener situation is just one of the many issues caused by Sept. 11, which takes a toll on everyone.”

Hilo started getting involved in community activism last year after she was arrested during a sit-in at the Stanford University campus. She was part of the Stanford Labor Council and they were responding to allegations of unfair labor practice on campus. All the charges were later cleared. Hilo has also had the opportunity to travel south to Chiapas, Mexico to learn more about grassroots organizing.

“It’s amazing what you can do just by talking to people and spreading information and knowledge,” said Hilo. “We have no money, this is all done by volunteers who are young and who are students.”

Hilo also works for the Asian Pacific American Activist Center at Stanford and as a career resource counselor on campus.

Hilo is always present at rallies in front of the airports and City Hall, telling screeners to exercise their voices and rights. Her patience and compassion came out when she addressed a crowd of concerned screeners who recently lost their jobs and a part of a promised paycheck.

“I’m thankful for what I have and the support my parents have given me,” Hilo said. “Also my kasamas [Tagalog for friends]. It feels good to be able to help others who really don’t have the means. There are many people who are involved with this organization and they all help immensely, especially Jerome Palencia.”

Left to right: Eva Mejia, Angela Gomez, Joey Ho, Margarita Bertetta.

Thank You, Joey Ho
Director of Multicultural Services at Kaiser Permanente, San Francisco 

Joey Ho, 37, might find it difficult to sing his own praises about his contribution to Kaiser Permanente Hospitals in San Francisco, but his colleagues will attest that without him, the 34,000 clients who use Kaiser’s translation services would be at a loss.

Head of the Multicultural Services in Kaiser Permanente’s three campuses in San Francisco, Ho is in charge of providing translators in 17 languages for the diverse monolingual populations in the San Francisco area. Ho leads three departments: translator services, Chinese interpreter services and on-site services.

Said Alix Sabin, communications manager at Kaiser: “We live in a city with an incredibly diverse population and we have very sensitive situations where the people might not understand English well enough to understand what’s going on with the exam. He is very dedicated to making a bridge between patients and caregivers.”

Providing culturally and linguistically competent care has not been easy. The program was founded by Gail Tang in 1996 and since then, Kaiser has been working closely with City College of San Francisco to provide a two semester certificate program in medical and health care interpreting. So far, there have been 200 graduates of the certificate program, 50 of whom are currently employed with Kaiser.

“These students learn medical terminology and participate in an internship program in San Francisco General, Kaiser Permanente in Oakland or UC San Francisco,” Ho explains.

Ho administers and handles the operations with coordinators to schedule and dispatch interpreters, many of whom handle more than 140 requests for translations daily, both by telephone and on site. Interpreters work day, evening and weekend shifts.

“Our focus is quality,” Ho points out. “I hear that our Chinese community might have a different view of the organization than before. They’ve become more grateful for what we do for them and they’re now starting to feel like we care for them.”  

Pauli Wai (right).

Thank You, Pauli Wai
Chinatown Community Development Center

Tirelessly working with and helping recent immigrants, senior citizens and families with their housing situations, Pauli Wai has become a valuable asset to the Chinatown Community Development Center (CCDC). Since joining CCDC six months ago, Wai was an active participant in the Prop. B drive. Working until late hours the weekdays and weekends, Wai personally visited Single Room Occupancies in Chinatown, educating residents about their voting rights and privileges.

“Pauli is very dedicated and committed to the people,” says Tan Chow, community organizer for CCDC. “She’s young and energetic and you can tell that she really wants to help low-income people. You see it in her that she really cares for people.”

For the three months leading up to the Nov. 5 elections, Wai, who is Chinese American, was heavily involved in CCDC’s voter registration drive. She has done door-to-door outreach on a daily and weekly basis and held monthly community meetings.

“Our mission is SRO families’ empowerment, through extending information of resources unknown to families,” said Wai. “Organizing Super Sundays or other events takes a lot away from my weekends, but it’s heartening to see little kids running freely or enjoying our children’s program.”

Wai said she joined CCDC because she believes that grassroots organizing can really make a difference in social change. Fresh out of college, Wai wanted to go into the field of journalism right away, but felt that engaging in community activism would help her learn more about herself and open her eyes to the world around her.

