Daily Dose: 07/29/08
July 29, 2008
» AsianWeek Market Report
» Quest to Preserve JA Internment Sites Proves Difficult
» APA Washington Press Corps Diversity Low But Progressing
» Manilatown is in the Heart Film Premiere
» Kay Okamoto Volunteer Award Presented
» Blog Cartoon Called Racist
» Lucy Liu Becomes an Animated Seductive Mastermind in Spike TV’s ‘Afro Samurai’
» Fil Am Actor Adam Jacobs Named Pistahan Filipino Festival Grand Marshall
» Olympics Bring Pride to Chinese Americans
» Women’s Tennis Duo Wins East West Bank Classic
» Wells Fargo Promotes Alex Nguyen to Market & Church Store Manager
» An Un-American Feel Aids Expanding U.S. Web Firms
» Kidnapped Daughter of Retired U.S. Marine Freed Unharmed
» Men Found Guilty of Killing Chinese Family
Compiled by Michelle-Linh Thuy Nguyen and Ivan Natividad
| AsianWeek Market Report | ||||
| Asian Stock Indexes | ||||
| NIKKEL_225 | Tokyo | 13,159.45 | -194.33 | -1.46% |
| HANG SENG | Hong Kong | 22,258.00 | -429.21 | -1.89% |
| KRX | Busan | 3,223.32 | -65.68 | -2.00% |
| SSE IX | Shanghai | 9,791.87 | -182.27 | -1.83% |
| BSE | Bombay | 13,791.54 | -557.57 | -3.89% |
| HOSE | Ho Chi Minh | 444.40 | 9.76 | 2.25% |
| SET | Bangkok | 676.73 | -8.80 | -1.28% |
| Asian American Market Report | ||||
| Yahoo! | YHOO | 20.15 | 0.03 | (0.15%) |
| Citigroup | C | 18.45 | 1.02 | (5.85%) |
| Amkor Technology, Inc | AMKR | 9.12 | .38 | (4.35%) |
| Sybase | SY | 33.85 | 0.56 | (1.68%) |
| UnionBancal Corp | UB | 53.85 | 3.55 | (7.06%) |
| East West Bank corp,Inc | EWBC | 12.46 | 1.78 | (16.67%) |
NATION
Quest to Preserve JA Internment Sites Proves Difficult
WENDELL, Id. - The National Park Service found a government barrack salvaged by self-proclaimed junk collector Ron Solders, 56, earlier this year while searching for the original pieces of a World War II internment camp operated in southern Idaho during the 1940s.
The barrack was among the 400 temporary homes built at the Minidoka Relocation Center, one of 10 large camps in the western United States and Arkansas.
The National Park Service has tried to track down a dozen of the original barracks that were scattered throughout southern Idaho. The bulk of the long, skinny barracks were given to local farmers.
The park service has proposed restoring a block of the barracks to recreate the living conditions that roughly 13,000 Japanese Americans experienced at the camp. The initiative is part of an overall plan to preserve sections of Minidoka, which became a national historic site seven years ago and now sits mostly deserted.
- Associated Press
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APA Washington Press Corps Diversity Low But Progressing
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Only 13 percent of the Washington daily newspaper press corps are journalists of color, according to a study on diversity by UNITY: Journalists of Color Inc. and the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University.
Asian Pacific American journalists have made the most progress proportionately in the Washington press corps since 2004, increasing from 1.9 percent to 3.2 percent of the total.
The 2008 UNITY census shows “how much more work remains to be done in diversifying our newsrooms - particularly when it comes to covering the seat of power in this nation,” said Jeanne Mariani-Belding, president of the Asian American Journalists Association.
The release of the study coincides with UNITY 2008, which was held this past week in Chicago. The convention is the signature event of UNITY: Journalists of Color Inc. an alliance that represents the Asian American Journalists Association.
BAY & CALIFORNIA
Manilatown is in the Heart Film Premiere
SAN FRANCISCO - A poetic documentary film by Curtis Choy, creator of The Fall of The I-Hotel will premiere his film for a one-time showing on August 9 at 7 p.m. in the Manilatown International Hotel Center Gallery.
The film highlights Filipino poet/activist Al Robles. Following a mystical walkabout in 1960s Japan, he has been roaming Chinatown/Manilatown’s single-room occupancy hotels, taking elderly veterans to their appointments and delivering lunch to shut-ins.
Russell Leong, poet and editor of Robles’ book Rappin’ With Ten Thousand Carabaos In The Dark, said “Perhaps no one has listened as closely to the voices of the Pilipino American community during the last thirty years.”
