Asian Outlook Spring 2010 Issue #1

In this issue of

ASIAN OUTLOOK , we talk about some dude Volume XXIII Issue 3

named Scott Fujita, another dude named Confucius, this place called Hong Kong, some hostess clubs in Japan, some Asians being beaten in South Philly, some mentally ill murderers, the issue of racebending, and more.

(Oh yeah, there’s a sex column inside, too.)

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able of Contents

Featured o

Microfinance in Asia - Elza Tamazashvili Chinese Zodiac - Jeff Hwang A Cycle of Failure: America’s Public Schools - Calvin Prashad China’s Human Rights Record: Set Straight - Diane Wong Japanese Host Clubs - Mel Busante Hello, My Name’s Scott. I’m Japanese.

- Dolly Chen

Editorial o

Breaking the Culture of Shame - Jonathan Yee Mental Illness, Murder and Asian America - Calvin Prashad The Last Racebender - Jeff Hwang Still No China in China Night - Diane Wong Ask Diane... First Date Sex - Diane Wong

22 24 26 28 30

6 8 10 14 18 20

Travel o

Kelvin Does Hong Kong - Kelvin Chan Emerging India - Brendan Lu

32 36

Interview o

Professor Zu-Yan Chen on the Confucious Institute of Chinese Opera at Binghamton University - Diane Wong

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Food & Entertainment o Panda Takeout Restaurant - Fiz Ramdhani L’Annam - Diane Wong Hetalia - Axis Powers - Amy Sun Elfen Lied - Sophia Lin

Conscience o Featuring the works of: - Alyssa Alimurung - Diane Wong - Kelvin Chan - MDI - Jeff Hwang

46 48 49 52 54

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40 41 42

Letter from the editor...

Bigotry. Hate. Even the ACLU admits that hate speech is protected on college campuses. However, as I have noted before, it is only a matter of time before hate speech galvanizes individuals to action. On Dec. 13, 2009, as first reported by Pipe Dream, a prayer rug of the Muslim Student Association was doused with a flammable liquid. Police found a bottle with the same substance nearby. The vandalism happened a few days after graduate student Abdulsalem Al-Zahrani fatally stabbed Professor Richard Antoun. University Police were quick to claim that the two incidents were not related.

If that was the case—that there is no relation between the incidents—then what touched off this affront to Muslim students on campus? In one of my previous letters, I noted that someone had been ripping down the MSA’s signs and fliers. The fact of the matter is that we have allowed a culture of intolerance to fester in the shadows. While Muslim students are not explicitly threatened, their beliefs are mocked by speakers and certain organizations on campus. This recent incident is an escalation of intolerance to a level that the perpetrator attempted to intimidate students by striking at one of the core pillars of their beliefs: prayer. I am not Muslim, so I won’t even pretend to understand the sacred meaning of a prayer rug. But as a tolerant individual, I have respect for the things people hold sacred.

Whatever the reason the perpetrator had for attempting to terrorize the MSA, he or she needs to understand that those students and their beliefs pose no danger to anyone on campus.

Hatred and intolerance have no place among educated people, and we as a university are better than that.

Written by Calvin Prashad

Editorial Policy

Co-Editor-in-Chief

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.

Asian Outlook Executive Board Spring 2010

Calvin Prashad Jeff Hwang Assistant Editors

Diane Wong Fiz Ramdhani Jonathan Yee Meladel Busante Business Manager

Ivan Yeung

Co-Editor-in-Chief

Interested in contributing?

Secretary Editors-in-Chief

Edited by Jeff Hwang

E-mail us at: ao.editor@gmail.com

Jing Gao Layout Editors

Olivia Cheng Sha Lisa Liu Sophia Lin

Or come to our weekly meetings held in the Asian Student Union Office (UUW-329) every Thursday at 7:30 p.m.

Publicity Managers

Deborah Hwang Heidi Chang Conscience Editor

Kelvin Chan

Many thanks to all the contributors who made this magazine possible.

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.

microfinance INASIA A Means to a Brighter Future

By Elza Tamazashvili

“Through microfinance, individuals from disadvantaged areas of the world... get the banking services they need to help raise themselves out of poverty...”

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e have all heard them: heartwrenching advertisements on late-night television shows urging us to give a little help in hopes of erasing images of poverty and desolation from our expensive television screens. We have all seen them: pictures of children with flies on their faces while their mothers look into the camera with no means of providing them with anything beyond the comfort of a familiar touch. And yet, we are not as naïve as our consciences may want us to be.

As college students on our way to getting an education, we know that “world peace” is often just an unworkable, empty phrase: an impossibility when countries are fighting wars for things such as profit and oil without regard for the world’s poor. And still the better part of ourselves tells us that something must be done; that when local governments fail to aid those who do not have the means to help themselves, other structures must be developed to give these men, women and children access to the financial resources they desperately need to improve their lives.

As receivers of these cries for help, we are often unwilling to send our money away to organizations in which donations may get lost in a shady tangle of bureaucracy and abstract promises of help. Yet, we are also unwilling to have our faith broken: there must be an alternative solution. So, what’s a world-class pragmatist to do?

As someone who is deeply skeptical of

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everything she reads about world aid—if only thanks to the many globalization classes I’ve been subjected to at Binghamton—I was deeply surprised when I first found out about microfinance and microlending and decided to do some research of my own.

Microfinance is just as it sounds: it is the supply of very small “micro” loans, savings and other basic financial services to the world’s poor. By “poor” one doesn’t mean well-to-do people who are just momentarily down on their luck—microfinance tends to serve those who are abjectly, destitutely in need—so much so that if they walked into a bank to ask for a small loan to cover something as basic as food, their lack of credit and possible illiteracy would be likely to cause scorn and rejection.

The aim of microfinance institutions (MFIs) currently operating today is to give the poor of the world—of which an unacceptable majority resides in Asia and South Asia—a chance to pull themselves up by their bootstraps. It is not charity, but something far more effective, productive, and long-lasting.

Microfinance differs from large-scale investment banking primarily because the scale of the loans is so small. A website which promotes direct lender-to-borrower communication, for example, Kiva.org, sets its minimum lending amount at around $25. Unlike large loans made by big banks

to people abroad who already have the money to live in relative comfort, microloans from most programs seek to support struggling individuals who are trying to establish very basic and necessary financial independence and needs. For example, MFIs may help women in places such as Vietnam, Sri Lanka, India, and even other continents such as Africa set up small businesses which allow them to feed their families and provide them with a sense of self-esteem and agency in their neighborhoods.

An important aspect of these “micro” loans is that they are repaid: the success rate of their repayment to lenders through well-functioning MFIs is above 98 percent.

Simply put, an individual donating to a microfinance cause may within reason expect to receive all if not a large portion of it back. This may take a somewhat longer period of time—from 12 to 14 months—but the microloan functions as a business transaction. It is a real connection between enterprising individuals in struggling parts of the world and those who truly want to do something to help.

The fact that microfinance is not meant to be an outright charitable donation is something that even Muhammad Yunus, the Nobel Peace Prize-winning developer of the concept of microcredit, tries to stress to potential donors. Of course, there are always risk factors involved—such as large-

Mariani, a 27-year-old mother of four, recently received her third loan from Yamida. She received her first loan, used to support her small business making and selling karah (Acehnese cake), last year when she and her family were living in a temporary shelter after losing their home to the tsunami.

With Yamida's help, Mariani has expanded her business to include a small grocery shop in Blang Krueng.

Mariani's increasing income means that she can now provide for her family's needs and pay for her children's school fees.

“I'm glad because I can now send my children to school,” she says.

“My husband and I only completed junior high school but I hope that my children will be more educated.”

scale natural disasters or sudden political coups—that may delay or reduce the repayment of a loan. In fact, many who donate through microcredit choose to write off the transaction of the small loan as a donation on their part anyway, yet it is important to remember that the benefits of microfinance also rest in its educational nature.

Through microfinance, individuals from disadvantaged areas of the world not only get the banking services they need to help raise themselves out of poverty, but they also learn how to properly use money and finances under terms they can repay, which enables them to apply their personal creativity and hopes toward goals that not only increase their sense of self-worth but also greatly benefit their communities.

Many microfinance institutions, for example, have made it a point to lend specifically to women, thus allowing them to achieve greater equality with men in their respective regions and pursue their own unique visions for the future.

Microloans also create new businesses and

jobs and allow students to continue their studies in schools and universities. In addition, MFIs frequently run resumé workshops to help individuals enter new workplaces and actively work to fight illiteracy among those for whom it is a serious obstacle to a better life.

The world’s economic map is still a testament to inequality. Nowadays, it is Asia and South Asia which still hold the majority of the world’s poor—if only due to their relative population sizes compared to other regions. However, Asia is now also the most accessed, successful, and developed region of the world in terms of MFI outreach and aid. Countries such as Bangladesh, Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam now all offer microcredit outreach to some of their poorest citizens. Places like Sri Lanka are even developing “mobile banking” and microlending through advanced technological networks that allow geographically isolated individuals to have a connection to the financial resources they need most.

Of course there are still drawbacks,

unexpected pitfalls, and risks. No system of aidis perfect; yet I strongly encourage everyone who is interested in lending a helping hand to the more struggling parts of the world to look into microfinance for themselves.

Sources “Kiva- Loan that change lives.” http://www.kiva.org “Microfinance in Asia: Not so risky, not so micro.” http://knowledge. smu.edu.sg/article.cfm?article id=1213 “Indonesia: Microfinance makes a difference.” http://www.ifrc.org/ docs/news/08/08120502/ Images Mariani, microfinance loan recipient. http://www.flickr.com/ photos americanredcross/ 2944910492/ Community-based savings bank. http://upload.wikimedia.org/ wikipedia/en/f/f8/Communitybased_savings_bank_in_ Cambodia.jpg

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the chinese

By Jeff Hwang

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zodiac

hinese astrology can be considered a complicated form of culture

that stretches back thousands of years into Chinese history. The zodiac is a system filled with legend and philosophy, with its roots possibly dating back to the enlightenment of the Buddha. In order to begin understanding the ancient scheme, one would have to be familiar with the concepts of “yin and yang,” the earthly elements and the differences in time measurements between the East and the West.

Yin and yang (陰陽), is a model in Chinese philosophy, mainly Taoism. Everything on Earth, living or nonliving, is manifested in the forms of yin and yang. Simply speaking, the yin and the yang are polar opposites, symbolized by the standard black and white symbol. The black yin represents femininity, night, winter, the moon, the sea and so on. In reverse, the white yang stands for masculinity, day, summer, the sun, the land and so on. Despite being opposites, yin and yang forces can only exist in unity in order for the world to be in balance. This leads to the subject on the earthly elements, which exist in similar ways.

The elements of Chinese philosophy (五行), “wu xin”)—namely that of wood, fire, earth, metal, and water, are what makes up all life on Earth. Like yin and yang, the elements cannot exist without each other. This is defined by the creative and destructive cycles between the elements. Wood creates fire, which creates earth, which creates metal, which creates water, which creates wood.

Conversely, wood destroys earth, which destroys water, which destroys fire, which destroys metal, which destroys wood. For each element, various associations can be formed. This belief can be traced back to Feng Shui geomancy (堪輿) or “kanyu” in Chinese, but literally meaning “wind-water” in English), which affiliates different planets, seasons, fruits, colors and many other aspects with each element.

Chinese philosophy can be a daunting subject to tackle, and what were mentioned before were merely very simplified forms of explanations. Finally, before returning to the Chinese zodiac topic, one last concept to cover would be the differences in measuring time between the East and the West.

In Western cultures, the Gregorian calendar marks each year by the 12 months, or how long it takes for the Earth to orbit the sun.

On the other hand, Eastern cultures measure calendars lunisolarly (a mix of lunar and solar calendars), based heavily on moon phase variations. Because of the constantly changing lunar cycle, the New Year for many Asian countries will generally fall on different

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days between January and February each year. Thus, the Lunar New Year has always had a predetermined date based on mathematical calculations, regarding the sun’s path, the Earth’s motion, its degree of tilt, and the moon’s motion, dating back to the Han Dynasty in 104 BC. Finally, for the 12 constellations that correspond with Western horoscopes, there are 12 animals that are present in the Chinese horoscopes.

Various Chinese legends tell of the arrival of 12 animals in some way or fashion. These range between a race between animals to be selected by the Jade Emperor as representatives of the zodiac, to more humble appearances before an enlightened Buddha. Regardless of the differences between stories, the outcome was the same in each. The order of animals follows from first to last as: rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, ram, monkey, rooster, dog and boar. Each animal corresponds with a certain year in Chinese history, returning to dominance every 12 years. For example, if the year 1998 was dominated by the tiger, the next time that the tiger would be dominant would be 2010.

