World Team USA Tops in Muay Thai
April 27, 2007
Watch an episode of Ultimate Fighting Championships on Spike TV, and you might notice that those fighters incorporate Muay Thai techniques. You might already know that Muay Thai stylist Tony Jaa, the star of Ong-Bak and more recently, The Protector, is very cool. More evidence of the growing popularity of Muay Thai was seen and heard April 20, when the San Jose Civic Auditorium was filled with loud fans who had come to watch the Strikeforce Kickboxing Championship.
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Notorious Cho: Death of A Dream
April 27, 2007
Virginia Tech’s Seung-Hui Cho had a biography that reads like the all-Korean American success story. An assimilated 1.5 generation immigrant, Cho was still trapped in a living stereotype: Christian two-parent family moves from poverty in Korea to affluent, high test-scoring Fairfax County.
He was poor only compared to the rich kids he hated. He was teased by white kids. He disliked his mother’s Korean church. His mother worried about him, asking his roommates to help out. He fell between the cracks.
Heavenly Kings Alight at 50th S.F. International Film Festival
April 27, 2007
With cameo appearances by Hong Kong celebrities like Miriam Yeung, Better Luck Tomorrow’s Jason Tobin and Michelle Yeoh, Heavenly Kings showcases the reality behind American-born Asian artists seeking fame and fortune abroad.
Presidential Dig and Turnout
April 27, 2007
Presidential candidate John Edwards unveiled his APA support on April 19 with a little dig at Sen. Hillary Clinton by noting the endorsement of “former [Bill] Clinton” APA officials – including ex-White House liaisons Liz Martinez Baldick of the Labor Department, Hawai’i’s Jadine Nielsen of the Small Business Administration, White House policy advisor and former National APA Bar Association vice president David Tseng … The dig is indicative that Clinton (who snagged accountant/Assembly Majority Whip Fiona Ma and former SBA director Ginger Lew in March) and Edwards are courting pro-business, centrist Democrats key to winning the White House as Bill Clinton did in 1992 and 1996 … The North Carolina senator also picked up support from San Franciscans State Senator Leland Yee and Korematsu attorney Dale Minami; former legislative chief of staff Bill Wong; legislator Nathan Shinagawa of Ithaca, New York; former Japanese American Citizens League executive director David Ushio; Minami Tamaki attorney Steve Ngo of S.F.; and former Seattle JACL president Arlene Oki.
Echoes From Blacksburg
April 27, 2007
Although 224 miles separate the Virginia Tech campus in Blacksburg, Virginia and the University of Maryland campus in College Park, Maryland, the shootings that took place in Blacksburg on Monday, April 16 had repercussions that were felt in College Park throughout the last week.
APAPA Meets with the Governor
April 27, 2007
SACRAMENTO — Statewide board members and officers of the Asian Pacific Islander American Public Affairs Association last week met with Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and his staff for a half hour inside the Ronald Reagan Cabinet Room of the State Capitol to discuss how they could “work together and build bridges between government and the API community.”
The governor thanked the group for their statewide voter education outreach and APA youth leadership training.
Taiwan Travels
April 26, 2007
In my next life, I think I would like to return as a travel writer, gallivanting all over the globe, checking out and reporting on exotic locales for various publications. Well, I didn’t have to wait that long, it turned out, because my fantasy became a reality just last month.
It all began in January when I received an invitation from the Taiwan Tourism Bureau through AsianWeek to cover that country’s Lantern Festival to be held on March 4. Out of curiosity, I accepted the invitation as I had never been to Taiwan and, besides, the offer was for all expenses to be paid by the Taiwan government.
O’Donnell Leaves ABC’s ‘The View’
April 26, 2007
NEW YORK - After less than a year as host, Rosie O’Donnell will leave ABC-TV’s The View after a string of controversy that included mocking how Chinese and Chinese Americans speak and her insincere apology for the racial insult.
O’Donnell said that she would leave the Emmy-winning women hosted daytime talk show in June after she and ABC could not agree to a new contract after earning more than $3 million for her season as host. The television station was willing to increase her compensation after helping to boost ratings as she feuded with mogul Donald Trump, attacking Rupert Murdoch and equating “radical Christianity” with “radical Islam.”
Samoan American Runs Asia Pacific Subcommittee
April 26, 2007
PALO ALTO — For the first time, an Asian Pacific American is heading the Asia, Pacific, and Global Environment Subcommittee of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
The ascent of Samoan American Rep. Eni Faleomavaega (D-AS), chair of the twelve-member subcommittee, was exemplified by his recent trip to China where he, Rep. Diane Watson (D-CA) and Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) met with China’s second highest leader, National People’s Congress Chairman Wu Bangguo and Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing.
Use Gavel With Authority, Mr. Chairman
April 26, 2007
For the first time in the history of the United States Congress, an Asian Pacific American chairs the House Foreign Affairs subcommittee on Asia, the Pacific, and the Global Environment. Congressman Eni F.H. Faleomavaega of American Samoa chairs the subcommittee that oversees this nation’s Asian Pacific foreign policy — an area long ignored by Eurocentric views or a province of mostly white males.
As Rep. Faleomavaega pointed out, the United States has had “mixed feelings” about Asia in the last seven decades. Yet, these same “mixed feelings” through hot war and Cold War have spurred migrations and shaped Asian Pacific America.
Amok Unbound: Virginia Tech and Amokophobia
April 25, 2007
Recently, I chatted with a man single-handedly trying to restore the notion of amok to its rightful place in the pantheon of known psychotic maladies.
For that, we have Seung-Hui Cho, the Virginia Tech shooter to thank.
The New Face of the Grand Old Party
April 25, 2007
Although Ronald Reagan could not have succeeded without Nancy Reagan’s love and support, historians generally agree that only one marriage propelled Reagan into the White House: the merger of social and fiscal conservatives into the Republican Party. This logical unification of conservatives behind one party and one candidate produced the mutually beneficial relationship that continues today. Read more
