Asian Outlook Fall 2010 Issue #1

ASIAN OUTLOOK volume XXIV, Issue 1

Hello Fall

The Cheonan Sinking Immigrant Life

Asian Beauty Standards

The K-Town Reality Show ...and more inside

Inside: The Cheonan Sinking Immigrant Life Asian Beauty Standards The K-Town Reality Show ...and more

ASIAN OUTLOOK

contents Volume XXIV, Issue 1

features 6 | The Cheonan Sinking

Catherine Kim

8 | The Language Barrier

Jeff Hwang

12 | Chinese Thieves in American Culture 14 | Islamaphobia and Yellow Peril

Simon Wong Calvin Prashad

editorials 17 | The Last Racebender, Part II

Catherine Kim

18 | Washington D.C. Internship

Diane Wong

20 | The Asian Double Eyelid Surgery

Pauline Chang

21 | The Fair Skin Affair

Fiz Ramdhani

22 | The DREAM Act

Diane Wong

arts & entertainment 23 | The Karate Kid II Review 24 | 9066 to 9/11 Review 25 | Raajneeti Review 26 | K-Town

Anna Wei Diane Wong Fiz Ramdhani Diane Wong

columns 27 | Long Distance Relationships

Michael Ji

conscience Featuring the works of: 30 | Daphne Lee 34 | Yinzi Liang 35 | MDI

Letter from the editor...

Executive Board 2010 - 2011

The countdown has begun. With the start of the fall 2010 to spring 2011 academic year, the final few months are ticking away for many of us at Asian Outlook. For some of us, Asian Outlook has been a stepping stone toward future career goals. For some, it has been an opportunity to bond with groups of new and old friends. Many of us have learned something during our time here.

Whatever it is—striving toward professionalism, building up networks for the future, relaxing in light-hearted social gatherings, or simply settling down into a comfortable atmosphere—the experience here is one-of-a-kind.

One moment we can be cracking jokes or going overboard with absolutely nonsensical activities.

But in another we are joined by other organizations, holding public forums and participating in campus activist events or cultural events with other ASU subgroups. Of course, there are also times almost all publishing groups are familiar with.

Deadlines. Nothing compares to putting together a 40-page magazine in one fell swoop at 2 a.m. in the morning. Last minute e-mails, phone calls, texts, instant messages, Facebook messages and wall posts are all included. Obsessive compulsive disorder sets in, forcing us to scan through every page, every photo, every caption, every title, every paragraph, every sentence, every word, every letter. It’s never perfect; no matter how many times the issue is reviewed. But regardless, the process never gets old.

With all the seniors due to graduate by May 2011, including yours truly, one helplessly wonders what would happen to Asian Outlook in the aftermath. The fall and winter seasons are usually paired with death or simply “the end,” but it’s quite the opposite in our case. For us, the fall semester breathes new life into our organization. For every other graduating senior, perhaps one newcomer freshman will one day take his or her place.

Before the end of the spring semester, let us all have one last run together. Many memories will be built throughout our college years. I will ensure that the memories of my time, however brief, at Asian Outlook will be among the most prominent and joyous ones. For all our members who will carry Asian Outlook’s flag for all the future years—your time is now.

Jeff Hwang Interested in contributing?

E-mail us at: ao.editor@gmail.com Or come to our weekly meetings held in the Asian Student Union Office (UUW-329) every Thursday at 7:30 p.m.

Editorial Policy Asian Outlook is the art, literary and news magazine of the Asian Student Union of SUNY’s Binghamton University. Originally conceived and created to challenge, redefine, re-imagine and revolutionize images and perceptions associated with Asians and Asian-Americans, Asian Outlook also serves to protect the voice of those in the minority, whether by ethnicity, gender, and/or political orientation. All matter contained within these beautiful pages do not necessarily reflect the views of the editorial board. Asian Outlook reserves the right to edit submissions and publish work as deemed appropriate. Prospective contributors are encouraged to discuss their work with the editors prior to submissions. Articles may be submitted as an e-mail attachment to ao.editor@gmail.com. All artistic and literary pieces may be submitted to aoconscience@gmail.com.

Contact Policy Uninvited contact with writers and contributors is forbidden under punishment of pain. Please direct all questions, comments and complaints to ao.editor@gmail.com.

Editors-in-Chief Jeff Hwang Calvin Prashad

Conscience Editor Kelvin Chan

Business Manager Ivan Yeung

Secretary

Kayla Natrella

Copy Editors

Alyssa Alimurung Fiz Ramdhani Diane Wong Jonathan Yee

Layout Editors Lillian Lai Yinzi Liang Simon Wong

Publicity Managers Paul Yi Eve Zhang

Special thanks to all the people who contributed and made this magazine possible.

The Cheonan

Sinking

Where do we go from here?

By Catherine Jungmin Kim

As a child growing up in the beautiful and modern city of Seoul, I remember being taught two things; to love my country and to learn kindness and humility. Those virtues exemplified themselves when learning about the division in our peninsula. We were taught that while we were privileged in many ways, our fellow brethren in the north were not as fortunate, with not enough to eat and scarce medicine to cure sickness. As I got older and moved to New York, I learned a completely different perspective on the northern brethren. Kim Jong-Il was the sole reason for the deplorable situation and the suffocating isolation in North Korea. He was the only to blame. But if you go past the two pages spent in a social science textbook about the Cold War and the media frenzy on the eccentric dictator, it is evident that Kim Jong-Il is not the only to blame.

The carelessness of the western countries in dividing up the peninsula with no firm resolution has catapulted the situation in the Korean peninsula today. In the interests of avoiding a political and economic hot-potato, policy makers all universally condemn the practices of the North Korean regime, they all universally avoid taking decisive action or reconciliatory measures. The Cheonan sinking was, unfortunately, no different.

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n March 26th, a South Korean warship, the Cheonan, exploded and sank near a disputed sea boarder. The Cheonan was en route in a routine procedure when it suffered the attack. The explosion killed 46 soldiers. South Korea’s investigations revealed that the torpedo, responsible for the sinking, carried a North Korean serial number. It is believed that a North Korean submarine launched the underwater attack. The United Kingdom, Australia, Canada and Sweden also participated in investigations and confirmed the findings.

That week, the investigation and developments were at the heart of every Korean news channel. At first, I thought there must’ve been a mistake. This was the first time in my life that I witnessed the volatility and fragility of inter-Korean relations. Usually, they were harmless military exchanges. But this time, 46 soldiers lost their lives. On the news, they showed distraught and frustrated family members hoping for a miracle rescue of their loved ones; that’s when the true gravity of the situation sank into me. Beyond inter-Korean politics and upheaval, these soldiers whose lives were claimed in this senseless attack were fathers, sons, brothers, husbands and beloved friends of hundreds of civilians.

In light of the realities of the tremendous loss, none of the

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responses to the attack sufficed. President Lee Myung-bak of South Korea announced that his government will act to hold the North accountable for their actions. The first was to take the case to the United Nations. While the U.N. unanimously condemned the sinking of the Cheonan, it did little else. In the Security Council speech, it merely claimed in lukewarm language that: “In view of the findings of the Joint Civilian-Military Investigation Group led by the Republic of Korea with the participation of five nations, which concluded that the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea was responsible for sinking the Cheonan, the Security Council expresses its deep concern… The Security Council takes note of the responses from other relevant parties, including from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, which has stated that it had nothing to do with the incident.”

Secondly, President Lee and his government halted trade with North Korea, with the special exception of the Gaesong Industrial Park.

Gaesong is the joint economic free zone between the two Koreas and it makes up a substantial contribution to North Korea. Production activities and transport continued, however, regardless of both sides ceremoniously “severing” ties to the complex. Thirdly, President Lee

One of the many victims of the Cheonan Sinking prohibited passage of North Korean ships via South Korean waters.

In the most demonstrative response, South Korea engaged in a joint military exercises with the United States on July 25. The military exercise called Operation Invincible Spirit involved an impressive fleet of 8,000 soldiers, 200 aircraft and 29 ships. The U.S. , which retains U.S. troops in South Korea as a “security measure” following the Korean War, added sanctions which cut off luxury supplies.

North Korea first responded by threatening action against such “unwarranted aggression” and warned against naval drills nearing the disputed sea boarder. On August 8, North Korea seized a South Korean fishing ship and its crew was taken to be interrogated. The next day, North Korea fired artillery rounds near the disputed sea boarder. To this day, North Korea has never claimed responsibility for the Cheonan sinking.

So where do any of us go from here? International criticism has not worked. Sanctions seem to be ineffective at changing policy.

Military drills and showmanship have not yielded any effective results, only added fuel to the fire. With China as North Korea’s ally, it seems everyone’s hands are tied. Some scholars believe that giving legitimacy and reconciliatory measures might be the way.

After all, Kim Sung-Il founded of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea on the principle of self-sufficiency and self-reliance, free from foreign manipulation. All they want is legitimacy. However, the realities of famine and human rights violations in North Korea are irreconcilable to a democratic society as North Korea claims in its name. The Cheonan sinking has led to the lowest point in interKorean relations in years and public opinion is currently not in favor of a Sunshine policy.

When I think of the soldiers and their family members crying in despair at such a senseless loss, everything I ever learned goes out of the window. If I was among those who lost loved ones, I know in my heart that I would want justice, brethren or no brethren. But war is not and cannot be the answer. Unfortunately, nothing seems to work. So how can the two Koreas recover from this? That remains to be answered by our policy makers, our elected officials, and perhaps more importantly, ourselves as the citizens of an informed world.