On some occasions, it is tricky for one to determine his or her associated animal. Recall that the Lunar New Year rarely falls on the same day each year. In 1988, from Feb. 17, it was the year of the dragon. However, those born before Feb. 6, 1989—the following New Year—are still considered dragons. Likewise, those born between Feb. 6, 1989 and Jan. 26, 1990, inclusively, are considered the subsequent animal, the snake.

To make things more complicated, sets of two years are also labeled with a certain earthly element. For example, 1972 and 1973 are water years, 1974 and 1975 are wood years, followed by two years of fire, two years of earth, and two years of metal, before repeating the cycle. Thus, a person born between Feb. 15, 1991 and Feb. 3, 1992, inclusively, would be a metal ram. To find a different metal ram outside of those dates, one would have to reach back to the year 1931 or wait until 2051. This is a typical Chinese life-cycle of 60 years, usually marked by the wood rat years (1924, 1984,

2044, and so on).

Knowing the current majority of undergraduate students at Binghamton University range between the years 1988 and 1991, this is a list of corresponding animals:

Jan. 31, 1987 – Feb. 16, 1988: Fire rabbit Feb. 17, 1988 – Feb. 5, 1989: Earth dragon Feb. 6, 1989 – Jan. 26, 1990: Earth snake Jan. 27, 1990 – Feb. 14, 1991: Metal horse Feb. 15, 1991 – Feb. 3, 1992: Metal ram

Sources Burns, Debbie. Chinese Horoscopes, An Easy Guide to the Chinese System of Astrology. Sydney: Lansdowne Publishing, 1998.

Five Elements Chart. http://www.northernshaolin academy.com/new/docs/FiveElementsChart.xls

Horoscopes tell of how astrological bodies can dictate a person’s life. Whether or not a person believes in fate, Chinese horoscopes behave in the same way. Depending on a person’s animal sign, some aspects of life are bound to happen. These can range from a person’s characteristics and interests, his or her friendships, careers and loves. Even though science calls for the improbabilities of stars determining the lives of human beings, horoscope readings are still interesting on their own.

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A

Cycle of Failure: Violence, corruption and ignorance in America’s Public Schools.

By Calvin Prashad

Public schooling in the United States is in serious trouble. It is consistently failing minority and immigrant students all over the country. While some families are able to afford alternatives such as moving to the suburbs or enrolling in private schools, the majority of students in urban areas are subjected to a system that destroys their futures in a cesspool of ignorance and violence.

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he fact of the matter is that urban schools systems are too large to be managed effectively.

These schools are overcrowded, forcing school administrators to be focused on self-preservation rather than providing an acceptable learning environment for students. This was the case at South Philadelphia High School, where twenty-two Asian students were pulled from their classrooms and severely beaten. The perpetrator was an AfricanAmerican gang that went from classroom to classroom selecting their victims. It is believed that this outburst of violence was sparked by an incident on the previous day, when an incident occurred where two Asian students bullied a special needs African-American student. Rather than finding constructive ways of dealing with the situation, the school handed out suspensions while the staff made excuses and tried to divert anger over the situation.

Specifically, they tried to ignore and deny the racial element to these attacks, calling it “kids being kids.”

But was this just another case of “kids being kids?” Clearly not. Shortly after

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the violence, school district officials held a meeting to “improve relations with the Asian community”. Asian students, dissatisfied with the response to their situation staged a walkout of South Philadelphia High to demand a safer learning environment while the AsianAmerican Legal Defense Fund (AALDEF) announced plans to investigate conditions at the high school. At public hearings, students tearfully recounted almost daily instances of verbal and physical abuse by school officials and fellow students. While there was a clear and present problem, the superintendent, in a shocking display of ignorance and likely born out of a desire to maintain control over the situation, decided to take a hard-line against the protesting students, promising suspensions and other penalties should they continue protesting.

How could an official, trusted with this nation’s most valuable resource, be so far off base?

School administrators refuse to admit that racial-based bullying happens in their schools. The worst is that it draws innocent students into the violence. After the South Philadelphia High 0violence,

the administration’s response was typical.

Rather than trying to find ways to “reach out to the community” like the school officials did, they need to get their own house in order. How could a gang of students go from room to room inside school property selecting their victims?

Only in an environment where such behavior happens on a smaller scale everyday is this possible.

I do not believe it is a stretch to compare city schools to prisons. There are guards at the door, many of which ignore the internal struggles while staying clear of the areas they are most needed. Not unlike prison.

Students learn that they must have ethnic solidarity—and for some, by extension, gang membership—if they want to feel “safe”.

Not unlike prison. Collective punishment reigns when a few students misbehave.

Again, not unlike prison.

For experts to dismiss the Philadelphia School violence as “kids being kids” trivializes a larger phenomenon in our urban schools.

This dangerous system fails the students.

Only a small fraction of students from these schools will go on to better, academically rigorous high schools and colleges, while the

others will be funneled into similarly failing schools, themselves also overcrowded and rife with violence. The system fails the students and I cannot stress that enough.

It hampers their emotional and academic development while cultivating a culture of failure, ignorance and violence. Kids can be foolish, but in these conditions, their foolishness becomes dangerous. It is time to end overcrowding in all American schools, and instead of school staffs trying to cover their asses, allow for them real, constructive and comprehensive training to solve these problems.

So how do we improve the schools? Here are some ideas.

1. End overcrowding.

In many areas, especially ones with a high influx of new immigrants, schools are becoming overcrowded. Why not convert unused space in schools to classrooms?

Yes, many urban communities are growing faster than schools can accommodate them, but surely there are alternatives to converting storage rooms, basements and other miscellaneous spaces

What about gifted schools? Isn’t the best thing to do to make selective high schools more accessible to all?

Yes, but only to a certain extent. Selective schools perform well for the single reason that their standards are higher than others.

Therefore, it is not necessarily the school that makes them smarter or ambitious, but the fact that the students that studied hard to get into that school are predisposed to such behavior. However, these schools provide the classes and resources necessary to nurture these students and prepare them for the next level of education. When you lower the standards to allow more students, you hurt every student. It’s not just a “dumbing down” effect, but rather a diminishing effect: there are too many students and not enough attention to each student’s needs. Even gifted schools become college preparatory factories in urban settings. The academic departments give the students rudimentary college advising while throwing enough AP classes at them so that a few may rise to the top while many others will sink and may have fared better at their local school. My high

For experts to dismiss the Philadelphia School violence as “kids being kids” trivializes a larger phenomenon in our urban schools. into classrooms. In addition, while the school building may be able to accommodate more students—so long as the fire marshall does not find out—it places a drain on the schools’ resources. When you cram that many students into a school, you have students having their lunch period at 10:40 in the morning (a firsthand experience), gym classes becoming optional, and hallways so crowded the students experience gridlocks on the way to the next class (also a firsthand experience).

Can this be a temporary solution? Why not?

Sure. Should these conditions exist for more than a year? No. Herding students into these substandard classrooms definitely hurts morale, school spirit and the motivation to learn. It sends a message to the student that the school does not care enough about you to put you in decent classrooms. Minor as that may seem, even the smallest slight from the faceless school bureaucracy can breed resentment.

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school, Brooklyn Tech, where students were allowed admission through competitive examination, started with an enrollment of 4,000 in 2004. By the time I graduated, it was up to 4,200. Today, three years after I graduated, that number is 4,900. Short of stacking students on top of each other, I do not know how the school is safely managing all of those students.

Readers, I challenge you to find an overcrowded school that is still performing well. If you plan to send your child to an overcrowded school, reconsider. It will only be detrimental.

2. Hold teachers accountable.

But why blame the teacher?

Sometimes, the teacher is indeed at fault.

And there are two sorts of incompetent teachers. The lazy, and the overwhelmed.

The lazy teacher?

This teacher probably picked teaching as a backup career and is generally resentful

of their job, which is reflected in the effort they put toward it. The lesson plans are vague and nebulous, and frequently, the students run wild in the class while the teacher sits at the desk with a look of glazed indifference. Often they are late for classes, or they will engage in irrelevant discussions to kill time until the end of class. I have had math classes where I learned nothing, and that probably reflects the difficulty I now have in dealing with maths and the sciences, subjects I have previously aced.

When one teacher drops the ball, a link in the chain of education is broken and that child will spend the rest of his time in school trying to catch up. Enough broken links and that student will end up dropping out. Bear in mind that most dropouts do not leave due to economic strife, but rather a frustration with the system and the lack of apparent benefits of staying in school when compared with finding work or doing nothing at all. These teachers need to be given the boot.

The overwhelmed teacher?

Very, very common in overcrowded schools. These teachers tried really hard to keep the students under control. They might be new immigrants themselves, and are used to teaching in cultures where teachers and students are mutually respected.

Others may be burnt out and are unable to attend to the needs of 30-odd students.

Still others are assigned to subjects that they themselves are unfamiliar with. I have heard “I’m learning this as you guys are” too often. Once they lose the battle for the students’ respect, the semester is a loss.

The students will take advantage of them to be disruptive, inattentive and downright insubordinate. The “good students” cannot learn in that environment and many of them will be confronted with peer pressure and ridicule by the other students for just trying to learn. The overwhelmed teacher may try to reach out to these students, but eventually, the ruckus will make learning impossible. These teachers, in spite of their good intentions, need to find a different career field.

President Obama identified in his speech recently the need to raise teacher’s pay and to market teaching as a respectable and rewarding job for college graduates. I welcome this initiative to turn teaching from a last-ditch resort to a core of motivated and well compensated individuals that have a personal stake in the education of the students. I also recommend student evaluations of teachers from high school onward. There is a long list of lazy or ineffective teachers I know that are destroying the future of their students. Do not increase the pay without taking care of the leeches in the system.

3. Get serious about school safety More than lazy teachers, lazy and incompetent security guards anger me.

Too often they can be found sitting in one stationary location, glaring at innocent students while delinquents roam the halls engaging in vandalism and disrupting other classes. Worse are the students that develop cordial relationships with those guards, effectively rubber-stamping their ability to move with impunity. These school safety agents are complicit with turning schools into prisons, where the exits are locked down, but everything that goes on inside is survival of the fittest. Providing a safe learning environment is the paramount duty for these men and women, and too often, they fail miserably at that. Why is it that seven out of every ten fights I have seen were broken up by an assistant principal rather than a school safety agent?

So why pay them more?

The poorly paid Transportation Security Administration (TSA) agents at the airport share similar problems with school safety agents. They feel a disconnection with their work and a lack of motivation to carry out their proper duties. Their only perk for this job seems to be the ability to harrass and annoy seemingly innocent passengers.

These individuals need to be better paid and trained. Current school security agents can neither identify ethnic based bullying nor effectively provide for the needs of the

students. Hitting the root of the problem early stops “kids being kids” from becoming a dangerous problem as seen in so many urban schools, and most recently at South Philadelphia High.

4.

Get administration priorities straight.

Administration priorities are too deeply entrenched in improving test scores and improving classrooms through blanket policies that sound great at meetings but are actually useless. The students need a tool to appeal directly to the departments and have their grievances heard. Why not ask the student?

Furthermore, the administration typically tries to cover for their mistakes when confronted by the media or advocacy organizations by refocusing the blame or reframing the problem. This tactic is currently in use by the Philadelphia school system to deny that Asians were targeted due to race and that the problem was “gang related.” Please, take some responsibility and stop trying to silence students that are trying to be heard with legitimate concerns about their school. I have heard enough arguments about the violence being a “product of the street” or “society’s problem.” I have heard enough of the school administrators taking a hard line against the boycotting students. Heads really need to roll, starting with the superintendant and the principal. If they were doing as good as a job as they claimed to be doing, this mass assault would have never happened.

5. Get the parents involved.

In the same speech mentioned earlier, President Obama noted that when he visited South Korea and asked the Prime Minister what the biggest problem in education was, he responded that the parents were too demanding. This is not the case here.

Although “Asian” educational system of “examination hell” has its critics, the parents are surely very much involved with their children, often to extremes. That sort of overbearing parenting is not necessary here, but a little more participation necessary. In spite of the state of schools and the education systems, teachers sit bored at parent-teacher conferences as only a handful of parents show up. I am sure that PTA meetings also suffer a similar turnout. Parents that take time to invest in their children’s education ensure that they make the best of their educations, or at the very least behave in a respectful and productive manner. While it may take a few years to build a new school, involved parents can change the environment and “make the best” of a very difficult urban schooling setting.

