Daily Dose: 08/07/08
August 7, 2008
» AsianWeek Market Report
» Chinese Americans Confront Complicated Views About Olympics
» ‘Six Flags’ TV Ads Get Thumbs Down From Some Asian Americans
» Thousands to Marry 8/8/08 For Luck
» Woman Stages China Protest, Falls 15 Feet
» Asian American International Film Festival Announces ‘08 Award Winners
» ‘Transcending: The Wat Misaka Story’
» Pacquiao-De La Hoya Fight Stalled on Revenue Split
» Filipina Boxer Julaton Title Fight Set
» Companies Have Tall Hopes For Yao Ming
» Pole Dancing Becoming Popular Workout Among Chinese Women
» New U.S. Embassy Reflects China Ties
Compiled by Vicki Mac and Ivan Natividad.
| AsianWeek Market Report | ||||
| Asian Stock Indexes | ||||
| NIKKEL_225 | Tokyo | 13,124.99 | -129.90 | -0.98% |
| HANG SENG | Hong Kong | 22,104.20 | 154.45 | 0.70% |
| KRX | Busan | 3,244.79 | -28.37 | -0.87% |
| SSE IX | Shanghai | 9,035.28 | -11.85 | -0.13% |
| BSE | Bombay | 15,117.25 | 43.71 | 0.29% |
| HOSE | Ho Chi Minh | 438.83 | 1.38 | 0.32% |
| SET | Bangkok | 705.35 | 29.00 | 4.29% |
| Asian American Market Report | ||||
| Yahoo! | YHOO | 20.21 | 0.21 | (1.05%) |
| Citigroup | C | 18.52 | -1.18 | (-5.99%) |
| Amkor Technology, Inc | AMKR | 8.86 | -0.28 | (-3.06%) |
| Sybase | SY | 34.49 | 0.12 | (0.36%) |
| UnionBancal Corp | UB | 54.49 | -2.99 | (-3.54%) |
| East West Bank corp,Inc | EWBC | 13.23 | -1.03 | (-7.22%) |
NATION
Chinese Americans Confront Complicated Views About Olympics
WASHINGTON - On the eve of China’s first Olympics, many Chinese Americans find themselves confronting complicated and sometimes conflicted attitudes toward their motherland and the Olympics.
Chinese American views on the 29th Olympiad in Beijing often depend on where their families came from. Their attitudes also depend on whether their families came to America as traditional immigrants or political refugees. Some do business in China, while others have joined with U.S. human rights groups to protest political and religious persecution there.
Attitudes toward the Olympics also reflect the arc of Chinese American politics since 1989, when the world was riveted and then horrified by the events in Tiananmen Square. The valley was a hotbed of pro-democracy activism organized by Chinese Americans.
These key historical elements are what many believe what has shaped the perspectives of many Chinese Americans toward the Olympic games and their motherland.
- The Olympian
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‘Six Flags’ TV Ads Get Thumbs Down From Some Asian Americans
NEW YORK - “More Flags, More Fun” may mean more outrage for Six Flags over the amusement park chain’s summer ad campaign featuring a screaming, thickly accented young Asian man.
The commercials, which have been airing nationally for months, are being called offensive, or worse, racist.
“It’s a pretty offensive ad, not only because of the thick accent, but also because someone is screaming at you,” said Margaret Fung, executive director of New York’s Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund.
Six Flags did not respond to repeated requests for comment. The campaign seems to be a riff on Japanese game shows or commercials featuring pop-up, hyper salesmen.
The commercials are certainly obnoxious but not racist, said Democratic City Councilman John Liu.
- American Media
BAY/CALIFORNIA
Thousands to Marry 8/8/08 For Luck
SAN FRANCISCO - The number eight is considered so lucky that weddings on Friday, Aug. 8 - 08/08/08 - are in high demand. Minutes after the city clerk’s office in San Francisco started taking reservations, the date was booked.
“There were people camping out on our reservation system, waiting for the clock to hit midnight,” said Karen Hong Yee, the director of the office.
The words for the number eight are ba in Mandarin and paat in Cantonese, which sound similar to the words for prosperity: fa in Mandarin and faat in Cantonese.
Eight is considered the luckiest number. So the triple-eight day just might be the most auspicious day for believers of lucky numbers.
The Olympics are set to begin in Beijing at 8:08:08 p.m. on 08/08/08.
- SF Gate
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Woman Stages China Protest, Falls 15 Feet
SAN FRANCISCO - A protester staging a mock hanging at the Chinese Consulate in San Francisco plummeted about 15 feet to a landing below.
The woman, identified as Nyendak Wangden of San Francisco, was conscious when firefighters rescued her, fire Capt. Mindy Talmadge said. Wangden, who was at the consulate with two-dozen other protesters, remains at San Francisco General Hospital and is expected to survive, Talmadge said.
The group was protesting China’s human-rights record in Tibet, days before the opening of the Beijing Olympics. Wangden and another woman staged mock hangings from the roof of the building.
The incident comes days before the opening ceremonies of this year’s Beijing Olympic games.
Police investigating the incident and had no comment.
- Associated Press
ARTS/ENTERTAINMENT
Asian American International Film Festival Announces ‘08 Award Winners
NEW YORK - The Asian American International Film Festival announced the winners of its Festival Awards at a ceremony at the Asia Society in New York City.
Among the winners was Director Jennifer Phang, honored with the Emerging Director in Narrative Feature Award for her visually rich debut feature Half-Life.
