PRSRT STD U.S. Postage Paid Permit No. 746 Seattle, WA
VOL 34 NO 3
JANUARY 10 – JANUARY 16, 2015
FREE
EDITORIAL Breaking news, or maybe not » P. 11
33 YEARS YOUR VOICE
The fire still burns
Seattle honors the firefighters who died in the Pang Factory fire
Officers salute police boss, mayor at cop’s wake
Photo by Minal Singh/NWAW
By Mike Balsamo Associated Press
Poster in memory of Officer Wenjian Liu
historic Pioneer Square, less than a block from Station 10, Seattle Fire Department headquarters. The memoriam was set up by the Seattle Braves charity. The firefighters who died in the warehouse fire were Lt. Gregory M. Shoemaker, Lt. Walter D. Kilgore, James T. Brown, and Randall R. Terlicker.
NEW YORK (AP) — Mayor Bill de Blasio and Police Commissioner William Bratton drew salutes from some officers Saturday as they arrived at the wake of a second New York Police Department officer killed in an ambush shooting. The gesture of respect during the calling hours for Officer Wenjian Liu contrasted with the
{see FIREFIGHTERS cont’d on page 11}
{see LIU cont’d on page 14}
The Honor Guard pays respect to the deceased firefighters
By Peggy Chapman Northwest Asian Weekly Approximately 150 people attended the ceremony honoring the death of the four firemen who risked their lives in the Pang Factory fire in Seattle’s Chinatown 20 years ago. In Occidental Park, where the memorial was held, four statues are erected commemorating these firefighters. Their statues are a notable feature of Seattle’s
Another list!
NWAW’s most-read stories of 2014…according to Google Analytics
TOP 10 NWAW’s most-read stories of 2014
The death of an Asian American community center By Assunta Ng Northwest Asian Weekly
BLOG: What SeaTac tells us about $15 minimum wage Posted on 22 May 2014. By Assunta Ng “Are you happy with the $15 wage?” I asked the full-time cleaning lady.
“It sounds good, but it’s not good,” the woman said. “Why?” I asked. “I lost my 401k, health insurance, paid holiday, and vacation,” she responded. “No more free food,” she added.
All things change, even a community center. The Asian Resource Center built in 1994 to honor Robert Chinn, founder of the United Savings and Loan Bank, was sold to Pacific Charter School Development for $4 million last month to build a new charter school in the Chinatown/ International District. Run by the Robert Chinn Foundation, ARC not only served as a community center and fixture in the ID, it also offered the Greater Seattle community services with affordable fees (much lower
{see TOP 10 cont’d on page 15}
{see ARC cont’d on page 10}
The Inside Story NAMES People in the news » P. 2
■
WORLD More AirAsia wreckage discovered » P. 4
WAYNE’S COLUMN How to remember names...(donuts!) » P. 6
MOVIES “The Interview” A Zero » P. 8
412 Maynard Ave. S., Seattle, WA 98104 • t. 206.223.5559 • f. 206.223.0626 • info@nwasianweekly.com • ads@nwasianweekly.com • www.nwasianweekly.com
asianweekly northwest
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JANUARY 10 – JANUARY 16, 2015
■ names in the news EDI Class of 2014
providing quality health care services to the Seattle Asian elderly community. The community is invited to join Kin On’s 30th Anniversary Gala on September 19, 2015 at Bellevue Westin.
Shoreline meets Asia
Jayapal and Yu to be inaugurated
From left: Tepaporn Nishimura, Esla Inthaxai, Tri Do, Al Sugiyama, Aisha Al-Khinji, and Kyle Theptee reminisce on the past year
The Executive Development Institute of Seattle, Class of 2014 attended the Kin On Volunteer Appreciation Dinner last month.
Volunteers of the year
Pramila Jayapal will be sworn in as the next Washington State Senator representing the 37th Legislative District January 12. She will be Ranking Pramila Jayapal Mary Yu Member on the newly established Government Accountability and Reform committee, as well as serving on the Transportation and Healthcare committees. Mary I. Yu will also be also be sworn in the Washington Supreme Court ceremony for the administration of oath of office as a Justice. Both will be sworn in at the Temple of Justice Courtroom, Olympia.
Just desserts!
From left: Calvin Locke, Benton Ong, Sam Wan, Herb Tsuchiya, Larry Luke, Raymond Leong
The 2014 Bertha Tsuchiya Volunteer of the Year Award was presented to long time supporter and dedicated volunteers, Larry Luke and Raymond Leong. The Kin On Golf Tournament Planning Committee was awarded the group volunteer award in recognition of their support in raising nearly $400K for Kin On over the last 14 years. Next year, Kin On will be celebrating 30 years of
Lounge storefront
The Chè Dessert Lounge, located at 7101 Martin Luther King Jr Way opened last month. The dessert lounge features traditional Vietnamese desserts, bubble tea, and French bakery items. The lounge is owned by Thanh Tran, the daughter-in-law of the owner of Saigon Boat Café in West Seattle.
Cheryl Roberts with Zong Wa, Head of China Education for International Exchange
Cheryl Roberts and Diana Sampson with Beijing Limai Students
Shoreline Community College President Cheryl Roberts, International Education Executive Director Diana Sampson and Associate Director of Outreach Bo Fu visited China, Cambodia, and Indonesia in December. They met with Zong Wa, Deputy Secretary General of China Education Association for International Exchange (CEAIE) and Li Yang, Director of CEAIE, which is directly under the Ministry of Education in China. They also visited the Beijing Limai International School and Qingdao University. Qingdao University is one of Shoreline’s main university partners. Over the past two years, they have sent more than 25 students to Shoreline and continue to discuss opportunities for more student and faculty exchange. The meeting included Vice President Shao Fengjing, Dean Jin Kaixian, Assistant President Zhou Xiaoli and other university officials.
Women in Male-Dominated Careers
Making a Difference
Friday, February 6, 2015 • 11:30 a.m.—1:30 p.m. • China Harbor Restaurant • 2040 Westlake Ave. N., Seattle
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Michelle Mills Clement Executive Director/CEO Commerical Brokers Association
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Tanya Jimale President & CEO Jimale Technical Services, LLC
Lorena Gonzalez Legal Counsel Mayor Ed Murray
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Shira Broschat Professor School of Electrical Engineering & Computer Science
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Kim Pastega Vice President 787 Production System Operations of Boeing
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WOMEN OF COLOR EMPOWERED CO-CHAIRS: Bonnie Miller and Sylvia Cavazos PLANNING COMMITTEE: Elizabeth Younger, Kiku Hayashi, Connie Sugahara, Diane Martin, Francine Griggs, Kathy Purcell, Leny Valerio-Buford, Winona Holins-Hauge, Assunta Ng, Shoko Toyama, Rosa Melendez, Jaime Sun, Sonia Doughty, and Carol Cheung LUNCHEON PRICING: Discounted price of $35 if purchased by February 4. Full price of $45 after February 4. Walk-ins $50. Student price of $25 with I.D. before February 4; $30 after February 4; student walk-ins $35. No tickets will be mailed; confirmation is by e-mail only. $350 for a table. To sponsor the event including logo online and print and table is $1,000. (For details, visit womenofcolorempowered.com). Men are welcome! MAKE RESERVATIONS: To purchase tickets, call us at 206-223-0623, fax the above form to 206-223-0626, mail a check to Women of Color Empowered, P.O. Box 3468, Seattle, WA 98114, or email rsvp@ nwasianweekly.com. For more information, visit womenofcolorempowered.com.
