VOL 40 NO 9 | FEBRUARY 27 - MARCH 5, 2021

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VOL 40 NO 9 FEBRUARY 27 – MARCH 5, 2021

FREE 39 YEARS YOUR VOICE

Compassion in Oakland volunteers pose for a photo after a soft launch on Feb. 13.

By Ruth Bayang NORTHWEST ASIAN WEEKLY Hundreds of volunteers have signed up to support a Northern California organization to escort

elderly Asian Americans through their neighborhoods—after a string of attacks against them in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Compassion in Oakland, a see COMPASSION on 11

Fewer students from China apply to UW

By Saki Yoshizawa NORTHWEST ASIAN WEEKLY

Bob Yeh (center) with wife, Teri and son, Timothy

W. Walter Liang

By Mahlon Meyer NORTHWEST ASIAN WEEKLY

assured the Democratic candidate, most likely Vice President Kamala Harris, would win the election.

Views were likewise mixed about the impeachment process. Some said it had been doomed to failure and only sowed increased hatred and division in the country. Others said it gave Trump a necessary rebuke that would discipline him and ultimately make him a more effective leader. In a sense, the lack of uniformity reflected the broader divisions within the Republican Party

The acquittal of Donald Trump could be the best thing that could have happened to the Republican Party. It could also be the worst, depending on who you talk to. And this is just among Republicans.

Prominent local Republicans shared wildly differing assessments of the meaning of the former president’s exoneration by the Senate. One said it gave the GOP a strong chance of reclaiming the White House in 2024. Another said it virtually

Tiger Woods seriously injured in California car crash

By STEFANIE DAZIO and DOUG FERGUSON LOS ANGELES (AP) — Tiger Woods was seriously injured on Feb. 23 when his SUV rolled over and ended up on its side in suburban Los Angeles, authorities said. The golf superstar see WOODS on 4

The University of Washington (UW) is seeing fewer applications from international students, especially from China, for the 2021 freshman class.

International students currently compose 15.6% of all enrolled students at the UW. Although there was a 16% decrease in international student enrollment for fall 2020 among higher education institutions in the United States, according

Photo provided by Shenlan Guan

see REPUBLICANS on 12

AP Photo/John Amis

Photo from Compassion in Oakland

Hundreds volunteer Local Republicans mixed on to escort elderly effects of Trumps acquittal Asian Americans after violent attacks

Tiger Woods after winning the Tour Championship golf tournament in 2018.

see UW on 11 Shenlan Guan, international student from China, holds her UW acceptance letter.

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT Simon Tam: A slanted and enchanted life in public  5 PICTORIAL Readers show off their Lunar New Year attire.  7

■

BUSINESS The King of the Ave closes, leaving behind a 45-year legacy  8

T

he International Lion Dance Team performed on Feb. 20 outside the New An Dong on South King Street, with hundreds of people watching.

The neighborhood was very busy that day as it was the Lunar New Year Food Walk, organized by the Chinatown-International District Business Improvement Area. Visitors came to the ID to enjoy $3 and $6 menu items from ID businesses.

412 Maynard Ave. S., Seattle, WA 98104 • t. 206.223.5559 • f. 206.223.0626 • editor@nwasianweekly.com • ads@nwasianweekly.com • www.nwasianweekly.com

Photo by Tony Au

THE INSIDE STORY

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asianweekly northwest

39 YEARS

FEBRUARY 27 – MARCH 5, 2021

■ NAMES IN THE NEWS Photo by Corey Moy

after making sexist comments about women.

Hashimoto has competed in cycling in three Summer Olympics (1988, 1992, and 1996) and in speedskating in four Winter Olympics (1984, 1988, 1992, and 1994)—the most by any “multi-season” athlete in the games. She won a bronze medal at the 1992 Albertville Games in speedskating. 

APCC represents 47 nations, and each year a different country is selected as the featured host country for this annual event. This year, the Marshall Islands was featured. 

CISC Lunar New Year

Garfield Golden Grads Hall of Famer 103-year-old Chinese American veteran Gene Moy got the Covid vaccine on Feb. 23 at the VA Puget Sound Health Care System in Seattle.

Japan's Olympics Minister Seiko Hashimoto (center) is surrounded by reporters in Tokyo on Feb. 17.

Seiko Hashimoto made history when she was named president of the Tokyo Olympic organizing committee on Feb. 18 in Japan, where it is rare for women to be in boardrooms and positions of political power.

The 56-year-old replaces 83-year-old Yoshiro Mori, a former Japanese prime minister who was forced to resign

Chinese Information & Service Center held a virtual Lunar Year celebration on Feb. 18. The program featured a lion dance by the Mak Fai Lion Dance Team, a drum show, a kung fu demonstration, music, cultural dances, and Chinese, Vietnamese, and Korean Lunar New Year traditions. 

APCC New Year celebration

Bellevue Collection Lunar New Year

Asia Pacific Cultural Center (APCC) held its 23rd Annual Asia Pacific New Year Celebration virtually from Feb. 8-13 on Facebook Live and YouTube.

Performances from 17 different countries—included Guam, Samoa, Japan, Cambodia, Thailand, Korea, Vietnam, Tonga, China, New Zealand, Indonesia, and the Philippines—were presented.

The Bellevue Collection marked the Year of the Ox with a 15-day-long celebration, which began on Feb. 12.

It kicked off with a performance with the Seattle Shaolin Kungfu Academy & International Lion Dance Martial Art Team. 

Meika Fujio/Kyodo News via AP

Seiko Hashimoto takes over as Tokyo Olympic president

Seattle architect Jerry Arai has been selected to be inducted into the Garfield Golden Grads Hall of Fame for the year 2021.

He was selected for his “remarkable community involvement and volunteerism,” according to John Macklin, chair of Garfield Golden Grads Hall of Fame committee.

A virtual annual awards lunJerry Arai cheon will take place in June, during which the induction will happen. 

YOUR VOICE

■ COMMUNITY NEWS

FEBRUARY 27 – MARCH 5, 2021

asianweekly northwest

3

“Becoming Nisei”

is a worthy addition to your bookshelf

Lake View Cemetery Seattle’s Pioneer Cemetery Est. 1872 An Independent, Non-Profit Association

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Shigeko Gay Tamaki Yoshiwara (and Shigeo Wakamatsu, Waichi Oyanagi, Ted Nakamura) with Eleanor Roosevelt, as assistant director of the Office of Civilian Defense, Dec. 1941.