Photographs by Kelvin Chan

S ' A N I H C D R O C RE

Set Straight

By Diane Wong

“China has achieved unprecedented improvement in the cause for human rights as compared to fifty years ago.”

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or years, China has been targeted

by Western countries, as well as several human rights governmental organizations, for its continuous human rights violations. In fact, recently, during the 2008 Olympics, China was attacked for betraying the core values of the Olympics by violating certain human rights of its citizens.

It is obvious that there are some huge challenges related to human rights protection in China, and its implementation and enforcement of certain human rights doctrines continues to be a huge challenge.

However, if we compare China’s human rights performance from the Mao era to present day, it is evident that within the past 60 years, China has achieved unprecedented improvement in the cause for human rights—particularly in granting its citizens more economic, social and cultural rights as well as increasing certain civil and political rights.

While the international community recognizes that there are indeed human rights issues in China that need to be addressed, it is important to highlight their achievements in the process of improving human rights.

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International Law

Economic Rights: Mao Era

Although the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) were originally envisioned as constituent parts of a single treaty, Cold War divisions necessitated the adoption of parallel documents primarily because of the ideological rivalry over the status of economic and social rights. The communist bloc wanted economic and social rights included as human rights; the capitalist West did not.

Consequently, the ICESCR advocates a series of economic, social and cultural rights generally defended by communist regimes, whereas the ICCPR advocates civil and political rights typically endorsed by liberal democracies.

In the post-Mao era, China has made groundbreaking improvements centering on economic, social, and cultural rights, as well as certain civil and political rights.

However, because the West focuses mainly on civil and political rights, many of China’s advancements in economic, social, and cultural rights are overlooked.

According to the ICESCR, an individual’s economic rights include the right to freely choose their work, to just and favorable conditions of work, to protection against unemployment, and to form and join trade unions.

During the Mao-era, in order to eliminate the gap between urban and rural, poor and wealthy, Mao sent millions of educated youth and intellectuals of the Cultural Revolution to the countryside to learn from the peasantry.

In the countryside, individuals were placed on communes and had no right to freely choose their work; each commune was assigned to produce steel, rice, or grain.

Without a strict code protecting workers rights, many workers were driven to work on farms and factories in dangerous conditions without compensation, health protection or regulated hours.

As a result of working day and night under unfavorable weather conditions, thousands of workers died from heat exhaustion during the summer and pneumonia during the winter.

Economic Rights: Post-Mao Era In present day, the numbers have reversed completely.

By signing and ratifying the ICESCR, China has made it clear that the government is committed to improving its economic rights.

Under the Constitution of the People’s Republic of China, all citizens have the right to rest and recuperate with predetermined working hours and vacations. Workers all receive exceptional benefits that include retirement, housing, and health care benefits.

Recently, the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress enacted a new labor contract law that requires employers to provide written contracts for their workers, which would protect the workers from being arbitrarily laid off. These new labor contracts also enable workers to form small unions to bargain collectively for higher wages and benefits.

During the Cultural Revolution era, these fundamental rights of workers were nonexistent, it is astonishing how swiftly China has committed and acted to improve these conditions.

Social Rights: Mao Era Social rights of an individual include minimum standard of living guarantees, as well as the rights to compulsory primary education, free secondary education and health care.

During the Mao era, schools were completely closed down and instead, “cadre schools” were established throughout the country. Cadre schools were set up in the rural countryside for the purpose of encouraging students to reform their ideologies according to Maoist principles.

There, physicists worked as cooks, mathematicians made bricks, engineers built houses, doctors dug wells, and writers fed pigs.

From dawn to dusk, these students were made to do arduous physical labor in the fields. In the late evenings, they had to study Mao’s teachings and confess any errant thoughts or wrongdoings. The unbearable living condition and the demanding labor characteristic of the cadre schools had detrimental effects on the bodies and minds of many of China’s brightest and talented people.

Health care services were nonexistent during the Cultural Revolution. Since all of the doctors were sent to the countryside for physical labor, there were no certified doctors to take care of injured workers.

Instead of doctors, Mao sent undergraduate medical students to different communes in the countryside as barefoot doctors, who had no medicine, tools of operatiovn, or equipment. All they had was an extremely limited knowledge of medicine.

As a result of the lack of health care, thousands of farmers died from diseases, infections, and injuries that could have been easily prevented or treated by competent doctors and proper medicine.

Social Rights: Post-Mao Era Compared to the nonexistent health care system during the Cultural Revolution, the health care system China has put into operation today is a dramatic improvement, as reflected by life expectancy statistics provided by the World Bank. China’s increase in life expectancy is remarkable, doubling within only half a century. Instead of dying from infectious and parasitic diseases or injuries, the leading causes of death in China in the 1980s were similar to those in the industrialized world: cancer and cardiovascular disease.

Earlier in 2009, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China unveiled a three-year action plan to promote universal access to basic health insurance, equitable access to basic public health services, improved health care facilities, and the availability of essential drugs.

Regarding education, the Constitution of the People’s Republic of China makes “primary education compulsory and universal” (CPRC, Article 19). In accordance to the law, China has guaranteed and implemented a nine-year compulsory education increasing the enrollment rate for primary school from 20 percent before 1949 to 99.3 percent.

The Constitution also aims at other social rights that were violated during the Cultural Revolution. The fourth amendment of the Constitution states that the “state protects the lawful rights of citizens to own lawfully earned income, savings, houses and other lawful property,” meaning that factors which provide an adequate standard of living for Chinese citizens such as the right to shelter, money, and food cannot be unlawfully stripped as they were during the Cultural Revolution (CPRC, fourth amendment).

Cultural Rights: Mao Era Cultural rights empower individuals to participate in creative activity and protect the ownership of scholarly, literary or other products for these pursuits. In order to safeguard his authority, Mao sanctioned “Red Guards” who were essentially militant Chinese youths and radicals sworn to protect Mao and his revolutionary ideologies.

The Red Guards were taught to eliminate the “Four Olds,” which comprised of Old Customs, Old Culture, Old Habits and Old Ideas. Mao implemented this policy mainly to restrict civilians from participating in any form of artistic, cultural or literary research in order to eliminate the educated

class and reducing instances of social upheaval. The Red Guards ransacked ancient Chinese architecture, burned ancient Chinese literature and paintings, and confiscated family treasures.

During this period of time, all objects associated with the Chinese culture or that had some educational significance were to be permanently destroyed. Those who still possessed these things were deemed as counter-revolutionaries and were punished the Red Guards. In many instances, these were sent to “cowsheds,” where they were imprisoned, tortured from head to toe, and then, in many cases, executed. Intellectuals, teachers and high government officials were targeted as personifications of the “Four Olds” and were beaten and humiliated in public wearing dunce caps or degrading signs on their necks.

Cultural Rights: Post-Mao Era Since then, China’s respect for its citizens’ cultural rights has increased tenfold. The post-Mao era has experienced a surge of cultural revitalization where Chinese citizens are encouraged to participate in scientific research and creative activity that involve the usage of Chinese literature or cultural documents.

In order to compensate for the culture lost during the Cultural Revolution, the Chinese government has built many institutes dedicated to the types of philosophies that were once targeted as “counter-revolutionary.”

There are countless memorials and research centers dedicated to the schools of Confucianism, Taoism, and Legalism. Furthermore, the Chinese government has steadily sponsored

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programs that encourage students to extend their research in specialized fields.

Civil & Political Rights: Mao Era According to the ICCPR, several civil and political freedoms include the rights to life, physical integrity, peaceable assembly, and fair trial, safeguards against arbitrary arrest and unreasonable search and seizure, and freedom of speech and press.

During the Cultural Revolution, these rights were stripped bare from citizens in order to avoid social upheaval.

The government had absolute control of the media, wall posters were mass produced, revolutionary songs were memorized and sung, and workers had to memorize and recite Mao’s teachings. With all these forms of propaganda, the government had the power to polarize its citizens’ thinking processes and perceptions of reality.

During endless political campaigns, countless innocent people were labeled as counter-revolutionaries and were charged with crimes they never committed. Many people who were victimized committed suicide in order to avoid further degradation or to save the lives of their family members.

Civil & Political Rights: Post-Mao Era

China is Not Far Behind

Though civil and political rights have not improved as drastically as the other human rights listed above, progress is still undeniable.

On March 14, 2004, the Chinese government approved the fourth amendment added to the Constitution of the People’s Republic of China, which explicitly affirms the State “respect and preserves human rights” (CPRC, fourth amendment).

The fact that China has constitutionally recognized the importance of human rights is already a milestone. This new addition in the Constitution further assures the international community that improving human rights is a top priority for the Chinese government.

China has achieved unprecedented improvement in the cause for human rights as compared to the country 50 years ago.

The successes of China’s improvements have long been undermined by Western standards of human rights evaluation. As stated earlier, the more liberal Western democratic countries emphasize more on civil and political rights rather than economic, social and political rights.

Since China is a communist country, there would not be as many civil liberties granted to its citizens as compared to the United States or other liberal democratic countries. However, if we examine China’s human rights improvements as a whole, then we can conclude that there have been tremendous advances in the Chinese government’s respect for human rights.

While there are indeed certain human rights that Chinese government still needs to improve, it is wrong to dismiss China’s progress in safeguarding the rights of its citizens. If we recognize human rights to include the rights in both covenants, China’s human rights record can potentially be up to par with the records of many Western countries in the near future.

“...It is important to highlight [their] achievements in the process of improving human rights.”

Sources United Nations. "International Convention on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights." United Nations Human Rights Commission on Human Rights. 20 Nov. 1989. 7 Dec. 2008.

"Constitution of the People's Republic of China." International Human Rights Treaties and Documents Database. 4 Dec. 1982. HKHRM. 12 Dec. 2008.

United Nations. "International Convention on Civil and Political Rights" United Nations Human Rights Commission on Human Rights. 20 Nov. 1989. 7 Dec. 2008.

Lu, Xing. Rhetoric of the Chinese Cultural Revolution: The Impact on Chinese Thought, Culture and Communication. South Carolina: University of South Carolina, 2004. 21. Print.

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states parties non-state parties, signatories non-state parties, non-signatories

Above: International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.

The map displays countries in the West that have not yet ratified the treaty.

states parties non-state parties, signatories non-state parties, non-signatories

Above: International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

The map displays countries in the East that have not yet ratified the treaty.

17

Money Can’t Buy You Love

By Meladel Busante

T

Great Happiness Space, a documentary produced and directed by Jake Clenell in 2006, gives us insight into the fascinating world of the Japanese host club. Essentially, young Japanese women go to host clubs to be entertained, unwind, and be “healed” from the anxieties of their daily life.

Although many host clubs are located in red light districts, they are not brothels or places where sex is openly exchanged, but a place more similar to a chic lounge or bar. Hosting is a completely legal business in Japan, generating hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue each year.

The documentary focuses on Issei, the lead host at one of the most prominent host clubs in Osaka. A handful of other expensively accessorized and meticulously styled hosts complete the staff at Café Rakkyo. A typical night for these hosts—assuming there is such a thing—begins with “nampa,” or a series of attempts to pick up customers on the streets of Japan. Customers who are new to Café Rakkyo then select their host from a “host catalog.”

This is a permanent arrangement; once a girl chooses her host, he will entertain her every time she comes to the club. Hosts, of course, are not limited to one girl. And, a girl can attend as many host clubs as she chooses.

The night will continue with witty conversation, champagne, he

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and an endless slew of compliments tailored specifically for the girl at hand—all under ambient lighting, of course. Throw in some karaoke and cigarettes and it’s a party.

Fun times at Café Rakkyo, however, do not come cheap.

Regular clients easily drop thousands of dollars a night at this host club. Just take a look at the hosts’ salaries. Successful hosts can make upwards of about $50,000 a month. A large part of the hosts’ salaries comes from the alcohol served at the club. The price of every bottle of alcohol is inflated since it includes the price of the host. Hosts increase their profits by gently prodding their customers to drink more and more. However, they also rely on the girls’ competitive natures to take over. One customer may order a champagne call, a special—and expensive—“ceremony” where all the hosts surround a girl and cheer her on as she downs an entire bottle of champagne. Not to be outdone, another girl does the same and a chain reaction is set off.

