» Obama and McCain Align with DC School Chief Rhee During Debate
» NY Councilmember Liu Serves as “Principal for a Day”
» Asian American Prison Guard Gunned Down at Sacramento Home
» Asian American Stanford Student Killed in Coast Crash
» Modern Chinese Cuisine Conference
» Golden Dragon Acrobats at Berkeley’s Zellerbach Hall
» First Asian Beach Games heats up in Bali
» Warriors Take on Exhibition Game in China
» Allen Okamoto Named Asian Real Estate Association of America Person of the Year
» Betty Chin Wins 2008 Minerva Award
» Vietnam Sends Journalist to Jail
Compiled by Carlos Militante and Justine Rivero
AsianWeek Market Report
| AsianWeek Market Report | ||||
| Asian Stock Indexes | ||||
| NIKKEI 225 | Tokyo | 8,693.82 | 235.37 | 2.78% |
| HANG SENG | Hong Kong | 14,554.21 | -676.31 | -4.44% |
| KRX | Busan | 2,472.27 | -77.50 | -3.04% |
| SSE IX | Shanghai | 6,209.50 | 42.94 | 0.70% |
| BSE | Bombay | 9,975.35 | -606.14 | -5.79% |
| HOSE | Ho Chi Minh | 382.50 | -2.10 | -0.55% |
| SET | Bangkok | 328.00 | -5.27 | -1.58% |
| Asian American Market Report | ||||
| Yahoo! | YHOO | 12.90 | -0.09 | (-0.69%) |
| Citigroup | C | 14.88 | -1.02 | (-6.42%) |
| Amkor Technology, Inc | AMKR | 4.11 | -0.11 | (-2.61%) |
| Sybase | SY | 25.28 | -0.18 | (-0.71%) |
| UnionBancal Corp | UB | 73.35 | 0.08 | (-0.11%) |
| East West Bank corp,Inc | EWBC | 14.45 | 0.57 | (4.11%) |
NATION
Obama and McCain Align With D.C. School Chief Rhee During Debate
Both Barack Obama and John McCain tried to align themselves with D.C. Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee in the third presidential debate on Wednesday night.
Obama praised her as a “wonderful new superintendent,” while McCain tried to pull Rhee over to his side, citing her as a supporter of vouchers. Obama shot back that she was a supporter of charters, implying that she was against vouchers.
The National Review and the Washington Post’s Marc Fisher claimed that Rhee supports vouchers. Mike DeBonis of the Washington City Paper reminded readers that Rhee told the Wall Street Journal she “would never, as long as I am in this role, do anything to limit another parent’s ability to make a choice for their child. Ever.”
Rhee hasn’t shown much enthusiasm for either candidate but said earlier this year that McCain has the much stronger education policy from her point of view. As for Obama, she said in May that what he might do on education policy “terrifies me,” even though she’s a staunch Democrat.
— FastCompany.com
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NY Councilmember Liu Serves as “Principal for a Day”
BROOKLYN, NY — Council Member John Liu, chairman of the City Council Transportation Committee and a member of the Council Education Committee, served as “Principal for a Day” at the East New York Transit Technology High School (“Transit Tech”) in Brooklyn today.
“Principal Liu” began the day by meeting with Principal Larry Kalvar, faculty and staff of Transit Tech, followed by several classroom visits including the school’s trademark rail car lab where students get hands-on experience maintaining and repairing an actual subway car.
Liu noted that the car was a “Redbird” subway from the 1970s and stated, “These students work hard at their studies and deserve updated technology. It’s time the Transit Authority provide them with the latest models to train upon.”
Transit Tech is one of the 26 Career & Technical Education schools under the NYC Department of Education that provide comprehensive industry-specific vocational training. Students of Transit Tech graduate with state certification as subway train technicians.
BAY/CALIFORNIA
Asian American Prison Guard Gunned Down at Sacramento Home
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A prison guard in full uniform was killed Wednesday morning outside his Sacramento home as he was leaving for work, police said.
Police say 39-year-old Steve Lo was standing near his garage preparing to leave for work around 5 a.m. when he was fatally shot.
Lo worked at the California Medical Facility in Vacaville and had been a correctional officer with the state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation for nearly three years.
Police and corrections officials say they have no other details, including whether Lo was targeted because of his job. No suspects have been identified.
Lo is survived by his wife, three sons and two daughters, according to Corrections Department spokeswoman Terry Thornton.
The California Correctional Peace Officers Association is offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to the conviction of the shooter. That’s along with a reward of up to $1,000 for callers to the Sacramento Crime Alert program that encourages anonymous tips.
— AP
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Asian American Stanford Student Killed in Coast Crash
The three young men were full of hope and promise as they drove to Big Sur on Friday to meet fellow Stanford University graduate students for a weekend retreat.
They were scheduled to arrive by 8 p.m., but Viet Nguyen, Chris Sahm and Micah Springer never made it.
Their car careened off a cliff on Highway 1 near Hurricane Point about 10 miles from their destination.
The Jeep Cherokee plunged at least 600 feet. When searchers reached the vehicle the next morning, Nguyen, Sahm and Springer were dead.
— San Francisco Chronicle
ARTS//ENTERTAINMENT
Modern Chinese Cuisine Conference
NEW YORK — Savory Productions, publisher of the cookbook, New Asian Cuisine, Fabulous Recipes from Celebrity Chefs, and online Asian food newsletter, New Asian Cuisine, will be an official event partner at the James Beard Foundation gala and conference, “Dumplings Dynasties: The Evolution of Modern Chinese Cuisine” in New York City on November 13-15.
