March 21, 2018

Seattleʼs Nonprofit Asian Pacific Islander News Source Since 1974

INTERNATIONAL EXAMINER

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March 21 – April 3, 2018 — 1

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FREE EST. EST 1974—SEATTLE 1974 SEATTLE VOLUME 45, 45 NUMBER 5 — March M h 7 – March M h 20, 20 2018 FREE EST. 1974—SEATTLE VOLUME 45, NUMBER 6 — MARCH 21 - APRIL 3, 2018 THE NEWSPAPER OF THE CHINATOWN INTERNATIONAL DISTRICT & ASIAN PACIFIC ISLANDER COMMUNITIES OF THE NORTHWEST THE NEWSPAPER OF THE NORTHWEST ASIAN PACIFIC AMERICAN COMMUNITIES. FIND YOUR INSPIRASIAN.

Cambodian Genocide survivors speak about their experiences at film screening Bunthay Cheam IE Fellow

also part of the program and was held at the Henry Art Gallery.

On Wednesday, December 6, Rajana Society, in conjunction with the UW Graduate School and the UW Southeast Asia Center, hosted a screening of First They Killed My Father, a movie cowritten and directed by Angelina Jolie and produced by famed French Cambodian filmmaker Rithy Panh. The movie is based on the memoir of Luong Ung who wrote about her experience under the Cambodian Genocide. The screening was held at Mt. Baker Village, a 144-family apartment complex serving a diverse community, including a large population of residents with Cambodian descent.

Rithy Panh, a Cambodian filmmaker whose works focus primarily on the effects and legacy of Khmer Rouge rule of Cambodia, also founded the Bophana Center, an organization dedicated to preserving Cambodian film, photo and audio history.

Part of a larger program titled Visiting Rithy Panh, the screening was a companion piece to a video installation named The Age of Kampuchea, which uses archived footage donated to UW Libraries by Journalist Elizabeth Becker. Becker was one of the last three western journalists who was invited to visit Cambodia during the reign of the Khmer Rouge. The footage and images for the video installation come from this visit. The screening of the movie The Missing Picture by Rithy Panh was

A diverse audience of different ethnicities and ages were present as filmmaker Rithy Panh arrived, accompanied by Professor Jenna Grant, one of the program organizers, who teaches Anthropology at the University of Washington. “I knew that I wanted to reach different communities, and I see him as Cambodia, diaspora, documentary, trauma… [there are] a lot of different conversations that he has participated in,” said Jenna Grant about Rithy Panh.

Left to right: Rithy Panh, Sameth Mell, Jenna Grant • Photo by Bunthay Cheam

Unlike a traditional film screening, Jenna Grant envisioned doing a film screening “in the community that was more accessible to people,” some with lived experiences depicted in the movie.

access. “[A] woman asked... ‘if survivors were ever able to find or relocate their families through the film screenings that has taken place?’ These examples are not something that can be produced when Sameth Mell of Rajana Society, the the film and producer are at a majority principal organizer of the screening, mainstream/white academic institution… recognized the power of this type of it's also important to understand that stories are understood in different capacities according to the audience that it reaches,” Mell said.

Following the show, Professor Grant and Panh offered to hold a Q & A about the film. But, when handed the microphone, elder Cambodian American community members who had personal connections to scenes depicted in the movie began sharing their memories and experiences during the war.

community. At one point during the Q & A, a woman left abruptly and returned with a picture of her husband and talked about him and the last time she had seen him.

“It was a heartfelt moment. She shared with Rithy Panh and everyone else in the room, making the story that was just observed on film even more real,” said Evelyn Romero, a UW graduate student and audience member at the screening.

For younger Cambodian Americans, First They Killed My Father also provided a view into what their parents or grandparents may have went through. “In [a] way it is fulfilling…the film helped me understand my family better, I understand the silence,” said Sopheakvatey Chey, a Cambodian American student at the UW.

Aaron Meng, who lived through the Cambodian Genocide, saw this film as a way to connect a younger generation of Cambodian Americans to the legacy of their parents and grandparents, “It’s an important film… to remind the youngsters ‘what happened to my parents? Even in Cambodia, [young people] don’t know, Discussing experiences during the even after all these years.” genocide is still taboo to many in the First They Killed My Father is available The Q & A also offered a powerful opportunity for survivors of the Cambodian Genocide to speak about their experiences for the first time. The Cambodian American community suffers one of the highest rates of PTSD, and many community members remain undiagnosed.

An audience member shares her feedback of First They Killed My Father • Photo by Bunthay Cheam

now on Netflix.

2 — March 21 – April 3, 2018

INTERNATIONAL EXAMINER

Cindy Domingo honored as a Woman of Courage

By Devin Israel Cabanilla IE Contributor The word “revolution” can be synonymous with terms like metamorphosis, turning and transformation. The University of Washington Women’s Center seeks to recognize women who have brought liberation and revolution to the lives of women. Cindy Domingo has been a longstanding revolutionary, political activist, ardent feminist and community figure inside Seattle and beyond. Her efforts have sought transformation to women of the world. Were it not for world-shaking events, her life may have been different, and she would not be recognized by the UW Women’s Center for her ongoing activities.

As turmoil grew in the Filipino community locally and abroad during the 1980s, things changed from the woman she might have been. Cindy Domingo recalls that she was supposed to have attended college on a full scholarship to eventually become a pharmacist. Instead of that, Cindy declares, “I became an activist in the KDP and that just threw everything off kilter!

It became my passion in life.” Destiny through tragedy called to Cindy, and she stood up stronger with the KDP (Union of Democratic Filipinos). She shifted from a would-be pharmacist in a lab, and turned into an activist standing on a global stage.

Many in the Asian American community and labor union movement keep in memory the tumult which occurred after Cindy’s brother Silme was assassinated by the Marcos regime of the Philippines.

Silme Domingo was a member of the KDP and a large influence on many, including his family. Along with many friends she has edited a book with personal accounts of their struggle against Marcos, and their efforts as a movement during the difficult 1970s and violent 1980s.

Cindy has recently been travelling and giving talks since the release of the book, A Time to Rise: Collective Memoirs of the Union of Democratic Filipinos (KDP). She of course reflects on her brother, and other KDP members provide a personal insight on the revolution taking place inside of their relationships and homes. The book is a snapshot of Cindy’s starting line in activ-

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ism, and the book represents one travelled waypoint that has led to her current honor as a Woman of Courage.

In attendance at the Women of Courage gala were many of Cindy’s professional and personal friends. One of these people, Seattle City Councilmember Lisa Herbold, has admired Cindy’s efforts as a political aide over the last couple decades. Councilmember Herbold can survey Cindy’s work within King County in a way that others may not be able to do without political experience. Over the roaring din of the gala audience inside of the Seattle Sheraton, Councilmember Herbold hollered, “I’ve felt like a kindred soul with Cindy in many ways.”

Lisa served with Nick Licata, and Cindy has been the longtime chief of staff for King County Councilmmeber Larry Gossett. Lisa regards further that “[Cindy] has been able to balance the job of working for the government along with activism in a way that I’ve really admired. There’s an energy that it takes to do all that. There’s also a certain ability she has to maneuver in government to be appreciated as well.

Cindy Domingo (right) with ICHS CEO Teresita Batayola (left). • Photo by Devin Israel Cabanilla It’s a difficult balance to strike, and most Gossett was present for the awards as well. and says, “Ever since I went to the 1995 people in the job of an aide stop doing the He and Cindy have been comrades in gov- United Nations Conference on Women, I side activism.” ernment work for 24 years, and have known Cindy Domingo’s activism extends to each other personally more years than that. dedicated myself to the liberation of wommany places inside and outside King Coun- When asked about how he felt hearing Cin- en and I think I’ve carried that out since ty. Locally she helps lead the organization dy’s accolades brought up during the event then.” In general, Cindy believes that evLELO, or Legacy of Equality, Leadership he said in humor, “I don’t know why they erything about her life has been about liband Organizing, which seeks to bring ra- didn’t talk about me more? Where was I in erating women. Although her interaction cial and economic justice to workers. Also, all that?” As a comedian the councilmem- in social issues has been broad, an underlyCindy has travelled as an election observer ber delivers well, but he does provide more ing string of seeking freedom for women to try and prevent corruption in Philippine serious candor about Cindy. “She’s a very has always threaded and turned with Cindy elections and to support Philippine solidar- extraordinary woman, and a very experi- through her trials and successes. The gala is just one more stop in an ongoing life ity. enced and socially conscious leader.” of social justice for Cindy Domingo. Her Additionally, Cindy has close ties with As it regards Cindy’s globetrotting, work does represent well some of the apCuba as the chair of the U.S. Women & Councilmember Gossett also validates her parent core principles for the Women of Cuba Collaboration. There she highlights efforts as an alignment to their political re- Courage Gala: justice, representation and the women’s movement in Cuban soci- gion. According to him, the zip code 98118 inclusion. As the gala honors close Cindy ety and government. Cindy also acts as a is identified as one of the most culturally laughs in reflection, “I’m so glad I didn’t bridge to rebuild direct relations between and ethnically diverse in the United States, become a pharmacist, because I’d be bored our two nations which have reverted under it is also a zip code he represents. Larry as hell!” the current US government’s administra- underlines this by stating, “Therefore, Several additional honorees were awardtion. She fondly considers Cuba an envi- [Cindy and I] have to attend and keep an ronment of respite and kinship. And still, eye on the whole world in order to attend to ed including: Nikkita Oliver, Roberta Lynn Paul, Chazmin Peters, Kathleen Taylor, there is more to be recounted for Cindy’s the people in our district.” and Jorge L. Baron. The UW Women’s work.