Amid all the laughter and furtive glances, one has to wonder, “What comes next?” Is there an after party to this party? The answer is hazy. Sex is not an intrinsic part of the customer-host relationship, but it does happen. Issei remarked unashamedly, “Sure, I’ve had sex. I was having nonstop sex. I had sex with 365 girls a year.” Yet, hosts who are smart about the economic nature

of their relationship will hold off on sex if they know that it is the customer’s main objective. They know that the girl will stop coming to the club after achieving her goal, making it bad for business.

With this in mind, the relationship between customer and host is confusing at best. Hosts must manipulate their clients’ feelings in order to keep their relationship successful. This is not only motivated by economic reasons, but by the host’s obligation to their customers; women expect their hosts to be ideal men. Some women are realistic about the customer-host relationship while others fall madly in love with their hosts, even if they already have boyfriends. In one drastic example, a woman breaks off her engagement in order to pursue Issei.

Extremely dedicated customers also pamper their hosts outside of the club, sometimes going as far as buying them cars and apartments.

With customers spending thousands of dollars a night, Café Rakkyo’s clientele must obviously have a very good income.

The documentary depicts host clubs as frequented by other night workers such as hostesses and prostitutes, giving host clubs a somewhat unsavory reputation.

Part of the reason why these women attend host clubs so religiously is because they receive no stigma from the hosts.

And why should they? After all, 70 to 80 percent of Café Rakkyo’s profits come

from women who work in the red light district. Yet, as host clubs become more mainstream, businesswomen and other employees are also giving them their patronage.

It may seem like every man’s dream to be surrounded by women every day, but the job is not as glamorous or easy as it seems. Out of the 100 to 200 men that are interviewed each year, only one or two stay at Café Rakkyo for the long term. Although the prospects of making money are very good, being a host is both physically and mentally taxing. Hosts suffer the ill effects of excessive alcohol; it is not unusual for a single host to drink ten bottles of champagne in one night.

They also work long hours entertaining multiple customers.

Satisfying their clients’ different needs causes hosts to feel as if they’ve developed different personalities. “Because I’ve been working as a host for this long, I start to wonder who I am,” said Issei.

Underneath it all, what Issei really wants is a serious girlfriend. He lamented, “I never had the chance to meet and fall in love with that one girl.” It is very difficult for hosts to start and maintain personal relationships because of the nature of their career. They feel as if they just know “too much” about women. Hosts have had girlfriends while on the job, but it is apparent that in order for them to make long-term emotional ties, they would have

to quit their job. Yet, many hosts have willingly sacrificed relationships and their health in order to succeed in the industry.

The Great Happiness Space offers a shocking look at a business where the male body is solicited and objectified.

“For girls, we are products,” said Issei. This may seem like an accurate description as the entire host club experience seems very “made-to-order.”

Yet, customers feel they are buying time, not boys. Women come here to laugh, to drink, and to lose themselves in a world made especially for them. And as long as women have the means to supplement this fantasy, it doesn’t seem as if host clubs will lose their popularity any time soon.

Sources:

Great Happiness Space, Jake Clenell, 2006 Forbes.com – Memoirs of a Geisha Guy http://www.forbes.com/global/2004/0112/081.html

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My Name’s Scott.

I’m Japanese.

The Story of Scott Fujita

By Dolly Chen

L

New Orleans linebacker Scott Fujita, a typical looking Caucasian-American man with thick brown hair, hazel eyes and a prominent chin, one would never guess how atypical Fujita’s life and background has been. ooking at

Born in 1979 to a teenage mother who was interned during World War II in the Fujita’s identifications with Japanese gave him up for adoption, Fujita was internment camps specified for Japanese- culture, as the child of adopted parents, adopted by a mixed-race couple consisting Americans after the Pearl Harbor attack. as well as his support for civil liberties for of a Japanese father and Caucasian His identification with his father’s struggle same sex parents makes him a uniquely mother. Growing up, Fujita experienced and with the plight of the Japanese- outspoken figure in the football community, a traditional Japanese upbringing: eating Americans during the war period has made “My father was born in a camp, for God’s with chopsticks, observing Japanese him an outspoken supporter of civil liberties sake,” Fujita said. “It’s a horrible chapter holidays and even knowing some Japanese. regarding abortion rights and LGBT rights. in our history, and it bothers me that, like For these reasons, Fujita considers himself In an interview with the Huffington Post, most people, I wasn’t even taught about it culturally Japanese, and has introduced Fujita stated, “I think for me it was a cause in school. It’s something I feel very strongly himself as Japanese for his entire life. “My that I truly believe in. By in large in this about, especially after 9-11, where there name’s Scott. I’m Japanese,” is what he told country the issue of gay rights and equality were so many similarities with people’s civil his future father-in-law, Gary Stiles at their should be past the point of debate. Really, liberties being violated. It scares me, and first meeting as quoted in Yahoo that’s why I speak out as much as I Sports Online. can.”

“My father pulled me aside “I know I don’t have a drop of Identity and its nature all is an and said, ‘He knows he’s not Japanese blood in me. But what outgrowth of our upbringings and Japanese, right?’” said Jaclyn the life lessons we collective gain Fujita in response to her father’s is race? It’s just a label. The way from them. For Fujita, his father’s inquiry. is reflected in his personal you’re raised, your family, the heritage Fujita has defied skeptics all values and associations. Scott Fujita you love—that means told ESPN magazine, “I know I don’t his life, proving to those around people him that a white man could have a have a drop of Japanese blood in me. more than everything else.”

Japanese-sounding last name and But what is race? It’s just a label. those, like his father-in-law Gary The way you’re raised, your family, Stiles, do not understand how a Caucasian there should be no debate anymore. For the people you love—that means more than could identify with an adopted culture that me, in my small platform as a professional everything else.” is not technically his own. football player, I understand that my time The issue regarding Fujita’s heritage and in the spotlight is probably limited.” his personal cultural alignment brings up As an adopted child, Fujita also identifies Picture Source: the very appropriate question of personal with the issue of LGBT rights regarding http://media.al.com/press-register-sports/ cultural identification and the basis for its adoption for same sex couples, “As an photo/fujitajpg-ea5115a921b54163.jpg validity. Are the criteria for cultural identity adopted child that really bothered me. I Player Statistics: strictly delegated to racial boundaries, or asked myself, what that is really saying Elias Sports Bureau does the meaning of heritage and culture go is that the concern with one’s sexual beyond these lines? orientation or one’s sexual preference Fujita’s adopted family on his father’s outweighs what’s really important, and side has a rich Japanese heritage, that’s finding safe homes for children, for culturally and historically. Fujita’s father our children.”

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Name: Team: Number: Position: Nickname: Alma Mater: Birth Date: Birth Place: Height: Weight: Experience:

Scott Fujita New Orleans Saints 55 Linebacker “Asian Assassin” UC Berkeley April 28, 1979 Ventura, CA 6’ 5’’ 250 lbs 8 years

Career Statistics: Games: Tackles: Forced Fumbles: Sacks: Interceptions: Yards Per Interception: Pass Defended:

120 652 9 19 5 9.6 22

21

Breaking the

Culture of Shame A reflection and reassessment

F

or

many

people,

the

By Jonathan Yee

concept

of

shame

is

familiar.

Others tell us in direct or indirect ways when we or other people have transgressed. Phrases such as these are commonly used to express shame: “You ought to be ashamed!” “What a disgrace!” or “Shame on you!”

Shame is a powerful mechanism used to teach what behavior is acceptable. It can be associated with childhood memories of embarrassment and guilt when parents scold children. Some would say shame is good and necessary; others would argue otherwise. Some say shame is an emotion.

Shame is difficult to define. It is one of those innate, visceral feelings that we cannot explain but so many of us are familiar with it. So what is shame? Where does it come from?

Dictionary.com defines shame as “the painful feeling arising from the consciousness of something dishonorable, improper, ridiculous, etc., done by oneself or another.” My definition elaborates a little bit more.

Shame is a deep guilt and embarrassment about things we have done, or things others have done to us. It can be further defined as a feeling of irredeemable ugliness within an individual. We will do anything to keep our shame hidden because we are scared that other people will judge us. Our fear is that exposed shame will change our relationships to the point that other people will leave us, hold it against us, or somehow have power over us. Of course, there is a whole spectrum of shame, ranging from only slight embarrassment to complete disgrace.

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The concept of shame is closely related to the concept of “losing face” in Asian societies. The phrase for shame in Chinese translates literally as “losing face.”

However, the phrase “losing face” has much deeper connotations than the English word shame. Losing face is related to a loss of dignity, status, and honor.

First, let’s explain the concept of “face.” Face is an individual’s image in a

Shame destroys freedom. It creates an unrealistic standard by which all people must live up to. Those who fail to live up to the standard become outcasts. community. This image is something to be valued, because it is your honor and dignity.

In addition, your face image is closely

knit into the fabric of the community.

Someone that does not have face (沒有臉) in a community is someone that cannot be trusted. An individual who does something unacceptable loses face, becomes invisible and “disappears” from a community. This concept of disappearing is likened to that of becoming like a ghost (鬼). The person loses their place in society and becomes an outcast.

Shame is not a purely Eastern concept.

According to cultural anthropology, shame is universal.

This means that shame occurs in all peoples and societies around the world. The West is just as familiar with shame as the East. One prominent literary example of shame occurs in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s book “The Scarlet Letter.” The basic premise of the novel is that a young woman named Hester Prynne commits adultery with the minister Arthur Dimmesdale. When the town finds out about Hester’s transgressions, they publically shame her. Furthermore, the town’s people sew a scarlet rag on her gown with an uppercase “A” that she has to wear all the time. The scarlet letter symbolizes her adultery and physically displays a badge of shame. Ironically, they do not find out about Dimmesdale’s part in the act. As the novel progresses, Dimmesdale slowly wastes away from his internal shame.

Shame is universal. This means that shame occurs in all peoples and societies around the world.

The West is just as familiar with shame as the East.

Imagine having to wear a scarlet letter around all the time reminding you and others of a part event that may or may not have been your fault. It’s like having an irremovable blemish on your face. Shame has real implications on how we view ourselves and others.

An improper view of shame can lead to a distorted view of our own self. Shame can lead to self-hatred. Furthermore, people struggling with shame become unable to be honest with themselves and others. In addition, people struggling with shame become obsessed with working towards a better self. An individual might study hard and work towards a successful career to make up for a past offense. Shame changes people and makes them believe that they need to work to obtain some merit of excellence or honor.

But shame also distorts our view of others. A shame-based view of others does not allow for mistakes. Shame does not teach us to forgive others. Instead, it teaches us that others are bad people for their mistakes and inadequacies.

Therefore, shame is not just an emotion; it is a deep-seated belief that you are a mistake, and that there is a dark ugliness inside of you that cannot be fixed. Shame is a mechanism that functions outside of truth and morality; one does not need to commit moral, ethical, or cultural transgressions to feel shame. In other words, you do not need to do something wrong to feel shame.

Shame can be projected upon individuals by others, even if the individuals are not guilty.

It is a social mechanism to keep people in line and maintain order. While this social order can be good, an imbalanced view of shame can be destructive.

In the end, it boils down to this: shame destroys freedom. It creates an unrealistic standard by which all people must live up to. Those who fail to live up to the standard become outcasts. People in shame-based cultures are afraid to take risks because they fear judgment. Shame destroys hope because people do not feel like others will help them in times of need. Shame destroys relationships because people are unwilling to associate with the “other” who has become stained and disgraced.

Shame should be balanced out with a sense of “grace.” While people need to answer to their mistakes, it is unhealthy to view others merely in terms of their mistakes. Forgiveness is essential because

it frees us from our mistakes to gives us another chance to be better people. A healthy sense of guilt and embarrassment is necessary for all human beings, but shame is an excessive guilt that shuns people from society.

It can be hard to define where healthy guilt and embarrassment ends and shame begins. However, this article does not aim to define that. It brings us to a moment of self-reflection. How have we become bound to our shame? Are we trying to work and make up for our past mistakes?

Are we unable to love ourselves because of our failures? Do we walk around as if we wear a scarlet letter? How do we view

others with shame? Do we hold mistakes against others? Do we forgive them? Are we shaming others for something they are not guilty of? How is shame causing us to hide?

Our shame is often hidden.

A reassessment of our self-image can reveal and reconcile our hidden inadequacies.

Hiding our failures will not help us. We can break the culture of shame by being honest with ourselves and others about our shortcomings. We can be more accepting of others in their human mistakes. We can discard our concern with “losing face” because we realize that our worth is not rooted in what others think.

23

Mental Illness, Murder

and Asian-Americans

Could the most heinous crimes committed by Asians been prevented?