The event will kick off with an exciting auction featuring once-in-a-lifetime gourmet and travel packages followed by a two-day conference on the history and culture of Chinese cuisine and a modern Chinese dinner prepared by eight of the top Chinese chefs from around the world.
The two-day conference will consist of presentations, panels and discussions with experts from around the world on a wide range of topics, from its historical roots and regional variations to its evolution and translation around the world.
Ticket costs for the gala dinner are $625 and conference registration is $250 with discounts available for James Beard Foundation members and students. All proceeds from the event will support the James Beard Foundation.
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Golden Dragon Acrobats at Berkeley’s Zellerbach Hall
BERKELEY, Calif. — Celebrating 30 years of touring in the United States, the award-winning Golden Dragon Acrobats return to Zellerbach Hall Friday, November 28 at 8:00 p.m.; Saturday, November 29 at 2:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m.; and Sunday, November 30 at 3:00 p.m. Founder and director Danny Chang, along with choreographer/costume designer Angela Chang, “create colorful ways to use [the troupe’s] skills and take advantage of their apparent total lack of fear,” says The New York Times.
The Golden Dragon Acrobats combine astounding acrobatics with theatrical techniques and Chinese traditional dance featuring contortionists, tumblers and jugglers in breathtaking acts like the bicycle pagoda and the traditional Chinese Lion Dance. Accompanied by a musical score of traditional Chinese music filtered through a New Age sensibility, the engagement promises to be a tasty holiday treat for the eyes, ears and nerves.
The Golden Dragon Acrobats will give a School Time performance for Bay Area students Monday, December 1 at 11:00 a.m. in Zellerbach Hall. Tickets available in advance only.
SPORTS
First Asian Beach Games heats up in Bali
BALI, Indonesia — The first Asian Beach Games will be held in Bali, Indonesia, from October 18 to October 26. This new competition, organized by the Olympic Council of Asia, will now be held every two years. The OCA expects it to become a complement to the Olympic Games. This unique international event will see 45 countries and regions participating with over 6,000 athletes flocking to the island.
They will compete in 19 different sports such as sailing, surfing, paragliding, beach volleyball, beach soccer, jet skiing, triathlon or water polo. People will also have the opportunity of discovering more traditional sports such as bodybuilding, beach wrestling, sepaktakraw or Pencak Silat, a traditional Indonesian martial art.
This marks the second time Indonesia will host an international multi-sports event, after Jakarta held the 1962 Asian Games. Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono will officially open the games.
— France 24
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Warriors Take on Exhibition Game in China
BEIJING — The Golden State Warriors arrived in Guangzhou, China, for a weeklong trip in China concluding with an exhibition game with the Milwaukee Bucks on Friday in Beijing.
The games between the Warriors and Bucks were initially meant to showcase Chinese power forward Yi Jianlian, who was Milwaukee’s first-round pick in 2007. But Yi, who was never particularly happy in Milwaukee, was traded to New Jersey in June.
The trip is part of a wide effort to expand relations between the NBA and China, where the fervor for American professional basketball has risen since Yao Ming joined the NBA and was on display during the Beijing Olympics.
— San Jose Mercury News
COMMERCE
Allen Okamoto Named Asian Real Estate Association of America Person of the Year
LOS ANGELES — Allen Okamoto, a Bay Area business leader who pioneered efforts to open the real estate industry to Asian American professionals and consumers, was named 2008 Real Estate Person of the Year by the Asian Real Estate Association of America at its 3rd Annual Asian American Real Estate Convention & Gala.
Throughout his career, Okamoto helped open doors for Asian American real estate professionals—from serving as the first Asian American president of the San Francisco Association of Realtors to spearheading efforts to close the homeownership gap between Asian Americans and other ethnic groups. Okamoto served as vice chairman of the California Association of Realtor’s Equal Opportunity and Cultural Diversity committee.
Okamoto is broker-owner of T. Okamoto & Company. A member of the California Association of Realtors and the National Association of Realtors, Okamoto was a founding member of AREAA, thus instrumental in tapping members of the Asian American and Pacific Islander communities to become active in the real estate industry.
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Betty Chinn Wins 2008 Minerva Award
EUREKA, Calif. — Philanthropist Betty Chinn is one of five recipients of California First Lady Maria Shriver’s 2008 Minerva Award. She dedicated the last 20 years of her life to feeding, clothing and caring for some of Humboldt County’s least fortunate residents. She is the only, and perhaps the first, Asian Pacific American to be nominated for this award.
“Born in China, Betty was separated from her family at age 7 during Mao Zedong’s brutal Cultural Revolution. Tormented by hunger and lack of social contact, Betty went mute. After four terrifying years, Betty escaped China by walking 1,600 miles to Hong Kong. Though she had just $20 in her hand, Betty later made her way to America and found her voice again,” her biography reads.
The Minerva Award recipients have made extraordinary contributions to California in the arts, health and sciences, community activism, business and technology, motherhood, innovation, education and lifetime achievement.
— The Times-Standard
GLOBAL
Vietnam Sends Journalist to Jail
HANOI, Vietnam — A court in Vietnam has sentenced journalist Nguyen Viet Chien of the Thanh Nien newspaper to two years in jail for his reporting on a major corruption case.
The case relates to a corruption scandal, which claimed several high-level names in Vietnam’s ministry of transport, that first came to light in 2006. The report was later condemned by authorities as inaccurate and harmful.
Nguyen Viet Chien, 56, insisted he was innocent minutes before judge Tran Van Vy delivered the verdict. The case has attracted criticism from abroad, with one human rights group calling it “revenge” against daring journalists revealing state corruption.
At the end, the court gave him two years of re-education without detention for “co-operating with investigators and showing remorse.”
— BBC News