Meeting arranged by Tacoma Mayor Harry P. Cain.

For the children—and for the parents, too, as few of them had automobiles in those early days—it is largely a walking history. This idea that memories were formed by walking, is one of the most charming in the book.

It’s something relatable for many of us who come from places that have undergone significant change. The buildings on those streets may have altered, but those streets are still in our blood.

The book discusses in depth the challenges Issei and Nisei faced as ambassadors of Japan, at the same time they endeavored to integrate into American society. The Issei of that time were expected to represent their home country—there was regular communication between the Meiji government and the Japanese population here—and act as a “bridge” to settling in the States. (The concept of a “bridge” is found in contemporary correspondence, yet the authors prefer using the word “bridging” to emphasize what was a many-layered process).

This connection to the home country complicated things, yet efforts to embody the values important to them—summed up as “shushin” or ethics—gave Tacoma’s Japanese residents a sense of togetherness, and perhaps hope. They hoped that, by being model Japanese, they would also be model Americans, and thus gain acceptance. According to a quote by then Japanese Consul in Seattle Tokichi Tanaka, “inculcating the Japanese spirit,” in the Nisei in particular, through instruction from their elders and language schools,

Courtesy of the Tanbara Family

“It speaks to something we all know—that places are important to people—and reminds us of the changing nature of places and the fragility of their communities,” said Gregory Masao Tanbara in the forward to the newly published book, “Becoming Nisei: Japanese American Lives in Prewar Tacoma.”

Written by Lisa M. Hoffman and Mary L. Hanneman, with a grant from the Scott and Laurie Oki Series in Asian American Studies, and published by University of Washington Press, the book tracks the history of first and second generation Japanese and Japanese Americans (the Nisei’s gaining citizenship and the Issei not) who lived in Tacoma prior to World War II and the incarceration. Through extensive interviews, and other related resources, the book’s authors piece together the history and present at the same time. It’s a history of too-forgotten presence in a city that many once assumed would become one of the greatest shipping hubs of the West Coast, and a present of those whose formation happened there.

“We are exploring a place where that which has been ‘collectively forgotten’ may reemerge, disrupting the selective memories presented by cities, their makers, and the visible urban landscape. In other words, this project… might produce a flash of recognition that destabilizes structural forgetting,” explains the authors. The book starts with this kind of sociological conversation, which can be daunting, yet really boils down to places as well as people who make us who we are, and both live in our memories. Sometimes, as in the case of the Issei and Nisei, those memories end up being almost all we have.

The presence of Japanese immigrants and their families in Tacoma before WWII is often overlooked after, similarly to the treatment of the Chinese in Tacoma, these residents were systematically pushed out by the city’s white establishment, and by a government that questioned their loyalty. It was a presence informed by the places the parents worked—hotels, markets, the timber industry—and the places their children frequented, such as Tacoma’s Japanese Language School (TJLS).

Looking at the maps provided in the book, and hearing the testimonies of Issei and Nisei, we come to understand how integral they were to the city’s life and character, and how it is still a part of all of our history.

Courtesy of Tacoma Public Library

By Kai Curry NORTHWEST ASIAN WEEKLY

Mitsu Fujimoto with daughters Kimiko Fujimoto and Chiyeko Tadaye Fujimoto at Capital Cleaners, date unknown (likely late 1940s).

would “give them a sense of identity as Japanese, and enable them to overcome the ill effects of exclusionism and the myriad of other difficulties they encountered in their lives in America.”

The primary position of TJLS, as a gathering place and vessel of Japanese culture and language, is the subject of much of the book. Ran by Masato and Kuniko Yamasaki, TJLS was unique compared to other Japanese language schools in the U.S. in that it did not have a religious affiliation. The focus on TJLS crystallizes for the reader the special quality of the Japanese community in Tacoma. Per the authors’ conjecture, and that of other scholars, this uniqueness was caused by “the connections between population size and the lack of other large ethnic groups living nearby.” One interviewee, Kazuo Horita, described it as “feeling like a family.” It distinguished Tacoma’s Japanese from those elsewhere. “How come you Tacoma people are so close together?” Horita’s San Francisco mother-in-law asked him.

Interviewee Kimiko Fujimoto said, “I always felt that we were one of the lucky ones, because our community was so united, and we all knew each other and we helped each other. Whereas in California, and even in Seattle, the population of the Japanese was so much larger, that they didn’t have that privilege of being united.” Tacoma’s Nisei still have reunions today, and they continue to be impressed by their special closeness. Interviewee Ryo Munekata commented, “There’s a few of us left that still remember Tacoma.

And I think it was a small community. So it’s not like see NISEI on 10

4

asianweekly northwest

FEBRUARY 27 – MARCH 5, 2021

39 YEARS

■ COMMUNITY CALENDAR FEB

MAR

UNCLE BOB’S PLACE VIRTUAL GROUNDBREAKING 5-6 p.m.

Register at interimcda.org/ unclebobsplace

WORKSHOP, “FIERCE SELF-COMPASSION MINIRETREAT, SHAME” WITH CHRIS GERMER 7:30 a.m.

Register to join: http://bit.ly/3dkNNTK

25

WOODS from 1

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ALL THINGS JAPANESE SALE JCCCW, 1414 S. Weller St., Seattle 10 a.m.-3 p.m. by appointment only Register at jcccw.org/allthings-japanese-sale

■ COMMUNITY NEWS Tales of Quarantine Seattle-based education nonprofit Mission InspirEd is launching a free nationwide initiative challenging students ages 6-18 to showcase COVID’s impact through a wide variety of artistic expressions.

The competition, “Tales of Quarantine,” will span from Feb. 22 through March 21 and cover three categories, including media, visual, and writing.

Students are encouraged to submit an original

piece of artwork that showcases their creativity and skills, and can win up to $1,000.

To submit your entry, go to missioninspired. org/toq.

Mission InspirEd is a high school student-run nonprofit whose mission is to combat education disparity. It organizes free classes, tutoring, seminars, and has impacted over 2,000 K-12 students. 

had to be pulled out through the windshield, and his agent said he was undergoing leg surgery.

