PRSRT STD U.S. Postage Paid Permit No. 746 Seattle, WA
VOL 33 NO 9
FEBRUARY 22 – FEBRUARY 28, 2014
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SPORTS Sochi updates » P. 7
32 YEARS YOUR VOICE
ID printing business closes after 26 years Owner said he has achieved American Dream By Assunta Ng Northwest Asian Weekly
Photo by George Liu/NWAW
“My Phuoc” means “joy and fortune coming to America” in Vietnamese, according to Linh Kieu Ngo, and that’s what he named the print shop he opened 26 years ago in Chinatown. Ngo’s joy has now turned to sadness after shutting down his business on Jan. 30. “I threw away all of my inventory,” he said. “I sold my printing press on eBay for only $135.” For the past five years, Ngo has been a victim of the digital revolution. Fewer and fewer customers patronized his business. Even when Ngo didn’t take a paycheck, he couldn’t afford the rent. “I thought if I worked for free, I could turn the business around,” he said. “I guess I didn’t want to face reality.” Home computers and printers are inexpensive, and consumers can easily do their printing at home. From simple to complicated color printing, people have learned to print their own business cards, calendars, and personalized stationery.
Lieu-Anh Ngo, left, and her husband Linh Kieu Ngo in front of their now-closed store.
And the machines are clean, not dirty like the old traditional printing machines with ink spilling all over. The Asian Weekly was once Ngo’s customer. A decade ago, the paper bought its own color printers and began printing materials in-house. As a final resort, Ngo attempted to sell his business, but no one responded to his advertisements. “I can’t catch up with technology,” Ngo said. “I was hoping my daughter could teach me computers, but….” The proud man remembered how he raised a family of two daughters, now both college graduates living out-of-state. One is attending medical school at Duke Univeristy. The other is getting her master’s degree and working in Ireland. He also sponsored his four siblings to immigrate to America. “That’s 13 people altogether,” he smiled, referring to his ability to support them when they arrived, in addition to raising two children. “They all have jobs now.” “I am proud of having my business,” Ngo said, recalling his good business days when he and his wife worked as many as 14 hours {see MY PHUOC cont’d on page 12}
Seattle artist straddles cultural Hirabayashi family will donate edges, comes up ‘cute’ Medal of Freedom to UW By Marino Saito Northwest Asian Weekly
Gordon Hirabayashi
Photo by Marino Saito/NWAW
Ken Taya doesn’t fart rainbows any more. The popular, bilingual web comic “I Fart Rainbows” can still be found on the web (ifartrainbows.com). It ran for three years until the artist, also known as Enfu, got too busy with other projects. Enfu was born in 1977 in Chicago. He has lived in Delaware, Seattle, and Sendai, Japan. Most of his life has been spent in the Seattle area, and it’s still the place he calls home. He has worked as a game developer for more than a decade. “Enfu” the artist was invented in 2005 as a creative outlet for Taya. “Enfu” is the Onyomi (Chinese reading) of the Japanese Kanji (sarukaze), which literally translates to “Monkey Wind.” He chose “monkey” because “flying monkey” was a nickname given to him due to the way he used to fly around the basketball court when he played point guard in high school. Also, he said he always thought monkeys were cute animals. His day job in the video game industry has seen him work on such games as Halo 3 and Scribblenauts Unmasked. His
Ken Taya, also known as Enfu
commissioned illustrations can be seen in stores and restaurants across the Pacific {see ENFU cont’d on page 12}
Nearly 70 years after defying an order by the United States government to be interned, Gordon Hirabayashi was given the highest civilian honor — the Presidential Medal of Freedom. But Mr. Hirabayashi was not there to receive his medal. He had died four months earlier. On Saturday, Feb. 22, Susan Carnahan, Gordon Hirabayashi’s widow, will present Hirabayashi’s Presidential Medal of Freedom to his alma mater, the University of Washington. The medal is part of the collection of Hirabayashi’s journals, recordings, legal papers, and photographs that the family has donated to UW Libraries special
collections, where they are available to students, researchers, and the public. Plans to digitize portions of the collection are underway. Ana Mari Cauce, Ph.D., provost and executive vice president of Office of the Provost and professor in the Psychology Department, will accept the Presidential Medal on behalf of the UW. In the near future, it will be on permanent display on the UW campus. The presentation is one part of UW’s annual Day of Remembrance of the signing of Executive Order 9066 and on the occasion of the UW Libraries opening the Hirabayashi Collection, “Courage in Action: A Symposium on the Life and Legacy of Gordon K. Hirabayashi.” The event, with emcee Lori Matsukawa of King 5 TV, will include speakers and exhibitions from 1 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. in UW’s Kane Hall. Speakers will include Judge Mary Schroeder, Senior Circuit Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Judge Schroeder wrote the 1987 opinion vacating Hirabayashi’s curfew {see HIRABAYASHI cont’d on page 14}
The Inside Story NAMES People in the news » P. 2
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MUSIC Haochen Zhang at the symphony » P. 8
BLOG Martha Choe — a leader’s leader & community mentor » P. 10
VILLAGE REPORT A ride through Thailand » P. 11
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FEBRUARY 22 – FEBRUARY 28, 2014
■ NAMES IN THE NEWS
Flash mob addresses violence
Filipinas rise up against violence.
About 20 Filipina women and youth joined “One Billion Rising” in a flash mob in front of Seafood City at Southcenter Mall on Feb. 14. The event was organized by Pinay sa Seattle Gabriela USA as part of a global call to action to address violence against women.
Walk-a-Thon raises $22,000 About 300 people participated in the Chinese Information and Service Center’s (CISC) 5th Annual 2014 Lunar New Year Walk-a-Thon at Bailey Gatzert Elementary School on Feb. 8. The event raised $22,000 to support CISC’s programs serving up to 20,000 Asian immigrants and their families
King County Executive Dow Constantine and Seattle Mayor Ed Murray joined the Walk-a-Thon.
each year. Attendees included Seattle Mayor Ed Murray, King County Executive Dow Constantine, King County Councilman Joe McDermott, among others.
UW Bothell professor awarded For her research integrating data provenance with software traceability, University of Washington Bothell computer science professor Hazel Asuncion has been awarded the CAREER Award by the National Science Foundation Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Professor Hazeline Asuncion program. Asuncion’s research focuses on the crucial interplay between data and software in eScience by using a conceptual framework called iProvenance.
Chamber celebrates New Year About 380 people gathered at the Asian Resource Center for the Greater Seattle Chinese Chamber of Commerce’s Lunar New Year banquet on Feb. 6. The event was co-emceed by Owen Lei of the Asian Counseling and Referral Service (ACRS) and King 5 TV meteorologist Mary Lee. Some proceeds from the event will benefit a local nonprofit group, as well as the Chamber’s Young Leaders program. A $1,000 donation went to Donnie Chin of the International District Emergency Center (IDEC). Also, a $12,000
From left, Chinese Chamber member Jesse Tam, Mayor Ed Murray. Chamber President Martha Lee, and Chamber member Millie Su.
scholarship was given to Chinese Chamber Pageant girls with titles, and $400 to the rest of the Pageant court.
New Year celebrated Tahitian style Photo by Rebecca Ip/SCP
Two Executive Development Institute graduates have made notable moves recently. Nicole Ngonevolalath, a 2013 EDI graduate, has Alisa Yannello Nicole Ngonvevolalath been promoted to team associate manager at KeyBank. Alisa Yannello, a 2011 Portland graduate, has been promoted to division manager of Learning and Development Department of Energy at Bonneville Power Administration.
Photo courtesy of CISC
EDI grads are on the move
The Asia Pacific Cultural Center in Tacoma presented “An Exciting Tahitian Experience” with its 16th annual Asia Pacific New Year celebration at the Tacoma Dome on Feb. 15. Thousands attended, including dignitaries from Tahiti, along with Tacoma Mayor Marilyn Strickland, Pierce County Executive Pat McCarthy, Lieutenant Governor Brad Owen, Congressman Derek Kilmer, Consul General of Japan Masahiro Omura, and keynote speaker Brigadier General John M. Cho from Joint Base Lewis-McChord. Performances included dances and demonstrations from Te Fare O Tamatoa School of Tahitian Dancing and Drumming, Tautua Samoa, Evergreen Chinese Academy, Filipino Youth Activities Drill Team, Okinawa Kenjin Kai Taiko, and community organizations from India, Hawaii, Laos, Indonesia, Korea, and more.
32 YEARS YOUR VOICE
■ community news
FEBRUARY 22 – FEBRUARY 28, 2014
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Photo by Pete Souza/ Official White House
President Obama meets Japanese American World War II veterans
President Barack Obama returns the salute from one of the members of the group of Japanese American WWII veterans during a meeting in the Oval Office to congratulate them on their Congressional Gold Medal, Feb. 18, 2014.
On Feb. 18, President Obama met with seven surviving Japanese American World War II veterans, all in their 90s, to thank them in person for their service. On Feb. 19, 1942, following the attack on Pearl Harbor, President Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9066, leading the United States government to confine more than 100,000 people of Japanese descent in internment camps across the United States. Almost two-thirds of those incarcerated were U.S. citizens. During the war, more than 33,000 second-generation
Japanese Americans (nisei) volunteered to serve in the United States Army — most notably, in the 100th Infantry Battalion, 442nd Regimental Combat Team, one of the most decorated units of World War II, and the Military Intelligence Service. In 2010, Congress passed and President Obama signed into law legislation awarding the Congressional Gold Medal — one of the highest civilian awards in the United States — to thousands of these veterans, finally recognizing the sacrifices they made for their country.
