Asian Outlook | Spring 2018 Issue #2 by Asian Outlook

ASIAN OUTLOOK Vol. XXXIV | Issue 2

Modern Day Poverty Porn Yaeji’s Introspective Style “To My Fellow Second Generation Asian Americans”

ASIAN

Volume XXXIV, Issue 2

contents OUTLOOK 2

ASIAN OUTLOOK

featured 4 | Asian Americans & Mental Health | Jess Lamazor, Eamonn Hussie-Taylor, Talia Dolny-Lipsy, and Khaliq Spruill 6 | Broome County Immigrant Guide | Scott Gardner, Kevin Jiang, Brianna Sardone, and Andrea Youngken

conscience 20 | “To My Fellow Second Generation Asian Americans” | Chloe Long 22 | FOB Rhymes | Ling-Ling Sally Bishop

Cover photo by Braden Barwich on Unsplash

letter from the editor... Dear Readers, It’s officially spring now, but the weather is still as unpredictable as ever. We should have known better than to expect any mercy from Mother Nature. The general political situation in this country also remains unpredictable and exhausting on many fronts. I understand how tiring watching the news gets. Even the messy situation surrounding the Binghamton Review’s rather homophobic article may make people sigh and shake their heads. Yet there is still hope! Given the strength of recent movements such as the March for our Lives happening all over the country and the increasing number of events pressing for change hosted by other student organizations here at our own campus, I’d say that the people of America will trudge the future along into brighter days. This issue isn’t particularly cheerful. We take a look at the Parkland Shooting, another tragedy that should not have happened but continues to occur regardless. Then, we examine President Duterte’s policies against drug users and the carelessness of tourists when they invade the privacy of the local population. We also hope that at least some of you find the Broome Immigrant Guide notice, started up as a community engagement project, helpful in some way. In addition to our usual content, this time we also present a special section featuring Synapse: Mental Health Magazine! This magazine started up rather recently as another community engagement project, and Asian Outlook supports their endeavors to spread awareness of mental health issues. As our Conscience section shows this time, the Asian-American community often has trouble reconciling the cultures they’ve inherited with the dominant American culture that tends to view anyone outside the white and black divide as foreign, which also impacts mental health. Of course, there are other surprises inside! Thank you once again to ASU for always helping us and continuing to have us in the subgroup family. We also extend thanks to CASU, KASA, TASC, PAL, VSA, and BUJA, the other subgroups under ASU, for also helping us and their general kindness. Of course, I want to thank my hard-working E-Board for all their dedication and passion as well. Finally, thank you to the readers and contributors for your attention and support! Asian Outlook always appreciates all of you!

ASIAN OUTLOOK EXECUTIVE BOARD SPRING 2018 editor-in-chief

Nina Ocampo Secretary Michael Messina treasurer Tiffany Tung publicity manager Haythi Ei copy editors Benny Louie Brandon Ng conscience editor Tram Duong layout editors Haoran Zhi Michelle Pao Camille Guo Mengshu Ye intern Thomas Hur

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

CONTACT POLICY Uninvited contact with writers and contributors is forbidden under punishment of pain. Please direct all questions, comments and complaints to ao.editor@gmail.com. interested in contributing?

Nina Ocampo Editor-in-Chief, Spring 2018

E-mail us at:

ao.editor@gmail.com

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Vol. XXXIV, Issue 2

asian amercan & mental health By Jess Lamazor, Eamonn Hussie-Taylor, Talia Dolny-Lipsy, Khaliq Spruill “Asian American/Pacific Islander Communities and Mental Health.” Mental Health America, 30 June 2016, http://www.mentalhealthamerica.net/issues/asianamericanpacific-islander-communities-and-mentalhealth#Source%202.

statistics • Asian Americans report fewer mental health concerns than do whites. • 18.9 percent of Asian American high school students report considering suicide, versus 15.5 percent of whites. • 10.8 percent of Asian American high school students report having attempted suicide, versus 6.2 percent of whites. • Asian American high school females are twice as likely (15 percent) to have attempted suicide than males (7 percent). • Suicide death rates are 30 percent higher for 15-24 year old Asian American females than they are for white females (5.3 versus 4.0). Suicide death rates for 65+ year old Asian American females are higher than they are for white females (4.8 to 4.5).