Woods was alone in the SUV when it crashed shortly before 7:15 a.m., the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said in a statement. No other cars were involved. Woods was conscious and alert as firefighters pried open the front windshield to get him out, said Christopher Thomas, a spokesman for the county Fire Department.

The cause of the wreck wasn’t clear. The two-lane road curves through upscale suburbs, and the northbound side that Woods was driving on descends steeply enough that signs warn trucks to use lower gears. The speed limit is 45 mph.

Images showed the SUV on its side, with its front end heavily damaged, just off the side of a road near a hillside. An ambulance took the 45-year-old Woods to a hospital, authorities said.

Woods was in Los Angeles over the weekend as the tournament host of the Genesis Invitational at Riviera Country Club, where he presented the trophy on Feb. 21. He was to spend the following

two days filming with Discoveryowned GOLFTV, with whom he has an endorsement. A tweet on Feb. 22 showed Woods in a cart smiling with comedian David Spade.

According to Golf Digest, also owned by Discovery, the TV shoot was on-course lessons for celebrities, such as Spade and Dwyane Wade, at Rolling Hills Country Club.

The SUV Woods was driving had tournament logos on the side door, indicating it was a courtesy car for players at the Genesis Invitational. Tournament director Mike Antolini did not immediately respond to a text message, though it is not unusual for players to keep courtesy cars a few days after the event.

This is the third time Woods has been involved in a car investigation. The most notorious was the early morning after Thanksgiving in 2009, when his SUV ran over a fire hydrant and hit a tree. That was the start of shocking revelations that he had been cheating on his wife with multiple women. Woods lost major corporate sponsorships, went to a rehabilitation clinic in Mississippi and did not return to golf for five months. 

KING COUNTY, WASHINGTON NOTICE TO PROPOSERS Proposals will be received for KC000120, ENGINEERING SERVICES FOR HERZMAN TO CAMP FREEMAN PROJECT; by King County Procurement and Payables Section until 12:00 PM on March 17, 2021.

This contract includes development and submittal of an Equity and Social Justice

(ESJ) Innovation Plan. The ESJ Innovation Plan details the approach, strategies, and actionable steps that will be taken to maximize the participation of Minority Business Enterprise (MBE) and Women Business Enterprise (WBE) firms. Both MBE and WBE firms must be certified by the State of Washington Office of Minority

and Women’s Business Enterprises.

Total Estimated Price: $510,145 Prospective proposers can view more details at: https://kingcounty.gov/ procurement/solicitations Contact: Regina Sparano, rsparano@ kingcounty.gov, 206-477-4807

View the solution on page 10

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The Editorial Board reserves the right to reject any advertisement, letter or article.

Subscriptions cost $40 for 52 weeks of the NW Asian Weekly and $30 for 52 weeks of the Seattle Chinese Post. The NW Asian Weekly owns the copyright for all its content. All rights reserved. No part of this paper may be reprinted without permission.

412 Maynard Ave. S., Seattle, WA 98104 • t. 206.223.5559 editor@nwasianweekly.com • ads@nwasianweekly.com • www.nwasianweekly.com

YOUR VOICE

FEBRUARY 27 – MARCH 5, 2021

■ ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

asianweekly northwest

5

Simon Tam

A slanted and enchanted life in public

Photo credit: Robbie Glen

By Andrew Hamlin NORTHWEST ASIAN WEEKLY

The Slants Collection | Credit: Jady Bates

He’s owned a record label, owned a music promotion company, and owned and ran a clothing store. He’s played in several rock bands, coordinating concerts, albums, and videos. He’s masterminded charity drives. He’s no lawyer, but he spearheaded a legal action that went all the way to the Supreme Court and set legal precedent. He’s even working on a new series of Asian American music videos.

For all of that, though, Simon Tam seems low-key, modest, and even humorous about his accomplishments.

Tam, whose band The Slants have a video retrospective airing now on AsianAmericanMovies.com (AAM. tv), and who’s also introduced the Asian American Music Video Fest that launched on Feb. 12 at the same site, notes wryly that his early accomplishments, at least, seem more impressive on paper than in reality.

“It was pretty easy to start a music promotion company to book shows because so few people were doing it,” he recalled. “Same with a local record label and the vintage clothing shop (it was in a town of 40,000, there wasn’t a lot going on). At some point, I just developed an attitude of ‘let’s just try it and see what happens.’ Until you ask, the answer is always no so you might as well see if something is possible.

“I think that’s probably what makes me an inherent optimist. I don’t think optimists look for the positive in everything. I think that they just see the possibilities, instead of obstacles. When I think about the hardships that my parents had to endure, everything else seems pretty menial. So I might as well make the time and energy that I have count!”

Tam’s a wanderer by nature, but he grew up in San Diego. He remarks that he had no cause to think about race, until he entered kindergarten. He’d been working through study books for several years before arriving at the school, and he tested well ahead of kindergarten levels.

Then, he says, his parents took a meeting with the guidance counselor, a meeting he himself wouldn’t learn about for decades.

Their son was obviously very bright, said the counselor. But he would require ESL classes to emphasize mastering English.

They were not to speak to him in any

language except English, to help him assimilate into mainstream culture. To this day, he cannot read or write in any of the three languages his parents mostly spoke at home, including Mandarin, Taiwanese, and Cantonese.

“Aside from occasionally attending the Taiwanese Lutheran church that my grandparents were a part of, I wasn’t really involved with the Asian American community,” he said. “After numerous experiences with bullying, I didn’t want anything to do with my heritage, so I shied away from things like the Asian Pacific Islander club and wasn’t aware of anything that promoted Asian American culture until after I moved away.

“In general, Asian American culture is fairly young as a movement, especially in arts and community organizing. Many of the more notable events and organizations, like the San Diego Asian American Film Festival (now Pacific Arts), didn’t come into existence until the 2010s. And any existing cultural organizations mostly focused on the Asian-ness (i.e, cultural heritage such as Lunar New Year) rather than the distinct American-ness of distinct Asian American culture. Now, it seems to be more prolific, inclusive, and intentional of other identities.

Music came early. At 2, he was clowning and dancing with a guitar on top of the living room coffee table. The children’s records set out for him wouldn’t do. He moved over to his father’s collections of The Rolling Stones, The Beatles, and Elvis Presley. His brother gave him a Depeche Mode cassette for Christmas, and he took the tape, dark menacing lyrics and all, to show-and-tell at school.

