VOL 35 NO 4 | JANUARY 23 – JANUARY 29, 2016

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VOL 35 NO 4

JANUARY 23 – JANUARY 29, 2016

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WOMEN OF COLOR EMPOWERED Learn about our honorees » P. 8

34 YEARS YOUR VOICE

By Assunta Ng Northwest Asian Weekly

Thirty-four years of running a newspaper and learning how to turn struggles into miracles Will newspapers last? Bill Gates said no to a group of features editors in 1994 at the Edgewater Inn (now called the Edgewater Hotel). “I will give you guys 12 to 15 years,” said Gates, who was keynote speaker for an editors confer-

ence. For the past two decades, print newspapers have been dying all over the U.S. and overseas. The thought of which is next is an ever-present one. As the haunting trend continues, the Washington News Publishers Association sent us good news recently: Newspapers are actually rebounding. In November 2015, newspapers saw a 16 percent gain in ad spending in the previous month, the biggest gain in half a year, according to Media Life Magazine. However, that particular rebound didn’t make our own struggles lighter. Every week, I {see NWAW cont’d on page 15}

Photo provided by Jindong Cai

Graphic by Kelly Liao/SCP

We’re still Applause for in print! Maestro Cai

Cai conducts the Stanford Symphony Orchestra on its China Tour

By Peggy Chapman Northwest Asian Weekly

Celebrate Asia concert to include chorus, culture, and … cellphones Approximately 20 years ago, conductor Jindong Cai experienced one of the most pivotal opportunities of his life. He was studying at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music and was assisting

his mentor, esteemed conductor and composer Gerhard Samuel, who would be conducting a performance at Lincoln Center’s Mozart Bicentennial Festival in New York — when Maestro Samuel got sick. There were no other substitutes, so Cai was asked to conduct since he knew the program. Either he would have to be the replacement, or the performance would not be able to take place. He agreed to conduct. Cai got to conduct the world premiere of a new {see CAI cont’d on page 15}

NWAW Technology and Innovation Awardee

Naveen Jain

Photo provided by Naveen Jain

The Elon Musk of the Northwest?

By Chris Kenji Beer Northwest Asian Weekly Naveen Jain is among the most energetic and passionate minds in this region. Outside of California, he is one of a handful of billionaires of Asian descent.

Announced earlier this month at the Consumer Electronics Show, Jain’s recruiting agency, TalentWise, sold for an estimated $200–300 million Like few others in this region, Jain represents the same ideals and follows a surprising parallel to one of the world’s greatest entrepreneurs, Elon Musk.

Jain is the first nominee for Northwest Asian Weekly’s inaugural Technology and Innovation Award, a dinner held Oct. 7. “The journey toward success is not a destination,” Jain said. “It is a lifelong {see JAIN cont’d on page 10}

Naveen Jain

The Inside Story NAMES IN THE NEWS Movers and shakers in the local Asian scene » P. 2

NATIONAL NEWS Children’s book pulled for watering down slavery » P. 4

AT THE MOVIES A great actor spoiled by a gross film » P. 7

EDITORIAL Let’s lay off the smokes until age 21 » P. 10

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


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JANUARY 23 – JANUARY 29, 2016

■ names in the news

Michelle Lee with her parents, Tim and Christine Lee

Photo by George Liu/NWAW

Michelle Lee, 24, daughter of Seattle Chinatown’s Real Home Network owners Tim and Christine Lee, will be running for Miss Chinatown USA 2016 in San Francisco on Feb. 13. Michelle Lee graduated from University of California, Davis, majoring in drama. She lives in California. Dawn Cheung, 24, Seattle’s Miss Chinatown 2015, will also compete in Miss Chinatown USA 2016. Cheung is a case manager for the Asian Counseling and Referral Service. 

Dawn Cheung

got a tip? editor@nwasianweekly.com

Overlake Medical names Julie Sun to board of directors

The Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA) Sports Task Force has named Brady Wakayama the firstever recipient of the Al Young Sports Journalism Scholarship. Wakayama is a senior at Washington State University, majoring in communications with an emphasis on broadcast journalism and a minor in sports management. Brady Wakayama Currently a student member of AAJA, Wakayama has volunteered at Seattle’s Asian Counseling and Referral Service for the past six years. 

On Jan. 13, the Overlake Medical Center Foundation announced the addition of new members to its board of directors. Among them is Julie Sun, director of International alumni affairs development for Cornell University. Previously, Sun was director of major and planned gifts at Overlake Hospital. Julie Sun Other new boardmembers include: Jason Thompson, Rachele Bouchand, Pauline Bach, Jeff Wilcox, Cecille Schuman, and York Harris. 

Olympia celebrates Korean American Day Jan. 13

Judge Oishi and VFA honored by Asian bar association King County Superior Court Judge Patrick Oishi was honored by the Asian Bar Association of Washington and the Asian Bar Association of Judge Patrick Oishi VFA Executive Director James Hong Washington Student Scholarship Foundation at their annual awards gala on Oct. 23 at the Renaissance Seattle Hotel. Oishi was named their judge of the year. The Vietnamese Friendship Association (VFA) was also honored with a community service award. VFA is a nonprofit that helps Vietnamese refugees and immigrants adjust to life in the United States. 

Photo provided by the office of Jay Inslee

Photo by Assunta Ng/NWAW

Two women with local ties to vie Brady Wakayama awarded for Miss Chinatown USA crown AAJA sports scholarship

Washington state Gov. Jay Inslee (center) with Korean Americans at the recent Korean American Day reception in Olympia

On Jan. 13, Washington state Gov. Jay Inslee attended the 9th Annual Korean American Day reception in Olympia. The event recognized achievements of Korean Americans in Washington state and was coordinated by the Commission on Asian Pacific American Affairs (CAPAA). Senate Bill 5166, declaring Jan. 13 Korean American day, was signed into law in 2007. It commemorates the arrive of the first Korean immigrants to the United States on Jan. 13, 1903. 

Women as Bridge Builders

Making a Difference

honorees

Camilla Mejia

Former Vice President of Multicultural Club, Jackson High School

Evelyn Yenson

Executive Retired

Thursday, Feb. 4, 2016 ● China Harbor Restaurant ● 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. (It’s Thursday, not Friday!)

sponsors

Maha Jahshan

Policy & Program Specialist, Office of Immigrant & Refugees

Tonya Knox

Agency Field Recruiter, State Farm Insurance

Hilary Stern

Name: ___________________________________________________

Founding Executive Director, Casa Latina

Address: __________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ Telephone: ________________________________________________ Fax: _____________________________________________________ Email: ___________________________________________________ Organization: _____________________________________________ Title (if applicable): _________________________________________ Name of guests: ___________________________________________ _________________________________________________________

Christina Fong

Maria Durham Co-founder, Viva La Musica Club

Wendy Zheng

Rita Zawaideh

Anne Nguyen

Paula Houston Chief Executive Officer, Senior Services

Mahnaz Eshetu Executive Director, Refugee Women’s Alliance

Leslie Harper-Miles

Margo Myers

 Mastercard

Multicultural Engagement Director, Swedish Medical Center

Board of Directors, Salaam Cultural Museum

Executive Director, Alexander Hamilton Scholars

Senior Executive Project Mgr., King County Government

 Visa

Card no.: _________________________________________________ Exp. date: ____________ Signature: ___________________________

emcee

Principal Lecturer, Management Dept., UW

Deborah Cano-Lee Co-founder & Board President, WA Indian Civil Rights Commission

Principal Margo Myers Communications

WOC CO-CHAIRS: Bonnie Miller & Rosario Carroll PLANNING COMMITTEE: Elizabeth Younger, Connie Sugahara, Diane Martin, Francine Griggs, Kathy Purcell, Leny ValerioBuford, Assunta Ng, Shoko Toyama, Rosa Melendez, Lourdes Sampera Tsukada, Sonia Doughty, Sylvia Cavazos, Kiku Hayashi, and Winona Hollins Hauge LUNCHEON PRICING: Discounted price of $35 if purchased by Jan. 9. Full price of $45 after Jan. 9. Walk-ins $50. Student price of $25 with I.D. before January 9; $30 after Jan. 9; 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. Men are welcome! MAKE RESERVATIONS: To purchase tickets, go to http://bpt. me/2483641, or 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.


34 YEARS YOUR VOICE

■ community NEWS

Bipartisan bill aims to preserve af fordable housing statewide

Across the Puget Sound region, as real estate values and rents rise, cities large and small are struggling to preserve existing lowercost, market-rate housing. A bipartisan plan to enact a local-option property tax exemption for existing rental homes aims to preserve lower rents and prevent the displacement Sen. Joe Fain (R–Auburn) of long-time tenants, even as landlords seek to make building improvements. The Preservation Tax Exemption proposal sponsored by Sen. Joe Fain (R–Auburn) and Sen. David Frockt (D–Seattle) was introduced in Olympia on Jan. 11. “Housing costs for working families have skyrocketed in our region,” said Sen. Fain, who serves as majority floor leader in the Washington state senate. “Sometimes, the tools policymakers use to maintain affordable housing can reduce supply over time, leading to shortages and higher prices. Giving cities the discretion to create incentives for landlords to upgrade and maintain their properties at prices families can afford is one tool for addressing this growing problem.” Under the bill, owners of rental properties could

Sen. David Frockt (D–Seattle)

apply for a 15-year exemption to local property taxes, and in exchange, reserve 25 percent of the building’s apartments for low-income families earning less than 50 to 60 percent of the Area Median Income (AMI). In King County, 50 percent of AMI is $36,000 for two-person households and 60 percent of AMI is

$43,000. Affordable rent for a one-bedroom apartment in King County at 50 percent AMI is $840 and at 60 percent AMI is $1,008. The average market rate for a one-bedroom in new buildings in Ballard is $1,656, while a one-bedroom in Renton averages $1,275. The City of Seattle estimates that it could preserve 3,000 affordable apartments over 10 years at the cost of $12 a year to the average property taxpayer. “We will never solve the housing affordability crisis if we only focus on construction of new apartments,” said Seattle Mayor Ed Murray. “We must work to preserve existing affordable homes, including affordable market-rate homes. This is a cost-effective solution to prevent the displacement of thousands of families in our city.” 