Works Cited: http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/library/news/rok/2010/rok100709-voa01.htm http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2010/sc9975.doc.htm http://topics.nytimes.com/top.reference/timestopics/subjects/c/ cheonan_ship/index.html?scp=1-spot&sq=cheonan&st=cse http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE64I26F20100521 http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2010/05/116_66099.html http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jul/21/hilary-clintonnorth-korea-visit http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jul/24/north-korea-nuclear-war-threat http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/04/world/asia/04korea. html?ref=cheonana_shi[p&pagewanted=print http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/06/world/asia/06korea. html?ref=ref=cheonan_ship http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/09/world/asia/09boat.html?_ ref=cheonan_ship http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/10/world/asia/10korea.html?_ ref=cheonan_ship

Photo Credits: http://www.cbc.ca/gfx/images/news/photos/2010/04/16/southkorea-ship-cheonan-cp-8489610.jpg

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ause for a moment and consider just how difficult it could be to suddenly uproot one’s entire life to a new country, where nearly everyone speaks an alien language.

Take an average child whose family members speak only one language: Mandarin. Take this child and throw her into a society that predominantly uses not Mandarin, but English. It will take the child a good year to be able to speak and understand this new language in the slightest sense. It will take the child another two years to be able to write relatively comprehensible sentences and read short passages from books. Give or take another two or three years, the child will finally be able to handle English independently.

Over five years. That is a rough estimate of how long it can take an ESL (English as a Second Language) student to master the English language. Even then, learning is made possible with ideal conditions: good teachers and welcoming environments, friendly neighborhoods, excellent peers, supportive parents, selfdetermination and so on.

Around April 2010, the Huang family—consisting of a father, a mother, a grandmother and two young daughters—flew some several thousand miles from China to start a new life in the United States. When the family settled down in quiet Setauket in Suffolk County, Long Island, not one member understood English. They were well-off; they had connections, and thus they managed

their way around—albeit quite tediously. They needed constant Mandarin-English translation help when running errands. They also had to find English teachers for their daughters.

Toward the end of the summer, 8-year-old Cindy and 12-year-old Alice were able to utilize some basic English; they were well ahead of their parents’ progress and knew enough to at least break down many straightforward conversations. When Cindy was asked why her family chose to move to the U.S. , she paused and stopped using English. “I don’t know,” she finally answered in Mandarin. “I really don’t know. Everyone tells me not to pay attention to grown-up stuff.”

Her older sister Alice was asked in the same fashion. Regardless, the response was virtually the same. “I don’t know,” she said in accent-laden English.

With all the challenges that came with moving to a new country, without a bit of knowledge regarding the official language, why did the Huang family decide to pull such an act? Since the girls’ busy father was on a business trip in China, the only person left to ask was their mother. Third time’s the charm and Mrs. Huang explained her family’s plans.

“It would be better here,” she explained. It was a simple thought.

Even though Mr. Huang ran a successful contracting company in China, the family decided to manage the business overseas in the U.S.

The environment in the quiet suburbs of Suffolk County is far more pristine than that of the Chinese industrial cities. Still, not being able to communicate with a vast majority of people they interact with is a serious hassle. Mrs. Huang agreed, though admitting that she once considered returning to China because of the language barrier. But now she was firm with her family’s decision to stay.

“I’m taking English classes of my own,” she said in Mandarin before cracking a smile. “The kids will learn fast. I’ll get it eventually.”

As for her husband, there were many instances when translations were required nearly nonstop between him and whomever he was dealing with on his personal errands. Car dealerships, fencing companies, eye doctors and advertisers all posed problems when neither side could understand who wanted to do what. Inevitably, one would wonder: how would he manage without a personal translator?

The Huang family has been in the U.S. for only about five months.

They are just one example of immigrants living in a new country.

What about immigrants who have managed to stay in the U.S. for years? Even decades? It would be interesting to see how people manage. Do they diligently work to improve their English? Or do they find other ways to adapt?

Suffolk County is not known for any widespread Asian communities. But what about Flushing, Queens? With each passing

year, bit by bit, Flushing is becoming more like a second Chinatown.

Every other block smells like old seafood. On many corners, vendors lean by their booths, hollering out new deals for cheap accessories. Turn to the right and a crusty building is smothered with banners and signs dotted with Chinese characters. Turn to the left and a traffic light turns green, prompting a massive crowd of people to push and shove each other onto the streets—if they have not done so already. Look ahead and yet another crowd swarms through Chinese grocery stores, concession stands and restaurants. Across the street, a barbershop employee is trying to wave in potential customers, but to no avail. And just further off, the only sign with an English message is grammatically butchered. For immigrants who settle down in a virtually Caucasian-less community, a virtually non-English community, how do they move forward?

Fang is a Chinese contractor based in Flushing. In a few months, it would be his tenth anniversary of starting a new life in the U.S. He lives simply, routinely going about his job, paying his bills, shopping for groceries and taking everything life has to offer day by day. It is a life similar to the one he left back in Beijing. He is in his 50s with a crew of hardworking Chinese construction workers following his lead. And he knows almost no English at all.

“I don’t need to learn much English,” Fang said in Mandarin. “At this age, it’ll take me forever.” He did point out several basic phrases

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Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Census 2000 Summary File 3.

he must know in order to conduct business, such as money-related matters, time of day, among others. Since he is in the construction field, he also knows the names of some common tools. But if the majority of his clients spoke his native Mandarin, there was no need for him to undertake a daunting task like learning English.

Of course, there had to be a reason why Fang left his familiar home country. His wife was struggling with illnesses when they were still in China. After working many odd jobs—including taxi driving and freelance construction—Fang was still unable to keep up financially. Finally, he accepted an offer from a friend to journey to American shores. Even though his wife’s health gradually improved and eventually also arrived in the U.S. , it was a struggle, especially during the initial months. But Fan brought his experiences from China with him and he ultimately settled down in the construction field.

“Life was hard. Really hard,” he joked. “Maybe I’ll write a book about my life someday.”

It was evident how limited Fang’s English was when he was working in the same area as a Caucasian gardener. After the gardener packed up and was ready to check out for the day, Fang initiated a dialogue.

“What? You finished?” he asked in heavily accented English. In return, the gardener responded humorously with, “What about you?

You barely even started!”

Suddenly confused, Fang turned back. “What did he say?” he whispered in Mandarin.

Immigrants of all backgrounds, classes and nationalities—not just Asians—and especially those who only know their native language, struggle when moving to a new country. The class disparity between the Huang family and the Fang family may be tremendous. However, both families came from China and, in different ways, struggled with adapting and settling in. The Huang family vouched to stay in a peaceful and upscale neighborhood, but forced themselves to learn a new language. The Fang family worked hard and ended up deciding to stay in a densely populated Chinese community and, as a result, had no need to adopt a new language.

In the last couple of decades, Asians immigrate to the U.S. at a far higher rate than any other nationality. Of all the Asians living in the U.S. , only a handful—less than 50 percent and most of them American-born—are fluent in the English language. Just a pinch of all the English-speaking Asians in the U.S. have learned the language as immigrants—and they may not even be fluent. As for the rest, they go about their daily routines living in an alien world.

But with all the immigrants settling in, will there be more families learning English like the Huangs? Or will there be more families seeking Chinatowns like the Fangs?

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Chinese Thieves in American Culture

By Simon Wong

What does Chinatown, Flushing and 8th Avenue in Brooklyn have in common? These three places are heavily populated with Chinese immigrants and contain multiple supermarkets that especially cater to them. Additionally, they tend to bring their own culture and beliefs. One of these traditions is severe punishment towards thieves.

However, some of the practices that are accepted in China may be considered illegal in America.

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ertainly, there is no superior culture. Likewise, there is of security would take a picture of that person holding the item he no such thing as the right culture or the wrong culture. attempted to steal and would post it all over the store. Some owners However, I do believe that certain cultures must adjust to take it to the next level and force the thief to walk up and down aisles. others for the benefit of the community. One aspect of In a New York Times article, a security guard named “Mr. Sanchez” Chinese culture that said this is “truly a walk shouldn’t be accepted of shame.” There should in America is how be a limit to what stores Chinese supermarkets can do with thieves. In treat thieves. There the end, these thieves are are many tactics also people with feelings to stopping people just like the rest of us. from stealing, but to Another problem humiliate and degrade with using this harsh them shouldn’t be an treatment is what if a option. Many people security guard makes would agree, me a mistake? Li Yuxin, being one of them, an immigrant from feel that blackmailing China, was wrongfully immigrants for money accused of stealing fruits because they are scared in a small market in of law enforcement is Chinatown. She started a form of extortion. to cry in front of other One traditional slogan customers because from China is “steal she did not commit one, fine ten.” This the crime. I can only theory isn’t accepted imagine the amount of in America. It’s utterly trauma she went though. impossible to justify Chung Fat supermarket in Flushing, Queens, security camera monitors shopper’s every movement It’s very insensitive forcing someone to to announce in front pay $400 for stealing only $10 dollars worth of groceries. First time of a crowd of people that someone is a shoplifter only to find out offenders shouldn’t receive a penalty this harsh. This is a land of that they are innocent. This is the reason why America has a legal opportunity where people are given many chances. To tarnish and system. An apology can only go so far, being accused of stealing is destroy someone’s reputation because they stole a few grapes isn’t not a friendly sight. The lesson here is to treat people with respect, reasonable. whether they are thieves or not. However, there are exceptions to It gets even worse if the thief can’t come up with the money to pay every rule. I’m all in favor of charging someone $400 if it’s their the store in America. What usually happens is the owner or head third offense; because they haven’t learned a lesson.

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In a New York Times article, a security guard named “Mr. Sanchez” said this is “truly a walk of shame.”

Hong Kong Supermarket in Monterey Park, California I’m certainly not against Chinese culture because I clearly follow some of the most important ones, such as honoring your elders.