Robles has remained an enigmatic and mysterious image in the APA community. The film will chronicle tales of Al given by fellow writers.
For more information on this film go to: www.chonkmoonhunter.com
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Kay Okamoto Volunteer Award Presented
SAN FRANCISCO - At the 52nd anniversary of the Hamilton Senior Center, the Kay Okamoto Volunteer Award was presented to Nell Noguchi who has been a longtime volunteer at the Funjinkai at the San Francisco Buddhist Church.
Ms. Noguchi has also been an active volunteer at the Hamilton Senior Center. She has added Jefferson Elementary School to her volunteer list, spending time supporting the education efforts as her grandchildren attend.
“I really don’t deserve this award as there are so many others who do more,” Noguchi told the audience, typifying the modesty that Kay Okamoto volunteer spirit. She asked that the $1,000 award be shared with Nihonmachi Little Friends and Jodo Shinshu to support the Center Campaign BCA - 21st Century.
Appreciation was also extended from both Allen and Steve Okamoto to Greg Marutani of the San Francisco Chapter of the Japanese American Citizens. “His support of our mother’s work at the Hamilton Senior Center and appreciate his commitment to the Kay Okamoto Volunteer Award,” added Allen Okamoto.
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
TOLEDO, Oh. - A cartoon posted on the University of Toledo’s Arts and Sciences Council E Forum has been seen by some as racist.
The cartoon, posted by a registered user known only as “Lafcadio,” was removed from the blog. The cartoon showed Main Campus Provost Rosemary Haggett and President Lloyd Jacobs in a bus and Yueh-Ting Lee, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, at the bottom right corner, wearing what looks to be a traditional Chinese outfit.
In an e-mail to The Independent Collegian, Lee wrote, “I was not only offended but also extremely disappointed by the controversial posting. I believe the designer and the blog facilitator owes the Asian American community a SINCERE apology for such a dehumanizing cartoon.”
In an e-mail addressed to the Chinese faculty at UT, Jiquan Chen, an ecology professor, wrote that the outfit on Lee used to be a derogatory symbol against Chinese around 50 years ago.
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Lucy Liu Becomes an Animated Seductive Mastermind in Spike TV’s ‘Afro Samurai’
SAN DIEGO - Lucy Liu is set to embrace her inner warrior.
The 39-year-old actress will lend her voice to Afro Samurai: Resurrection, a two-hour sequel to the animated series starring Samuel L. Jackson, Spike TV announced July 24.
Liu will play Sio, a seductive and sadistic mastermind out to destroy Jackson’s samurai.
“When we first created the character of Sio, we knew that Lucy Liu would be perfect for the role,” said executive producer Leo Chu. “We thought we owed it to ourselves to at least ask her, never dreaming that she would say yes.”
Mark Hamill is also slated to star in Afro Samurai: Resurrection, playing a servant and protector to Liu’s character. The movie is set to premiere on Spike TV in January.
- Associated Press
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Fil Am Actor Adam Jacobs Named Pistahan Filipino Festival Grand Marshall
SAN FRANCISCO - Filipino American Broadway star Adam Jacobs has been named this year’s Grand Marshall for the Pistahan Filipino Festival Parade.
As an all-star soccer player at St. Ignatius High School in San Francisco, Jacobs was never really sure what he wanted to pursue. “In my heart, I wanted to do theater,” he says, crediting a drama teacher and his younger sister Arielle for urging him to pursue his love of music.
Jacobs graduated from the theatre program at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. After making his Broadway debut playing Marius in the Les Miserable tour, Jacobs continued to find success landing roles in Broadway plays such as Cinderella, Harvey Milk and West Side Story.
The Festival will be held on August 9 at the Yerba Buena Gardens.
For more info on Adam, adamljacobs.com
SPORTS
Olympics Bring Pride to Chinese Americans
SAN FRANCISCO - Beijing is a city hurtling toward a deadline as China readies for its first-ever Olympic games. The Opening Ceremonies are only 11 days away, and the out-with-the-old, in-with-the-new mantra goes deeper than construction.
For the thousands of Chinese Americans in San Francisco, most of whom are either first- or second-generation immigrants, the Olympics represent a coming-out party for their homeland.
The old one-way migration out of China has become a swirling network as the country grows into an economic force, and the words “proud” and “honor” are repeatedly used to describe its hosting duties.