In consideration of her efforts for women Center gala was held at the Sheraton Seattle King County Councilmember Larry abroad Cindy stretches her memory back Hotel on March 7, 2018.

IE BOARD OF DIRECTORS Ron Chew, President Gary Iwamoto, Secretary Peggy Lynch, Treasurer Arlene Oki, At-Large Sokha Danh At-Large Nam Le, At-Large

MANAGING EDITOR Chetanya Robinson chetanya@iexaminer.org ARTS EDITOR Alan Chong Lau arts@iexaminer.org

COMMUNITY RELATIONS MANAGER CONTENT MANAGER Pinky Gupta Lexi Potter lexi@iexaminer.org CONTRIBUTORS BUSINESS MANAGER Chris Juergens Ellen Suzuki Clarissa Gines finance@iexaminer.org Cynthia Rekdal Devin Israel Cabanilla FELLOWSHIP STAFF Janet Brown Bif Brigman Jefferson Mendoza Mitsue Cook Misa Shikuma EDITOR IN CHIEF Paul Mori Jill Wasberg Stan Shikuma editor@iexaminer.org

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INTERNATIONAL EXAMINER

March 21 – April 3, 2018 — 3

Chiura Obata: An American Modern is currently on display at UC Santa Barbara through April 29, 2018

by Paul Mori IE Contributor

Japanese painting traditions, Obata also incorporated modern elements in his artwork. Especially in larger works, there are elements taken insolation that are thoroughly abstract. A folding screen entitled Moonlight features Point Lobos, a repeated and favorite site for him. It not only has surreal colors and abstract elements, but also employs strong cubist influences.

If you have seen the strikingly original prints of Yosemite by the Issei artist Chiura Obata (1885-1975), you already know something of his genius, but a new retrospective exhibition and its accompanying catalog brings the kind of revelation and wonder of a first experience. And for those Obata’s landscape colors were not meant not familiar with his art, prepare to be asto reproduce reality. Like Ansel Adams (a tounded. friend of Obata), who used black and white Chiura Obata: An American Modern is photography to evoke a heightened granan exhibition of over 150 pieces and a rare deur of nature, Obata used unique techopportunity to see numerous privately held niques and new colors to achieve the same works, many never publically shown before. result. Thus, Obata’s vision of the Grand Remarkable in its variety and breadth, it in- Canyon is colorful in a way that is only discludes representative items from his child- tantly familiar, as Obata’s zen sensibilities hood to his mature years, in a plethora of sought to bring the experience of seeing, media, including woodblock prints, black and not merely outward appearances. ink and color watercolors, scrolls, paintings Likewise, it is far too simplistic to judge on silk and silk panels, a poetry portfolio, Chiura Obata outwardly as just another and even magazine covers.

Japanese artist or to argue if he was too Although there have been previous retro- American to be Japanese, or vice versa. spectives of Obata works, the inclusion of This exhibition shows he was a complex so many pieces and genres in this unique individual and too rebellious to be merely exhibition not only provides a chronologi- put in any box. cal context and narrative to his artistic evoAs an exhibition, Chiura Obata: An lution, but also an exhibition of his technical American Modern is rich in art and impresacuity, stylistic variety and artistic depth. sive in numbers and scope, but weaker in On the surface, many of Obata’s tra- telling Obata’s story and connections in the ditional works might appear no different art. In this initial showing in Santa Barthan those by other Japanese artists, includ- bara, there are scattered text descriptions, ing those from the European influenced usually rich quotes from Obata himself, but “Nihon ga” style from where he began. much is left to the viewers to infer by themLooking deeper, however, there is exqui- selves, and time-pressed or casual visitors site technique and a non-conformist spirit will miss out. After Santa Barbara, modiin his works. Maiden from the North re- fied installations will travel to Salt Lake sembles the genre popular in Japan at that City, Okayama, Japan, Sacramento, and time, but a very close examination reveals will finally finish at the Smithsonian. the skill with which Obata incorporated The exhibition book nicely fills that gap the painting’s actual silk surface texture into exquisitely detailed kimono elements. in information. Essays by some notable exSimilarly, his black ink paintings (“sumi- perts, including the ever reliable Greg Robe”) of animals may look typical, but in his inson, are well written and represent the deft hands, each animal’s unique essence is artist solidly, as do the artist’s own words suggested with the most minimal of lines. in essays and a rare interview. Although not all the exhibited works are here (only As proficient as Obata was in creating 91 of the works are reproduced), it is the Mother Earth by Chiura Obata. Courtesy of Art, Design and Architecture Museum tranquility and ethereal moods, he could first time many of these pieces have been also be counted on to create the darkest published.

January 18 – March 10, 2019: Okayama Art Museum, Sacramento, California of moods. The devastating portrayal of But nothing can replace actually seeing Prefectural Museum of Art, Okayama, JaNovember 2019 – April 2020: SmithsonHiroshima and his family’s personal story pan ian American Art Museum, Washington, of loss from WWII, portrayed in the sym- Obata’s works in person, especially when June 23 – September 29, 2019: Crocker DC bolical filled Landslide, are gravely somber. it comes to the impact of his larger pieces.

And few painters can rival his skill in the The centerpiece of the show, Mother Earth, sweep of power and destruction of nature is a masterpiece – its brilliant juxtaposition at its fiercest in pieces such as Glorious of blurred and sharply defined elements, yellow ochre sky, haunting female subject Struggle. make it Obata’s Mona Lisa. Truly stunning The American elements are important in its glorious seven feet of height, no book and make his art distinct from other Japa- reproduction can capture it. nese artists. When supervising Japanese Simply, Chiura Obata: An American woodblock carvers for his Yosemite prints, Obata had to ensure details were adhered Modern is an exhibition not to be missed. to because they were so different from traExhibition Dates and Venues: ditional Japanese elements and colors. He January 13 – April 29, 2018: Art, Design had to explain that American pine trees and Architecture Museum, University of were distinct from Japanese ones and that California, Santa Barbara, California rock formations the size of skyscrapers reMay 25 – September 2, 2018: Utah Mually did exist. seum of Fine Arts, Salt Lake City, Utah Not content with merely reproducing

4 — March 21 – April 3, 2018

INTERNATIONAL EXAMINER

Khmer and Thai New Year events around Washington state in April Khmer New Year Festival at Wat Khemarak Pothiram (Wat Thmey)

By Bunthay Cheam and Annie Kuo IE Fellows

When: Saturday April 14 - Sunday April 15 and Saturday April 21 - Sunday April 22. Festivities begin each day at 9:00 AM.

Thai New Year celebrations Thai New Year festival When: April 8

Where: 824 S. 100th St. Seattle, WA.

Where: Atammayatarama Buddhist Monastery, 19301 176th Ave. NE, Woodinville, WA.

Admission: Free and open to the public.

Join for Khmer New Year festivities at Wat Khemarak Pothiram and enjoy Khmer lemongrass skewers and papaya salad, live music and cultural games. More information can be found on their Facebook page: https:// www.facebook.com/watthmeyseattle/

At 9:30 AM, there will be morning chanting, meditation and alm offering. At 11:00 AM, there will be a potluck lunch and water ceremony for the monks. For more information, visit: atamma.org.

Solar New Year Festival at Wat Spokane Dhammaram

Thai New Year festival and service When: April 15

Photo by Watt Dhammacakkaram Temple in Beacon Hill Seattle

Where: Seattle Meditation Center, 21910 kol presentation, Smot (traditional chant in 44th Ave. W., Mountlake Terrace ,WA Khmer), spoken word, film, visual arts and Join for morning meditation, request for music. Artists include JusMoni, Venerable five precepts, afternoon meditation and wa- Prenz Sa-Nguon, Molica Chau, Keo Sanh of ter pouring ceremony. For more informa- Eazy Duz It CC, Davey Tsunami, Phounam tion, visit: meditationseattle.org.

Pin and more.