ASIAN OUTLOOK

treatment issues • Language barriers make it difficult for Asian Americans to access mental health services. Discussing mental health concerns is considered taboo in many Asian cultures. Because of this, Asian Americans tend to dismiss, deny, or neglect their symptoms. • Lack of awareness of the resources and services that are available, as well as the stigma surrounding mental health issues, are the biggest deterrents in seeking professional help. • Most young Asian Americans tend to seek out support from personal networks such as close friends, family members, and religious community members rather than seek professional help for their mental health concerns.

ns access / insurance • Historically, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders have had challenges in accessing health care and insurance • Nearly 1 out of 2 Asian Americans will have difficulty accessing mental health treatment because they do not speak English or cannot find services that meet their language needs. • Prior to the passage of the Affordable Care Act, 15 percent of Asian Americans and 18 percent of Pacific Islanders lacked health insurance. • Relative to other U.S. populations, Asian Americans are 3 times less likely to seek mental health services.

interview For the purposes of this publication we have an abbreviated interview with a Binghamton University student, Darren Yu. To see the full version, go to https://binghealthzine.wixsite.com/synapse 1. Have you ever dealt with/struggled with mental illness? Yep. From what I can tell, I've been dealing with anxiety and depression since I was about 5 years old. Since I was so young, and there was no formal education on mental illness at the time, I thought anxiety and depression were normal states of mind. As a result, I thought mood shifts, depressive episodes, panic attacks, and mental breakdowns were all things that should normally occur, at least for me. I also received counseling and additional guidance from teaching assistants because of my anxiety and depression, which was very helpful. It hasn't gone away, but mental illness isn't something that goes away; you just overcome it. I've come to accept that my mind is naturally negatively effective. I still find ways to be happy and productive regardless of the way my mind naturally works. 2. Have you discussed this with your family? How did that go? Yes. My family was helpful in providing me support for my basic needs, but not mentally. How my family saw mental illness was just that my needs would be different, and while they were supportive in that regard, they had a set of expectations for me regarding my academia, culture, and productivity that would somewhat deter me from properly adapting to my mental illnesses. Considering all of us were in vulnerable states of mind, fighting wasn't uncommon within my family, and I was often part of the arguing. I can't blame my family. Because I'm first generation, my family members also had their challenges and were doing the best they could at the time. A lot of children grow up seeing their family members as role models, but I grew up knowing my family members were flawed. That's completely fine, and over time, as we came to understand ourselves and each other more, things got better. I believe the process of overcoming mental illness means finding support systems outside of your family.

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By Scott Gardner, Kevin Jiang, Brianna Sardone, and Andrea Youngken

Join our interactive informational web tour, presented through Community Engagement Program (CEP) at Binghamton University on April 23, 3:30pm - Library North 1404 www.broomeimmigrantguide.org/

broome coun

immigrant guide 6

ASIAN OUTLOOK

Other Asian; 17%

Vietnamese; 14%

Korean; 14% Japanese; 2% Filipino; 5%

nty

Chinese; 31%

Asian Indian; 21%

According to the New York State census, in the mid 1960â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Broome Countyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s population hit its maximum of 221,800 people. Ever since, the population has been at a steady decline, and as of last year it depreciated to 200,600 people. This negative change in population has lead to many issues on a local and macroscopic level, such as labor shortages and a decline in the quality of life for individuals in those areas. One of the major ways that the population of Broome County can be maintained is through immigration. The Broome County Guide is an effective tool that immigrants can use to ease their transition into the community. This guide therefore has the power to combat the population decline by making Broome County easier to acclimate with. Pictured is a demographic breakdown of the Asian population in Broome County, which makes up close to 4 percent (not including Binghamton University) of the population according to the 2015 census.