Seattle’s own Duff McKagan, who played in the band Guns N’ Roses, inspired Tam to settle on the bass guitar for his main instrument. He left college just short of graduation to work with a Portland, Oregon band called Stivs, whom he’d befriended in California.

He left the Stivs to work on his idea for an all-Asian band. This band eventually became The Slants. He knew the name would sound provocative, but, he says, the band was determined to repurpose the longstanding racial slur.

“When I was first starting the band, I’d ask my non-Asian friends, what’s something that you think all Asians have in common?” he explained. “‘Slanted eyes,’ they’d often say, which I thought was interesting because it isn’t true.

“I always associated my slanted eyes with shame. And since Asians are the

most-bullied demographic in U.S schools, I knew I wasn’t alone. I wanted to change the association and make it about selfempowerment and identity, to address the false stereotype, and to honor the work of Asian American pioneers who were reappropriating terms to create solidarity.

Plus, it just sounded like a cool band name.

Tam didn’t think much of the band name beyond what he’d meant for it, until he tried, on the advice of an attorney, to register the band’s name as a trademark. The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) turned him down, on the grounds that “slants” were disparaging to people of Asian descent.

Sen. Bob Hasegawa 11th District

Tam took the case all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, arguing that the USPTO’s decision violated his right to free speech.

He didn’t speak before the judges—only the attorney of record can do that, and he has no law degree. But he worked intensively with the attorneys all the way down the line. The case took roughly eight years to settle, but the Supreme Court ruled unanimously in Tam’s favor.

He’s especially proud of the charity work The Slants have done over the years. Causes include rescuing refugees from North Korea, raising money and educational awareness for the disparity rates that Asian women face when it comes to cancer, antibullying programs, working with Make-aWish or other youth projects, doing antiracism work, and working with Japanese American museums to teach the history of incarceration camps.

“I’m most proud of the work being done

by The Slants Foundation because it allows us to initiate scalable social change by elevating the work of other artists in ways that we couldn’t do alone by just being a band,” he concluded. “Each week, I see how our efforts are helping others find expression and how I can help other artists in ways that I wish I had when I was getting started. It’s helping ease the road for others.”  Andrew can be reached at info@nwasianweekly.com.

Rep. Sharon Tomiko Santos 37th District

6

asianweekly northwest

39 YEARS

FEBRUARY 27 – MARCH 5, 2021

■ PUBLISHER’S BLOG

Ted Cruz’s hypocrisy and 500,000 COVID deaths What’s the correlation?

By Assunta Ng NORTHWEST ASIAN WEEKLY Hot news items happened last week: the uproar from Sen. Ted Cruz’s trip to Cancun and the decline of the U.S. life expectancy. While two losers are evident, an unexpected winner has emerged...

First, the senator. In case you haven’t heard, the winter storms in Texas left more than 14 million people without water and power, and consequently 60 people died due to the freezing cold.

A Republican, Cruz explained in a statement that he flew to Cancun, Mexico with his family because his two daughters had asked to go on a trip with friends, given that school was canceled for the week, according to the Associated Press.

“Wanting to be a good dad, I flew down with them last night and am flying back this afternoon,” Cruz wrote. The repercussions from his constituency, both Democrats and Republicans, prompted Cruz to say later that “it was a mistake” to go on the trip.

Cruz is wrong again. He claimed he’s a good father.

No, he isn’t. By using his daughters as an excuse for the trip, he put the burden on his daughters, and from now on, the daughters would get the blame for their father’s decisions.

Why the backlash? As one of the least favorite senators, his hypocrisy was revealed as he often attacked other politicians for hypocrisy. Earlier, he tweeted that Texans should stay home. He and his family were staying at the Ritz Carlton in Cancun, a pricey resort. His wife had

texted their circle to join them in Cancun since the hotel offered a discount rate at $200 a night, according to the New York Times.

Cruz, one of the leaders who claimed the November election was fraudulent, voted against certification

of Arizona and Pennsylvania, siding with the former president, Donald Trump. Later, he voted to acquit Trump in the second Senate impeachment trial. Cruz has his own presidential ambitions. He ran for president in 2016 and lost the Republican nomination to Trump.

Alexandria OctavioHe thought that his support for Cortez Trump would enable him to win over supporters leftover from Trump. It doesn’t work that way. Voters can’t be traded like stocks.

Meanwhile, another big news story surfaced last week: the average U.S. life expectancy has shortened by one year. Data from the National Center for Health Statistics showed a reversal of incremental gains over the past few years. Life expectancy at birth for the total U.S. population declined from 78.8 years in 2019 to 77.8 years for January through June 2020. The numbers were even worse for Blacks and Latinos. The coronavirus pandemic has killed over 500,000 people in the U.S. so far, a shocking number and the country with most COVID deaths. How and why does the U.S. get to this point? It is hard to fathom that the U.S., a global power with first-class technology and scientific knowledge, possesses the worst record in controlling the virus.

“How are the two topics related?” you ask. The U.S. has a public health crisis. Every elected official has a responsibility to work together to end the pandemic. Yet, see BLOG on 9

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YOUR VOICE

■ PICTORIAL Getting dressed up for Lunar New Year

asianweekly northwest

We asked readers to send in their photos of Lunar New Year attire. Now, we want you to vote on your favorites. Go online at https://bit.ly/3uwMmYS to cast your vote.

Winners for the best costume and People’s Choice will be announced on March 25.

Prizes include stuffed cows in honor of the Year of the Ox, restaurant gift certificates, and other goodies.

Heidi Luu Jasmine and Jayden Wong Annalise Lam

Chau Phuong & Bich Nguyen

Nguyet Kinsey and her granddaughters.

From left: Dad Yu-Eng Cheng, mom Jac Chen, and son Eunix Cheng

Grandma Sy and her grandchildren.

Baby Hunter Landau and Hayden Landau

Deng Xiao Feng family

Pia Suwannakatesakul and her twin Benjamin Sean Norsworthy and Samuel Sean Norsworthy

From left: Jayda (age 8), Julia (age 6), Juna (age 10) and Jeena (age 2).