Songkran Festival Pre-register and/or volunteer info at: When: April 15, event begins at 9:30 https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-art-ofsurvival-registration-42858041556 AM Facebook event page: https://www.faceWhere: Wat Washington Buddhavanabook.com/events/161292201178989/, ram, 4401 S.360th St., Auburn, WA Instagram page: https://www.instagram.

This celebration includes religious ceremonies such as the Alms Offering, water- com/theartofsurvivalseattle/?hl=en ing of the Buddha Statues and other ways of Khmer New Year Festival at Wat Sangmerit making. It emphasizes moral virtues, hikarim such as gratitude and respect to the elderly.

When: Saturday April 14 - Sunday Call 253-927-5408 for more information.

April 15, festivities begin each day at 9:00 Thai New Year service (Thai/English) AM When: April 22 Where: 16626 9th Ave SE, Mill Creek, Where: Hope Christian Church, 2150 N. WA. 107th St, Basement Room B-90, Seattle, WA

Admission: Free and open to the public.

When: Sunday, April 22, 10:00 AM 3:00 PM

Where: Hatch Road, Spokane, WA. The Cambodian Buddhist Society hosts Wat Spokane Dhammaram celebrates their annual Khmer New Year celebration at Wat Sanghikarim in Mill Creek. For more with their annual Solar New Year celebrainformation, email cbwausa@gmail.com or tion. For more information, please call (509) 244-2928. call (425) 737-6207.

2018 White Center Cambodian New Khmer New Year Festival at Watt Year Street Festival Dhammacakkaram (Wat Chas) When: Saturday, April 28, 10:30 AM When: Saturday April 14 - Sunday April 15, festivities begin each day at 9:00 -5 PM AM. Where: White Center on SW. 98th Street, Where: 300 South Juneau Street, Seattle, Seattle WA (between 16th Ave S.W and 15th Ave S.W.) WA Admission: Free and open to the public.

Admission: Free and open to the public.

The Khmer Buddhist Society kicks off Khmer New Year festivities at the oldest Cambodian American Buddhist temple in Washington state with Khmer food, dance and music. More information can be found on their Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/wattchasseattle/

Great ready for all things Cambodian!

The Cambodian Cultural Alliance of Washington hosts it annual street festival to celebrate Khmer New Year. White Center is home to one of the largest Cambodian American enclaves in Washington State.

This lively event will feature everything from a banana eating contest to live bands playing awesome Khmer rock music and traditional Khmer Classical Dance.

Join for Thai dancing by children, Thai food and Somtam (papaya salad) competition. For more information, visit: http:// www.hopeofseattle.org.

22nd Annual Khmer New Year Show When: Saturday, May 5, 2018, doors opening at 5:00 PM.

Thai New Year festival When: Apri 22

Where: Husky Union Building (HUB) Ballroom on the UW Seattle campus, 4001 E Stevens Way NE, Seattle, WA.

Where: Buddhangkura Buddhist Temple, 932 Mett St. NE, Olympia, WA Schedule to be posted at https://buddhangkura.org.

KhSA’s Khmer New Year Show is one of the biggest events celebrating Khmer culture. It is presented by the Khmer Student Association of the University of Washington. Enjoy Khmer food, language, dancing and a play. For more information, contact khmer@uw.edu or @khsauw on Facebook.

Khmer New Year celebrations The ART of Survival: Remembering the Past and Welcoming the Future Series When: Saturday, April 7, 1:00 PM Where: Seattle City Hall Bertha Knight Landes Room and Lobby, 600 4th Ave., Seattle, WA. Admission: Free and open to the public.

The Cambodian American Community Council of Washington presents their second annual community series called Remembering the Past & Welcoming the Future, which was title of the inaugural event held in 2015 to reflect on the 40th anniversary of the Cambodian Genocide.

This year’s event showcases Cambodian Americans who have held onto their identity through the trauma of war and resettlement through art. Performances include a BangsPhoto by Picha Pinkaow

INTERNATIONAL EXAMINER

March 21 – April 3, 2018 — 5

Kaoru Watanabe’s taiko composition in Isle of Dogs movie takes center stage

By Stan Shikuma IE Contributor Kaoru Watanabe is a Brooklyn-based composer and musician, specializing in the Japanese taiko drum and shinobue flutes. He has spent decades artfully blending the sounds of Japanese instruments with those from around the world, starting from his days at Manhattan School of Music studying jazz flute and saxophone, to Japan, where he joined the world-renowned taiko performing arts ensemble Kodo.

Two years ago, director/producer Wes Anderson asked Kaoru to play taiko for the soundtrack of his new film, Isle of Dogs. The world premiere came at the opening of the Berlin Film Festival (Berlinale) on February 15, 2018, and Kaoru was invited to play on the Red Carpet for the film’s showing. Film critic Misa Shikuma was there to review the film for the IE (see page 12). The film is set for general release in the U.S. on March 23. We recently caught up with Kaoru to find out how he got involved in the film and what it was like.

From the Isle of Dogs website page: Isle of Dogs tells the story of Atari Kobayashi, 12-year-old ward to corrupt Mayor Kobayashi. When, by Executive Decree, all the canine pets of Megasaki City are exiled to a vast garbage-dump called Trash Island, Atari sets off alone in a miniature Junior Turbo Prop and flies across the river in search of his bodyguard-dog, Spots. There, with the assistance of a pack of newly-found mongrel friends, he begins an epic journey that will decide the fate and future of the entire prefecture.

about seven hours in a recording studio.

It was very fun and easy. Wes would describe a scene or a feeling, and I would improvise something. He would then ask me to alter it or add layers to it. We would experiment with different approaches and quickly went through many ideas. At one point, Edward Norton came in to watch and hang out. We had lunch together.

Scorcese’s Silence; and now Isle of Dogs. They all have been very different processes from each other, but I was the most involved in Isle. After the initial recording session with Wes, I would record tracks in my studio and send them electronically when he requested. I once recorded fue and bells in a hotel room in Ann Arbor, MI, for him. Then he flew me SS: How did/does your background out to Air Studio in London in the fall of (in taiko, fue, jazz as well as Japanese 2017 for some final recording work for and American culture) influence or the film. guide the music you create?

SS: You just returned from Australia KW: My background in classical where you were commissioned to write music, jazz and Japanese music always a piece for the Sydney Symphony come out in my playing and composing. Orchestra. How was that process new For example, I’m very comfortable or different for you? improvising because of my jazz background, but it’s through working with dancers and Kabuki actors that I have experience capturing different moods and feelings with music. I am very comfortable playing in a wide variety of rhythms, pulling from two decades of collaborations with musicians from across the globe, but also love being very free and abstract, very “downtown” New York.

SS: Have you worked on scores or soundtracks for other films? Which ones? If so, how was work on Isle of Dogs different? or the same?

KW: As a member of Kodo we worked on a few movies (The Hulk, Hero). Since leaving Kodo I think I have worked on three movies: Shrek 4 (yes, there is a Shrek 4), doing a jazz flute solo; Martin

KW: So much of writing for orchestra is making sure the music is correct on the page. Usually, my compositions feature a lot of improvisation within a rhythmic or melodic framework. For orchestra, I needed to write down everything for each musician, down to specific phrasings and dynamics. I needed to make sure the voices were stacked up properly, that the notations and indications were clear, tempo markings were accurate, etc etc. because we only had a few rehearsals to put it all together. I had many people look at my scores and 99 percent of the comments were about technical issues with the notation, with only 1 percent having to do with issues of musicality or artistry. Having said that, by the end I was having the entire orchestra improvise in certain moments and the musicians

seemed to really enjoy themselves!

Adding to the difficulty was that I was a soloist in my pieces, so I couldn’t sit in the audience during rehearsals to fix balance issues and listen objectively. The first day and a half of rehearsals were nerve-wracking, but by the first show, I was very comfortable playing with the orchestra. One reason for this change was I made an effort to develop a rapport with both the conductor, Gerard Salonga, and the members of the orchestra.

Luckily, everyone was really wonderful to work with and made the whole process relatively easy.

SS: What other projects are you working on or planning for the future?

KW: I have various concerts coming up over the next couple months: projects with (two) different singers, Imani Uzuri and Alicia Hall Moran; a concert for my new string quintet; an ongoing duet with Fumi Tanakadate – an excellent taiko player and pianist; a performance with the Silkroad Ensemble; a few solo performances; and a concert with tapdancer Kazunori Kumagai. Because the music is so personal and full of improvisation, I must work with people that I trust and respect completely – and being able to do so is a blessing.

As for coming up in the future, there are a few projects that I’m not allowed to talk about just yet – I had to keep the Wes film a secret for a year – but it’s fun to have secrets sometimes!

Stan Shikuma: How did you first get involved with doing music for Wes Anderson’s new film, Isle of Dogs?

Kaoru Watanabe: Wes’ long-time music supervisor, Randall Poster got in touch with me about two years ago about this and some other films. (But) this all started when Wes came to my studio in February of 2016 to meet with me. Soon after, we spent a whole day in Electric Lady creating tracks. It was a super creative, fast, fun process where I would play something, and he would suggest changes and different colors and grooves.