33 YEARS YOUR VOICE
■ community news
JANUARY 10 – JANUARY 16, 2015
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King Donut owners robbed, beaten
By Jason Cruz Northwest Asian Weekly
No arrests made, community outraged
Heng Hey and Chea Pol, owners of King Donut, a Rainier Valley mainstay for almost 30 years were the victims of a brutal attack on January 2nd. The suspect remains at large. According to the Seattle Police Department, the two were heading home after closing the business, located on the 9200 block of Rainier Avenue around 7:30 p.m. Friday night. As they attempted to leave in their car, a man attacked Pol as she climbed into the passenger seat of their car. He proceeded to physically attack Pol hitting her repeatedly in the face as he grabbed her purse. Hey tried to stop the robber, but was punched in the face and thrown to the sidewalk. . After stealing the purse, he ran from the scene through the nearby Safeway parking lot. The attacker got away with Pol’s purse which included cash, an Ipad, an Iphone and a diamond brooch. Paramedics were on the scene to treat the two. Both were taken to the hospital where they stayed overnight. Pol was diagnosed with a dislocated jaw. Hey suffered injuries to his face. Since being released on January 3rd, Pol has returned to the hospital with a possible concussion according to their daughter Davie Hay. “My mother’s teeth were in the back of her throat,” described Davie of her mom’s injuries. Seattle Police were unable to locate the attacker and no arrests were made. According to the Seattle Police, the
King Donuts storefront
suspect is described as a black male in his 20’s – 30’s, 5’5″ – 5’8″ in height and slim, last seen wearing a black jacket, black pants, and black baseball hat. King Donut was voted by readers of the Rainier Valley Post as the “Best Thing” in Southeast Seattle in 2013 and “Business of the Year” in 2014 by the Rainier Valley Chamber of Commerce. A GoFundMe account where people can contribute money for the couple was established by Davie Hay to help pay for the medical expenses of Hey and Pol. At the time
SEATTLE (AP) — A 32-year-old man who killed another driver in Seattle in what prosecutors called a random thrill-killing faces was sentenced to 29 years and one month in prison Friday. Dinh Bowman was convicted last month of first-degree murder in the August 2012 shooting of Yancy Noll, a wine steward who was driving home. Bowman testified Noll Dinh Bowman had thrown a wine bottle into his convertible and hit him on the head in a road rage incident in north Seattle’s Roosevelt neighborhood. Prosecutors told the jury that Bowman was a student of murder who read manuals on how to kill and get away with it.
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Photo from King5
Gunman gets 29 years for random Seattle shooting
of this writing, there were 358 donations which have raised $17,145. The goal is $30,000. The community has rallied around the couple as people showed up at the business on Monday following the attack with flowers and support. were sold out by Donuts Heng Hey and Chea Pol suffered noon due to the volume of beating well-wishers coming to the business. The Cambodian couple escaped the Khmer Rouge and started a new life in the United States in the early 1980s. The two worked and saved enough money to open the business. Hey and Pol established King Donut in 1987. The establishment is a unique blend of donuts, teriyaki, and laundry shop that people in the neighborhood have used as a gathering place. If anyone has any information on this incident, Seattle Police has requested they contact the robbery unit at (206) 684-5540. Jason Cruz can be reached at info@nwasianweekly. com.
asianweekly northwest
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JANUARY 10 – JANUARY 16, 2015
■ WORLD NEWS
4 large objects detected in AirAsia wreckage hunt By Tatan Syuflana Associated Press
PANGKALAN BUN, Indonesia (AP) — Indonesian officials said Saturday that they were confident wreckage of AirAsia Flight 8501 had been located after sonar equipment detected four massive objects on the ocean floor. The biggest piece, measuring 18 meters (59 feet) long and 5.4 meters (18 feet) wide, appeared to be a part of the jet’s body, said Henry Bambang Soelistyo, chief of the National Search and Rescue Agency. Though strong currents and big surf have prevented divers from entering waters to get a visual of the suspected fuselage, officials are hopeful they will find many of the passengers and crew inside, still strapped in their seats.
Airplane seats were found in pieces, possibly indicating that the AirAsia plane had crashed from a high altitude (Photo: Yassin)
There were 162 people aboard the plane, but after a week of searching, only 30 bodies have been found floating in the
choppy waters. The Airbus A320 crashed Dec. 28, halfway into a twohour flight from Surabaya, Indonesia’s second-largest city, to Singapore. Minutes before losing contact, the pilot told air traffic control that he was approaching threatening clouds, but was denied permission to climb to a higher altitude because of heavy air traffic. It remains unclear what caused the plane to plunge into the Java Sea, though bad weather appears to have been a factor, according to a 14-page report released by Indonesia’s Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency. While the plane’s black boxes — the flight data and cockpit voice recorders — have yet to be located, the discovery of {see AIRASIA cont’d on page 13}
Japan’s leader says he US says NKorea will express remorse for sanctions step 1 in Sony World War II response
By Ken Moritsugu Associated Press
TOKYO (AP) — In a year that marks the 70th anniversary of World War II’s end, a question weighs on the minds of policymakers in Asia and as far away as Washington, D.C.: What will Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe say about his country’s role in the war? At a year-opening news conference Monday, he sought to reassure the world that he wouldn’t veer from past official statements on Japan’s wartime responsibility. Many analysts have speculated that Abe, known for his nationalist views, might downplay Japan’s responsibility for the war in a move that would roil relations with China and South Korea. “The Abe Cabinet will uphold the
general stance on history of successive prime ministers, including the Murayama statement,” he said, referring to a 1995 apology made by then-Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama on the 50th anniversary of the war’s end. He said the government would draft a new statement “that includes Japan’s remorse for the war,” though he stopped short of saying it would again apologize. Abe spoke to reporters in the city of Ise after visiting an important Shinto shrine there. The statement is expected to be issued around the anniversary of the end of the war on Aug. 15. Seventy years on, the scars of World War II still poison relations in Asia, particularly
{see WORLD WAR II cont’d on page 15}
Indian police arrest 3 for gang rape of Japanese scholar
By Indrajit Singh Associated Press
PATNA, India (AP) — Police arrested three Indians for allegedly gang raping a 22-year-old Japanese research scholar near a Buddhist pilgrimage center in eastern India, police said Friday. Police were looking for two more suspects, who also allegedly kept the Japanese woman as a hostage for nearly three weeks in a village near Bodh Gaya, a town nearly 130 kilometers (80 miles) south of Patna, the capital of Bihar state, police officer Akhilesh Singh said. She managed to escape from their captivity on Dec. 26 and reached Kolkata, once known as Calcutta, where she was based and filed a
police complaint. She has been studying life in rural India for some time, Singh said. A Kolkata-based tourist guide had taken the Japanese woman to Bodh Gaya to show her the Buddhist pilgrimage center, where Gautam Buddha is said to have obtained enlightenment under a tree. The guide was joined by four others in keeping her in captivity and raping her, police officer Singh said. Two of the arrests were made from the area on Friday and one earlier this week in Kolkata, police said. India has a long history of tolerance of sexual violence. But a series of high-profile {see GANG RAPE cont’d on page 12}
By Josh Lederman Associated Press
HONOLULU (AP) — The United States says its new round of sanctions against North Korea is just the opening salvo in its response to an unprecedented cyberattack on Sony. Yet there may be little else the United States can do to further isolate a country that already has few friends in the world. Even the latest sanctions, handed down by President Barack Obama in an executive order, may not sting quite as badly as the United States would have hoped. After all, North Korea is already under a strict sanctions regime imposed by the United States over the North’s nuclear program. The new round of sanctions unveiled Friday hit three organizations closely tied to the North’s defense apparatus, plus 10
individuals who work for those groups or for North Korea’s government directly. Any assets they have in the United States will be frozen, and they’ll be barred from using the U.S. financial system. But all three groups were already on the U.S. sanctions list, and officials couldn’t say whether any of the 10 individuals even have assets in the United States to freeze. Still, American officials portrayed the move as a swift and decisive response to North Korean behavior they said had gone far over the line. Never before has the United States imposed sanctions on another nation in direct retaliation for a cyberattack on an American company. The order is not targeted at the people of North Korea, but rather is aimed at the government of North Korea and its {see SONY cont’d on page 12}
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The only weekly English-language newspaper serving Washington’s Asian community. The NW Asian Weekly has one simple goal: “To empower the Asian community.” The Editorial Board reserves the right to reject any advertisement, letter or article. Subscriptions cost $30 for 52 weeks of the NW Asian Weekly and $25 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 info@nwasianweekly.com • ads@nwasianweekly.com • www.nwasianweekly.com
33 YEARS YOUR VOICE
JANUARY 10 – JANUARY 16, 2015
■ COMMUNITY CALENDAR TUE 1/6 WHAT: On the Job Communications (ESL level 6 students) WHERE: Bellevue College, 3000 Landerholm Circle S.E., Bellevue WHEN: 5:30 p.m. INFO: bellevuecollege.edu/ preparingforwork
THU 1/8 WHAT: Ladies Musical Club of Seattle’s 3rd annual, “Art of the Piano” WHERE: Seattle Art Museum WHEN: 1 p.m. COST: Free
FRI 1/9 WHAT: Rise and fall of an American journalist in Asia, with Mahlon David Meyer, expert in Modern Chinese History WHERE: Han’s Garden, 3020 78th Ave. S.E., Mercer Island WHEN: 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. INFO: 206-552-0818, luncheon@ seattlechinesechamber.org
SAT 1/10 WHAT: Preparing for Work (ESL level 5/6 students) WHERE: Bellevue College, 3000 Landerholm Circle S.E., Bellevue
WHEN: 9 a.m. INFO: bellevuecollege.edu/ preparingforwork
911 Pine St, Seattle INFO: 206-263-2444 WHAT: Info session on Sierra Charter School WHERE: Delridge Community Center, 4501 Delridge Way S.W., Seattle WHEN: 6-7:15 p.m.