White House seeks new healthcare champion
Write an essay, win a cash prize
One in four Korean Americans is uninsured. Nearly 40 percent of Asian American women over the age of 40 don’t get routine mammograms. One in four Asian Americans over the age of 18 — and one in three Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders — have not seen a doctor in the last year. These are numbers from The White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, which is calling for nominations of an individual or organization to be a “White House Champion of Change” in its work to educate AAPIs on the Affordable Care Act. There are three categories of nominations: Educators, Assisters, and Navigators — individuals who have gone above and beyond the call of duty to educate, assist, and enroll AAPI individuals and families. Their efforts have helped AAPIs understand the Affordable Care Act and ensured that they benefit from this historic law. Emerging Community Leaders — individuals and organizations focused on emerging communities, for example, small, rural, and newly immigrated AAPI communities. These leaders have gone the extra step to ensure that limited English proficient, newly arrived immigrant and refugee families, and AAPI individuals in locations without access
To provide students an opportunity for self-expression and stimulate creative thought, the Chinese American Citizens Alliance will hold a National Essay Contest at Northeast Seattle Library, located at 6801 35th Ave. N.E., on Saturday, March 1, from 9 a.m. to noon. The contest is geared toward educating students on the cultural heritage and the contributions of Chinese Americans, and to promote better understanding of cultural diversity and improve racial harmony among the many diverse groups in this country.
to navigators can learn about and enroll in health insurance plans. Expert Communicators — individuals who have developed top-notch outreach and communication strategies to ensure that AAPIs can read, hear, and learn about the benefits of the Affordable Care Act. Their communications strategies included activities, such as developing in-language resources, developing written, oral, and mediafriendly materials, and working with community groups, faith communities, and ethnic media to reach AAPI communities across the country. Nominations should include descriptions of the individuals and communities that the nominee has helped, providing as much detail as possible and highlighting the best practices they used to be creative, effective, and impactful in their Affordable Care Act education, outreach, enrollment, and/or communication efforts. For more information, see http://www.whitehouse. gov// blog/2014/02/12/nominate-white-housechampion- change-aapi-affordable- care-actoutreach. Nominations are due by Feb. 26.
Community organizations speak up for hungry families Seventy-one organizations from across the state have joined together to call for full restoration of State Food Assistance for Washington children, elders, and families. The organizations, representing people in communities of color and anti-hunger organizations like food banks, are asking state legislators to restore full funding to State Food Assistance, a crucial form of food support for children in immigrant families. State Food Assistance delivers benefits to eligible individuals — migrants lawfully residing in the state of Washington — who don’t qualify for Food Stamps due to their immigration status. The program helps feed an estimated 12,000 children
whose families come from places such as Mexico, Eritrea, Vietnam and the South Pacific. State Food Assistance recipients were hit along with Basic Food (SNAP) by across-the-board cuts on Nov. 1. The new Farm Bill, passed by Congress on Feb. 5, brings additional cuts. “All children deserve healthy, good food at breakfast, lunch and dinner, so they can grow up and be the strong workers, parents, and leaders our future depends on,” says Faaluaina Pritchard, executive director of the Asia Pacific Cultural Center in Tacoma. “Children deserve a great start in life. That means good schools, health care, and the nutritious food that helps a child learn.”
The contest is open to all high school students, who will have two hours to write an essay in English. The essay is not to exceed 500 words on a contemporary subject regarding Chinese/Asian Americans in the United States. The specific essay topic will be announced at the time of the contest. Writing supplies will be provided. Prizes range from $100 to $1,000. To reserve a spot, call 206-3211502 or e-mail info@cacaseattle. org by Feb. 27.
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FEBRUARY 22 – FEBRUARY 28, 2014
■ world news
Two Koreas agree to hold family reunions as planned
By Hyung-Jin Kim Associated Press SEOUL, South Korea (AP) – North and South Korea agreed in a rare high-level meeting Friday to stop insulting each other and to go ahead with planned reunions of Korean War-divided families next week despite a dispute over upcoming U.S.-South Korean military drills. Highly emotional reunions of long-separated families haven’t been held in three years. The agreements reflect recent attempts by the rival Koreas to ease animosity. Analysts, however, say ties could quickly sour again because the countries may disagree over how to implement the arrangement. Authoritarian North Korea, for instance, is demanding that the South Korean
government control media reports critical of the North’s leadership, something democratic Seoul has said it cannot do. A year after repeatedly threatening nuclear war and vowing to bolster its atomic capability, North Korea has recently pushed for better ties with Seoul, agreeing to arrange reunions of families separated by the 1950-53 Korean War. Analysts say the impoverished North needs good relations with Seoul to win outside investment and aid. But the country is still sending mixed signals. It earlier threatened to stop the family reunions set for Feb. 20 through Feb. 25 in protest of U.S.-South Korean military drills scheduled to start later this month. A U.S. research institute said Thursday that North Korea has accelerated
work at a site used for three previous underground nuclear test explosions, though a new test doesn’t appear imminent. U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon warmly welcomed the agreement, calling it “a step in the right direction,” U.N. spokesman Martin Nesirky said. “The secretary general encourages both sides to keep up the momentum by continuing high-level engagement and taking further steps to build confidence and trust,” Nesirky said. “Tension between the two Koreas has been high and inter-Korean relations have remained strained for far too long.” Ban, a former South Korean foreign minister, was “particularly encouraged” that the agreement followed {see REUNIONS cont’d on page 13}
Indian villagers live in China falling in love fear of man-eating tiger with Sherlock Holmes By Fu Ting Associated Press
MANIWALA, India (AP) – She lies in wait while her victims are collecting firewood, or taking cattle to graze, or working in the fields. She has grabbed people in broad daylight, carrying them away silently into the forests or the sugarcane fields. By the time the victims are found, often little is left but a pair of shoes, unspeakable gore, and a ring of drying blood. Over seven weeks, she has traveled, almost completely unseen, for more than 120 miles. She has crossed villages, small towns, and at least one highway. A killer is stalking the villages of north India. She has killed at least nine people, all of them poor villagers living on the fringes of one of the world’s last wild tiger habitats. They are people who cannot afford a day off work, people who have no indoor plumbing and must use the fields as their toilets. They are people who know little about India’s recent successes in tiger conservation. But with the sudden appearance of one tiger, they look at an animal so beloved to outsiders and see only a monster. “She has turned into a man-eater,” said Vijay Pal Singh, whose neighbor, a 22-yearold farm laborer named Shiv Kumar Singh, was killed as he worked at the edge of a sugarcane field in January. In an area where nearly everyone works outside, this means life has been completely upended. “People are afraid to go into the fields,” said Singh. “Everything has changed.” While hunters are brought in to kill maneating tigers every year or so in India, it has been decades since a tiger killed as many people as this one, or stayed on the run so long. “She won’t stop now. She’ll keep killing,” said Samar Jeet Singh, a hunter with an aristocratic pedigree, a curled-up moustache, and a high-powered heirloom rifle. For almost a month, he has been tracking the female tiger, most recently through the forests and dried riverbeds near where she made her last kill, cutting down an elderly buffalo herder last week. Searchers found just part of one arm and one leg. The tiger left the buffalos unharmed.