He’s not a musician per se but definitely knows how to craft and shape something according to his own aesthetic.

For the Berlin Film Festival premiere, he asked me to perform so I reached out to my fellow ex-Kodo bandmate Tsubasa Hori and London-based Jyoji Hirota to jam.

SS: Describe your process for creating the music for the soundtrack.

Did you find it easy or difficult? why/ how?

KW: The first step was just Wes, the recording engineer, and me spending Photo courtesy of Kaoru Watanabe

6 — March 21 – April 3, 2018

INTERNATIONAL EXAMINER

Chinese Soul Food by local food writer Hsiao-Ching Chou showcases authentic meals from China, Manchuria and Taiwan

By Cynthia Rekdal IE Contributor

The author helps one navigate popular ingredients used in Chinese cooking that may still remain a mystery to the novice.

Bean thread vs. rice noodles? She describes when and how to use each item, and to minimize the too often obligatory game of Asian market hide and seek, adds key hints as to how to find them: “8 small bundles wrapped in . . . (a) garish pink net bag” pretty much identifies a popular brand of bean thread noodles on a shelf.

“A warm kitchen is the heart of the family.” From the foreword of Hsiao-Ching Chou’s recently published cookbook, Chinese Soul Food, the author’s mother, Ellen Chou, provides the focal point for the work. “The only ‘cookbook’ I always had was my memory of good eating,” mother Chou wrote. Her daughter, it seems, has evolved those memories into a remarkDid someone say, “soy sauce” – that able, bound volume dedicated to honoring remembrances steeped in a past of deli- ubiquitous wall-to-wall brown liquid condiment fundamental to Asian cuisine cious contentment. since time immemorial? Easy to say, but What began in 2007 as a blog of “com- hard to choose when confronted by an inforting recipes inspired by foods I ate finite array of bottles, jars and jugs. The growing up”, Chinese Soul Food morphed author has sensed your angst and devoted into a substantive 256- page volume by three pages to Understanding Soy Sauce. the former food columnist for the Seattle The secret of the best choice options is Post-Intelligencer newspaper. Chou aug- also available on her blog – http://mychiments her penchant for cooking by offer- nesesoulfood.com – in a video captioned ing classes in Seattle at chef Tom Doug- Soy Sauce Tips. las’s Hot Stove Society cooking school, Along with the heaping portion of vegand as a member of the James Beard Foundation’s cookbook committee, which etables, Chinese Soul Food covers aroannually bestows prestigious awards on matics, oils, dried ingredients, sauces and pastes, fermented products, acids, sweets, worthy cookbook authors. tofu, rice and noodles. Peppered throughWhat Chou has provided in Chinese out the book are special notes that provide Soul Food is a primer of authentic meals useful advice and information, e.g., why that trace her family’s background and the revered Shaoxing wine might not be movements throughout the provinces the right choice for toasting at your next of China, Manchuria and Taiwan. The celebratory party, or how to prepare and dishes, far from exalted, star-studded maintain your wok and bamboo steamer, gastronomy, reflect the humble origins of or benevolent enlightenment related to home-style cooking: simple, tasty, food often inscrutable conventions regarding for hungry folk.

Chinese etiquette and desserts.

The 80 recipes in the book cover a broad range of wildly popular as well as some lesser known dishes. Major sections, with examples of recipes, include: Dumplings (Pork, Shrimp and Chinese Chives; Basil, Chicken and Shrimp); Little Eats (Marbled Soy Sauce Eggs; Green Onion Pancakes); Rice and Noodles (Steamed Spare Ribs with Rice Powder; Simple Congee); Stir-fries (Garlic Eggplant; Spicy Clams with Chinese Sausage); Soups and Braises (Winter Melon Soup with Smoked Ham Hock; Chili Black Bean Cod); Celebration Dishes (Ginger-Onion Whole Steamed Fish; Salt-and-Sichuan Pepper Shrimp); and Guilty Pleasures (Mu Shu Pork; Crab Rangoon).

Mindful that we the people still suffer from an enormous hangover of early Americanized Chinese restaurant food fare, due in part to a lack of access to authentic Asian ingredients and sustained by a baffling persistence in appetites for neon-red innocuous eats, Chou acknowledges this tenacious penchant with her selection of familiar old standards in the Guilty Pleasures chapter. There, in an homage to crave-addicted obsessions, among Mu Shu and Rangoon, reside stalwarts Chicken Chow Mein, RestaurantStyle Egg Rolls, General Tso’s Chicken, Chinese Barbecued Pork and other 20th century chinoiserie plated and boxed specials of the dine-in/take-out crowd. Column A, B and C stalwarts that, against all odds, have continued to live on forever.

Ah, desserts. The most enigmatic of phantom courses at a Chinese dinner that the western world both struggles to fathom and accept. For those confused by the dearth of sweets at the end of a sumptuous round-table restaurant meal (a paltry orange slice or customary fortune cookie fails to satisfy most wild, wild west appetites), Chou describes a number of desserts available that may not be a staple at typical Chinatown restaurants. But they do exist. In an attempt, perhaps, to placate those intent on having their dessert and eating it too, she has included one concoction in the Guilty Pleasures division: Almond Jelly with Fruit Cocktail.

Bon appétit!

For the wok rookie, the author provides a surgically precise GPS for Chinese cooking. She assumes that an eager newbie cuisinier may be at home on the range all alone. Where other cookbooks assume knowledge, the author provides full-page, living-color, precise images (not just a clue) that leave little doubt as to what recipe ingredients called for actually look like at the market place, how specific techniques create essential elements within a dish, and what the results of one’s plated culinary efforts ought to resemble.

Gai choy, yu choy, bok choy, gai lan.

Surrounded by rows and mountains of greens at vegetable stalls – labeled with only Chinese characters or logograms – may leave you clueless in Seattle. But the book’s vivid veggie photos, each labeled precisely, enables one to fearlessly

Photo courtest of http://mychinesesoulfood.com

purchase the correct produce components with certainty.

“My ultimate goal is to get you into the kitchen.” states Chou. “Chinese cooking can be daunting because the ingredients and methods are unfamiliar, and if you haven’t experienced the diversity of regional Chinese dishes, your palate may not have a baseline for the flavor profiles.”

Chinese Soul Food is not an attempt by the author to have its users conquer the art of Chinese cooking. It is a modest effort at providing a solid guide for those who enjoy Chinese food and have a desire to learn to cook a variety of delicious dishes with ease and confidence. In its conception and execution, Chinese Soul Food embodies not only mastering the journey, but the destination as well. It’s a stellar choice for anyone’s cookbook shelf!

INTERNATIONAL EXAMINER

March 21 – April 3, 2018 — 7

Tacoma deportation event creates cross-community engagement through shared resources

By Bunthay Cheam IE Fellow Tacoma Healing Awareness Community (THAC) held their annual Deportation Town Hall on Saturday, February 24, 2018, at the Asia Pacific Cultural Center in Tacoma, Washington, about five miles away from the Northwest Detention Center, one of the largest immigration holding facilities in the nation. Organizers designed the event to help inform citizens and provide resources for communities affected by immigration law through free case assessments provided by immigration lawyers.

THAC ia a grassroots community organization and advocates on behalf of “underrepresented SE Asian voices… seek[ing] to organize, support and offer leadership opportunities” within the community. THAC engages with their target communities by working on community issues including incarceration and deportation.

Presentations included Khmer and Thai cultural performances, testimonials by community members and speakers from the legal community. The event began with a blessing

by Buddhist monks, followed by introductions of community groups and lawyers present to offer help. Many immigrant/refugee advocacy groups gave presentations including Attorney Sopath Chou-Colwell, who facilitated a Know Your Rights presentation on how to interact with federal agents from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Meanwhile, a children’s table kept kids

busy while their parents networked and sought resources. Mittapheap Restaurant in Tacoma catered with dishes ranging from salads to more traditional Khmer fare. Community Health Plan of Washington, Apple Coordinated Care and Sea Mar Community Health also offered health care resources.

The Northwest Detention Center holds many of the inmates in the region with orders of approval. Established in 2004, it is operated by the Geo Group, a company specializing in for- profit prisons and contracted by the Department of Homeland Security, to hold prisoners under its jurisdiction. The detention center has a population of 1,575 inmates.

As the Trump administration has begun widening the net on people it deems deportable, different communities have come together to share resources. “There’s isolated activism about Cambodians getting deported or Central Americans getting deported... often times the connections aren’t made,” said Jay Stansell, a professor at Evergreen State College and one of many representatives from the legal community present at the event. “We realize that this is an enormous deportation machine that’s acting across cultures and across the country and ripping up families regardless of nationality.”