However, bullying immigrants into paying unreasonable fines shouldn’t be accepted. It’s true that some of these cultures were accepted in China, but these supermarkets are not in China. I believe that they should start abiding by American laws when it comes to thievery there are move conventional ways to stop them. Extortion is illegal in the United States so Chinese supermarkets should abide by this law. It is impossible to stop people from stealing but we must respect that they are human and steal their diginity.

Source : http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/22/nyregion/22shoplift. html?pagewanted=1&_r=2 Image Source: http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2010/06/21nyregion/21SHOPLIF T_1/21SHOPLIFT_1-popup.jpg http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Hong_Kong_Supermarket_ Monterey_Park.jpg

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Islamaphobia and Yellow Peril: Irrationality and the American Consciousness

By Calvin Prashad

For centuries, Islam has been one of the world’s major religions.

Rightfully so, as the Sunni, Shia, Sufi and other sects of Islam maintained followers from Africa to India, Western China and as far south as Indonesia. These people lived in peace and generally prospered. These days, a child growing up in our political climate is being taught something else.

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aging fear of Muslims, fed by opportunists, has exploded in the last few years. Suddenly, a religion that exsisted largely peacefully for centuries became the mortal enemy of the West. Sadly, this reflects on another time, when hordes of anonymous Asians were the untrustworthy enemy seeking to destroy the U.S. from within. Americans, who previously have been able to confront extremists in a rational and sensible manner, even in the face of 9/11, recently lost their minds, absolutely convinced that the Islamic “cult” wanted to impose their way of life throughout the Western world and unable to accept the notion of “moderates“ in Islam. No longer was the “enemy” a radical group of individuals, but now an entire religion, Muslims living in American included. The election of a Democrat as president fed into these fears, further pushing on fear and uncertainty sa opponents attacked the president for his supposed “foreigness” as well as purported Islamic ties. The primary claim held by opponents, was that Islam, at its heart, had goals of world domination, imposing their religious law on all people on earth. the physical manifestation of that would be the construction of a Islamic Cultural Center at the site of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The center, being a sign of victory and domination over the West. This

demonization of an entire group of people is not new. In the aftermath of the attack on Pearl Harbor, hysteria and paranoia led to the imprisonment of thousands of innocent Japanese-Americans into prison camps. Some served with distinction in the U.S. Army while others were repatriated to Japan. It was a costly mistake, and at the end, not a single Japanese-American was tried for treason.

reach the American mainstream, it is a cause for concern. Taking back the American mainstream is the greatest challenge of our generation and the singular way we can preserve our nation’s liberty and prosperity for future generations.

Although the mainstream media holds some of the blame for the polarization of the American mainstream, the way we are now is primarily the function of the internet and the relative ease the information and opinions can reach the scared and impressionable.

Groups ranging from the Tea Party to the 9/11 Truthers can simply use Google or find internet forums where they can reinforce their ideas and build a community of ignoramuses.

Where as in the past lunatics on street corners and fringe publications would spread these ideas, people can now influence and be influenced by others playing to their most basic fears. Some use religious reasoning, painting Islam as the eternal enemy of Christianity. Some use economic reasons, blaming Mexican migrant workers for unemployment and low wages. At the root of it all, there is always a convenient scapegoat, Yellow peril was a reaction to the waves of Asian immigrants that spread throughout the West coast. With success, came envy and with envy came hatred. This resulted in discrimination, first casually by regular

The notion of what constitutes an “American” is dynamic.

It is elastic and far more inclusive that the notion of being “French” or “English.”

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Of course, Americans beyond our generation can remember similar claims about Nazis, communism, Jews, the Catholic Church, Chinese immigrants, Freemasons, socialists, anarchists and the empire of Japan. Although some of these fears were perfectly rational, many were not. The fear of foreign influence is not uniquely American, and indeed America has had a better record of accepting immigrants and tolerating “foreign” ideology than the rest of world in the past few decades. This why when fringe right and left wing hysteria

people, then institutionalized through legislation from the government.

Although the tide of yellow peril came and went, it never went far from the American consciousness. In 1941, when America went to war against Japan, the suspicion reared its head again. The Japanese, in spite of almost total assimilation still weren’t accepted as “American.” Under suspicion of “5th column activities,” the Japanese on the West Coast were put into camps. The rationale is that as Asians, not only would they never be loyal to America, but also as people of Japanese ancestry, they were hardwired to obey the word of the emperor as the word of God. Yet after a painful chapter in the history of Asian-America, only three people were every arrested for aiding Japan, none of them Japanese. The infamous “Tokyo Rose” although born an American, was granted a full pardon in 1977. Internment was also not carried out in Hawaii, as the Japanese population there was too large for a roundup to be feasible. Therefore, the systematic roundup of the Japanese did not have an impact on the war. The Japanese-Americans wanted to live in peace and own their part of the American dream.

If any lesson is to be learned from this, it’s that everyone is an American.

People have come to this country and will continue to come to this country to become Americans. The notion of what constitutes an “American” is dynamic. It is elastic and far more inclusive that the notion of being “French” or “English.”

Even though the English themselves are a mixed race of light-skinned people (Angles, Saxons, Jutes, etc.), the mixing ended hundreds of years ago.

As Americans, we have done well with accepting that our country is multiracial and will be for into the future. This is why pretending that 1.2 billion Muslims are part of an insidious anti-American cult is just plain nonsense. Burning and desecrating their holy book as if it’s the era of the Third Reich doesn’t help either.

It is also far too easy to paint all opponents of the mosque as Islamaphobic racists. Some opponents genuinely feel that the location is a poor choice for this project. However, the ground that the Islamic cultural center—previously known as the Cordoba House—is proposed to be built, is not holy ground.

It was not before the attacks when it housed a department store, and it is not holy ground now, even though wreckage from the attacks was found there. Ash, wreckage and remains are all around lower Manhattan, and lower Manhattan in its entirety is not a memorial site.

There are still stores, offices, overpriced

The proposed Park 51 Islamic Cultural Center

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chain restaurants, tacky tourist traps and even strip clubs.

Arbitrarily deciding that a community center has to move to avoid offending sensibilities is a dangerous precedent. Protests from Murfreesboro, Tennessee to California show that some extremists want no mosques to be built at all. While local municipalities may cite zoning regulations and other ordanaces as reasons to oppose the construction of new houses of worship, when protests threaten, sabotage and intimidate, it becomes far more than a zoning issue.

Furthermore, this location is not even at ground zero, it is blocks away. The mosque will not be seen from ground zero due to other buildings blocking the view. It primary function is not even as a mosque, but a community center in the mold of the YMCAs that exist in Manhattan and the other four boroughs. The “Ground Zero Mosque” neither is at Ground Zero, nor is it a mosque.

Meanwhile, we can stop pretending that the Freedom Tower is a pure memorial. Business will be conducted there, just as it was before the attacks. It’s an office building. Once it’s built, nothing will change. While people will remember what happened there, life will go on. Allowing a community center at the proposed site is not a victory for extremism nor is it prudent to act based on the

supposed reaction of the irrational. Can a church be built at Mecca?

No. However, we don’t live in Saudi Arabia. We need to preserve the freedom to worship and understand that a man universally recognized moderate Muslim cleric is no more harmless than the pope is. If America can return to the mainstream and rationally assess the situation that our country is in, perhaps the next decade will not be as lost as the last. When we return to the political climate that allowed the roundup of the Japanese, the entire nation loses.

Picture Sources: http://blog.park51.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/small-ICC-_SD1_2_ Ext-street-view.jpg http://assets.nydailynews.com/img/2010/09/08/alg_koran_terry-jones.jpg http://www.urantiansojourn.com/2010/08/open-cordoba-house/

Even Dr. Seuss believed that the Japanese on the West Coast were a threat, reflected in this rather racist cartoon. “5th Column“ is the official term for treasonous activities with the intent to undermine from within

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THE LAST M. NIGHT SHYAMALAN MOVIE

By Catherine Jungmin Kim “Avatar: The Last Racebender,” an article in Asian Outlook, Vol. XXIII Issue 3 covered M. Night Shyamalan’s The Last Airbender prior to the film’s release. This is a follow-up article, critiquing the film as a whole.

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f you managed to survive the suffocating heat of the summer, you probably heard about the controversy surrounding the movie, The Last Airbender. Yes, I’m talking about how the Nickelodeon tv series, based on Buddhism and Asian philosophy, came to the silver screen with white actors. There, I said it; white actors instead of Asian actors that the original television series specifically called for. The casting created more buzz and outrage from the public than actual box office ticket sales.

Let me recap some of the reasons why I anticipated this particular film with excitement. Nickelodeon’s Avatar: the Last Airbender was a series that I truly admired. Not only was it beautifully animated and well-written, it seamlessly incorporated Eastern culture and its moral teachings with wit and humor. It filled a void of good entertainment. Let’s face it, young kids these days have small pickings of truly great shows to choose from; what, with Hannah Montana and those two twin boys who live on a boat and cause mindless trouble?

The movie’s director, M. Night Shyamalan—who is from India, the birthplace of Buddhism—gave the enterprise more legitimacy.

I was particularly thankful for an opportunity for Asian actors to be cast in a wide exposure film in the United States. So I had high expectations of the movie.

But to my horror, the casting was not as expected and neither was the movie itself. Before I go any further on the ridiculousness of the casting, let me dispel a very incorrect assumption. There isn’t a “scarcity” of Asian actors in the United States. People incorrectly assume that since you see Asian actors in mass media less frequently than other races, it somehow indicates fewer actors are available to play roles. There are fewer casting opportunities for Asian actors, and that accounts for the lack of proper exposure—unless the movie calls for a ninja or some nerdy socially awkward student, am I right? So, there was nothing preventing Shyamalan from casting Asian actors for the roles. I can’t help but think, “What were they thinking?” For crying out loud, they originally cast Jesse McCartney as one of the main characters.