By Calvin Prashad WARNING: THIS ARTICLE CONTAINS GRAPHIC DESCRIPTIONS OF SEVERAL GRUESOME MURDERS. READER’S DISCRETION ADVISED.

R

ecently, two gruesome murders put the spotlight back on a growing problem in the Asian-American community.

In San Diego, Bryan Chenhua Chang was arrested for the murder of his own mother. The victim had multiple blunt force traumas, likely caused by a hammer, on her face, ribs and head. Her arm and the back of her skull were cut off post-mortem and found in a refrigerator as well. The police could only speculate on a motive. Though it appears that money was a factor, in that the victim supported her unemployed son, the viciousness of this attack leads me to believe that more than petty money trouble is the root of this violence.

Meanwhile, on the East Coast, in Flushing, Queens, police arrested 47-year-old Huang Chen for the murder of Qian Wu. Chen had stalked and threatened Wu and her husband after their employment agency failed to find him work. He also made unwanted romantic advances at Wu, which she rejected. In spite of attacking Wu in 2006 and six orders of protection filed against him since then, Chen returned to New York to take revenge on her.

On Jan. 16, Chen followed Wu walking home from buying groceries and into her building. There, he hit her with a hammer 18 times and stabbed her repeatedly, eviscerating her. Finally, he tore her lungs and heart from her body and hid them before fleeing to destroy the evidence.

Tragically, the victim’s husband, Yongwei Guo, had gone to the 109th Precinct to complain about Chen’s harassment only a week earlier and had given Chen $200 to leave his wife alone. The 109th Precinct failed miserably at their job, as they could not connect Guo’s pleas for his wife’s safety, Chen’s return from immigration detention in Texas, as well as Chen’s obviously dangerous record as a possibly dangerous situation. Today, a heartbroken Guo can barely bring himself to blame the NYPD for his wife’s murder, despite the fact that they could have done so much more to keep Chen off the streets.

Mental illness. It is a complicated problem in the AsianAmerican community. Ignoring it is almost a cultural factor, as families feel that the stigma attached to mental illness outweighs admitting the problem and getting that individual help. As a result, teenagers in these families separate themselves from the world

and look for destructive outlets for their powerful emotions of hate, failure and isolation. Students have intense feelings of guilt and shame for subpar performance in school, often to the point where death seems like the only relief from the soul-crushing disappointment placed on them by the family. Depression reigns over Asian-American women, as the pressures placed on them to succeed leads them to have one of the highest rates of suicide in the United States. Meanwhile, unemployed Asian-American men, emasculated by an inability to provide for themselves of their family, also lash out violently, at themselves, their family, and tragically, perfect strangers.

In Binghamton, unemployed factory worker Jiverly Wong displayed signs of a violent and obsessive personality. This exploded into the Binghamton Massacre where he stormed the American Civic Association and killed 13 people before turning the gun on himself. Wong’s parents noticed his anger over his unemployment when he isolated himself from the family. His coworkers noticed his disillusionment with America as well as his desire to “kill the president.” A package sent to the local news station revealed to anyone, even those with just a rudimentary understanding of psychology, that Wong had serious issues. His letters were full of schizophrenic delusions of harassment by authorities. He blamed all of his problems, especially his unemployment and isolation on a mysterious “undercover cop” that followed him for 18 years, sabotaging his life and spreading rumors about him, eventually driving him to poverty. There were so many warning signs, so many clear signs of schizophrenia, but no one noticed them for what appeared to be two decades.

During that time, Wong was married, divorced and then moved to several places holding multiple jobs. Shockingly, no one thought that he might need help.

Surely, he had to have shared these delusions with someone. Wong was a ticking time bomb that finally exploded on that tragic day, taking so many innocents with him.

Virginia Tech shooter Cho Seung-Hui shared a common profile with Jiverly Wong. They both felt a sense of disillusionment and despair over their current situations. Like Wong, Cho blamed his problems in life on mysterious shadowy figures such as “rich kids,” whom he ranted against in his letters to the media. They also saw violence as a means to rectify what they saw as multiple injustices done to them. They remained isolated from their families, resigning themselves to their rooms and shutting their parents—

Ignoring it is almost a cultural factor, as families feel that the stigma attached to mental illness outweighs admitting the problem and getting that individual help...

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Jiverly Wong’s mental illness became apparent after he sent rambling and delusional letters to the press before his rampage through the American Civic Center.

whom they still lived with—out. Violence appeared more and more attractive as an option, which led to a penchant for making threats and attempting to gain power over others. This is why I think they treated their weapons with such reverence and pride. The pictures they took where they posed with their weapons for posterity reveal this. They were attempting to display their power against a society that, in their view, rejected them.

Perhaps more shocking than the aforementioned crimes are the ones that appear to happen spontaneously, where the victim is random and the brutality of the attack pauses even the most hardened. The next two cases are decapitations, one in Virginia and another on a bus in Canada.

Xin Yang was in a position that many international students can relate to in one way or another. She was starting school alone in a new country and decided to reach out to her fellow Chinese students for support. She met doctoral student Haiyang Zhu, himself an international student from Ningbo, China who had established himself in the U.S. to some degree. In two short weeks, however, her life would come to a tragic end. Zhu was described as a “quiet” person by most, but those who lived with him or saw his internet postings knew an entirely different person altogether.

He was distraught over recent stock losses and filled with anger.

Recently, he could only think of “killing someone” or “suicide.”

He was frequently belligerent to his landlord by refusing requests to change the heat and tampering with the thermostat. He also accused the staff for stealing his shoes. Zhu’s landlord would later describe Zhu’s relationship with Yang as dominating, with Zhu clearly in control. Yang was “meek and nervous” in his presence.

On Jan. 21, 2009, Zhu grabbed a kitchen knife, threw Yang to the ground, and cut her head off. Shocked witnesses did not hear an argument or any sort of confrontation before the attack, as the two had been simply sitting and drinking coffee. Zhu’s face was expressionless through the entire attack. Tech police officers arrived to find him holding the head in his arms.

As I was writing this, I remembered another attack on a college campus, against a professor, perpetrated by a graduate student.

Abdulsalem al-Zahrani was a graduate student at Binghamton University that stabbed his professor multiple times with a kitchen knife, killing him. His roommates would later describe him as “confrontational” and obsessed with death. Other students complained that he would insult them and accuse them of following him around campus. Authorities also believe that he had problems with money and as a result was disillusioned with his work, asking for a transfer to another department 30 minutes before the stabbing.

I do believe that every seemingly random crime often has something in common with another, equally shocking crime.

In some cases, there is nothing that could have changed the outcome of a tragedy. An employer of Vince Weiguang Li described him as “hardworking” and showed no signs of mental illness or trouble. However, on July 30, 2008, while traveling on a Greyhound bus through Canada, he stabbed his fellow passenger about 50 to 60 times with a hunting knife before cutting his head off and defiling the corpse. He was robotic, silent and emotionless throughout the murder. Witnesses also reported that he attempted to eat parts of the victim before the police arrived. Court-appointed psychiatrists later diagnosed Li with “severe” schizophrenia, to the point that Li heard voices in his head all the time. The court found him unfit to stand for trial due to his mental illness. He remains under close watch.

Mental illness is not always easy to catch, but there are usually warning signs. Delusions, threats and belligerent attitudes are always red flags, but more subtle behaviors such as self-isolation and general anger toward society are more subtle indicators of an underlying problem. After pouring through these news articles, I can only say that more attention needs to be on mental illness and Asian-Americans. We need families to be aware of the destructive consequences of ignoring a problem and we need teachers, friends and colleagues to be able to identify potential warning signs.

Individuals who are mentally ill rarely seek help for themselves.

These murders all happened in the past three years. We can only hope that this growing trend of horrifying, gruesome crimes attributed to Asians does not continue.

Picture Sources: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/28/nyregion/28slay.html http://mylifeofcrime.files.wordpress.com/2009/04/jiverly-wong. jpg?w=290&h=362

Huang Chen stalked his victim for a number of years before brutally striking and stabbing her to death and then removing her heart and lungs. Warning signs were either ignored or missed by the police and immigration authorities, with tragic consequences.

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the Last Racebender

By Jeff Hwang

“Those names don’t sound Asian. They better be Asian kids with non-Asian sounding names or else this is highly offensive!”

R

enowned film critic Roger Ebert answered a question regarding director and producer M. Night Shyamalan’s upcoming film, “The Last Airbender,” with a question of his own.

“Why would Paramount and Shyamalan go out of their way to offend [these] fans?” he said.

For those who are confused, Shyamalan is creating a direct adaption of the popular Nickelodeon animated series, “Avatar: the Last Airbender.” The television series was based heavily on Asian cultures, especially those of martial arts and elemental manipulation. Despite having a demographic of 6 to 11-yearolds, the cartoon garnered unparalleled praise from other viewing age groups. By the time the series ended in July 2008— after stretching for three seasons—it had won multiple Emmy awards and Genesis awards, among others.

The original television series left quite a legacy, with numerous video game spin-offs, action figures, and even a trading card game still hitting the markets. The most recent addition is Shyamalan’s live-action film adaption.

One would assume that the announcement of an “Avatar” movie would gather hordes of dedicated and ecstatic fans.

However, when news of the casting reached the public, one of the initial reactions was disgust with the absence of Asian actors.

There was virtually nothing to be ecstatic about.

The “airbending” protagonist, Aang, is clearly of Asian descent in the television series. Noah Ringer, the 12-year-old boy from Texas selected to portray Aang, is not. The female lead in the series, Katara, is of Asian descent. Nicola Peltz, a 14-year-old girl with virtually no background information, is not. Since Katara has a brother named Sokka, obviously the actor must not be Asian either. In fact, for those familiar with the “Twilight” film series, Jason Rathbone will play Sokka. Yes, Caucasian vampire Jasper equals Asian warrior Sokka.

“Whitewashed” is the term used for Shyamalan’s choice of casting. Another way to summarize the casting is “yellowface.”

The practice of “yellowfacing” dates back to the early years of American cinema. Throughout the 20th century, even the most prominent Caucasian actors and actresses played Asian characters in films, with major examples being “Madame Butterfly” (1915), “The GoodEarth” (1937), and “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” (1961).

Yellowfacing is generally considered to be one of the oldest forms of racism in the United States. Despite becoming increasingly open—as anti-miscegenation laws have been

repealed—American cinema has yet to stop the practice. And even though most yellowface films in the 21st century are generally parodies that specifically emphasize recurring Asian stereotypes, there have been recent films that revived old-school cast whitewashing.

“21” (2008) is a drama film based on a true story involving members of a MIT blackjack team. In reality, the main players on the team were Asian-Americans. In the adapted film—there is a trend here—the main characters are Caucasian. When an Asian actor appears, it is usually for a minor scene or role.

“Dragonball Evolution” (2009) is perhaps the most recent installment in a long list of yellowface films. Like “The Last Airbender,” the film is adapted from a popular animation set in an Asian background, but with Caucasians in starring roles.

However, unlike “21,” there were at least some Asian actors playing meaningful roles. But of course, the actual protagonist must be Caucasian, which turns out to be Justin Chatwin playing Goku.

Talking about the “Avatar: the Last Airbender” series, Robert Ebert states that “fans take it for granted that its heroes are Asian.” This may be true as Shyamalan’s “The Last Airbender” has met more controversy than anticipation.

“There are many young Asian actors capable of playing the parts,” Ebert added.

For the sake of humor, one can go online and explore major entertainment websites, including “Internet Movie Database” and Entertainment Weekly’s “Hollywood Insider,” for comments and opinions from everyday people. Generally, the same disappointed protests are seen.

“Those names don’t sound Asian,” an anonymous viewer posted after seeing the cast list. “They better be Asian kids with non-Asian sounding names or else this is highly offensive!”

Unfortunately not. For clarity, Dev Patel is set to play antagonist Prince Zuko and Aasif Mandvi is to play Admiral Zhao, but most fans are searching for Eastern or Southeastern Asian actors. In addition, forcing Asian-American actors to play the villains in American made Kung Fu movies is a time-honored tradition that stretches back to the early days of Hollywood.

“The Last Airbender” is set to open on July 2, 2010. Whether or not one wishes to see this live-action adaption of the popular Nickelodeon animated series; that is of no concern. One thing that can almost be for certain, “The Last Airbender” will most likely not be the last racebender.

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STILL NO IN CHINA

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THE TAKEOVER OF CHINA NIGHT

BY CULTURELESS, TASTELESS AND MEANINGLESS DANCES AND PERFORMANCES

I

By Diane Wong

n order to conquer a people, the conqueror cannot simply

assert control over the physical being of their subjects. To conquer them, the mind and spirit of the people must be controlled as well. After Cortez conquered the Aztecs in 1521, the Spanish set out to ensure their continued control of the region by eliminating all symbols of Aztec beliefs and religion.

