International Examiner January 8, 2014

CELEBRATING NEARLY 40 YEARS

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FREE EST. 1974 — SEATTLE VOLUME 41, NUMBER 1 — JANUARY 8, 2014 – JANUARY 14, 2014

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HONORING UNCLE FRED CORDOVA | 7 LUNAR NEW YEAR SHINES ON | 15

2 — January 8, 2014 – January 14, 2014

INTERNATIONAL EXAMINER

IE OPINION

Chinese Chamber calls for community support following fire The following is a statement from the Greater Seattle Chinese Chamber of Commerce regarding the fire at 665 S. King Street in Seattle’s International District on December 24, 2013: While we are waiting anxiously to learn the fate of the building by engineers’ inspection, we are thankful that there was no casualty from the fire. Our sympathy and concern go to all the people and businesses that are affected. Our Chamber office is housed on the ground floor of the building.

We would also like to express our heartfelt gratitude to Seattle firefighters and Seattle police who put out the fire and kept the residents free from dangers. We appreciate very much Mayor Ed Murray’s visit to the fire site.

His pledge of help from the City Hall is deeply appreciated.

Our community is strong and the Seattle Chinese Chamber will join hands with other community partners to help the recovery and rebuild efforts.

In the meantime, please come out and support the businesses and restaurants in this holiday time. Rich history and colorful cultures are part of the fabric that makes Chinatown/International District and Seattle unique and wonderful.

Members of the Greater Seattle Chinese Chamber of Commerce tried to salvage valuables from Chamber office days after the fire at 665 S. King St. • Courtesy Photos

The Greater Seattle Chinese Chamber of Commerce

IE STAFF

Established in 1974, the International Examiner is the only non-profit pan-Asian American media organization in the country. Named after the International District in Seattle, the “IE” strives to create awareness within and for our APA communities. 622 South Washington Street, Seattle, WA 98104. (206) 6243925. iexaminer@iexaminer.org.

IE BOARD OF DIRECTORS Gary Iwamoto, Vice President Arlene Oki Andy Yip ADVISOR Ron Chew DEVELOPMENT MANAGER Kathy Ho advertising@iexaminer.org

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CONTRIBUTORS Hannah Moon Christina Twu Maria Batayola Jane Wong Cynthia Rekdal Tamiko Nimura Cover Photo Credit: Ryan Catabay

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INTERNATIONAL EXAMINER

January 8, 2014 – January 14, 2014 — 3

IE OPINION

Living with untreated mental illness can lead to a lonely place

COMMUNITY VOICE

By Hannah Moon IE Contributor

Diane Narasaki speaks on API social justice, transportation

Narasaki

The following is a transcript of ACRS Executive Director Diane Narasaki’s question on transportation to Mayor Ed Murray at a luncheon on December 30, 2013 (Listen to the audio recording for Narasaki’s question and Murray’s response online at iexaminer.org): As you probably know, Asian Pacific Americans are the largest racial minority group in Seattle at about 15 percent of the population and also the fastest growing racial minority group in the nation. Over 60 percent of us are first generation immigrants or refugees, and a significant proportion of us don’t speak English as a first language. Despite the model minority stereotype as you know there’s also significant poverty in the community. We’re growing throughout the city but particularly in the [International District] and South Seattle.

Public transportation, especially bus transportation, is vital to us and is a civil rights issue. In South Seattle, light rail stops as you probably know are over a mile apart, and it’s difficult for limited English speakers to use this system. Unequal access to transportation that works for riders of color creates a discriminatory impact for us and makes it more difficult to get to school, to work, to health and social services, churches, temples, and families. This is why the curtailment and elimination of bus routes that are vital to our community like the route 42, which went from Skyway to Martin Luther King, Jr. Way to the ID and Downtown, is so significant to our community. It was ridden primarily by vulnerable riders of color, including Asians.

Just to give you an example, elders who used to take a half an hour to get to ACRS now face a three-hour round trip because they have to transfer to so many buses. [King County Metro Transit] is considering changes like the change to route 106, which would help solve the problems created by the elimination of route 42 and would go from Renton to Skyway to Martin Luther King, Jr. Way to the ID and Downtown as a one-seat ride.

As mayor, will you support public transportation prioritization and allocations with an eye to race and social equity and support solutions like the proposed route change to route 106? Will you ensure that the needs of our community’s most vulnerable are addressed not just through expensive light rail and trolley car solutions but also through bus transportation?

YOUR OPINION COUNTS Please share your concerns, your solutions, and your voices. Send a letter to the editor to editor@iexaminer.org with the subject line “Letter to the Editor.”

I remember the days when my brother Tom, who is bipolar, seemed “normal” to me. Photographs of him taken in Korea show him as a skinny, energetic kid, popular with the neighborhood boys. After we moved to America, he had a knack for making friends despite the language barrier. Groups of boys would come to our house to listen to music and play video games. Sometimes, there were girls, and pretty ones too. Deborah was almost as tall as Tom and had long, milkchocolate hair. One day, after school, I was surprised to find her alone with Tom in the living room. Sitting on the floor in front of the TV, she squealed as her yellow Pacman was cornered and eaten by a monster.

Decades later, Tom is living alone out of his car. Once he experienced what psychiatrists call an acutely manic phase—he was convinced that Deborah, now a lawyer in L.A. whom Tom hadn’t seen since high school, would marry him. He called her seven times in one hour. I had to intervene and assure Deborah that Tom would not show up at her door, that the romance was all in his head.

Over the last decade or so, my brother lost all of his friends as his condition worsened. Severe mood swings and bouts of irrational behavior make it a challenge for him to maintain personal and professional relationships. According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, 90 percent of marriages involving a person with bipolar disorder end in divorce.

Now middle-aged and living in the Midwest, my brother has no wife, girlfriend, or even an acquaintance he could meet for coffee. He is the man sitting all by himself at a restaurant on a Saturday night.

I do not know what to say to him on holidays.

“Merry Christmas” seems inappropriate,

because I know that most likely, he’ll spend the day alone in front of the television, or at a bar, drinking amongst strangers.

Having watched Tom live his life alone, I’m convinced that loneliness in itself is a disease.

Dozens of studies have shown that people who have satisfying relationships with family, friends, and their community are happier, have fewer health problems, and live longer.

It makes me very sad that my brother and I live vastly different lives. I have great friends, I have had success in my career, and I am healthy. This is not to say that my life is perfect—like everybody, I have my own problems, and I sometimes feel confused and insecure. But whenever I feel down, I think to myself that what I’m feeling must be miniscule to the stultifying loneliness my brother has experienced. I may not have everything I desire, but I have everything in order to live a happy life.

So it is with gratitude for the abundance in my own life that I offer my brother an airline ticket and an invitation to spend the holidays with me. “We could go skiing,” I say, remembering that he loved to ski when he was a teenager.

He had even gone skiing once with Deborah. “Or we could fly to Hawaii, and be on the beach for a week.”

Wouldn’t he like that?

But Tom tells me that I should spend time with my husband, whom I separated from a year ago. “Work on your marriage,” he said.

“That’s more important.” It warms me that despite all his problems, my brother thinks of my own well-being. That kind of empathy is the trait of someone who deserves to be surrounded by friends.

Hannah Moon is a Korean American writer who is working on a book about how mental illness has affected her family. The names of the people mentioned in this article have been changed.

API Mental Health Findings • According to the American Psychiatric Association, the main obstacles to mental health treatment for Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders are economic barriers, lack of awareness about mental health issues and services, and stigma associated with mental illness.

• Non-English speaking APIs have significantly lower odds of receiving needed mental health services than APIs who speak only English, according to the 2007 study “Access to Mental Health Treatment by English Language Proficiency and Race/Ethnicity.”

• Among APIs who do use mental health services, problems tend to be more severe, possibly because of delay in seeking treatment until symptoms are more severe, according to a 2006 study on Asian American Mental Health in the Monitor on Psychology.

4 — January 8, 2014 – January 14, 2014

INTERNATIONAL EXAMINER

IE OPINION LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Mayor Lee brings good business to Bellevue We believe Mayor Conrad Lee should continue to be Bellevue’s Mayor. Mayor Lee’s active promotion of Bellevue as a growing business hub to the international community has greatly expanded Bellevue’s visibility to investors worldwide. He has tirelessly worked to bring businesses and investments to Bellevue, our region, and our state. Prominent examples would be his signing of major business agreements with Chinese companies, such as his agreement with Beijing Construction and Engineering Group International, signed during the recent Washington State trade mission to China, and his interview with the Wall Street Journal to promote the City of Bellevue. Earlier this year, Mayor Lee attended the BoAo Asian Forum, an economic forum held in Hainan, China, with hundreds of world leaders. This has promoted interest in Bellevue, Seattle, and Washington state as a whole in businesses based overseas.

Even before the economic fallout in 2008, Mayor Lee has recognized the importance of promoting Bellevue’s relations with the fastgrowing Asian business sector. He recognized the importance of bringing in revenue from international communities to boost Bellevue’s economic reserves. What better method than to approach China and other Asian countries with a sound investment opportunity? Invest in Bellevue, a leading city in technology and business.

Now, as Bellevue and the rest of the world are beginning to move out of the economic recession, Mayor Lee is looking forward yet again. Instead of being used to weather an economic storm, international investments can now be used to boost city productivity and expand city resources. As the world economy rebounds, hundreds of opportunities for investing will open up in the next few years.

Mayor Lee recognizes that timing is crucial.

In fact, Mayor Lee understands that now is the most important time for honing in on Bellevue’s status as a dream city for investors.

If Mayor Lee is not reelected as Mayor, then Bellevue may lose billions of revenue from investments in the region. More importantly, all that our city has accomplished in economic development and international outreach these

Lee

past two years may lose steam as investors turn elsewhere for opportunities.

As a Mayor of Chinese descent, Mayor Lee has the ability to reach out to Chinese business leaders in a manner unmatchable by other leaders. He has worked relentlessly to promote Bellevue regionally, nationally, and globally as a leading city in innovation and growth. He will bring strong, international businesses to Bellevue—the key to Bellevue’s continued growth. But he needs time. Another term as Mayor of Bellevue will grant him, and us, the time to boost Bellevue’s economic vitality and strengthen our city’s image as a world-class economic hub.

Yi Ping Chan Principal of Chanden Inc. Washington State Timothy Lee Founding Chairman Bellevue Chinese Chamber of Commerce

Fire is a common concern in the ID due to the many old structures. Here, firefighters cool off after battling a blaze at the Four Seas Restaurant at 7th and S. King Street in 1990. • Photo by Dean Wong

Dr. Christopher S. Own CEO, Voxa

ZhaoHui Tang Chairman AdSage Corporation

James Wong Founder / CEO Avidian Technologies Prophet – CRM Simplified with Outlook

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INTERNATIONAL EXAMINER

January 8, 2014 – January 14, 2014 — 5

IE NEWS

New director: Jill Mangaliman steps up in Got Green leadership role

By Christina Twu IE Contributor

“I never imagined having this opportunity,” Mangaliman said. “I thought I was going to be an organizer forever. This is my contribution, my way of stepping up.”