Stansell came into contact with the Cambodian American community when he began representing defendants of Cambodian descent in 1999. He was instrumental in Zadyvas vs. Davis, a Supreme Court case that ruled people under order of deportation cannot be held longer than six months and subsequently allowed them to go back to their

Councilmember Keith Blocker (far left), former Councilmember Marty Campbell (3rd from right), THAC founder Vanna Sing (2nd from right) with Khmer Buddhist Monks. • Photo by Bunthay Cheam.

community while they awaited deportation.

“It’s really important that connections be made from one community to another...often times they’re isolated,” said Stansell.

Tacoma city councilmember Keith Blocker (District #3) and former councilmember Marty Campbell were present. “[The event] brings people together around a very important cause, it helps bring more solidarity and awareness… not enough people are aware of the repercussions when someone is taken away from their family,” said Councilmember Blocker.

While the Cambodian American community has been dealing with deportation since 2002, it wasn’t until 2008 that Vietnam and United States brokered a memorandum of understanding to accept deportees. Still, this MOU only affected people of Vietnam-

ese descent who arrived after July 12, 1995.

The Trump administration has now widened that scope to make those at risk of deportation greater in the Vietnamese community.

Councilmember Blocker said, “There are many folks with final order or removal that if a lawyer would take a close look at it… might be grounds to reopen a case.”

“Rather than waiting for the knock on the door and saying, ‘I got a travel document from Cambodia’, we’re urging everyone to get screened,” Stansell said.

“The event speaks to the power of community organizing and resilience. I’m always in awe of our community’s sense of power, that despite it all, we are able to gather and organize,” said Nissana Nov, a native of Tacoma.

8 — March 21 – April 3, 2018

INTERNATIONAL EXAMINER

Che Sehyun honors elders with The G’ma Project

By Clarissa Gines IE Contributor For self-taught musician, artist, filmmaker and 2017 Neddy Artist Award recipient Che Sehyun, his grandma plays a pivotal role in his life. As the youngest child of five, and with a single mom working multiple jobs to support her family, his grandma immigrated to the states to assist with raising the children, but especially with Sehyun. With his grandma being his primary caretaker during his upbringing, he developed a special relationship with her. Because of the influence she had on him throughout his life, Sehyun wanted to fi nd a way to honor and show his love for her.

The project initially started after his mother invested in a piano when she was 62 years old. Despite his older siblings all dabbling in some music and arts, Sehyun never seriously pursued any creative outlet other than some videography classes in high school.

After his mother acquired the piano, Sehyun (who was his grandmother’s main caretaker at the time) started to teach himself to play, which eventually led to the composition of his fi rst song, The G’ma Song. The song itself was a tangible way for Sehyun to entertain and demonstrate his love for his now 97-year old grandma.

After writing the song, he moved to the Swinomish Reservation in northwest Washington in an attempt to start a school there and learn more about indigenous spirituality. This path led Sehyun to discover that his own Korean ancestors were not only Buddhists, but shamans who had indigenous roots in teachings similar to the ones that the Native folks he was surrounded by practiced. An immense amount of research has gone into the project, with Sehyun reading

every book he can to learn more about ancient Corea (which is believed to be the authentic way of spelling the country’s name before the Japanese switched the “C” to a “K” at the start of the Japanese occupation in 1910).

produces confusion and suffering, which is what we see all around us all the time. Literally every cell in our body carries an unbroken lineage back to the beginning of creation itself and our consciousness itself changes our genetic expression.” For him, by recognizing and showing respect to our elders, we can learn more about ourselves and our identity.

After the birth of the song, it has evolved into an intergenerational community event, a full-length album and corresponding music video and documentary which goes into depth about the history of Korea and the evolution of its spirituality up to the present day. For Sehyun, The G’ma Project is more than a project – it is a multi-generational and multi-cultural movement of honoring elders, ancestors and culture through original art of all media, and uniting generations by reminding them of where we have all come from and who we are.

The current iteration of The G’ma Project is an amalgamation of ancient Korean history, the connection between us and our ancestors, and showing respect and love for our elders. Through this project, Sehyun hopes that it allows folks to recognize their history, to respect their roots and culture, to love their elders more and to appreciate the diverse community that is around them.

He believes that, “without respecting and learning your own culture, it’s not possible to genuinely appreciate others.”

He will be performing his fi rst solo show at the Wall of Lenin on Sunday, April 22 at 7pm. Along with his solo show, he is creating two more events this summer for The G’ma Project.

Sehyun believes that the connection we have to our elders and ancestors is there, and we need to be more cognizant of that relationship. He says that “to be ignorant of our very reality and existence

To learn more about Che Sehyun and The G’ma Project, visit www. gmaproject.com and www.chesehyun. com. You can also see him performing live on Sunday, April 22, 7:00 PM, at the West of Lenin in Fremont.

INTERNATIONAL EXAMINER

Education and tour director Rahul Gupta speaking with students about the Nippon Kan’s scrim in the Tateuchi Story Theatre. The Wing has been working in partnership with the Highline School District to provide educational programs outside of the classroom for the last three years • Photo by Lexi Potter

March 21 – April 3, 2018 — 9

10 — March 21 – April 3, 2018

INTERNATIONAL EXAMINER

Fellowship spotlight: How API immigrant and refugee communities communicate does word get around? If you wanted to know current events in the local communiFor the past six months, the 2017-2018 IE ty or make contact with a particular person fellows have engaged with and immersed within the community, where do you start? themselves in four different immigrant/refWhen thinking of how news travels in the ugee communities within the Puget Sound area. Bunthay Cheam is covering the Cam- Cambodian American community, some adbodian American community, Annie Kuo ditional variables need to be considered.

While Cambodian Americans are a is covering the Thai American community, John Phoenix Leapai is covering the people of many different faiths, Theravada Samoan American community, and Nick Buddhism and Khmer culture are closely inTurner is covering the Pakistani Ameri- tertwined, with Buddhism dating back to at can community. In this issue, they write least the times of the Angkor Empire which from the perspective of their communities existed between the 9th and 15th century. A on the concept and practice of how their 2007 International Freedom of Religion recommunity communicates and what value port conducted by the U.S. State Department systems influence how they communicate. report notes that over 93 percent of the popu(Nick’s article will be online at www.iex- lation of Cambodia identifies as Buddhist. aminer.org.) The IE’s Advocacy Journalism In many communities in Cambodia, the Fellowship Program has been made pos- temple plays an integral role in daily life. sible by a partnership with Asian Pacific Many social functions and transactions are Islander Community Leadership Founda- facilitated by the temple through ceremony. tion (ACLF) and funding from the Seattle For example, weddings are usually presided Foundation. over by monks. Likewise, funerals are overThe International Examiner

Word of mouth in the Cambodian American community

By Bunthay Cheam IE Fellow

seen by monks as well who help facilitate a transfer of one’s spirit from this life to the next. (Many Cambodians of the Buddhist faith believe in reincarnation.)

When Cambodian communities began springing up in U.S. cities following their arHow does the Seattle area’s Cambodian rival in the 1980s, one of the first orders of American community communicate? How many of these communities was to begin es-

tablishing places of worship to help provide some semblance of life back in Cambodia.

And just like back in Cambodia, daily life today is intricately linked to the temple, becoming a de-facto community center.

“Traditionally...communication is through word of mouth, through the temple,” says Pakun Sin, Chair of the Cambodian American Community Council of Washington.

When looking at communication styles within the Cambodian American community, it’s important to recognize a communications divide.

Although many Cambodian Americans commonly communicate through text and email and and social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat, there is a segment of the population that is not literate in digital media or don’t have access to devices like phones or computers. Nor are they able to understand English well.

A recent Southeast Asian Resource Action Center (SEARAC) report found that 12.6 percent of Cambodian American families in Washington state live below the poverty line compared to the state average of 8.2 percent.

And 40.5 percent of Cambodian American families speak English less than very well compared with the overall state average of 8 percent.

This income inequality and the language barrier some in the community face lead to severe digital access issues, leading some to rely on the more traditional modes communication.

Take weddings, for instance. In the American tradition, wedding invitations are sometimes sent via email or regular mail.

An expectation is that you send the wedding invitations out and some time later you get a reply stating if the invited guest will attend and if they’re bringing a plus-one. You take this information and log it into your planning so you can accurately account for how many guests will attend so you can budget accordingly.

Within the elder generation of Cambodian Americans, however, the expectation of guests replying with a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ is sometimes not even an expectation. These days, many younger Cambodian Americans plan for and track two separate guest lists; one for their guests and one for their parents’ guests.

When I got married some years ago, I did just this. I created two guest lists; one for those I wanted to invite and one for my parents guests.

I remember asking my mother who she would like to invite. “Don’t worry, I’ll take care of it,” she replied. She then reached for her rolodex and picked up the phone to began dialing. On the day of the wedding, we had 30 extra guests that I didn’t know were coming.