There are many challenges immigrants face arriving to Broome County. We hypothesized that it would be beneficial to create an all-inclusive information database for migrants in this area. One of the major goals we kept in mind while creating this guide was to make sure it was intuitive and simple to navigate. The guide consists of a wide variety of information including imperative tips ranging from how to obtain a driverâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s license to finding a fun activity to do with friends on the weekend. The guide also offers many other resources such as local restaurants, museums, movie theaters, so on and so forth.

Our goal in creating this guide is to provide support for immigrants coming to the area. It is very versatile in the sense that both immigrants to Broome Country and our fellow Binghamton University students may use it as well. The guide has been translated into four languages including Chinese, Korean, French and Spanish. In essence, this guide will serve as a tool for all people and their families who assimilate into the community and will allow them to actively engage in social and civic life in America. We hope to help make the transition into Broome County and the Greater New York area not only less stressful, but also a more simple and enjoyable experience.

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n r o p y t r vo e

Modern Day

By Stella Huang

CROLL THROUGH THE FEED OF ANY TRAVEL BLOGGER WHO’S GONE TO ASIA OR A CHINATOWN IN A WESTERN COUNTRY AND YOU’LL SEE ONE THING IN COMMON: photo after photo of the same decrepit, tugging at heartstrings buildings, elderly homeless people, random toddlers playing on the streets, an old lady selling food from a street stall, etc. You’ll see the same blank stares of people caught unaware, and the occasional shielding of faces. This is modern day poverty porn in the era of social climbing via social media. People no longer exploit poverty to “generate sympathy for a charitable cause”; they exploit poverty to show how cultured they are and for self-satisfaction. Ironically, in an effort to appear cultured and understanding of foreignness, they dehumanize native people and reduce them to nameless props for a good photo. In what is unmistakably a selfish, disgusting effort to gain followers and fame, they violate and take advantage of strangers and spread their faces across the internet as the face of poverty, the link between this tourist and cultural assimilation. A non-consensual click of a camera signifies a violation of both a person’s voice and humanhood. It’s a violent display of power on the part of the wealthy Western tourist.

THINGS THAT WOULDN’T BE SOCIALLY ACCEPTABLE ARE SUDDENLY OKAY IF YOU’RE A TOURIST FILMING UNDER THE GUISE OF CULTURAL IMMERSION. The foreign face suddenly makes people understand. But what’s so culturally important about filming a group of girls in shorts playing volleyball at a local park? Or taking pictures of bypassing children in strollers? In any other situation, these would be interpreted as symptoms of a sort of perversion that requires hospitalization. In what situation would it be okay for me to walk into a hospital and start photographing the dead? The answer is obvious: none. But somehow because the photographer is a Westerner and because the dead are not, it’s okay (New York Times, A Hospital From Hell). Somehow it’s okay to capture and circulate the mutilated face of a person who can no longer consent to anything. In what situation would I be able to go up to someone’s child and start photographing her? And tell me, how I could get away with videotaping a bunch of high school girls in shorts and t-shirts exercising at a park? Would you like to be the face of poverty? Or the face of an epidemic? I don’t think so, and neither do these people.

ASIAN OUTLOOK

Somehow the Asian face is an automatic fetishizer, a filter that effortlessly slides over an otherwise mundane scenario. It’s the face of foreignness, apparently eager to be violated. The submissive stereotype presents itself again, only this time coupled with another equally sickening stereotype: that of the sensual, exotic Asian woman. It’s sickening in its subtlety. The recent string of Chinese student disappearances in the U.S and the U.K are a great example. It shows that people don’t care about anything else other than fulfilling their satisfaction, whether that can be accomplished by violating someone’s privacy or kidnapping them. Either way, in both scenarios, Asian people continue to be reduced to ways which fulfill selfsatisfaction. This speaks to the centuries old concepts of paternalism, imperialism, and bluntly put, idea that Westerners are better. This no longer extends to just Caucasians, but anyone from a Western country who can speak fluent English. Somehow, we are raised to think of ourselves as better than the rest of the world. The practice has been going on for so long that people barely resist. They’ve resigned themselves from thinking they even have the option of resisting, of saying no. It’s an ugly thing to watch. Hundreds of people who’ve lived their lives thinking they don’t have the power of saying no, and hundreds of people who continue to take away their voices. Why should an Asian woman automatically be seen as mysterious and exotic? Why should a random Asian person in an “ethnic community” automatically be seen as a prop to be used?