Learning from veteran organizers like Woo who have decades of experience under their belt, Mangaliman is in it for As director of Got Green, she is also the long haul. looking forward to everyone on staff “Michael is a legacy,” she said. “To win taking advantage of the opportunity to racial and gender equity on a system level contribute more.

—that’s a 40, 50-year fight. I do want to

After six months of planning and transition, Got Green Director Michael Woo has officially passed the baton to Jill Mangaliman as she steps into her role as the organization’s new director.

Mangaliman previously served as Got Green’s lead community organizer.

“In the last six months, Jill’s already been leading the organization, taking on media relations, communications, and other new challenges,” said Woo, a veteran labor organizer who recognized Mangaliman’s potential in taking over the organization as early as 2009.

Got Green, a Seattle-based organization under the umbrella of the White Center Community Development Association (CDA), formed in 2008. The organization’s mission is to level the playing field among low-income communities and communities of color for jobs and meaningful participation in the green economy emerging out of the Great Recession.

work, and I want to be able to do it for a long time.”

Mangaliman

“Even though I am stepping up, I am keep him along as much as we can.” learning how to step back and just let other With retirement on the horizon, Woo is people lead,” she said. proud of the time invested in leaders like With a tremendous body of advocacy Mangaliman. work and long road ahead in pursuing “Five years later, who would have justice and equity through all of Got thought we would have had a grassroots Green’s campaigns, Mangaliman intends organization that has evolved the second to invest in the internal health of the wave of leaders that have developed their organization. own organizational priorities to make us

“Something that I value a lot is … making good organizers have. It was clear that within Got Green, she was the one that sure organizers don’t burn out,” she said. clearly had the most potential.”

This includes herself.

That year, Woo recruited her to lead “I feel like I am unlearning some habits canvassing efforts for Switch Project, of how we are supposed to work because a joint effort between Got Green and I am surrounded by so many supportive the city of Seattle offering residents people,” she said. “I really care about this Got Green’s community organizing weatherization services and resources and efforts, leadership development, and installing green light bulbs in peoples’ public policy advocacy have led to the houses. protection of the “Fresh Bucks” Program “Jill was exceptional because of the kind that matches every $10 in food stamps of work that we were doing,” said Woo. with $10 in Farmer’s Market produce. This “You had to be willing to engage the resident year, Got Green has also preserved critical and be able to talk. And because she was city funding for youth apprenticeship and a canvasser, she had that natural talent. … employment programs and forged the At the end of 2009, she was someone that I passing of Seattle’s first targeted local hire wanted to do more leadership development initiative.

IE News Services and organizing with.”

Woo said he will continue to lead efforts OCA-Greater Seattle is welcoming By 2010, Mangaliman had demonstrated the community to the 2014 Golden Circle to see Seattle’s local hire initiative through solid leadership on Got Green’s “Women in Awards and Lunar New Year Banquet on implementation into the next couple of the Green Economy” program committee, February 8 from 6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at years or however long it takes. He stressed “helping newer activists and grassroots Joy Palace Restaurant. the importance of “intentionally trying to leaders find their voice,” said Woo. Golden Circle awardees include Bettie pass on leadership to younger leaders.”

Mangaliman invested in the leadership Luke, International District Emergency “That’s what we do with leaders like Center (Donnie Chin), and the Seattle Chiof many grassroots organizers during this Jill,” he said. “And she’ll take us and lead us natown International District Preservation time, including Got Green’s current staff in a new direction. … What we tried to do and Development Authority. A Special program organizer Tammy Nguyen. In with Jill is pave a pathway for her that was Achievement Award will be given to Joyce 2011, Mangaliman joined the board, and forward-thinking, was directional, but also Pisanont. from there, deeper involvement with the would allow her to lead in her own way. I OCA was founded in 1973 with a vision organization was inevitable. Last April, think people give Michael Woo too much of uniting Chinese Americans across the she officially joined Got Green’s staff as a credit for Got Green because in reality, United States into one representative voice. lead organizer. it’s always been a team effort, and Jill Today, OCA has transformed into a national “My heart was with Got Green from the organization dedicated to advancing the will always have a team behind her that is social, political, and economic well-being confident in her ability to lead. …We have beginning,” Mangaliman said. “Got Green of Asian Pacific Americans in the United is a place where I can be my full self, be all the confidence in the world for Jill.”

States. supported and be a leader.”

Mangaliman first came on board with From April through the end of 2013, Got Green in the winter of 2009 while working as a campaign organizer for she has been a director-in-training with Washington Community Action Network the organization, thanks to a thoughtful and well-executed leadership transition (WA-CAN). plan consulted by longtime activist Wendy “I recognized her contribution in Watanabe. Thanks to the thinking and rebuilding a network of organizations that sources that went into the six-month-long were part of a ‘Color of Cuts’ report,” transition, Mangaliman moved into her Woo remembers. “That report wouldn’t role smoothly, taking on nonprofit manhave been as good as it was if it weren’t for agement, fundraising, human resources, Jill. … She built or had those relationships and budgeting. with organizations on the ground and Though she is a little sheepish had those relationships with not just the leaders of the organizations, but their about being the face of Got Green and constituents. To be able to extract the representing the organization in a more stories and the data—I mean, that was all authoritative capacity, she is proud of her Jill. … Those are all the kinds of strategies team’s work and grateful for their support and tactics and methods of reporting that and faith in her as a leader.

a prominent organization when it comes to voices from communities of color and low-income communities?” he said. “Five years later, I am proud to have been part of an organization that I think is relevant and will be around for a long time because of the infrastructure that we built, because of the leadership that’s in place.”

ANNOUNCEMENT

OCA-Greater Seattle’s Golden Circle Awards, Lunar New Year Banquet on the horizon OCA is not-for-profit, non-partisan organization representing over 10,000 people nationally, including affiliates, college affiliates, Young OCA, OCA Young Professionals, and general membership.

To RSVP for the 2014 Golden Circle Awards and Lunar New Year Banquet, visit www.bit. do/GCA2014 and mail a check payable to OCA-Greater Seattle to: OCA-Greater Seattle, P.O. Box 14141, Seattle, WA 98114.

For more information, visit ocaseattle.org.

2014 Golden Circle Awards and Lunar New Year Banquet February 8 from 6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

Joy Palace Restaurant 6030 MLK Jr., Way South Seattle, WA 98118

OCA members: $30, non-OCA members: $50, students: $25

6 — January 8, 2014 – January 14, 2014

INTERNATIONAL EXAMINER

IE NEWS

Seattle Mayor Ed Murray addresses API, neighborhood concerns per year on wages. The result might be a loss of jobs and poorer quality health care.

By Travis Quezon Editor-in-Chief

“I think we can agree that the disparity between the wealthy and those at the bottom end has grown larger than any time in our history,” Murray said. “And that is not a good thing for our middle class because if people are not making a livable middle class wage, then they are not going to Uwajimaya, they are not buying a microwave or a TV set and the economy doesn’t grow.”

Seattle Mayor Ed Murray met with Asian and Pacific Islander community leaders over lunch at New Hong Kong Restaurant in the International District on Monday, December 30.

The luncheon was organized by the Northwest Asian Weekly.

Following lunch, Murray answered questions from community leaders about API concerns and neighborhood issues. His responses were attuned to his message that the city needs to embrace and utilize the full potential of its diversity. Murray also acknowledged that API voices needed more representation in government and decision-making.

EDUCATION

On the topic of education, Murray said it was time to go back to the drawing board.

Alan Sugiyama, executive director of the Executive Development Institute, asked Murray how he would improve the city’s public education system.

“Our school district does some great things, but our graduation rates are not what they should be, particularly among minority groups, particularly among immigrants and among the poor,” Murray said. “The graduation rates are as low as 50 percent in some of those communities.

To me that’s unacceptable and I don’t believe the city government can just stand aside and say that’s the school district’s responsibility.”

Murray said he will engage with the school district, the university system, and the community college system in discussions to “reinvent” the city’s school system.

“Seattle should be a model of urban education,” Murray said. “Our school district should be supplying the jobs that Amazon is creating by the thousands downtown. But we’re not.”

CULTURAL PRESERVATION, TRANSPORTATION

Maiko Winkler Chen, executive director of the Seattle Chinatown/International Preservation and Development Authority, asked Murray how the city will maintain the cultural heritage of the International District neighborhood as it promotes development.

“One of the things I think that’s happened under the last two administrations is there’s been less control by the neighborhoods in determining the character of the neighborhoods as growth happens,” Murray said.

Neighborhoods need to have a greater level of control over the changes that are made, Murray explained. He also said the city needs to look into its zoning codes and correct what hasn’t been working for Seattle’s neighborhoods.

Ron Chew, executive director of the International Community Health Services Foundation, asked Murray if he supported any investments in rebuilding the International District’s infrastructure, as highlighted by the neighborhood’s recent fire. Chew also asked the mayor if he had any plans to address the effects of the First Hill Streetcar construction.

“I think the city has an interest right now [in preserving the neighborhood’s historic buildings], granted they’re in private hands and there are issues about how you can use public money,” Murray said. “But I think we have to develop a way to utilize public money to assist the landowners in preserving the historic nature of those buildings, to deal with some of the seismic work, some of the issues around water damage.”

File Photo

Murray called for the city to partner with state officials to develop capital budget funds for historic preservation.

“Chinatown/International District is one of the reasons people visit Seattle. It’s part of our economy,” Murray said.

He said that the problems caused by the First Hill Streetcar construction are a symptom of bad planning. Seattle needs to plan transportation in a way that integrates its effects on a neighborhood level, Murray explained.

“Reforming our police department along the lines of what the justice department has required is key to getting us to where we need to be,” Murray said. “That means a different approach to policing. That means police more on the beat and out of their cars. It means police who have the training to deal with use of force that they currently don’t have. It means changing how we recruit our police officers. … We need to do more to encourage people in this city to become police officers.”

Murray suggested bringing back a cadet “We have to develop a transportation plan program to encourage young people to joining that is integrated in the plan of the neighborhood the police force. that works with the pedestrian character or “We can do all sorts of community processes, retail character of the neighborhoods,” Murray said. “I think that’s one of the things you’ll see but the only way to improve relationships as we look for a new transportation director of between any community and the police force is to have that police force look like and come the city of Seattle.” from those communities,” Murray said.