“In the old country… the mailing system didn’t exist in Cambodia, said Pakun Sin. So people would literally walk or drive to people’s houses… and hand out invitations.

That’s it. Most of the time, you get a verbal response but you just never know” Both the issues of wanting to hold on to tradition coupled with language barriers and lack of access to digital modes of communication helps explain why some in the community, especially older Cambodian, continue to rely on the old fashioned way of communicating.

The traditional setting for a wedding in America versus Cambodia also factors in to the formality of communicating whether or not one will attend a wedding. “Unlike here in America, where you have receptions at restaurants, back in Cambodia, you either had it at a home or at the temple. So we didn’t have to have a specific number of guests to communicate to the restaurant.

Whoever heard of the wedding could come, and we would always have enough to eat and drink,” my mother added. ♦

INTERNATIONAL EXAMINER

God, family, honor and respect in Samoan culture

By John Phoenix Leapai IE Fellow After communicating with my siblings over Facebook Messenger, it was to my detriment to have discovered that my 62-year-old mother was taken to urgent care at the local hospital for a serious case of pneumonia. It is always alarming to receive news like this, because, like so many of our Samoan women, my mother’s warrior spirit is fierce and everpresent within our families. So, to witness the dear matriarch of our Samoan household in such a vulnerable state, as her children, we rushed to aid, standing guard and remaining attentive to her conditions, as if we really had the power to fend off her physical illnesses.

As reality settled in, we quickly came to the realization that we were powerless in our stance to cure her, as she was placed in the mercies of the medical professionals hired to diagnose and medicate their patient. She was discharged that same day and sent home to rest. Later that evening, I would spend time with her to check in and see how she was doing.

The thing was, I had to approach this moment with tact and understanding.

As her 34-year-old son, how I showed up and took up space within my family’s infrastructure would speak volumes as to how I communicated the level of love and respect I had for my mom. Personally, I wanted to get this right. Parents are a delicate topic of discussion within the Samoan community, as children are taught from a tender age that parents are the beginning and ending of blessings and curses that would enter our lives. Parents are the all-encompassing factor with how Samoan children and growing adults alter life’s decisions.

The sole-purpose of my visit wasn’t simply to exhibit proper cultural etiquette. Admittedly, even as a grown man, becoming a caregiver to my ill mother was a statement expressing my love and respect towards her while caring for me throughout my vulnerable years, while also collecting my blessings (#blessed). These vulnerable times would include the nine months predating my physical birth into the world, while also including the time when I entered pre-school, or when she co-signed for my first car in college, and even that moment when she hugged me on my wedding day.

This is how she showed up in our lives and displayed her motherly responsibilities towards her children. She communicated her care for me, as a mother to her son, and so it was only right that I reciprocated a message of care in a fashion that she would understand.

During my visit, I bought her a box of Kleenex and some orange juice and fixed her broken dryer machine. My sisters followed suit and brought her warm pho to offset the chills to warm her up. Our brothers shared phone conversations filled with warm wishes and encouraging words to lighten her spirit.

As a family, we rallied together around our mother during her time of sickness, in honor of how hard she worked to care for all 10 of my siblings. We felt that as futile as our efforts

were to comfort her and would pale in comparison to her care for her children, it was important that we made the effort express honor towards her.

Honor is given to where honor is due, and no one understood that better than the old lady herself. Being on the receiving end, she gave her blessings to her children, but not before she gave thanks to God. We grew up in a Christian home, as many Samoan families do.

As we sat around the living room, exchanging warmth and comfort among each other, mom would use this time to segue our family time into song and prayer. Breaking into song during our Samoan gatherings is as natural as breathing, in most cases. We use our voices to speak and sing in prayer to the source of life.

Samoans are spiritual people, and we are in constant acknowledgement of who and where we receive our source of life from, where prior to colonization, we offered our prayers and songs to the spirit of our ancestors. To my sick mother, this acknowledgement was given to Jesus.

God, family, honor and respect is how Samoans naturally communicate who we are to the world and to each other. ♦

How the Thai community comes together on its own terms

By Annie Chanpong Kuo IE Fellow On February 15, the band Room39 — composed of three Thai natives who met in Los Angeles and found fame through YouTube — performed in Seattle after a tour of Boston and New York City. Just two weeks before the concert, the organizers replaced Las Vegas with Seattle as the third tour destination. 300 people attended the concert at Eden Seattle in SoDo. Credited for the strong turnout in a short period of time were Facebook shares and posts of the concert flyer, distributed through multiple Thai community pages, and local friendship networks spreading the news through text, talk and LINE, the popular smartphone messaging app widely used in Thailand and by extension many Thais in the U.S. The Room39 show’s local promoter, volunteer Ammy Supinya, said that the event may have started something special in Seattle. The concert was a rare social event for local Thais, apart from the more common Buddhist temple gatherings and the Thai Festival of Seattle.

Thais that night enjoyed themselves so much that, after the band completed their set and the deejays began spinning tunes at 1:00 AM, many audience members asked, “How long can we stay?”

It’s a well-known fact that Thai people know how to party and have a good time, but non-Thais may be surprised that as a cultural community here in Seattle, they do so — with each other — on their own terms. In meetings with Thais across different groups and organizations, they alluded to their preference to socialize within smaller circles of Thai friends and hobby or interest groups, rather than as a large group on the basis of cultural identity.

Some local Thais seek community in mul-

tiple performance groups such as those within the Thai Cultural Society or spaces of worship, such as two Thai Christian churches in Northgate and Bellevue or the Buddhist temples (“Wat Thais”) in Auburn, Olympia, Woodinville and Mountlake Terrace.

Wat Thais in particular play an important role as social and cultural institutions in Thai immigrant society. In Woodinville, Abbott Ritthi Thirajitto of Wat Atammayatarama said, “For the Thai culture, the temple is the ‘center’ for the people — not just for the chanting, but for food… People cook at home, bring food to the temple, and talk.” Wat Thais often offer Sunday school and language classes, where immigrant parents connect while their children learn the Thai language and culture.

Songkran, the Thai New Year in April, brings Thais together at all four temples.

However, Thais do not appear to be socially tight as a stand-alone ethnic community. Even three officers from the Thai Student Association (ThaiSA) at the University of Washington said they socialize amongst themselves and rarely — really, more like never — engage with the broader, local Thai community. Many ThaiSA members plan to return to Thailand after graduation, so assimilation in the U.S. is not their goal.

Those who do stay in the U.S. concentrate on careers, families, and mixed-race friendships. “Unless there is a good reason , like politics or business, Thais keep our distance [from each other],” confirmed Pranom Leephan-Williams, a journalist and community organizer. She mentioned the networks through which Thai business owners connect and share resources, namely the nearly 400 Thai restaurants in western Washington.

“We Thais are good at two things — Facebook and gossip,” offered Su Vathanaprida lightheartedly at dinner in her home with other members of the Thai Cultural Society, a 40-year-old group that has grown to 30 people committed to preserving Thai heritage and culture in King County through dance, music, and cooking.

When something big happens, some pressing cause or campaign that calls for action, the Thai people do show up for each other.

“If there is a sad story in the community, or some political issue that needs action, the Thai people will come together,” said LeephanWilliams. “As a community, Thais have a good heart.”

“Though we are kind of commitment-phobic, we will show up for the things that matter most,” agreed Vathanaprida.

And Facebook helps facilitate communication about these motivating events — ranging from a Thai in Auburn suffering from a house fire, to a People’s Democratic Reform Committee protest before Thailand’s 2014 elections, to a 2016 candlelight service at Gas Works Park to mourn the passing of Thailand’s beloved King, His Majesty Bhumibol

March 21 – April 3, 2018 — 11 Adulyadej, Rama IX. Eugene Pike, an active Thai community organizer and engineer who works for the City of Seattle, related these events from memory.

He coordinated a Bloodworks Northwest drive in October, 2017, a year after the King’s passing, where Thais came to donate blood in loving memory. Pike also helped organize a billboard professing the Thais’ devotion to their King, which ran very visibly by the Space Needle in December, 2014.

Facebook has many Thai community pages, including that of the Thai Association of Washington State (TAWA), a non-profit founded in 2009 and currently governed by a small board of five volunteers. TAWA’s website acts as a formal , local channel of communication for news from the Royal Thai Consulate in Los Angeles, as well as public announcements of Thai scholarships, internships, and cultural performances, although the forum discussion and event calendar were most actively maintained several years ago.

Other Facebook groups include the U.S. and Washington state community pages for ThaiCensus.com, the hyper-local Seattle Amateur Businesswoman and current event-focused Thai Town Seattle. These platforms are in Thai only. Seattle Amateur Businessperson is a commercially-oriented online discussion board for 1,000 local Thais, who buy and sell anything from real estate to dry goods. Thai Town Seattle is a Facebook page maintained

by Thai Curry Simple and Wann Yen co-owner Picha Pinkaow. It is a remnant of a noble effort made by Mark and Picha Pinkaow to operate Seattle’s first Thai print newspaper by the same name in 2014 and 2015.