Justin Lam

From left: Amy Wu, Biwei Zhang, Linda Lay, Jenny Yang, Li Wang, Lanshu Huang

Ben and Amelia Hui Ella Hang Nguyen wearing a traditional Vietnamese wedding outfit

Kristen

Ananaya Bezbaruah wearing an Odissi dance costume

Sharon Yoon in a modern recreation of a traditional hanbok

Mother Sy and her daughters

Dr. Philip Louie, Alice Louie, Madelyn Louie, and Jaxton Louie

7

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asianweekly northwest

■ BUSINESS

39 YEARS

FEBRUARY 27 – MARCH 5, 2021

The King of the Ave closes, leaving behind a 45-year legacy Orange King, the iconic restaurant in the U-District, closed last December after struggles with the pandemic among other unknown factors. Known for its heaping portions and homey feeling, many current University of Washington (UW) students, as well as alumni, are mourning the loss of an established paragon of the Ave. “Having Orange King as a place to go on a bad day was a lifesaver for the beginning of college. I’m sad other people won’t get that experience,” said Raeny Nichols, a UW junior. Nichols was a regular at Orange King, the Katsu burger being her favorite dish.

“It’s more than just the food, it’s the familiarity, the nostalgia, the little pocket of happiness they provided,” she said. The interior featured small seating arrangements, retro wood floors, and a lengthy, diverse menu.

The owners were a Korean couple well-known for their hospitality.

“You didn’t need to have long conversations to feel how much they cared about students,” said UW alum Christine Tran.

The many options on their menu included American, Korean, and a fusion of the two cuisines. Orange King was an eclectic mix that demonstrated the diversity and potential of food to bring cultures together.

The restaurant is notorious for its portion-to-cost ratios and feeding broke college students. “Beyond the mom & pop identity, there was a familial feel in the way that the owners treated students…the portions were big and it was one of those places where you could get a meal that would last you for more than one sitting,” said Tran.

Vanishing Seattle, a nonprofit

Photo courtesy of Vanishing Seattle

By Elisabeth Andonian NORTHWEST ASIAN WEEKLY

Orange King’s storefront

organization dedicated to “documenting the displaced & disappearing institutions, small businesses, & cultures of Seattle,” posted about Orange King on their social media sites, obtaining over 4,500 likes and 700 comments.

Kathleen Flenniken commented, “It was the only restaurant in my life where I could order ‘the usual.’”

Roland Boe remarked, “Best burgers in the U District! Started going there in the 70s, could've sworn it started as an Orange Julius. No matter, if I die from a heart attack it’ll be because of all the delicious burgers I ate there.”

“Coming from Eastern Washington in 1997 to the University, that was the first place I ever ate teriyaki. I was fortunate enough to take my family there once before they closed. Big part of my history at the campus,” reflected Oscar Gavan.

A community surrounded this

restaurant, with many tagging their friends, sending condolences, and reminiscing on how Orange King helped them through finals and other trials.

“Even though these places are closing, it’s a chance for people to celebrate... to share memories, to share stories, to

just really uplift why these places were so special and meaningful for them,” said Cynthia Brothers, the founder of Vanishing Seattle.

News outlet Eater Seattle included Orange King in a line-up of the casualties from this year’s trials. Many restaurants on the Ave and throughout Seattle have closed their doors since the pandemic began.

Although it is unclear exactly why Orange King shut its doors, the pandemic undoubtedly contributed. Once the university went remote, many students did not return to campus, and much of the flow of traffic through restaurants on the Ave died out, in addition to having to pivot to no-contact options like Doordash or UberEats.

“Pre-pandemic, we sensed a lot of the changes in the Seattle community, but I think there were pockets, especially on the Ave, and Orange King was one of them, where you never thought it would go away,” said Tran.

As the executive director of the Los Angeles Food Policy Council, Tran helps legacy businesses transform with sustainable practices, revamps, and assists small business owners make see ORANGE KING on 10

HAPPY LUNAR NEW YEAR 2021!

I am proud to join King County’s Chinese community in celebrating the Chinese Lunar New Year and in ringing in the Year of the Ox – a special one for me having been born in the year of the Ox. This is also a great opportunity to thank the staff and volunteers of the Northwest Asian Weekly for 40 years of contributions to our community.

We also commend the staff of its sister publication, the Seattle Chinese Post, the oldest Chinese-language newspaper in the Pacific Northwest, which has provided critical news and information to readers since 1982.

I encourage all King County residents to join me in celebrating the Lunar New Year, and the success of these community institutions, which contribute so much to our region’s diversity and quality of life.

Dow Constantine King County Executive

YOUR VOICE

■ COMMENTARY

FEBRUARY 27 – MARCH 5, 2021

asianweekly northwest

9

Asian Americans: One year after COVID-19

By Joseph Zhang FOR NORTHWEST ASIAN WEEKLY I didn’t think much of it at the time. I was on the sidewalk outside of my pharmacy, my hands resting warmly in my hoodie pockets, my earbuds muffling the sound of passing Joseph Zhang cars, and my gaze upon the ground—just minding my own business. Out of the corner of my eyes, I noticed a pair of feet scuttling away from me. I peered up to the woman receding in front of me, her glare fixed on me as she gravitated closer to the curb, promptly hurrying towards her car while muttering something at me barely louder than a whisper. I didn’t think much of it at the time. It wasn’t until a week later when it happened again online. I was on Omegle with some of my friends, talking to random people, when I was put with two strangers. The first one, a white girl, noticed that I was Asian, and remarked, “Oh, he’s Chinese.” Her friend quipped immediately, “Does he eat bats”? They burst out in laughter while I stood there in disbelief. Before I could even say anything, they were gone.

I’m tired of dealing with encounters like these. In a time marked by hate and inequity, nearly a year into

BLOG from 6 some officials are still not enforcing the rule of social distancing or wearing masks. Even Trump resists wearing masks. In contrast, President Joe Biden has received a 50% approval rating, and his handling of the pandemic has a 62% approval rate (buying enough vaccines for America and improving plans to speed up vaccination, etc.). The pandemic is beyond one leader’s vision or action. It shouldn’t just be Biden’s responsibility.

Every elected official has an obligation to end COVID. I doubt we would have 500,000 deaths if all the public officials had done their part, and put their hearts and minds together to get rid of the virus.

The real opportunity for Cruz to prove himself is to figure out solutions for those crises, fixing the Texas crisis and the

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the COVID-19 and BLM eras, I’m often reminded that discrimination is practically inevitable for any minority.

Yet, it frustrates me that American media commonly neglects Asian racism and hate.