Diane Narasaki, executive director of the Asian Counseling and Referral Service, asked: THE ENVIRONMENT “As mayor, will you support public transportation Sudha Nandagopal, a board member with prioritization and allocations with an eye to race One America Votes, told Murray that people of and social equity and support solutions like the proposed route change to [route] 106. Will color are often left out of the conversation when you ensure that the needs of our community’s it comes to climate change and the environment. most vulnerable are addressed not just through “As you know, Seattle has been a leader on expensive light rail and trolley car solutions but climate change policy and really setting the also through bus transportation?” tone nationally around what cities can do about “You touch on a very complicated issue,” climate change,” Nandagopal said. “But despite Murray responded. “Folks often don’t think the fact that communities of color and API about transportation as a social justice issue, so communities are disproportionately impacted by the effects of climate change, we have largely I’m glad you framed it that way.” been left out of the conversations here in Seattle Murray said transportation planners in the about policy solutions as well as adaptation.” past have been fixated on just the mode of Nandagopal asked Murray how he would transportation. He said that planners need to ask the question, “What is the most efficient way to engage the API community. move people through a corridor so that people Murray acknowledged that environmental orcan get to work, or to their job, or to a medical ganizations and their leaders are predominantly appointment.” white. Murray said he will be leading an initiaMurray said he will be working with the tive through the Office of Sustainability and legislature to identify more transportation money. the Environment to develop talent on environmental issues within Seattle’s communities so “The buses can’t go away simply because that there will be more opportunities to include we’re getting light rail,” Murray said. “We people of color. need to look at the most efficient way and not “One of the commitments that I have necessarily the flavor of the moment.” gotten from the environmental community is that we are going to change the face of the PUBLIC SAFETY environmental community in Seattle and it is Elaine Ikoma Ko, executive director of going to look like the city of Seattle and not just the North American Post Foundation, asked part of the city of Seattle,” Murray said.

Murray if there were opportunities to improve relations between the API community and the LIVABLE WAGES Seattle Police Department.

Tomio Moriguchi, chairman of the board of Murray said his first priority is to complete Uwajimaya, Inc., spoke to Murray about concerns the nationwide search for a new police chief. On over raising the minimum wage to $15. a recent trip to Washington D.C., Murray said “This is a subject that requires a lot of he asked President Barack Obama to have the U.S. Department of Justice work closely with coordination and a lot of thinking through,” Seattle to address things like bias policing and Moriguchi said. use of force.

While he is in support of employers providing The federal government entered into a good wages, Moriguchi said he is concerned comprehensive, cooperative agreement with about the impact that a $15 minimum wage the city of Seattle to implement reforms within would have on nursing homes, which have the Seattle Police Department in 2012 after an employees who earn just under $15. Despite the investigation found that the department engaged small difference, he said a change in the wage could have a nursing home paying much more in a pattern or practice of excessive force.

However, Murray agreed that there were a lot of details to work out, such as whether a minimum wage change would take place over a period of time or all at once, and whether small businesses should be exempt.

“Simply going to a certain number could wreak havoc on the economy,” Murray said.

The road to addressing Seattle’s minimum wage is a tricky one, Murray explained, as one wrong turn could set up a costly war between businesses and labor activists.

“This is what is going to happen if my process fails, someone’s going to put it on the ballot and labor and business are going to spend a massive amount of money to either pass it or defeat it,” Murray said. “It will divide us as a city. And business should spend their money on creating jobs and labor should spend their money on helping workers. So that’s why I put this process together to hopefully prevent a battle in November.”

THE ROAD TO MAYOR

Murray campaigned on creating a “middle out” economy for Seattle that grows from a strong middle class. A key component for that effort, Murray said, would be in leading dialogue over raising the city’s minimum wage to $15.

In December, Murray created the Income Inequality Advisory Committee charged with “delivering an actionable set of recommendations for increasing minimum wage in the city of Seattle.” The committee is comprised of leaders in business and labor, members of the City Council, and other community stakeholders.

Recently elected Councilmember Kshama Sawant, who corner-stoned her campaign on the $15 minimum wage is also on the advisory committee. She has agreed to hold off on putting a measure on the ballot, temporarily averting the wage war. President Obama recently announced that raising the federal minimum wage will be part of his agenda.

On January 3, Murray signed the first Executive Order of his new administration that sets in motion a plan to raise the minimum wage of all city workers to $15 an hour.

Last month, Murray named Hyeok Kim, who was in attendance at the luncheon, as his deputy mayor for external affairs. Kim is outgoing executive director of Interim Community Development Association in the Chinatown/ International District. Her role will be to communicate with Seattle communities on behalf of the mayor.

In the 2013 elections, International District and southeast Seattle voters supported outgoing Mayor Mike McGinn over Murray, according to a Seattle Times analysis of precinct vote returns.

Prior to being elected mayor, Murray served 11 years in the Washington State House of Representatives and seven years in the State Senate. He has also been a key figure in the fight for marriage equality in the state. Murray married his long-time partner Michael Shiosaki earlier this year. Shiosaki, the Seattle Parks Director of Planning, also attended the luncheon.

INTERNATIONAL EXAMINER

January 8, 2014 – January 14, 2014 — 7

IE COMMUNITY

Dr. ‘Uncle’ Fred Cordova, an American Hero

By Maria Batayola IE Guest Contributor

National Archives, establishing the facility affectionately called the “Catacombs” in 1987.

FANHS grew across the nation punctuated with As Asian Americans, we have come a biennial national conferences. It now has 30 long way with some to go. We stand on the chapters including Alaska and Hawai‘i spawning shoulders of our heroes, who paved the way numerous research projects, displays, educational and confronted racism for our benefit. Here is materials, books and publications. one giant who made national and international In 1983, he wrote the book Filipinos: The waves, impacting countless lives.

Forgotten Asian Americans. For the first time, Dr. Fred Cordova’s life journey reflected this seminal pictorial essay gave a sweeping his strong family, economic and social justice, overview of Filipino immigration and status and spiritual values. A charismatic and highly covering the period from 1763 to 1982. Uncle intelligent Visayan with a passionate streak Fred in his countless talks and presentations and gentle sense of humor, together with his would succinctly describe the Filipino collaborator and wife Dr. “Auntie” Dorothy American experience as being a “minority Cordova, they prompted the Filipino American (people of color in America) within a minority identity movement that spurred countless (Asian) within a minority (Catholic).” The Filipino American leaders and writers. highly controversial and debated book got the A father of nine children and a highy Asian American movement to pay attention to successful full time professional and manager the differences in experience, challenges, and during tough racial times, Cordova earned the needs of Filipino Americans. distinction of becoming venerable because of This new understanding of Filipino his volunteer unpaid community work.

Americans positively impacted interAffectionately and respectfully called “Uncle,” community and mainstream dialogue resulting in 1957, Uncle Fred co-founded the Filipino in a new found respect and support for our Youth Activities of Seattle to educate Filipino realities, challenges, and needs. It also made immigrant and American-born youth about us Filipino Americans aware of our own one’s culture; inculcating pride, community, and colonial “little brown brother” mentality excellence while inoculating the youth against inherited from being a USA commonwealth the racist propaganda that minorities are inferior. nation and its impact on the reclamation of our In 1982, he was founding president of the authentic identity.

Filipino American National Historical Society Besides being an intellectual, teacher, and (FANHS), creating and managing the FANHS mentor, Uncle Fred was an extremely active

“Uncle” Fred makes ready Filipino American materials for archiving. • Photo by Isabelle Batayola

advocate for economic and racial justice in the region as well as in the Catholic Church.

His sentiments are captured in the Seattle Civil Rights and Labor History Project.

Paraphrased: Not everybody has to be heroes, not everybody has to be famous … our stories are in our people—in ourselves as people … not just in our accomplishments.

This past September, we worked on the combined events poster for the October 2014 Filipino American History Month. With a smile, Uncle Fred suggested that the theme be Uncle Deacon Dr. Frederick A. Cordova’s “Celebrating 425 years of Filipino American Contributions.” He has been working on a 400- story is both. page manuscript entitled “Filipino Americans Maria Batayola is a long time community 425 Years: From Dried Mangos to Sour Milk activist, cultural advocate and FANHS and Sweet Honey.” “Epoch One” covers 1587 National Office volunteer. to 1762.

Frederic A. Cordova (1931-2013) Frederic A. Cordova, 82, passed peacefully on Dec. 21, 2013. Born June 3, 1931 in Selma, CA to Margarita Pilar and Geraldo Umali, Fred considered Stockton, CA his hometown although as a child he lived in numerous California farm areas because his adoptive parents Leoncio and Lucia Cordova contracted migrant farm laborers. In 1948, he moved to Seattle to attend Seattle University. After graduation Fred was a copy boy/reporter/editorial secretary at the Seattle Post Intelligencer and sports editor at the Catholic Northwest Progress. In 1966, he became Director of Public Information at Seattle University and in 1974 Manager of News and Information at the University until he retired in 2000.

In 1957 Fred co-founded the Filipino Youth Activities of Seattle and created the awardwinning FYA Drill Team. In 1982 he was founding president of the Filipino American National Historical Society (FANHS) creating its National Archives. For over 50 years he reached out to and mentored thousands of young people. During the turbulent 1960s and 1970s, Fred was an outspoken advocate for economic justice, racial equality, and ethnic identity. He was the weekly commentator on issues important to community of color for KYAC-FM Radio’s “Dark Voices” series.

For 12 years he was an affiliate associate professor at the University of Washington teaching Filipino American history and culture. In 1998 Fred received an honorary doctorate from Seattle University for lifetime achievements in research, writing, and promoting Filipino American history and community work. He started the national effort to make October Filipino American History Month.

A devout Catholic, Fred served the Immaculate Conception parish for 50 years. In 2003, he was ordained Deacon of the Archdiocese of Seattle. Despite failing health, he created the San Pedro Colungsod Guild and led efforts to propose a national shrine at Immaculate Conception for the Filipino saint.

Fred was a devoted husband, proud of his family, committed to the community. Survived

by Dorothy, loving wife of 60 years; eight children Anthony, Damian (Judy), Timoteo, Cecilia (Jay), Margarita, Dominic, Dion, and Bibiana (Alfonzo); 17 grandchildren and 8 greatgrandchildren. He was pre-deceased by sisters Feling, Catherine, Pauline, and brother Sam. Survived by brothers Don Bilar, Phil Ventura and Ernie Balucas, and a large extended family.

Viewing at Bonney-Watson, 1732 Broadway, Thursday, January 9 from 1:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. and Friday from noon to 4:00 p.m. Rosary and Vigil Service at Immaculate Conception Church on Friday, January 10 at 7:00 p.m. Funeral Mass on Saturday January 11 at Immaculate Conception Church at 10:00 a.m. Interment at Calvary Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to FANHS 810 18TH Ave. or Immaculate Conception Church, 820 18th Ave., both Seattle, WA 98122. See more at: http://www.legacy. com/obituaries/seattletimes/obituary.aspx?n=frederic-a-cordova&pid=168927585&fhid=234 29#sthash.6fMVGusz.dpuf

8 — January 8, 2014 – January 14, 2014

INTERNATIONAL EXAMINER

IE COMMUNITY

665 S. King St. fire: Salvaging the past, rising from the debris

By Travis Quezon IE Editor-in-Chief It’s 3:30 p.m. on Tuesday, December 24—Christmas Eve in the International District. Steve Wu, owner of Palace Décor and Gifts, is making the last preparations in his store before the holidays. He heads down into the basement to restock the shelves. The basement is where he stores a large cache of imported toys from Asia.

Palace Décor and Gifts is one of the biggest imported toy stores in the area, supported in part by an active Transformers collectible community throughout Seattle.

In the basement, Wu notices a charred smell. The neighborhood’s network of old underground tunnels has brought strange smells down there before. He thinks Won Hei Bakery next door might have simply burned something in one of its basement ovens. Wu heads home to get ready for holiday festivities with his family.