SHANGHAI (AP) – Zhou Yeling dragged herself out of bed at 5 a.m. for a long-awaited date with her favorite Englishman — Sherlock Holmes. Zhou, 19, watched the third Benedict Cumberbatch season premiere of the BBC’s “Sherlock” on Jan. 2 on the British broadcaster’s website. Two hours later, the episode started showing with Chinese subtitles on Youku. com, a video website. Youku says it was viewed more than 5 million times in the first 24 hours, becoming the site’s most popular
Photo by Sumeet Moghe CC
By Tim Sullivan Associated Press
When he finds her, he said, he will shoot her dead. “The time for tranquilizing is over, the time for caging is over,” he said. “Now, she must be killed.” For generations, few in these villages even thought about tigers. The encroachment of towns, widespread poaching, and incompetent wildlife programs had devastated India’s tiger populations, forcing them into ever-smaller enclaves. Corbett National Park, one of India’s premier tiger reserves, is barely 25 miles away, but while the villagers around here are used to living with wildlife — the forests and fields shelter leopards, monkeys, foxes, bears, and wild boars — tigers were extremely rare. The last decade, though, has seen improvements in tiger conservation and growth in the tiger populations. If that is good news in many ways, it has also increased the chances of encounters between tigers and people. “This area is so rich in wildlife,” said Vijay Singh, a top regional forestry official in the nearby town of Bijnor (and who, like so many people in this region, has the last name Singh). “That is the problem.” The problem is magnified by the choice {see TIGER cont’d on page 13}
program to date. “I was excited beyond words,” said Zhou, a student in the central Chinese city of Changsha. “Sherlock” has become a global phenomenon, but nowhere more than in China, which was one of the first countries where the new season was shown. Online fan clubs have attracted thousands of members. Chinese fans write their own stories about the modern version of author Arthur Conan Doyle’s prickly, Victorian detective and his sidekick, Dr. Watson, to fill the time between the brief, three-episode seasons. In Shanghai, an entrepreneur has opened a “Sherlock”-themed cafe. Holmes is known in China as “Curly Fu,” after his Chinese name, Fuermosi, {see SHERLOCK HOLMES cont’d on page 13}
Thai police clash with protesters; four dead Prime minister in jeopardy of impeachment By Thanyarat Koksone Associated Press BANGKOK (AP) – Gunbattles broke out Tuesday, Feb. 18, as hundreds of riot police made their strongest attempt to clear anti-government protest sites around Thailand’s capital, leaving at least four people dead and 64 others injured. Multiple gunshots were heard near the prime minister’s offices, where riot police wearing helmets and bulletproof vests had started to remove protesters and dismantle a makeshift stage. Witnesses said a grenade was thrown at the police and shots were then fired by both sides. The police withdrew after a series of clashes. In another blow for Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, the state anticorruption agency accused her on Tuesday of improperly handling an expensive rice
subsidy scheme, putting her in jeopardy of being impeached. The National Anti-Corruption Commission said Yingluck’s government proceeded with the scheme despite advice from experts that it was potentially wasteful and prone to corruption. The government has been months late in making payments to farmers for the rice they pledged to sell at above-market prices. The commission said Yingluck has been called to formally hear the charges on Feb. 27. If it decides to submit the case to the Senate for possible impeachment, Yingluck will immediately be suspended from performing her official duties pending a Senate trial. Yingluck’s elected government has {see THAI cont’d on page 12}
32 YEARS YOUR VOICE
■ national news
FEBRUARY 22 – FEBRUARY 28, 2014
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U.S. asks Chinese to limit shellfish ban to Seattle, Alaska
SEATTLE (AP) – U.S. officials have asked China to limit its shellfish ban to two localized areas, rather than a wider swath of the U.S. West Coast. A NOAA Fisheries’ official, Timothy Hansen, sent a letter dated Monday asking Chinese authorities to consider reducing its shellfish ban to one harvest area near Seattle
and another in southeast Alaska. China imposed a ban in December on the import of clams, oysters, mussels, and scallops harvested from Washington, Oregon, Alaska, and Northern California, after it found high levels of arsenic in geoducks from Puget Sound. It also found paralytic shellfish poisoning in
geoducks harvested in Alaska. Hansen noted that high levels of inorganic arsenic and PSP have not been found in other areas of the larger region. He welcomed a proposal by the Chinese to send its expert team to the United States to examine the industry and evaluate regulatory oversight.
Two women to stand trial in Washington lawmakers pass L.A. nightclub killing state’s own ‘DREAM’ act By Gillian Flaccus Associated Press
They also want to question a third woman, identified only as “Amelia” in court, who was WESTMINSTER, Calif. fighting with Pham on the (AP) – Two women accused ground when she was kicked. of pummeling and kicking a The woman has obtained 23-year-old woman, who died a lawyer and hasn’t returned after a fight outside a Califorcalls from police. nia nightclub that was capJust who started the tured on cell phone videos, Annie Hung Kim Pham fight was in dispute during were ordered Tuesday to stand the hearing, with various trial on murder charges. witnesses describing different scenarios. Vanesa Zavala and Candace Brito have Pham and her group of 11 friends were pleaded not guilty in the death of Annie waiting in line to get into the club as Brito, Hung Kim Pham, who was taken off life Zavala, the woman identified as “Amelia,” support after the fight outside the Santa and two men were exiting. Ana bar-restaurant in the early morning At some point, the groups bumped into hours of Jan. 18. each other. Prosecutors allege that Brito twice One witness told authorities Pham punched the left side of Pham’s head as started swearing and threw the first punch. she scrapped with Brito’s friend and then But Pham’s friends told police the three kicked Pham twice in the head after she women in the other group attacked Pham fell to the ground and kept fighting. without provocation after they bumped After Brito was pulled away, Zavala into her. stepped in and kicked Pham once more in Zavala told police that Pham’s first the head with her booted foot, prosecutors swing hit her and the fight began. told the judge. After that kick, Pham Defense attorneys repeatedly indicated immediately lost consciousness, Orange that Pham’s friends might have minimized County prosecutor Tony Pino said. her role in the fight and their involvement. “It’s very clear on the video,” Pino said They also picked at the police outside court. “Videos don’t lie.” investigation, pointing out that detectives The forensic pathologist who conducted have not identified another woman who Pham’s autopsy ruled the cause of death can be seen kicking at “Amelia” as she was blunt force injury to the head. But struggles with Pham on the ground. she testified that it was impossible to tell “That night at The Crosby was a powder whether one specific blow caused the fatal keg ... and that powder keg exploded and, brain bleeding and swelling, or if it came if nothing else, in the past few days, we’ve from all the blows in combination. seen Ms. Pham is the one who lit the Police played three cell phone videos of match,” Michael Molfetta, Brito’s attorney, the fight during the preliminary hearing said outside court. and are still trying to identify dozens of witnesses seen in the footage. {see PHAM cont’d on page 12}
Officially named “The Real Hope Act,” Washington State Senate Bill 6523 is being referred to as Washington’s “DREAM Act” because it allows students brought here illegally as children to be eligible to receive financial aid for college. On Tuesday, Feb. 18, the House passed the bill 75-22. It will be sent to Governor Jay Inslee for signing. The measure includes a $5 million appropriation. The governor, who strongly supported the bill, released the following statement:
“While we’ve opened the doors of our colleges and universities to students from all walks of life, too many still face an insurmountable financial barrier. This bill ensures that the young men and women we’ve invested in at our high schools and who aspire to become productive American citizens will now have fair access to the financial support they need to turn their dreams into reality.” Washington is the fourth state in the country to approve state financial aid to undocumented students.
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The only weekly English-language newspaper serving Washington’s Asian community. The NW Asian Weekly has one simple goal: “To empower the Asian community.” The Editorial Board reserves the right to reject any advertisement, letter or article. Subscriptions cost $30 for 52 weeks of the NW Asian Weekly and $25 for 52 weeks of the Seattle Chinese Post. The NW Asian Weekly owns the copyright for all its content. All rights reserved. No part of this paper may be reprinted without permission. 412 Maynard Ave. S., Seattle, WA 98104 • t. 206.223.5559 info@nwasianweekly.com • ads@nwasianweekly.com • www.nwasianweekly.com
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FEBRUARY 22 – FEBRUARY 28, 2014
■ COMMUNITY CALENDAR THU 2/20
WHAT: Free movie night with “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” WHERE: APCC, 4851 S. Tacoma Way, Tacoma WHEN: 7 p.m.
FRI 2/21 WHAT: Black History Month film showing of “Neshoba: The Price of Freedom” WHERE: New Freeway Hall, 5018 Rainier Ave. S., Seattle WHEN: 7 p.m. INFO: 206-722-2453, FSPseattle@mindspring.com
SAT 2/22 WHAT: Symposium on the Life and Legacy of Gordon K. Hirabayashi WHERE: University of Washington, Kane Hall
WHEN: 1–5:30 p.m. COST: Free REGISTRATION: UWalum. com/Hirabayashi WHAT: Staged reading of Jeanne Sakata’s play Hold These Truths, featuring actor Greg Watanabe WHERE: Theatre of Jackson, 409 7th Ave. S., Seattle WHEN: 7:30 p.m. COST: $10–$15 INFO: 206-340-1049 WHAT: “Oh, The Stories They Tell: Chinese Exclusion Act Case Files at the National Archives” WHERE: Pioneer Hall, 1642 43rd Ave. E., Seattle WHEN: 10 a.m.-12 p.m.
SUN 2/23 WHAT: One Human Race WHERE: Garfield Community Center, 2323 E. Cherry St., Seattle
WHEN: 2-4 p.m. RSVP: www.amiseattle.org, 425954-7526, info@amiseattle.org
Banquet & Silent Auction WHERE: O’Asian, 800 5th Ave., Seattle WHEN: 6 p.m. COST: $12.50-$40 TICKETS: lunarnewyear2014. brownpapertickets.com INFO: www.susysun.com
WHAT: Staged reading of Jeanne Sakata’s play Hold These Truths, featuring actor Greg Watanabe WHERE: Theatre of Jackson, 409 7th Ave. S., Seattle WHEN: 2 p.m. COST: $10–$15 INFO: 206-340-1049
WED 2/26 WHAT: Filipino writers reading WHERE: Kelly Ethnic Cultural Center at UW, 3931 Brooklyn Ave., Seattle WHEN: 6:30 p.m. COST: Free INFO: 206-543-4635
TUE 2/25 WHAT: Hing Hay Park expansion public meeting WHERE: International District/ Chinatown Community Center, 719 8th Ave. S., Seattle WHEN: 6–8 p.m. INFO: Seattle Parks & Recreation 206-615-0810 or www.seattle.gov/parks/projects/ hing_hay
THU 2/27 WHAT: “When Citizenship Didn’t Matter: Personal Stories from Japanese Americans Incarcerated during World War II” talk by Tom Ikeda WHERE: The Evergreen State
WHAT: Lunar New Year
College Longhouse Cultural Center, 2700 Evergreen Parkway N.W., Olympia WHEN: 7 p.m. COST: Free INFO: 360-867-6000
FRI 2/28 WHAT: Reading by Filipino American poets WHERE: Wyckoff Auditorium, Seattle University, 900 Broadway, Seattle WHEN: 7 p.m. COST: Free INFO: 206-296-5620 WHAT: Reading of Mixed Blessings: A Guide to Multicultural and Multiethnic Relationships by Rhoda Berlin and Harriet Cannon WHERE: Third Place Books, 6504 20th Ave. N.E., Seattle WHEN: 7 p.m. COST: Free INFO: 206-525-2347
■ briefly
Baptist church offers free tax help
Chinese Baptist Church is offering free tax preparation service on two Saturdays, March 8 and March 15, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Trained volunteers will help prepare personal tax returns. Priority service is
provided to low-income families (annual income under $50,000) and the elderly, on a first-come, first-served basis. Others will be served as time permits. No appointments will be taken.