The Pinkaows, a visionary couple in their efforts to connect Seattle’s Thai community, have also imagined a Thai community center, even as a simple storefront for elderly Thai men to mediate on Buddhist amulets, or a Thai Town, a junior version of those in Los Angeles and New York City. Their Thai Town vision is shared by Ti22 chef Thiraphan “Ice” Suttabusya, even if it’s just one city block with specialty food vendors, like how cuisine is offered on the streets of Thailand.

While Thais who began immigrating to the U.S. in the 1950s may turn less toward each other than other ethnic groups, there remain “lighthouses” in the community — Thai organizations, places of worship and communication platforms that offer social and cultural connections for those who want them. Within these venues are seeds of imagination — indeed, what is in the future possible — planted by organizers, volunteers, and business owners who care about a stronger community. As the recent Room39 concert suggests, there is unexpected delight in Thais being together as a community. Though as fiercely independent as the never-colonialized motherland, local Thais are connecting to one another in their own way and own time. It will be intriguing to see how the Thais respond and build “samakee” — unity — if any of the bigger community visions come to fruition.

Photo courtesy of Picha Pinkaow

12 — March 21 – April 3, 2018

INTERNATIONAL EXAMINER

Isle of Dogs is a celebration of Japanese culture through the coming of age story of a 12-year old boy and pack of dogs

By Misa Shikuma IE Contributor

exchange student Tracy (Greta Gerwig) investigates.

Returning to animation for the first time since 2009’s acclaimed Fantastic Mr. Fox, auteur Wes Anderson opened the 68th Berlinale with Isle of Dogs, an action/adventure story set in dystopian Japan. Through the lens of twelve year-old Atari Kobayashi’s (Koyu Rankin) quest to rescue his beloved dog Spots (Liev Schreiber), Anderson frames themes of love, loss and innocence with typical guile, while simultaneously reining in a sublime ensemble cast of voice actors awash in stunning visuals that show deference to Japan’s rich history and culture.

In typical Anderson fashion, Isle of Dogs conveys universal truths through Atari’s odyssey and coming of age. Just as he’s done previously in Moonrise Kingdom (2012) and, to a lesser extent, The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014), Anderson uses child protagonists to great effect in posing some of life’s biggest questions. In all three films, the young characters are wiser and more astute than the bumbling adults around them; unburdened and uncorrupted by ego and narcissism.

In fictional Megasaki City, a mysterious outbreak of canine flu prompts corrupt Mayor Kobayashi (Kunichi Nomura, who co-wrote the film with Anderson and Roman Coppola) to issue a decree sending all dogs to nearby Trash Island for quarantine purposes. The first to go, by way of making an example, is Spots, guard dog to the mayor’s nephew and ward, Atari.

Precocious Atari promptly pilots a Junior Turbo Prop to the island, crash lands, and befriends a pack of alpha dogs: Chief (Bryan Cranston), Rex (Edward Norton), Boss (Bill Murray), Duke (Jeff Goldblum) and King (Bob Balaban).

As the ragtag crew searches for traces of Spots, the staunch anti-dog mayor begins pushing a sinister agenda, while a group of Atari’s peers led by foreign

This exploration of the purity of childhood and the bond between boy and beast lend a fable-like quality to the film, bolstered by constant reminders of the ways in which Mayor Kobayashi and his cronies have let Megasaki City fester, as well as man’s powerlessness in the face of nature. Throughout Atari’s journey across Trash Island, he and the dogs come across ruins of Kobayashi industrial attempts, some due to economic decline, others to natural disaster.

“I wouldn’t want to bring a puppy into this world,” says Nutmeg (Scarlett Johansson), a former show dog, as she looks out at the desolate wasteland of Trash Island.

Though the strength of the script is undeniable, the snarky, deadpan dogs are truly brought to life by an incredible arsenal of talent, most of them regular

Photo courtesy of Isle of Dogs

Anderson collaborators. Perhaps adding another allegorical layer to the story, the dogs are the most easily understood characters; most of what the human characters say is translated or transmuted.

influence from traditional art, religion, gastronomy, and music. In an era where positive representation in paramount, it is enthralling to hear taiko as an integral part of a film’s soundtrack, see references to Shinto, and characters who are obviously Japanese but without the offensive slanted eyes and cacophonous accents. Rankin, who is Scottish-Canadian and Japanese (and adorably celebrated his eleventh birthday on the festival’s opening night), executes all of Atari’s lines in Japanese.

(It’s unfortunate that the team behind 2016’s heavily Japanese-influenced Kubo and the Two Strings didn’t take the same approach to casting).

The puppet, animation and graphics team prove adept at conveying worlds of emotions without words, from the dogs’ glances and mannerisms to people’s body language, especially those the audience can’t necessarily understand verbally.

There are a handful of visceral, graphic moments - even more so than the fingers caught in the sliding door in The Grand Budapest Hotel, which may render the film inappropriate for young viewers.

(Although, arguably, due to its thematic Anderson’s attention to detail and elements Isle of Dogs isn’t really a commitment to authenticity set the children’s movie anyways). bar high for all filmmakers tackling Despite Isle of Dogs’ many merits, cultures not their own and elevate an the film’s crowning achievement is its already excellent film to something celebration of Japanese culture, drawing truly remarkable. Isle of Dogs will be in theaters in the U.S. on March. 23.

Shanghai Grand chronicles the intertwining lives of three improbable characters in a city of glittering decadence and deadly poverty

By Janet Brown IE Contributor Emily Hahn, legendary New Yorker journalist, was both a biographer’s dream and nightmare. Her restless and unconventional life is richly detailed in her memoirs, except for the few things that she deemed private. She frankly disclosed her love affair with the married British officer whom she would eventually marry, long after having a daughter with him, her flirtation with opium and her marriage to a dashing Chinese poet, which she presents as one of convenience. What she leaves obscured is her opium addiction and her longstanding love affair with the Chinese poet, both of which began and flourished in pre-World War II Shanghai.

Sir Victor Sassoon, known as “the fifth or sixth richest men in the world,” was one of Emily Hahn’s first friends when she arrived in Shanghai in 1935 and took up residence in his luxurious hotel, the Cathay. The third Baronet of Bombay, Sassoon descended from Sephardic Jews who had fled Baghdad for India and increased their fortune by

trading in opium and cotton. Sir Victor was raised in England, became a fighter pilot during World War I, survived a plane crash that left him crippled the rest of his life and brought $29 million dollars in silver with him when he moved to Shanghai.

Emily and Victor met in a city that was among the most modern and the most crowded in the world. Fabulous wealth rested on the labor of dirt-poor Chinese laborers. In 1935 alone, 5,950 corpses were cleared from Shanghai streets, most of them victims of starvation and disease.

Meanwhile foreign businessmen were lured from depression-era America with the promise of a salary that would allow “ten to twenty domestic servants, membership at several clubs, a houseboat, and a new Ford or Buick with a driver.”

In this city of glittering decadence and deadly poverty, Emily and Victor struck up a lasting friendship. Under his mentorship, Emily found a place to live, a job writing for the city’s leading newspaper, and the man who introduced her to opium, Zau Sinmay, whom she would love for the dura-

tion of her life in Shanghai.

A Cambridge-educated aristocrat and leader of Shanghai’s artistic community, Sinmay immediately brought his American mistress into his family circle and gave her the protection of a marriage under Chinese law, which would later save Emily in Japanese-occupied Hong Kong. The two of them became partners as well as lovers, starting several literary magazines, both in Chinese and in English. Their relationship gave Emily access to Chinese society and culture in a way no other Western woman had or even cared to have, as well as the subject for a series of stories published in the New Yorker that focused on an eccentric, worldly Chinese gentleman whom she called Mr. Pan. The city where these three people had found each other and lived their glamorous, comfortable lives was surrounded by predatory warlords, protected by a tenuous national government, and threatened by the encroachment of the Japanese Imperial Army upon Chinese territory. By 1937, Japan’s warships were coming close and the

Chinese planes sent out to attack them had instead dropped two 1,100-pound bombs on Shanghai’s wealthiest area, the International Settlement. Two more bombs rapidly followed, killing 825 people. Three days later, 600 more people died when a Chinese pilot, assailed by Japanese planes, jettisoned his load of bombs in a panic while flying over the same area of Shanghai. In the following year, Japan had encircled the city and controlled it in a puppet government.

Shanghai Grand is a tribute to Taras Grescoe’s skill in that he has managed to corral the story of three improbable people and the history of the city where they flourished in under four hundred pages. That Grescoe also uncovered the fate of Zau Sinmay post-revolution by tracking down the surviving members of the Zau family gives his book a dimension that takes it beyond the ordinary biography. Presentday Shanghai becomes as enthralling as its 1930s counterpart as Grescoe vividly reveals its modern rebirth to become a dominant city once again in this new century.