WHAT: Tea Experience and Taste of Asia 2015 WHERE: APCC, 4851 S. Tacoma Way, Tacoma WHEN: 12 p.m. INFO: 253-383-3900, asiapacificculturalcenter.org
MON 1/19
SUNDAYS 1/11 THRU 2/1 WHAT: Taiko for beginners WHERE: Seattle Kokon Taiko WHEN: 12-2 p.m. COST: $95/person REGISTRATION: www. seattlekokontaiko.org
SAT 1/24
THU 1/15 WHAT: Rise and fall of an American journalist in Asia with Mahlon David Meyer WHERE: Han’s Garden, 3020 78th Avenue Southeast, Mercer Island WHEN: 11:30 a.m.-1:30p.m. INFO: luncheon@ seattlechinesechamber.org, 206552-0818 WHAT: Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration at Paramount Theatre WHEN: Thursday, January 15, 2015; Noon – 1 p.m. WHERE: Paramount Theatre,
■ briefly
Neighborhood matching fund opportunities
Seattle Department of Neighborhoods’ popular Neighborhood Matching Fund (NMF) announces its funding opportunities for 2015. All three of its funds – Small Sparks, Small and Simple Projects Fund, and the Large Projects Fund – support the efforts of community members as they work on projects to build stronger neighborhoods and communities. More than 5000 projects have occurred across the city since this program began 27 years ago. The Small Sparks Fund which provides awards of up to $1,000 per project accepts applications year-round. This is great funding opportunity for implementing small community projects as well as supporting activities such as Neighbor Appreciation Day, Night Out, Earth Day, and others. The Small and Simple Projects Fund, which provides awards of up to $25,000, has three opportunities to apply. Deadlines for applications are February 2, June 1, and October 5, 2015 by 5:00 p.m. For those interested in applying in February, NMF staff is hosting workshops about the guidelines and application process. The dates are as follows: Thursday, January 8; 6 – 8 p.m. at El Centro de la Raza, 2524 16th Ave S – Room 309 Wednesday, January 14; 6 – 8 p.m. at Phinney Neighborhood Center, 6532 Phinney Ave N – Room 3 To RSVP call 206-733-9916 or go online at www.surveymonkey. com/s/NMFWorkshop. Childcare and interpreters can be arranged for workshop participants who RSVP and request these services at least 72 hours in advance. Additional workshops will be offered prior to each Small and Simple Projects Fund application deadline.
WHAT: MLK Day Rally & March, “Fight for Your Rights in 2015” WHERE: Garfield High School, 23rd & E. Jefferson, Seattle WHEN: 12 p.m. INFO: www.mlkseattle.org, 253883-9548, 206-786-2763
WHAT: New Year’s Celebration, Coming of Age Ceremony WHERE: Everett Community College, Nippon Business Institute, 905 Wetmore Ave., Everett WHEN: 2-4 p.m. RSVP: by Jan. 15, mnsmith@ everettcc.edu, kkoss@everettcc. edu, 425-388-9195
TUE 1/27 WHAT: Asia Business Forum, “Economic Outlook for Asia” WHERE: Asia Business Forum WHEN: 6:30-8 p.m.
COST: $15 (before Jan. 18), $20 (before Jan. 26), $30 (before Jan. 27) INFO: www.facebook.com/ seattleabf
SUN 2/1 WHAT: Sponge to host Chinese New Year Celebration WHERE: Mt. Baker, 3107 S. Day St., Seattle WHEN: 10 a.m. RSVP: events@spongeschool. com, 206-227-7138 INFO: www.spongeschool.com
FRI 2/6 WHAT: Women of Color Empowered luncheon and networking event, “Women in Male-Dominated Careers” WHERE: China Harbor Restaurant, 2040 Westlake Ave., Seattle WHEN: Friday, February 6, 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. INFO: 206-223-0623 WHAT: The 48th CSA Chinese New Year Gala WHERE: UW, Kane Hall, Room 130, Seattle WHEN: 7-9:30 p.m. WHAT: Statewide Diversity Conference, “Diversity is Good Business” WHERE: UW, Seattle WHEN: 9 a.m.-5:30 p.m.
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SAT 2/7 WHAT: 2015 Lunar New Year Celebration! WHERE: Westminster Chapel, 13646 NE 24th St., Bellevue WHEN: 3-8:30 p.m. INFO: Westminster.org, 425-7471461
2nd & 4th TUES OF MONTH WHAT: International District Special Review Board meeting WHERE: Bush Asia Center, 409 Maynard Ave. S., Seattle WHEN: 4:30 p.m. INFO: 206-684-0226
EVERY TUE WHAT: Asian Counseling and Referral Services Employment Program Orientation WHERE: ACRS, 3639 Martin Luther King Jr. Way S., Seattle WHEN: 3–4:30 p.m. INFO: 206-695-7527, employmentprogram@acrs.org
EVERY WED WHAT: Seattle University School of Law Citizenship Project WHERE: Yesler Community Center Computer Lab, 917 E. Yesler Way, Seattle WHEN: 5–6:30 p.m.
■ national news
Flag-raising by Taiwan in Washington riles China By Matthew Pennington Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. State Department said Monday it was not given advance notice about a New Year’s flag-raising ceremony at the residence of Taiwan’s representative to Washington that has angered China. Taiwanese media report that it was the first time since Washington switched diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing 36 years ago that the flag of the Republic of China, as Taiwan is formally known, had been flown at the residence. In Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said Monday that China had protested to the U.S. about the Jan. 1 ceremony and requested Washington “act with discretion when dealing with Taiwan-related issues.” In Washington, State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said the ceremony at the Twin Oaks residence was not consistent with U.S. policy, and no U.S. government personnel attended. She said “nothing has changed” in the status of the U.S.-Taiwanese relationship, and the U.S. remains
committed to the one China policy. Under that policy, the U.S. recognizes Beijing as representing China. Taiwan split from the Chinese mainland amid civil war in 1949, and China regards Taiwan, a self-governing island, as part of its territory. The U.S. policy acknowledges the Chinese view over sovereignty, but considers Taiwan’s status as unsettled. This delicate compromise makes the Taiwan’s diplomatic presence in Washington an area of some sensitivity despite an easing of tensions across the Taiwan Strait in recent years. Twin Oaks was the residence of Republic of China ambassadors from 1937 until 1979, when the U.S. shifted its diplomatic recognition to Beijing. The Taipei Times newspaper cited the Taiwanese representative to the U.S., Shen Lyu-shun, as saying his office had notified the Obama administration before Thursday’s ceremony and received U.S. approval provided the ceremony was low-profile and not televised. The Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in Washington, as Taiwan’s mission is known, declined to comment Monday, referring questions to the Foreign Ministry in Taipei.
Lunar New Year’s Children’s Parade Celebrating the Year of the Sheep
Children from one month to 12-years-old are invited to participate in the Lunar New Year’s Parade, part of the Chinatown International District Business Association Lunar New Year festival, February 21, Saturday, 1 p.m. The parade will start at So. King St. There will be a costume contest—contestants should have costumes that represent the Year of the Sheep. There will also be free treats for all in sheep costumes at the Northwest Asian Weekly booth.