The point isn’t that these “ethnic communities” and Asian towns rely on tourism and the cash it brings, but the lack of respect that comes with the tourists and their cameras. Nowadays anything that’s advertised (cheap food, foreigners’ open air markets, Orientalism) is available. There’s no “false advertising” to lure in foreigners. Besides, the “foreigners” don’t need much cajoling or incentive to reinforce their sense of superiority, especially not when surrounded by things that seemingly prove the opposite, because the idea is that you can use your foreigner status to get away with things in the confines of an Asian country, of an “ethnic community”. The life of a tourist is a violent one. It’s exploitative and violating and violent. Everything is up for grabs in these places, and it’s all available to the rich guy with the camera. It’s a sick practice, with natives and their homes and culture up for grabs to please the desires of the tourist. Privacy laws in the U.S. are outdated. It’s time we updated them to include and acknowledge actions that should be denounced. Humans are not commodities. They are not objects of pornographic satisfaction. They are humans who have rights. To steamroll elders who are intimidated by the fancy gear, the English, is not okay. To take advantage of outdated laws to violate the innocence of minors is disgusting. To have no regard for these people’s right to privacy and use their stories and faces as nothing more than props in whatever selfish endeavor. To take away people’s status as humans and reduce them to mere cultural objects is cultural rape.

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n February 14, 2018, Brooklyn-born Peter Wang spent his last breath protecting his fellow classmates from the rampaging bullets of an AR-15 at Stoneman Douglas High School. When the news of the shooter spread throughout the school building, Peter Wang in his Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps uniform remained behind his classmates, holding open the classroom door in order to let everybody around him escape. His sacrifice and relentless courage saved the lives of his friends, classmates, teachers, and adult faculty members in what would become known as one of the world’s deadliest school shooting of all time. In just six minutes, he became one of the 17 victims of the Stoneman Douglass shooting. Six days later, on the day of his funeral, he was posthumously admitted to the United States Military Academy and, along with two other JROTC there, was awarded the Medal of Heroism. Peter was only 15 years old. I have never felt impacted this personally by a school shooting before. Even back in 2012, when the Sandy

By Haythi Ei

According to National Safety Council and National Center for Health Statistics, gun violence has become one of the leading causes of death in America, with each person having a 1 in 11,125 lifetime odd of being shot. An American is four times more likely to die from mass shooting than from foreign-born terrorists, or even from bus, train, streetcar, electricity, or heat wave. These growing statistics of mass-shootings and firearm incidents on-campus made me realized that these incidents could’ve been reduced, or even eliminated, if we had begun to regulate guns since our first mass school shooting, if we did not have easy access to firearms in the first place. Mental illness may be one of the causes behind the killing sprees, but it is not the excuse for lawmakers to not control and limit access of firearms to these individuals. It is no an excuse for them to send prayers every time a gun goes off on school grounds, for them to dismiss the cries of these survivors and families of the victims of mass shootings. Many may argue that obtaining a gun is hard enough

IT’S TIME TO STAND UP Hook Elementary School shooting occurred, I didn’t really understand how gun control laws work. Surrounded by friends who personally owned guns, my opinion of guns was formed based on that of those who owed hunting rifles and firearms. I had strongly held onto the firm belief that it is mental health that needs to be focused on, rather than gun control, since it was the mentally ill, those who came from troubled backgrounds, that were behind all the school shootings. Even if gun control laws were imposed, I had believed that they would be pointless and ineffective since, in my absurd logic, any school shooter still would have obtained other means to kill students such as knives or sharp pencils. Nothing, not even gun control, would stop these school killings and bad people from taking more innocent lives. Guns were not the issue. It’s the mentally ill. Or so I thought. As these school shootings became more frequent and reported more often in the media, I’ve become aware of my ignorant bias and unsupported view. Since Sandy Hook, there have been at least 239 school shootings nationwide today. Out of 438 people who were shot, including students and faculty, 138 were killed. On average, there have been about five school shootings each month.