The eliminated symbols were replaced with the Spaniard’s own propagandized beliefs and rituals, which could be used as a tool to control the ideas of the new Aztec subjects.

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CHINA NIGHT This process of elimination of symbols, and replacement with alternatives is known as reterritorialization. China Night has become a gleaming example of the effects of reterritorialization on cultural traditions. Rather than highlighting the traditional Chinese culture that has remained relatively static for centuries, China Night has become a venue for the promotion of typical capitalist values of consumption. Hijacked by Greek life, it has come to glorify one of the most heavily traded commodities in Western culture: sex. Traditional costumes, dances and musical performances have been replaced by lingerie shows, girls shaking their asses to hip-hop and skits that have absolutely nothing to do with Chinese and ChineseAmerican culture.

Some will no doubt argue that China Night has simply come to be an expression of the culture that Chinese-Americans have created themselves; a fusion of their traditional culture and the American values that that surrounded them as they were growing up.

In Volume XX Issue I of Asian Outlook, there was an article written by the ChineseAmerican Student Union (CASU) E-board titled “The ‘Chinese-American’ in China Night.” The premise of the article was to

explain that the performances displayed in China Night are a fusion between American culture with Chinese culture. Though I thoroughly agree with this statement, and believe that China Night should be a night dedicated to not just Chinese culture, but more specifically to Chinese-American culture, China Night ultimately ends up objectifying Asian women and makes a mockery out of what it means to be Chinese-American. CASU describes in the article that “hip-hop routines and trendy fashion shows are physical illustrations of what the performer relates to in her modern life, and the direct extension of what it means to be Chinese in America.”

However, there is something terribly wrong in the Chinese-American society when “trendy fashion shows,” suggestive dances and skits that glorify patriarchal men act as “direct extensions” of what it means to be Chinese-American.

The first time I attended China Night was March of last year. Since it was my first semester at Binghamton, I had no idea what to expect, but because everyone around me seemed excited for China Night, I was too. Since there is such a large population of Chinese-Americans at Binghamton, I expected to feast my eyes on talented individuals and groups displaying cultural

performances. Instead, I was bombarded with images of half-naked women dancing to hip-hop, skits that glorified patriarchal men and portrayed women as helpless and earsplitting hollers from fraternities and sororities. In retrospect, the most cultural performance from the show was probably Professor Zhang singing selections of traditional Chinese songs, and even then, there were sounds of snickers and chuckles across the auditorium. Has the fusion of Chinese culture with American culture produced a subculture completely void of substance, delicacy and culture?

Perhaps my expectations were too high. However, I truly believe that there are countless Chinese-American students here at Binghamton University who have the best of both worlds, and are willing to contribute to China Night. Relating all this to my previous point of reterritorialization, CASU fails to recognize that they are not creating a new “Chinese-American” culture, they are perpetuating values of consumption that undermine true ChineseAmerican culture. In crude terms, China Night needs drastic changes. If China Night still fails to show the real significance of celebrating what it means to be ChineseAmerican, then there really is no purpose of having a China Night.

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CHINA NIGHT ULTIMATELY ENDS UP OBJECTIFYING ASIAN WOMEN AND MAKES A MOCKERY OF WHAT IT MEANS TO BE CHINESE-AMERICAN

29

Relationships/

Ask Diane... First date sex

S

By Diane Wong ex.

We all want it and it consumes all of our minds. We simply go around getting it in different, frequently obtuse ways. Thus, I’ve decided to start this column, “Ask Diane,” to try and help confused students in their quest for whatever it may be. Maybe we can make those paths a bit more direct, and in the process even make the world a better place.

A couple months ago, I set up an e-mail account (askaodiane@gmail. com) that takes questions about relationships, dating and sex concerns.

I’ve gotten quite a number of responses, and have chosen a common but complicated question to address in this issue’s article.

“I’ve always heard people say that you should never sleep with someone on the first date.

If you know you like each other, what’s so great about waiting?”

— Female, 20, Susquehanna Community Dinner, conversation, drinks, connection... sex?

First date sex seems to be the dating debate du jour everywhere I turn. Women have been counseling their friends for years by advocating no sex on the first date. I’ve been told that having sex on the first date diminishes chances of meeting a “good” partner, which decreases chances of a healthy relationship. I’ve also heard that women shouldn’t have sex on first dates because guys like to feel like they’ve accomplished something when courting a girl. As women, we have the duty to empower ourselves.

At one point in time, I’ve taken all of this advice seriously, but in retrospect, all this “don’t have sex on the first date to empower women” advice seems a bit too far-fetched to me. Did I miss the memo that the decision to not have sex on the first date is now a statement women make on behalf of empowering all women?

Newsflash: women like to have sex, too. Empowerment comes from control

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over your own sex life and decisions—and confidence in those choices—whether or not they align with popular opinion. Having sex on the first date does not make you any less of a woman. Believing the advice that women should not have sex on the first date only strengthens the double standard against women. If you feel that by the end of the first date, there was an amazing connection and you feel comfortable to take things to the next level, go for it. You don’t need to ask and wait for the magic date number, so that you can have sex without feeling guilty.

A woman who buys into all the moral dogma associated with her sexuality is probably just setting herself up for disaster.

When she worries herself with the idea that sex on the first date leads to an unsuccessful relationship, she is unwittingly perpetuating a self-fulfilling prophecy. Entering the relationship with the mindset that things will fall apart because she had sex on the first date ensures that the relationship will suffer. Unfortunately, this is the exact mentality that hundreds of women buy into.

I hope that by dispelling this myth, many of you can begin to follow your own intuition, rather than continuing to get caught up in the herd mentality.

I’d like to think of the situation strategically. If a woman is looking for casual sex, then it doesn’t matter what his biases are. It’s a win-win situation. If a woman has interest in a man, has sex on the first date, that’s perfect if he feels the same way.

It’s a win-win situation. If he decides to make the night into a one-night stand simply because she was too “easy” of a catch, then she should move on. She loses short-term, but wins long-

term. If she has sex with him on the first night and finds that they are not compatible, then she has won short-term.

Of course, it’s different for everyone and it can happen at different phases in relationships with different people. You can date someone for months and still feel like you barely know them, and you can feel connected to someone minutes after meeting them. Who is anyone to decide that people who have sex on the first date value intimacy any more or less than people who have sex on the third date, ninth date or after a cup of coffee? If you do choose to wait for that magic number, ask yourself this: when is sex “earned?” On the third date?

After you meet the parents? Or in between the main course and dessert?

Diane Wong is neither a certified psychologist nor sex therapist.

Kelvin does Hong Kong �

Part one of the author’s delve into his hometown

Victoria Harbor

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L

et me just cut to the chase: Hong Kong is the

Photographs by Kelvin Chan

best Asian city in the world. Simple as that.

If you were just looking for a confirmation of that, you can stop reading and relish in the fact that you were right. For the skeptics and non-natives, there are more than enough enticements for you to give two damns.

Hong Kong is the hub that connects the Chinese with the rest of the world. In the modern world, Hong Kong is the de facto destination for international businesses and entrepreneurs. The combination of laissez-faire capitalism and a globally significant stock exchange is shared only

by Taiwan, and until about five years ago, Taiwan was shunned by the behemoth of global economic powerhouse that is China.

As a result, the Hong Kong Stock Exchange is the sixth largest in the world, and the Hong Kong Dollar is the ninth most traded currency in the world. Not bad for a "special administrative region" smaller than New York City. Taking into account that only a quarter of its territory is developed, it's even more amazing that such a city, built on ribbons of land that ties around the feet of mountains and islands, can be such an influential power in the global economy.

It is also because of such a compact region that the dedicated and independent legal system can be so responsive to citizen inputs and criticisms. For the same reason, the rate at which the city develops and advances to adopt the newest technologies is blindingly fast. The most striking example of such developments is the MTR, the railway system that includes the railroads and subways: what started as three subway lines and one railroad line in the 1970s now includes 10 lines reaching as far west as the airport and as far north as mainland China.

A newly approved railroad line would, when completed, allow passengers to reach Beijing in six hours on a direct train.

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Things happen in a time warp in Hong Kong. Buildings are torn and rebuilt faster than Tiger Woods can destroy his image.

However, the amount and accessibility of the lines, or even the rate of expansion, is not the most impressive aspect of the MTR. It is the thoughtfulness that is evident in the amenities and accessibilities that sets it apart from other contemporary urban mass transit. Each subway station has an expansive concourse level and a platform level. Each is air-conditioned and color-coded for easy recognition. Every exit and path is labeled with Chinese and English, with ample maps scattered throughout to direct even the most disoriented. The platforms have glass partitions to keep passengers off the tracks. Overhead display panels show the time and the minutes left until the next train arrives. To transfer, one simply walks across the platform.

Let's compare. The subway in New York, the financial center of the world and most popular tourist destination in the country, is dirty, rat-infested, dim, claustrophobic in most stations, suffocating in the summer and freezing in the winter, reeks of urine and neglect, its directions confusing and monolingual, the trains as timely as Kanye's outbursts and as reliable as a drunkard's promise (And to have the nerve to charge us $2.25 for their services compared with the converted average of $1.25 in Hong Kong! What blasphemy!).

Some may say that the comparison is skewed and favored towards the smaller and much newer MTR, that they are in a much more favorable position to adapt, and they would be right. As noted earlier, the legal system is completely isolated and untethered; its proposals, budgets, and laws affect Hong Kong only. Imagine New York City as a Special Administrative Region of the United States, and Mayor Bloomberg is the Chief Executive. All the tax money would funnel back to the city, not to some universities upstate (wait, what?). Unaffected by the tomfoolery in Washington and Albany, the New York City government would concern itself with the citizens of the five boroughs only. If this were the case, we would have had a subway line down Second Avenue years ago, instead of taking them 90 years to turn it into reality. We would have cell phone signal underground—as they do in Hong Kong—and better accessibilities for foreigners and the disabled. Also, all those damn rats would be dead. In short, Hong Kong is better than any U.S. metropolitan areas because it maintains a degree of self-governance and freedom from the central government.

To a New Yorker, things happen in a time warp in Hong Kong.

Buildings are torn and rebuilt faster than Tiger Woods can destroy his image. Shopping centers are gutted and renovated in a matter of months. In the year and a half between my visits, they have built about five elevated highways, rerouted an entire district's roadwork, built two underground walkways connecting subway and railroad stations, and the engineers still have time to help Shenzhen build their subway system, which is just a crude replica of Hong Kong's.

But the most amazing thing is that the citizens are still complaining! The newly implemented brick pavings are causing senior citizens to trip; some new stations are overcrowded and do not provide enough restaurants nearby to satisfy their hunger. In New York, no one can hear you scream. They'll tell you to shut

34

up and deal with it. In Hong Kong, you get a response from the government, and they actually do something about it. It is apparent when you see all the facilities throughout the region, even in the most rural of islands and desolated villages: there are handrails for the slopes, special rubber pavements and tone-emitting traffic lights to guide the blinds, overhead coverings to shield you from the rain, and elevator buttons disinfected hourly.

(Half a million citizens took to the streets of Hong Kong on July 1, 2003 to protest the passing of Article 23, which would allow the PRC to impose "anti-subversion" legislations in Hong Kong. As a result, it was withdrawn indefinitely in September. The protest worked so well that every year afterwards on July 1 the citizens would come out and protest against something else.)

All the amenities have made Hong Kong one of the safest places to live in, despite the crowdedness and the pollution. The city has the second highest life expectancy in the world, following Japan.

This is due largely in part to the excellent universal health care provided by the government (cry for me, Glenn Beck!). Managed and funded with taxpayers' money just like the police and the fire department, it is a obligated service to the citizens without having them fuss over monthly bills and plans and all the nonsense that never should have existed in the first place.

There are still kinks in the layers of changes and developments, of course; Hong Kong is not a fairyland. There are still masses of shanty housings tucked in between and forgotten amongst the high-rise apartments and shopping malls. The conglomeration of Westerners, Filipinos, and mainland Chinese invokes the inevitable discrimination and exploitation. In some areas, like Mong Kok, the drug scene is prevalent and the petty crime rate is notoriously high.

The homeless are as common as the exotic cars that drive by them.