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JANUARY 10 – JANUARY 16, 2015
■ wayne’s WORLDS
Greetings from “Eats Many Donuts”
By Wayne Chan Northwest Asian Weekly As we close out another year, now is as good a time as any to take stock of the past year and get ready for a new one with some New Year’s resolutions. Yup…time to reset the clock, start another chapter, get back on that horse, and turn another corner. Maybe this year’s resolutions should include cutting back on all of the metaphors. The last few days of the year have been filled with food, presents, get-togethers, and just your average, run-of-themill merry-making. It’s a perfect time to look back on an eventful year and make plans to make the next one even better. I can think of one New Year’s resolution right off the bat. With all the end of the year celebrating we’ve been doing lately, I certainly count my blessings to have as many friends as we do. My only problem is that I can only remember a handful of their names. It’s not that I don’t recognize them or don’t know where they live and what they do. It’s just trying to remember all of their names is a personal challenge. Remembering everyone’s names – that’s my New Year’s resolution. The problem is, I had the same resolution last year, but apparently, this resolution is becoming a multi-year commitment. It’s not like I haven’t tried. I distinctly remember looking up some memorization exercises to help me remember people’s names. One of the exercises involved creating a mental picture of a person’s name and creating some
kind of odd or unique vision in my mind that will help me remember the name. For example, let’s say I meet someone named Mark. The next thing I would do is something like this: OK, Mark is wearing a baseball cap. Imagine that Mark is a baseball player. Mark also owns a Chihuahua. Chihuahuas like walks in the park. “Park” rhymes with Mark. Chihuahuas are so small you could toss them like a ball. Baseball player…Chihuahua is the ball…he’s tossing the Chihuahua to third base…he’s in a park. “Park” rhymes with…Mark. His name is Mark. Got it! The problem with this method is every time I bump into this guy, I stare at him for about 30 seconds with a blank expression on my face as I’m trying to recreate the scene of a Chihuahua-tossing ball player in the park that will get me to remember that his name is Mark. It then occurred to me, after watching the film “Dances
■ national news ■ world news Kamala Harris seeks review after recent shootings by police
with Wolves” the other day with my son Tyler who had never seen it, that Native Americans have a much better way of referring to one another. I’m no expert on Native American culture, but if there’s any truth to the movie, people in the tribe get assigned names associated with something they’ve done in the past. It’s where they get names like “Dances with Wolves,” “Stands With Fists,” and so on. With this system, instead of Mark, my friend’s new name would be “Dog Tossing Ballplayer.” With this new naming system, I would know everyone’s name in a split second. I could go into a party, and see that “Owes Me Money” is sitting by the fireplace, right next to “Always Wears Black Pants.” Not wanting to disturb their conversation, I walk over to the punchbowl and say hello to “Always Changing Jobs” before “Dog Pees On My Lawn” offers me a beer. We spend the rest of the night playing party games and notice that “Still Likes Mullets” and “Too Much Meatloaf” make a great Pictionary team. Somehow, I doubt that I’d be invited to too many parties next year if I tried this new naming scheme. Ah well. I’ll just have to try and remember their names. Until then, here’s wishing you a great New Year with much prosperity for you and your family. Best Wishes, Eats Many Donuts Wayne Chan can be reached at info@nwasianweekly. com.
Witnesses: Sequence of errors led to Shanghai stampede
By Don Thompson Associated Press
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California’s attorney general stepped into the national debate over the recent slayings of unarmed civilians by police on Monday, calling for a review by her agency and promising to lead a public dialogue. Kamala Harris, the first minority to hold the state’s highest law enforcement Kamala Harris office, made the pledge as she was sworn in to a second and final term in the office she now holds. However, she is widely expected to be preparing for a run for governor or the U.S. Senate. “As law enforcement leaders, we must confront this crisis of confidence,” Harris said. “We must acknowledge that too many have felt the sting of injustice.” She ordered a review within 90 days of how her Department of Justice trains special agents on bias and the use of force. Harris also said she will work with the state’s law enforcement agencies and communities in coming months to strengthen mutual trust. Her comments come after the killings of two unarmed black men this summer by white police officers in Missouri and in New York. Harris, a Democrat, is the daughter of a black father from Jamaica and a mother from India. She referred to herself in her inaugural speech as “a daughter of Brown vs. Board of Education and the civil rights movement.” {see HARRIS cont’d on page 15}
The crowd at the Bund in Shanghai
By Didi Tang Associated Press SHANGHAI (AP) — On New Year’s Eve of 2013, Shanghai authorities sent about 6,000 city police officers and requested help from military police to manage a 300,000-strong crowd that filled the city’s famed riverfront for the annual midnight light show. According to state media, police choked off access to an elevated viewing platform reachable through staircases and closed the nearest subway station to rein in the crowd. On Wednesday night, just as many revelers showed up to ring in 2015, but the venue was guarded by only 700 police officers with no traffic control, state media reported. People were free to walk up and down the staircases, and the closest subway station was left open.
The city had already canceled the light show on the Bund, as the riverfront area is known, and apparently downgraded police deployment and crowd control measures. When the authorities became alarmed by the huge crowd, they called in another 500 police officers — but by then, it was too late. Three dozen people ended up trampled or asphyxiated to death in a stampede at the bottom of a 17-step, 5-meterwide (16-foot-wide) concrete staircase, shocking a city proud of its professional urban management and a country eager to show off its most cosmopolitan city. While investigations continue into the New Year’s Eve tragedy, eyewitness accounts and state media reports point to a sequence of miscalculations by city {see STAMPEDE cont’d on page 12}
33 YEARS YOUR VOICE
JANUARY 10 – JANUARY 16, 2015
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JANUARY 10 – JANUARY 16, 2015
■ at the movies
“The Interview”
By Andrew Hamlin Northwest Asian Weekly
Rating: Zero stars (yes, zero stars)
The 2:30 p.m. screening of the year’s most controversial movie at Columbia’s Ark Lodge Cinemas didn’t feature any controversy. Patrons filed in. A man in a wheelchair struggled to find a place to park himself out of others’ way. The cinema played a few charming old cartoons advertising the concession stands, some low-budget ads for local businesses, and a video of a disarmingly heartwarming song from Tracy Newman called “I Just See You,” reminding us that our loved ones love us as we age. Our loved ones, hopefully at least, for who we are, no matter what we are.It’s a fine sentiment for the holidays and for any days. “The Interview,” the feature attraction we’d all paid to see, had exactly the opposite tack. “The Interview” is the most controversial movie of the year because of what’s happening around it, as you’ve read in other articles in this newspaper. So it’s a good idea, I think, to examine what’s actually happening in the movie.And what’s happening is abjection, along with terror of abjection. Every major character fears who he or she really is, coming to light, to the celluloid. The fear of that exposure, and the release, the frisson, when that truth does come to light, drive the action. Nobody talks acceptance, except in the name of manipulation. To win, in this film’s universe, is to simply and powerfully manipulate others while remaining unmanipulated yourself. These are the only rules. Through all manipulation, there is only one way to win.I do not give this movie zero stars because I didn’t laugh—I did, a few times; and the audience I saw it with, a roughly halffull house, did, although not extravagantly. I do not give this movie zero stars because it’s torture porn, my mostloathed film genre. I give the movie zero stars because its laughs, and its few glimpses of better intentions, get lost
both cases together, the struggle for control generates tension (and hopefully, laughs)—the failure of control, the release, brings, hopefully, bigger laughs.Within this movie, working strictly with what’s onscreen, the main fear is being thought of as gay or effeminate. Men are supposed to be “men” —they must dominate, they must punish, they must force effeminacy on other men to prove their own dominance, and they must never, under any circumstances, betray any weaknesses. And these weaknesses are typical American weaknesses—zero tolerance for beauty, peace, tolerance, or affection. The humor often runs crude and orifice-obsessed, but this is how the underlying game is played I’m speaking only of what’s on screen, but what’s on screen doesn’t deserve to be watched. It’s simply too gleeful about abjection, to the point where Katy Perry’s song to healthy selfhood, “Firework,” ends up subverted as someone’s secret pleasure—and the only thing to do in this universe is to rip that pleasure and that secret away, and immolate all pleasure and all positivity.In our universe, some people hope this film will trickle north of the DMZ and do something positive in North Korea itself. I’m skeptical—any images of the North Korean leader’s abjection could be written off as American propaganda. But I am no expert on international affairs, and I have only tried to comment on the vacuity of what I saw this sunny afternoon before winter darkness fell.