Through the past year, more than 2,500 hate crimes against Asian Americans have been reported throughout the United States, and while this did spark a temporary spotlight on the racism that people like us face, the compassion has died out.

As the United States shifts tides, moving from one presidential regime to the next, the normalization of Asian American racism persists. Donald Trump was the first person to coin the term “kung-flu,” originally mocking Chinese culture because China supposedly fabricated COVID-19. While small businesses have been damaged, no industry has been hit harder than public dining. In Chinatowns across America, many of these eateries have been permanently shuttered: 270 of New York’s Chinese restaurants and 150 of San Francisco’s Chinese restaurants have been reduced to 40 each. Nationwide, 59% of Chinese restaurants have been forced to close.

Washington state has seen its share of racism, too, as crimes targeting Asians nearly doubled in 2020. Where are the public protests or social media campaigns? Nowhere to be found. Public institutions remain indifferent to the pain that people like me share. One public school district in Washington went so far as to exclude Asian Americans

pandemic. Cruz probably thinks it’s the state’s problem, not his. That’s exactly what’s wrong in this country...people passing the buck. Like many politicians who love to talk but take no action, he is never willing to do the real work. Sadly, there are many Ted Cruzs in this country.

Why do people elect leaders like Cruz? I don’t get it.

However, Cruz’s failure gave an opportunity to an unexpected and leastlikely elected official to help Texans— New York Congress member Alexandria Octavio-Cortez. She shamed Cruz by going to Texas, joining other Congress members, and raising $4 million to support relief work, such as food banks.

She tweeted, “Sylvia Garcia, Sheila Jackson Lee & Al Green of Houston are doing incredible work w/ local relief organizations to get emergency relief to

as people of color. It seems as if people have altogether forgotten the systemic disadvantages and bigotry that Asians face.

Of course, Asian Americans do not experience discrimination on the same level that other minorities do.

The country that was founded on slavery, that fought a war over the right for people to be free, that did not allow Black women to vote until about half a century ago, reflects a history of hatred against Blacks that is abysmal and cruel.

However, while society is beginning to create dialogues on where we went wrong and what is right, the buzz that once advocated for Asian equality has dissipated. After a year that has moved millions and created protests to advocate for equality, the community that is regarded as one of the fastest-growing demographics continues to be ignored.

What it takes for the mistreatment to be solved is acknowledgment—an acknowledgment that bigotry is real, that Asians are damaged by it, and that we are not inherently a “model minority,” is what it takes for resolve.

Whether it’s a one-on-one talk, a school group discussion, or an Op-Ed in a newspaper, anything that will help expose this modern reality and generate understanding will make a difference. It takes all of us.  Joseph Zhang is a junior at the Overlake School in Redmond.

Texans.”

I am not a fan of Octavio-Cortez’s politics. But her recent actions have changed my mind. “Wow, good work!”

I never expected myself to say this. She raised money for a red state! What has Cruz done? Nothing for Texas, other than posting a photo of himself moving water in an effort for redemption. Is that all Cruz could do for millions of Texans whose lives and homes have been destroyed by the severe storms? Whenever he raised money, he would raise it for himself, not to mention that he would ever do it for a blue state. Perhaps Octavio-Cortez has set an example for other public officials to follow.

At 50, Cruz is 19 years older than Octavio-Cortez. Yet, she has more compassion and brains. Elected officials are public servants. They have to set

examples to serve even when they are not required to do so. But if they do, it will warm hearts and influence others to do good without asking for rewards. If all the elected officials are able to do that— from the city level to state to federal—it will unite this country.

There should be more cooperation between the blue and red states. As Biden said in his victory speech, “I don’t see red states or blue states. But only the United States.” But how many Republicans would be willing to cross the aisle and help other states!?

Republicans, please prove me wrong.

Because both are about life.  Assunta can be reached at assunta@nwasianweekly.com.

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asianweekly northwest

FEBRUARY 27 – MARCH 5, 2021

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NISEI from 3 growing up in Los Angeles…I get the feeling their reunions are not great like ours.”

Underlying all of this—this feeling of closeness, this community-wide effort to maintain a strong identity, while also fitting into the fabric of their new lives— is the looming shadow of what we know

ORANGE KING from 8 the changes they would like to make.

“The fact that Orange King existed for so long because of the college scene says a lot…

How are we investing in our businesses?” said Tran.

“The community that is UW and the Ave is built on the labor and the legacy of small businesses, yet when we think about things that are being transformed ‘for the better,’ we shouldn’t lose sight of that foundational memory because that may have been the ‘better.’”

is coming—their exclusion, their exile, their incarceration—and the fact that all of these memories will lie only in their heads and hearts, as much of their physical presence in prewar Tacoma is erased. Some interviewees admitted their closeness might have made them “too” inclusive, yet this is no excuse for their treatment at the hands of a racist majority during WWII.

This iconic, movieworthy diner won’t be easily forgotten. Vanishing Seattle put up a sign on their window, commemorating their dedication to cultivating a cozy environment for anyone passing by to see.

“The value in Orange King wasn’t necessaarily about being trendy per se, or being exclusive or inaccessible, it was the opposite of that,” said Brothers.  Elisabeth can be reached at info@nwasianweekly.com.

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This is not a beach read, but it’s not a difficult one either. “Becoming Nisei” is a worthy addition to the bookshelf of any Washington resident. The interviews provide a warm character to the authors’ dedicated research, and the many other sources cited help complete the picture of an important part of all of our history.

There are photos and reminisces collected here that might otherwise be hard to

find all in one place. “Becoming Nisei” provides more much-needed proof of the importance of Japanese and Japanese Americans in the United States. It places their past solidly in all of our memories— not just theirs—and gives us a window into who they are today.  Kai can be reached at info@nwasianweekly.com.

SOLUTION from SUDOKU on page 4.

FEBRUARY 27 – MARCH 5, 2021

YOUR VOICE

■ ASTROLOGY

asianweekly northwest

11

Predictions and advice for the week of February 27–March 5, 2021

By Sun Lee Chang Rat—There is a certain lightness to this week that is a welcome change. Take advantage of it while it lasts.

Dragon—Trying to decide whether to prioritize form or function? If it doesn’t work, it doesn’t matter how good it looks.

Monkey—A miscommunication could cause some confusion. For minimal impact, clear it up as soon as it is discovered.