This leads me to my next point of horror. The casting decision strongly hints that they felt Asian actors were somehow unfit for roles in a movie that specifically called for Asian actors. This irksome, financially driven decision suggests that the director,

That’s no Asian. producers and the studio felt they wouldn’t make their money back without a “mainstream” white cast. While I understand that the economy is not good these days, the concern seems nothing more than shortsightedness, considering that the tv series already had a huge fan base. In addition, they already had a widely popular storyline and diverse characters. But to add insult to injury, when they did cast Asian actors, they were cast only as the bad guys.

The entirety of the Fire Nation—the power-hungry, destroyers of the natural world—was of Asian descent. What kind of doublestandard is that? Someone explain that one to me.

The final nail in the coffin was the movie itself. It was boring, lackluster and without the humor and wit that made the show so enjoyable. It seemed like the direction of the movie was to make it a more serious action thriller. But it was nothing thrilling about it. The attempt to make the movie more solemn made the movie laughable.

The script was suffocating, corny and just plain bad. What’s worse, none of the actors looked like they knew what they were doing.

So for all the controversy that this cast caused, they certainly had nothing to show for it. So good job M. Night, I think it’s time for you to say good night, bid adieu and spare us from anymore dreadful movies.

Vol. XXIV, Issue 1

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experiences of summer

By Diane Wong

Surrounded by thousands of proud Americans who packed the National Mall for the Independence Day fireworks spectacular, one of my first experiences in D.C. was camping out on the Mall on Fourth of July. Sitting right beside the Washington Monument, listening to the Navy’s premier jazz ensemble blare ‘60s jazz music, and watching the lights in the sky above our nation’s capital all contributed to an incredible feeling. That moment marked the beginning of a summer full of experiences that I wouldn’t have known anywhere else in the world.

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his summer, I was given the opportunity of interning in D.C. through the International Leadership Foundation, a non-profit organization that promotes civic awareness, public service and economic effectiveness of the young Asian Pacific American community. Within two months, I interned with both the Asian-American Justice Center (AAJC), a non-profit organization, and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, a federal government agency. My eight weeks in D.C. have been the most incredible experience of my life; no day was ever boring and every week felt like one amazing, hectic day. I’ll never forget the people who have touched my life this summer: the Honorable Eric K. Sinseki, VA Secretary, Norman Mineta, Former U.S. Secretary of Transportation and Former U.S. Secretary of Commerce, Senator Daniel Inouye, Senate President Pro-Tempore, Harold Koh, Legal Advisor to the U.S. State Department, and many, many more persons from government officials to foreign dignitaries and my network of International Leadership Foundation fellows.

I was told that 20 years ago, if you looked around D.C. , the chances of running into somebody from Asian descent were minuscule. Thanks to various non-profit organizations, diversity in federal service agencies and passionate advocates, the Asian Pacific American presence in Washington D.C. is now tremendous. Of the non-profit organizations, AAJC is one of the nation’s leading experts on issues affecting the Asian-American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community, such as affirmative action, re-districting, census, anti-Asian violence prevention, immigration, immigration rights, language access and voting rights. During my time at the AAJC, I helped coordinate the Advancing Justice Conference (AJC).

The AJC is a national civil rights and social justice conference that works to bring together AAPI leaders from across the country to address a broad range of issues facing the community. This year, the conference covered a variety of issues, including immigration reform, human rights, civil rights and national security, health

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care, Census 2010, redistricting, hate-crimes, low-wage workers and LGBT rights. The conference serves as a unique forum where community advocates, researchers and other leaders can meet face-

a Washington D.C. intern

ILF Fellows with Senator Inouye, Secretary Norman Mineta, Congresswoman Judy Chu and Joel Szabat, Founder of the International Leadership Foundation to-face to talk about common challenges and possible solutions.

The issues presented at the AJC—and other various conferences and presentations put together by AAPI organizations such as Conference on Asian Pacific American Leadership (CAPAL) and APIAVote!—were the biggest surprises for me.

I was born in New York and raised in Flushing, Queens, a community where Asians remain a majority population. I now attend Binghamton University, a campus that is composed of 13 percent of Asian and Pacific Islander students. Nothing in my upbringing exposed me to these issues affecting our community. As our community grows, it is imperative that our voices be heard. One of the key avenues to building leverage for AAPI communities is

through increased civic engagement and participation in the political process. I share my experiences in hopes of inspiring more AsianAmerican students to find and apply to internships with non-profit organizations such as the International Leadership Foundation and the Asian-American Justice Center that promote civic awareness and activism within the Asian-American youth community.

Vol. XXIV, Issue 1

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ASIAN DOUBLE EYELID the

By Pauline Chang

Why are double eyelid surgeries common among East Asians, even in the U.S.? Is it a desire to conform to a Caucasian sense of beauty or is there a cultural attachment to large eyes?

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Image Source: http://prebleactivities.com/webdesign/ulzzang/assets/eyes.jpg

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eauty is in the eye of the beholder; does this ubiquitous expression always remain true? There are differentiating standards of attractiveness in the numerous cultures present. Yet, even amidst the various measures, there may still be universal definitions of beauty. Every person desires good looks and women, especially, are always looking for ways to enhance their appearances.

For years and even in current times, the standard of beauty has been defined by the Western culture. The Asian sense of prettiness is often inspired by Caucasian ideas; Asian girls growing up in the U.S. are especially heavily influenced. For example, while the rhinoplasty may be a common procedure for Western cultures, the blepharoplasty or the double eyelid surgery is a popular cosmetic surgery for Asians.

The blepharoplasty is intended to restructure the eye’s shape and create a crease or “double eyelid.” The surgery has been popular, as girls, with double eyelids and eyes that appear bigger than before, are viewed as more beautiful.

The trend of the double eyelid surgery is common among Asians even in the U.S. There seems to be an overwhelming desire to create the image of large eyes. There may be some cultural attachment to large eyes because in Japan, it is a depiction of cuteness. Those with double eyelids are viewed as pretty but it was not necessarily because of the larger eyes. It can appear as more youthful having double eyelids. Therefore, it is not clear whether there is a definitive cultural attachment to large eyes.

In the U.S. , Caucasian models and actresses generally feature large eyes which seem to send the message that bigger eyes equate beauty. Asians are stereotypically thought to have smaller eyes, which clashes with the standard norm of beauty. Having smaller eyes may be viewed as being less attractive or being inferior to those with larger eyes. In psychology, there tends to be a desire to conform and fit in with the crowd. In the U.S. , Asians are essentially a minority and being inundated with pictures of famous people with large eyes definitely has an influence on young girls. The desire to conform to a Caucasian sense of beauty is often resounded and reinforced by the constant media.

Recently, there have been criticisms against blepharoplasty damaging the unique feature of Asian eyes. For years Asian parents have pushed their daughters to undergo blepharoplasty, but blame is being placed on the media and their depiction of beauty. Cultural attachments versus the Caucasian sense of beauty: there is no clearcut answer to the reason for the growing trend of the double eyelid surgery.

the

fair skin affair

By Fiz Ramdhani

Beauty is a matter of perception. It is true. And it is social science that one’s perception is constructed by the society he or she lives in. Therefore, the idea of beauty varies across continents, cultures and time.

While it may be somewhat opinionated, we cannot say that it is a completely false idea that in today’s American popular culture, a toned body coupled with tanned skin constitutes beauty and sexiness. Think about your favorite actors or models. How many of them possess these characteristics?

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sia, however, has its own taste regarding beauty that managed to stand across its diverse cultures and times—a desire for fair skin. If you dig out history, read folklores, or listen to poems and lyrics about the beauty of a person, whether a man or a woman, chances are you will see that one of the characteristics that made them beautiful was their fair skin. This phenomenon does not only occur in one part of the continent. It occurs everywhere in Asia, stretching from China to India to Indonesia.

However, what makes Asians, in this case, desire fair skin?

This same question was directed towards me when I was doing an internship for a multinational advertising company in Jakarta, Indonesia. To find the answer, I looked back in ancient Asian histories and folklores. Fair skin has always been related to beauty and power. Then I thought of colonialism. Countries such as India and Indonesia had been colonized by the fair-skinned Europeans for centuries. Therefore, through a socio-historical process it is possible that darker skin meant hard work and this represented a lower social class; hence, the desire for fair skin. Also, naturally, the color white is a neutral color because it is a combination of all colors.

It makes it easier for people to wear whatever they like.

The desire for fair skin is so rampant that most popular skincare companies in Asia just have to incorporate whitening as added values for their products. While the consumerism trend is moving toward the use of anti-aging, the desire for whitening skincare products has continuously been stable. For the next 10 years, skincare companies will still see the desire for whitening products from their costumers,

and therefore, whitening products will continue to be produced.

Eventually, the question of the issue can possibly be turned. Does the demand create the supply, or does the supply create the demand?

When skincare companies such as Vaseline and Olay use Asia’s celebrities whose skins are naturally darker than most celebrities like Shahid Kapoor and Kajol Devgan respectively as their whitening brand ambassador, the intention is no longer fulfilling the demands; it is to get people to want to undergo the same transformation: get rid of their skin’s natural color and make it fair.

It is true that every individual has the right to do whatever they want to their bodies. However, at what cost does society continue to pretend like it is not an issue? According to a CNN article in 2002: “In December 2000, Lam and Prince of Wales Hospital doctor Michael Chan tested 36 creams made by cosmetic makers across the world. They found eight creams exceeded the U.S. Food and Drug Administration safety limits for mercury. All eight brands came from China or Taiwan, prompting Lam to predict this could be “the tip of the iceberg” because the creams have been available for several years and widely used.”