in the abjection, and the attendant gross-outs.The fear of losing control of one’s image, how one wants the world to view oneself, goes thematically hand-in-hand with the fear of losing control of certain bodily functions. The film happily equates the two—in both cases, and sometimes
Time to watch some movies Fish, robots, ghosts, and more…
By Andrew Hamlin Northwest Asian Weekly Ryōtarō Makihara’s “Hal: The Movie” manages many turns in its hour-long running time: Some bright, some sinister, some funny, some eerie. It starts with some fish being watched through a fish-eye lens, and for the remainder of the brief but beguiling narrative, the script, from Izumi Kizara, casts doubts on who is watching what, and who is being watched. The fish-eye lens belongs to a robot at play in the not-too-distant future, a robot soon sent on a difficult mission. Hal, a young man, has died in an airplane explosion mid-air, leaving a grieving girlfriend, Kurumi, who mostly hides in a closet weeping. Outfitted with humanoid
features, the android, Q01, becomes the reincarnation of Hal. It’s “his” job to help her work through her grief and return her to the world. The beauty of the physical world pours out through many scenes of rivers, streams, sunshine, and other brightly-colored natural wonders. As the narrative progresses, though, uneasiness comes to the fore. Who was Hal, really? How did he treat Kurumi? What drove them to quarrels and even breakdowns? Little by little, the viewer becomes suspicious of what’s presented as truth. Beauty and lush young love must sit side-by-side with harsh truths. The long-running “Ghost in the Shell” franchise is no stranger to vagueness of {see DVDs cont’d on page 15}
“The Interview” is currently playing several theaters in and around Seattle. Check local listings for places, times, and prices. Andrew Hamlin can be reached at info@nwasianweekly. com.
33 YEARS YOUR VOICE
JANUARY 10 – JANUARY 16, 2015
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{ARC cont’d from page 1}
The death of an Asian American community center
Seattle Mayor Ed Murray and Kent Mayor Suzette Cooke (both center), at the Seattle Chinese Chamber Lunar New Year dinner in 2014
than Town Hall and even the ID Chinatown Community Center ran by the Seattle Parks Dept). One of my unforgettable ARC moments was when Apollo Ohno, Olympian gold medalist and champion of Dancing with the Stars, came to ARC to attend the Asian Hall of Fame in his honor. During the press conference, I asked him to demonstrate some dance steps with his partner. Wow, he did. The loss of a community center is devastating to many, especially those who have been using and depending on it. “Hearing the place sold made my heart ache for the Washington State Chinese Cancer Network Association (WSCCNA, which helps cancer survivors and families), and for the community that we served,” said Stella Leong, WSCCNA’s former president. “There is no such facility in the proximity of Chinatown that our community members which is easily accessible and also affordable for WSCCNA.” The group’s rent for the past three years was $500 a month, including
Students participants of Northwest Asian Weekly Foundation’s summer youth leadership program outside the ARC at 1025 S. King St.
utilities and internet plus use of other spaces for exercise and dance classes in the 13,700square-foot building. “When I heard the building was sold, I had expected BAM - Bruce Lee Action Museum would be the buyer,” said Bettie Luke, a community advocate and sister of the former Seattle City Councilman Wing Luke. “I was quite saddened by the news as I had just returned from my vacation in Korea,” said Mitchell Fung who played basketball often at ARC. “I had grown accustomed to playing there and the management there would play with me.” “Hearing about the ARC closing was heart-breaking,” said Marvin Eng, 2014 Asian Weekly Foundation’s summer youth leadership program coordinator. The program had held events at ARC for many years. Another community member, Fred Yee said, “The Seattle Asian Community has lost a gathering place in the ChinatownInternational District for community events
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Asian Resource Center’s fund-raising event Asian Hall of Fame honoring Asian American achievers
and gathering.” “I have heard that several schools are actively looking to locate in the ID which seems to me to be a sign of the changing times,” said Don Blakeney, executive director of CID-BIA Business Improvement Association. Blakeney had mixed feelings about the sale of the building to a charter school group. “The presence of new young children and parents would certainly benefit the District, but change is a double-edged sword. We have to make sure these incoming changes and neighbors enrich the neighborhood and don’t displace what is unique and special about this community.” “We were sitting on pins and needles for almost a year once we heard the building was on the market,” said Leong. “I have reached out to ARC and the Robert Chinn Foundation to plead for our needs and the community needs but failed.” Derek Chinn, secretary/treasurer of the RCF and also son of the late Robert Chinn, said although he is sad to see the sale of ARC, it would be sadder if the foundation had to sell to a developer who would tear down the building for apartments. Now, it’s a charter school, which gets support from the Gates Foundation, he added.
Memories of ARC
“Whenever I was at ARC, it would remind me of the Chinn family (who built ARC)- I knew all of them,” said Luke. “The building especially evoked memories of my experiences and friendships with the family,” said Luke, including Robert Chinn’s children, Karen, Valarie, and Derek. “My memories as a coordinator are closely tied to the building itself,” said Eng. “I will always remember walking into the center on the first day to meet all of the students in the program. It was exciting and overwhelming ...The building was the space where a lot of growth happened for me as a leader and for the students themselves (as upcoming leaders). The memories I have of it will be with me forever.” “The ARC is a key facility for the Asian community in the Puget Sound and I was honored to be able to have had an opportunity to be a part of its own history,” said Eng.
Sale was inevitable
“We were losing money every year since we started, $50,000 a year,” said Chinn. “(The building) is falling apart. We did our best to keep it going.” The building was in bad shape and it needed major repairs. Although some community groups approached RCF, they thought it wasn’t a good investment, he explained. “I was aware the building had maintenance issues with kitchen and room spaces, and those would be expensive projects,” said Luke. “So perhaps selling was one solution.” In addition, the family was not getting younger, and none of the third generation wants to take over running the center.
Dignitaries and authors of color at ribbon-cutting ceremony for Rainbow Bookfest in 2007, organized by Northwest Asian Weekly
The family also sold its bank in 2003 at $60 million to the Washington Federal Savings Bank and the ID Post Office building to the City of Seattle for Hing Hay Park expansion at $3 million a few years ago.
Donors’ questions
“With the owners being a school, I wondered if the attractive entrance would be preserved and what would happen to the tiles of donors?” said Luke. (ARC had fund-raised in the Asian and mainstream community from time to time.) “Both the glass outside on the fence and the tiles inside on the walls—I had bought tiles for myself and my two children,” she said. Chinn said his family is “working with attorneys to develop policy to disseminate the money” to non-profit groups. “I look forward to giving back the money to the community.” “With the new owner, a public funded chartered school for under-served children, I remain in hope that the new facility may still be available for and engage in some community events... at least, that is my hope,” said Blakeney. The new charter school of the Summit Public School (SPS) will be called Sierra.
Why the International District/ Chinatown?
Jen Wickens, chief regional officer of SPS responded, “We are honored to serve the CID community because of the neighborhood’s rich history and powerful diversity. Community leaders and families have expressed an incredible amount of excitement about partnering to build a free, public, heterogeneous high school in the CID that prepares all students for college success. In addition, we are thrilled that the school provides easy access to public transportation options for families throughout Seattle.” Wickens also said there is no plan to tear down the existing building. “We will remodel the existing building,” she said. “We will keep the exterior look and feel to honor the space and its important significance to the community.” Sierra will have 100 9th grade students and will add a grade each year until the school can house a total of 400 students (9th-12th grades).