JANUARY 23 – JANUARY 29, 2016

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White House groups urge APIs to enroll in health insurance by Jan. 31 Beginning Jan. 19, the White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPIs), in collaboration with the Action for Health Justice, will launch the third annual AAPI Affordable Care Act Week of Action, a public awareness drive to encourage AAPIs to enroll in the Health Insurance Marketplace by Jan. 31. To enroll, individuals can visit HealthCare. gov or call 1-800-318-2596 for 24-hour customer assistance in nearly 250 languages. Individuals can also find local inperson assistance at LocalHelp. HealthCare.gov. “Since the first open enrollment period in 2013, nearly 18 million Americans, including many Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, have gotten life-saving, quality and affordable health coverage,” says U.S. Surgeon General Vivek H. Murthy. “But our work is not done. There are still more than 200,000 AAPI community members who don’t

have the safety, security, and peace of mind that comes with having health coverage. We must close that gap because health equity is a civil rights issue, and it’s an AAPI community value.” In May 2015, Dr. Murthy was appointed by President Obama to serve as co-chair of the White House Initiative on AAPIs. One in three AAPIs is limited English proficient, and one in four AAPIs has not seen a doctor in the past year. “Affordable healthcare has been a crucial need within our diverse AAPI populations,” says Doua Thor, executive director of the Initiative. “Trained experts, known as in-person assisters, speak more than 50 languages and are helping people in AAPI communities throughout the nation enroll in health insurance. We also have many translated materials to help guide the process.”  For more information, visit whitehouse.gov/aapi.


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JANUARY 23 – JANUARY 29, 2016

■ national news

Scholastic pulls picture book due to rosy depiction of slavery By Hillel Italie Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — Scholastic is pulling a new picture book about George Washington and his slaves amid objections it sentimentalizes a brutal part of American history. “A Birthday Cake for George Washington” was released Jan. 5 and had been strongly criticized for its upbeat images and story of Washington’s cook, the slave Hercules and his daughter, Delia. Its withdrawal was announced Sunday. “While we have great respect for the integrity and scholarship of the author,

illustrator, and editor, we believe that, without more historical background on the evils of slavery than this book for younger children can provide, the book may give a false impression of the reality of the lives of slaves and therefore should be withdrawn,” the children’s publisher said in a statement released to the AP. The book, which depicts Hercules and Delia preparing a cake for Washington, has received more than 100 one-star reviews on Amazon. com. As of Jan. 17, only 12 reviews were positive. The book also set off discussions on Facebook, Twitter, and elsewhere on social media. While notes in “A Birthday Cake for George

Washington” from author Ramin Ganeshram and illustrator Vanessa Brantley-Newton had pointed out the historical context of the 18th century story and that Hercules eventually escaped, some critics faulted Ganeshram and Brantley-Newton for leaving out those details from the main narrative. “Oh, how George Washington loves his cake!” reads the publisher’s description of the story. “And, oh, how he depends on Hercules, his head chef, to make it for him. Hercules, a slave, takes great pride in baking the president’s cake. But this year there is one problem — they are out of sugar.” {see SCHOLASTIC cont’d on page 12}

API council leader ref lects on Boston’s newfound youth, diversity Photo by Jovan, from michelleforboston.com

By Bob Salsberg Associated Press

Michelle Wu at a Dominican parade

BOSTON (AP) — Before entering the office of Boston’s city council President Michelle Wu, visitors pass a wall lined by photographs of the council’s past leaders, faces that are mostly male, mostly white and nearly all middle-aged or older. Recently elected president by colleagues on the 13-member board, Wu is the first Asian American and only the third woman to hold the influential post. At 30, she also embodies a youthful surge in the city that has energized Boston economically, culturally and now, politically. Another surprise: Wu didn’t grow up in Boston. Suspicion of outsiders once made growing up in Boston’s neighborhoods a virtual prerequisite to political success. Wu spoke to the Associated Press about

Jeb Bush sees similarities in his foreign policy and his dad’s CORALVILLE, Iowa (AP) — Jeb Bush believes he’s got the best prescription for American foreign policy, from his strategies for deterring North Korea’s nuclear ambitions, to destroying the Islamic State. However, unlike his rivals in the crowded 2016 Republican race for the White House, Bush’s foreign policy pitch comes with a caveat: He’s as much his own man, as he is a member of the Bush family. In an extended interview with The Associated Press, the former Florida governor praised the approach of his father, former President George H.W. Bush, who built a broad coalition to wage the Persian Gulf War, and mobilized U.S. military might to drive Iraq out of Kuwait. Jeb Bush says the aggressive military policy he would pursue as President Barack Obama’s successor would signal to the world “we’re back in the game.” While he said he would seek the advice of his brother,

Photo by Gage Skidmore

By Thomas Beaumont Associated Press

Jeb Bush speaking at the 2015 Conservative Political Action Conference in March 2015.

former President George W. Bush, in foreign affairs, especially on the Middle East, a Jeb Bush doctrine {see BUSH cont’d on page 13}

her meteoric rise in Boston, a city moving beyond its 20th-century reputation for tightknit neighborhood enclaves and Irish-Catholic dominated politics. Q: How have you been able to navigate the historically insular nature of Boston politics? A: People always point out a number of ways in which I don’t fit the mold of a traditional Boston politician. Ethnicity is one of them, gender is one of them, place of birth, as well as age. Age is mentioned the most, but young people have to step up as soon as they are ready. It’s not who has the most years of experience or if you have accumulated titles, but who can think creatively to solve problems. {see BOSTON cont’d on page 13}


34 YEARS YOUR VOICE

■ WORLD NEWS

JANUARY 23 – JANUARY 29, 2016

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Temple town in south India cleaning up due to plastic ban By Anna Mathews Associated Press

PATHANAMTHITTA, India (AP) — Millions of Hindu men trudge the steep, three-hour climb to a hilltop temple to worship a celibate god every year. They bathe away their sins in the Pamba River. And these days, they leave less of a trace thanks to new rules aimed at getting rid of plastic trash. Local officials have banned all plastic containers from the Sabarimala temple, set deep in the dense jungle of tiger conservation park in Kerala state. Pilgrimages throughout the year attract some 100 million worshippers, though women of childbearing age are forbidden from entering.

KING COUNTY NOTICE TO BIDDERS Sealed bids will be received for C01011C16, Kent Auburn CSI Main Street; by the King County Procurement and Payables Section, 3rd Floor, 401 Fifth Avenue, Seattle, WA 98104, until 1:30 PM on January 28, 2016. Late bids will not be accepted. Brief Scope: Install 300 feet of 48 inch diameter gravity sanitary sewer and two manholes in West Main Street in the City of Auburn, Washington between Clay Street and the Interurban Trail. Estimated contract price: $479,301 to $585,813 There is a 2% minimum requirement for King County Certified Small Contractors and Suppliers (SCS) on this contract. Complete Invitation to Bid Documents, including all project details, specifications, and contact information are available on our web page at: https://procurement. kingcounty.gov/procurement_ovr/ default.aspx

EVENTS-FESTIVALS PROMOTE YOUR REGIONAL EVENT for only pennies. Reach 2.7 million readers in newspapers statewide for $275 classified or $1,350 display ad. Call this newspaper or (360) 515-0974 for details. LEGAL SERVICES DIVORCE $155. $175 with children. No court appearances. Complete preparation. Includes custody, support, property division and bills. BBB member. (503) 772-5295. www. paralegalalternatives.com legalalt@ msn.com.

For years the traffic took a heavy toll. Pastures were strewn with potato chip packages and water bottles. Plastic bags blown into the air caught on branches and hung from the forest canopy. Rivers became choked with clothing discarded as people bathed away their sins. Last year, traces of plastic were found in the digestive tracts of dead samba deer and at least one elephant, prompting Kerala’s forest department to petition a court last year for the ban on disposable plastic items. Such bans have been imposed in various parts of India, including the capital of New Delhi, with little effect as people flout new rules and {see PLASTIC cont’d on page 12}


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JANUARY 23 – JANUARY 29, 2016

■ COMMUNITY calendar THU 1/21 WHAT: SECO Development’s groundbreaking ceremony, “Southport on Lake Washington Office Campus” WHERE: 1083 Lake Washington Blvd. N., Ste. 50, Renton WHEN: 11 a.m. RSVP: by 1/11 to 425-282-5833, rsvp@secodev.com

FRI 1/22 WHAT: MLK, Jr. Day Celebration, “Dream and Act, Dr. Martin Luther King did.” WHERE: Bellevue College’s Carlson Theater, 3000 Landerholm Circle S.E., Bellevue WHEN: 11:30 a.m. INFO: bellevuecollege.edu

FRI–SUN 1/22, 1/23, 1/24 WHAT: Japanese literature public reading, “The Tale of the Heike” WHERE: UW, Penthouse Theatre, Seattle WHEN: Fri–Sat, 7:30 p.m., Sun, 2 p.m. COST: $8–$10 TICKETS: 206-543-4880 INFO: drama.uw.edu/performances

SAT 1/23 WHAT: The Peking Acrobats to perform gravity-defying feats WHERE: UW, Meany Hall WHEN: 3–7:30 p.m. COST: $50–$55 INFO: 206-543-4880 WHAT: Winter Bash in White, featuring music by Deems & Side B WHERE: The Wing, 719 S. King St., Seattle WHEN: 6:30–10:30 p.m. COST: $10–$50 INFO: wingluke.org, 206-623-5124 WHAT: Re-opening of Seattle Public Library’s Rainier Beach Branch WHERE: Rainier Beach Branch, 9125 Rainier Ave. S., Seattle WHEN: 2 p.m. INFO: 206-386-1906

SAT 1/23–MON 4/11 WHAT: Ai Weiwei’s “Fault Line” exhibition WHERE: San Juan Islands Museum of Art, 540 Spring St., Friday Harbor INFO: sjima.org/exhibitions/ai-weiwei

MON 1/25 WHAT: Seattle Channel airs, “Community Stories: Fortune & family” WHERE: Seattle Channel, channel 21 on Comcast and Wave, seattlechannel.org WHEN: 7 p.m. INFO: susan.han@seattle.gov

TUE JAN 26–THU JAN 28 WHAT: Hari Kondabolu at Theatre Off Jackson, comedy WHERE: Theatre Off Jackson, 409 7th Ave. S., Seattle WHEN: 7 p.m.