Every person is beautiful in his or her own ways. The world is beautiful because everyone is different from each other: different ideologies, cultures, ethnicities, and colors. I personally believe that the beauty or the ugliness of a person does not lie in their skin colors; it lies in their abilities to bring forth each of their own unique charm. Personally, I would rather work on individuality than being sorry for the rest of my life by using a whitening product that can harm my health and damage my perfectly fine, natural skin.

Vol. XXIV, Issue 1

21

DREAMACT

the

By Diane Wong

Jong-Min is among millions of hardworking students in the U.S. However, what separates Jong-Min apart from other Asian-American students is the fact that he is undocumented, does not qualify for state or federal grants, and his education ends after the completion of high school.

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hen he was just a year old, Jong-Min, a 29-year old Korean-American, moved with his family to Tennessee from South Korea on a visa. Although Jong-Min has completed his bachelor’s degree in sociology from the University of Tennessee, he works in New York’s underground economy at a florist’s shop and a pizzeria. Until the DREAM Act (the Development, Relief and Education of Alien Minors Act) is passed by Congress, Jong-Min and the millions of undocumented students will continue to have their dreams deferred. The passage of the DREAM Act could change his situation and the lives of one million other Asian and Pacific Islander students in pursuit of higher education.

An undocumented person is, by definition, a non-citizen who entered the U.S. Without proper legal documentation or who has overstayed his or her visa. Today 65,000 undocumented students graduate every year from high school without “papers” and find the door to their future slammed shut. These include honor roll students, star athletes, aspiring teachers, doctors, U.S. soldiers and contributing members of our society. Many of these students have lived in the U.S. , just as long as you and I, to call this country their home. Our immigration laws currently have no mechanism to consider special circumstances of such students. The DREAM Act was introduced to Congress in March 2009 to provide undocumented students who met certain requirements an opportunity to enlist in the military or to go to college and have a path to citizenship that they would have otherwise been denied.

The problem with passing the DREAM Act isn’t the act itself.

Senate majority leader Harry Reid, (D-NV) announced back on September 14, 2010 that the DREAM Act would be incorporated into the 2010 National Defense Authorization Act which also includes the repeal of the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” law. On September 24, 2010, the Republican filibuster won in a 56-to-43 vote. Democrats, who are proponents of the Dream Act, failed to secure any single Republican vote to reach the necessary majority of 60 votes. Moreover, several

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Democrats, namely Blanche Lincoln and Mark Pryor from Arkansas, voted in favor of Republicans. What is happening to the DREAM Act is exactly what happened to the unemployment extension bill before it was signed into law by President Obama.

It is simply just bad public policy to throw away the talent we have invested in from kindergarten to 12th grade. Pushing back the DREAM Act results in a loss of human and financial capital because the current U.S. government is actually spending money to deport these talented students. The impact of the DREAM Act would not be limited to increased earnings, social service savings, increase tax revenues and reduce government expenses. Legalizing the thousands of young immigrants and allowing them to join the legal

The DREAM Act was introduced to provide undocumented students a path to citizenship that they would have otherwise been denied. workforce would help business and the U.S. economy maintain its competitiveness on a global scale. The DREAM Act beneficiwaries would be able to fill long-term labor shortages—including engineers, scientists, teachers, nurses and service employees—that could potentially threaten our economy if not addressed in coming decades.

All in all, passing the DREAM Act would allow America to gain from the talent of educated immigrants, to increase its diversity and tolerance, and to pull up immigrant communities nationwide. It is critical to encourage and remind members of all communities the importance of the DREAM Act and its impact on America’s future.

Movie Review/

The Karate Kid

By Anna Wei

The Karate Kid: the inhumane and often stereotypical pressures placed on Chinese students to be the epitome of excellence in their line of work are reinforced in this 2010 remake of The Karate Kid.

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ake no mistake; the story centralizes on the growth of Dre Parker played by Jaden Smith. The young African American protagonist is forced to move to China because of his mother’s work. But very much like the original Karate Kid (1984), viewers are introduced to the mindset of his opponent to see the root of their ongoing persistence for power.

15 minutes in, we are first acquainted with Dre’s opponent, Cheng (Zhenwei Wang). Cheng easily resembles the archetype for a modern day bully who poses no shame or remorse whatsoever for slamming Dre to the floor after having disregarded Cheng’s orders to [leave the paper on the floor]. To assert his competence and mark his territory, Cheng continuously attacks Dre after realizing that he wasn’t able to retaliate.

In the coming days, Cheng does anything he can to threaten Dre from seeing Mei Ying (Wenwen Han), the violinist Dre develops a crush on. Naturally Mei Ying and Dre attempt to get to know each other even more despite the difficulties.

The plot drags on as we begin to see the development of Cheng’s life who is pushed to work and strive to the absolute peak of his capacity to achieve what he wants, no matter what it takes. Master LI (Rongguang Yu) doesn’t take no for an answer and certainly doesn’t accept failure. The mantra Cheng is forced and taught to live through is “No weakness! No pain! No mercy!” which is spoken repeatedly through reckless and uninhibited kung-fu training.

It wasn’t until Dre decided to play a prank on Cheng that the rivalry really started to boil. Dre took solace in Mr. Han’s (Jackie Chan) hidden secret as a kung fu master hoping that he can study under his wings to prep for the “championship” fight-off to determine who ultimately wins the feud.

I won’t give away the ending but I’m sure you can all figure it out for yourselves.

I also couldn’t help but notice the potential they place on the female gender in this movie. Unlike traditional China, which advocates for women to “stay home and take care of the children,” women are now expected to work just as hard. While the boys are off frolicking in their martial arts uniforms, the girls are being put under the same

pressure to succeed. MeiYing, the female character who’s torn between her culture and accepting one that isn’t her own is seen often holding the violin, the instrument that she has sworn to practice at any free moment. Her coach stresses how important it is for both her family and her future that she perfects the piece in time for her audition.

The authenticity of the culture was so genuine and the scenery was overwhelmingly breathtaking. But the movie was nothing without the cast. Jayden Smith portrayed the part of rebellious yet loving and willing to learn pre-teenager wonderfully – not to mention his skillful dance moves and his natural way with the ladies. Taraji P. Henson as Sherry Parker was not willing to give up on her son’s attitude towards the new city and gave tough love when it was needed. But most of all, the growth of Jackie Chan’s character as Mr. Han “the maintenance guy who speaks good English” was phenomenal. I haven’t seen many Jackie Chan films but to see the growth of his disposition as a broken man who lost his family to someone strong and able to forgive himself for what he has done by sharing his story and talent with others was quite tear-jerking.

I do however believe the script was a little unforgiving with the cultural background. Whether its true or not, portraying China as a place that is power hungry that all Chinese people would discipline their children to hurt others or to play unfair just to win is a little over the PG rating—not to mention the countless blood induced fighting scenes between children.

If it’s one thing any of us get from the movie, it’s that “there are no bad students, just bad teachers.”

Vol. XXIV, Issue 1

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Movie Review/

9066 TO 9/11:

AMERICA’S CONCENTRATION CAMPS THEN ... AND NOW?

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he 20-minute documentary film, 9066 to 9/11: America’s Concentration Camps Then... And Now? addresses the chilling similarities between the Japanese Internment Camps of 1942 and the current treatment of many ArabAmericans due to the 9/11 attacks. My first encounter with the documentary was at the Advancing Justice Conference, where the director, Akira Boch, personally introduced the documentary to the audience himself.

Akira Boch has been making documentaries at the Media Arts Center of the Japanese American National Museum and his work has been broadcast internationally on MTV, PBS and at film festivals.

9066 to 9/11 examines the parallels between the American response to the Japanese American community after the bombing of Pearl Harbor and the Arab American community after the terrorist attacks of 9/11. Executive Order 9066 was signed and issued during WWII by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on February 19, 1942 ordering Japanese Americans to internment camps.

Three years after Executive Order 9066,

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By Diane Wong some 120,000 Japanese Americans were held in ten different concentration camps throughout the Southwest. Similarly, after the attacks of 9/11, three to five thousand Muslim men and individuals of Arab descent living in the U.S. have been detained by the Department of Justice. Both communities were targeted as a threat to national security for simply belonging to the same religion, race or ethnicity as the attackers.

It’s been 10 years since the 9/11 attacks and still many Americans harbor negative feelings toward people of Arab descent.

Many Arab-Americans continue to face discrimination at all levels of society. There was the Balbir Sodhi case, an innocent Sikh-American shot by a rampant shooter in Arizona directly after the 9/11 attacks.

Then there was the recent attack of Ahmed Sharif, an innocent cab driver who was slashed in the neck after being asked “Are you Muslim?”

Anti-Muslim hate-crimes have only escalated. Sentiments of Islamphobia in America are not limited to the debates over the proposal to build an Islamic center near Ground Zero or Pastor Terry Jones’

efforts to turn 9/11 into “International Burn a Quran Day,” they are taking place throughout America. In Tennessee, there was a recent arson against a mosque project.

In California, a mosque was vandalized with a sign reading “Wake up America, the enemy is here.” And in San Diego, Kentucky, Virginia, the constant vilification of Islam are heard over the air on radio contributing to the rise in anti-Muslim sentiments across the nation.

America’s internment of Japanese Americans during World War II and treatment of the Arab community after 9/11 belie our democratic ideals of tolerance, pluralism and multiculturalism.

The documentary film 9066 to 9/11 illustrates that racial profiling—in any way, shape or form or against any race or ethnic community— must not be tolerated, and that for once, we, as a society, can learn from these previous experiences to never again let such injustice occur to any other ethnic community.

Hopefully, the next time we are faced with another issue concerning the human rights of a community, we can remember to enforce the words “Never again.”