At 3:57 p.m., multiple 911 calls report flames coming from the roof of the building located at 665 S. King St. Before arriving, responding engines report a large column of black smoke coming from the old building. It’s suspected that the fire began in the vacant apartments that made up the second and third floors of the threestory building.

The building is owned by the Woo family. Street level tenants included

Palace Décor and Gifts, Mon Hei Bakery, the Chinese Chamber of Commerce, Yuan Sheng Hang herbal shop, Sea Garden Seafood Restaurant, Pacific International Co., Seattle Gospel Center Bookroom, and Liem’s Pet Shop.

Just after 4:00 p.m., Wu arrives home and hears that there is a fire in the 665 S. King St. building. He rushes back to the building but isn’t able to get within a block of it. Emergency vehicles have sealed the area. Due to signs that the building walls could potentially collapse, Firefighters shut down South King Street between Maynard Avenue South and 7th Avenue South. Residents living in two apartment complexes located directly across the alley and west of the building are evacuated.

Firefighters battle the flames using several 1,000 gallon-a-minute ladder pipes along with multiple hose lines.

The fire is declared under control at 10:23 p.m. Firefighters continue to pump water into the building until about 4:00 a.m. on Christmas morning.

There are no reported injuries due to the fire.

Weeks later, the building remains sealed off from the rest of the International District neighborhood.

Fire investigators are not able to complete their investigation due to the structural damage and risk of the building’s collapse.

SALVAGING THE PAST For business owners affected by the fire at 665 S. King Street, the damage to their livelihoods has been devastating. Business owners are going through financial procedures with their insurance companies before they determine if and how they will open up shop again. But the real devastation comes to business owners and their families through the loss of their generations-old memories in the building, and their connections to the neighborhood.

On Friday, December 27, business owners were allowed to re-enter their stores for a short period of time to gather what they could. Because Wu’s store was located on a western corner of the building, an area that posed the greatest risk of collapse due to water damage, he was given only five minutes to be inside his store.

“Five minutes is not a lot of time,” Wu said. “I really went in and tried to just assess the damage. There was so much debris everywhere. The ceiling tiles had fallen. There was so much debris, I couldn’t get to the basement.”

Wu said he is still in the process of dealing with his insurance company and hasn’t made any concrete plans yet for the future of Palace Décor and Gifts.

“Our ultimate goal is we want to restart and rebuild our business here,” Wu said. “My family and I will discuss

what we can do. It’s only been a week and it’s still settling in.”

Wu’s memories of the building go beyond the 20 years his business has operated out of there. He said the site of his store used to be a newspaper stand and grocery store where he would buy snacks and comic books as a child.

Wu said the store provided him a way to connect to the community and stay active with his own language and heritage.

“When we moved in there, this was a way that allowed us to share the Chinese and Asian culture with everyone,” Wu said. “For me it’s been an honor and a pleasure. It’s allowed me to connect with my culture. Working at that gift shop allowed me to continue to use Cantonese so I don’t lose it.”

The weekend after the fire was the first weekend in 15 years that he wasn’t in the store working, Wu said.

RISING FROM THE DEBRIS Also located on the western corner of the building deemed most at risk was Mon Hei Bakery—where it’s been for over 30 years. Mon Hei Bakery established itself as the first Chinese bakery in Seattle in 1979.

Aaron Chan, whose family runs the bakery, said they were initially given only five minutes to retrieve what they could from the bakery. It wouldn’t have been enough time get three wooden plaques in the shape of a phoenix, a

INTERNATIONAL EXAMINER

January 8, 2014 – January 14, 2014 — 9

IE COMMUNITY

Firefighters fight to control the fire on Christmas Eve. • Photo by Greg Bucklin

dragon, and a business crest that were bolted to the wall. The plaques held great sentimental value to his family, Chan said. His grandfather put the plaques up when he opened the bakery in 1979. Chan said he corresponded with city officials, who agreed that the plaques were historic artifacts.

When the time came to reenter the bakery on the Friday after the fire, the fire marshall gave them a full hour to go back into the bakery.

“It was a blessing in disguise,” Chan said of the unexpected extra time.

Upon entering the bakery at street level, Chan said there was major water damage and the ceiling tiles had fallen.

He was not able to enter the basement, which was flooded and posed an electrical hazard. All the baking was done in the basement, where they housed their mixers, ovens, and stoves.

Chan was, however, able to salvage the plaques in time.

Chan said the rebuilding process has been particularly tough for his parents, who currently run the store.

“They’re tired and exhausted,” Chan said. “That’s all my parents know what to do is be bakers. Now, going out, what can you do?”

Chan said his family is currently looking at the possibility of opening up another storefront in Chinatown, but that it’s going to cost them about $200,000 or more to start over.

“Hopefully, they’re able to start over again, and in the process we might need some community support in one way or another,” Chan said.

For the community, the Chinese bakery represents something that can’t be quantified in numbers, Chan explained. He pointed to the year 2000, when about a hundred people demonstrated outside the downtown Seattle McDonald’s to

protest efforts to bring the fast food chain into the International District.

He said protesters fighting to protect the neighborhood’s cultural identity carried signs that said “Hum Bows, not hamburgers.”

“Ethnically, people come to Chinatown because this is where people can call home,” Chan said. “It’s a place where Asian people can be a part of the community. It shows how important a simple institution like a bakery can be to the community.”

It’s a notion that rings true particularly for those who have grown up in the neighborhood. Seattle photographer and journalist Dean Wong shared his memories of the 665 S King St. building.

“The old buildings in Chinatown are more than just brick and mortar,” Wong said. “They represent the history of the community through the people that have lived there, early immigrants who helped establish the community.

When I was growing up in Chinatown in the 1960s, I frequented the Palace Pool Room right at the corner of King Street and Maynard Avenue. They had a great selection of comic books and generations of Chinatown kids would sit there reading for hours. There was a gambling joint mid-block. My mother sent me to the store on the corner to buy groceries and I had friends who lived in the upper floors of the building.”

The Seattle Fire Department has since turned the building over to the Woo family, who has had to erect fencing and build scaffolding on the King Street and Maynard Alley side to protect pedestrians from falling debris. There is still a risk for collapse.

A structural engineer must determine the long-term status of the structure.

“It would be sad to see this building come down,” Wong said.

Neighborhood residents observe the 665 S King St building on Christmas morning. • Photo by Dean Wong

Firefighters investigate the damage on Christmas Day. • Above photo and page 8 photo by Ryan Catabay

10 — January 8, 2014 – January 14, 2014

INTERNATIONAL EXAMINER

IE ARTS

Experiencing the poetry of witness: An interview with Wing Tek Lum

By Jane Wong IE Contributor When I began to read Wing Tek Lum’s The Nanjing Massacre: Poems, I was in a busy coffee shop in Seattle. As I kept reading, I kept shifting uneasily in my chair, not sure how to address the enormous distance between the coffee in front of me and the subject matter of Lum’s poems: rape, torture, death. While I knew the book sought to memorialize the forgotten stories of the massacre, I was certainly not ready to address my guttural responses as a reader and outsider. I was simultaneously moved, horrified, and stunned into silence. As Lum writes at the end of the book, this is “a witness so rude and raw/as to confirm/my blood existence as mere whim.” Through a witness “so rude and raw,” I began to question my understanding of what makes us human.

Lum’s collection brings to light the forgotten stories of the Japanese occupation of Nanjing, China in 1937. Throughout, Lum offers perspectives of tragedy from the victims to the bureaucrats to the Japanese soldiers. The Nanjing Massacre: Poems raises serious inquiries about human suffering and fear. Indeed, what are we capable of? And after such atrocious acts, how can we heal?

From the opening poem, he writes:

“All of the people in this book no doubt are now dead —though the hard truth is, it was not because they lived out their allotted days.

Unlike you, they stayed, and their world died so soon after, before they would reach their primes.”

The world of the victims—a world that “died so soon after”—holds a ghostly presence, with stories that echo up from the ground. For instance, in “Heaven Has Collapsed,” we begin with: “I wake up in a field of corpses.” The directness of Lum’s language reminds us that something unnatural is happening. This is not a field of flowers, not a field of life. This is not a safe place. We enter a world where “an aunt and her niece carry a cleaver/wherever they go.”

These poems are notably overwhelming and uncomfortable; they demand our attention and demand that we look away. Brutality makes us look between our fingers. We must see that which is horrific: “flesh to mud wounds open bared maggots festering rats all in a feast”

Likewise, we must alter our view of beauty and the natural world: “surrounding snow keeps melting our light machine gun has not yet cooled down”

As Lum suggests, we must see in order to give voice to those who have suffered.

The amount of poems—there are over 100 pieces, written over 15 years—aims to fill in the silence left by the massacre. In the book’s notes, he writes: “The victims of war, especially those who did not survive, seldom have their experiences told. No one knows

what happened to them, too often no one cares. Their lives, their sufferings must be recounted to provide a true memorial.” In this way, to write these poems is to give life back to the dead. And, at times, Lum offers defiant presence, as if to say: I exist. ThinkLum ing of the poet Marina Tsvetaeva: “I refuse to—be. In/the mad house of the inhumans/I refuse to—live. To swim/on the currents of human spines.”

Yet, Lum also recognizes the difficulties and complexities of writing literary truth. At a panel entitled “Critical Perspectives on the Nanjing Massacre,” delivered at the University of Hawai‘i, he addresses the distance between his own upbringing and the stories of the massacre:

“[There] are real difficulties in trying to write about an historical event that occurred 60 or 70 years prior, in another country, with primary source material in languages other than one’s own, and describing people dealing with conditions so utterly incomprehensible to a nice local boy who grew up in Hawai‘i like myself. … My project instead has been to try to speak for the dead, to serve as a proxy for those who cannot bear witness for themselves.”

As such, these persona poems do not attempt to “beautify” the events of the past; they are mediums through which startling and brutal stories are told.

Here, we have a poetry of deep respect. Like Lum, we—as readers—are asked to put together that which is thrown apart.

I was fortunate enough to interview Wing Tek Lum about The Nanjing Massacre: Poems, which sparked conversations on the poetry of witness, the challenge of the historical poem, and his creative process.

Jane Wong: Can you discuss your experience learning and researching about the Nanjing massacre? How did you move from reading work such as Iris Chang’s The Rape of Nanking to writing? Can you speak about bringing history to life? Beyond using documents and facts, what can occur in the imagination?

Wing Tek Lum: As I mentioned in my Notes and mini-paper last month, I read Iris Chang’s book, was moved by it, and was inspired to write a poem (“Nanjing, December, 1937”). I was also moved at the same time to work on bringing her to Hawai‘i to speak at the University of Hawai‘i. Because of the popularity of her book, other publishers decided to come out with other history books in English on the Nanjing Massacre. I looked out for this material, and after reading these books I got inspired to write more poems, opportunistically, one after the other.

However, there was no master plan. Contrary to what a novelist might do, I did not consciously embark on a long-term project. Initially, I thought I might write one or two poems; then as the number grew, I thought they might be a separate section in my next volume. Only later on did I consider the collection as a complete distinct publication. I just

kept reading more books and adding more poems.

My interest was in the writing, not in the publishing.