COST: $15–$18 INFO: facebook.com/harikondabolu

WED 1/27 WHAT: Mental health issues event, “Let’s Talk, Hear, and See Mental Health in the AAPI Community” WHERE: South Seattle College, Jerry Brockey, 6000 16th Ave. S.W., Seattle WHEN: 1–3 p.m. INFO: seattlecolleges.edu WHAT: Call to Action by ECCC (Ethnic Chamber of Commerce Coalition) WHERE: Seattle City Hall, Bertha Knight Landes Room, 601 5th Ave., Seattle WHEN: 5:30 p.m. COST: Free RSVP: evenbrite.com/e/call-to-actiontickets-20646796123 INFO: Martha Lee, eighteenseeds@ gmail.com

THU 1/28 WHAT: Louis Kahn Preview Party WHERE: Bellevue Arts Museum, 510 Bellevue Way N.E., Bellevue WHEN: 7:30–10 p.m. COST: Free for members, $15/ nonmembers INFO: bellevuearts.org

FRI 1/29 WHAT: World Dance Party, “Celebrate Diversity” WHERE: Filipino Community of Seattle, 5740 Martin Luther King Jr. Way S., Seattle WHEN: 6–9 p.m. INFO: worlddancepartyseattle.org WHAT: Celebrate Lunar New Year with Seattle Parks and Recreation WHERE: Garfield Community Center, 2323 E. Cherry St., Seattle WHEN: 11 a.m.–1:30 p.m. COST: $12 INFO: seattle.gov/Parks/Seniors

SAT 1/30 WHAT: OCA Greater Seattle’s 21st Annual Golden Circle Awards WHERE: Joy Palace Restaurant, 6030 Martin Luther King Jr. Way S., Seattle WHEN: 5:30 p.m. RSVP: http://bit.ly/1BysMZz WHAT: AAJA 30th Anniversary Gala and Lunar New Year Banquet WHERE: The Wing, 719 S. King St., Seattle WHEN: 6–9 p.m. INFO: www.facebook.com/ events/1948632308695410 WHAT: Education Roundtable on Student Discipline WHERE: El Centro de la Raza, 2524 16th Ave. S., Seattle WHEN: 1–3:30 p.m. INFO: capaa.wa.gov

SUN 1/31 WHAT: Celebrate Asia WHERE: Benaroya Hall, 200 University St., Seattle WHEN: 4 p.m. COST: $29+ INFO: seattlesymphony.org

■ COMMUNITY news

Move Seattle levy begins with Beacon Hill paved trail for students

Due to voter-approved funds provided by the Move Seattle levy, the City of Seattle began construction on its first 2016 Safe Routes to School project at Mercer Middle School on Jan. 14. Following through on the levy commitment to complete a Safe Routes project at every public school in the city, the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) is building a paved, off-street trail to give Beacon Hill schoolchildren a safer place to walk and bike. Approved by voters in November 2015, the nine-year, $930 million Levy to Move Seattle provides funding for safe routes ($207 million), maintenance and repair ($420 million), and congestion relief ($303 million). SDOT has budgeted $6.7 million for Safe Routes to School projects at the following schools in 2016: • • • • •

Aki Kurose Middle School Arbor Heights Elementary Bailey Gatzert Elementary DF Day Elementary Bryant Elementary

• • • • • • •

Martin Luther King, Jr. Elementary Mercer Middle School Montlake Elementary Rainier Beach High School Salmon Bay Elementary Sanislo Elementary South Shore K-8

“Safety, especially for children, is the number one priority for SDOT,” said SDOT Director Scott Kubly. “Connecting neighborhood greenways and next to a park, this Move Seattle levy funded trail will keep our most vulnerable residents safe as they travel daily to and from school.” A Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) grant is funding education and encouragement aspects of the project. Construction is funded through Seattle’s local funds and the grant, with the total cost of project construction estimated at $955,000.  To learn more about the Safe Routes to School Five-Year Action Plan, visit bit.ly/1SukA8p.

Court says Medina to pay $1.7 million to fired police lieutenant for racial remarks

MEDINA, Wash. (AP) — The city of Medina is paying $1.7 million to a former police lieutenant whose firing was deemed to be too harsh a punishment for the racially derogatory comments he made. The Seattle Times reports that the settlement with former Lt. Roger Skinner awards him about four years of back pay and lost benefits. The city’s Civil Service Commission initially upheld Skinner’s 2006 termination, which came after he told co-workers, “Asians don’t make good managers because people

don’t like them.” The department’s thenchief, Jeffrey Chen, was Asian American. Skinner appealed, and the state Supreme Court ruled he could pursue his claim. When the case came back to the Civil Service Commission, it ruled in 2012 that there was just cause for discipline — but not for termination. It imposed a 60-day suspension, demoted him to patrol officer and awarded back pay — and this time the city appealed. But an appeals court agreed Skinner could collect back pay, leading to the $1.7 million settlement. 

Assunta Ng

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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 $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 info@nwasianweekly.com • ads@nwasianweekly.com • www.nwasianweekly.com


34 YEARS YOUR VOICE

■ at the movies

JANUARY 23 – JANUARY 29, 2016

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‘Kanako’ pits esteemed actor against a lot of pointless gore

By Andrew Hamlin Northwest Asian Weekly

“The World of Kanako” begins with a Christmas celebration or, to be more precise, several Christmas celebrations. Snow falls slowly. Bright lights twinkle in the night. And young people, at least, dance together in a club, done up in their immaculate fashions. Intercut with this, though, is cursing, hissing, shouting, and shouting vile epithets. That’s the first indication over the film’s 118 minutes that we’re going to get ugliness. Ugliness which, alas, all too soon subsumes anything the film might have going for it. Most of the cursing comes from Kojji Yakusho who, at 60 years old, has been one of Japan’s most highly-regarded actors for decades. He made an impression in America when he played the doomed gangster in Juzo Itami’s “Tampopo,” back in 1985. Other prominent roles include a salaryman learning to dance in Masayuki Suko’s “Shall We Dance?” (1996), a paroled convict in Shohei Imamura’s “The Eel” (1997), a tormented police detective in Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s “Cure” (1997), and several roles as a samurai, notably Takashi Miike’s “13 Assassins” (2010). Director Tetsuya Nakashima also boasts an impressive pedigree. His murder drama “Confessions” (2010) earned an Oscar nomination, and his “Memories of Matsuko” took the audience award at the 2007 New York Asian Film Festival, with an average audience rating of 9.2. So what are they up to here? Gore. That’s pretty much it. Koji Yakusho’s character, Akihiro Fujishima, is a former police detective forced to retire because of mental problems and a very violent episode involving his ex-wife and her lover. His daughter, Kanako (played by Nana Komatsu), goes

never without gore. Blood runs down faces, down arms, across eyeballs. Those deemed unworthy — and that’s just about everybody — must be pounded into the pavement. Permanent injury and/or death seem the only possible outcomes. And while I am not opposed to violence onscreen, I am opposed to violence for no worthy sake, or for its own sake. “The World of Kanako” offers no one to root for, no object for sympathy, let alone empathy. Everyone turns out to be roughly as bad as everyone else. And the movie, worse, doesn’t believe in sympathy or empathy. The violence is never questioned. The blood simply rains down. The few quiet moments aren’t much against the garish onslaught. The title sequence and some of the background music give the film the flavor of a James Bond movie, with the expectations of action and violence raised by such films. But James Bond violence, while patently false, usually manages elegance. No elegance here. Koji Yakusho has bled for the camera before, of course. Over his onscreen career, he’s taken heavy blows, bloodletting beatings. He’s suffered the loss of loved ones. He’s gone mad. He’s been a prisoner in a world gone mad. He’s explored the lives of salarymen, samurai, killers, yakuza, even an animated character. But I’ve never seen him reduced to such pointlessness. I only give the movie one-half star for its inclusion of him. He survived this ordeal. I’m sorry the filmmakers felt the need to drag the rest of us into it. 

missing. Fujishima, enraged that his ex let their daughter slip away so easily, goes on a wild hunt to find her. And he finds gore. Gore and decadence, but mostly gore. Over the course of the film, to borrow a line from the rock group Devo, dreams get crushed and hopes are smashed. But

“The World of Kanako” opens Friday, Jan. 22, at Seattle’s Grand Illusion Cinema, located at 1403 N.E. 50th St. in Seattle’s University District. For prices and showtimes, call 206-523-3935 or visit grandillusioncinema.org. Andrew Hamlin can be reached at info@nwasianweekly. com.


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JANUARY 23 – JANUARY 29, 2016

■ community news

Women bridge builders to be honored Feb. 4 Deborah Cano-Lee

Maria Durham

Mahnaz Eshetu

Christina Fong

Paula Houston

Maha Jahshan

Tonya Knox

Camilla Mejia

Leslie Harper-Miles

Anne Nguyen

Hilary Stern

Evelyn Yenson

Rita Zawaideh

Wendy Zheng

By Staff Northwest Asian Weekly Northwest Asian Weekly (NWAW) organizes a tri-yearly networking luncheon, “Women of Color Empowered,” a series of events that honors the accomplishments of women leaders. On Thursday, Feb. 4, NWAW’s honorees will come together to share a bit of their knowledge to a crowd at China Harbor Restaurant. This quarter’s theme is “women as bridge builders,” celebrating those who have made divides between diverse spaces smaller. The event will be emcee’d by Margo Myers, of Margo Myers Communications.