INTERNATIONAL EXAMINER

March 21 – April 3, 2018 — 13

A review of Verax: The consequences of mass surveillance move from abstract to concerning reality The book starts with a scene “somewhere in Central Asia” of a drone monitoring a family in a house and a group Verax, investigative journalist Pratap of people playing soccer. The drone is Chatterjee and political cartoonist Khalil controlled by U.S. military personnel in Bendib’s recent graphic novel, intricately a base far away from the drone. shows human cost of the U.S. governThis opening scene highlights the abment’s mass surveillance. surdity of a situation which many AmeriThe book connects the dots about how cans may be distantly aware but until unmitigated mass surveillance, overreac- now have not considered its moral or tion to the threat of terrorism, pursuit of practical consequences. This juxtaposiprofit by surveillance companies and the tion — of innocent civilians in a foreign unwillingness of the U.S. Congress and country monitored without a warrant or mainstream media to check a haphazard- legal recourse — leads the reader to ask a ly run apparatus continues a never-end- host of disturbing questions. ing spiral of death and destruction paid On a moral level, should anyone — for by U.S. taxpayers.

U.S. citizen or not — be randomly moniIn the process of vividly demonstrat- tored without being under suspicion of ing this destructive cycle, Chatterjee and committing a crime or act of ter to Khalil (Khalil Bendib omits his last name stop the United States government from on his book covers) also celebrate the using the same surveillance techniques whistleblowers and investigative journal- in the United States itself? If innocents ists who are the keys to exposing and then can so easily be killed abroad due to mass possibly taming this out of control beast. surveillance, why can't innocents within the United States be arrested — or even killed — for crimes they never committed? How is the use of mass surveillance to kill suspected terrorists abroad to prevent possible terrorist attacks any different from the once futuristic Tom Cruise movie Minority Report where people are arrested in advance of supposed crimes they will commit?

By Chris Juergens IE Contributor

Chatterjee and Khalil juxtapose the dangers of mass surveillance and its killing of innocents with the stance from many members of the U.S. Congress who argue that if you have nothing to hide then do not worry from mass surveillance.

The authors also show how corporations are deeply invested in a mass surveillance state given that much of the software and devices used for government mass surveillance are privately produced. Khalil, the cartoonist, draws multiple scenes of Chatterjee going to security expos where private surveillance companies openly hawk their wares.

In the book, Chatterjee attempts to interest editors of publications to invest in his reporting of these surveillance companies and the victims of drone attacks.

He is confronted by the reality that, as he states in the book, “editors like smoking guns, dead bodies, sensational stuff.” He is also finds that the mainstream media are no better at holding the mass surveillance apparatus to account. As Chatterjee states in the book, Washington, D.C. is a “[...] cozy world [...] where journalists agreed not to challenge the secret state in exchange for ‘anonymous’ sources [...]”

In an interview with the Examiner, Khalil argued that the coziness between the mainstream media and the U.S. government has helped lead to historical disasters like the Vietnam War, the 2003 invasion of Iraq and the current unwillingness to question drone warfare and mass surveillance. Khalil and Chatterjee also forcefully argued that the current fix-

ation by The Washington Post, The New York Times and other mainstream media outlets on the outrages of the Trump administration’s policy has resulted in an unwillingness to question the Obama administration’s policies.

According to Praterjee, who has reported directly from the U.S. wars in the Middle East and Central Asia from the George W. Bush administration until now, President Obama was just as brutal and aggressive in ordering strikes that have killed innocents as Trump has been and if anything he sped up what President Bush began.

When asked what we as concerned citizens can do, Khalil said “Democracy is a never-ending struggle. Organize, talk to your neighbor, never relax.” Khalil said he is very heartened to see the level of organization and enthusiasm for action amongst young people, citing the organizing for Senator Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign as a specific source of hope.

Chatterjee did note, however, that he is “not sure voting for president will change much” in terms of stopping unmitigated drone warfare. He argued that supporting watchdog organizations like the ACLU or It is an unlikely coincidence that Ve- CorpWatch (where he works currently), rax itself has not been reviewed by either investigative journalism, and whistleThe Washington Post nor The New York blowers are practical steps.

Times despite the fact Khalil himself is a Chatterjee asked that people also check New York Times bestselling author and out killchain.org for specific details on Chatterjee has written multiple critically the interplay between private and govacclaimed books. ernmental interests surrounding surIf the U.S. Congress and the main- veillance drone warfare. Both authors stream media cannot be counted on to encouraged people to go to the website check the mass surveillance apparatus, for Verax (veraxcomic.net) to view other both in the book and in interviews Chat- practical suggestions about how to fight terjee and Khalil hailed the whistleblow- back against out of control mass surveilers who have exposed surveillance abus- lance. es as our greatest hope.

14 — March 21 – April 3, 2018

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INTERNATIONAL EXAMINER

March 21 – April 3, 2018 — 15

UW student, Shree Saini, uses her role in pageants to impact and help others

By Jefferson Mendoza IE contributor A life-long dream to do pageants, winning the Miss India USA 2017, has propelled Shree Saini from the state of Washington to champion her love for making an impact on people‘s lives in a positive way.

“Everyone is treated equally. The titles don’t matter as to who you are as a person,” said Saini in a phone interview. “You are generous, you are kind, and that you are loving. These are my core values and I stick with that. And that fuels me.”

Saini’s journey to the pageant world began as a young child when she would verbalize to everyone that she wanted to become the next Miss Universe. She looked up at these women because, not only are they highly educated, but that they can have a career to look forward to afterwards.

In 2014, she entered her first beauty pageant at her hometown where she placed first runner-up. “It’s hard to prepare for every aspect of the pageant and to be so close and still not get it. But I just kept thinking about the day that I would be crowned and how I could use my title to impact others.

That really motivated me and it has been a lifelong dream to do pageants,” said Saini.

And on December 17, 2017, Saini won the coveted title of Miss India USA – a defining moment for the recently turned 22year old.

10 years ago, she received a pacemak-

er, a small device placed in her chest, to help control her abnormal heart rhythms.

According to her doctor, she only had 20 heartbeats per minute. The average heartbeat for children 10 years and older is 60 to 100 beats per minute.

But having the pacemaker installed also meant that all contact sports must stop, including for her love for dancing. She told her mom at that time, “I need a pacemaker, not only in order to live, but that I do envision myself dancing. I envision myself acting and I do want to continue pageantry when I grow up. And you need dance for the talent portion,” said Saini.

Post-surgery, there is a visible scar on her chest. She used to come home from school, crying to her mother because she was being bullied. Saini said her mother’s response has always been, “’It’s your response that makes you great. Your attitude towards them, you need to be more mature and compassionate towards your bullies because you don’t know what they are going through in life. Maybe they come from broken families.’ My response to life’s situation is that this has defined who I am.”

Next month, the inaugural Global Beauty Awards will be held in Bellevue, WA. The GBAs has just announced that Saini is nominated for her academic achievement.

Recently, Saini completed an intensive acting program at Yale University. She also studied political science at Harvard and

was a former student at Stanford University. Today, she is studying journalism and real estate at the University of Washington.

As the reigning title holder, Saini’s personal goal this year is to do 100 appearances where she will passionately talk about two issues: anti-human trafficking and well-being as she continues to pursue her studies at the University of Washington.

Looking back at her own challenging times, she said that a few words of wisdom can make a difference in one’s life. “Sometimes people who are going through a tough time think that there is something wrong with them and that they deserve this,” said Saini. But instead, she said that it’s not your fault when this is happening to you.

In the near future, she will have her own YouTube channel to capture memories about her journey as the reigning Miss India USA 2017 and for providing advice for anyone wanting to pursue degrees in journalism and/or in real estate.

“I just want to impact all age groups so I will just talk about my journey to selfesteem,” said Saini.

Despite her heavy schedule, she wants everyone to know that she’s reachable whether it’s via her website – SainiSaini. org – or her social media channels.

As an advocate in all aspects of wellbeing, Saini makes sure that she prioritizes rest and sleep during her hectic schedules.

Photo courtest of Shree Saini

“I do remind myself consistently that I need to be an example first both emotionally and physically healthy in order to be a voice for those subjects. But as long as you are passionate about it, it doesn’t seem like work,” she said. Last month, Saini was invited to be a judge at the Miss India Malaysia. She will also be representing the U.S. at the upcoming Miss India Worldwide 2018 later this year.

Asked about the pressure of winning the prestigious title, a possible third straight win for the U.S., “I do feel pressure to give more than 100 percent, like a 1000 percent, to really prove to the audience that I am earning of the title. But whatever the outcome may be, I’m still Miss India USA. I’m still Shree. I still want to be doing service regardless of the crown or not,” Saini said.

16 — March 21 – April 3, 2018

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