Daily Dose: 03/18/08

» AsianWeek Market Report
» Korean Immigrant Valet Workers Win Settlement Against Palisades Park Mall
» NAPAWF Denounces Ad Campaign for Chinese Laundry Fusion Restaurant
» Heroes to Hand Over Reward to Fugitive Xue’s Abandoned Daughter
» T-Shirts Help to Mobilize Asian Americans Voters
» Governor Who Opposed Detention of Japanese During WWII Honored
» Wu: Founder of Bankaholic.com
» Henry Siu: First Recipient of Bank of Canada Award
» U.S. Asian Wire and Pyramid Media Group Combine Forces
» Washington State Chapter Hosts Kickoff Meeting
» Koreans Top Arrivals to the Philippines
» South Korean Islanders Turn On to Spouses After Turning Off TV
» BBC’s Chef Ching’s Tasty Treats
» Golf-Crazy Koreans Lead Asian Boom
» Females Shine in Mostly Male Schools

AsianWeek Market Report

NATION:

Korean Immigrant Valet Workers Win Settlement Against Palisades Park Mall

NEWARK, N.J. — Two Korean immigrant plaintiffs in the lawsuit Byeon et al. v. Dream USA Unlimited Corp. et al. announced that they have reached a settlement agreement with the owners of Rodeo Plaza Shopping Mall.

The lawsuit alleged violations of various federal and state wage and hour laws.

The two plaintiffs worked as valet parking attendants at the Rodeo Plaza Shopping Mall, owned by Dream USA Unlimited Corp. and located in Palisades Park, N.J. In July 2007, the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund filed a lawsuit on behalf of the valet parking attendants.

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NAPAWF Denounces Ad Campaign for Chinese Laundry Fusion Restaurant

WASHINGTON — Asian American community members have protested a recent ad campaign publicizing a new restaurant owned by Chow Fun Food Group Inc.

The print advertisement announced the opening of Chinese Laundry, an Asian fusion restaurant in downtown Providence, R.I., built on the site of a former Chinese laundry business. It featured an image of a faceless, nude female torso with Chinese characters tattooed down the side of her body and a black banner containing the text “see what you are missing” across her breasts. A bar of text across the top of the advertisement read, “good things come to those who wait.”

The National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum denounced the ad’s portrayal of Asian female exoticism and the commodification of a generalized Asian culture. Chow Fun Food Group owner John Elkhay recently announced that the ad campaign will be pulled.

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Heroes to Hand Over Reward to Fugitive Xue’s Abandoned Daughter

ATLANTA — The reluctant heroes who captured fugitive Nai Yin Xue in the U.S. will give most of the $10,000 reward money to his abandoned daughter, Qian Xun Xue.

“[She] is too young. She needs money more than us; she lost her mom. We can work to earn the money, but she can’t,” said Guisen Wu, one of the six Chinese immigrants who caught Xue in Atlanta in February.

The group of cooks and deliverymen, who live in crowded conditions and work long hours to send money to their families in China, ended a five-month global manhunt after they recognized Xue in a Chinese-language newspaper. Luring him to a meeting, they tied him up with his own pants and belt and sat on him till police arrived.

Wu said the group did not know of the reward when they caught Xue.

— The Age

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T-Shirts Help to Mobilize Asian Americans Voters

SEATTLE — This election season, you hear a lot about the importance of the black vote or the Hispanic vote. But where are the Asian Americans?

With millions of Asian American voters being ignored by the media, Archipelago, a Seattle-based apparel company, hopes to help draw some attention with a shirt, which declares in big, bold letters: “Represent. Recognize. The Asian American Vote.” Between the lines of the main text are listed the many ethnic groups that comprise the Asian American community.

Apart from educating the mainstream, Archipelago also seeks to raise awareness within the Asian American community. The company is offering wholesale packages and free postcards to Asian American activists and organizations involved in get-out-the-vote campaigns.

Four years ago, the company’s most popular product was its “Rock the Asian Vote” shirt, which was sported by Asian American youths and activists throughout the country.

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Governor Who Opposed Detention of Japanese During WWII Honored

DENVER — The Colorado Legislature recently approved a resolution naming U.S. 285, from Denver to the New Mexico state line, the “Ralph Carr Memorial Highway.”
Carr, who was Colorado’s governor when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor in 1941, warned others not to trample on the rights of American-born citizens simply because of their ethnicity.

As a result, the southern Colorado native killed his own political career when he took the unpopular position in 1942 against putting Japanese Americans in internment camps such as Camp Amache in southeastern Colorado.
The Republican governor did so at a time when other governors were threatening “that there would be Japs hanging from every pine tree” if the federal government tried to relocate West Coast Japanese Americans to their states, according to a new book, The Principled Politician: The Ralph Carr Story, by 9News reporter Adam Schrager.

COMMERCE:

Wu: Founder of Bankaholic.com

Mounting turmoil in credit markets could realign the finances of households and businesses, as banks scramble to bolster their balance sheets and jettison risky customers.

For a country of consumers addicted to debt, a possible sign of a change can be seen in places like the Web site Bankaholic.com.

Founded a year and a half ago by John Wu, who turned a project from his student days at the University of California at Berkeley into a rapidly growing business, the site offers a first stop for consumers shopping for credit cards and mortgages.

But these days, Bankaholic finds that consumers are shopping more for savings accounts and certificates of deposit than credit cards — and, to lure them in, banks have boosted their ad spending on the site.

About 750,000 people visit the site every month, Wu said.

— Washington Post

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Henry Siu: First Recipient of Bank of Canada Award

OTTAWA — The Bank of Canada announced that professor Henry Siu of the University of British Columbia is the first recipient of the Governor’s Award.