The honorees: Deborah Cano-Lee

Cofounder and board president, Washington Indian Civil Rights Commission Deborah Cano-Lee has worked for the Nisqually Tribe for 10 years and is currently the program director for its

Head Start program. She served four terms (2004–2013) as commissioner for the Washington State Human Rights Commission, the state agency that enforces the Washington state laws against discrimination. Before her state appointment, Cano-Lee served as chair of the Seattle Civil Rights Commission. Cano-Lee currently resides in Olympia with her husband of 30 years and their two kids in college.

Maria Durham

Cofounder, Viva la Musica Club Maria Durham, born in Galicia, fled from Spain with her family, settling in Argentina. As a child she developed her two lifelong passions, music and nursing. Due to limited education opportunities, Durham traveled back to Europe where she became a student nurse. In 1988 she graduated from the Harvard University School of Education with a master’s. While working as a director of interpreter services at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center she developed a ground breaking program

which became known throughout the country. After ‘retiring’ Durham founded Viva la Musica Club in May 2003. Its mission has been to connect Spanish speakers to relevant orchestral performing groups.

Mahnaz Esetu

Executive director, Refugee Women’s Alliance As executive director of Refugee Women’s Alliance (ReWA), Mahnaz Esetu currently oversees an organization that operates from 10 sites in King County with the capability of speaking 37 different languages and dialects. Prior to ReWA, Esetu was vice president for real estate lending for KeyBank, where she led community development lending including affordable housing in Washington state. She is the past co-chair of the University of Washington Business and Economic Development Center Advisory Board, board member of Community {see WOC cont’d on page 11}

Celebrate with Style! “Year of the Monkey 2016” Fun Fashion Contest

Create/assemble an original look or design a wearable costume for Lunar New Year! ALL AGES WELCOME. Be part of the Lunar New Year Fashion Contest. Design a wearable garment, accessory, or put together an outfit to create a look with a Year of the Monkey Lunar New Year theme. Model your own entry or supply your own model(s) for both the fashion show & parade. The Fashion Show-Off & Contest:  WIN $250 & Prizes for Most Original “Year of the Monkey” ensemble  Lunar New Year Dinner Fashion Show-Off (Feb. 6, House of Hong Restaurant, 6 p.m. Contestants have to arrive at 4 p.m. Tickets: $50 each for dinner & show. DEADLINE:  Photo deadline for all entries is February 1.  You are welcome to submit more than one entry. To enter:  Please submit a photograph for each entry to rsvp@nwasianweekly.com by Feb.1.

 Your entry must include your name, address, phone number, and e-mail. You can also mail photographs to: Northwest Asian Weekly, 412 Maynard Ave. S., Seattle, WA 98104.  Photos will be the property of Northwest Asian Weekly and will not be returned.  If you don’t have a camera, please call us at (206) 223-0623 to arrange for us to take a photo of your costume. Announcement of fashion show finalists will appear in Asian Weekly’s Feb. 4 issue. Fashion show will be held Feb. 6, House of Hong Restaurant, 6 p.m. Finalists & models arrive at 4 p.m. to change and line up. All fashion show contestants will also be invited to the Northwest Asian Weekly’s Lunar New Year Parade on February 13 at the Chinatown/International District Dragon Fest at 1 p.m. Please wear your design or find a model to wear your design, and arrive at Asian Weekly’s office, 412 Maynard Ave. S., to check in, from noon to 1 p.m. Models will line up at 1:15 p.m. and parade to the stage at Hing Hay Park. (one block away).

WHAT: “Monkey Lunar New Year theme” Contest WHERE: House of Hong Restaurant, 409 8th Ave. S., Seattle EVENT DATE: Saturday, February 6 DEADLINE TO SUBMIT PHOTOS: February 1, rsvp@nwasianweekly.com

Contestant can enter as an individual or a group less than 5.

Mail to: Northwest Asian Weekly 412 Maynard Ave. S., Seattle, WA 98104 ATTN: LNY Fashion Contest Name:________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ Address:______________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ Phone:________________________________________________________

Planning Committee: Gei Chan, Belinda Louie, Evelyn Hou, Rebecca Ip, John Liu, Stacy Nguyen, Joseph Fong, and Assunta Ng

Email:________________________________________________________


34 YEARS YOUR VOICE

JANUARY 23 – JANUARY 29, 2016

■ national news

9

In U.S., Asian night markets bring taste of the old and new

Photo by Stacy Nguyen/NWAW

By Christine Armario Associated Press

Shop owners sell their wares at the Ben Thanh night market in Ho Chi Minh City/Saigon, Vietnam, July 2012

WESTMINSTER, Calif. (AP) — Beneath the giant red sign illuminating the Asian Garden Mall in Southern California, slabs of jumbo, white squid are seared on a smoky grill. Nearby, children pluck fried potato slices off a stick and couples dance to Vietnamese ballads. It reminds Audrey Dinh of the stories of night markets her Vietnamese grandmother used to tell her as a child, and of those the 28-year-old encounters on business trips throughout Asia. But this one is much closer to home, in the city of Westminster in Orange County, where vendors sell everything from giant prawns and coconut waffles to home curtains and flashing toy pinwheels. “This is what I see in Asia,” Dinh said as she waited for an order of banh tom khot, a rice flour cake filled with shrimp. “It’s very close to Asia.” During the past five years, similar night markets have popped up in major cities throughout the United States, a byproduct of both the nation’s expanding Asian American population — the country’s fastest growing racial minority, numbering some 19.4 million — and a growing culinary curiosity for authentic Asian flavors.

Since about 2010, night markets have opened in Chicago, Cleveland, the Los Angeles metro area, New York City, Philadelphia, and Pittsburgh. Several were started by young Asian Americans who wanted to recreate the frenetic, fast-paced spectacle of an Asian night market in their families’ adopted hometowns. Not all of have remained exclusively Taiwanese or Vietnamese: Instead, many have evolved into a hodge-podge of cultures and foods reflecting their mixed communities. “It’s been a key decision for us not to try and be like the ones in Taiwan anymore,” said Jonny Hwang, 35, founder of the 626 Night Market in the San Gabriel Valley, about 10 miles east of Los Angeles. “We want our own identity.” Night markets date back to at least the Tang dynasty in China around the year 600. By the Song dynasty in the 12th century, they had developed into sophisticated, well-organized centers selling grilled meats, stuffed buns and dried fruit. “The Chinese had a flourishing commercial food scene long before Europe,” said Fuchsia Dunlop, an English writer and specialist in Chinese cuisine. Night markets have continued to proliferate throughout Asia, with one study finding 95 operating on any given week in the city of Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia. In

cities like Bangkok, street food remains the heart and soul of local cuisine, sold day and night from carts and makeshift stands. The classic Bangkok night market has evolved from catering mostly to club-goers looking for a late-night eat to offering real shopping opportunities for the city’s large, young and relatively affluent middle class. In the U.S., the emergence of night markets — some of which attract tens of thousands of people — is seen by organizers as a reflection of how Asian American communities have assimilated to local culture while also reinterpreting their own. Hwang recalled how when he was a Taiwanese American teenager growing up in suburban Los Angeles, his and other families strived to fit in. “While we enjoyed our foods, we didn’t really embrace it,” said Hwang, whose 626 Night Market features classic Taiwanese favorites and fusion dishes like pho tacos and ramen burgers. “I didn’t force my friends to check out stinky tofu.” These days, he said, “Asians are starting to embrace the fact that `Hey, we have really delicious food. And other people are interested in that food.”‘ Some U.S. markets are a distant echo {see MARKET cont’d on page 16}

Northwest Asian Weekly / Seattle Chinese Post presents

Chinatown-International District Lunar New Year Celebration Kids’ Parade Contest ▪ Saturday, February 13, 2016

DIAMOND SPONSOR

SILVER SPONSORS

GOLD SPONSOR

WHAT: Kids’ Parade Contest WHERE: 412 Maynard Ave. S., Seattle EVENT DATE: Saturday, February 13 DEADLINE TO REGISTER: Noon on February 13

Children’s Parade Competition Schedule: • Noon—1:15 PM — Registration (each contestant gets a number) • 1 PM — Line up (outside NW Weekly’s office, 412 Maynard Ave. S., Chinatown/International District) • 1:15 PM — Judging begins • 1:30 PM — Parade begins • 2:10 PM — Parade winners announced • Contestants must be present at the announcement of results. • Finalists will be lined up in numerical order. • All contestants will receive a fortune cookie. Registration/Sign-Up: • You may pre-register for the contest by filling out this application and sending it in or sign-up on the day of the contest. If register before February 11, contestants will get a prize after the event. Registration table will be located in front of Seattle Chinese Post/Northwest Asian Weekly – 412 Maynard Ave. S. • Contestants must sign-in at the registration table 15 minutes prior to parade. Rules/Guidelines: • Kids ages 14 and under can participate in the contest • Parents are welcome to accompany their children during the Parade • Kids will be given a contestant number for the order of Parade lineup • Kids attire should be culturally relevant to the Lunar New Year Celebration Judging: • All contestants will be judged by the provided judging criteria. • Prizes will be awarded to First ($100), Second ($50), and Third ($25) Place Winners, plus many other prizes. • All decisions made by competition judges are final. • Winners and finalists’ photos will be in NW Asian Weekly/Seattle Chinese Post print and online on Feb. 18.