33 YEARS YOUR VOICE
JANUARY 10 – JANUARY 16, 2015
11
OPINION
■ editorial
North Korea is all over the news Or maybe not…
There were no stories about the controversial Sony hack from the Associated Press (AP) Pyongyang bureau in North Korea. You can refer to page 5 and the last three issues for background information if you have been hiding from mass media. Nor were there any stories about Kim Jong Un’s mysterious hiatus in 2014, when he disappeared from public eye for several weeks (there was speculation about deteriorating health and weight gain). Most media outlets noticed, but the AP Pyongyang bureau didn’t seem to. A lengthy investigative article published on nknews.org, added weight to the now-pervasive North Korea attention, aside from “The Interview” and Sony hack controversy, and well, the accumulative terrifying accounts of a dictatorship out of control. The sub headline from the nknews post reads: “Confidential AP agreement with North Korea gives
Pyongyang control over news stories” “Jou r n al ist ical ly, our local staffers in Pyongyang are supervised and in regular contact with their supervisors,” the statement said in regard to staffing practices in Pyongyang. “We rely on our international staff for our journalism and the local employees do not ever file or transmit stories on their own, independent of supervision.” On their interviews with Americans being held in North Korea, the AP said, “In accordance with normal practice, AP editorial decisions were made about the news value of very similar material available from three different
interviews in short order from a captive individual. When we felt the material was newsworthy, we filed stories; when we felt it offered nothing new, we passed.” “We recognize the unique challenges in reporting from North Korea,” the statement said. “We are proud of our work in all formats and will continue to provide robust coverage going forward that will widen still further the world’s view of this little-known state.” “AP does not submit to censorship. We do not run stories by KCNA or any government official before we publish them. At the same time, officials are free to grant or deny access or interviews.” At least there was some good news from North Korea this year. Kenneth Bae is home.
It was a solemn but sincere 20-year recognition of their deaths. The fire chief spoke. Approximately 20 family members of the deceased firefighters were in attendance. The Pang Factory fire affected the Chinatown/International District community greatly, and also had a huge effect on the Seattle Fire Department and how it would change its practices. Pang International Foods, Inc., was a warehouse built in 1908, located on Dearborn between Maynard and 7th in the Chinatown/International District of Seattle. The building was owned by the Pang family. The factory produced Mary Pang’s frozen foods, which included rice and egg rolls. On January 5, 1995, there was an emergency report of a fire. It was eventually determined as arson. The Seattle Fire Department responded to the alarm at the Pang warehouse. More than 100 men and women contributed to the
Photos by Minal Singh/NWAW
{FIREFIGHTERS cont’d from page 1}
response. The firefighters were criticized because they were not accurately prepared. The fire started in the basement and burned through a support beam which caused a section of the upper floor to collapse. It was not possible to attempt a rescue of the firefighters until the flames were retained because the building was too unsafe to enter. It is assumed that Martin Pang was trying to collect insurance. There were allegations he was dealing with debt. According to
TAITUNG
history.org, he left for Brazil. Pang’s exwife and an FBI informant shared a $36,000 reward posted for his arrest and conviction. In the one case that went to trial, the jury held the Fire Department 75 percent responsible for the tragedy and arsonist Pang 25 percent responsible. Pang was returned to the King County Jail on February 29, 1996. He was sentenced to thirty‑five years imprisonment. He will be released Thanksgiving of 2018. In the memoriam the honor guard,
comprised of firemen who volunteer, assembled and some were holding axes. They rang a bell to open the ceremony and placed a white wreath on the statue. The honor guard was created after the Pang Factory fire, as well as the Firefighters Pipes and Drums Band. The band played “Amazing Grace.” There was an informal vigil in the evening, at the original factory location, now a vacant lot, where firefighters stopped by after duty during the nightfall to pay their respects. Peggy Chapman can be reached at editor@nwasianweekly.com.
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JANUARY 10 – JANUARY 16, 2015
{STAMPEDE cont’d from page 6} officials that helped create the out-of-control conditions leading to the stampede. “You canceled the light show, but did you properly notify the public?” asked a father who lost his daughter in the stampede but declined to give his name for fear of offending the authorities. “Once people started to show up in the hundreds of thousands, did you have backup measures to ensure safety? What were you doing during the time the crowds were growing?” “The government has been seriously derelict of its duties,” he said sternly. A landmark and top attraction of this financial hub, the Bund has been a high priority for local authorities, but the lack of police deployment on Wednesday shows an oversight by Shanghai’s government, said Zhao Chu, a local resident and an independent commentator. “It’s been a tradition to see the lights on the Bund on New Year’s Eve. Shanghai people know it, and the whole country knows it,” Zhao said. “The government should have foreseen the crowds on that night. Such incidents could have been avoided.” Liu Tiemin, a researcher at the China Academy of Safety Science and Technology, told China’s official Xinhua News Agency that managing such a huge crowd requires splitting the mass into smaller, less chaotic groups, and making sure crowds move in one direction through the space. Neither strategy was followed in Shanghai, Liu said. The next day, authorities flooded the Bund and an adjacent commercial road with thousands of police and military personnel to control traffic. “The stampede would not have {SONY cont’d from page 4} activities that threaten the United States and others,” Obama wrote in a letter to House and Senate leaders. North Korea has denied involvement in the cyberattack, which led to the disclosure of tens of thousands of confidential Sony e-mails and business files, then escalated to threats of terrorist attacks against movie theaters. Many cybersecurity experts have said it’s entirely possible that hackers or even Sony insiders could be the culprits, not North Korea, and questioned how the FBI can point the finger so conclusively. Senior U.S. officials, who briefed reporters on condition of anonymity, repeated their assertion that North Korea was responsible and said independent experts don’t have access to the same classified information as the FBI. With this round of sanctions, the United States also put North Korea on notice that payback need not be limited to those who perpetrated the attack. The 10 North Koreans singled out for sanctions didn’t necessarily have anything to do with the attack on Sony, senior U.S.
occurred if they had been here last night,” a street vendor said, gesturing toward the uniformed police. For three New Year’s Eves in a row, Shanghai hosted the spectacular midnight show on the Bund, but authorities canceled it this year because of worries about overcrowding. China’s major cities were already on edge after a series of knife, bombing, and vehicular attacks blamed on terrorists left hundreds of people dead. Instead, authorities opted for a smaller light show to be held at a nearby 2,000-person venue that required admission tickets. Local media in Shanghai reported on the plans for the scaled-down light show several days before the event, but did not give many details, according to the financial news magazine Caixin. Meanwhile, the media continued to hype a light show, the magazine said. The new venue also has a similar name to the Bund, which may have added to the public confusion. Authorities say investigations into the tragedy are ongoing, but patrol officers have confirmed that the city downgraded police deployment on the Bund on Wednesday night. “Because there was no scheduled event, there was no traffic control,” patrol officer Wang Qiang told state media, adding that tourists kept asking him if there would be a light show. Starting at around 8 p.m. on Wednesday, revelers began showing up on the lightly patrolled riverfront. At around 11:20 p.m., as huge crowds gathered, authorities reminded them that the annual light show on the riverfront had been canceled. Ten minutes later, surveillance video showed a massive jam of people on the steps at the end of a public square featuring a statue of the city’s first Communist mayor, Chen Yi. Those steps lead to the best vantage point to
officials said. Anyone who works for or helps North Korea’s government is now fair game, said the officials — especially North Korea’s defense sector and spying operations. Yet prominent lawmakers were already calling for an ever harsher stance. Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., who is set to chair the Senate Foreign Relations Committee this year, said it was time to concede the U.S. policy on North Korea isn’t working. Added House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce, R-Calif., “We need to go further to sanction those financial institutions in Asia and beyond that are supporting the brutal and dangerous North Korean regime.” Obama has said the United States is considering whether to put North Korea back on its list of state sponsors of terrorism. Beyond that, it’s unclear what additional penalties the United States has in its arsenal. There is no appetite for a military intervention. The United States has said that some elements of its response may not be seen publicly, however. The sanctions target the country’s primary intelligence agency, a state-owned arms dealer that exports missile and weapons
view the Huangpu River and the skyscrapers across the water. Authorities responded by dispatching 500 more police, but at around 11:35 p.m., people fell row by row on the steps under the crush of the crowd, which was trying to move both up and down the steps, survivors and eyewitnesses said. “It was unstoppable. The force from above fell on us,” recalled Zhao Weiwei, a survivor whose girlfriend, Pan Haiqin, died in the stampede. “There might have been two to three security people. That was virtually none.” Yu Ping, another survivor, said, “There was no security. Not at all.” Family members, survivors, and witnesses also complained of a lack of emergency response in the wake of the disaster. Police vehicles and private cars were used to transport the victims, with little medical emergency service available, and the victims arrived in emergency rooms only to see few medical professionals, they said. In one case, family members of a 25-year-old woman said that she had a stable pulse, opened her eyes twice, and appeared conscious when she was put into a vehicle and taken to a hospital, but that there was no doctor on hand to treat her when she arrived. “As one of the first to arrive at a hospital, she should have had the best chances of survival, but the delay cost her life,” said a statement by her family, which requested anonymity because of fears of possible government reprisals. “We are extremely angry,” the woman’s uncle told The Associated Press. “Her life should not have been ended like this.” Associated Press writer Jack Chang in Beijing contributed to this report.
