‘Harold and Kumar’ Breaks With Charlie Chan, Fu Manchu and Ming the Merciless: John Cho and Kal Penn overturn Hollywood stereotypes of APA men
July 30, 2004
“My first professional audition was for a commercial,” remembers Kal Penn. “I walk in the room and the casting director asked me where my turban was.” Caught off guard, the Indian American actor tried to explain that not all Indians wear turbans, but the casting director wasn’t hearing any of it. She straight away asked him to put a bedsheet on his head. Read more
New and Notable Books
July 30, 2004
BEING JAPANESE AMERICAN: A JA SOURCEBOOK FOR NIKKEI, HAPA … & THEIR FRIENDS Read more
Chi Catcher: Drummer Wang Wei Thunders On
July 30, 2004
Chinese percussionist Wang Wei walks like a serene, laughing Buddha, but at 34, he is changing the face of Chinese percussion in America. Read more
Filipinos Back Withdrawal in the Name of Peace: President Arroyo saves hostage and protects 8 million overseas workers
July 30, 2004
Bay Area Filipinos gathered outside the Philippine Consulate in San Francisco on July 19, vigorously rejecting accusations of premature capitulation, and speaking out for the safety of overseas Filipino laborers and withdrawal from Iraq. Read more
All Locked Up
July 30, 2004
San Francisco Bay Area insurance magnate and Asian American Donor Program founder Jonathan Leong has paper grandson roots to Locke’s late Jone Ho Leong, which makes her sons — Dan and Everett Leong — Jonathan’s paper uncles.… Anyway, back on July 10, the paper prodigal grandson paused on mid-Main Street in Locke at the old, boarded-up Star Theater — the town’s former cultural center for Cantonese opera. Read more
Global Briefs
July 30, 2004
SOUTH KOREAN DEFENSE
U.S. Troops to Pull out of Seoul
WASHINGTON — All U.S. troops based in Seoul will be moved out by December 2008, Pentagon officials announced.
The 8,000 troops will be redeployed to new facilities in Pyongtaek, some 50 miles south. Read more
Arts Briefs
July 30, 2004
NURTURE, REGENERATE AND CELEBRATE
Hawai‘i in Festival of Pacific Arts
HONOLULU — A 62-member Hawai‘i delegation is in the Pacific Island nation of Palau to participate in the quadrennial 10-day Festival of Pacific Arts. Read more
Bay Briefs
July 30, 2004
VOTING RIGHTS
Electronic Voting Re-certified
LOS ANGELES — A coalition of civil rights and community groups, including the Asian Law Alliance and the Asian Pacific American Legal Center (APALC), praised Secretary of State Kevin Shelley’s re-certification of “electronic voting” machines. Read more
Nation Briefs
July 30, 2004
CONSTRUCTION DEATH
Clinton, Liu Aid Dead Laborer’s Wife
NEW YORK — Yue Xia Zhang sat to the side of an altar upon which was placed a picture of her dead husband, candles and incense. Mourners bowed before the altar in front of the coffin. Read more
Sports Briefs
July 30, 2004
ATHENS 2004
Hapa Stuns Decathlon World Champ
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Bryan Clay had three personal bests last week to upset reigning world champion Tom Pappas at the U.S. Olympic track and field trials on July 17.
Clay grew up in Kaneohe, Hawai‘i, and graduated from Castle High School in 1998. He is the first Hawaiian athlete to qualify for the Olympic decathlon and the first from the state to qualify for the U.S. Olympic track and field team since Punahou graduate Henry Marsh in 1988.
Clay draped himself in a Hawaiian flag to celebrate his triumph in his first decathlon of the season. His score was third best in the world this year.
“I grew up in Hawai‘i. I’m half-Japanese, half-African American,” Clay said. “My dad lives in Florida, my mom lives in Hawai‘i. I went to Azusa Pacific — a small Christian school — so my faith and my walk with God are very important to me. I just try to keep my priorities in check, and when I’ve got that stuff in check, the athletic stuff just comes around. So that’s kind of me in a nutshell.”
AMATEUR GOLF
Wie Plays for Free in France
EVIAN, France — French media just can’t seem to get enough of 14-year-old Hawaiian sensation Michelle Wie, who shot a 69 and tied 33rd at 287 in the $2.5 million Evian Masters.
“I’ve had a busy summer,” Wie said. “It’s great to be in Europe. I’m having a fun time …. It’s more relaxed here than in the States.”
Relaxed or not, she doesn’t lose sight of her goals. While the $375,000 winner’s check is not for amateurs, Wie is looking for the title-win glory.
“Every week I look to win. I try and shoot the lowest I can and go for birdie on every hole,” said Wie, whose fourth-place finish at this year’s Kraft Nabisco Championship was her best on the LPGA Tour.
Wie will have her father, B.J., on her bag this week. She also confirmed she would not play the British Open. As an amateur, Wie has already planned her permitted six sponsor invitations.
Tamlyn Shames APA Democrats If Bush Isn’t Ousted
July 30, 2004
What are we … APAs [Asian Pacific Americans]? APIs [Asian Pacific Islanders]? APIAs [Asian Pacific Islander Americans]?” rallied actress and activist Tamlyn Tomita. “Foremost, we are Americans! Shame on us if we don’t kick out the current administration!” Read more
The Road No Longer Taken: ‘Jap Road’ to be Renamed
July 30, 2004
Beaumont, Texas, July 19 — Tears streamed down the faces of the Japanese Texans as the announcement was read. The Commissioners Court of Jefferson County had voted 4-1 to take down the name “Jap Road” near Fannett, Texas, at the southeastern tip of the state. A tradition going back nearly a century had ended with controversy that reached all the way up to the White House. Read more