Please submit completed application through one of the following methods: Mail: Northwest Asian Weekly Children’s Parade Contest 412 Maynard Ave. S. Seattle, WA 98104

Name:

School

________________________________________________________

Name:_____________________________________

Age:___________

Phone:

________________________________________________________

E-mail:

________________________________________________________

Contestants must adhere to all rules and regulations. Contest officials will remove any contestant failing to cooperate with officials or failing to comply with the rules and regulations. If you have any questions, please contact Northwest Asian Weekly at 206.223.5559 or via email at rsvp@nwasianweekly.com.


asianweekly northwest

10

JANUARY 23 – JANUARY 29, 2016

OPINION

■ editorial

Have you ever driven down the street or walked through a public area only to spot someone who looks way too young to be smoking? Have you had to move seats on a restaurant patio or change hotel rooms (here or abroad) because of the lingering scent of cigarette smoke? Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson has supported legislation, House Bill 2313, that would increase the legal smoking age from 18 to 21. An independent poll by Stuart Elway was released last Wednesday, Jan. 20, which showed that most Washington state voters — 65 percent — would back the age increase. On Jan. 1, Hawaii became the first state in the country to raise its legal smoking age to 21 — following the efforts of certain counties and cities like New York City and Hawaii County. Northwest Asian Weekly supports this bill. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) cigarette smoking is the leading cause of preventable death in this country, causing one in five deaths

Photo by Chris Sanderson

We support raising Washington state’s legal smoking age to 21

overall. An Institute of Medicine report states that increasing the legal smoking age will have a substantial positive impact on public health, saving lives. After all, it’s not just those who smoke

{JAIN cont’d from page 1} journey … not so much what you dream or reaching for a specific dream. My dreams since childhood were not defined. I didn’t imagine I’d become an internet entrepreneur — but the lesson is that you compete all the time. It is a lesson on survival.” Jain comes from humble upbringing in India. “I took nothing for granted,” he said. What he did have since early childhood and into schooling was a competitive drive. He first earned an engineering degree from the Indian Institute of Technology and later an MBA from XLRI Xavier School of Management. But life in India didn’t come easy. His family was poor because, he said. His father, an engineer in the construction business, refused to offer and take bribes, which dominated the business landscape in India at the time. This taught Jain lessons in failure. “Your ideas may or may not work out but you should know that every failed idea becomes a stepping stone to a bigger success. As an entrepreneur, you only fail when you give up.” Everything else is merely what Jain calls “a pivot,” a change in direction, maybe an adjustment or modification. “Most successful companies start as one thing and become something else,” he said. While so many accomplished entrepreneurs are one-hit-wonders, Jain parallels Elon Musk in finding delight in “the next big thing.” The next big thing for Elon Musk after the sale of his company PayPal to eBay in 2002 was electric car maker Tesla and Space X. The next big thing for Jain after his great success with InfoSpace was Intelius, TalentWise, Moon Express, and BlueDot. Intelius’s parent company is

that are affected by cigarettes. Additionally, data has shown that nearly all smokers began smoking before age 21. Young people are the most susceptible to this harmful habit, which is

Bellevue-based Inome Inc., which sold last July for upwards of $100 million to private equity firm H.I.G., according to the Puget Sound Business Journal. The two entrepreneurs parallel each other in that they both leveraged their early internet successes, PayPal for Musk and InfoSpace for Jain, to create new ventures and explore the limits of human endeavors. Moon Express and Space X for both Jain and Musk, respectively, are literally out of this world. When talking to Jain, much of the time (if one can keep up) Jain pushes the mind into “other-worldly” matters. He seeks to tackle space exploration with Moon Express, which “is blazing a trail to the moon to unlock its mysteries and resources for the benefit of life on Earth and our future in space.” And yet, in his words, this “John F. Kennedy-esque ‘going to the moon’ extravaganza” is merely a starting point of something deeper and more meaningful to the ordinary layperson. It offers visibility into what it takes to succeed in life, and it does not compromise the end goal. Through the lenses of Jain’s eyes, the moon is just another continent, what he calls the “eighth continent,” which offers vast natural resources waiting to be tapped. Jain’s Moon Express plans to send a series of solar powered robotic space crafts to the moon to source metals, elements, and moon rocks. Successful entrepreneurs have the vast resources to build valuable collections of personal interest. Jain owns possibly the largest privately owned collection of meteor rocks in the world. The collection is said to be valued at $5 million by Wired Magazine. Could it be that Jain found something of game-changing value in the chemical composition of his meteor

precisely why so many tobacco ads target this age group. By increasing the sale age, we would making positive strides toward keeping tobacco and tobacco products out of high schools.

collection? For Jain, perhaps the greatest value of his collection is in its nuggets of wisdom — what he’s learned in the pursuit of success — rather than an actual “golden nugget” inside a meteor. Jain recently launched BlueDot. Geekwire reported just over a month ago that BlueDot is aimed at society’s big issues, which include solutions for curing diseases and clean energy solutions. (Likewise, Musk somewhat parallels Jain’s aim to solve energy issues of the future with SolarCity and Tesla’s battery storage system.) BlueDot aims to “harvest ambient energy to wirelessly power devices of the future,” according Geekwire’s Jacob Demmitt. BlueDot might be Jain’s way of keeping his feet firmly on the Earth. He speaks of humility as a key sign of success. “It is when you positively impact others, and you have nothing to prove,” said Jain. Many young aspiring entrepreneurs confuse certitude and passion with arrogance, and they could not be further apart. As Jain put it: “If you have to tell someone you’re passionate about something, you’re not [passionate].” Clarity of purpose and passion is embedded in humility, he added. Though Jain is neither an aerospace nor bio-medical engineer (another parallel with Musk), he said “being a non-expert is the greatest strength I bring to the table for my new businesses.” As a non-expert, Jain offers a higher wisdom, the intangibles Jain believes there are two brains processes. “One is the neural-networking in your brain” that helps logical functions and task execution. The other is “neural networking in your gut” that helps keep the mind open to create and recreate. These are the intangibles.

This is especially pertinent to Asian and Pacific Islander populations because, as anyone who has visited Asia knows — smoking is prevalent in many Asian countries. We have a legacy of being smokers — men especially. Children often model themselves on their parents, which is why this is an issue we are passionate about. This bill also applies to e-cigarettes and vaping products, products that are known in popular culture as “safer” alternatives to cigarettes. But truly, the lasting health effects of these newer products are still unclear, though there have studies that show that e-cigarette vapors could lead to cancer. Those three years between 18 and 21 are crucial — it’s the time when many young people mature and start making adult decisions. We believe that a little bit of extra time will allow young people to make more informed decisions about their future health. What seems harmless at age 18 can have severe consequences decades later. 

“Listen to the faint voice. Be open to change and trust your gut.” The gut cannot be quantified on a spreadsheet made in MBA school, he said. Successful people don’t so much “take risks; they mitigate risk.” They minimize risk in order to maximize potential for success. This is done by working with and hiring the right people, said Jain, and step-by-step, 1-2-3 execution. Jain has an infectious vision that draws like-minded people to him. Success is not determined by “how much money you have, but by how many people you positively impact.” Jain says it is better to work for a small company when entering into the career world, to learn all aspects of a business. To Jain, “working for a large corporation is the biggest risk. When you work for large companies, you develop bad habits.” “Never work for an idiot,” he said. “I’d rather be the idiot I work for.” There is another message here — have a sense of humor and laugh at yourself. Jain’s parting messages are “if you can’t be an entrepreneur, go work for Microsoft” or Amazon. Successful people, he said, have an obsession about their dream. “Dream so big [that] people think you’re crazy.”  Northwest Asian Weekly will hold its inaugural Technology and Innovation Awards on Oct. 7. We will continue running profiles of our honorees leading up to the event. For more information, email editor@nwasianweekly.com. Chris Kenji Beers can be reached at info@nwasianweekly.com.


34 YEARS YOUR VOICE

{WOC cont’d from page 8} Capital Development, and a past board member of Tacoma Affordable Housing Consortium.

Christina Fong

Principal lecturer, University of Washington management department Christina Fong is a principal lecturer in the management and organization department at the Michael G. Foster School of Business at the University of Washington. She earned her Doctor of Philosophy in Organizational Behavior from Stanford University in 2003. Her research and consulting interests include the study of emotions in the workplace, psychological conflict at work, impression management, power and politics within organizations, and management education. Her research has been covered in The Economist, The Wall Street Journal, Business Week, among others. She has also been the recipient of several teaching awards, including the 2011 Distinguished Teaching Award, a university wide award recognizing “extraordinary success of a nominee’s superior ability in the teaching/ learning process.”

Paula Houston

Chief executive officer, Senior Services Paula Houston is currently the chief executive officer of Senior Services, the largest nonprofit in Washington state providing services and programs to seniors and those who care for them. Previously, she was executive director for the Meredith Mathews East Madison YMCA. Houston was clinic manager at Carolyn Downs Family Medical Center, and has worked in Seattle and King County’s public health divisions. Additionally, she was a business entrepreneur and owned her own fitness and wellness center. Houston is currently a member of Seattle Rotary #4, sits on the board of the Alzheimer’s Association, and is a member of the Seattle Art Museum’s Education and Community Engagement Committee.

Maha Jahshan

Policy and program specialist, Office of Immigrants and Refugees Maha Jahshan has worked with various immigrant and refugee groups in the community by providing organizing, counseling, and tutoring opportunities. She

is fluent in Arabic and helps fight for social, racial, and economic justice. She currently is lead organizer and civic engagement coordinator for OneAmerica, Washington state’s largest immigrant rights organization. She also serves as a women’s commissioner for the City of Seattle.

Tonya Knox

Agency recruiter, State Farm Insurance Tonya Knox is an agency recruiter with State Farm Insurance, seeking out leaders, entrepreneurs, and those driven to make a difference in their communities with business ownership. Knox is passionate about youth and underserved families. She attends Mount Zion Baptist Church where she is an usher and volunteers regularly. She graduated with honors from North Carolina A&T State University. Knox resides in Bothell and is the proud mother of her son, Stedman Knox, who attends Western Washington University as a premed student.

