» Maryland Study on Chinese Americans First in a Series
» UN Special Rapporteur to Hear Testimony on Grave Desecrations in Thailand
» BAYANIJUAN Revitalizes the Philippines, One Village at a Time
» South Korean President Visits LA, Supports Detroit Bailout
» Geek Out With New Asian American Gaming Blog
» Shin Proves Herself Rising Star in LPGA
» U.S. Labor Secretary Elaine L. Chao Announces New OSHA Membership
» Balloons — Not Missiles — Raise Tensions Between North and South Korea
Compiled by Andrew Lee
NATION
Maryland Study on Chinese Americans First in a Series
COLLEGE PARK, Md. — Days after becoming a minority-serving institution for Asian Americans, the University of Maryland released a study on Chinese Americans that deflates the “model minority” myth and calls for the establishment of a “pipeline” to help young Chinese American professionals reach their potential, according to a university news release.
The report, “A Portrait of Chinese Americans,” is the first in a series of portraits to be written on various Asian American ethnicities. The series will be partially funded by the grant received for becoming a minority-serving institution, according to Larry Shinagawa, the director of the university’s Asian American studies program. The report is a joint effort by the university’s Asian American studies program and Organization of Chinese Americans, an organization that aims to increase the welfare of Asian Pacific Americans.
Among its key findings, Chiao said the study reveals a sharp contrast in wealth and educational backgrounds. Twice as many Chinese American adults have college degrees as the general population, but Chinese Americans who recently immigrated represent the largest number of U.S. adults without a high school education, the report said.
“It’s a pattern you expect to see after a wave of immigration, but in this case, the long-term settled population has yet to achieve full equal treatment,” Shinagawa said in the news release.
—Trading Markets
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UN Special Rapporteur to Hear Testimony on Grave Desecrations in Thailand
On Wednesday, Dec. 10, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights and fundamental freedoms of indigenous people, Professor James Anaya, will visit Minnesota to hear testimony concerning the desecration of Hmong graves at Wat Tham Krabok in Saraburi, Thailand. The hearing will take place from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. on Dec. 10 at Coffman Memorial Union Theater on the campus of the University of Minnesota.
In October and November 2005, more than 900 Hmong graves were disinterred at Wat Tham Krabok, a Buddhist monastery in Thailand that served for more than a decade as home to thousands of Hmong families fleeing persecution after the communist takeover of Laos in 1975.
About 15,000 of those refugees were resettled in the United States in 2004, many of them in Minnesota.
While most of the graves were on monastery grounds, many were located on plots of land purchased by the refugees, and the exhumations were carried out without the notice, consent or involvement of the relatives of the deceased. Two religious organizations, sanctioned by the Thai government claimed responsibility for the disinterment of the graves.
BAY/CALIFORNIA
BAYANIJUAN Revitalizes the Philippines, One Village at a Time
SAN FRANCISCO — They say that no dream is too big. Early this year, ABS-CBN Foundation’s Managing Director Gina Lopez came up with a bold idea — to fuse her nonprofit’s four programs into one — and BAYANIJUAN was born.
Launched only this year, BAYANIJUAN has already swept across the United States, with successful fundraisers in New York, Chicago and Napa. On December 13, the last of four fundraisers for the year will be mounted at the ABS-CBN International Studios in Redwood City. Tagged “The Holiday Epicure,” this fundraising benefit will feature Filipino chefs, vintners and Hollywood celebrities and will be chaired by young professionals around the Bay Area.
BAYANIJUAN is a four-pronged program, under the aegis of ABS-CBN Foundation, that aims to rehabilitate the poorest communities in the Philippines, one village at a time. In just ten years, ABS-CBN Foundation has established and successfully sustained four programs that operate nationwide in the Philippines.
With endorsements by Apl.d.Ap of the Black Eyed Peas, David Hernandez of American Idol, Raymond Bagatsing, Reggie Lee and Rob Schneider, BAYANIJUAN-San Francisco is testament to the solidarity of the young American community that is coming together to make sure that every child in the poorest pockets of the Philippines is given a chance at a brighter future. We reach out to every child and we leave him a legacy of a cleaner world, free from hunger and abuse.
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South Korean President Visits LA, Supports Detroit Bailout
LOS ANGELES — South Korean president Lee Myung-bak received a hero’s welcome from an adoring audience of local Korean Americans at a reception in the Beverly Hills Hotel’s Crystal Ballroom on Monday, where the crowd of more than 400 had waited as long as two hours.
The short visit to the city included a meeting with California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and a luncheon with Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. It was President Lee’s first trip as the head of a state to L.A., where the largest Korean population resides outside Korea.