It is easy to forget that Hong Kong is just a city, with its own stock market, government, health care system, and entertainment industry. From a visitor’s perspective, Hong Kong is a “vibrant, cosmopolitan city where East meets West, the lights are bright, the weather is always warm, and there’s a palpable sense of possibility in the air.” The food is delicious and cheap, the culture is rich, the people are polite, commercial tax is nonexistent, transportation is efficient, and the environment is clean. From a local viewpoint, living quarters is small and pricey, but the amount of convenience and freedom, combined with exposure to international influences, is unmatched.

sources: http://www.askmen.com/specials/2009_top_29/hong-kong.html http://www.censtatd.gov.hk/hong_kong_statistics/statistical_ tables/index.jsp?htmlTableID=139&excelID=&chartID=&tableID=1 39&ID=&subjectID=1 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Light_Rail_(MTR) http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/sickaroundtheworld/ countries/models.html

Mong Kok MTR station

35

Emerging India One Binghamton student experiences a rapidly modernizing nation.

By Brendan Lu

D

uring the past winter,

I went to New Delhi, India, with 26 other Binghamton students. The trip was about 10 days long and is part of our winter course called: Doing Business in Emerging India. After 13 hours of flight we arrived at the Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi.

The weather was rather foggy and visibility was limited to just a few yards. As soon as we got out of the airport, we were surrounded by porters who were trying to earn some tips. Instead of asking for rupies, they were asking for dollars. I was amazed that their English was so fluent.

Afterwards, we got on our bus to head over to our hotel. The hotel rooms were really damp and we had to put our keys into a slot on the wall to turn on the lights. I was really tiered after the flight and went to sleep right away. That was my first night at India.

The next day we went on to the street and saw many stray dogs roaming around.

Since a lot of Indians are vegetarians, I was curious as to what food these dogs actually ate. The school boys and girls were all dressed up in uniforms and waved at us.

The degree of poverty really struck me when I saw so many people gathering around a campfire trying to get some warmth. There were little girls performing circus in front of tourists like us trying to get some tips.

Several of us gave them U.S. dollars and our professor said that the children wouldn’t even know what kind of bills they were.

We walked to the American Center, which was 20 minutes walk from our hotel.

The ambassadors there gave us a talk on the diplomatic relationship between India and the United States and told us about their personal experiences on how they got their job as an ambassador. When new movies are released in the U.S., some of the films are premiered in India at the American Center. That night they were showing “Sherlock Homes”.

After that we went to a really creepy

36

place to exchange for rupies. We had to walk on steep and narrow stairs to get to the second floor to exchange money. Afterwards, we went to the McDonald’s around the corner. We were all excited because we want to see how the McDonald’s would be like in India. To our disappointment, there were only chicken burgers and no cheese burgers because cows are considered sacred in India.

When we were walking and eating the fries we got from McDonald’s, there were many kids begging for our fries. We noticed many shoe shiners on the streets who were mostly children. I got some candy from one of my classmates and gave the candy to these kids.

At that moment, I felt the need to cherish what I already have.

We walked to the Parliament Museum, although I had a hard time trying to remember names, I still managed to learn some history about India. Perhaps I was still jet lagged, all I wanted to do after we got out of the museum was to sleep. Soon enough we went back to the hotel and had

our reception dinner. The hotel manager put a red dot on my forehead and flowers around my neck.

Later at night we walked to the bazaar near our hotel to shop around. The stuff there was so cheap once we converted to rupies to dollars, but at international brand

shops, like Reebok and Levi’s, everything was just as expensive as they were in the U.S. We ate at a restaurant that day and had our first taste of Indian food. The restaurant served special types of oily bread, curry rice, and lots of different dips and sauces. We tore apart the bread and dipped it into the sauce (sort of how you eat Tostitos chips with dip). Some of the dips were really spicy and the curry was very different from the curry that my mom cooks for me. The restaurant was similar to a buffet, in that they kept offering us more bread and dip. Many of my classmates were full and said they didn’t want any more, but the waiters kept giving us more bread and dip. Eventually, the professor said that in India it isn’t polite to turn down offered food. Personally, I’ve never really liked Indian food, but it’s always good to try new foods I’ve never tried before.

During the next week, we had Indian food everyday and some of us were craving for McDonald’s and KFC. I remember one time my classmates and I went to KFC on our own and had some chicken, it tasted so good for some reason! I saved a piece of chicken and gave it to a stray dog on the street, it ended up following me for a long time. Here’s a tip: if you have a chance to go to India and you are not into Indian food, remember to bring a lot of your favorite snacks. One morning, we went on a bike tour. We rode our bikes and traveled around the city. The traffic in Delhi is really hectic, it seems as if there are no traffic rules. But since there’s a large population in India, it’s not surprising to see crazy traffic like that. One of my classmates almost got hit by a reckless driver. Anyhow, we stopped in the middle of our route because I wanted to go to the bathroom. However, I heard from our tour guide that people usually just do it on the street or at a relatively secluded place. I finally found this semi-bathroom place and I hope to never enter one of those again.

Later during on in the trip, we visited a university called the Lovely Professional University which was a 8 hour bus drive from the hotel. Half of the time on the bus I was waiting for the rest stop so that I could go to a bathroom, or at least go in some relatively secluded area. After we got to the University each of my classmates got paired up with their buddy who were students at the University. Since my buddy had an exam the very next day and ended up not showing up, I mingled a little with one of my classmate’s buddy. We had a bonfire with our buddies that night at the University. They put on the party music and we danced around the bonfire. Our

buddies were really open and danced their heart out at the bonfire. I remember one of my classmate’s buddy said they were going to be lifelong friends he wanted my classmate to come to his wedding. These students were really nice. There would be students coming up to us asking where we were headed and whether or not we needed directions. That night I stayed at the University’s dorm. We had to use a bucket to shower because there were no showers... it was freezing. I remember that our blanket was red and it was cold so I slept with my white socks on. The next morning when I got up, I noticed my white socks were all red too. The next day we met the University’s counselor and he gave us a talk about the University. When one of our students asked him what he expected

are roughly 3 million gods! Then we visited their campus and some of the buildings that were still under construction. Overall, the campus was nice and clean. That night, we had another bonfire and said goodbye to our buddies.

Of course the purpose of our trip was to understand the Indian business market.

We went to visit some companies, such as Infosys, PwC, and HCL. Infosys’s workplace was just amazing. There are swimming pools, tennis courts, music room, and game rooms at the work place. We had talks on issues such as outsourcing, globalization and other contemporary challenges. A lot of my classmates are graduate students and they asked many intelligent questions, and I had a hard time understanding them.

One of the useful skills I learned during the trip is haggling.

Whenever the vendor offers me a price on a souvenir, I would ask to lower the price. If the vendor and says no, then I would walk away and ninety percent of time they will chase after you and agree to a lower price. I managed to bring down the price of a shirt from 500 rupies to 50 rupies.

The most amazing historical site we visited was the Taj Mahal. We had to either take off our shoes or put on a plastic cover on our shoes to walk in the Taj Mahal. It is magnificent and I learned that the Taj Mahal was built by a king in commemoration of his lost wife. We also did a lot of other fun stuff, such as camel ride, elephant ride, and the auto expo.

Overall the trip is fun and definitely worth it.

Instead of asking for rupies, they were asking for dollars. I was amazed that their English was so fluent. of his students after they graduate, he said that they can do whatever they want to do.

I really like that answer and truly believe that’s how it should be.

Afterwards, we went to visit some temples with our University buddies. They taught us a lot about their religions. There are so many religions and gods in India.

For example, a snake can be seen as a god; a pig can be seen as a god. One of them told me that they actually counted how many gods they have and he told me there

37

Confucius Institute of Chinese Opera at Binghamton University

By Diane Wong

J

last semester, students welcomed the arrival of the Confucius Institute of Chinese Opera at Binghamton University (CICOBU) with a festive opening celebration. CICO is a nonprofit organization jointly formed by Binghamton University and the National Academy of Chinese Theater Arts (NACTA), and is sponsored by the Confucius Institute headquarters in Beijing. The CICOBU is making connections among existing organizations and developing new initiatives in support of Chinese language and culture in Binghamton. With over three hundred Confucius Institutes at various Universities all around the world, Binghamton University is truly fortunate to be affiliated with this organization. The CICOBU will allow students at Binghamton learn more about the Chinese language and Chinese culture, and it will allow Binghamton to have a greater role in helping students appreciate the complexity and charm of Chinese language, culture and art. To understand what CICOBU offers, I interviewed Professor Chen who is a professor in the Binghamton University Asian and Asian-American Studies department, as well as the University’s Confucius Institute director. ust

What does the Confucius Institute of Chinese Opera at Binghamton University aim to promote?

As our name shows, ours is a specialized Confucius Institute.

CICO takes on dual tasks: teaching Chinese language and culture on the one hand and promoting Chinese music and theater on the other.

Binghamton University’s partner, the National Academy of Chinese Theater Arts, will send five instructors to BU in fall 2010, including two Beijing opera professors, one instrumental music professor and two Chinese language instructors. We will work together to achieve our goals.

38

What types of courses does the CICOBU offer and when will these courses be available to BU students?

In our plan, two Beijing opera professors will offer four 2-credit courses on Beijing opera every year, focusing on mime, combat, makeup and face painting, and symbolism and consume design respectively.

The music professor will teach a class on Chinese music instruments. Students can learn one of the major Chinese instruments, such as erhu, dizi, pipa, and yangqin. At the end of the semester, students will hold a recital of Chinese ensemble.

Two language instructors will teach first-year Chinese language courses at BU. We will start to offer these courses this coming fall.

Do you need any knowledge of the Chinese language to take these courses?

These courses are open to all BU students; they don’t carry prerequisite for language proficiency.

In addition to offering courses, does CICO have any other plans?

Yes. We do have many other plans. As a specialized CI, we will form a performance group to promote Chinese opera, music, and performing arts. All performers are experienced professionals and the group will be the only one of its kind in the United States that features Beijing opera. We will stage a concert in the Anderson Center and will also tour other universities on the East Coast.

We will also have a lecture series on Chinese arts. We will publicize the information when it’s available.

In addition, we will work with local school districts to develop their Chinese programs. We will have workshops, lectures, and performances there.

It wouldn’t be a surprise if these classes fills up quickly, so I’d recommend those students interested in taking courses next fall to sign up as early as possible. For those students who are not Chinese minors or Asian and Asian-American Studies majors/minors, I’d still highly recommend taking advantage of the courses that CICO offers at Binghamton University. It never hurts to open your eyes to a truly fascinating culture.

Picture Sources : http://www2.binghamton.edu/confucius-institute/ http://www.pearlmagik.com/bayareacantoneseoper.jpg

Restaurant Review\

a d

n a

P

By Fiz Ramdhani

I

f

out of your room. You are hungry and the dining hall food makes you lose your appetite. You do not have a car and it is snowing heavily outside. You want the kind of food that makes you full and satisfied and is also considerably tasty, cheap, and convenient to get.

Panda is the place to visit.

Located just 0.9 miles away from campus—or to be more exact, next to Kim’s Oriental and the Ale House—Panda is within your reach. I do not recommend dining in the restaurant because of its extremely limited space and lack of proper dining tools. However, you can literally walk there and get your food or have them deliver for you. The delivery time ranges between 20 to 40 minutes, depending on how busy they are.

Since I am a devoted pescetarian, I can only suggest the kinds of dishes that I usually get. But this does not mean they are any less tasty than other dishes. My all-time favorite is the Szechuanstyle Bean Curd, which costs $6.80. The medium-soft bean curds are sautéed with the ingredients—peas, broccoli, green pepper, carrots, onions, corn, mushrooms—and mixed together with soy and oyster sauce. Altogether the dish tastes just a little bit spicy.

My second favorite is their General Tso’s shrimp, which costs $9.75. While many other restaurants use regular shrimp, Panda t is finally the time of year that you feel too lazy to walk

uses jumbo varieties.

Do you feel like your meal incomplete without an appetizer?

Then I suggest getting the Crab Rangoon. Instead of wonton wraps, eggroll wraps are used, making the dish firmer and tastier at the same time. The cheese, the finely chopped green onions, and the slight taste of crab melt in your mouth the moment you take the first bite. For $2.99, you get a serving of five pieces.

Now you no longer have to concern yourself with getting decent food. Panda is just right around the corner from you. Feel like ordering?

Panda 3748 Vestal Parkway East Vestal, New York 13850 (607) 798-1833 Monday – Thursday: 11.00 am – 10.30 pm Friday – Saturday: 11.00 am – 11.00 pm Sunday & Holidays: 12.00 noon – 10.00 pm

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Food Review/

Photo courtesy of New York Magazine

L’Annam You know that whole “Asian fusion” thing? It actually works here.