Camilla Mejia

Former vice president of multicultural club, Jackson High School Camilla Mejia graduated from Jackson High School in Mill Creek last year, where she formed a support group for Latino students to work on leadership. As vice president of the school’s multicultural club, Mejia noticed that while the diversity at Jackson was increasing, Latino student involvement was stagnant. Mejia was student representative on the Minority Achievers Program board for Snohomish County YMCA. She was also a student representative on the Equity and Access Advisory Council for the Everett School District.

Leslie Harper-Miles

Senior executive project manager, King County Leslie Harper-Miles earned a master’s in public administration from the University of Washington. Her public sector career spans more than 25 years. Her extensive experience includes work in finance, public policy, strategic planning, and construction management. She has held senior management positions in King County government and has managed over $700 million in capital projects, including Harborview Medical Center’s campus expansion and master plans for

JANUARY 23 – JANUARY 29, 2016

both the district and superior court systems. A proud wife and mother to three, she is also a member of Mt Zion Baptist Church and volunteers with numerous community organizations including her own familysponsored homeless feeding program.

Anne Nguyen

Executive director, Hamilton Scholars Anne Nguyen is a graduate of the Red Cross Nordic United World College in Norway and attended Wellesley College. After several years on Wall Street, she returned to Seattle to work with lowincome youth at Hamilton Scholars. As its executive director, Nguyen conceived, developed and implemented Hamilton Scholars’ first major program expansion in eight years. She led the organization in its strategic planning process, mapping out its organizational, fundraising and programmatic goals for next three years. Outside of work, Anne is involved with several nonprofits. From 2011 to 2013, she served as the young alumnae representative for the Wellesley College Washington State Board and remains a boardmember-atlarge, helping with admissions.

Hilary Stern

Founding executive director, Casa Latina Hilary Stern is the founding executive director of Casa Latina, an organization she will be step down from next month, after 22 years. Stern founded Casa Latina in the early 1990s to organize Latino day laborers and activists. Prior to Casa Latina, Stern was director of the Seattle Education Center for MetroCenter YMCA, working with inner-city youth. Stern was also lecturer and administrative coordinator of the ESL department at the University of Washington.

Evelyn Yenson Retired executive

Evelyn Yenson is a third-generation South African Chinese. She earned her Bachelor of Arts from the College of New Rochelle and her Masters of Arts from the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee. Yenson was a city planner in New York City and Seattle, as well as being the director of the Vancouver EXPO in 1986. She was vice president of international sales and marketing for the

11

Washington State Lottery and has worked for the Washington State Department of Licensing. Her volunteer work has been focused on the Seattle Chinese Garden, Seattle Colleges, and the Pike Place Market Foundation. Yenson is a former member and chair of the Washington State Ethics board. She is currently a member of the Washington State Pardons and Clemency Board.

Rita Zawaideh

Board of directors, Salaam Cultural Museum In addition to her work with the Salaam Cultural Museum, Jordan-native Rita Zawaideh is owner and founder of CaravanSera Tours, formerly a travel agency to the Middle East and North Africa, now a tour company. As violence and war in the area increased, she used her tour resources to aid in humanitarian efforts. She has led routine medical missions to the Middle East, earning her numerous humanitarian awards. Zawaideh earned a degree in West African architectural history from the University of Washington before she spent almost a decade teaching English in the Middle East.

Wendy Zheng

Multicultural engagement director, Swedish Medical Center Wendy Zheng works for Swedish Health Services/Providence Health & Services as multicultural engagement director on cultural responsive care initiatives. Prior to Swedish, she worked for the American Heart Association as Northwest regional director of multicultural initiatives and health equity. Before moving to Seattle, Zheng lived, worked, studied, and traveled in California, Asia, Europe, and Oceania. She enjoys traveling and learning about people, food, culture, advocacy, diversity/inclusion, multiculturalism, and service projects.  Women of Color Empowered will be held at China Harbor Restaurant on Feb. 4, from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Tickets are $45 pre-paid or $50 at the door. For more information or to buy tickets, e-mail rsvp@ nwasianweekly.com or call 206-223-0623. Staff cam be reached at info@nwasian weekly.com.

JOIN US AT THE WOC LUNCHEON bpt.me/2483641

WNPA STATEWIDE CLASSIFIEDS – WEEK OF JANUARY 18, 2016 This newspaper participates in a statewide classified ad program sponsored by the Washington Newspaper Publishers Association, a statewide association of weekly newspapers. The program allows classified advertisers to submit ads for publication in participating weeklies throughout the state in compliance with the following rules. You may submit an ad for the statewide program through this newspaper or in person to the WNPA office. The rate is $275 for up to 25 words, plus $10 per word over 25 words. WNPA reserves the right to edit all ad copy submitted and to refuse to accept any ad submitted for the statewide program. WNPA, therefore, does not guarantee that every ad will be run in every newspaper. WNPA will, on request, for a fee of $40, provide information on which newspapers run a particular ad within a 30 day period. Substantive typographical error (wrong address, telephone number, name or price) will result in a “make good”, in which a corrected ad will be run the following week. WNPA incurs no other liability for errors in publication.

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asianweekly northwest

12

JANUARY 23 – JANUARY 29, 2016

{PLASTIC cont’d from page 5}

“There is a palpable change. It was

{SCHOLASTIC cont’d from page 4}

authorities do little to crack down. The famed Himalayan pilgrimage to the Amarnath stalagmite housed in a cave atop a mountain has become well known for the trash left on the mountain trail. But visitors and officials in Sabarimala say there is already a noticeable difference here. Pilgrims readily hand over their plastic bags and bottles, about 90 percent of which is recycled and the rest incinerated. District workers collected 1.2 tons of plastic trash this year from busloads of visitors during the latest pilgrimage, which ended Friday and drew some 5 million people. “There is a palpable change,” says pilgrim Dinoj D., who has made the visit every year for the past 10 years from his home in the neighboring state of Karnataka. “It was becoming the need of the hour for an anti-plastic drive here.” Still, there is room for improvement, and officials may start frisking pilgrims for plastic next year rather than relying on them to voluntarily give it up. “We aim to extend the mission further, to possibly also include fines, among other things,” Pathanamthitta district magistrate S. Harikishore said. While acknowledging that people traveling for days need to carry and store things, he suggested they use cloth bags or reusable containers that are not thrown away.

becoming the need of the hour for an

The trade publication School Library Journal had called it “highly problematic” and recommended against its purchase. Another trade journal, Kirkus Reviews, had labeled the book “an incomplete, even dishonest treatment of slavery.”

anti-plastic drive here.” — Pilgrim Dinoj D.

The government has spent nearly $18 million since November handing out cloth totes, setting up plastic trash receptacles and printing leaflets for an awareness campaign, Harikishore said. Aiming to cut down on the 2 million or so plastic bottles usually left behind, officials have also set up a free water filtration depot for people to refill flasks. Clean up crews have also collected one-third the amount of discarded clothing from rivers than what they pick up after last year’s pilgrimage. The Sabarimala shrine is dedicated to Lord Ayyappan, and is believed to mark the spot where the Hindu god meditated after killing a powerful demon. More temples sit atop other hills surrounding Sabarimala. 

please recycle this newspaper

“How could they smile? How could they be anything but unrelentingly miserable? How could they be proud to bake a cake for George Washington? The answers to those questions are complex because human nature is complex.” — Ramin Ganeshram

In a Scholastic blog post from last week, Ganeshram wrote that the story was based on historical research and meant to honor the slaves’ skill and resourcefulness. “How could they smile? How could they be anything but unrelentingly miserable?” Ganeshram wrote. “How could they be proud to bake a cake for George Washington? The answers to those questions are complex because human nature is complex. Bizarrely and yes, disturbingly, there were some enslaved people who had a better quality of life than others and ‘close’ relationships with those who enslaved them. But they were smart enough to use those ‘advantages’ to improve their lives.” The Jan. 14 announcement comes amid an ongoing debate about the lack of diversity in publishing, although the collaborators on “A Birthday Cake” come from a variety of backgrounds. Ganeshram is an awardwinning journalist and author born to a Trinidadian father and Iranian mother and has a long history of food writing. Her previous works include the novel “Stir It Up” and the nonfiction “FutureChefs.” Brantley-Newton, who has described herself as coming from a “blended background — African American, Asian, European, and Jewish,” has illustrated the children’s series “Ruby and the Booker Boys” among other books. The editor was Andrea Davis Pinkney, also an author who in 2013 won a Coretta Scott King prize for African American children’s literature. The pulling of the Washington book also recalls a similar controversy from last year. “A Fine Dessert,” written by Emily Jenkins and illustrated by Sophie Blackall, was criticized for its cheerful depiction of a 19th century slave mother and daughter as they prepared a blackberry recipe. Jenkins apologized, saying that her book, which she “intended to be inclusive and truthful and hopeful, is racially insensitive.” (“A Fine Dessert,” released by the Random House imprint Schwartz & Wade, remains in print). Copies of “A Birthday Cake for George Washington” were not easy to find even before Scholastic’s decision. The print edition on Amazon.com, ranked No. 13.202 earlier Jan. 17, was listed as shipping within “2 to 4 weeks.” Several Barnes & Noble stores in Manhattan did not have the book in stock. Scholastic Corp. spokeswoman Kyle Good said she could not provide an immediate reason for delays in the book’s availability. 


34 YEARS YOUR VOICE

■ astrology

JANUARY 23 – JANUARY 29, 2016

13

Predictions and advice for the week of Jan. 23–29 By Sun Lee Chang

Rat — Hoping to start from where you left off? Depending on how long you have been away, it can take a while to get back up to speed.

Dragon — If you find yourself caught up in some intrigue this week, linger. It may prove to be quite a source of amusement or entertainment.

Monkey — Instead of complaining about what is not being done, see what you can do to be a part of the solution.

Ox — Does it seem like you have come full circle? The wealth of experience you have accumulated should serve you well.

Snake — Having trouble separating fact from fiction? The most logical explanation is probably the correct one.