Participants should bring their Social Security card and tax related documents of all household members, such as W-2s and 1099s, and a copy of their 2012 tax return. For faster service and less crowds, come on
Saturday, March 15. Chinese Baptist Church is located at 5801 Beacon Avenue South in Seattle. For more information, call 206-725-6363.
China says bigger soldiers causing cramped tanks BEIJING (AP) – China’s military says its soldiers have grown taller and wider over the past two decades, leading to cramped tanks and other equipment problems. A survey of 20,000 troops begun in 2009 found they were an average of 2 centimeters (about threequarters of an inch) taller and 5 centimeters (about 2 inches) bigger around the waist, the official People’s Liberation Army Daily newspaper reported Tuesday. The added heft is causing discomfort for soldiers as they try to squeeze into tanks designed 30 years ago. It
said rifle barrels were also becoming relatively shorter for the taller soldiers, leading to accuracy problems. Adjustments would be made, with 28 body measurements taken into consideration when designing new firearms and other equipment, the report said. China has the world’s second-largest defense budget after the United States, spending heavily on new planes, ships, tanks and weapons of all sorts. Its 2.3 million-member standing army is the world’s largest.
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32 YEARS YOUR VOICE
■ sports
FEBRUARY 22 – FEBRUARY 28, 2014
Winter Olympics Report
Yuzuru Hanyu
Michael Martinez
Viktor Ahn
J.R. Celski
Shaun White
Noriaki Kasai
7
Get an update on Asian athletes in Sochi By Jason Cruz Northwest Asian Weekly Welcome to the second week of the Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. We take a look at the medals won by Asian countries and U.S. Asian Pacific Islander athletes. Notably, the young and old are doing well. Japan wins figure skating gold 19-year-old Yuzuru Hanyu scored an upset in men’s figure skating, after a record-setting high score in the short program. He hung on — despite a flawed free skate — to win the gold medal. Three-time world champion Canadian Patrick Chan couldn’t unseat the Japanese skater and had to settle for silver. Chan made some key mistakes during his performance and was unable to make up the point deductions. This has to be a disappointment for Chan, who is a world champion and is considered to be one of Canada’s top athletes. Canada has longed for a gold medal in men’s figure skating, and Chan was the best shot at achieving this. Hanyu started skating at the age of 4. He came up with the performance of his life in the short program, one component of the overall men’s program. It was a memorable first Olympics for Hanyu.
No medal, but Filipino ice skater has many fans Unlike Chan, Michael Christian Martinez was not expected to win a medal in men’s figure skating. However, he is the first Filipino athlete participating in the Winter Olympics since the 1992 Winter Games in Albertville, France. Martinez was the lone representative for the Philippines during the opening ceremonies, as he carried his county’s flag. Due to the uniqueness of his position as the only athlete from the Philippines, his celebrity status has grown on social media. He has over 17,000 followers on Twitter and more than 58,000 “likes” on his Facebook page. Martinez 19th in men’s figure skating competition Martinez started ice skating at the age of 9, when he saw a skating rink at a mall. The sport was the only one that he could participate in without his asthma flaring up. He competed on the junior circuit, and then moved to California to train for the Sochi Games. His training included working with past and present ice skating stars. Martinez also trained for a month in Russia to prepare himself for the competition. A bit of controversy has grown regarding Martinez as a New York Times article indicated that he has struggled with training costs. As a result, he has received financing through
the Philippines government. However, there was a report that an e-mail from Martinez’s mother to the office of President Benigno Aquino III requesting financial support did not get to the president. Rather, the office said that it did not receive the e-mail and it may have gone to the “spam” filter. Financial struggles are common among young athletes trying to achieve their dreams, while figuring out how to pay for training. It’s likely that with the celebrity status of Martinez, his finances will improve. South Korean wins first speed skating gold for Russia, Celski still without medal Viktor Ahn is the most popular Russian of South Korean descent, especially after winning the country’s first gold medal in short track speed skating. Ahn, who left South Korea to skate for Russia, scored the country’s first medal in the 1,500-meter speed skating event, and won gold in the men’s 1,000-meter race. Federal Way’s J.R. Celski narrowly missed the medal stand and finished fourth. {see OLYMPICS cont’d on page 12}
■ at the movies
The Rocket: A Laotian story
By Andrew Hamlin Northwest Asian Weekly The people and culture of Laos, a country heavily bombed by Americans during the Vietnam War, aren’t seen much in the English-speaking West. The Rocket, filmed in Laos but funded through Australia, pulls up the curtain on Laotian countryside life, with surprising and rich rewards. Directed by Kim Mordaunt, an Australia-based director making his first dramatic feature film, The Rocket tells the story of a boy named Ahlo, played by Sitthiphon “Ki” Disamoe, who is born a twin one evening in a small village. Local culture says that if twins are born, one must be disposed of, because one will inevitably turn evil and bring bad luck. Even Ahlo’s own father, Toma (Sumrit Warin), does not know that his son is a twin. As Ahlo grows into a young boy, the family’s elderly matriarch, Taitok (Bunsri Yindi), begins to wonder if they kept the wrong twin. With his winning smile, boundless energy, and endless capacity for chatter, Ahlo doesn’t seem evil. But bad luck follows him, leading to one mishap after another. The family’s luck appears to run colder than ever when the authorities announce that a giant dam will flood their village surrounding territory. They make their way to a refugee area, but find that conditions aren’t exactly as advertised. Ahlo meets two new friends, a little girl named Kia (Loungnam Kaosainam) and her Uncle Purple (Thep Phongham). Kia is a tomboy, almost as energetic and irrepressible as Ahlo himself. The two are soon inseparable. Uncle Purple is the most confounding character in the entire film. He gets his name from the purple suit he wears throughout the film, and which he has apparently never removed since American soldiers awarded it to him for his help 40 years ago. He wears it because it reminds him of his
favorite singer, James Brown. He breaks into James Brown impersonations at any opportunity. Director Mordaunt brings together a widely disparate cast to tell his story. Thep Phongham has more than 35 years of experience in action and comedy roles. But Loungnam Kaosainam’s drama experience was limited to small parts in local stage productions. And Sitthiphon “Ki” Disamoe, the heart of the film, had never acted before, although his stepmother had done some work as a movie extra.
Disamoe spent many years on the street. His endlessly entertaining patter in the film, always bouncing back from adversity with humor, is quite similar to how he actually struggled to survive. He and Kaosainam run through the village markets, selling what they have to sell, and relying on a little more than their own charm to earn handouts. The action leads up to a huge rocket competition, which fills the skies with flame and smoke. It reminds the viewer that many of these competitive rockets get their power from the many unexploded bombs lying all over Laos. The locals re-use the components at their own peril. The movie celebrates the children’s own mystical selves, their ability to take pleasure and deep communion from everyday things. They use their own imaginations to fill in for their lack of toys and other material possessions. It’s a triumph of human zest and human spirit. The Rocket opens Friday, Feb. 21, at Seven Gables Theatre, located at 911 N.E. 50th St. in Seattle. For prices and show times, call 206-781-5755, or visit http://www. landmarktheaters.com/market/Seattle/SevenGablesTheatre. htm. Andrew Hamlin can be reached at info@nwasianweekly. com.
asianweekly northwest
8
FEBRUARY 22 – FEBRUARY 28, 2014
■ arts & entertainment
Fundraising efforts continue to restore historical fountain
Photo by Alia Marsha
Photo by Benjamin Ealovega
Renowned pianist Zhang makes his Seattle debut
Haochen Zhang
“Fountain” by George Tsutakawa currently sits in a state of disrepair.