Ox—You are constantly planning for the future, but don’t let that prevent you from enjoying the present.

Snake—While it is easier to focus on the negative, it is worth the effort to shift towards the positive.

Rooster—While others fret about a perceived obstacle, you choose to view it as a chance to test your skills.

Tiger—Avoid overindulging in any one thing.

Aim for variety, which will at the very least be more interesting.

Horse—The faster you are going, the longer it will take to slow down. Give yourself enough space to do both.

Dog—Unbound by the things that normally hold you back, this is your chance to make some real headway.

Rabbit—Energize your day by starting it with an invigorating activity, such as a short, brisk walk.

Goat—Slightly out of sync with your partner?

Slow down until you’re able to get back in step with each other.

Pig—You are certainly in your element this week. Scoring a victory should not come as a surprise at all.

WHAT’S YOUR ANIMAL SIGN? RAT 1912, 1924, 1936, 1948, 1960, 1972, 1984, 1996, 2008, 2020 OX 1913, 1925, 1937, 1949, 1961, 1973, 1985, 1997, 2009, 2021 TIGER 1914, 1926, 1938, 1950, 1962, 1974, 1986, 1998, 2010 RABBIT 1915, 1927, 1939, 1951, 1963, 1975, 1987, 1999, 2011 DRAGON 1916, 1928, 1940, 1952, 1964, 1976, 1988, 2000, 2012 SNAKE 1917, 1929, 1941, 1953, 1965, 1977, 1989, 2001, 2013 HORSE 1918, 1930, 1942, 1954, 1966, 1978, 1990, 2002, 2014 GOAT 1919, 1931, 1943, 1955, 1967, 1979, 1991, 2003, 2015 MONKEY 1920, 1932, 1944, 1956, 1968, 1980, 1992, 2004, 2016 ROOSTER 1921, 1933, 1945, 1957, 1969, 1981, 1993, 2005, 2017 DOG 1922, 1934, 1946, 1958, 1970, 1982, 1994, 2006, 2018 PIG 1923, 1935, 1947, 1959, 1971, 1983, 1995, 2007, 2019

*The year ends on the first new moon of the following year. For those born in January and February, please take care when determining your sign.

UW from 1 to a report from the Institute of International Education, the UW saw only a 4% decrease in international student enrollment.

As of fall quarter 2020, there were 4,135 Chinese enrolled students—making up 53% of all enrolled international students at the UW. When comparing the number of enrolled Chinese students in fall 2019 and fall 2020, there are no significant differences.

“Right now, we are in the middle of looking at the application for this coming year’s 2021 freshman class and I know we have seen a decline in the number of applications that we have received from international students,” Kim Lovaas, director of international student services at the UW, said. “When I look at comparing countries from last year’s applicant pool to this year’s, China is the biggest area that we are seeing a decline.”

Still, the UW has been receiving so many applications from China compared to applications from other countries. Therefore, when it comes to recruitment and outreach, China has never been a focus for the international student admission office.

“Chinese students still make up over 50% of our international freshmen so we are not quite to the point where it’s like, ‘Oh yeah, we had better recruiting there again,’” Lovaas said.

“I think four years of being under the administration that really was trying to make things more difficult for international students and particularly China… there is a lot of negative rhetoric that has influenced Chinese students, particularly future students,” said Lovaas.

Under the Trump administration, Chinese students have faced multiple threats: plans to bar Chinese graduate students who have ties to China’s military schools; the increased suspicion of Chinese students

COMPASSION from 1 group founded by Latino activist Jacob Azevedo, has more than 300 volunteers to escort fearful elders on walks and errands.

Azevedo said he was compelled to take action after learning about back-to-back attacks in his community. One took place on Jan. 31, when a 91-year-old Asian American man was shoved to the ground in Oakland's Chinatown—the attack was just one of many that have occurred in the past year.

On its website, Compassion in Oakland provides a form that allows users to request

for espionage; and a proposal to cancel visas of STEM major Chinese graduate students.

When the pandemic began, discrimination towards Chinese people exacerbated in the U.S. and anti-Asian racism became rampant.

“International students began to feel the effects of the COVID-19 before the COVID even got here in the U.S.,” Era Schrepfer, executive director of Foundation for International Understanding Through Students at the UW, said. “I was hearing from Asian students that their parents were telling them to wear a mask and it was before the U.S. began wearing a mask.

“People were calling them out in the streets like, ‘You shouldn’t wear a mask! You are scaring people!’ or yelling really mean things about where the virus is coming from,” Schrepfer said.

The questioning that comes from wearing masks also happened in classrooms at the UW. “When I heard that Seattle had the first COVID-19 case, immediately I started buying masks and I started wearing one to school,” Shenlan Guan, an undergraduate Chinese student said. “Most of the people, including a professor and all of the classmates were like, ‘Why

a chaperone to walk with them, but if someone needs a chaperone within 15 minutes, they can call or text a number to request more immediate support.

“We strive to provide the Oakland Chinatown Community with a resource for promoting safety and community,” Compassion in Oakland’s mission statement says. “We aim to embrace the often forgotten, underserved, and vulnerable. We promote compassion, not indifference, unity as opposed to divisiveness. Fostering a more caring and safer Oakland for all.”

Azevedo told CNN that he hopes the

would I wear a mask?’ so I tried to convince them by saying, ‘Look at all the research that China did.’” “They were like ‘China?’ ‘If it’s China, it’s not reliable.’”

“I was like, ‘Oh my god!’ This is what I worked so hard and came here for? I was really, really disappointed.

Now, my feelings are just like I just wanna finish this (degree) and go home,” Guan said.

“There had been some damage based on the previous administration and their stance on China, so I do think that the U.S. in general needs to improve our reputation around the globe a little bit,” Lovaas said. “We can try, but we can’t do it all. So, it’s not going to be just the UW to attract Chinese students to come back.”

UW leadership is working with all of the faculty to increase their understanding of cultural differences and improve some compassion for students from different places.

When Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) released a policy that would kick out international students in the U.S., who are not taking in-person classes, the UW proposed hybrid classes for fall 2020 so that they could remain in the country.

After the policy was rescinded, UW President Ana Mari Cauce showed her support to the international students while condemning the threat that ICE posed to them.