“The people of China have changed,” said Joyce Lee, who emigrated 15 years ago. “The Olympics are the biggest event in the world, and it’s a good start to show people what China can do.”
- San Francisco Chronicle
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Women’s Tennis Duo Wins East West Bank Classic
Taiwan’s female tennis duo Chang Yung-jan and Chuang Chia-jung won the East West Bank Classic on July 27, marking the greatest achievement for the Taiwanese in tennis. World champion skater Michelle Kwan, the spokeswoman of the event, presented the trophy to the Taiwanese duo.
Besides sharing US$30,000 in prize money, the two will rise from their current 8th and 9th place in world double’s ratings. The two are now poised to be the top seeded team for the Beijing Olympics. Taiwan’s female duo is the only doubles team with players of the same nationality, which is a key element in the Olympic seeding.
- Radio Taiwan International
COMMERCE
Wells Fargo Promotes Alex Nguyen to Market & Church Store Manager
SAN FRANCISCO - Wells Fargo has promoted Alex Nguyen to store manager of Wells Fargo’s Market & Church location in San Francisco. He will have responsibility for more than 11 team members.
Nguyen began his career at Wells Fargo as a business phone banker in 2003 and quickly worked his way up to business specialist. Prior to his promotion, Nguyen served as assistant store manager at the Civic Center store.
Wells Fargo & Company is a diversified financial services company with more than 18,000 team members in the Bay Area and is ranked the #1 corporate giver among financial institutions by the San Francisco Business Times. Recently the bank has donated $14.4 million with 1,860 grants contributed to local nonprofits and schools serving the Bay Area last year, totaling nearly $40,000 in giving each day to local non-profit agencies.
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An Un-American Feel Aids Expanding U.S. Web Firms
NEW YORK - AOL splashes images of Bollywood celebrities on its new home page for India. MySpace accepts sign-ups from mobile phones in Japan. Google peppers its Korean site with colorful, animated icons.
Major U.S. internet companies are trying to expand globally without seeming to, designing market-specific services with customized features that reflect differences in connection speeds, payment options and attitudes toward sex or violence.
People in two populous countries, India and China, are just getting online. The research firm IDC projects worldwide internet ad spending at nearly $107 billion in 2011, compared with $65 billion this year.
But getting it right will be tough. American companies that merely translate their U.S.-focused sites into other languages risk losing to homegrown businesses that can better respond to cultural nuances.
“A lot of times, the U.S. companies, because they were successful in the U.S., they tend to repeat their current business models,” said Tian X. Hou, a Pali Research analyst who follows China. “Most of the time, that doesn’t work.”
- Associated Press
GLOBAL
Kidnapped Daughter of Retired U.S. Marine Freed Unharmed
MANILA, Philippines - Kidnappers have freed a retired U.S. Marine’s 19-year-old daughter a day after snatching her, police said recently. She was unharmed.
Chief Superintendent Ricardo Padilla said it was unclear if Cristina Loyola’s family paid the $68,000 ransom that her captors demanded.
She was freed not far from her home in the resort city of Tagaytay, south of Manila, a day after she and her Filipino American father, Ver Loyola, were seized, he said.
The kidnappers freed the 71-year-old father three hours after the pair was taken hostage.
Police said four gunmen barged into the Loyolas’ home, tied up his wife and maid, then drove away with him and his daughter in the family car.
They took two cell phones and jewelry worth $1,570 and $1,900 in cash and demanded the ransom.
“We’re still conducting follow-up operations to identify and arrest the suspects,” said Padilla, the regional police chief.
- Associated Press
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Men Found Guilty of Killing Chinese Family
Two Chinese nationals were convicted on July 25 in the Pretoria high court of killing a family and dumping the bodies in a manhole in Samrand Avenue.
Acting Judge Khami Makhafola said the State had proved beyond reasonable doubt that Siyuan Liu, 48, and Jiansen Bai, 54, killed businessman Jia-Bin Li and his family in November 2004.
Lin, his wife Zin and daughters Ruby, 4, and Louise, 16, were murdered in their Centurion home.
An accomplice, who was a witness for the State in return for indemnity, earlier testified how a thin white rope was tied around each of their necks. A stick was used to twist the ropes tighter and tighter until the victims choked to death.
- Independent Online
Comments
7 Responses to “Daily Dose: 07/29/08”
Got something to say?
Yay Adam Jacobs!
(Although FYI, Harvey Milk was an opera, not a play nor Broadway musical.)