By Alia Marsha Northwest Asian Weekly Pianist Haochen Zhang was first introduced to classical music when he was still in the womb. His mother, who was learning English at the time, came across an article in Reader’s Digest about the effects of classical music — specifically the piano, which is polyphonic — on the development of both sides of a child’s brain. Growing up in Shanghai, Zhang would
hum along to songs when his parents held karaoke nights. “My mom thought, ‘You have shown an ear for music, and you might be talented. Why not get you started?’” Zhang recalled. “That’s how I got started.” When he was 4 years old, Zhang’s mother bought him an upright piano. Soon after, he performed a solo recital at the Shanghai Concert Hall, the biggest concert hall in the area at the time. By age 8, he had turned {see ZHANG cont’d on page 12}
By Alia Marsha Northwest Asian Weekly As part of a continuing fundraising effort, the Tsutakawa Fountain Committee at Seattle Central Community College will host an event to raise money for the restoration of an abandoned fountain sculpture by the late, world-renowned artist George Tsutakawa. The fountain is simply called “Fountain.” “Memory and Interlude: An Evening of
Music with the Tsutakawas” will be held on Thursday, Feb. 27, at the Broadway Performance Hall at 7:30 p.m. It is a part of the college’s Day of Remembrance program and will feature a jazz performance by the Deems Tsutakawa Trio, classical string quartet music by the Garfield High School’s Bach Street Boyz led by Marcus Tsutakawa, and reggae music by the {see TSUTAKAWA cont’d on page 14}
Photos by David Yu Photography
GRAND OPENING! Sunday, March 30 Lee’s Family Association 3217 Beacon Ave. S., Seattle, WA 98144
Congratulations to Ka Man Lee, Miss Chinese Seattle 2013, who was named Miss Chinese Chamber of Commerce First Princess at the Miss Chinatown USA Pageant. We are proud of you! — The Lee’s Family Association
32 YEARS YOUR VOICE
FEBRUARY 22 – FEBRUARY 28, 2014
■ community news
9
Women honored for healthcare service By Nina Huang Northwest Asian Weekly
Photo by George Liu/NWAW
“Of all the forms of inequality, injustice in healthcare is the most shocking and inhumane.” That statement, by Martin Luther King Jr., is how emcee Wendy Zheng, American Heart Association regional director of health equity, began her introduction of 14 women and one organization at the Women of Color Empowered luncheon at the New Hong Kong Restaurant in Seattle on Feb. 7.
The honorees
Ekene “Kennie” Amaefule, nurse manager at the Puget Sound Veterans Administration Medical Center and adjunct professor at Seattle University, said that everything about healthcare is rewarding. Her mother told her that she’d be a good nurse, and “being in healthcare has been wonderful. Nothing is more rewarding than serving veterans.” Maria Carlos, who manages the Health Outcomes, Prevention & Education program at Public Health-Seattle and King County, said her parents taught her to give back to the community. Working with the community has taught her a lot over the years, she said. It was “an honor and privilege to support them.” Dr. Lily Jung Henson, chief of staff of the Swedish Medical Center in Issaquah, attributes her success to her “wonderful parents, loving husband, and amazing friends.” Like Carlos, Henson says she has had the great privilege to look into her patients’ lives and help them. When asked about the future of healthcare, Dr. Claire Spain-Remy of MultiCare Medical Associates said she anticipates a lot of big changes ahead, with more work to transform the way illnesses are treated. Zeineb Mohammed is the Eritrean community health promoter for the nonprofit Global to Local. When she arrived in the United States in 2010, she became recertified as a registered nurse and began to build community support through the nonprofit. Mohammed said she followed in the footsteps of her mother as a nurse because she knew at a young age that she wanted to help people. Senior vice president of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Dr. Julie McElrath chose a career in healthcare because she always liked the sciences and people. McElrath told a story of an AIDS patient whom she met. From that point on, she knew she wanted to help prevent HIV in the local community. She attributes her successes to her dedicated team members at Fred Hutchinson. Chief of the neurology section at Virginia Mason Medical Center and
The New Hong Kong Restaurant was the scene of the Women of Color Empowered luncheon.
director of the Virginia Mason Multiple Sclerosis Center, Dr. Mariko Kita, loves her job and said she has been “blown away” by the organization she works for. It has been her dream job, she said, because it has so much promise in clinical research and “being a part of that couldn’t be more exciting.” Senior vice president of Sea-Mar Community Health Centers Carolina Lucero said she has been blessed with opportunities to innovate and make a difference in peoples’ lives. Serving the common good has been her desire through her work in healthcare. Director of the Health Sciences Center for Minority Students at the University of Washington, Karlotta Rosebaugh started teaching elementary students and then taught college students. She joked that she didn’t realize there would be a big difference between the two. Rosebaugh received the Golden Acorn Award for teaching and was nominated twice for a University of Washington Distinguished Staff Award. Clinical pharmacist at Harborview Medical Center, Katie Lai openly thanked her mother for encouraging Lai to become a pharmacist. Lai dedicated the award to her mother, joking that her mother told her, “You will be a pharmacist” as a statement, rather than a suggestion. Lai said it is now a great time to be a pharmacist because it’s an opportunity to be “post-pective” and help providers. Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Sarah Patterson is also excited for the future of healthcare. She emphasized that mentorship is important to give future generations enriching and valuable experiences. Low cost and high quality healthcare is what the future should provide, she said. “If you don’t set a high bar, then you won’t achieve it.” Shaquita Bell is a pediatrician and
Seok Bee Lim is the staff dentist at the community health center Odessa Brown Children’s Clinic. Both women have dedicated many years to the underserved and diverse communities in the area. Bell called it a blessing to be honored at such an early point in her career and has been very thankful for her humble beginnings. Lim is grateful to be a part of a team that focuses on care for patients with dental disease risk. Both hope to encourage younger generations in healthcare to achieve the best to help others. The Mary Mahoney Professional Nurses Organization was honored for
its work providing financial support to students of African heritage, who are pursuing careers in professional nursing. The institution honors the pioneering African American nurse Mary Eliza Mahoney, who was the first black graduate nurse in the United States. All of the honorees expressed gratitude for the recognition given by the community, and said they look forward to the future of healthcare, and hope to inspire more individuals in the industry. Nina Huang can be reached at info@ nwasianweekly.com.
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asianweekly northwest
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FEBRUARY 22 – FEBRUARY 28, 2014
OPINION
■ editorial
Who’s hungry? Everybody’s hungry.
Food is the first and most important thing a human being needs. People must have it at fairly regular intervals and equal amounts throughout the day — nothing else matters until you’re fed. It is equally vital to each individual — the rich, the poor, the strong, the weak, and even the person who was born somewhere else (although still on the same planet). Skin color and home address have no effect on a person’s need for food. That’s why recent cuts in food assistance programs are so wrong. And that’s also why 71 different community organizations recently sent a letter to Governor Inslee and state legislators asking that State Food Assistance, geared toward immigrant children, be restored. Included in the groups that signed the letter are API CHAYA of King County, the Asia Pacific
Photos by Han Bui/NWAW
Cultural Center, the Asian Counseling and Referral Service (ACRS), and the Asian
Pacific Islander Coalition of Pierce County. According to The Children’s Alliance, the program helps feed an estimated 12,000 children in Washington state, for families that come from places such as Mexico, Eritrea, Vietnam, and the South Pacific. Sure, the recession hit everyone. Some people can’t afford that vacation to Mexico. Some folks have to make their old winter coats last another year, or put off buying a new car, or have pizza delivered less often. But a recession that forces children to go without food is cruel, unnecessary, and easy to solve. We hire gardeners, housekeepers, babysitters, carpenters, plumbers, and mechanics to take care of our problems. Well, hungry children are our problem, too. Let’s hire the government.
Cuts in food programs impact children and the elderly the most — two groups that represent everybody’s future. With luck, we are all headed toward old age, and it would be nice to know that we won’t go hungry. Who will feed us then? Today’s children. And it would be nice to know that they grew up well fed and physically, emotionally, and developmentally able to take on the important tasks of tomorrow, including the care of old people. Maybe only wealthy people deserve to own yachts or live in mansions or drive fancy cars. But all people should have access to daily food. Seventy-one Washington state community organizations know that. It’s in everyone’s best interest. After all, a well-fed kid isn’t going to be thinking about how to steal your lunch money.
■ publisher’s blog
Martha Choe — a leader’s leader & community mentor “A good leader inspires people to have confidence in their leader. A great leader inspires people to have confidence in themselves.” –Eleanor Roosevelt
M
artha Choe began her Life Achievement Award acceptance speech with Eleanor Roosevelt’s quote at the Seattle Business magazine’s Executive Excellence Awards dinner recently. At the Fairmount Olympic Hotel, most people in the room were aware that Choe, chief administrative office for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), works with smart, remarkable, and influential leaders, including Bill Gates Jr. and Sr., Jeff Raikes, Patty Stonesipher, Sylvia Mathews Burwell (all three were BMGF executives), and U.S. Ambassador to China Gary Locke. Choe called them mentors, role models, and teachers. What was not mentioned during the program was that Choe is actually a community mentor. She has mentored an impressive list of successful leaders in her career. Seattle Mayor Ed Murray is one of them. Murray once worked for Choe as an aide when she was a Seattle City Council member. He publicly thanked her as his mentor the night he was elected mayor of Seattle last November. The other aides are now stars in their own organizations. Jill Nishi is the senior adviser to U.S. programs for BMGF; Sung Yang, King County Executive Dow Constantine’s chief of staff; Cliff Traisman, owner of his own lobbying firm; and Choe’s intern, Julian Loh, district director for Congresswoman Suzan DelBene. Other people Choe has mentored include current Deputy Mayor Hyeok Kim (whom Choe, along with several others, recommended for the job), former Shoreline City Council member Cheryl Lee, Katie Hong, and more. Community mentor A former Big Sister herself mentoring young women, Choe is currently one of the most popular community mentors for upcoming leaders, and for valid reasons. Just examine her resume — you will quickly realize Choe’s interesting
Jill Nishi
Sung Yang
Martha Choe
Hyeok Kim
experiences, diverse roles, and successful career track record make her a truly a transformative leader. From a high school English teacher to a banker, Choe ran for office in 1990 and won a seat on the Seattle City Council. She was the first Korean American official elected in the entire country. During her two terms as council member, The Seattle Times rated her as one of the brightest and most hard-working council members. Choe was poised to run for mayor, but pulled out due to personal reasons. I remember how disappointed the Asian community was. Then, Gov. Locke appointed her to head the Washington State Department of Community, Trade, and Economic Development, a critical time as Boeing wanted to shop for out-of-state bids to build planes. Choe and other business leaders fought hard to keep Boeing’s future orders in our state. Finally, Boeing chose the state’s bid. With BMGF, Choe deals with global problems, such as agriculture, poverty, diseases, family planning, and even libraries. Such a rich and resourceful background is beneficial when people seek out advice. I can name many great Asian American leaders, but very few great Asian American mentors who have cultivated
such an extraordinary group of individuals as Choe has. Her tireless support of the Asian community illustrates her drive to empower future Asian American leaders. That’s a significant legacy that we should applaud, and for which we should be grateful to Choe.