During his speech, he showed his support for reviving the U.S. auto industry. “I support President-elect Barack Obama’s proposal to help the struggling U.S. auto industry,” said the South Korean president. “Reviving the U.S. auto industry will be beneficial to South Korea too. That will allow South Korea room for exports of automobiles and related parts.”
—New American Media
ARTS/ENTERTAINMENT
Geek Out With New Asian American Gaming Blog
SAN FRANCISCO — With thumbs of steel and reflexes like lightning, veteran gamers and frequent AsianWeek contributors Josh Laddin and Andrew Lee bring readers the latest reviews, previews, features and interviews from the Asian American gaming scene, in AsianWeek.com’s new gaming blog, AsianGeek.
AsianWeek, the largest Asian Pacific American outlet, launched AsianGeek, on Nov. 13. The blog features a conversation with Mirror’s Edge producer, Tom Farrer, and hands-on impressions and reviews of the anticipated titles like Prince of Persia and Rayman Raving Rabbids TV Party for the Wii console and is available online at asiangeek.asianweek.com.
Laddin, who’s of half Chinese and half Jewish descent, began his gaming career with the Nintendo Entertainment System before he even started going to school and has never looked back since. He has a Bachelor’s degree in English with an emphasis in Creative Writing from the University of California, Davis. He is also a contributor on the popular website gamefaqs.com. Lee is a Korean American alum of the University of California, Berkeley and a member of the Nintendo generation.
“Within the gaming community, Asians have always been looked upon as the quiet geeks,” Laddin said. “With AsianGeek, we are redefining the stereotype and showing that we’re not so quiet and have a lot to contribute.”
AsianGeek covers games for every console, handheld and PC. The writers may be contacted for game coverage and interviews by email at jladdin@asianweek.com and alee@asianweek.com.
SPORTS
Shin Proves Herself Rising Star in LPGA
Shin Ji-yai played in just 10 LPGA Tour events in 2008. But that number was enough for her to establish herself as the hottest rising star on the top professional women’s golf circuit.
By winning the $1 million ADT Championships on Sunday after holding off Hall of Famer Karrie Webb of Australia by one stroke, the 20-year-old South Korean became the first non-fully fledged member to triumph three times in LPGA history ― winning at the British Open in August and at the Mizuno Classic earlier this month.
“I think out of all the Koreans who have come after Pak Se-ri that she has got the most potential to do what Se-ri has done,” Webb said after last week’s competition.
“When she comes over to the LPGA Tour, she’s going to be a great player,” said Paula Creamer. “I like how she’s very, very humble at the same time. You’d never know she had that many wins in Korea.”
—The Korea Times
COMMERCE
U.S. Labor Secretary Elaine L. Chao Announces New OSHA Membership
WASHINGTON — U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao today announced the appointment of five members to the 12-person National Advisory Committee on Occupational Safety and Health (NACOSH). The committee, established under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, advises the Secretaries of labor and health and human services on occupational safety and health programs.
“We appreciate the advisory committee members’ willingness to contribute their time and expertise as they assist the department in improving the safety and health of America’s workers,” said Secretary Chao.
Members of the advisory committee are chosen on the basis of their knowledge and experience in occupational safety and health. The committee is administered by the Labor Department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).
“OSHA relies on this committee to provide a real-world perspective to our work,” said Thomas M. Stohler, acting assistant secretary of labor for OSHA. “Secretary Chao and Secretary Leavitt are especially grateful that we will be able to call upon the diverse perspectives and deep knowledge of these experts in administering our nation’s workplace safety and health laws.”
To ensure continuity in the committee, members serve for two-year terms.
—Market Watch
GLOBAL
Balloons — Not Missiles — Raise Tensions Between North and South Korea
SEOUL, South Korea — Late last week, a group of civic activists converged on a town straddling the heavily fortified inter-Korean border. Defying pleas from Seoul and threats from Pyongyang, they let fly about 10 enormous helium balloons filled with propaganda leaflets denouncing the communist regime and its leader, Kim Jong-il.
Bearing statements like, “Your great leader’s last days are approaching. The Dictator has collapsed from illness,” the leaflets have become an explosive point of contention in inter-Korean relations, particularly at a time when rumors abound on the failing health of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, who reportedly suffered a stroke in August. In a country where the flow of information is virtually non-existent, the leaflets undermine the state’s control over its population.
Last week Pyongyang issued a warning that it would clamp down on border crossings and threatened to cut off communication lines with the South unless Seoul halted the civic groups’ activities. More telling, North Korean military officials visited the inter-Korean industrial complex at Kaesong, just north of the DMZ, and asked South Korean companies there how long it would take for them to vacate the premises. The complex is the only remaining symbol of reconciliation efforts between the divided halves.
—New American Media