“For the thousands of Chinese Americans in San Francisco, most of whom are either first- or second-generation immigrants, the Olympics represent a coming-out party for their homeland.” Assertions such as this reinforce the notion that Chinese Americans are fifth columnists who owe a greater allegiance to China, a country they left in order to immigrate to the United States, than this nation. I often hear Chinese Americans assert that they are “Chinese” first, and Americans only incidentally. Additionally, Chinese-American communities in the U.S. are notoriously insular; many Chinese immigrants don’t even bother to learn English out of some misguided nationalism and/or racist assumption that the white (and black and brown, for that matter) “devils” who surround them are inferior to themselves. Why, then, do they constantly complain that they are marginalized, discriminated against, left out of the poltical process? I understand that immigrants are eager to preserve their cultural identity, but one can’t have it both ways. Either adopt the customs, language, etc. of your adopted country or stay in your homeland.
Angela D.–In most cases, adopting the culture of a foreign nation is a tremendously challenging undertaking, one that is not so easily accomplished. Bear in mind that it is also not just a matter of WANTING to conform or adopt, but there are various factors that influence one’s willingness and even capability to assimilate. socioeconomic status. language difficulties. and yes, discrimination, just to name a few. Your blanketed views on biculturism and the supposed nationalism (towards the motherland) of many Chinese Americans is ludicrous, and quite frankly, plain offensive. While you claim to empathize with immigrants who want to hold onto their cultural customs and traditions, I find it nonetheless hypocritical that you are instructing them to choose one culture over the other, and that, in fact, you understand quite little about the identity conflicts many immigrants (not just those of Chinese descent), coupled with the second, third, fourth, and fifth-generation APIs have faced and continue to face today.
Just sayin.
I didn’t mean for this to be a personal attack of any kind, but as a second generation Chinese American who draws from not one, but both backgrounds of her culture, I found it necessary to stand up and put my voice out there.
Belinda, I didn’t indicate anywhere in my post that I felt that assimilation was an easy task - of course it’s fraught with many difficulties. My own parents immigrated to this country during the 1950s and strove immediately to learn English, since they realized that this would be vital to their success in the U.S. One must want to adopt to the customs, traditions and language of the country to which one has immigrated in order to experience any degree of success. As a social worker in SF, I’ve encountered scores of Chinese-Americans who have lived in this country for decades, and cannot even order a cup of coffee for themselves in English, because they’ve lived within the cloistered confines of Chinatown that entire time and felt that it was unnecessary for them to learn the lingua franca of this nation. Many of them have not hesitated (thru interpreters) to convey their sense of racial/national supremacy to America’s supposed “barbarism.” And the hooliganism demonstrated by some pro-China attendees of the thwarted Olympic torch run here in SF (i.e., physically assaulting those carrying signs demanding freedom for Tibet, surrounding advocates for Chinese dissidents and menacing them in Justin Herman Plaza) further established the rabidly nationalist character of many of those who live in this country and yet continue to swear allegiance to the PRC. I stand by every word of my original post.
Dear Angela & Belinda:
May one other “second-generation” “Chinese-American” butt in here with a couple “observations”?
My personal experience goes back more than 80 years, and I MADE the admittedly “difficult” passage of “assimilation,” mostly on “my own.”
Of course, I had the advantage of being born OUTSIDE the ghetto walls of San Francisco Chinatown, along with the benisons of a fine “public-school” start.
Angela, may I suggest that you look deeper into your distress and distrust of “aliens” who insist on both their insularities AND the “culturisms” thereof?
I believe, back in the 19th Century, or “turn” of same, that Jewish immigrants not only inhabited Manhattan?, Brooklyn Heights?, ghettoes, but also evinced the culturally full and rich likes of a Yiddish theater with its Molly Picons?
And, whereas the Justin Plaza “types” who displayed “loyalties” to the PRC? and who have, in your experience, relayed THEIR “inferiority complexes” by way of “demonizing,” as in “foreign devil,” “white devil,” “black devil” etc. etc., no doubt exist — perhaps the reason they do is because of the likes of your own, personal, “prejudices” here.
For instance, are you absolutely certain that speaking the “lingua franca,” which, by the way, is open to more than a few dialects and a few slanguages, demonstrates either “assimilation” OR “patriotism”?
As someone who has learned the lingo, observed the laws, and even enjoyed many of the “cultural” benisons of this “great” and unwieldy “nation,” I, for one, am not at all “proud” ot what we are and have been of late.
And, sadly, San Francisco Chinatown today appears to be in rerun mode, with recycled, albeit quite different both in provenance AND attitudes, generations of “furriners.”