Cheryl Lee
The key to success for mentors The mentor’s goal, Choe said, is “to groom [talents] to replace themselves. They (the mentees) should exceed what you’ve done.” Mentoring is not only spending time with your mentees, Choe said. You have “to give them confidence to lead, help them build skills and knowledge.” “Walk them through success and failures, offer candid feedback, communicate both positive and negative feedback. Develop opportunities. Provide them catalysts for growth. Create in them self-awareness.” Failures “We all have failures,” Choe said. “We
Katie Hong
Julian Loh
all have egos. What do you do with them? We have to accept responsibilities. And you balance them with your egos.” What is required from mentees, Choe said, is that they be Ed Murray reflective and have a bold desire to learn and improve. They want their mentors to be honest. Mentors offer them insights, asking them questions. 360-degree feedback As a BMGF executive, Choe receives regular feedback anonymously from as many as 30 people, including her peers, managers, and boss. They tell her what should change, what’s wrong, and even what works and what doesn’t work at meetings. BMGF calls it the 360-degree all-round feedback system. Feedback should be given often, not something someone did the year before. Leaders as well as mentees should receive feedback to make sure that it matches with reality, Choe said. Without putting down names, people feel safe to express honestly. That’s how Choe empowers her mentees — by setting an example. Thank you, Martha, for your contribution to the Asian community.
Want to get the inside scoop on the latest happenings of Seattle’s Asian American community? Follow Publisher Assunta Ng’s blog at nwasianweekly.com under the Opinion section.
32 YEARS YOUR VOICE
■ travel
11
Don’t judge a book
By Dipika Kohli Special to the Northwest Asian Weekly
Dipika Kohli
FEBRUARY 22 – FEBRUARY 28, 2014
Old and scruffy. Wearing thongs and the loose, elephant-printed cotton trousers of the sort you only get on holidays in Southeast Asia. Mae Sai, in this case.
Thailand. But his outfit wasn’t the first thing you noticed about the heavyset man in front of TESCO. It was his open bottle of beer. Now, I love beer just as much as anyone. I like India Pale Ales if you must know, and I’ve volunteered at the World Beer Festival in Durham, N.C. I wanted to sample some of the good stuff that would come in, especially for the day from Colorado and New York State because it was illegal, normally, in my home state. Yet I couldn’t figure out this new picture. It was midday, and the older man with the beer was about to get onto our shared ride — a mix between a pickup and a van with no door in the back. Is he going to be okay? I wondered. “Whoo!” the man bellowed, like a toddler, bee-lining to our songthaew, which is the thing you catch to get around. Then, red-faced and chatting to no one in particular in a slurry language no one could place, he plonked down right
in front of me. I hoped he wouldn’t lean his head on my knee. That’s when I noticed his fantastic camera. Tourists take all kinds of pictures, and you wonder what they do with them when they get home. During my first three months in Asia, I didn’t have anything to record with. Not even an iPod. I just wanted to soak in whatever I could, because it’s hard to get to the essence of a thing when you just arrive. Now, I try to limit taking pictures because you get caught up in getting everything to look right, and miss the beauty of disheveled slices of life. Why is he snapping the carts, bicycles, and traffic lights? Won’t they be blurry? The vehicle carried us toward the border with Myanmar. Locals peered at him with a look that said, “Just another farang. Oh, well. More dollars. Euros. Yen.” What was he up to? What was his story? Perhaps, just maybe, he was some award-winning photographer. Maybe he was an artist, lost, like the many talents in this world who wind up dead in the bathrooms of apartments in Manhattan. Could he have been a poet, maybe? Someone on a tear because he felt alone and lonely? A young man who handled passenger boarding and alighting seemed more tolerant than most. Too polite to throw the guy off. But he did remove the older man’s bottle when the man looked around for a spot to get rid of it and nearly stuffed it under a bench. The youth called to the
湖景墓園 Lake View Cemetery ☆西雅圖首創墓園☆ 自1872年起服務西北岸社區 非營利獨立協會
傳統式紀念碑
front, the car stopped, then he walked to the side of the road and placed the bottle into the hands of a man wearing an orange vest. “Mae Sai border?” the younger man asked. “Not going to border,” replied the older man, surprisingly lucid. That’s when I calmed down. You never know someone else’s story, do you? Maybe he’s out in the world trying to forget something, something like the loss of a child or a wife or a job. You wouldn’t know those things if you were simply judging stuff like his shoes. Maybe he was just out and loose in the world, a cannon of fire and angst, looking for the next place and the next thing. You resort to simple phrases and words and gestures when you’re in a land that isn’t yours. In this case, both he and I were foreigners. I looked around at others, but they kept their eyes averted. Did they wonder what I was doing there, too? A brown-skinned woman from who knew where — maybe India — on an adventure to find something grand? Wasn’t that obnoxious — people like us showing up with long swatches of days to find ourselves or soul search or meditate. Or at least pretend to, while we are here, be footloose and yet be inwardly broken? “Border,” announced the youth. The old man got off. So did I. We went our separate ways. Dipika Kohli (@dipikakohli) writes Kismuth.
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King County Invitation to Bid Project: Denny Regulator Water Service, C00786C13 Sealed Bid Time/Date: 1:00p.m., March 6, 2014 Location Due: King County Procurement & Contract Services Section, Contracts Counter, 3rd Floor, 401 Fifth Avenue, Seattle, WA 98104 Engineer’s Estimate: $180,000 to $220,000 Scope of Work: The work includes providing and installing 570 LF of 1-1/2 inch HDPE water pipe and appurtenances from an existing building water service connection to an existing water meter, installing by the auger boring method 136 LF of 10-inch protective steel casing under existing railroad tracks and easement, installing 145 LF of 2-inch PVC conduit and 145 LF of 4-inch conduit inside the same casing for the County's future use, installing two access hand-holes at the conduit terminations, filling the casing with sand, landscaping restoration, asphalt pavement restoration, and concrete sidewalk restoration. Engineering disciplines needed for signed and stamped contractor submittals include a Civil or Structural Engineer Professional Engineer’s stamp and signature for excavation shoring design, and a Professional Land Surveyor
stamp and signature for as-built survey information. Work site: Extending from the County's Denny Way Regulator Station located in Myrtle Edwards Park (address 3161 Alaskan Way W.) to the sidewalk at 101 Elliott Avenue W., in Seattle. Contact Information: Darren R. Chernick, 206-2639321, TTY Relay: 711, or darren.chernick@kingcounty.gov. A bidder may be asked to put a question in writing. No verbal answers by any County personnel or its agents and consultants will be binding on the County. Pre-Bid Conference: Neither a pre-bid conference nor a Site Tour are scheduled. Subcontracting Opportunities: Asphalt Pavement, Concrete Sidewalk Restoration, Landscape Restoration, Traffic Control, Temporary Fencing. Apprenticeship Requirements: No minimum Apprentice Utilization Requirement. SCS Utilization Requirements. 5% minimum requirement for King County Certified Small Contractors and Suppliers (SCS). Bid Bond: Not less than five percent (5%) of the Total Bid Price. Bid Documents Electronic copies of the plans, spec-
ifications, reference documents, and any addenda for this solicitation are available on the King County Procurement website shown below. Printed documents may also be ordered by contacting United Reprographics at 206-382-1177. Copies of documents are not available for purchase from King County, but are available for review 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. M thru F. at the Contracts Counter: Chinook Bldg, 3rd Floor, 401 Fifth Avenue Seattle, WA 98104. To receive email notifications of addenda or other important information concerning this solicitation, you must register to be a planholder under the “Solicitations” tab at the following internet link: Website: www.kingcounty.gov/procurement/ solicitations This information is available in alternate formats for individuals with disabilities upon advance request by calling 206-263-9400, TTY Relay: 711. Notes: Bids received after Sealed Bid Time will not be considered. Bidders accept all risks of late delivery, regardless of fault. King County is not responsible for any costs incurred in response to this Invitation to Bid.