But on the way I discovered that to then go from reading historical truth to writing literary truth is a complex and very sensitive task

Wong: You write in the book’s preface that these poems are about “bearing witness.”

I’m interested in “bearing” here as an act of carrying and caring—a burden, a responsibility, a necessity. These poems are undoubtedly terrifying and unrelentingly so: “we clean our rifles once again.” Can you talk about the weight of writing these poems?

Lum: Suffice to say, I believe that I was following an imperative—to speak for the dead, for they could not speak for themselves. It was to return to them the dignity we all seek. Whether I was successful or whether I was ethically responsible is for others to judge. Or for others to write their own poems, offer their own truths.

Wong: Indeed, these poems are a long-term act of witness, lasting over a decade. The multitude of poems speaks to the overwhelming emotional response of the massacre. In a way, as an act of giving voice to that which has been silenced, this book keeps going. How did you envision the breadth of the book and its many perspectives?

Likewise, how did you organize the book?

Lum: I did consciously try to offer different perspectives, different points of view, different voices: Chinese, Japanese, perpetrator, victim, male, female, lyrical, graphic, moral or immoral, first or third person, reliable or unreliable narrator, clear cut or ambiguous as to who was speaker or what the author’s own stance was. That is part of the fog of war, I imagine.

After I had written a fair number of poems, my friends at Bamboo Ridge encouraged me to put them in a collection. I had an idea of how to organize most of the poems. Basically the five sections are in a loose chronological order: pre-occupation and the battle; what happened to the POWs; what happened to the women; how the rest of the civilians survived; and poems of mourning. However, I really did not look at the collection and say I am deficient in this area and so should write some poems to fill in.

Again, I was opportunistic. If I found something interesting in what I was reading I thought I would try to write about it. And I kept writing even beyond the deadlines of my publisher because I was finding more material that was inspiring me to write more poems.

“barbaric” for Wiesel (and other writers like H. G. Adler) to not write. Charles Reznikoff’s Holocaust is a really powerful collection; as an American Jew, not a survivor of the camps, he had the imperative to speak for the dead, and “merely” by copying verbatim the trial records he was able to do so (in my opinion).

To speak for the dead can take many forms. My impulse is to write poetry. But other artists trying to undertake this work might just as easily compose a song or paint a mural. And these artistic works may be more easily accessible in different ways to different people. Some may be unresponsive to my poetry, but moved by reading Ha Jin’s novel Nanjing Requiem, or viewing Lu Chuan’s or Zhang Yi Mo’s films. Or vice versa.

Wong: Are you still writing poems about the Nanjing massacre, after the book’s publication?

And, as you continue to write poems, what reverberations arise from your experience with this book?

Lum: I have deliberately tried to stop both reading and writing poems about this subject. I feel I need to move on, and have been writing about a lot of different things, some more successful than others. This past week, I just finished a final reading here that is part of my launch year. I may start reading other newer work next year.

When I first started writing poems 40 years ago, I wrote mostly confessional pieces. They were mostly about me. After my first book came out, I also noticed how Laurence Yep (a friend) was embarking on this long series of young adult novels, that would cover the Chinese American experience, Roots-like, spanning many characters over many generations from the pioneers in the villages to after World War II. So I decided I would try writing about Honolulu Chinatown circa 1900—historical poems taking on personas different from me. This series freed me from my confessional mode; I learned how to write in third person. And this I extended to the Nanjing poems in many more ways.

Another thing I learned is more uncertainty.

Robert Graves writes “In Broken Images”: “I in a new understanding of my confusion.” Especially the fine line between perpetrator and victim.

Wong: I keep thinking back to Theodor Adorno, who said that “to write poetry after Auschwitz is barbaric.” In the face and memory of atrocity, what can poetry offer us? In the same vein, what can poetry offer in terms of witness, beyond other art forms such as documentary film and visual art?

Lum: I disagree with Adorno’s famous dictum, especially in two ways. The Holocaust is no more and no less evil than the Nanjing Massacre or Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The Jewish dead are no more and no less sacred than the Chinese or Japanese dead.

Furthermore, in college I was already influenced

by Auschwitz survivors like Elie Wiesel who had consciously chosen to write in a literary way about their horrific experiences. I suspect that it was more

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January 8, 2014 – January 14, 2014 — 11

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Noodle Road is a recipe book with a dash of pinache

By Cynthia Rekdal IE Contributor Most of us are familiar with the tale that Marco Polo (the merchant of Venice) carried off the secret of noodles to Italy in his backpack after serial adventures in Old Cathay. Not true.

Italians dined on pasta long before his birth.

But how was it that two nations (China and Italy) so definitively separated by cultures and physical locations, were creating noodles that were strikingly similar? This was a question that set author Jen Lin-Liu on a 7,000 mile Silk Road journey of discovery.

First-generation Chinese American Lin-Liu has written her second food-focused homage to adventure travel and Chinese cooking. On the Noodle Road: From Beijing to Rome with Love and Pasta (Riverhead Press), was released this summer. Her first book, Serve the People: A Stir-Fried Journey through China (Harcourt), was published in 2008.

Two back-to-back road trip books centering on the cuisines of the Middle Kingdom. Kind of makes you go “hmmmm” and wonder if another sequel may be in works. Pork Bellies: Tripping Through Pig Politics in the PRC, perhaps?

Born in Chicago and raised in Southern California, Lin-Liu struggled over her identity as a Chinese American. She attended Columbia University, studied Mandarin, went to China as a Fulbright Fellow in 2000, attended cooking school in Beijing, interned in restaurants and cooking schools in Shanghai and Beijing, became a nationally certified Chinese Chef and—after reviewing restaurants for years, writing food articles and holding cooking classes in friends’ homes in the country’s capital—founded a cooking school/restaurant in 2008.

One could blame it on her husband, China policy scholar Craig Simons, a former Asian bureau chief at Cox Newspapers and a Newsweek China correspondent. According to the author, “I am especially indebted to Craig, who cheered on my crazy idea to travel for six months across barren deserts, mountains, and green pastures through bazaars, mosques, and kitchens in search of noodles.” He had also gifted her with a cooking class in Italy, where pasta was the featured ingredient, culminating in the Aha! moment that lead to the origin of her “crazy idea.”

Lo mein, yee foo min, mai fun, fun sze; penne, fusilli, orecchiette, rotini— the diverse forms of noodles boggles the mind. Pressed and stuffed, pasta choices seem endless: jiaozi, wonton, har kao, siew mai; agnolotti, cannelloni, fagottini, tortellonni ... Lin-Liu was convinced that somewhere, embedded within those sumptuous lengths and pods of noodle-icious tummy yummies, lurked a common DNA history.

A quick study, she connected the saucy dots between the mein in China and pasta in Italy and voilà!—Hánxù! (Chinese), Qui e!

(Italian)—a thought, a question, and a mission were born.

Lin-Liu

My first quick skim of the author’s hefty 388 page hardback revealed not a single salivainspiring shot of shiny, mahogany-skinned roast duck, or fragrant, steamy black cod, or mu shu anything! A foodie fanatic, I was plunged into a deep sulk. What is the world coming to when a book about food has absolutely no baked, broiled or stir-fried Photoshopped glossies to ogle and lust after?

Following that first shocking revelation, I determined to find something in the book into which I could imagine sinking my four crowns and 28 permanent teeth. And so it came to pass. At the end of each of the five major book Though half a world away from each other, sections (China, Central Asia, Iran, Turkey, and the similarities between China’s mein and Italy) recipes appeared, like scattered morsels Italy’s pasta were unmistakable. But “how”— of meals-to-come, enticing—nudging—the Located on Black Sesame Hutong (a narrow through what means—she wondered, had the reader to move from one section to the next. alley in one of Beijing’s oldest neighborhoods, links between them emerged and developed? “Mmm-mm,” said I, “Mmm-Mmm-Mmm!” dating back 700 years) and situated in a Lin-Liu was determined to find out.

“Narrowing down my list of recipes for small, renovated courtyard space north of the Another, perhaps more compelling, reason inclusion in this book,” Lin-Liu wrote, “was Forbidden City, the Black Sesame Kitchen for her quest was the author’s personal need painful.” There are 30 recipes in all, including: provides authentic home-style Chinese private for self- reflection: “Traveling through cultures Chuchura (Uighur Wontons), Mantai (Uzbek dining and cooking classes augmented with bithat straddled East to West, I figured, might Steamed Dumplings), Su Börek (Turkish monthly wine and dine parties. reconcile what I’d felt were Lazagne) and Orecchiette Con le Cime di Rapa To date, Lin-Liu’s pint-sized, opposing forces in my life ...” (Italian Orecchiette with Turnip Tops). Some 24-seat restaurant has garnered Could the answers she sought be recipes, like the Iranian saffron chicken, have high praise and awards. Featured resolved via a research journey no trace of a noodle’s presence. And several in major food and upscale magaalong the Silk Road? Would the use rice as the carb of choice. All recipes have zines both in China and abroad, it path from Beijing, the eastern- been adapted to the American kitchen (no kilos, was included in the latest edition most point of the road, to Italy grams or liters; no tormenting conversions of 1,000 Places to See Before You in the west result in positive required) and to U.S. pantries (most ingredients Die. In 2012, it garnered accolades outcomes in her search for noodle can be found in a well-stocked grocery store as one of the top 10 restaurants or ethnic market; substitutions are at times roots, recipes and self? in Beijing; in 2013 it was ranked suggested). At the end of its Noodle Road During her six-month travels, number one of 6,405 restaurants book review, Bon Appétit magazine wrote: Lin-Liu discovered fascinating there, and received a Certificate of “These recipes have not been tested by the Bon moments in cultural exposures Excellence. Traveling to Beijing?

Appétit Test Kitchen.” A heads up warning that led to keen insights into the Check out Black Sesame Kitchen for those who worship at the alter of BA? My little-known, isolated societies she encountered Restaurant at: www.blacksesamekitchen.com. snickering advice: Throw caution to the wind; along the way. Her focus on learning about Interested in a Chinese cooking class? Call: take the risk. women’s roles in the areas she traveled, and the +86-136-9147-4408 or email michelle@blackLin-Liu’s book is more than a research diverse cooking traditions of ethnic populations, sesamekitchen.com. fulfilled her expanded vision of the noodle’s document, more than a recipe book, more So, how did this dynamo, who writes about creative transformations and the movement of than a personal journal. It’s a bit of all three food, culture, and travel for The New York edible ingredients that followed the Silk Road. with a dash of panache. An enjoyable read, Times, Wall Street Journal, Newsweek, Travel her writing style is intelligent, conversational, Among the pots and pans of foreign + Leisure, Saveur and other publications— engaging and tinged with humor—like a visit kitchens, she exchanged differing views of while opening up a highly praised restaurant with an old best friend. family, philosophies, and food. The lives of in China’s capital, honeymooning in Italy, In a speech he once made to a graduating the women, children, and families she visited moving five times, attempting to maintain a came to life in ways she had not anticipated. class, Woody Allen described his view of relationship while juggling the needs of two In travel you learn as much about yourself as success: “The trick is to avoid the pitfalls, careers and simultaneously bouncing between you do about others. By book’s end, the author seize the opportunities, and be home by six two countries, traveling thousands of miles, had not only managed to chase down noodles o’clock.” Applied to the book, I’d say: “Two and giving birth to a daughter (now almost and recipes across a long, often rugged terrain, out of three’s not bad!” two)—find the time to write a “who-done-it-tobut had begun the elusive process of coming to whom-why-and-how” about noodles? terms with her life, her marriage and herself.