Rooster — You are anxious to see the outcome of what you have put in motion. Be patient for now, as it can take some time for the results to become visible.

Tiger — Your initial instincts were right on target. Other variables could skew the results, but you should still wind up on top.

Horse — Are you feeling a pull towards your roots? As simple as it sounds, there is much to be learned during the journey.

Dog — Build enthusiasm for a major upcoming switch by thinking of it as a shift towards a better situation, as opposed to leaving something behind.

Rabbit — When you are trying to convince someone to change course, be transparent in terms of what is at stake.

Goat — Understanding what you are capable of is the first step, but it doesn’t mean much if you don’t try to realize that potential.

Pig — End the day on a high note by taking what comes in stride. A few pesky annoyances will make an appearance. Brush them off as quickly as they come.

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, 2016 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.

{BOSTON cont’d from page 4}

{BUSH cont’d from page 4}

“The one ingredient that I think is so essential is

Q: You grew up in Chicago. Was political office something you aspired to?

would more closely resemble that of Bush the father. “It was a very successful foreign policy and one that I think one could envision a bipartisan consensus emerging around,” Jeb Bush said of his father’s approach, “and one the American people could support.” He speaks of using military intervention “sparingly” but with “awesome force,” taking a page out of the playbook of Colin Powell, who served as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff under his father and as his brother’s first secretary of state. Powell laid out a doctrine of “overwhelming force” which he applied in the 1990 Gulf War. But Jeb Bush stresses the need for a military and political strategy to play out hand-in-hand. “The one ingredient that I think is so essential is to not just have a military exit strategy, but have a political strategy not create another void that has to be filled again … where we have to respond again to that void being filled,” he said. “Syria is a good example of that.” When Obama leaves office in a year, he’ll hand his successor military conflicts in the two countries in which he vowed to end prolonged wars: Afghanistan and Iraq. There will be far fewer troops in each, and the American forces there do not have a direct combat role. But for Obama, a quest to end the two wars he inherited from George W. Bush’s administration will go unfulfilled. While the war in Afghanistan was widely viewed as retaliation for the September 11th attacks, the 2003 U.S.-led war in Iraq received widespread condemnation as it aimed to destroy weapons of mass destruction that were never found. U.S. troops were withdrawn from Iraq in late 2011, despite failed lastminute negotiations between the Obama administration and the Iraqi government to leave some behind. Some viewed the withdrawal as an end to a dark legacy in U.S. foreign policy, while others say it created the security vacuum which ultimately gave rise of the Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria. Still, while Jeb Bush urges a forceful stance against Islamic extremism, his rhetoric has been far more subdued to that of some of his rivals — among them, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, who vowed to carpet bomb areas in which the Islamic State operates, suggesting civilians would be caught in that campaign; and billionaire Donald

to not just have a military exit strategy, but have a

A: I didn’t grow up with a familiarity with government or politics at all. The focus at home was always doing well at school, finishing your homework, taking care of your little siblings, and making sure you are working hard. The traditional immigrant work ethic. My parents emigrated from Taiwan to Chicago. Both sets of my grandparents [left] mainland China … in the midst of civil war and the Communist revolution. So I think to them, politics represented civil war and people being sent to the countryside, famine and marshal law. There wasn’t anyone who looked like me in politics. I never met anyone who had run for office before. People used to tell me when I was younger I should be a figure skater because Michelle Kwan was the only visible Asian American woman in mainstream culture at the time. Q: U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren was one of your professors at Harvard Law School. What did you learn from her? A: I remember the first day of class. It was the first day of law school and most of our other professors would start with a very nice, fluffy introductory spiel and welcome … she walked in, opened the book and started calling on students. Pure Socratic method. Terrifying Socratic method, I should add. We all grew to know that you had to be prepared for Professor Warren’s class. When she announced for the Senate, I became a field organizer in Boston and ended up as statewide constituency director. My job was to reach out to groups ... communities of color, immigrants, nonEnglish speaking, veterans, LGBT. That was a very powerful experience for me. Q: What was most difficult about running for office on your own? A: I wasn’t used to being the person out front. It was a lot easier to push a candidate that I really believed in or a cause that I really believed in, but to ask people just for me is something I still struggle with, the fundraising asks and all that. Q: Boston is changing a lot. What are toughest challenges for the city? A: The big question is: How can Boston remain a city where people from all backgrounds and income levels can affordably live? 

political strategy not create another void that has to be filled again … where we have to respond again to that void being filled. Syria is a good example of that.” — Jeb Bush

Trump, who vowed to temporarily ban Muslims from entering the United States to prevent attacks — comments that sparked widespread international condemnation. At Thursday’s debate, for example, he cautioned that America shouldn’t be “the world’s policeman” but that it should take measures to protect its own national interest and its allies. He was the only Republican candidate to denounce Trump’s proposal at Thursday’s Republican debate, noting that the United States needs support from Muslim nations such as Egypt and Jordan to move on the Islamic State. “All Muslims? Seriously? What kind of signal does that send to the rest of the world?” Jeb Bush said to Trump on stage in South Carolina. While he continues to lag behind some of his more outspoken rivals in the polls, his comments may have earned him the coveted endorsement of South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, who said Friday that Jeb Bush “has stayed true to who he is (and) hasn’t tried to get ahead in a contested primary by embracing demagoguery.” Jeb Bush has said in interviews that he holds different policy opinions from George W. Bush, but he has never criticized his older brother, who left office in 2009 with a foreign policy legacy that many warned could haunt his younger brother’s presidential ambitions. “Having gone through what he did, most of his tenure as president was defined in a lot of ways by what was going on in the Middle East,” Jeb Bush told the AP. “His knowledge and insights would be invaluable.” He said he would seek the advice of his father, his brother and all the former

presidents, if elected, but admitted that with Obama: “I don’t know if I would agree with his advice.” Jeb Bush commended his brother’s approach to other major foreign policy issues, particularly engagement with China, his efforts to fight AIDS in Africa and his ability to maintain close ties to Israel, a relationship he said the Obama administration has left to sour. The former governor says Obama leaves behind a legacy of “leading from behind,” one he claims the current Democratic front-runner and President Obama’s former secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, will inevitably continue. His criticism of Obama echoes that of his Republican rivals. All of them have expressed their disdain for the Obama administration’s nuclear deal with Iran, vowing to reverse it if they win the White House. And they say countries like North Korea would never step out of line if America asserted itself more forcefully. Jeb Bush pointed to reports last week of an alleged hydrogen bomb test in North Korea. Bush said he would keep all options open for dealing with North Korea, but stopped short of calling for a pre-emptive strike against it. However, he said he would consider reinstating sanctions on North Korea that were lifted under his brother’s presidency. “With North Korea, we should make sure they understand this rogue status that they seek won’t yield a good result. It will be an ugly result for the regime,” he said. “If people believe we’re serious about engagement, and they know we’ll use that kind of force, it will deter the kind of aggression that requires it.” 


asianweekly northwest

14

JANUARY 23 – JANUARY 29, 2016

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34 YEARS YOUR VOICE

JANUARY 23 – JANUARY 29, 2016

still feel like I’m raising a sunken ship, fighting merciless ocean currents to get our papers published. But nobody pays much mind to these difficulties because the Northwest Asian Weekly, the only English weekly for the Asian community, has been appearing on stands for 34 years —never having missed an issue. My friends say, “You have done a good job in holding up the papers.” While riding out the storm, it’s astonishing that my staff and I haven’t lost an inch of passion, nor have we lost our commitment to the community. I build, build, and build the company and community simultaneously — continuing to give back and still having fun while doing so! Perhaps I am a bit quixotic! Or perhaps not? One of my competitors has said, “I like your paper better than ours.” Wow! That unexpected acknowledgement and sincere compliment delight me with gratitude and exhilaration. Every Thursday morning (publishing day), I read the Asian Weekly and its sister paper, the Seattle Chinese Post, inside and out with joy and pride. The end products reveal how much heart, sweat, and tears we pour in each week, how much we devote ourselves to the community. People ask, “What’s your fiveyear plan?” Or “Who will take over?” My response is silence — because I don’t have a clue.

Print is ‘nonprofit’? “Did you read that the Philadelphia Inquirer was sold to a nonprofit?” said a guy sitting next to me at a meeting at the Seattle Westin Hotel. “I thought newspapers have been ‘nonprofit’ for the last decade,”

Photo by Stacy Nguyen/NWAW

{NWAW cont’d from page 1}

A former staff member brings a 34th anniversary cake to the Northwest Asian Weekly office on Jan. 20.

jeered another fellow nearby. The Inquirer, which was worth over $500 million in 2006, has shrunk to barely $50 million. Compared to the Inquirer’s revenue shrinkage, the Northwest Asian Weekly is not yet in dire straits! We might not be growing in revenue, but we pay our employees on time. No one has to worry about his or her next paycheck. Some competitors don’t pay family members for working, out of financial difficulty. I do. The last thing I want to do is to exploit my own son. I’d rather cut my own pay. One area we refuse to cut down is the number of pages in both papers. (Chinese Post has been 32 pages each week and the Asian Weekly 16.) We could have chosen to cover fewer stories. We could have fewer color pages printed. We won’t do it, though. If I, as publisher, ‘reject’ the product, how could we expect readers to pick it up? Yes, getting advertising is harder. Labor and distribution costs are up. Fortunately, despite hurdles, a new phenomenon has emerged in the past few years.

Magical fans The challenge is: Asian Weekly has no sales team. We don’t even have one full-time sales representative. This is different from many

ethnic and mainstream media, which have more salespersons than editorial staffmembers. However, after our 30th anniversary, I noticed that potential advertisers approach us more and more. Some are our fans, some strangers, and others are corporations, including successful national Asian American advertising companies. (Thank God. It must’ve been our reward for three decades of toil.) “Are you buying ads from the Asian Weekly?” Al Sugiyama once asked a nonprofit’s director. Al suggested the director buy at least $1,000 worth of ads each year. If every Asian nonprofit organization only spends $500 a year in advertising with us, we would be in good shape! Al’s point is, the community needs the Asian Weekly as a voice, and it shouldn’t take the Asian Weekly for granted. Al’s words touched me deeply. Ethnic media need more Als. Another group that I have to give thanks to is Uwajimaya, who has been advertising with us for the entire 35 years. What a wonderful record! There are so many who have supported us, and we’d like to thank all our fans out there.