“Some students decided to do online classes and some universities didn’t allow them to stay in resident halls, but the UW did allow students to stay and kept the resident halls open,” Schrepher said. She thinks the UW’s different responses to the pandemic is one of the reasons that there was no significant decline in the number of enrolled international students for fall 2020.  Saki can be reached at info@nwasianweekly.com.

group will soon be able to collaborate with law enforcement to help keep the community safe.

On Feb. 13, Compassion in Oakland had a soft launch, with the organization posting a photo on Instagram of 10 volunteers standing outside of the Oakland Public Library’s Asian Branch in Pacific Renaissance Plaza.

“First day with feet on the streets!” the caption read. “Thanks to our first group of volunteers! It felt good to be in the community and working together. Can’t wait to do it again!”

In a separate initiative, the Oakland Chinatown Coalition is organizing a volunteer foot patrol to join its existing Chinatown Ambassador Program efforts. They’re calling it “community strolling”—which entails volunteers passing out “red envelopes” to help build relationships with community members and visitors by cleaning up trash, removing graffiti from businesses and murals, keeping sidewalks clean, and more.  Ruth can be reached at editor@nwasianweekly.com.

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asianweekly northwest

39 YEARS

FEBRUARY 27 – MARCH 5, 2021

REPUBLICANS from 1 about how to navigate its future with Trump.

And yet all of the Republican supporters interviewed described themselves as adherent to the traditional values of the party, such as fiscal conservatism, small government, support for small business and entrepreneurship, and the importance of good moral character, principles that Trump mostly eschewed.

The biggest split was about what the acquittal portends for the future of the party.

Bob Yeh, a real estate developer who has supported both Democrat and Republican candidates but adheres to traditional Republican values, said the acquittal of Trump was the only way the Republican Party would have a chance in the 2024 presidential election. Trump is the only candidate that could muster enough votes to have a shot, given that he garnered almost 75 million votes in the 2020 election, he said.

“There’s no other leader out there that could get such a high level of support,” he said. (Some analysts, however, say that the figure is misleading because of the unprecedented high turnout, and that in actuality Trump only garnered 47% of the total vote, which is about what Gerald Ford mustered when he lost in 1976.)

But W. Walter Liang, a political appointee under George W. Bush, who describes himself as an “old-school Republican,” said he thought the acquittal of Trump could, down the road, hand the White House to Harris.

So fundamentally split is the Republican Party, between those who support and oppose Trump, that if he runs again, it could split the party and allow the Democratic candidate’s victory, he said.

“If he were convicted, he couldn’t run, but now that he’s acquitted, the door’s

open,” said Liang. “If he had been convicted, it would have been one more step in the right direction to move on.”

“Now you have a Trump party wanting to surge. There is a strong possibility he’ll run in 2024, and there is a strong possibility the Republican Party might split into two parties.”

Liang compared the likely scenario to when George H. W. Bush was defeated by Clinton as a result of Ross Perot joining the race as a third party and splitting conservative votes that would otherwise have all gone for Bush.

“It’s a distinct possibility,” he said.

Likewise, the impeachment process itself generated different reactions.

Shiao-Yen Wu, a Republican fundraiser and chair of the local chapter of the International Leadership Foundation, a political mentorship program Shiao-Yen Wu for students, said she did not support the process because it was doomed to failure.

“If we could have voted so that he could never run for political office again, I would have been all for it, but we didn’t have the votes to do it, only seven,” she said. “The majority of senators didn’t want to be retaliated against.”

“Now it just creates hatred and divides the country,” she said.

Liang said he felt the Democratic leadership had been misguided.

“The Democrats tried twice to impeach Trump and lost both times, they could have spent more time on unemployment, transportation, homelessness, and education and other issues that are important to voters.”

But he didn’t think the process contributed to the party’s split.

“It was not that the impeachment divid-

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ed the Republican Party. The Democrats didn’t have to. Trump divided us,” he said.

“There’s a big divide. Trump’s personality defined the GOP, like Reagan.”

Liang said, in order to move forward, the party would have to broaden its base.

“Mainstream Republicans need to rebrand themselves and bring in more people of color and more women into the party.”

At the same time, even while embracing diversity, the party would need to return to its traditions, he said.

“We need to go back to our original values. Fiscal conservatism. Education. Safety. Jobs. Small business. Entrepreneurship.

All that has been divided.”

Still, Yeh said he thought the process could encourage Trump to tone down his rhetoric in the future, which could ultimately be good for the Republican Party.

“I am not 100% convinced by the impeachment managers that Trump’s words actually caused the riot,” he said. “However, he got a slap on his hands and face, so maybe he will have a little bit more discipline so he would not do things just for his ego. You have to think of the entire nation.”

He also hoped the party would embrace its traditional principles, particularly fiscal responsibility.

“If you don’t have it, don’t spend it,” said Yeh. Along these lines, Wu questioned Trump’s leadership. She describes herself as “more common sense than adhering to one particular party” and said she believes in women’s rights and protecting the environment. But her criticism of the former president stems from her support of the party’s conservative values of frugality and responsibility.

“He hasn’t even done well for himself, he’s gone bankrupt a number of times.”

She also criticized the extravagance of Melania Trump carrying a $75,000 purse

as she departed the White House.

“Maybe we need a third party running the country simply as a business,” she said.

But Liang said Trump kept his campaign commitments.

“When President Trump was running for office, he made all those promises, a border wall, control immigration, lower taxes, be proactive for small business, bring back more jobs to the United States and achieve the lowest unemployment rate with more Blacks, and he accomplished all these tasks, but the newspapers never recognized this,” he said. (There is controversy about whether Trump actually achieved these targets. For instance, the tax cuts were skewed towards the rich, according to Bloomberg Businessweek.)

Another result of the acquittal of Trump, however, is that he will be undiminished in seeking revenge against those who opposed him, said Liang.

“In terms of 2022, he is going to be out there identifying candidates to defeat the seven senators who voted against him,” he said.

Current and former local Republican politicians did not respond to attempts to contact them for comment. Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler, one of 10 Republicans voting to impeach Trump, did not return multiple emails and phone calls to her local and Washington, D.C. offices. She was rebuked by the local Republican Party. During the impeachment trial, she said that she was told by Rep. Kevin McCarthy that Trump supported the mob in their attack on the Capitol, according to the New York Times.

Last week, Trump supporters with a history of violence gathered outside her office in Vancouver to call for her removal.  Mahlon can be reached at info@nwasianweekly.com.