Don’t get take-out!

Have it Delivered!

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12 — January 8, 2014 – January 14, 2014

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Author Kim Fu reexamines the Asian-American Family Portrait

By Christina Twu IE Contributor In Chinese-Canadian author Kim Fu’s debut novel, For Today I am a Boy, the Asian-American experience enters a new social milieu of the modern family. Fu unhinges a palpable and courageous conversation on gender and transgender identity with her protagonist Peter Huang, and weaves it in seamlessly with whispers of the immigration experience and American dream from Peter’s second-generation perspective.

We first meet Peter as a young child and observer—the only boy among four siblings— preferring dress-up to G.I. Joe’s. But he innocently and dutifully plays along, following the rites and rituals that define young masculinity on the playground. At home, this means being a good son, which involves fulfilling the legacy of his given name, Juan Chaun, meaning “powerful king.” The experiences are visceral and familiar. The imagery and dialogue are spot-on—so real that you can feel the indelible punches of childhood bullies and silent glares from disapproving family members when pieces of truth come to light.

Fu sets the backdrop of Peter’s formative experiences in small-town Ontario. Without circumventing or evading questions of race in a predominately white town, she avoids throwing in the typical racist monikers elicited at recess. She does much more by showing readers the dual pride of assimilation (as exemplified by Peter’s father who enforces the silent rule of “no more speaking Cantonese”) and holding onto the old world and past with pride (as Peter’s mother later honors with an ancestor-worshipping ritual).

Fu adds layers of interest with Peter’s blooming identity as a boy turning into the woman he was meant to be among a diverse cast of sisters: Adele,

the eldest, a romantic, Audrey Hepburn-like beauty living freely in Berlin; Helen, the severe lawyer bent on keeping her siblings in line; and Bonnie, Peter’s slightly younger female counterpart, who grows up to be the Bohemian bon vivant of her parents’ disapproval.

did the inspiration come in creating each of your characters and drawing each of their fates?

Kim Fu: The family relationships and dynamics came to me first and ultimately decided everything else, from what year each person is born to the trajectory of their lives. Everything else felt inevitable. Those relationships define them and haunt them long after they’ve moved out and apart.

IE: When the vast majority of American literature and media still depicting Asian American families as affluent, you’ve chosen to make the Huang family and Peter rising from a working-class background. What effect do you think this has?

Fu

In his early years, Peter is an outsider looking in—both observing what it means to be a girl and what it means to be a boy, but never really belonging to either rigid gender camp. A parallel is drawn to Peter’s Chinese family trying to settle in yet remain separate from their White suburban neighborhood.

Peter forms the muscle memory of family loyalty that practices the virtue of sacrificing or concealing one’s own desires and truths to serve cultural expectations.

But as Peter gets farther away from home and closer to who he is in Montreal, the values of sisterhood, authenticity, and community supersede living up to any repressive ideal.

The International Examiner recently sat down with Fu, now a Seattle resident anticipating a grand release of her book in January. She reflected on some of her process in creating the Huang family and the process of writing her first novel.

International Examiner: The characters in your novel are so relatable, yet each possesses such distinctive qualities we all recognize. Where

Fu: The Huangs’ working-class background is a direct result of their father’s personality. He’s arrogant in a particular way, with a particular vision for himself—as a leader, as a winner—in a culture that will always see his ethnicity and hear his accent first, and see submissiveness in one and hear incompetence in the other. An affluent Asian-American of his generation has done one of two things: made his money in Asia and brought it over, or learned to navigate and overcome those expectations. His character wouldn’t be able to do the latter. He eventually achieves modest success as a civil servant, within a bureaucracy that specifically seeks out minorities—an undeserved win in his view.

IE: I have to ask: What does your family think of the book?

Fu: None of them have read it yet. My two sisters are excited to get their copies—and a little worried that Peter’s sisters might be based on them (they’re not!). My father passed away shortly after the manuscript first sold.

My mom knows what it’s about, but I don’t think she’ll read it. I think she’d sort of rather not know.

IE: Growing up, were you encouraged to be a writer? Did you ever think you would end up writing a novel?

Fu: I’ve been writing stories and poems since I was a little kid. Nobody encouraged it. Their discouragement was subtle.

My eldest sister impressed upon me the difference between a career and a hobby, and how bills get paid, and my mom used to ask if I was writing for school or “writing garbage.” After I graduated from high school, I gave up writing and started an undergraduate degree in chemical engineering.

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I only lasted a year. When it came to that point—when I was a miserable engineering student anticipating a miserable future as an engineer—my family was understanding and supportive.

IE: What was the most surprising thing you learned about yourself and in general in the process of writing this book?

Whatʼs your dish?

The IE wants to know what your favorite dish is in the International District. 1) Take a pic. 2) Say what it is, where you got it, and how much it costs. 3) Send it in to editor@iexaminer.org with the subject line “ID Dish.”

Fu: This goes back to your previous question.

Publishing a book goes against my personality and all of my natural instincts. Especially now, with the Internet, it feels like offering yourself up to the whole world for judgment. It seems arrogant. I’ve wanted to be a published author for so long, but now that it’s actually happening, the attention makes me feel anxious and exposed.

Getting into Peter’s voice also forced me to mine the depths of my own gender identity, to regard it as an open question. That’s been a surprising process.

IE: Your first novel is rich with cinematic detail and film potential. What do you think about it becoming a film?

Fu: I’d love it, of course.

IE: If you could choose a director and actor to play each of your characters, who would they be?

Fu: Justin Lin comes to mind, but if we’re aiming big, I think Wong Kar-Wai would be amazing with the episodic, elliptical relationship with time in the book—that the book covers a whole life in small scenes and details; Tony Leung Chiu-Wai for the father (he’s great as men who see themselves as large but are small in the world, and getting to the humanity of unsympathetic characters).

I actually had a young Maggie Cheung in mind when I was writing Adele, though I’m not sure who would be the right actress now.

Brenda Song would make an interesting Bonnie. She has the right kind of energy—brassy and independent, a little dangerous.

Peter’s tricky. It would have to be someone very young, very vulnerable and fresh. An unknown.

IE: What do you think we can all learn from Peter Huang?

Fu: The joy of self-knowledge.

Peter’s inclination is away from introspection, towards passivity and meeting expectations; he’d rather suffer than disappoint.

When he stops to consider who he really is, what he really wants, the world opens up beautifully.

Navigating the space between who we are, what we owe to the people we love, and what the world expects from us—we all go through that.

IE: Through your work at This Magazine, you’ve written and edited some great political commentaries and made impressive journalistic contributions. Is more non-fiction in your future?

Fu: Sure. I’m focused on writing a second novel and promoting this one right now, but I’m still doing some journalistic writing on the side. I don’t think I’ll be writing a nonfiction book anytime soon, though. Doing it right requires skills I don’t yet have and a level of personal sacrifice I’m not quite ready for.

IE: What drew you to Seattle?

Fu: Well, my husband got a job at Amazon. I really like Seattle, though. It’s a little too early to tell, but I think my next novel will be set here.

INTERNATIONAL EXAMINER

January 8, 2014 – January 14, 2014 — 13

IE ARTS

Remembering Kim-An Lieberman Seattle poet and educator Kim-An Lieberman was a contributing writer to the International Examiner. She recently passed away after a long struggle with cancer. Our thoughts go out to her family and friends. Below is a brief biography and a poem she wrote for her grandmother accompanied by a preface. The poem originally appeared in Cha: An Asian Literary Journal and is being reprinted here with their permission. Thanks KimAn for your poetry and your kind spirit.

Lieberman

Alan Chong Lau IE Arts Editor

BIOGRAPHY: Kim-An Lieberman was a writer of Vietnamese and Jewish American descent, born in Rhode Island and raised in the Pacific Northwest. Breaking the Map, her debut collection of poetry was published in 2008 by Blue Begonia Press with another book, In Ortbit forthcoming from the same publisher. Her work appears in numerous magazines, journals, and anthologies including My Viet: Vietnamese American Literature in English, 1962 -Present as edited by Michele Janette (University of Hawai‘i Press, 2011). She was the recipient of awards from the Jack Straw Writers Program and the Mellon Foundation for the Humanities and was a finalist for the 2009 Stranger Genius Awards. She has read at festivals and venues across the country and taught at every level from kindergarten to college, most recently at Seattle’s Lakeside School. In an obituary that appeared in the Seattle Times, her family wrote the following: “Brillant and disciplined, Kim-An was multilingual, fluent in English, Vietnamese, and French, and a skilled pianist. She stayed close to her Vietnamese and Jewish roots, exploring and articulating issues of identity in her writing and teaching. She was an ardent advocate for the environment and for animals. And though she had an encyclopedic knowledge of Seattle—especially of where and what to eat—her happiest moments were at home, surrounded by the family and children she adored, with a cat or two nestled in her lap. She inspired us with her resilience and humor, even in the darkest hours of her illness. We will never forget her: the strongest spirit, the finest mind, the largest heart.”

PREFACE WRITTEN BY KIM-AN LIEBERMAN:

By Kim-An Lieberman

Because her life had already ended once, my grandmother

bought Three Crabs fish sauce on sale by the supermarket cartful,

stuffed her purse with glossy coupons for rice, beef, bok choy, eggs.

Because her new clock barreled forward from January, she grabbed

free calendars in Little Saigon, rouged her walls with pageant queens and plastic pink azaleas against fake cerulean skies, counted down the little moon days waxing and waning. Because her new year

arrived without fanfare, she fashioned a firepot from a steel trashcan, wrapped bricks of sticky-rice in banana leaf, boiled them green.

Because her grandchildren wrinkled noses at mung bean and pork, she dipped their xoi in sugar, filled their teacups with warm milk.

Because her own fate remained elusive, she lit the tabletop incense

and stacked a dozen satsumas and persimmons in the ancestors’ bowl to fend off regret, just in case a few souls wandered through

as once she did, too far from home to feast but hungry all the same.

By Tamiko Nimura IE Contributor “[Certain] wider questions can needle if you let them,” muses the choral narrative voice of Chang-Rae Lee’s latest novel, On Such A Full Sea. “How did this ecology come to be? Is it the one we wish to endure?”

These two questions are at the heart of Lee’s novel, which is set in a decaying and divided futuristic America. It’s a world where governments have failed, having “overreached in their efforts or [been] disastrously neglectful.”

It’s a world where the malls are largely subterranean, where swimming pools and playgrounds are all indoors, and where the open countryside is a dangerous place. It’s a world where the disturbingly contented many work for the enjoyment of a highly privileged few.

Lee’s earlier novels dealt with assimilation and identity, memory and history, masculinity and war.

