Bay Briefs
December 27, 2007
Laundryman Who Reunited Families, 79, Passes Away
SAN FRANCISCO — Fook Lin Wong, 79, a retired small businessman who sheltered numerous immigrants to the United States, passed away Dec. 12 after a long illness.
Wong, known as Sammy to customers, owned a dry cleaning business on Noriega Street for decades.
“My dad fits what some have described Chinese laundrymen — a hero to the working class,” said son Samson Wong, senior editorial consultant for AsianWeek.
He and his wife reunified and housed more than 20 siblings, nieces, nephews, in-laws and friends immigrating from Hong Kong and China in the decades after the 1965 Immigration Act.
“He shared the dream of Golden Mountain with his family by owning a home and reuniting families here,” Samson said.
Wong is survived by wife Susan, children Samson and Melinda, son-in-law Kevin Lee, and granddaughter Kamryn Lee.
Services will be held at Ashley & McMullen-Wing Sun, 4200 Geary Boulevard in San Francisco at 11 am on Dec. 22, followed by burial at Golden Hills Memorial Park, 2099 Hillside Blvd. in Colma, Calif.
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Calif. Hmong Protest Green Card Delays Due to Patriot Act
STOCKTON, Calif. — About 1,800 Laotian immigrants, including more than 100 Hmong veterans who fought for the United States against the Vietnamese, protested what they consider the unfair application of certain provisions of the Patriot Act to Hmong refugees.
Under the Patriot Act, Hmong aren’t specifically listed as terrorists, but refugees may be denied entry to the U.S. if they are found to have provided material support to terrorists, defined under the act as having engaged in unlawful activity against their country.
Two bills are currently pending in Congress that would remove the material support from applying to Hmong seeking asylum or permanent residency.
From 1961 to 1975, the CIA recruited thousands of Hmong soldiers to fight against the Vietnamese and Lao Communists.
Zang Fang of the Southeast Asian Resource Action Center said that many of the 16,000 recently resettled Hmong refugees are facing long delays in getting their green cards approved.
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Desai Joins Women of Color Center
Anisha Desai recently joined Oakland’s Women of Color Resource Center as its new executive director.
Desai is a community activist, educator and scholar who has devoted nearly 12 years to social justice, education and public advocacy work with communities of color in Florida, New York, New England and the Bay Area. Her work has focused on addressing the structural sources of oppression for people of color, women, and poor and low-income communities throughout the United States and globally.
“I have a passion for networking and relationship-building, and my work is marked by creativity, by building deep and broad-based community coalitions and networks and by strong and innovative leadership and team-building,” Desai said.
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Teresa Takai Appointed State Chief Information Officer
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger recently announced the appointment of Teresa (Teri) M. Takai as the state chief information officer.
Takai has served as director of the Michigan Department of Information Technology since 2003, where she also serves as the state’s chief information officer. In this position, she has restructured and consolidated Michigan’s resources by merging the state’s information technology into one centralized department to service 19 agencies and over 1,700 employees.
Prior to going into state service, Takai worked for the Ford Motor Company for 30 years. Takai was named “Public Official of the Year” by Governing magazine in 2005.
Takai, 59, of Detroit, Mich., earned a Master of Arts degree in management and a Bachelor of Arts degree in mathematics from the University of Michigan. This position requires Senate confirmation, and the compensation is $175,000. Takai is a Democrat.
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Oakland Boys Convicted in Halloween Slaying
SAN LEANDRO, Calif. — Three teenage Oakland boys were recently convicted in juvenile court of first-degree murder in connection with the fatal Halloween shooting of a 15-year-old girl in an Alameda park.
A judge found that the boys — two brothers, ages 16 and 15, and a 13-year-old friend — were guilty because they aided and abetted in an attempted robbery that led to the death of Ichinkhorloo “Iko” Bayarsaikhan in Washington Park after a night of trick-or-treating.
The boys could be sentenced to remain in custody until their 25th birthdays, the maximum sentence allowed under juvenile law. Sentencing was set for Jan. 25, 2008.
Murder charges are pending against three other teenagers, including the boy who allegedly fired the rifle that killed Bayarsaikhan.
The pack of boys had spent Halloween trick-or-treating in Alameda before getting into a series of scuffles and ending up in the park, where they decided to rob the girl and her friends.
— San Francisco Chronicle
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San Francisco Schools Receive Title I Awards
SAN FRANCISCO — Fourteen SFUSD schools, including several with large Asian American populations, were named recently as 2007-2008 Title I Academic Achievement Award winners. Award-winning schools were selected because they qualify for Title I, a federally funded program designed to improve the academic achievement of socioeconomically disadvantaged students, and because they exceeded state academic growth targets.
The San Francisco schools receiving the award for 2007-2008 are: Chin (John Yehall) Elementary, Francis Scott Key Elementary, Garfield Elementary, Glen Park Elementary, Guadalupe Elementary, KIPP San Francisco Bay Academy, Sheridan Elementary, Stevenson (Robert Louis) Elementary, Sunset Elementary, Sutro Elementary, Taylor (Edward R.) Elementary, Ulloa Elementary, Visitacion Valley Elementary and Yick Wo Elementary.
Schools also must have made “Adequate Yearly Progress” for two years in a row, and at least 40% of the enrolled students in each school must meet the federal poverty index.
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Jon Osaki Honored at 2007 Silver Spur Event
SAN FRANCISCO — The San Francisco Planning + Urban Research Association honored Jon Osaki, executive director of the Japanese Community Youth Council, at its recent 2007 Silver Spur awards.
During his acceptance speech, Osaki commented on the current state of his group.
“Many are surprised to learn that JCYC helps over 3,000 youth each year to become the first in their families to go to college, that we put over 2,000 youth a year to work through our employment programs, and that we are San Francisco’s primary provider of independent living skills services for youth in the foster care system,” Osaki said.
Osaki went on to describe his involvement with the Japantown Better Neighborhood’s planning process, and how those in a position to help the neighborhood need to step forward in the same way that JCYC supports so many children and youth from other communities.
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RE Hmong Article:
On 12/26/07, Pres Bush signed the Appropriations Bill (HR 2764) that lifts the label of “terrorist” from all Hmong, whether they provided “material support” or the were actually a “fighter”. This now opens the doors for the Hmong to immigrate to America or other countries. There are still around 8,000 in refugee camps in Thailand and around 5,000 or more in the jungles of Laos. Hopefully, after decades of suffering for helping America in the Secret War in Laos, these Hmong will find peace in once they are out of Laos and Thailand.