asianweekly northwest
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FEBRUARY 22 – FEBRUARY 28, 2014
{OLYMPICS cont’d from page 7} Celski has one final individual event, the 500-meter race. He has team events, where he can medal as well. Japan shuts out Flying Tomato in half pipe Shaun White was the United States’ best hope for a medal in the men’s snowboard half pipe event. Previously known as the “Flying Tomato,” White has cut his signature red flowing hair in favor of a more corporate style. He is one of the top snowboarders in the world. However, he proved he was human in the half pipe final when he was unable to finish off a couple signature moves and ended out of medal contention. As a result, Japanese snowboarders {PHAM cont’d from page 5} “Given the murder cases I’ve tried over the years — and there have been a lot of them — I like these facts,” he said. Lawyers for both sides reached an agreement about how to handle testimony from a homicide detective who went undercover while wearing a wire and got Zavala to talk about the fight in an hour-long recording. The attorneys accepted as evidence for the preliminary hearing only that Zavala told Detective Patricia Navarro, “She {MY PHUOC cont’d from page 1} a day, seven days a week. He rarely took a vacation during the past two decades until he visited his daughter in Ireland. He was impressed with all the changes in the outside world, he said, including Paris. “I came to America in 1980 without any money, as a refugee from Vietnam,” Ngo said. “America is a great country. It gave refugees assistance. The government paid for everything. I’m lucky to come to America. I felt like I am achieving the American Dream.” Ngo earned his associate degree in printing from Highline Community College. He also worked for other printing companies before starting his own business. “I love the printing business,” he said. “I like to play with machines.” {ENFU cont’d from page 1} Northwest. Though he loves his work, he says having outside personal projects allow him to express creativity on his own terms. “I can enter my world every time when I draw something. Reality is very boring, but thinking in my brain and entering my world by drawing is always a fun time for me,” he said. Enfu’s early work explored the cultural paradigm shifts he encountered as a person who straddles Japanese, Japanese American, and American identities. But since he became a father, his daughter became his muse. His artwork turned “cuter,” he said, as he attempted to “catch the butterflies that are her imagination.” The whimsical and colorful content of his work, he said, is a result of his efforts to capture the child-like innocence adults lose, without losing sight of the edge of reality. Enfu describes his own work as “cute, edgy, and cool.” “It is not difficult at all for me to have two different types of jobs,” said Enfu. “I wake up 4 a.m. every morning and draw something for a couple hours before going to work. It’s just switching from Japan to America. I grew up bicultural, speaking Japanese at home and speaking English outside of the home. So, it’s two different worlds, but for me, switching the world is easy, because I have been doing the same thing every day since I was a little kid.” Both of Enfu’s parents are Japanese. They came to the United States to study. Enfu has only lived in Japan for one year of his life, when he was 12 and 13 years old. “Japanese anime and games inspired me a lot,” Enfu said. “I especially liked Dr. Slump, Doraemon, and Dragon Ball.” After graduating from high school, he went to the University of Washington and majored in Japanese. “I didn’t know what I wanted to do when I graduated, so I started to work first,” he said. “But after working a little bit, I decided that I wanted to make video games, so I went to Digipen in Redmond and studied how to make video {ZHANG cont’d from page 8} professional and auditioned for the Shanghai Conservatory of Music, the first music institution of higher education in China. “Even though I wasn’t aware about these things, I knew subconsciously that piano wasn’t just a hobby,” Zhang said of his early years. After training at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music and the Shenzhen Arts School, Zhang studied under well-known pianist Gary Graffman at the Curtis Institute of Music in
Ayumu Hirano and Taku Hiraoka earned the silver and bronze, respectively. The gold medal went to Switzerland’s Iouri Podladtchikov. Notably, Hirano is just 15 years old and Hiraoka is 18. At 27, White is an “old man” in this sport, compared to the two Japanese snowboarders. Hirano and Hiraoka will probably be competing with White in four years at the next Winter Olympics. 41-year-old earns first medal in 20 years Last week, we introduced you to Japanese ski jumper Noriaki Kasai. At 41 years old, he was the oldest athlete competing in the ski jump. Kasai had never won a gold medal in the Olympics and with only one other ski jumper hit me first. I acted in self-defense.” On Feb. 10, Judge Thomas J. Borris told Navarro to stop her testimony after she acknowledged going undercover after Zavala had already requested a lawyer. Another hearing was set for Feb. 21. Pham, who went by the first name Kim, graduated from Chapman University last year and would have celebrated her first wedding anniversary last month. She was an aspiring writer whose work was published online and in an anthology of works by Vietnamese American writers. Now, his machines belong to a bygone era. Most small print shops are struggling to survive. Although he was tormented for a while wondering if he had made the right decision, Ngo says he is relieved now that his business is closed. At 58, he is free and young enough for new adventures, and is pondering the next chapter of his life. Does he ever get mad at the Internet, which destroyed his business? “Technology is wonderful and amazing,” Ngo said. “I can now connect with my family in Vietnam through Skype, and we see each other face to face. No, I don’t want to turn the clock back.” Assunta Ng can be reached at assunta@nwasianweekly. com. games for two more years. Finally, I started to work again.” Enfu’s biggest challenge is promoting his artwork. “Working hard and making good art doesn’t mean people see it,” he said. “Getting publicity is the hardest point for me. When people see my art and recognize it as Enfu’s style, it makes me happy.” In his spare time, Enfu usually plays with his 7-year-old daughter. Besides drawing, he also enjoys playing video games, basketball, boxing, and going hiking. Enfu has many upcoming projects, including his first art book, Enfu: Cute Grit, due out in October 2014 (Chin Music Press). This collection of digitally rendered pop art is named for Enfu’s whimsical, yet edgy style. It includes more than 250 illustrations and photos that merge adult perception with childlike fantasy. The book contains “vivid re-imaginings of the cityscapes, cartoon characters, superstars, and cosplayers that chronicle the evolution of Enfu’s prolific career, uniting the cute, the warped, and the fantastic to build a digital universe both foreign and familiar.” Enfu is a big fan of the Seattle Seahawks, and is currently designing a poster that will include 25 Seahawk players. He will be giving the poster away for free at a location to be announced on his Facebook fan page. Much of Enfu’s work is featured at Kobo in Seattle’s International District and on his website, www.enfu.com. He attends several Seattle conventions, including SakuraCon, Akimatsuri, and the Emerald City Comicon. He also sells his art at Giant Robot in Los Angeles and exhibits at Comic-Con in San Diego. Enfu likes to encourage young people who are interested in becoming artists. “Keep drawing every day,” he advised. “I want to continue to get a lot of people, especially kids, to enjoy my art work, inspire their creativities, and support their imaginations for years to come.” Marino Saito can be reached at info@nwasianweekly. com. Philadelphia. He has since called Philadelphia home. Zhang made his debut with the New York Youth Symphony in Carnegie Hall at age 18. A year later, he became the youngest pianist to receive the prestigious Nancy Lee and Perry R. Bass Gold Medal award at the 13th Van Cliburn International Piano Competition. Now, at age 23, Zhang has turned from a child prodigy to a world-renowned pianist. In March, Zhang will perform for the first time with the Seattle Symphony in its sixth annual Celebrate Asia concert. The concert will feature central European romanticism, while
left on the large hill, he was in first and had the gold medal in his grasp. But that jumper was the only athlete to score higher than Kasai. Alas, Kasai had to be satisfied with the silver medal. His last Olympic medal was in 1994. Kasai also won a bronze medal in the team competition, which gives him three total for his Olympic career. Kasai took the medals in honor of his sister, who was hospitalized due to complications from hypoplastic anemia. Kasai’s three medals could increase in four years as he plans to compete in the 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korea. Even with the two medals this year, Kasai still yearns for a gold medal. Jason Cruz can be reached at info@nwasianweekly.com. {THAI cont’d from page 4} been attempting to avoid violence to keep the powerful military from stepping in. Thailand has been wracked by political unrest since 2006, when Yingluck’s brother, former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, was ousted by a military coup after being accused of corruption and abuse of power. Since then, his supporters and opponents have vied for power, sometimes violently. Erawan emergency medical services said three civilians and a police officer died and 64 others were injured in Tuesday’s clashes, including journalists working for Hong Kong’s Phoenix TV and the Spanish news agency EFE. The violence erupted after police moved into several locations around the city to detain and remove protesters who have been camped out for weeks to press for Yingluck’s resignation. They want the formation of an unelected people’s council to implement reforms to end corruption and remove the Shinawatra family from politics. They have blocked access to government offices since late last year and occupied key intersections around Bangkok for about a month. Until now, the police had refrained from dispersing them for fear of unleashing violence. But on Monday, Feb. 17, the government’s special security command center announced it would reclaim five protest sites around the city for public use, a move made possible under a state of emergency declared in January. Thousands of police officers, including armed anti-riot squads, were deployed across the city Tuesday in an operation the government called “Peace for Bangkok.” Earlier Tuesday, 144 protesters near the Energy Ministry in the northern part of the city were peacefully detained and herded onto police trucks to be taken away for questioning, Department of Special Investigation chief Tharit Pengdit said. Transport Minister Chadchart Sittipunt told The Associated Press the protesters hijacked two of the city’s public buses and used them to block a rally site at the Interior Ministry near the Grand Palace. The operations came a day before the Civil Court is to rule on the government’s invocation of the emergency decree, which allows authorities to exercise wide powers to detain protesters and hold them in custody for 30 days without charges. If the decree is struck down by the court, the government will be forced to dismantle the special security command center it had set up to enforce the emergency measures. The ongoing rice scandal has created tumult in state banks, from which the government is seeking loans to pay off money owed to farmers. A deal to have the Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives borrow as much as 20 billion baht ($625 million) from the Government Savings Bank was scuttled after a run on the savings bank by depositors sympathetic to the antigovernment cause. The bank requested the return of 5 billion baht ($156 million) already loaned, and its president resigned Tuesday to take responsibility for the situation. Since the protests began in November, at least 15 people have been killed and hundreds injured. Associated Press photographer Wally Santana and television journalist Chalida Ekvitthayavechnukul contributed to this report.
also staying with Asian themes. He cited the “German Giants,” namely Bach, Schubert, and Schumann, among others, as his favorite composers. He feels closest to the German ethos and approach to music, he said, which is “very expressive, but disciplined, making it very enduring.” Celebrate Asia is presented by the Seattle Symphony and will be held in Benaroya Hall, on March 21, at 7:30 p.m. Alia Marsh can be reached at info@nwasianweekly.com.