By Diane Wong

Lannam 121 University Place (between 13th St & 14th St) New York, NY 10003

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L

’Annam Vietnamese restaurant, located in the heart of Union Square, is a casual, inexpensive spot for tasty, classic Vietnamese cuisine. The food is fresh and flavorful, the staff friendly, and the atmosphere fun.

This restaurant offers a cozy, relaxed and casual ambiance for you and your date. The restaurant is on the small side, which makes it a much more personal experience.

What I love about this restaurant is that though the food is not quite authentic Vietnamese, it’s a unique fusion between Chinese and Vietnamese. It brings the best elements of two cuisines together. If you want typical Vietnamese dishes like “grilled pork chop over rice” there are plenty of Vietnamese restaurants in Chinatown, but if you want something different L’Annam is the place to be. The menu is extensive so there is something for everyone; especially if you are a vegetarian or just don’t eat meat.

Everything on the menu is fairly priced. An average meal which includes an appetizer, soup and entrée amounts to eighteen dollars.

Every time I visit L’Annam I always order the Bo Luc Lac (marinated steak cubes and onions). L’Annam uses fillet so the cubes

of meat remain tender after being sautéed with onions. The tenderness of the Fillet combined with the sautéed onion sauce is absolutely fantastic. Their Beef Pho is consistently delicious and not to mention, also huge and cheap ($6 to $8). They serve a fair amount of thinly sliced, good quality beef about half medium, half rare and a massive portion of rice noodles. On top all that, they add generous amounts of sliced lemons, bean sprouts, hoisin sauce, chili pepper sauce and basil. Another favorite of mine is the shrimp summer rolls which is essentially a Vietnamese dish consisting of shrimp, herbs and lettuce wrapped in rice paper served with a soothing peanut butter sauce. The initial bite into the rolls is absolutely heavenly… especially from the crispiness of the lettuce and herbs.

If you bring a date to L’Annam, I highly recommend their two person dinner special for only $24.95 per person. The special includes one bottle of pinot noir, two appetizers, two soups, two main courses, one huge fried rice and two desserts… a simply irresistible deal. Overall, I highly recommend a visit L’Annam next time you’re in the city, I’ve never had anything less than a perfect meal here.

HETALIA a x i s

p o w e r s

By Amy Sun

“P

asta!”

is North Italy’s famous cry that fans of “Hetalia” are familiar with. But is North Italy even a country?

“Hetalia – Axis Powers” started out as a web comic. Due to its popularity, it was later adapted into manga and anime forms.

Unlike most anime episodes that run for about half an hour, each “Hetalia” episode is only five minutes long. In this series, countries are usually personified as handsome young men or women.

The characters’ personalities, likes and dislikes, and even their appearances are mostly based on stereotypes of their respective countrymen.

As stated in the title, the main setting of the series is during World War II. The word “hetare” means “useless” in Japanese and “alia” is taken from “Italia.” Therefore “Hetalia” is a portmanteau meaning “Useless Italy.”

North Italy is the main character of this series and, along with Germany and Japan, is part of the Axis Powers. The countries that make up the Allied Forces—America, England, France, Russia, China—also play big roles in the series.

Although World War II is the main setting, the anime also skips to other time periods, including the Holy Roman Empire era. This period was more commonly known as “Chibitalia,” which took place when Italy was young. After the collapse of the Holy Roman Empire, Italy was taken over and forced to live together with Austria and Hungary. It is a cute side of the story where everything was drawn with a “super-deformed” style. The series also covers parts of the American Revolution, Japan Westernizations and other time periods.

“Hetalia – Axis Powers” should not be used as study material for your history class; however it does include some real—usually funny and interesting—historical facts.

Like most manga that become adapted into anime, the anime is much more toned down so it can be directed toward a younger audience. Many of the more offensive aspects were not included in the anime.

Some parts of the original web comic were not adapted into the anime at all, especially the April Fools’ and Christmas specials.

These two specials included a lot of nudity, due to France’s character going around tricking everyone into stripping.

The Valentine’s Day special was also excluded because of strong homosexual indications. Germany misinterprets Italy’s Valentine gift as a love confession—due to the differences in culture—and agrees to go out with him.

Another difference between the anime and manga is that South

Korea was never mentioned in the anime. In reality, South Korea was strongly against the series because of how the country was portrayed in it. Eventually, Korean protests ended up canceling the anime’s television airings. “Hetalia,” however, is still being broadcasted on cell phones.

Finally, before you start the series, here are some pointers: • Always remember that each character represents a country.

• The series is written in good humor and it is not meant to be offensive.

• The series often jumps from event to event, one time period to another, because it is not continuous, especially in the later episodes.

• Watch with an open mind.

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By Sophia Lin Note: “Elfen Lied” started out as a manga series and was later made into an anime series. To prevent confusion, this article follows the events of the manga instead of the anime because the anime ending is not finished.

“W

hat do you think about the series,

‘Elfen Lied?’”

There are infinite answers to this question. I once heard someone respond, “Pretty Sick” and “Who wouldn’t like cute psychotic girls who kill people with their invisible hands?” Others have said that it is a deep series about the suffering of the Diclonius and their struggle with the humans. Then there are some people think that there is more to the series than the story about Lucy and the other people living at Maple Inn. After rereading this series, I believe that there are many criticisms carefully woven into the story about Japanese society that the author wants to point out. These criticisms are well crafted into character’s pasts and the interactions between people and Diclonius, raise more questions about the story itself.

Abuse Mayu is a 13-year-old girl who ran away from home because she could not withstand the sexual abuse by her stepfather. She would be told to strip her clothes and pose in obscene positions so her stepfather could “see better.” When Mayu complained to her mother about the stepfather, her mother slapped her and said, “I don’t want you. I don’t care if you disappeared off the face of the earth.” Through this response, Mayu realized that her mother didn’t care about her at all, and only loved the stepfather.

Mayu is obviously a victim of sexual abuse and her actions taken in handling this are questionable. Her decision to run away from home instead of reporting it to the police is rather peculiar. In Japan, if someone harasses you or even tries to grope you, you can report it to the police and action will be taken. Yet, many Japanese women do not report abuse, even if it is from a total stranger because of the intense shame and humiliation of the ordeal. Often, there are news stories about mothers and fathers sexually abusing their child, and how they were caught by the police after being reported by someone. Mayu had the option of reporting the abuse, but chose not to and ran away from home.

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This raises the question about the awareness of sexual abuse in families. Mayu’s mother was aware of the situation that was going on but chose not to take any action against it. This also raises the question about a parent fulfilling their responsibilities. It is obvious that the mother chose to abandon her responsibility and to pursue what she desired. How many parents are like Mayu’s parents and are irresponsible towards their children? How many parents like Mayu’s parents get away with it?

in modern society, something the author tries to impart on the readers.

Ethics in Science

Treatment of others Throughout the series, several people are seen acting hostile towards the Diclonius simply because they look different from humans. A child named Tomoo, who stayed at the same institution as Lucy, constantly picked on Lucy because she had horns. Tomoo called Lucy an animal because of her horns and remarked that animals ought to sleep outside.

Lucy was treated terribly when she stayed at the institution. All the other children picked on her and even killed the stray dog that she was secretly feeding. The only thing that was different about Lucy and the other children was the horns on her head. How would the children have reacted if a child without an arm was also placed inside the institution? The children would probably react the same way and pick on that child as well. The fact that children at the institution pick on others that look physically different from them raises the question about how children in these places are being raised and taken care of.

In the entire scene of the flashback to Lucy’s past at the institution, the only time an adult was mentioned was when a girl came into the class and called for the teacher when she saw Tomoo picking on Lucy. An interesting thing to note about this scene is that the image of the teacher never appeared and but was called for, meaning that there were adults present in the institution. Why did the adults try to prevent children from picking on one another?

Why did the adults not attempt to save Lucy or give her words of support? Their absence shows how little they care about the lives of the children in the institution as well as their lack of concern over the emotional welfare of the children. This sort of cold and distant approach adults have toward children is unfortunately common

In science research, there is a set of guidelines that must be followed in order for the experiment to be considered ethical.

Usually the guidelines state that the subject of the experiment can only be placed under a certain amount of pain. In “Elfen Lied,” these guidelines don’t even exist. The scientists in the Diclonius research facility do whatever they please with their Diclonius test subjects.

Lucy and Mariko were contained like prisoners within the facility in metal cages in fear of their strength. As an infant, Mariko was taken to the research facility and bombs were placed inside of her to keep her under control. Nana underwent various torturous experiments and nearly broke down mentally if the head of the institution, Chief Kurama did not step in and act as her surrogate father. Another Diclonius, named Sanban, was put through a series of experiments where metal balls were shot at her head to test the length of her “vectors.” Vectors are the “invisible hands” that Diclonius project which makes them powerful, but also a danger to “normal” humans.

It is evident that the scientists did not view the Diclonius as human beings but rather as lab rats whose lives were expendable.

These types of experiments should be forbidden due to the tremendous amount of pain that test subjects have to go through.

It is interesting that the scientists used such extreme methods to test the abilities of the Diclonius instead of using traditional scientific methods. The scientists’ methods and ethics are definitely questionable and something that should be looked into to prevent further torture to the subjects. One has to wonder about animal testing, and the pain those animals must feel. As science progresses further and further, will we face a similar dilemma in the future? “Elfen Lied” represents a cautionary tale that as technology improves, we must not lose our humanity and compassion for all things living.

There are many more questions that one can ask about this series. The points that were touched upon in this article are just a few points that can be examined even further. This is just to get one started in thinking more about the series and the meanings that one does not normally notice on their first reading. “Elfen Lied” is a progressive manga series that represents a new wave of skepticism about modern society and technology. Series such as this represent manga reinventing itself as the voice of a generation with well-developed commentary on contemporary issues.

Tai O, Hong Kong - Kelvin Chan

aoconscience

Birds The birds are chirping at 2 in the morning And in my mind it’s you speaking to me, “Don’t measure the distance. Measure my love” They sing so beautifully at such an abnormal time But that’s how you came to me As a bird perched on a tree outside my kitchen window Silently watching me and waiting for me I stare back at you wondering, What would you like from me?

Don’t you have somewhere to be?

You fly away once I look down washing my dish You have to fly away You have to fly away Back to your time zone and back to your responsibilities But at least for a moment I can hear your chirping at 8 in the morning And stare at you while you perch yourself onto that dead tree in the garden outside my kitchen window “Don’t measure the distance. Measure my love” I heard the birds chirping at 2 in the morning On some nights that set without a goodnight When I was homesick and as I laid in my bed at night When I woke up and went to the kitchen to have some cereal You were there perched on that tree outside my window On the mornings when we didn’t turn over and whisper, “good morning my love” Instead I heard chirping at 2 in the morning And for comfort, I listened until I couldn’t hear anymore When I was deep in a whirl of sleep Dreaming of you and me together again Listening to the birds chirping outside an cracked open window during the spring When I would open my eyes I’d hear the birds chirping at 8 in the morning There is no distance between us now Our hearts are next to each other And there is no need to measure our love over miles Because you’re no longer perched on the dead tree outside my kitchen But instead you’re right next to me

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Mind the Gap “Mind the gap” My cousin said I’d be hearing that a lot But it’s more like mind the gap of culture Like mind the gap of slang On the 6 train to Union Square in Manhattan they make it seem so complicated “Please be careful of the space between the platform and the train” Or something to that effect But here it’s so simple and perfectly articulated: “Mind the gap” But here they don’t like the word, exit Instead it’s “way out” And it’s not “to go”, but “take away” And the funniest, toilet Not even trying to make it sound pleasant But actually telling you what it means to portray Drive on the left but stay on the right on the escalators Walk on the left but sometimes walk on the right, right?

Mind the gap of culture and colloquialism That’s what my cousin should’ve said Cause whenever I open my mouth I sound like a silly American And that’s why I refuse to say “Cheers” instead of thank you Cause I know I’ll get a look of dismay At my attempt to fit in But I guess I’ll take each experience day by day And bring some slang from here to home And when my friends ask what I learned in London And from all the places I went across the map I’ll simply respond, “Mind the gap”

Poems by Alyssa Alimurung

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Suzhou, China - Diane Wong

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Tribeca, NYC - Kelvin Chan

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Previous spread: Victoria Harbor - Kelvin Chan

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“Gunman” and “KOS-MOS and T-elos” - MDI

Venice, Italy - Jeff Hwang

submit your arts to aoconscience@gmail.com get published.

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