With this fifth novel, Lee ventures into speculative fiction. It is a powerfully unsettling meditation on the nature of American free will and freedom, coupled uncomfortably with several prevailing anxieties of our time: health care, class division, food safety, cancer.

On Such A Full Sea portrays an America divided starkly into three class strata. There are the largely complacent inhabitants of labor settlements like B-Mor (formerly Baltimore), who narrate the book as “we,” reflecting on the journey of the protagonist, Fan. These workers have been given just enough material comforts to prevent wanting more. There are the privileged Charters, with greater access to health care, exclusive access to B-Mor cultivated fruits and vegetables, and lucrative careers. And there are the residents of the open counties, where people have no legal protection or access to Charter resources, where violence erupts without warning.

CLASSIFIEDS

Although most of what I write is not direct autobiography, I do tend to start from personal experience. “After Ten Years in America …” began with a childhood memory of my grandmother making dozens of banh chu’ng—sticky-rice cakes wrapped in banana leaves and layered with HELP mung beans, pork, and fishRENT sauce—to celebrate the Vietnamese Lunar NewWANTED Year at her house in suburban Seattle. Each cake was pretty hefty and needs to be boiled for almost a full day. When my grandmother discovered that she didn’t have enough room to cook on her stovetop, she built a makeshift cauldron in her basement using a metal garbage can and firewood. Improvisation and all, she won praise for the most authentic-tasting banh chu’ng in town. This was a huge source of pride for my grandmother, who had left behind almost everything authentically hers when she fled wartime Saigon for the United States in the 1970s. It’s also an important image for me, proof that my grandmother and so many others like her aren’t just victims passively dislocated in the sweep of history. They are resourceful and creative survivors who carry old traditions to their new homes, moving beyond circumstance to remake their lives in meaningful ways.

After Ten Years in America, My Grandmother Decides to Celebrate Tet

Chang-Rae Lee’s On Such a Full Sea

EMPLOYMENT

Fan, the Chinese American teenage protagonist of Lee’s novel, is a girl diver, The Washington Statea “harvester” Convenoftion grow-engineered fi sh who travels all Center (WSCC) isthrough acceptthree arenas. She leaves the inertia of her native ing applications for the position of settlement in pursuit of her boyfriend into the Webcounties & Media Content Specialist. open and finally to the Charter settlements. This is the “ecology”—the relationship of Snapshot of responsibilities American organisms to their environment—that has• evolved in Lee’s novel. update, troubleWebsite CMS

shooting development What “we wishand to endure” is the more difficult • e-media social media question, and it’smarketing, in probing this question that Lee’sand novel does its best work. The choral SEO narrative voice tells us that Fanand is legendary, • Integrated marketing communear-revolutionary—people are painting murals nications online advertising of her and her boyfriend, long after her departure.

However, it takes the larger part of Lee’s Snapshot of qualifications novel for us to think about why. Conspicuous • 4-year college or university degree consumption, the infantilization of femininity, or technical degreecompanies in graphic dethe greed of pharmaceutical that are moresign, investedmultimedia, in prolonging rather curing visualthancommucancer, the isolation of the nucleartechnology, family—all nications, information of these come under Lee’s piercing scrutiny, and new media, digital marketing/comall of them serve as antagonists in Fan’s journey. munications, or a related field.

But the truly revolutionary part of Fan’s journey, Three foryears experience web the• pedestal her heroism, lies in theinsimple design and diffi cult actmanagement/development of escape. This is a novel where and/or graphic design. freedom, that quintessential American value is defi as “ayears specialexperience conviction of imagination • ned Three with HTML ... unbounded.” and CSS.

• InProficient with web design and prosuch an America, Fan’s ability to leave her circumstances, repeatedly—not by leading duction techniques. masses of people through or rallies—is • Proficient with marches Adobe Creative the true revolution. “If you think about it, there’s Suite®. little else that’s more important than having a • Knowledge of information manageschedule,” the B-Mor laborer voice tells us with adbitingment irony systems early in theand book.web The server fastest path ministration. to freedom’s destruction, then, according to the novel, is the inertia of complacency.

One important element may distract readers from immersion in the story. Lee’s use of the choral narrative voice (“we”) is effective for certain purposes; as with Julie Otsuka’s similarly narrated novel Buddha In The Attic, the “we” makes space for a marginalized community to speak, deemphasizing the importance of a central individual voice. In Lee’s novel the technique is useful as a commentary on how we must patina our heroic figures in order to revere them. We must continuously add multiple layers so that their flaws and humanity are smoothed out and eventually removed.

Yet the choral voice is also less effective at times, particularly when it flashes forward from Fan’s quest to the small aftershocks of her story.

The voice speculates about Fan’s motives and emotions.

These speculations may also prevent readers from connecting deeply with Fan as a human character. We’re never quite inside her head or heart for very long without that narrative voice interjecting, philosophizing, analyzing. The choral narrative voice works well as a device of social critique, less effectively as a device of storytelling.

In the end it’s difficult not to appreciate an author who continues to stretch his talents, using that “special conviction of imagination” as artistic freedom. It’s difficult not to be drawn to a book that quotes both a Shakespeare play (Julius Caesar) and a Journey song (“Only The Young”) in the epigraphs. And it’s crucially important to reckon with a novel which deals—like its epigraphs —with the question of free will in the wake of decline.

Chang-Rae Lee reads at the Main branch of the Seattle Public Library on January 15, from 7:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

EMPLOYMENT

The Washington State Convention Center (WSCC), located in downtown Seattle, is accepting applications for the position of Security Manager.

Responsible for managing the security and safety of the facility and its surrounding exterior areas inclusive of staff, guests, equipment and WSCC property. Supervise the security staff and coordinate with event clients’ subcontracted security staff. Work closely with all WSCC departments, service partners, Seattle Police Department, Seattle Fire Department, and other relevant international, federal, state and local law enforcement/security related agencies.

Required Qualifications: Bachelor’s Degree (B.A.) from four-year college or university or equivalent combination of education and experience may be considered. Three years of facility security operations experience at a management level, with direct responsibility for all safety and security matters.

Visit www.wscc.com for further info or to download an application. Applications are also available at the WSCC Service Entrance, 9th and Pike.

Jobline: (206) 694-5039. EOE.

Visit www.wscc.com for further info or to download an app. Apps are also available at the WSCC Service En- Lines: $6 X 30 = 180.00 trance, 9th and Pike. Jobline: (206) Bold Lines: $10.50 X 1 = 10.50 694-5039. EOE.

14 — January 8, 2014 – January 14, 2014

INTERNATIONAL EXAMINER

CLASSIFIEDS

IE COMMUNITY RESOURCE DIRECTORY Arts & Culture

RENT Development Professional & Leadership

Asia Pacific Cultural Center 4851 So. Tacoma Way Tacoma, WA 98409 Ph: 253-383-3900 Fx: 253-292-1551 faalua@comcast.net www.asiapacificculturalcenter.org Bridging communities and generations through arts, culture, education and business.

1300 1st Ave, Seattle, WA 98101 Ph: 206-654-3209 Fx: 206-654-3135 SAM connects art to life through special exhibitions, educational programs and installations drawn from its collection of approximately 25,000 objects. Through its three sites, SAM presents global perspectives, making the arts a part of everyday life for people of all ages, interests, backgrounds and cultures.

Education 3327 Beacon Ave S. Seattle, WA 98144 ph: 206-725-9740 info@deniselouie.org www.deniselouie.org Multicultural preschool ages 3-5 years old. Now enrolling Private Pay full-day ($900/mo) and part-day classes ($500/mo) with locations at ID, Beacon Hill, and Rainier Beach.

P.O. Box 16016 Seattle, WA 98116 info@vnsf.org www.vnsf.org VNSF enables underprivileged students in Viet Nam to achieve success and happiness through education. We are looking for volunteers and board members to join the team and make a difference in the lives of kids in Vietnam.

Housing & Neighborhood Planning HomeSight 5117 Rainier Ave S, Seattle, WA 98118 ph: 206-723-4355 fx: 206-760-4210 www.homesightwa.org HomeSight creates homeownership opportunities through real estate development, home buyer education and counseling, and lending.

601 S King St. Seattle, WA 98104 ph: 206-682-1668 website www.apicat.org Address tobacco control and other health justice issues in the Asian American/Pacific Islander communities.

Executive Development Institute 310 – 120th Ave NE. Suite A102 Bellevue, WA Ph. 425-467-9365 • Fax: 425-467-1244 Email: edi@ediorg.org • Website: www.ediorg.org EDI offers culturally relevant leadership development programs.

WE MAKE LEADERS Queen Anne Station, P.O. Box 19888, Seattle, WA 98109 info@naaapseattle.org, www.naaapseattle.org Fostering future leaders through education, networking and community services for Asian American professionals and entrepreneurs.

Facebook: NAAAP-Seattle Twitter: twitter.com/naaapseattle

Senior Services

221 18th Ave S, Seattle, WA 98144 ph: 206-322-4550 fx: 206-329-3330 connie.devaney@gmail.com We provided affordable housing and support services to people over 62 years of age.

Lunch is served 7 days per week to people over 60 years of age for a $3 donation.

Seattle Chinatown/International District Preservation and Development Authority ph: 206-624-8929 fx: 206-467-6376 info@scidpda.org Housing, property management and community development.

PO Box 14047, Seattle WA 98114 (206) 325.0325 (Helpline) info@apichaya.org www. apichaya.org API Chaya is dedicated to serving survivors of domestic violence, sexual violence and human trafficking in the Asian, South Asian and Pacific Islander communities. We offer multi-lingual services that are free and confidential.

Chinese Information and Service Center 611 S Lane St, Seattle, WA 98104 ph: 206-624-5633 fax: 206-624-5634 info@cisc-seattle.org www.cisc-seattle.org CISC helps Asian immigrants make the transition to a new life while keeping later generations on touch with their rich heritage.

Community Care Network of Kin On

815 S Weller St, Suite 212, Seattle, WA 98104 ph: 206-652-2330 fx: 206-652-2344 contact@kinon.org www.kinon.org Provides home care, home health, Alzheimer’s and caregiver support, community education and chronic care management. Coordinates medical supply delivery. Installs Personal emergency Response systems. Serves the Chinese/Asian community in King County.

Kin On Health Care Center

4416 S Brandon St, Seattle, WA 98118 ph: 206-721-3630 fx: 206-721-3626 contact@kinon.org www.kinon.org A 100-bed, Medicare and Medicaid certified, not-for-profit skilled nursing facility focused on meeting the long term care needs of the Chinese/Asian community members.

Legacy House

803 South Lane Street Seattle, WA 98104 ph: 206-292-5184 fx: 206-838-3057 info@legacyhouse.org www.scidpda.org/programs/legacyhouse.aspx Description of organization/services offered: Assisted Living, Adult Day Services, meal programs for low-income seniors.

Medicaid accepted.

National Asian Pacific Center on Aging InterIm Community Development Association 310 Maynard Ave S, Seattle, WA 98104 ph: 206-624-1802 fx: 206-624-5859 info@interimicda.org www.interimicda.org Affordable housing development, multi-lingual low-income housing outreach, rental information, financial literacy, neighborhood planning and outreach for APAs, immigrants and refugees.