technology, and the Korea Tangun Trading Corp., which supports defense research. The individuals sanctioned include North Koreans representing the country’s interests in Iran, Russia, and Syria. There was no immediate response from North Korea. Sony declined to comment. While denying any role in a cyberattack, North Korea has expressed fury over the Sony comedy flick “The Interview,” which depicts a fictional assassination plot against North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Sony initially called off the film’s release after movie theaters decided not to show the film. After Obama criticized that decision, Sony decided to release the film in a limited number of theaters and online. The White House called the sanctions “the first aspect of our response” to the Sony attack, a declaration that raised fresh questions about who was behind a nearly 10-hour shutdown of North Korean websites last week. The shutdown prompted a blunt response from North Korea’s powerful National Defense Commission, which blamed the United States and hurled racial slurs at Obama, calling him a reckless “monkey in a tropical forest.”
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Lake View Cemetery
☆西雅圖首創墓園☆ 自1872年起服務西北岸社區 非營利獨立協會
傳統式紀念碑
{GANG RAPE cont’d from page 4} rape cases have triggered a strong public outrage in recent years, leading to tough anti-rape laws. India has doubled prison terms for rapists to 20 years and criminalized voyeurism, stalking, and the trafficking of women. The law also makes it a crime for officers to refuse to open cases when complaints are made.
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33 YEARS YOUR VOICE
■ astrology
JANUARY 10 – JANUARY 16, 2015
13
For the week of January 10–January 16, 2015 By Sun Lee Chang
Rat — You have your own way of doing things, but there are times when it could be useful to follow the methods of another.
Dragon — On a hunch, you have uncovered a bit of tantalizing information. However, the more you learn, the less you may want to know.
Monkey — Are you looking for just a change of pace or much more? Avoid making a radical move, rather begin with something simple.
Ox — Are you looking for answers that are eluding you at the moment? Be patient, as the knowledge you seek will start to become clear very soon.
Snake — The best lie really does begin with a small kernel of truth. This is a good reason to be skeptical and question that which doesn’t quite make sense.
Rooster — A low din is getting louder as time passes. Better deal with it soon before the disturbance becomes any greater.
Tiger — Though you have reached a truce of sorts with a long-time foe, the slightest provocation could result in a tense situation.
Horse — Although your friend has asked for all details, you should exercise a measure of discretion especially when some of it could be hurtful.
Rabbit — A realization of the new angle you want to pursue is slowly starting to take shape. The excitement is palpable as you embark on this adventure.
Goat — Has it been difficult to connect with certain folks lately? It may have less to do with you than it does them.
Dog — Saving money doesn’t mean you should always go with the cheaper item, because you may spend additional funds trying to replace it sooner than you want. Pig — While it may be tempting to bring down a boastful one down a peg, it could end up reflecting poorly on you instead.
What’s your animal sign? Rat 1912, 1924, 1936, 1948, 1960, 1972, 1984, 1996, 2008 Ox 1913, 1925, 1937, 1949, 1961, 1973, 1985, 1997, 2009 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 Rooster 1921, 1933, 1945, 1957, 1969, 1981, 1993, 2005 Dog 1922, 1934, 1946, 1958, 1970, 1982, 1994, 2006 Pig 1923, 1935, 1947, 1959, 1971, 1983, 1995, 2007
*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.
{AIRASIA cont’d from page 4} the wreckage, especially if it is largely intact, would greatly benefit the investigation. The objects on the seafloor were discovered Friday and Saturday, and an Indonesian Geological Survey vessel was used to assess their dimensions, Soelistyo said. In addition to what appeared to be a significant part of the plane’s body, chunks of debris found in the target search area measured up to 12 meters (39 feet) long. Other suspected plane parts were seen scattered on beaches during an aerial survey, Soelistyo said. Indonesian authorities announced the grounding of AirAsia flights from Surabaya to Singapore, with the Transport Ministry saying the airline did not have a permit to fly on Sundays. However, Singapore’s Civil Aviation Authority said Saturday that from its end, the airline had been approved to fly the route daily. AirAsia, which began operations in 2001 and quickly became one of the region’s most popular low-cost carriers, said it was reviewing the suspension. The crash was the airline’s first. Strong currents and towering waves as high as 4 meters (13 feet) have slowed recovery efforts, scattering bodies and debris in all directions. The discoveries so far include an emergency exit door and slide, as well as a backpack with food and a camera inside. As part of the investigation into the crash, autopsies will be carried out on some of the bodies, including the pilot and co-pilot, whose remains have not yet been recovered. Generally, aviation experts say the more passengers, luggage, and parts of the aircraft that remain intact, the more likely the plane hit the water in one piece. That would signal problems like a mechanical error or a
stall, instead of a midair breakup due to an explosion or sudden depressurization. For family members, the wait has been agonizing, with local media covering every development and theory, many of which have proved to be untrue — including a false report that a body was found wearing a life jacket, which would have indicated passengers had time to prepare for the impact or miraculously were able to put them on after hitting the water. With more corpses arriving in Surabaya, some relatives said they were simply worn out. But they were encouraged by reports that parts of the plane had been detected and hoped that everyone on board would be retrieved. “Let’s hope the news is true,” said Ongko Gunawan, whose sister was on the flight with her husband and their child. “We need to move on.” Vessels involved in the search for debris included at least eight sophisticated navy ships from Singapore, Russia, Malaysia, and the United States equipped with sonars for scouring the seabed to pinpoint the allimportant black boxes and the wreckage. A second U.S. Navy ship arrived on Saturday to help in the search. The hope, officials say, is that the body of the plane will still be largely intact, speeding the investigation. “Many of the passengers believed to be still trapped inside the plane’s fuselage and could be discovered soon,” Supriyadi said. “God willing, we will complete this operation next week.” Associated Press writers Niniek Karmini, Ali Kotarumalos, Margie Mason, and Robin McDowell in Jakarta, Eileen Ng in Surabaya, Indonesia, and Scott Mayerowitz in New York contributed to this report.
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{LIU cont’d from page 1} back-turning insults hundreds of officers displayed last week toward video screens showing the mayor speaking at the funeral of Liu’s police partner, Officer Rafael Ramos. It also came after Bratton urged rank-and-file officers to refrain from making political statements at Liu’s wake and funeral. Police union officials, who are negotiating a contract with the city, had accused de Blasio of helping foster an antipolice atmosphere by supporting demonstrations following
the chokehold death of an unarmed black man in the New York City borough of Staten Island who resisted arrest. The back-turning at Ramos’ funeral mimicked what some police union officials did outside a hospital where the officers were taken right after they were killed two weeks ago.Liu and Ramos were ambushed in their patrol car on a Brooklyn street by Ismaaiyl Brinsley, who killed himself as police closed in on him. Brinsley had made references online to the killings of unarmed black men at the hands of white police officers. Liu’s funeral was scheduled for Sunday with a Chinese
ceremony to be followed by a traditional police ceremony with eulogies led by a chaplain. The 32-year-old officer had been on the police force for seven years and had gotten married two months before he died. His widow spoke tearfully days after the shooting. Liu’s funeral arrangements were delayed so relatives from China could travel to New York. Uniformed officers from across the United States were among the first in line Saturday at Liu’s wake.
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33 YEARS YOUR VOICE
Zelda Williams suffers from the loss of her father and internet abuse
committed suicide from asphyxiation, daughter and half Filipina Zelda Williams discovered a hard truth about social media. After the internet abuse from “trolls” she decided to remove herself from social media.
Age doesn’t worry Japanese basketball player
as “Dinosaur Samu,” the 6’7” power forward and former Japan League basketball player is 42 years old. Battling against the odds, Abe’s chances of playing in the NBA are slim. Yet, he remains unyielding of his goal.