Professor Siu, an assistant professor in the Economics Department at the University of British Columbia, is known for his work in the field of macroeconomics. His current research focuses on the analysis of business cycles, and the conduct of monetary policy and fiscal policy in the face of economic shocks.

The Bank of Canada Governor’s Award recognizes outstanding academics who are working at Canadian universities in areas of research critical to economics and finance.

— CNW Group

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U.S. Asian Wire and Pyramid Media Group Combine Forces

SOUTH PLAINFIELD, N.J. — U.S. Asian Wire and Pyramid Media Group have joined forces to offer content and content solutions for Web sites and for print and electronic publications. Pyramid Media — a global provider of travel, business and aerospace content and content services — together with U.S. Asian Wire, will combine their assets to offer news, features, special reports and travel tools. The content packages and solutions will enable users to have in-house editorial and technical staff without incurring the high attendant costs.

Advantages for clients will be manifold as the ability to license Pyramid Media Group core travel, business and aerospace content and content tools enables corporations, nonprofit organizations, and government and media companies to integrate content across to their own intranet, Internet, wireless networks and to virtually any platform.

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Washington State Chapter Hosts Kickoff Meeting

Asian Real Estate Association of America of Washington state celebrated their launch as AREAA’s newest local chapter with a kickoff meeting in February. The event featured presentations by PR and advertising guru Bill Imada of IW Group Inc. and former AREAA Chair Allen Okamoto. Thanks to the leadership and dedication of chapter President Jason Watabe and the founding Washington chapter members, the kickoff was a great success with over 100 attendees.

AREAA of Washington state board member Mark Kitabayashi will also represent his chapter by serving as a director on AREAA’s national board. Kitabayashi noted the importance of AREAA’s new chapter and his position by saying, “Washington state has been a gateway to the U.S. from Asia for close to 100 years. We are very excited that a much needed chapter of AREAA is started in the great Northwest. As a representative from Washington, I am looking forward to sharing and learning ideas from representatives from all over the United States, and assisting to work toward our goals on a local and national level.”

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GLOBAL:

Koreans Top Arrivals to the Philippines

Koreans topped the list of arrivals in the Philippines at the start of the year, and officials are saying foreigner-friendly immigration policies and the better quality of education here are enticing them to visit the country.

65,906 Koreans arrived in the country this January, the highest number for any given nationality. The Education Department showed there are close to 30,000 Korean students enrolled in the different schools in the country.

Jang Hye Jin, a Korean who has spent most of her time in the Philippines for the last 10 years and finished her secondary and college education here, said they find the quality of education in the Philippines excellent, especially in the field of learning English as a second language.

Jang said that the reforms initiated by the Bureau of Immigration, specifically the project called “Visa Issuance Made Simple,” have further encouraged Koreans into visiting the country.

— Manila Standard Today

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South Korean Islanders Turn On to Spouses After Turning Off TV

SEOUL, South Korea — Residents of a small South Korean island were turned on by their wives after turning off their televisions for three weeks in an unusual social experiment.

All 28 residents of Darang island off the south coast agreed to take part in the experiment by a local educational broadcaster, and surveillance cameras were set up in each home to avoid backsliding, Dong-A Ilbo newspaper reported.

The islanders, including village leader Choi Dae-Mun, had a tough time at first fighting their viewing habits.

But the vast majority said later that their lives had become much richer, with more time for reading, conversations between spouses and religious activities.

“My eyes used to be glued to the TV, but now I look at my wife and find her prettier than before,” Choi told Dong-A.

— Agence France-Presse

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BBC’s Chef Ching’s Tasty Treats

New TV chef Ching He Huang is to travel the country with her wok, teaching the British how to cook their own Chinese takeaway.

The 28-year-old cook will host Ching’s Chinese Kitchen on BBC2 to try and persuade people their takeaway favorites can be whipped up easily and healthily at home.

“I’m really looking forward to sharing my modern, accessible and authentic take on oriental cookery,” Ching said.

The Taiwan-born chef’s new show, due to air in the summer, is one of two tasty new prime-time cookery shows announced by the BBC.

— metro.co.uk

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Golf-Crazy Koreans Lead Asian Boom

JEJU, South Korea — Welcome to South Korea, epicenter of the Asian golf craze.

While much of the continent is just waking up to the game, golf is already a religion in Korea with a playing population reckoned at four million, or one in 12. Golfers stare down from billboards, and TV schedules include golf tips and reality golf contests.

K.J. Choi, Asia’s most successful player, is also ranked fifth in the world. South Korea also rules the women’s game with 15 players in the top 50, more than any other country.

So while the recently held Ballatine’s Championship, surprisingly Korea’s first European-sanctioned event, is tipped to boost golf in the country, it’s hard to see how it could be any more popular.

Some 14,000 fans flooded Pinx Golf Club to follow Choi, with many flying in from the mainland. Although Choi disappointed, the tournament was an important step.

— Agence France-Presse

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Females Shine in Mostly Male Schools

Their numbers may be small, but women are increasingly standing out in schools for two of Korea’s most male-dominated professions, the military and the police.

The Naval Academy recently named a female cadet, Lee Soo-yeon, valedictorian. She became the fourth female cadet to grab the presidential award for the top graduate since the academy started accepting females in 1999. Lee Soo-yeon, who entered the academy with the second-highest test grades among freshman in 2004, stayed at the top during her four years as a student.

In addition, a 24-year-old female cadet at the Korea National Police University, Kim Eun-bi, was valedictorian of her graduating class.

The first group of 21 females to graduate from the academy became commissioned officers in 2003. Females account for about 10% of the total students in the academy.

— JoongAng Daily

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Compiled by Taylor Chen and Melissa Chin