Movie Review/

Raajneeti— —Politics

By Fiz Ramdhani

“In Raajneeti, there is no right or wrong decision. Their purpose is merely to achieve a desired result. Whatever that might be.”

- Brij Gopal (Raajneeti)

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have watched this movie five times since the day it came out, yet I still couldn’t bring myself to start writing about it. I still remember when I saw the trailer at the cinema and whispered to my friend, “I have to watch this movie.”

Honestly, at that point I only thought of the actors that were in it and the fact that it is a movie that is literally about just politics. I may not be a political expert; I’m not even a political science major, but the world of politics always intrigues me. And here it is, Raajneeti, a story about the topsy-turvy of Indian political practices.

The story started with the sexual affair of the daughter of the well-known, nationalist party leader, Bharti Rai (Nikhila Trikha), with the leader of the opposition, left-wing political party, Bhaskar Sanyal (Naseruddin Shah). The night after the affair happened, the leader of the opposition party left her out of guilt and regret. Bharti was left pregnant and when she gave birth to a son, her brother, Brij Gopal (Nana Patekar) took the son away from her and left him at the door of a stranger. Bharti, then, was arranged to marry Chandra Pratap (Chetan Pandit), the younger brother of Bhanu Pratap (Khan Jahangir Khan), the leader of the-now-famous Rashtrawadi Party. The marriage was a political one in that Bharti’s father’s political party has lost power but was still financially strong while Rashtrawadi was growing fast yet lacking financial support. This is where it all started.

The drama about politics, family relations and love picked up its plot when Bhanu Pratap had a heart attack that made him unfit to lead the party. He made Chandra Pratap the party’s working president and his own son, Veerendra Pratap (Manoj Bajpai) and nephew, Prithviraj Pratap (Arjun Rampal) as co-general secretaries.

This decision upset Virendra and he started to find ways to bring Prithvi down. One of the ways was by murdering Prithvi’s father, Chandra Pratap. Out of grief and desire to stay in power, however, Prithvi and his brother that soon became his political analyst and advisor. Samar (Ranbir Kapoor) broke out from Rashtrawadi and made their own political party—one that grabbed huge support from the people.

I have left out so many important events and characters that are significant in this film, although you might feel that there are already

too many characters all rooting for the same thing: power. Raajneeti receives various criticisms in both India and the United States.

The American critics feel that Raajneeti will not grab the attention and excitement of the American audience. The New York Times said “[T]he film—full of romance, intrigue and fraternal strife—is too diffuse to score political points. Or to have much impact.” While Robert Abele of the Los Angeles Times found that while it aimed “for something trenchant about thwarted destiny and ugly ambition in modern Indian democracy,” it “mostly winds up with a convoluted and tonally awkward Godfather rehash, with nary a character worth rooting for,” and that “Kapoor’s performance is stony rather than calculating. . .”

On the other hand, Nikhat Kazmi of The Times of India rated it four out of five stars and said, “The film basically anchors its plot in two classic tales—The Mahabharata and The Godfather—to create an engrossing diatribe on India’s political system where democracy may prevail, but not in its purest form.”

Coming from a country with a similar background to India, I feel that Raajneeti has managed to serve its purpose as a political drama where money, power, family, sex and love are the main players.

There cannot be too many characters in such political drama as one cannot possibly gain or maintain power with such small number of people. The roots of support, corruption and crime go far and fuse into the society itself. Each player has its significance that cannot be overlooked.

True, when put into a movie, it becomes too complicated for audience to comprehend and there are literally no characters to root for. But this is what Raajneeti was made to do in the first place—no one is clean in the game of politics. As Arjun Rampal put it, “In Raajneeti, everyone has a gray shade.” Director Prakash Jha has made Raajneeti an especially unique movie. It challenged the question of censorship—a continuing issue in the Indian movie industry—and the idea of the “hero” versus the “villain,” while still holding true to exclusively Bollywood movie elements, such as songs, corrupted cops and family drama.

In my opinion, Raajneeti is taking a new step forward in the Bollywood movie industry.

Vol. XXIV, Issue 1

25

K-Town reality show: Disgrasian

By Diane Wong

Koean Jersey Shore Cast

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here has been quite a lot of talk about the K-Town reality show. Inspired by the success of MTV’s hit reality show Jersey Shore, singer-turned-television producer Tyrese Gibson is already producing an Asian-American adaptation of the series, set to air once a network books the series. Just as Jersey Shore focuses on mostly self-professed “guidos” and “guidettes” in their 20s whose jobs are to party, K-Town’s cast is comprised of AsianAmericans in their 20s who love to drink, bar-hop and karaoke in Los Angeles’s Koreatown.

So will the production of K-Town break down, reinforce or build new stereotypes of Asian-Americans? Let’s be honest, this show is not meant to break down stereotypes, because that’s not entertainment for the majority of people who will be watching it.

It is either going to exploit stereotypes that already exist or create new ones under the heavy influence of alcohol. Take the K-Town application questionnaire for example: (8) Are there any nude or other revealing or compromising images of you that are available publicly either through the Internet, video or otherwise? If so, please describe and explain.

(13) Do you drink alcohol? If so, how often do you drink and how much? How do you act when drunk?

It seems like these questions are tailored to screen for a certain type individual: an alcoholic who has a bad temper and likes to strip on camera. While I agree that it is time they show AsianAmericans in a more positive light in the media, these cast members of K-Town were handpicked because they checked “yes” for “are you a belligerent drunk.”

Asian-Americans do not always need to be portrayed as proper, nerdy, quiet, studious, intelligent, etc. , and we certainly do not need to be portrayed as shirtless alcoholic and narcissists. According to Eugene Choi, one of three co-producers of K-Town, the production of the reality show is historic because “you’ll get to see eight of the most interesting people on television—Asian or otherwise. It’s history in the making, and it’s going to be very entertaining.”

Just how “historic” or “interesting” will it be to see young underachieving Asian-Americans rip each other’s hair out, or get drunk and sexed on camera? Quite frankly, the most that this show will achieve is to show that not all Asian-Americans are the same. But the tradeoff is certainly not worth it. Having sex, drugs, patriarchal men and alcohol-induced drama on camera will just conjure images and new stereotypes for Asian-Americans, while at the same time continue to sexualize, objectify and fetishize Asian women. This is a huge step backwards for the Asian-American community.

(17) Do you have a temper? How often do you lose your temper?

What provokes you? How do you deal with anger?

(18) How many fights have you been in? When was the last time (if any) you hit, punched, kicked, or threw something in anger?

Please provide details.

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Photo Credits: http://ohmygoff.tv/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/ ktown.jpg

What My Long-Distance Relationship Taught Me About Openness and Trust

By Michael Ji

It was May of 2010 and I was relieved that my final exams were coming to a close. However, in the back of my head, I was well aware of my next challenge: landing a summer internship. If I didn’t already feel sick about my never-ending search that began many months prior, my parents would constantly remind me that they would disown me and that my future would be ruined if I couldn’t find an internship. While I always reminded them that I have been searching for a long time, they would get frustrated because I wasn’t landing one fast enough.

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ut, that’s beside the point because last year, I started a long-distance relationship with a warm and loving girl named Ada. We met while I was staying in my hometown, Shanghai. When we physically parted, we promised that we would keep in touch with each other on a regular basis and be open and trusting. No matter what we had on our minds, we would let each other know.

When my parents became increasingly worried over the fact that I haven’t found an internship yet, they kept complaining that I was lazy and not working hard enough to find one. Obviously, this wasn’t true, but their yelling gave me tremendous stress. At this point, I considered telling Ada about this. My first reaction, however, was to not make her worry. Thus, whenever I was on the phone with Ada, I wouldn’t mention it.

Slowly, however, the effects of my stress slowly surfaced, and I became increasingly distraught in the midst of my internship search. Whenever I talked to Ada, I felt distracted. Eventually, I started to feel as if I was drifting farther and farther apart from Ada with each subsequent call. When I finally confronted Ada about this, she told me that I don’t seem to care about her like I did months ago, as if I was distracted by something. It was then that I realized my mistake.

I proceeded to tell Ada about my recent troubles with my internship hunt. I told her that I had searched for a very long time, and that my parents didn’t make it any easier on me. Even though I felt vulnerable as I was telling her all of this, Ada listened intently.

She nurtured me with comforting words, encouraging me to push on and to never give up. As she finally realized why I was distracted the whole time, she called me a fool for not telling her earlier. And you know what? Ada was right.

When I first decided to forgo telling Ada about my internship search, I eventually realized that it wasn’t simply because I didn’t want her to worry about my problems; the real reason was that I didn’t trust her to be able to take the news well enough. What if she started to worry and told me that I was a slacker as well? Instead, I almost ruined my relationship because I was too afraid to open up. Within two weeks, I found an internship at the New York Asian Women’s Center, an agency that provides support for women and children that have experienced domestic violence.

Openness and trust isn’t easy to find in our world today. We feel vulnerable whenever we extend our trust because it is so easy to get hurt. Nevertheless, we must never forget to be open and trustful around the ones we cherish and love.

As Lao Tzu once wrote, “If you do not trust others, Others will never trust you.”

Vol. XXIV, Issue 1

27

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Ut eleifend ultricies urna id iaculis. Aenean elementum gravida est, non sodales nisi dapibus eu. Quisque dictum malesuada urna et sodales. Nam auctor volutpat magna vitae aliquet.

Duis eu ipsum erat. Donec sagittis metus at magna lacinia id mattis libero blandit. Pellentesque justo nisi, laoreet nec fringilla at, feugiat at libero. Nunc fringilla lacus sit amet metus molestie a faucibus metus vehicula. Vestibulum ut turpis felis. Aliquam convallis, enim id faucibus rhoncus, quam quam convallis arcu, vel ultrices tortor nunc ut magna.