But, whatever the circumstances and howsomever the possible resolutions between “immigrant” and “native,” the fact of the matter is essentially sociocultural as well as socioeconomic. And, here, I believe that BOTH sides need breathing space AND time.
The “international” aspects of such as the “Torch” ralays AND the respective turfs and agendas are, likely, merely additional irritants to the prickly process of two parties in uneasy lack of adjustment to one another.
Oh, and Belinda, you are “right” to “defend” your elders, but it may also be prudent to advise them of their obligations as “guests,” that is, until they reach the point where they are “neighbors” and fellow “travellers” in a world of conflicts and contrasts, some of the latter bracing and beneficial to ALL.
Frank Eng
Frank, not learning the language of the country to which you’ve immigrated, whether out of deference to your land of origin, the ability to navigate enclaves of your own people in which English is rarely spoken/heard or just plain laziness, is an affront to the citizens of your adopted homeland. It also forever condemns you to a life of low-paid service industry jobs, if you can even find those. I lived in the Netherlands for sixteen months and learned to speak Dutch fluently in less than a year. I was astonished by the number of Brits, yanks and Aussies who’d resided there for decades and yet insisted on speaking English, claiming the native tongue was “too difficult” for them to master; besides, they claimed “everyone” spoke English. That’s almost true; most of the Dutch folks I meant spoke much better English than my fellow Americans, and they did so without that insipid, extremely annoying phraseology(i.e., “I’m like um…like…like”) that’s imposed itself on this nation like an insidious linguistic virus. Still, the Dutch resented the unwillingness of these ex-pats, who clearly had no intention of leaving their country any time soon, to learn their language. There’s also the critical issue of job opportunities. Before I learned Dutch, I washed dishes in a cafe, folded clothes at Fiorucci and even boxed chocolates (apart from those I ate) for very minimal sums. After I learned the language, I got a job in an office and made quite good money. More importantly, I was able to converse with the Dutch in their own tongue, and gained entree into Dutch society, as opposed to forever inhabiting the margins. While I by no means wish to universalize my own experience, the ability to communicate with one another is the most basic of human skills. It’s incumbent upon immigrants to learn English.
Dear Angela:
I begin to understand better your stance herein.
And I admire and applaud your personal witness to your own convictions.
You are also correct in noting that not learning the language condemns one to the fringes of socioeconomic purdah, and the ignorance of the benisons the wider society can offer.
But, in my view, you are wrong about an “affront” to the host nation. Laziness perhaps, self-doubt as well., both “passive” sins, but an affront is an aggressive act, a “positive” assertion.
Here, I think you are hypersensitive.
As a kid, I mean six or seven or so, I remember my dear sis Ann diss’ing, sans awareness, the likes of traditional Cantonese artifacts and opting for all the breezy, brassy, Charlestoning likes of the “flapper” decade.
Now, SHE was one you would have liked. Me, I LOVED her, for her honesty and openness.
However, it didn’t take me long to realize that she erred in turning her back on her heritage, one rich in many ways and not just artifacts.
For one, we were ALL taught the Confucian ideals of human relationships, extending from family and clan and colleagues and friends to total strangers: simple courtesy and respect, the same one demands for oneself.
Your experience leads me to believe you encountered a “new breed” of “Chinese” immigrants, one admitted rather than recruited, and one which demands and expects rather than quietly attempts to survive, and, mayhap, prosper, on the permitted fringes.
Your awareness of your compatriots’ lack of manners, much less smarts, in The Netherlands also leads me to believe you demand as much of others as you do of yourself, in which regard, all I can say is: good luck.
The few out there who will fulfill your bill of expectations likely exist in ALL races, and all precincts, but they are the exceptions, not the rule.
And note well that Belinda, a mere second-generation again, already writes and argues as well as you.
And in English yet.
Me, I could never master the Chinese. Too tough.
Frank Eng
P.S.: Communications and “communicating” are the rubric of human intercourse. But, Angela, there are more ways of communicating than the spoken, academic or colloquial. And recoil from the unwashed and untaught or those who expectorate publicly or evince little or no social manners, while understandable, is also a reflection of same insofar as such are equally sociocultural manifestations. As for Olympics and “human rights,” have you considered the flagrant violations in the Mideast? And elsewhere? Like our own inner-city streets and the blossoming of “homelessness” right here in our own backyards?
Frank Eng
P.S.: And examine your own satisfaction with your own ability to gain entree to Dutch society. Some of us could care less?