Vera Ing leaves lasting legacy
died on Jan. 18, 2014. She was 73. “She had a great heart and always saw kindness in people. Our community lost a great friend and a beautiful person.” — Jerry Lee, Mulvanny/G2
Bruce Lee and his Seattle roots — A retrospective comes to the Wing
Bruce Lee is still the founding father of modern martial arts and had his start in Seattle. An exhibit at the Wing Luke Museum looks at the life of Lee in the city where he started.
Astrological Predictions for The Year of the Horse
The Year of the Horse brought with it a fresh, vibrant outlook. This brighter perspective invigorated all with a renewed sense of purpose.
Will Yu make history?
history in her bid for an open seat on the Washington State Supreme Court. Yu became Washington’s first Asian American Washington State Supreme Court Justice.
Hudson building still too unsafe to evaluate
on fire on Dec. 24 was still unknown because it was not safe for inspectors to go inside. Engineers could not examine the inside of the building due to its instability.
Posted on 14 February 2014. By Jason Cruz Osamu Abe is not your typical basketball player. Known
Posted on 23 January 2014. By Sue Misao Long time community activist Vera Faye Ing
Posted on 10 August 2014. By Jason Cruz
By Sun Lee Chang
Posted on 17 April 2014. By Jason Cruz King County Superior Court Judge Mary Yu made
Posted on 17 January 2014. By Staff The long-term future of the Hudson Building that caught Fred Cordova remembered as a legendary leader Posted on 09 January 2014. By Evangeline Cafe Fred Cordova spent his life championing social justice issues, preserving Filipino American history, and empowering the youth. The iconic historian and activist died on Dec. 21, 2013, at the age of 82. Cordova’s legacy leaves an indelible mark on the world he left.
{HARRIS cont’d from page 6} Harris said that as a career prosecutor, she has learned “one central truth: the public and law enforcement need each other to keep our communities safe.” Her comments drew immediate support from San Francisco Police Chief Gregory Suhr. “I don’t think there is a law enforcement person in the country that doesn’t think that it’s necessary to have this conversation, no matter how hard it is,” Suhr said. Harris did not take questions and declined an interview request, citing a tight schedule. Karm Bains of Yuba City, a large man who wears the turban and full beard of his Sikh religion, said he has experienced bias from the public and from law enforcement, as when he was barred from the U.S. Health and Human {DVDs cont’d from page 8} truth. The first two segments of a new OVA (Original Video Animation) series, arrive boxed together, with the final two presumably on the way. This series, “Ghost In The Shell: Arise,” focuses on Major Motoko Kusanagi, and her conundrums through both public and private life, in the year 2027. Kusanagi, an augmented cyborg-human, stays tightlipped and wisecracking on the job; she knows computers, detection strategies, and enough of the underworld, to become a rising star in her department. But she works hard around the clock to keep her impressive-looking world from falling apart. In the first segment, “Ghost Pain,” she’s surrounded by exploding android land mines which look like blonde gymnasts; a huge crab-like robot “bodyguard” which speaks in a squeaky little-girl’s voice; and the specter of her late commander, who may have been corrupt.
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{WORLD WAR cont’d from page 4}
{TOP 10 cont’d from page 1}
Posted on 23 August 2014. By Zachariah Bryan When renowned comedian and actor Robin Williams
JANUARY 10 – JANUARY 16, 2015
Jury finds Bowman guilty of firstdegree murder
Posted on 19 December 2014. By Jason Cruz Thomasdinh “Dinh” Bowman was found guilty of first-degree murder by a King County jury. The jury determined that Bowman had set out to kill when he shot Yancy Noll in 2012. Hours after the guilty verdict, Bowman attempted suicide by slitting both wrists with a razor. The jury took less than two days to find Bowman guilty of intentionally killing Noll.
between Japan and nearby China and South Korea, both victims of Japan’s wartime aggression. Commemorative events will be held around the world, but here it’s not just about remembering the past. The tenor of the events and the specific words chosen by leaders in each country will have current-day implications for Japan’s still strained relations with its neighbors. That prospect worries the U.S. government, which fears more tensions at a time when China’s emergence as a military power is shifting the power balance in a region where the U.S. military has long dominated the seas. “We encourage Japan to continue to work with its neighbors to resolve concerns over history in an amicable way through dialogue,” State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki told reporters in Washington. She said the apologies Japan made in the 1990’s over its wartime conduct had marked important chapters in its efforts to improve relations with its neighbors. The liberal Asahi newspaper devoted a recent editorial to the statement, saying Abe needs to face up to Japan’s war responsibility. “If ... Japan starts talking about the future without seriously facing up to its past, countries that suffered from Japan’s wartime behavior could start wondering if the Japanese are saying, `Let’s forget the past,”’ it wrote. Analysts said it’s too early to predict what Abe will say seven months from now. While he may not revise the Murayama statement, he can still undermine it, said Koichi Nakano, a liberal professor of contemporary politics at Sophia University in Tokyo. “There has been growing concern that Abe might try to effectively overwrite the Murayama statement with the `Abe statement,”’ he said. Emperor Akihito, in his annual New Year’s message, also stressed the need to remember the past. “So many people lost their lives in this war,” he said in a statement. “I think it is most important for us to take this opportunity to study and learn from the history of this war, starting with the Manchurian Incident of 1931, as we consider the future direction of our country.” The proof, China says, will lie in Japan’s actions. “We hope Japan can match its words, honestly facing up to its history of aggression, (and) abide by all the solemn statements and promises it has made on the issue of history,” Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said Monday. Associated Press videojournalist Kaori Hitomi in Tokyo, news assistant Yu Bing in Beijing and writer Matthew Pennington in Washington contributed to this story.
Services building without explanation during a fellowship in Washington, D.C., four years ago. “She’ll seek justice,” he said of Harris. But Bains added that “It’s going to take a lot to clean up California.” He lauded her efforts to play a national role in discussing bias and hate crimes. Elsewhere in her speech, Harris touted her fight against organized human trafficking, which she called “a form of slavery that profits from the cruel exploitation of our most vulnerable women and children.” She outlined her office’s success in clearing a troublesome backlog in testing DNA samples that can link criminals to crimes, and in fighting for a bigger settlement with banks following the foreclosure crisis, “going toe-to-toe against an army of the highest-paid hired guns the Wall Street banks could put on retainer.”
Harris also announced a new bureau focusing on crimes against children. Its work will expand on priorities during Harris’ first four years, including deterring school truancy. That announcement drew support from Norman Bernstein, an 81-year-old former Los Angeles Unified School District elementary school principal who said he has been fighting without success to require schools to adopt a uniform policy on missing children. Harris can draw attention to a pressing issue where it has been lacking, he said. Harris is among the brightest Democratic stars and is expected to be preparing for a run for higher office. Her remarks at times took on the cadence of a campaign speech as she quoted former Gov. Pat Brown, father of current Gov. Jerry Brown, and proclaimed national leadership roles for California in general and her office in particular.
In the second, “Ghost Whispers,” she’s out of the armed forces and freelance, but she still has to choose who to trust. And she sometimes choses poorly. Bolstered with plenty of thumping action and intrigue, the new “Arise” still inquires philosophically, on what cyborgs and hybrids might feel and think; how they might fit in, or not fit in, to what surrounds them. “Cowboy Bebop,” the hit anime series now released on DVD, doesn’t bother with such philosophy. It aims for the gut and it sends shock waves clear up to the palate. It’s set in the year 2071 and human beings have gained the solar system thanks to stargates. But it’s lost the Earth and Earth’s moon due to a massive radiation spill. A new society, on the fly, emerges in the outer planets and their satellites. The wild criminal adventures of Spike Spiegel, Jet Black, Faye Valentine, Edward and Ein the dog, became wildly known in American anime fandom starting in
2001, although in both America and Japan, its frankly adult themes stirred controversy; the show, while not pornographic and not a gorefest, does contain a fair amount of sexual situations and violence. A “Cowboy Bebop” movie made the mistake of promoting Spike to sainthood and center stage. The series makes it clear that the five of them, however much they may resent each other, however much they try to overpower or even kill each other, all need each other in the end, Ein included. And their criminal empire sprung from a widening postEarth gap between haves and have-nots. Maybe its creators were trying to make a point all along… Andrew Hamlin can be reached at info@nwasianweekly. com.
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