WANTED SocialHELP & Health Services

Senior Community Service Employment Program ph: 206-322-5272 fx: 206-322-5387 www.napca.org Part-time training program for low income Asian Pacific Islanders age 55+ in Seattle/ King & Pierce Counties.

1601 E Yesler Way, Seattle, WA 98122 ph: 206-323-7100 fx: 206-325-1502 www.nikkeiconcerns.org Rehabilitation & care center; assisted living community; senior activity program; continuing education.

Social & Health Services Asian Counseling & Referral Service

3639 Martin Luther King Jr. Way S, Seattle, WA 98144 ph: 206-695-7600 fx: 206-695-7606 events@acrs.org www.acrs.org ACRS offers multilingual, behavioral health and social services to Asian Pacific Americans and other lowincome people in King County.

International District Medical & Dental Clinic 720 8th Ave S, Suite 100, Seattle, WA 98104 ph: 206-788-3700 Holly Park Medical & Dental Clinic 3815 S Othello St, 2nd Floor, Seattle, WA 98118 ph: 206-788-3500 Bellevue Medical & Dental Clinic Coming in 2013!

Shoreline Medical & Dental Clinic Coming in 2014!

We are a nonprofit health center offering affordable health care services, including primary care, dental, behavioral health, pharmacy, laboratory, acupuncture, and health education.

Seattle Rotary Club Bill Nagel Meets Every Thursday 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.

New Hong Kong Restaurant Bill.nagel@gmail.com http://www.seattleidrotary.org/ Improve the local community by engaging activities such as community improvement projects, scholarship opportunities, and undertakings that promote education.

EMPLOYMENT

The Washington State Convention Center (WSCC) is accepting applications for the position of Web & Media Content Specialist.

Snapshot of responsibilities • Website CMS update, troubleshooting and development • e-media marketing, social media and SEO • Integrated marketing and communications online advertising Snapshot of qualifications • 4-year college or university degree or technical degree in graphic design, multimedia, visual communications, information technology, new media, digital marketing/communications, or a related field.

• Three years experience in web design management/development and/or graphic design.

• Three years experience with HTML and CSS. • Proficient with web design and production techniques.

• Proficient with Adobe Creative Suite®.

• Knowledge of information management systems and web server administration.

ph: 206-624-3426

www.merchants-parking-transia. org

Required Degree or unive tion of ed be cons ity secur a manag sponsibi matters.

Visit www to down tions are Service Jobline:

Visit www.wscc.com for further info or to download an app. Apps are also available at the WSCC Service En- Lines: $6 trance, 9th and Pike. Jobline: (206) Bold Line 694-5039. EOE. Logo: $1 Lines: $6 X 34 = 204.00 Bold Lines: $10.50 X 1 = 10.50 Logo: $12 Total Cost: $226.50

1501 N 45th St, Seattle, WA 98103 ph: 206-694-6700 fx: 206-694-6777 info@solid-ground.org www.solid-ground.org

Our programs help people meet their immediate needs and gain the skills and resources needed to reach solid ground and achieve their dreams.

The Wa Center ( Seattle, the pos Respons rity and surround staff, gu property. and coor contracte with all partners Seattle relevant and loca lated age

Over 1,600 likes! www.facebook.com/internationalexaminer

Merchants Parking provides

convenient & affordable community parking. Transia provides community transportation: para-transit van services, shuttle services and field trips in & out of Chinatown/International District & South King County.

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INTERNATIONAL EXAMINER

January 8, 2014 – January 14, 2014 — 15

IE COMMUNITY Calendar of 2014 Lunar New Year Events Chinatown/International District Lunar New Year Festival

Saturday, February 1 from 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Hing Hay Park, Maynard Avenue S & S King Street Seattle, WA 98104 Admission is free.

Lion and Dragon dances, Taiko drumming, martial arts and the annual Children’s Parade Contest— it’s a day full of entertainment for you and your family to enjoy together. There will also be cultural activities featuring a coloring contest, face painting, calligraphy drawing, origami, temporary tattoos, and many games and activities. For more information, visit www.cibdia.org, or call (206) 382-1197.

Tet (Vietnamese New Year) Festival

January 25 to 26 at 11:00 a.m.

Seattle Center, Armory/Center House Stage 305 Harrison St., Seattle, WA 98109 Admission is free.

It’s the largest Tet celebrations in the Pacific Northwest where cultural roots and contemporary influences of Vietnam come alive through live music performances, arts and crafts, martial arts, multiple vendor booths, food, and games. For more information, visit www.tetinseattle.org.

The Greater Seattle Chinese Chamber of Commerce Lunar New Year Banquet Thursday, February 6 at 5:00 p.m.

Asian Resource Center 1025 S King St., Seattle, WA 98104

Dinner ticket: $50 per person, $700 corporate table

Muckleshoot Casino Lunar New Year Celebration

It’s an opportunity to make new friends and expand your network while you enjoy a traditional 10 course Chinese dinner. A portion of the net proceeds will go to the Chamber Young Leaders Program as well as to one local nonprofit organization. To purchase ticket, visit www.seattlechinesechamber. org, or call (206) 552-0818.

The Hong Kong Association of Washington’s Foundation’s 2014 Chinese Lunar New Year Saturday, February 22 Sheraton Seattle Hotel 1400 6th Ave, Seattle, WA 98101 Admission: $180 each

The Hong Kong Association of Washington Foundation will welcome nearly 900 guests. The event will raise funds to support the community.

Expect a loud night of entertainment with the Luly Yang fashion show and Master David Leong’s Lion Dance performance. For more information, visit www.hkaw.org or call (206) 588-5452.

Families with Children from China—NW (FCC-NW) Chinese New Year Celebration 2014 Saturday, January 25 from 10:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

Swedish Cultural Center 1920 Dexter Ave, Seattle, WA 98109

Nonmembers: $11 if you preregister and $15 at the door Members: $5 if you preregister and $7 at the door.

The Northwest Chapter of Families with Children from China is an organization that strives to support families who have adopted children from China.

Join them in celebrating the new year with lots of fun and entertainment, including dancers, multiple vendors and artists, arts and crafts, and delicious food for all. For more information, visit www.fccnw.memberlodge.com.

Drawings held every hour from 3:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. every Tuesday in January.

Where: 2402 Auburn Way S, Auburn Admission: Must be a Preferred Players Club member

Muckleshoot Casino welcomes the Year of the Horse with a variety of celebratory events including a chance to win up $100,000 every Tuesday this month. Three random active players using their Preferred Players Club card will be drawn each hour from 3:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. for a chance to win. Head to Club Galaxy for an exciting lineup of Asian performers. Watch the traditional lion dance throughout the Casino beginning at 10:00 p.m.

Emerald Queen Hotel and Casino Lunar New Year Celebration

Friday, January 31 at 7:00 p.m.

5700 Pacific Highway E, Fife, WA 98424 Admission is free.

Join EQC to celebrate Lunar New Year with a chance to win a lucky envelope for the first 500 guests with valid photo ID starting at 6:00 p.m. It’s a free show featuring Ban Kieu, Dan Nguyen, Duong Buu Trung, The Son, Ho Le Thu, Cat Tien, Nguyen Hong Nhung, and MC Thuy Duong. You must be 21 or older to enter. For more information, visit www. emeraldqueen.com, or call (253) 594-7777.

The Asia Pacific Cultural Center 16th Annual New Year Celebration Saturday, February 15 at 11 a.m.

Tacoma Dome Exhibition Hall 2727 East D St, Tacoma Admission: Free

This year, the Island Nation of Tahiti will serve as the host nation with over 15 different Asia-Pacific Island nations that will be presenting traditional

and contemporary dance and music performances throughout the day. It will be a time of celebrating culture, finding quality goods, eating delicious foods and engaging in family fun. Retail and food booths will be open from 10:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. with ongoing arts and crafts workshops. For more information, visit www.asiapacificculturalcenter. org, or call (253) 383-3900.

Vancouver, B.C. Chinatown Spring Festival Celebration

Sunday, February 2 at 11:00 a.m.

Millennium Gate on Pender Street Admission: Free

Every year, Vancouver celebrates the Chinese New Year with a 1.5km parade that attracts over 50,000 spectators and 3,000 performers, including the best lion dance teams in Canada. With cultural dance troupes, marching bands, martial arts performances and the Vancouver Police Department Motorcycle Drill Team, this event is said to be one of the three largest non-commercial annual parades in Vancouver. For more information, visit www. cbavancouver.ca.

Portland’s Lan Su Chinese Garden Chinese New Year Festival January 31 through February 14 239 Northwest Everett St, Portland, OR Admission: Free

Celebrate “Rolling in the Wealth,” a traditional good fortune activity of rolling oranges and gold coins through Lan Su’s front door with a lineup of exciting performances: Lee’s Association Dragon and Lion Dance team, a visit from the Portland Police Mounted Patrol Unit, a martial arts demonstration and more. Every guest visiting on January 31 will LUNAR NEW YEAR: Continued on page 16 . . .

16 — January 8, 2014 – January 14, 2014

INTERNATIONAL EXAMINER

IE COMMUNITY . . . LUNAR NEW YEAR: Continued from page 15 also receive a hong bao, or traditional lucky red envelop to start the year off right. The celebration ends with three nights of Latnern Viewing and dragon processions. For more information, visit www.lansugarden.org.

Chinese New Year Cultural Fair 2014 Year of the Horse

Saturday, February 1 from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., art show at 7:00 p.m.

Oregon Convention Center, Exhibit Hall B 777 NE Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd.

Portland, OR 97232 Day of Ticket Prices: $8 Cultural Fair Only, $10 Art Show Only, $15 Combo Fair & Art Show; 6 yrs & under free

Come celebrate the Chinese New Year at the Oregon Convention Center where there will be booths featuring cultural products, service-oriented businesses and food. Bring the whole family to enjoy the dragon dance, lion dance, Chinese cultural dance, martial arts performances and many more.

For more information, visit www.oregoncc.org.

Wing Luke Asian Museum Lunar New Year Celebration

Saturday, January 25 at 10:00 a.m.

719 S. King St, Seattle, WA 98104 Admission: free for members, $9.95 - $12.95

Members receive free and priority admission. No need to purchase tickets online, you can check in the day of the event. Activities for the entire family to enjoy. The museum is in the heart of Seattle’s vibrant Chinatown-International District.

Lunar New Year Celebration

Saturday, February 1 Hing Hay Park 423 Maynard Ave. South Seattle, WA 98101

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Admission: free

Lion and dragon dances. $2 Food Walk.

Japanese Taiko drumming. Martial arts demonstrations. Kid’s activity booths. Lively musical and dance performances. And much more. Celebrate the Year of the Horse at Hing Hay Park.

Cultures of China Festival of Spring Sunday, February 9 at 4:00 p.m.

Paramount Theatre 911 Pine St, Seattle, WA 98101

Admission: $18-88 (not including fees)

The Overseas Chinese Affairs Office of the State Council of P.R. China and the China Oversea Exchanges Association are organizing a Chinese New Year extravaganza with traditional and modern dance performances, folk song, and Peking opera singing by acclaimed artists.

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