Although Prop. B received a lot of “yes” votes, it failed to garner enough votes to pass as a general obligation bond. But Wai said she feels she has accomplished a lot by working so closely with the SRO families and being part of a voter registration drive that educated hundreds of citizens who were unaware of their rights and the power they had to make a change for their children and community.

“The hardest part of my work is the constant feeling that what I do is never enough, because I don’t have a magic wand to wave around to create housing for people and stop the heartbreaks,” Wai said. “In the end, a career in organizing probably won’t do as much practical good as decent, clean, healthy housing immediately available to SRO families.”

Jenny Asinc (second from right) surrounded by friends.

Thank You, Jenny Asinc
North East Medical Services 

Ten years ago, Asinc could not speak a word of English or Chinese. Born to Chinese parents who emigrated from a small village in Guangdong, China to a small town in Ecuador, Asinc now works with recent immigrants at the North East Medical Services (NEMS) clinic in Visitacion Valley. One of Asinc’s main duties is to provide translation services in Chinese and Spanish to the residents who go to the clinic.

Asinc has been at the Visitacion Valley clinic since its inception two years ago. Starting out as a receptionist, Asinc has been promoted to assistant manager of NEMS.

“I think Jenny embodies what our organization is all about,” said Linda Bien, manager of NEMS. “She really understands what our mission and goals are, which are to provide health care to those who have no access because of language or lack of resources.”

Asinc said she decided to get involved with NEMS because she felt that Visitacion Valley was often ignored and overshadowed by San Francisco. She felt compelled to help those who were underserved and uninsured. So she was very active in getting the clinic up and going in Visitacion Valley; the original NEMS clinic is located on Stockton Street in Chinatown.

“What I want to get across is that we’re here to help with any language barriers and we don’t want to see any documents,” said Asinc. “We’re not part of the INS, we’re a non-profit organization that’s out there to help people.”

Although Asinc attributes much of the clinic’s success to the entire NEMS staff, Bien said Asinc has personally put in a lot of effort and time in community outreach. Besides tabling at local events, Asinc goes to local schools informing children and teenagers about the clinic’s services. She also goes to churches, adult schools and senior citizen centers educating adults on important immunization shots and healthcare for their families.

“We’re all here for a purpose, and my purpose is to help people and serve the community, regardless of race, color, status,” Asinc said.

Ernie Tseng (left) and Jason Lam.

Thank You, Ernie Tseng
Coordinator for Asian Teens Organized for Teen Empowerment (ACT ONE)

[Ernie Tseng was actually the originator of the Floss Talk column, AsianWeek’s youth column, because he wanted to give the teens he works with a voice in the community. We wanted to let one of ACT ONE’s own youth workers say his own thank you to Ernie.]

The definition of admire is to respect. Respect cannot be given, it must be earned. The person I admire is no Hollywood star, he isn’t known all over the world. He is my boss, my friend and my benefactor: Ernie Tseng.

In the beginning, Ernie earned my respect through his high education: he is a Harvard graduate. He also went to graduate school at University of San Francisco. Ernie spends hours after work, and sometimes on weekends, to help me and other co-workers with our homework, with college applications, studying for SATs and so much more. There was hardly ever a time when he didn’t know how to help me, maybe just on my French homework.

He is also the nicest guy I know. If asked, Ernie will teach you how to drive, pick you up, drive you home, take you somewhere, buy you food, take you to see a movie and the list goes on. If he is not busy doing something else really important, he will do all those things.

Ernie has gone past the limits with how much respect he has earned from me through the way he has taught me to be a leader, a better co-worker and — most importantly — a better person.

Because I live in Daly City, Ernie often drives me all the way home and this gives us time to really talk. We have talks about what’s going on in each other’s lives and share thoughts on what’s going on at work. Talking to him has helped me think less selfishly and instead, care more about others.

Ernie once told me, “To be a nice person, you must treat everyone nice. Not just those who are smarter than you, bigger than you or richer than you, but also those who are not as smart, smaller and less fortunate. If someone hates you, you can’t help it but you must treat them nice regardless.”

Advice like that has really stuck with me. It’s so great to have such a person that I can have around so often. Thanks, Ernie.

— Jason Lam