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already, and people have to go through background checks anyway to obtain a single firearm. This may be true for some states but not all. In 33 states, private sellers are allowed to sell guns without requiring state or federal background checks. Although each state is different, there still exist many states with less regulation where you can purchase firearms quickly. Nobody is asking for a total expulsion of guns. We just want limited sale and more control over firearms as well as increased background checks (such as checking mental illness history) and banning automatic rifles which none of us use in our daily lives. Doing so will help reduce the rampant mass shootings in America that have become more common than ever. Only now after the death of Peter Wang, and countless others, have I realized the impact of guns on this land. This pains my heart and for the first time, I cried for these students. Close in age to them, these students could have been my classmates, my friends, someone’s children, or someone’s family. I hope there will come a day where no student would have to hold the door like Peter Wang did, and no students’ dreams and lives be taken from them.

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Yaeji’s introspective D style Yaeji’s Yaeji’s Yaeji’s Yaeji’s Photo by James Emmerman/Pitchfork.

uring her hour and a half live set in the small but heavily crowded venue in the Binghamton University underground, Yaeji created a bubbly dream where the crowd could move their bodies along to her music in sheer joy. Although she made very little interaction with the crowd during her performance, this New York-based singer, rapper, producer and DJ brought the lifeless winter campus to life with her hypnotic vocals (both in English and Korean) and beats on March 10 at the SAPB BUMP Presents. In the music video for a song called “Last Breath”, Yaeji sings in a dreamy, whispery voice in Korean while calmly applying makeup. But one look at the English translation of the lyrics, one will find that this is not just another makeup tutorial made by some unknown Korean girl in fast motion. Her high-energy club music, a hybrid of deep house and

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By Haoran Zhi

hip-hop, unpack interesting topics in an introspective way quite unexpectedly.

“Put the unexpected tomorrow on The back of your hands And spread it in a circular motion This product is called Depression and It stays on for 24 hours Take in a deep breath…” This is just an epitome of the topics found in Yaeji’s songwriting as well as Korean identity, anxiety, therapy, and the tyranny of makeup and skincare culture. She originally sang in Korean because she didn’t want people to know what she was actually talking about. This introspective aspect of her music could be traced back to her mobile upbringing. An article on how she finds community and home in NYC by Loud and Quiet writes, “An only child born in Queens, Yaeji moved around frequently during her childhood, first around New York City, then to Atlanta, and then back to Seoul. She attributes this move back to South Korea in part to her parents’ concern that she was speaking more and more English, becoming less Korean. In Seoul she switched between different international schools on an almost yearly basis. As a result, it was often difficult for Yaeji to settle in to any kind of community”. But Yaeji eventually made it back to the States, enrolling in Pittsburgh’s Carnegie Mellon University to study painting and conceptual art. It was there that she joined the college radio WRCT and was introduced to electronic music for the first time, picking up an interest in DJing on Ableton and producing tracks. An artist is a less known identity of Yaeji. Her official website gives out a unique sense of aesthetic full of letters in rustic capitals style typeface on a pink background. In an interview with Pitchfork, Yaeji tells about the inspirations for her lyrics which will probably resonates with a lot of people who are familiar with the city life, “Typically, the content for what I’m singing or rapping