Quisque massa sem, hendrerit quis fringilla quis, interdum quis quam. Proin mattis tellus vitae diam viverra semper.

Curabitur metus nunc, ornare et luctus sit amet, convallis sit amet eros. Nulla pharetra gravida luctus. Nullam vulputate mi sit amet lorem malesuada eget mattis nisi adipiscing. Vestibulum scelerisque arcu et libero rhoncus volutpat.

Maecenas ullamcorper varius lacus ac sollicitudin. Praesent laoreet venenatis sem. Nullam cursus justo id tellus ornare semper. Donec eu eros id massa congue vulputate. Curabitur at velit odio. Nullam nec nunc nec lorem dapibus ornare a ut justo. Aliquam erat volutpat. Praesent metus urna, lacinia quis dignissim nec, posuere vitae massa. Vivamus in ligula ac libero tempor rutrum sed vitae lacus. Donec aliquam auctor justo, ac interdum ligula auctor et. Aliquam erat volutpat.

Mauris eget risus lacus. Vivamus sapien risus, dapibus quis commodo ut, volutpat interdum tortor. Integer eu nunc nec est vestibulum mattis. Cras rhoncus, nisl condimentum adipiscing lacinia, nisl tortor varius eros, et vestibulum mauris felis nec dolor. Praesent fringilla vehicula lectus quis tempor. Suspendisse potenti. In eros est, hendrerit et mattis at, hendrerit ac nisl. Nulla facilisi. Duis ut erat diam, eget venenatis sem. Praesent suscipit mauris ac est bibendum sodales.

Nulla dui leo, posuere quis laoreet vel, venenatis ut lorem. Morbi bibendum, nisi et tincidunt malesuada, quam arcu ultrices lorem, id sagittis eros purus eu orci. Cum sociis natoque penatibus et magnis dis parturient montes, nascetur ridiculus mus. Ut ullamcorper nisl in turpis laoreet sagittis semper dolor vestibulum. Phasellus sed ligula eros. Integer mi felis, interdum id egestas vitae, viverra vitae risus. Aenean dolor nisl, consequat at volutpat sed, rhoncus id enim.

Praesent ut dui diam, in iaculis quam. Curabitur vehicula consectetur ipsum quis imperdiet. Nulla scelerisque sem sit amet nulla suscipit sagittis. Vestibulum ut felis nulla. Quisque cursus velit quis sem venenatis gravida tempor elit interdum. Vivamus eros nulla, ultrices vitae blandit vel, pulvinar ut nulla. Ut augue eros, aliquet quis eleifend non, varius sed nunc. Vivamus scelerisque, sem ac lacinia auctor, odio felis tincidunt nisl, ut rutrum purus tortor at velit.

Mauris consequat, orci nec auctor rhoncus, nisi arcu pharetra neque, laoreet rutrum eros sem in tellus. Cras placerat dignissim massa at facilisis. Morbi fermentum sollicitudin nibh, eu egestas risus cursus eget. Aliquam vel neque risus.

Praesent vehicula dignissim rutrum. Aenean id tortor elit. Mauris laoreet tortor sed arcu scelerisque posuere. Praesent sed tristique odio. Nunc cursus massa at mi mattis at ornare lorem suscipit. Etiam libero turpis, fermentum quis vestibulum vel, auctor eget augue. Maecenas nisi neque, volutpat et vestibulum et, pellentesque quis dui. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Nam euismod laoreet magna, id gravida ligula convallis vel. Maecenas dapibus massa ut ligula semper vehicula. Praesent tincidunt, tellus nec rhoncus accumsan, velit leo egestas augue, at tempor urna turpis nec quam. Donec fringilla, justo nec elementum suscipit, neque magna auctor arcu, id semper metus elit vel quam. Aenean et metus ut ligula dignissim congue at ac metus. Duis auctor dignissim neque, nec aliquet arcu dictum id. Donec et pellentesque risus. Nunc rhoncus rhoncus nisi, ac porttitor leo pretium scelerisque. Pellentesque habitant morbi tristique senectus et netus et malesuada fames ac turpis egestas. Cras id hendrerit purus. Maecenas et metus felis, et fermentum nulla. Sed sagittis tincidunt bibendum. Maecenas feugiat tempor nisi, vitae fermentum purus semper eget. Vivamus tincidunt turpis sit amet tellus tincidunt ac eleifend nunc ornare. Pellentesque fringilla tincidunt elementum. Ut felis diam, lacinia nec porttitor at, sagittis vitae sem. Vivamus ultrices nibh eget elit sodales eu vehicula velit volutpat. Donec non magna sit amet nisi feugiat interdum. Mauris placerat mattis elit adipiscing porttitor. Donec est massa, adipiscing a volutpat non, accumsan ut massa. Donec nisi libero, porta eu suscipit nec, fermentum eu risus.

Donec nec quam nisi. Donec lobortis nibh nec massa blandit at viverra nisi ultricies. Curabitur consequat, mauris vel dapibus mollis, dui felis adipiscing dolor, at faucibus orci felis ac lorem. Nulla sit amet tortor orci, nec dictum felis. In hac habitasse platea dictumst. Nam pretium faucibus massa fringilla malesuada. Aliquam pretium egestas elit.

Vestibulum id magna et nibh condimentum tempus. Mauris hendrerit quam vel purus faucibus at aliquet ligula vulputate. Mauris auctor, mauris et blandit porttitor, diam enim dignissim metus, eu congue metus tellus eu augue.

Praesent hendrerit, purus sed eleifend tempor, massa elit congue mi, ullamcorper bibendum leo turpis nec purus. Nulla a libero nibh, nec condimentum justo. Praesent dictum, odio vitae porta pretium, odio ipsum tincidunt velit, at porttitor nisl quam id purus. Phasellus sem mi, tincidunt quis rutrum id, malesuada ut ante. Sed bibendum ultrices urna nec gravida. Aliquam varius semper est at porta. Nunc mauris ipsum, blandit quis commodo ac, dignissim non leo. Aliquam id velit eu magna pulvinar suscipit. Ut facilisis elit vel sapien sodales vel ullamcorper nibh adipiscing. Aenean vitae diam vel lectus consequat blandit eu at lectus. Nunc vitae nunc sem. Vestibulum leo lacus, egestas a consequat sed, condimentum et mauris. Aenean ullamcorper ipsum at odio feugiat vel molestie lacus lobortis. Aliquam tempus laoreet lorem nec condimentum. Sed fringilla gravida erat, ac sollicitudin sem iaculis non. Vivamus ipsum eros, mollis eu bibendum in, convallis sed lacus. Aenean sodales tincidunt est, vel mattis lacus facilisis venenatis. Nunc laoreet felis tincidunt lacus blandit gravida. Phasellus enim enim, suscipit eu posuere et, ultricies eu ipsum. Donec dui augue, venenatis quis iaculis ut, cursus eu lectus. Donec nec enim ligula. Vivamus lacus massa, vehicula id dapibus vel, bibendum nec ante. Vivamus adipiscing, mi vel varius ultricies, lectus odio fringilla neque, at tincidunt leo lacus a eros.

Nunc elementum magna et nulla cursus quis elementum metus vestibulum. Pellentesque nec eleifend diam. Pellentesque id lectus ac tellus interdum consectetur. In hac habitasse platea dictumst. Sed ullamcorper ipsum et elit sollicitudin sed molestie nisl consequat. Proin volutpat porttitor pellentesque. Nam luctus sem id justo sodales tempor. Nam ligula nunc, eleifend in faucibus sed, rutrum dapibus velit. Nulla sollicitudin viverra dolor sit amet ullamcorper. Duis tempus faucibus magna et luctus. Aenean sodales tincidunt porttitor. Curabitur bibendum suscipit augue, et pharetra erat pellentesque eu. Mauris quis dui lorem, eget elementum erat. Duis blandit accumsan tincidunt. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Integer vulputate mi vel arcu blandit pretium. Proin molestie accumsan erat, a pharetra lorem aliquam a. Nulla fermentum odio id magna pharetra interdum. Sed et elit arcu, vitae tristique augue. Ut at neque mi, vel convallis purus. Nulla consequat, nisl id lacinia cursus, augue libero varius enim, sed auctor metus mauris eu nunc. Quisque tincidunt adipiscing adipiscing. Cras pellentesque viverra ligula ut lobortis. Sed rutrum est tincidunt felis venenatis consequat. Fusce arcu odio, varius nec ultrices sit amet, pulvinar a arcu. In hac habitasse platea dictumst.

Nunc est ipsum, suscipit lobortis vehicula nec, commodo egestas metus. In sed massa tellus. Aliquam convallis neque in purus congue in dignissim orci interdum. Ut dignissim est et dui semper vitae semper ante volutpat. Pellentesque turpis ligula, lacinia sit amet suscipit sed, sagittis vitae nisl. Nunc nunc dolor, pellentesque et aliquam ac, pharetra non lectus. Fusce ornare euismod augue, volutpat pulvinar mauris aliquam at. Sed imperdiet purus sit amet metus tincidunt

id facilisis mauris dapibus. Cras id fringilla urna. Nam sem orci, rhoncus quis volutpat sed, ultricies gravida neque.

Donec gravida sem sit amet eros varius at pulvinar quam sollicitudin. Aenean nec diam gravida dolor dignissim pulvinar sed pulvinar odio. Sed cursus, dolor a posuere tempor, eros massa tincidunt magna, sed viverra metus ante a mauris.