Performing miracles Frequently, our weeks begin

with nightmares —no dynamic news stories for the front page and only a few advertisements on hand. The challenge is always: How do we cook up 16 pages of exciting news and interesting information? What goes on behind every Asian Weekly issue are stories unto themselves! These are stories about how, from start to finish, we shape the impossible and make it possible, make it beyond anyone’s imagination! Take last December. Why do we think we had so many Top 10 issues and listicles? We were facing an uphill battle — no news and no ads — coinciding with our editor’s departure. To fill pages, one alternative is to have writers pad stories, have editors dig up extraneous content and photos to fill pages. But I object to publishing long and boring stories. Today, readers don’t have time to read irrelevant articles. They want information connected to their lives. So we milked every year-end angle we could think of — Top 10 empowering articles in everything, from Asian Pacific American (APA) celebrities to athletes to achievements. And we did it for not just two, but four consecutive weeks. What APAs have accomplished is incredible! Every Tuesday and Wednesday right before we go to press, it seems “luck just falls from the sky” as one of my staffmembers said. Someone who has not stepped foot in our office for a decade suddenly knocked on our door, delivering ads. Someone who was not our supporter showed up, giving us business. My jaw dropped instantly. I was puzzled. What have we done to win them over? When we have no ads, we create opportunities. Rather than sell products (like the New York Times), we do events! It might sound silly to other media, being an event-orga-

production of Mozart’s “Zaide.” “It was a great success,” said Cai. And it was. According to the New York Times, the performance was “one of the more compelling theatrical experiences so far offered in the festival.” “It set up my confidence to be a conductor,” said Cai. Since that fateful performance, Cai has established a long list of accomplishments. He has conducted the Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra, the Cincinnati Symphony and Pops Orchestras, the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra, the Lexington Philharmonic Orchestra, the Northwest Chamber Orchestra, and the Tucson Symphony Orchestra, among many others. He is the author of two books on the relationship between Chinese and Classical music and professor at Stanford University, where he has served as Music Director and Conductor of the Stanford Symphony Orchestra, the Stanford Philharmonia Orchestra, and the Stanford New Ensemble. He is also the principal guest conductor of the Mongolia State Academic Theater of Opera and Ballet and travels to Mongolia frequently. His upcoming project will be on Jan. 31 with the Seattle Symphony at Benaroya Hall. Cai was asked to program and conduct Celebrate Asia, an annual concert that “is a rare opportunity to revel in the rich musical traditions of Seattle’s Asian communities, according to the event’s website. The program is in place, and it is an intriguing one. It is apparent when meeting with Cai — he is excited about it. The program includes a wide variety — themes

Photo provided by Jindong Cai

{CAI cont’d from page 1}

Cai with mentor Leonard Bernstein at the Tanglewood Music Festival

in the Celebrate Asia lineup will include comparisons between old and new (the program will begin with the overture to Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II’s “The King and I”) and the East and West’s fascination with each other. Unique features in the program include the collaboration of the Korean Music Association Evergreen Choir and the Seattle Chinese Chorus. Both choirs, a combined 110 members, will be performing two Korean songs and two Chinese songs. The members of each choir had to learn the other choir’s language — including different tones and inflections, so the result would be harmonious. One of the most unusual segments of the program will be Tan Dun’s “Passacaglia: Se-

cret of Wind and Birds.” There’s an interactive part of the performance. The audience will be invited to download an app on their smartphones which has recordings of bird sounds. Cai said he appreciates how the Seattle Symphony is so open to diversity and how there is a special “harmony among the Asian community and the Seattle Symphony.” He also has an affinity for Seattle, especially after being invited to conduct a program last year for the Chinese New Year for the symphony, which was a success. He said there is a “romantic feeling” to the city. Now, as conductor of Celebrate Asia, he said he is grateful to have the unique position to bridge East and West. This is something

15

nizing engine, but we enjoy them, and all we need are good ideas. Although events are not 100 percent profitable, it’s fun to meet people and to bring the community together. It also generates story ideas. Serendipitously, potential advertisers show up. Spotlighting unsung heroes at our events is a win-win for both the honorees and the Asian Weekly. The events have grown over the years, yet I am still astonished to see some lobby for an Asian Weekly award.

Staff challenges In addition to being generally short staffed, the Asian Weekly has had a new editor every year since 2010 for obvious reasons — they are overworked and underpaid. It’s been difficult, but I am proud of those who have good jobs now because of the training they received at the Asian Weekly. Former editor Charles Lam, for one, is now working in digital media for NBC in New York. Thank God Chinese Post staff members have been with us for decades. Watching my staff grow is satisfying. I remember some came to the United States with language barriers and no skills. But they have learned and have transformed the company. My own people inspire me every day. To survive, our team has to be multi-skilled. We are generalists, not specialists. And that’s how Asian Weekly lives to be 34! We might not have tomorrow, but what we have is the present. Every issue is a gift no matter how close the guillotine is. If you readers have ideas for a more successful formula for ethnic media, please let us know.  Assunta Ng can be reached at assunta@nwasianweekly.com

he knows much about — the fascination with music in other cultures, primarily the Chinese fascination with Classical music, which, he stated, is relatively new. He has written two books on the subject, “Rhapsody in Red: How Western Classical Music Became Chinese” and “Beethoven in China: How the Great Composer Became an Icon in the People’s Republic.” Cai always had an inclination toward music. Originally from Beijing, his first love was traditional Chinese music, but he fell in love with Classical music when introduced by a friend. He is also proud of his strong knowledge of contemporary music. He started playing the piano and violin at 12, and eventually decided to move to the United States to further his music education. He felt he needed to go West to study, primarily because he felt it was where the great orchestras were — Boston, Philadelphia — and it was a fruitful decision; he studied with renown composer and conductor Leonard Bernstein, and the aforementioned Gerhard Samuel. He values the opportunities he has received here, but he also stated, “[You] should also use your own music traditions.”  For more information or to purchase tickets to Celebrate Asia (Jan. 31, 4 p.m., Benaroya Hall), visit www.seattlesymphony.org. “Rhapsody in Red: How Western Classical Music Became Chinese” and “Beethoven in China” (available in May) are available for order and pre-order on amazon.com. Peggy Chapman can be reached at info@ nwasianweekly.com.


asianweekly northwest

16

JANUARY 23 – JANUARY 29, 2016

{MARKET cont’d from page 9}

All sale lasts from Friday 1/22 to Thursday 1/28 1221 S. King St., Seattle ∙ 206-720-0969 Monday—Sunday: 8 a.m.—8 p.m. www.lamsseafood.com

Photo by Stacy Nguyen/NWAW

NOW AVAILABLE LUNAR NEW YEAR ITEMS

New Year Gift Sets

Lunar New Year items section

Women eat dinner in a stall at the Ben Thanh night market in Ho Chi Minh City/Saigon, Vietnam, July 2012 Roasted watermelon seeds

Assorted Candied Fruits Trays

SEAFOOD

PRODUCE

Local officials often need to be convinced of their viability, and vendors typically must navigate a tangle of health codes. In Westminster, about 35 miles south of Los Angeles, there also was a cultural barrier to pass: Explaining to a non-Asian public why a night market should exist. “It was kind of hard for our city to understand in the beginning,” said Kathy Buchoz, the former mayor of Westminster and a consultant for the Asian Garden Mall’s management company. “They understand farmers markets.” Buchoz said officials were skeptical about how many people the market would bring in, but it quickly attracted 3,000 people a night each weekend. And that has been a boon for vendors like Max Nguyen and his business partner. They began operating a stall at the market three years ago and now sell about 2,000 pounds of grilled squid a night. 

MEAT

of the cheap, raucous places that inspired them. Celebrity chef and food adventurist Anthony Bourdain is creating a huge New York City market he has said will be open late and have the feel of an Asian night market, but also have prepared food stalls by celebrated chefs like April Bloomfield. Others tilt higher end, charging $50 or more to enter and sample food and drinks from top local chefs. Danielle Chang, author of the cookbook “Lucky Rice” — a collection of night market recipes — was born in Taipei and funneled a passion for Asian food into her own night market-like events, including a cocktail-themed market party in Las Vegas. “I think that the interest in Asian food ... stems from the growing awareness of Asia through the lens of food,” she said. “Through travel. Through a new generation of chefs getting classical French training and then returning to their heritage.” Still, creating U.S. night markets has, in many cases, been an act of persistence.

Fresh Satsuma with Leaf $

1.29 lb

Tarax Vannamei White Shrimp 21/25 Headless $

22.99 4lbs box

Fresh Beef Round Eye 100% Lean $ lb

4.59

Peanut & Sesame Brittle

Hawaii Rambutan $

4.99 lb

Fz Milk Fish 800/1000 $

1.49 lb

Choice Quality Beef Tenderloin $ lb

7.99

Offer only good while supplies last. We reserve the right to correct all printed errors.

Fresh Thai Coconut $ ea

1.29

Taro Stem $

1.29 lb

Ochna integerrima

$

10.99 9 pieces box

Fresh Norway Mackerel

Fz Large Golden Pompano $

2.49 lb

Fz Wild Boar $ lb

5.59

$

1.39 lb

All Natural Pork Chop $ lb

2.29

AP contributor Nattasuda Anusonadisai reported from Bangkok.

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Mail to: Northwest Asian Weekly 412 Maynard Ave. S., Seattle, WA 98104 ATTN: LNY Fashion Show and Dinner Name: ___________________________________________________

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