about comes from a little notebook that I take notes in on the subway during my commutes. They’re more emotionally driven. Sometimes when you’re at events or in public, especially in New York, because you’re always around a lot of people, it can be easy [to] get into your personal zone, even though you’re surrounded.” She also tackles the underground electronic music and club culture she enjoys in her tight-knit Brooklyn community in her own way as she told Pitchfork: “I have a new song called “Raingurl” that’s the definition of introspection at the club. It’s all from these experiences where I think about the things my music is about, which includes being Korean and American, and therapy, and when people are depressed and how to get out of it. Making music, performing it, seeing it — it’s a vessel for a lot of different thoughts for me. At the same time, it’s about having a fun time. I’m going out with my friends and I love hanging out with them. It’s my favorite thing!” Now one could say she has genuinely found her community as she carries her weekly rituals with Japanese Curry in Brooklyn’s dance scene. She told Pitchfork that while living in New York over the last couple of years, she has cultivated a family of friends at events; “It started when she decided to make use of some Japanese curry cubes that her mom had sent her, and invited a few of her club-going pals to dinner. This intimate meet-up eventually became a weekly ritual called ‘Curry in No Hurry,’” where she served her favorite dish, and her guests, many of them fellow musicians, played her their new music.”

https://pitchfork.com/features/rising/meet-yaeji-house-musics-most-exciting-new-voice/ https://www.loudandquiet.com/interview/yaeji-visual-artist-house-musician-finally-findshome-new-york-city/

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The Phil

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llipine Drug War By Thomas Hur

familiar development Since his ascendance to power in June 2016, Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte has remained glued to his campaign promise to improve the wellbeing of his country’s citizens through strict enforcement of one of his domestic cornerstones: his own “War on Drugs.” The President has granted the Philippines’ police, also known as the Pambansang Pulisya ng Pilipinas , full autonomous jurisdiction in arresting potential perpetrators of “drug abuse”. Human Rights Watch reports that as the war approaches its second full year of existence, as many as 12,000 “drug suspects” have been killed and hundreds of human rights activists imprisoned. These aggressive actions have sparked international outrage: in September 2017, a coalition of 39 countries led by the United States, Canada and Australia publicly condemned Duterte for his violent actions against his own people. Despite this, Aljazeera reports that the Philippines president still enjoys immense support from his country, as evidenced by his approval rating sitting comfortably above 80 percent. How did it all begin? On May 9, 2016, presidential candidate Rodrigo Duterte handily won the national election, garnering 39 percent of the popular vote in a five-way race. He campaigned on a largely populist-socialist agenda, leaning to the left on prominent topics such as the economy and social issues like LGBTQ rights. However, his most distinguished promise that granted him the vote of the working class was his position on drug usage: drug abusers were major obstacles to economic and social progress in the Philippines. He cited his experience as mayor of Davao, one of the Philippines’ largest cities, and how under his ruthless and strict tenure, Davao City ranked the fifth safest city in the world according to the survey organization Numbeo. In his inauguration speech, Duterte drew controversy after stating that citizens should “go ahead and kill” drug addicts. In addition, he granted the Philippines National Police increased authority to go after any suspects for “drug addiction”. Many argue that it is the combination of these two factors that have led to an increase of extrajudicial killings, or murders committed by people (police or vigilantes) without legal authorization. In fact, new numbers signify that ever since Duterte became president, extrajudicial killings have multiplied twenty-fold. Numbers as recent as last month indicate that as many as 12,000 people have been killed and over 100,000 imprisoned.

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How bad is the drug problem, really? The above quote, spoken by Rodrigo Duterte in September 2016, has become notorious worldwide for its offense against the Holocaust. Since then, he’s issued an apology to the Jewish community for his words. Despite this, there lingers the validity of Duterte’s second statement, namely whether there really are three million drug users in the Philippines. If Duterte’s statement is correct, it would mean that about 3 percent of the entire nation consistently utilizes illegal drugs, a number surpassing neighbors Thailand and Indonesia, of which both are currently sitting at 1.8 percent. In reality, that number should be far lower. First, the Philippines Dangerous Drug Committee estimated as recently as 2015 that there were a total of 1.8 million drug users, and defined a “user” as someone who had used drugs at least once in the past year. This runs counter to Duterte’s claim that there are 3 million drug “abusers”, indicating that the number of true drug addicts should be far lower. The most pressing concern lies in the brutality of police and vigilante killings against these so called “drug addicts.” Over 100,000 people have already surrendered to the Pambansang Pulisya ng Pilipinas and have complied with drug tests and inspections. The violence, however, appears to have no end. An interview conducted by Human Rights Watch in March 2017 details the entrance of five armed