Ann Kaneko was honored with the Emerging Director in Documentary Feature Award for her film Against the Grain: An Artist’s Guide to Surviving Perú. The film follows the lives and work of four Peruvian political artists and their fight for the freedom of expression.
Nathan Kitada was named the winner of AAIFF’s 8th Screenplay Competition. His screenplay, Citizen Kim, follows Korean American Ronald Kim who strikes a marriage deal with an amusement park heiress to try to gain citizenship.
The festival has established itself as the premier venue for filmmakers of Asian descent.
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‘Transcending: The Wat Misaka Story’
SAN FRANCISCO - A documentary film about Wat Misaka, the first Asian American pro basketball player will be slated for release in September at the Sundance Kabuki Theatre.
Misaka, born and raised in Utah, was the first round draft pick of the New York Knicks in 1947 when over 120,000 Japanese Americans were interned during World War II. Misaka was a star player for the University of Utah, leading them to two national championships, an NCAA title in 1944 and an NIT championship in 1947, while taking 2 years off in between to serve in the U.S. Army.
His perseverance and loyalty to his teammates, other Nisei friends and his family are a testament to the unflappable Japanese American spirit.
A special screening of their film will take place Sunday, September 14, at 1 p.m. at the Kabuki Theatre.
SPORTS
Pacquiao-De La Hoya Fight Stalled on Revenue Split
LOS ANGELES - The lawyer of Filipino boxing icon Manny Pacquiao says the initial round of talks between Top Rank promoter Bob Arum and Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer went well but stalled on the issue of revenue sharing.
Previous reports suggested that Golden Boy was offering Pacquiao a purse of $20 million, but that Team Pacquiao also wanted a share of the pay-per-view and other ancillary rights.
De La Hoya himself in an exclusive interview with insidesports.ph, Viva Sports and Manila Standard Today said last week that “we can come out with a formula where Manny can make the most money he will ever make. Manny can make two or three or even four or five times what he’s been making. So I feel that Bob Arum and Richard Schaefer can realistically make this fight happen.”
- Philboxing.com
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Filipina Boxer Julaton Title Fight Set
LOS ANGELES - Ana Julaton, the lovely Filipina boxer fron Daly City, Calif., who recently fought at the Planet Hollywood at Las Vegas, has been granted a chance to prove her worth by the WBC.
Julaton will fight Donna Biggers of Boiling Springs, S.C., on August 21, at the Tachi Casino Resort at Lemoore in Northern California.
Biggers, whose nickname is “The Nature Girl,” sports a record of 19-8-1 (16KO). Julaton on the other hand is 4-0-1 (1KO).
The bout is slated as “Youth vs Experience,” with the veteran Biggers having had 23 more fights then Julaton. Julaton’s last fight against 18-year-old Johanna Mendez was declared a draw, and Julaton’s first professional fight did not turn out in her favor.
The Julaton-Biggers fight will be for the WBC Women’s International Super Bantam weight title. This fight has been approved by WBC.
- Philboxing.com
COMMERCE
Companies Have Tall Hopes For Yao Ming
SAN FRANCISCO - In the National Basketball Association, Yao Ming is a strong player in a star-studded league.
As the summer Olympics open in Beijing, Yao is the biggest star on his home stage of China. And multinational companies who are paying the 7-foot-6-inch, 310-pound behemoth to endorse their products are anticipating a windfall from his immense popularity.
Yao’s image is splashed on Coke cans in China. He will be featured in two Coke commercials during the Games, one global and one airing solely in China
Among Coca-Cola, McDonald’s, Visa and others, perhaps no company has a bigger bet on Yao than Reebok, which lured Yao from Nike five years ago and handed him a contract through 2013 worth a reported $100 million.
Yao is likely to carry the Chinese flag into Beijing National Stadium, as he did in Athens four years ago.
- MSNBC.com
GLOBAL
Pole Dancing Becoming Popular Workout Among Chinese Women
BEIJING - There is a reported rising health trend in Beijing - pole dancing. The person who started the craze is Luo Lan, a Yichun native who first saw pole dancing when vacationing in Paris. Lan learned that pole dancing has been a popular way for women in America to burn calories. So she opened the Lolan Pole Dancing School, which offers women a watered down version of a traditionally sexually charged act.
Although the sex aspect of pole dancing isn’t accentuated at her school, Lan said that women who attend class still gain a sense of self-confidence and are able to express one’s sexuality.
“A lot of people expect Chinese women to be subdued and faithful, that we should marry and take care of kids at an early age,” she said. “But I don’t think that way - I want to be independent.”
- International Herald Tribune
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New U.S. Embassy Reflects China Ties
BEIJING - A massive new U.S. Embassy, the second-largest in the world after the heavily fortified compound in Baghdad, formally opens in the Chinese capital this week.
President Bush, who will be attending the Beijing Olympics opening ceremonies Friday, is to preside over the ribbon cutting at the $434 million, 500,000-square-foot compound that same day.
The eight-story main building was designed with traditional Chinese elements in mind. Narrow walkways lined with bamboo link diplomatic “neighborhoods.”
China unveiled its own imposing new embassy in Washington last week. The 250,000-square-foot glass and limestone compound, designed by I.M. Pei’s two sons, is the largest foreign embassy in the U.S. capital.
“The completion of the two new embassies not only reflects the good shape of our relationship but also signals broad prospects for its further growth,” Foreign Minster Yang Jiechi said.
- Associated Press
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i like those six flags commercials. More flags, More Fun!