Praesent tincidunt placerat sem non lacinia. Duis fringilla erat ac magna fringilla nec eleifend erat consequat. In tempor nisi sed sem molestie at facilisis orci tincidunt. Vivamus placerat feugiat massa nec laoreet. Proin adipiscing rutrum lacus ac hendrerit. Sed varius consectetur felis, ultricies dignissim sapien egestas vel. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Nullam aliquam dictum massa ac adipiscing. Sed mattis rhoncus elementum. Aenean orci orci, elementum eget pellentesque ultricies, condimentum et elit. Etiam ac sem elit. Morbi commodo vehicula neque, ac ullamcorper orci tincidunt eget. Vestibulum sed velit a ligula tristique ultrices. Donec metus diam, blandit ac eleifend ac, malesuada quis purus. Duis sit amet augue ut urna fermentum consequat. Nullam quam tellus, euismod et bibendum quis, adipiscing vitae leo. Vestibulum a convallis dolor. Sed dignissim bibendum ante et dictum. Phasellus tincidunt, odio quis eleifend pharetra, tortor elit sollicitudin mauris, sed egestas enim elit eu felis. Sed consequat diam vitae eros laoreet viverra. Morbi mauris augue, tempor sit amet scelerisque at, lobortis non sapien. Nullam eros sem, tempus eu adipiscing in, semper sed augue. Ut est lacus, rhoncus sed bibendum vel, blandit sed eros. Nulla eget feugiat elit. Mauris magna nunc, pulvinar bibendum semper ut, semper vel purus. Quisque malesuada metus quis erat dictum et dignissim diam pharetra. Etiam vel sem a nisl eleifend vestibulum. Cras vitae dolor ante, sit amet gravida massa. Suspendisse lobortis ligula in elit vulputate fringilla. Quisque volutpat viverra ipsum, eu commodo tortor volutpat eu. Integer mattis dictum mi id volutpat. Aenean rhoncus pellentesque ante in scelerisque. Nullam sed sapien eu lacus venenatis viverra vel vel diam. Sed risus ligula, aliquam et adipiscing in, tincidunt sed nunc. Suspendisse at vehicula neque. Maecenas ornare, justo ac scelerisque lobortis, odio mauris adipiscing risus, at suscipit nunc ligula in quam. Integer a mauris dapibus velit congue commodo vitae at nibh. Integer aoconscience pellentesque varius turpis, non consequat tortor malesuada vel. Cum sociis natoque penatibus et magnis dis parturient montes, nascetur ridiculus mus. Nam congue laoreet nisi, et consequat eros sagittis nec. Mauris ut commodo nunc. Sed sed est tortor, id dictum nisl. Duis rhoncus nunc et arcu tincidunt id viverra lacus interdum. Nulla justo justo, scelerisque in pretium sit amet, scelerisque at justo.

Nullam laoreet eros a mauris dictum vehicula sit amet nec felis. Cum sociis natoque penatibus et magnis dis parturient montes, nascetur ridiculus mus. Cras quis ornare massa. Ut semper libero cursus massa volutpat gravida. Morbi id elit ligula, sed congue lorem. Quisque est sem, luctus ut dapibus sed, interdum mollis lectus. Sed sagittis, ipsum vitae congue tincidunt, dui metus dignissim augue, sit amet scelerisque quam purus vitae leo. Pellentesque hendrerit, metus vel lobortis volutpat, mi sem laoreet ipsum, sit amet interdum nibh leo et arcu. Pellentesque in metus scelerisque dui vulputate feugiat. Nullam faucibus placerat tortor, vitae auctor orci facilisis sed. Mauris at purus sed tellus vestibulum vulputate. Duis adipiscing lacus vitae nisi condimentum malesuada. Phasellus augue urna, pretium id lacinia in, vestibulum vel tortor. In hac habitasse platea dictumst. In hac habitasse platea dictumst. Pellentesque habitant morbi tristique senectus et netus et malesuada fames ac turpis egestas. Nulla facilisi. Suspendisse ut rhoncus enim. Duis fringilla metus vitae mi posuere suscipit id vel turpis. Cras egestas ultricies sapien at bibendum. Curabitur lorem risus, semper non fringilla at, placerat quis ipsum. Donec ut ligula arcu, vitae posuere tortor. Nunc vitae quam ipsum, non interdum dui. Curabitur placerat ligula vitae magna imperdiet semper. Phasellus eleifend nunc facilisis tellus dignissim nec rhoncus libero pharetra. Duis ornare luctus elit, quis lacinia arcu tempus in. Quisque molestie hendrerit posuere.

Pellentesque pellentesque fringilla magna, id elementum tortor suscipit ut. Donec quis condimentum ipsum. Integer vitae hendrerit diam. Phasellus rutrum vulputate malesuada. Donec sit amet mi enim, eu auctor felis. Nunc blandit lobortis congue. Ut at lorem tortor. Cras id ante nisl. Pellentesque habitant morbi tristique senectus et netus et malesuada fames ac turpis egestas. Sed dapibus libero ac mauris placerat blandit fringilla tortor commodo. Mauris in massa quam.

Sed dignissim, erat vitae elementum tempus, quam lacus porttitor eros, eu viverra sem nisi et tortor. Vivamus ullamcorper eleifend sem eget porta. Etiam accumsan elementum felis sit amet tincidunt. Aenean eget mauris purus.

Proin vestibulum, dolor at tincidunt tincidunt, ante erat auctor augue, at convallis mauris massa in nulla. In sagittis pretium sapien, ac bibendum mi fermentum ac. Nullam commodo tincidunt aliquam. Praesent pretium pretium metus, vitae placerat turpis luctus mollis. Proin nec quam vestibulum arcu faucibus commodo. Suspendisse varius tristique est, sit amet commodo massa euismod nec. Mauris consequat tempus lacinia. Mauris eget mi eros. Nullam nec magna at nulla tempus sodales. Maecenas hendrerit, dolor eget auctor varius, elit velit varius nisi, et ornare tortor justo imperdiet massa. Quisque ligula dolor, pretium in molestie sit amet, imperdiet ut mauris. Duis non consectetur nisi.

Cum sociis natoque penatibus et magnis dis parturient montes, nascetur ridiculus mus. In fringilla bibendum velit eu eleifend. Mauris dui est, dictum eleifend malesuada et, placerat a leo. Etiam laoreet ultricies egestas. Cras ullamcorper enim a libero tristique sed tempor ligula adipiscing. Curabitur in nibh mauris, ut commodo diam. Aliquam erat volutpat.

Sed placerat venenatis ante, a sollicitudin orci lobortis sed. Quisque accumsan fringilla augue eget consectetur.

Vestibulum tincidunt, ligula ac venenatis suscipit, nisl nunc tristique enim, a facilisis neque odio nec velit. Suspendisse potenti. Suspendisse sodales neque ac dui consequat sit amet rhoncus diam iaculis. Nam euismod enim vitae risus aliquet blandit. Sed posuere iaculis dolor, a accumsan libero rutrum eu. Mauris pellentesque sodales sem ut ullamcorper.

Integer sed nisl sem, vitae blandit lorem. Curabitur vitae lacus ante, non imperdiet ligula. Praesent sit amet mattis purus. Praesent blandit eros eu felis cursus sed varius diam hendrerit. Sed id neque sed nunc pretium scelerisque eget non nisi. Nunc porttitor rhoncus ligula vel interdum. Aenean eros metus, convallis sit amet cursus quis, varius at lorem.

Maecenas malesuada facilisis leo, sit amet semper dui sodales a. In hac habitasse platea dictumst. Sed lacinia felis accumsan sem venenatis in dictum metus consectetur. Nullam enim nunc, egestas ut gravida et, varius a urna. Proin ac nisi non est pellentesque ultrices. Donec aliquam ultricies justo non vulputate. Donec augue diam, egestas sit amet dictum interdum, sodales eu nunc. Praesent vehicula placerat massa, ac venenatis mi elementum id. Suspendisse potenti. Vestibulum sed neque felis. Vestibulum in sodales augue. Proin vulputate, erat a elementum varius, nisi magna placerat leo, eget molestie sem nisl commodo neque. Donec neque lectus, cursus sed vulputate sed, ultrices a orci. Nunc erat orci, sodales et gravida at, pulvinar at diam. Proin nec dui quis lacus pellentesque interdum et ac nulla. Nulla condimentum lobortis nibh sed fermentum. Morbi id ornare urna. Vivamus vitae libero tortor, non vulputate est.

Aliquam blandit pellentesque odio, at molestie sapien posuere quis. Sed magna quam, tempor et porta non, tempor nec ipsum. Quisque dolor nibh, molestie sit amet dignissim vitae, egestas sit amet lectus. Donec mollis risus quis ipsum ullamcorper feugiat. Fusce ac velit magna, in auctor lectus. In vitae lacus nec urna rutrum molestie. Fusce blandit turpis nunc. Quisque ac ipsum mauris, a pellentesque mauris. Fusce eros erat, vestibulum sed lacinia in, luctus at turpis. Nam tellus justo, feugiat vitae rhoncus sit amet, egestas sit amet risus. Duis nulla nibh, adipiscing at pharetra id, varius ac

I never think of the future.

It comes soon enough.

-Albert Einstein

At the Great Wall of China - Daphne Lee

Vol. XXIV, Issue 1

31

To get back my youth I would do anything in the world, except take exercise, get up early, or be respectable.-Oscar Wilde Elders enjoying a recreational game of Chinese Dominoes - Daphne Lee

Vol. XXIV, Issue 1

33

A bore is a man who, when you ask him how he is, tells you.

Tunpu, Guizhou Province, China - Yinzi Liang

-Bert Leston Taylor

From top-left, clockwise: Katanagatari, SD Gundam Sangokuden Brave Battle Warriors, Cat Shit One, High School of the Dead, Durarara, Hanamaru Kindergarten, The Legend of the Legendary Heroes

Anime of 2010 - MDI

Vol. XXIV, Issue 1

35