men into the home of Oliver Dela Cruz, who immediately surrendered with his hands above his head. Nevertheless, the men threw him against the wall, drawing blood, before finally shooting his defenseless self, crying and begging for mercy, in front of his entire family. In a similar scenario, 19-year-old Ogie Sumangue was found dead in his home, shot to death. Police showed his relatives his body and the .45 handgun discovered next to his corpse, much to his relatives’ dismay. Ogie Sumangue was a man that was nearly broke and could not even afford to pay his own rent (which was paid by his sister), much less afford a handgun. Public reaction Much like the rise of Trump, Duterte rose to power in large part due to public unrest over the direction the country was going, banking on a heavy populist sentiment against a chosen scapegoat: drug addicts. The citizens of the Philippines view drug abusers as the “scum of the earth” and as soulless human beings with no real benefit to the country. Duterte, through his harsh crackdown has already struck fear into the minds of millions in the country. Through his proposal, he has emerged as a “different, more bold” leader that can truly help the poor and middle class escape their struggle. International response Despite drawing comparisons to a genocide, international response to Duterte’s actions in the Philippines has been slow. Outside of the aforementioned statement issued

“Hitler massacred three million Jews… there’s three million drug addicts. There are. I’d be happy to slaughter them.” President Duterte, September 2016

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by the coalition of the 39 countries, not even the United Nations has taken meaningful action towards stopping the President’s reign of terror. Even when 53-year-old Jee IckJoo, a South Korean businessman, was killed, an apology by Duterte was enough to soothe the anger by the general public in South Korea. In response to other acts of international criticism, Duterte has expressed strong resentment to the opinions of others. In June 2016, the Philippines President called then-President Obama a “son of a whore” in response to his comments over the atrocity of the drug war. Additionally, in reply to the EU Parliament’s cry for restraint over his deadly crackdown, Duterte gave the bloc a vulgar middle finger salute in addition to his demand to be recognized as a legitimate president. All eyes have been on President Trump over how he would respond to the drug war in the Philippines. Yet Trump seems to sympathize with Duterte over his conduct. In November of 2017, Trump boasted of a “great relationship” with President Duterte and praised him for doing an “unbelievable job” in fighting illegal drug usage. These comments and Trump’s lack of action suggest that the United States president is unlikely to pursue any policy against the Philippines at this time. As of right now, Rodrigo Duterte has a rock-solid hold over his country. A combination of his high approval ratings and support in the government makes it immensely difficult for any sort of dissent to gain traction. This is

made even more difficult when Duterte’s personality is taken into account: his unwillingness to yield to foreign governments while remaining steadfast in his proposals is a trait the Filipino people find valuable in a leader. An option that could rationally lead to Duterte’s fall is if his policies fail to yield the substantial results that he has promised. As of right now, the Philippines President holds a supermajority in the 296-member Congress, in which he has just seven opposition members. But if people start to grow disillusioned with the progress that Duterte has promised, that supermajority could start to crumble. In October of last year, Rodrigo Duterte’s approval ratings tumbled by over 18 percent due to the deaths of two teenagers who were thought to be involved in the drug business. They rebounded two months later in large part to the liberation of Marawi from the holds of ISIS. There is no way for this kind of good news to constantly be available. If Duterte continues to make blunders over his targets, it is possible for the public to become disenchanted with his campaign and his supermajority to fall apart. However, another solution may soon be coming: in early March, the International Criminal Court began an investigation delving into the legality of the conditions of the Philippines. If President Rodrigo Duterte is indicted, brought to court, and found guilty, he will face prison time for crimes against humanity. Even if he is not convicted, his trial may be enough to cast serious doubt in the hearts of his Filipino followers.

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CONSCIENCE

Photo by Corinne Kutz on Unsplash

“IF YOU LOOK THE RIGHT WAY, YOU CAN SEE THAT THE WHOLE WORLD IS A GARDEN.” ― FRANCES HODGSON BURNETT

Photo by Dmitri Popov on Unsplash

To My Fellow Second Generation Asian Americans By Chloe Long

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Like many of you, I am “second generation” – the product of my parents’ sacrifice and dedication, the person subject to so many expectations and roles people want me to be. My parents want a straight A student with a college degree. Someone to preserve their culture and share their beliefs. The perfect child, bred to succeed, who never defies, and never questions. Must have quiet respect, be modestly dressed, constantly pleasing the elders and relatives, taking their advice and learning their language and then passing on all the lessons I’ve learned from them, striving to earn the respect I deserved from the start. Society also plays a part in this ubiquitous attack on my character, personality, telling me who I want to be… is not enough. All that matters is physicalities. “Woke up like this?” A fallacy! ‘Cause everybody knows that honestly beauty is tough. But it’s what everybody wants And it’s impossible to meet a beauty standard that agrees only with women that I see on the covers of magazines. It’s a lie, if I try, get lighter hair and bigger eyes that it’ll suffice because no matter what I do I won’t be white. The pressure from this I face with the pressure from home makes for a very confused mind with a contradictory fate because on one hand, I have to stick to tradition

and on the other I have to escape.

Either way, failure awaits. You can’t control the decisions people make or the choices they choose. The only things you can control are the things that you do. So do YOU, and be true to yourself. Be you, because that’s what beauty’s about.

Vol. XXXIV, Issue 2

By Ling-Ling Sally Bishop I’m a big ass ball of cultural confusion But all they tryna feed me is Asian fusion Left my motherland for some elevation But all they see is first generation They say “Ling-Ling Herro Are you one of these hoes? You’ll do anything just to be part of my world” I say Ring Ring “hell no Now you one of my foes I’ll do anything just to fuck up your world” Nah im just playin’ all my people know that Cuz they can walk all over us just like a mat Confucianism taught us to ignore all of that Turn the other cheek baby and don’t look back Go’on keep spitting at my face with no fucking facts Its funny cuz you think we still eat cats The only meal im eating is your racist ass Cuz i’m sick of being lesser so I’m ready for combat

These Asian morals from my fam taught me how to love To respect and revere all those above I come to this new land believing the same Only to realize we’re not all the same They see kindness they think weakness but its not the same As long as we dont fight back its all fair game But this younger generation is here to reclaim All in the honor of our family name They don’t understand us so we change our names Cuz apparently it’s also something to be ashamed Is my name white enough to be normal Brian? Cuz what you been calling me is making me cryin’ Doing my best to fit in you can see me tryin’ But im older now and see that all this lyin’ Is making me weaker so imma start fightin’ New land, new men just in time for puberty Im looking for some lovin’ cuz fuck purity Dolled up, lookin good but all Ma sees is vanity She said cover up girl your pussy ain’t charity In my mind I’m thinking this the land of the free Dragged my ass across the ocean so I’m here to take my piece This is what I call my liberation from the east But its breaking my parents hearts cuz they disagree

FOB RHYMES 22 ASIAN OUTLOOK

EAST WEST WORLD CONFUSION DAMSEL YELLOW FEVER ASIAN CONFUCIANISM BIGOTRY RACIST MY PIECE FIRST GENERATION FREE EQUAL CONFUSION FUSION ASHAMED LIBERATION CONFUSION HERE TO RECLAIM

I found a boy who tells me he loves me for me He think I’m cute and exotic and easy to please His yellow fever had put me underneath My oriental sweets stuck in his teeth I never knew on the menu I was a specialty But he was sipping my soul like I was Oolong tea

I’m more than just another collectible China So look closer before you enter my vagina Its shallow but my mind runs deeper than your history Think about that before you approach me with bigotry See I’m more than just your Asian damsel The only stress I got is to be an example For all my other young FOB asian people We all just deserve to be seen as an equal

So please take your shoes off when you enter my home If you don’t see why then go to fucking Rome Yea we come from the east if your trying to zone But if your looking at me then theres no other clone

I’M MORE THAN JUST ANOTHER COLLECTIBLE CHINA Vol. XXXIV, Issue 2

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