32 YEARS YOUR VOICE
■ astrology
FEBRUARY 22 – FEBRUARY 28, 2014
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For the week of February 22–February 28, 2014 By Sun Lee Chang Rat — Why make excuses when you don’t have to? Being forthright about your intentions may work in your favor.
Dragon — You have what it takes to make a great first impression. Don’t let your initial effort go to waste by dropping the ball during your next encounter.
Monkey — A face from the past is about to reenter your life. The difference this time is that you are no longer the person you were before.
Ox — Do you feel your energy waning at the end of the day? Forget the coffee. Try going for a short walk outside instead.
Snake — Take control of your own social calendar. If you hardly have time for the people you want to see, then do something about it.
Rooster — Stepping in where someone else left off? There is no reason why you can’t proceed with your own style.
Tiger — Are your plans on hold while you wait for the perfect moment? There is no better time than now.
Horse — The farther afield that you go, the more you realize that what you really want is very close to home.
Dog — This is the week to push the envelope and dare to go in a different direction from those who came before you.
Goat — A gathering of friends and family reminds you of what matters most. Let the petty stuff go and focus on the important things.
Pig — In asking questions, you are about to uncover some surprising facts. Use this newfound knowledge to tilt the odds your way.
Rabbit — Hearing all that could go wrong might cause you to lose your nerve. Just remember that your chance of success is quite high.
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 Monkey 1920, 1932, 1944, 1956, 1968, 1980, 1992, 2004 Rooster 1921, 1933, 1945, 1957, 1969, 1981, 1993, 2005 Dog 1922, 1934, 1946, 1958, 1970, 1982, 1994, 2006 Pig 1923, 1935, 1947, 1959, 1971, 1983, 1995, 2007
*The year ends on the first new moon of the following year. For those born in January and February, please take care when determining your sign.
{REUNIONS cont’d from page 4}
{TIGER cont’d from page 4}
his appeal to Kim Yong Nam, North Korea’s ceremonial head of state, at the Olympics in Sochi, Russia, “to show flexibility and to decouple humanitarian matters, such as family reunions, from political and security matters,” Nesirky said. The meeting of senior officials from the Koreas at a border village on Friday was the second this week. A meeting on Wednesday — the countries’ highest-level talks in years — achieved little progress because of North Korea’s demand that South Korea delay the drills’ start until the reunions end, according to South Korean officials. North Korea calls the exercises a rehearsal for invasion, while South Korea and the United States say they are defensive in nature. The countries’ negotiators both made concessions to achieve the agreements. Chief South Korean delegate Kim Kyouhyun told reporters in Seoul that North Korea withdrew its insistence that the reunions be delayed because of the drills. A joint statement released by the South Korean government and North Korea’s state media also showed that South Korea agreed to a North Korean proposal that the sides stop vilifying each other, which North Korea has demanded over the past weeks in protest of South Korean media reports critical of its leader, Kim Jong Un. “It’s still ambiguous how they can stop mutual insults, but the fact that South Korea agreed to it is meaningful,” said Lim Eul Chul, a North Korea expert at South Korea’s Kyungnam University. He said top South Korean officials are expected to stop making comments that could provoke North Korea. Chang Yong Seok of the Institute for Peace and Unification Studies at Seoul National University said North Korea may still disrupt the family reunions if South Korea’s conservative newspapers publish reports critical of the North’s leadership — something they routinely do — before the reunions start. “North Korea won’t put up with that,” he said. North Korea has a track record of launching surprise provocations and scrapping cooperation projects with South Korea when it fails to win concessions. It canceled family reunions at the last minute in September when it accused Seoul of preparing war drills and other hostile acts. On Thursday, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and his South Korean counterpart Yun Byung-se warned North Korea against any possible aggression, saying it should not use the military exercises as an excuse to stay away from talks or to delay attempts to improve ties.
of crops. Sugarcane is the backbone of the local economy, and thousands of cane fields, with their dense stands of 10-foot-tall plants, offer ideal hiding places. Wildlife experts know little about the tiger they are hunting. They know it is a female because of the shape of its paw prints, and many believe it is somehow injured, which could explain why it overcame its natural fear of humans. While most tigers flee at any sign of people, humans are also much easier prey. Humans are slower than deer, are weaker than buffalo, and have soft skin that is easy to bite through. Some believe the tiger now prefers to eat human flesh. “It is because of the taste that she is killing now — because of taste only,” said Singh, the forestry official. Others, though, doubt tigers develop a taste for people. The hunters, for instance, believe she probably has a problem with her mouth, perhaps an infected tooth, and has an easier time eating human flesh. It is also unclear how many kills she has made. Ten people have been killed by tigers in western Uttar Pradesh state since Dec. 29. But most forestry officials and hunters believe the female is not responsible for the last death, when a day laborer was attacked Feb. 9 on the edges of Corbett Park. While this part of India has grown somewhat wealthier in
Associated Press Writer Edith M. Lederer contributed to this report from the United Nationspot.
{SHERLOCK HOLMES cont’d from page 4} and star Benedict Cumberbatch’s floppy hair. Watson, played by Martin Freeman, is Huasheng, a name that sounds like “Peanut” in Mandarin. They have become two of the most popular terms in China’s vast social media world. “The ‘Sherlock’ production team shoot something more like a movie, not just a TV drama,” said Yu Fei, a veteran writer of TV crime dramas for Chinese television. Scenes in which Holmes spots clues in a suspect’s clothes or picks apart an alibi are so richly detailed that “it seems like a wasteful luxury,” Yu said. Even the Communist Party newspaper People’s Daily is a fan. “Tense plot, bizarre story, exquisite production, excellent performances,” it said of the third season’s premier episode. With its mix of odd villains, eccentric aristocrats, and fashionable London settings, “Sherlock” can draw on a Chinese fondness for a storybook version of Britain. “The whole drama has the rich scent of British culture and nobility,” Yu said. “Our drama doesn’t have that.” Youku.com says that after two weeks, total viewership for the “Sherlock” third season premiere had risen to 14.5 million people. That compares with the 8 to 9 million people who the BBC says watch first-run episodes in Britain. The total in China is bumped up by viewers on pay TV service BesTV, which also has rights to the program. Appearing online gives “Sherlock” an unusual edge over Chinese dramas. To support a fledgling industry, communist authorities have exempted video websites from most censorship and limits on showing foreign programming that apply to traditional TV stations. That allows outlets, such as Youku.com, to show series that might be deemed too violent or political for state TV and to release them faster. “Our writers and producers face many restrictions and
recent years, with mud homes being torn down and replaced with brick buildings, it remains deeply poor. Traffic is limited to bullock carts or clunky Atlas bicycles in most villages, and motorcycles are status symbols. Most villagers have only a rough idea about the tiger conservation movement, which has become an important issue in middle-class India and a major part of the country’s tourism campaigns. “Only the government knows why the government is saving the tiger,” said Govind Singh, a farmer working in his fields on Thursday evening. These days, farm laborers normally work in groups when they have to go into the fields. Some bring cheap homemade guns along, or carry a hathauri — a “hammer” — a metal pipe where gunpowder is loaded to create a loud noise. Still, they are afraid. Mahipal Singh was working with a group of a half-dozen men in early January when Shiv Kumar Singh was killed just outside Maniawala. The men were trimming trees at the edge of a sugar cane field, and realized Shiv was missing when they broke for lunch. They heard no growling, no cry for help. “There was nothing,” said Singh, still clearly shaken by what had happened. By the time a group of villagers made their way into the cane field about 20 minutes later, they found nothing but the young man’s partially eaten corpse. censorship. We cannot write about national security and highlevel government departments,” Yu said. Referring to Mycroft Holmes, a shadowy government official and key character, Yu said, “Sherlock’s brother could not appear in a police drama in China.” Terigele, a 25-year-old geological engineer in the northern region of Inner Mongolia, started an online “Sherlock” fan club in 2010. The group has grown to become the biggest on the popular QQ social media service, with more than 1,000 members. “I’ve watched several versions of Sherlock Holmes, and this is my favorite one,” said Terigele, who like many ethnic Mongols uses one name. “The fans in my group, and I too, think it is especially interesting to bring these two men into modern society, with the Internet and high technology.” And Chinese fans have fallen in love with Cumberbatch. “I am always super excited to see him on the screen and murmur, ‘Wow, so beautiful’ every single time,” said Zhang Jing, 24, who works for an advertising company in the eastern city of Tianjin. That fondness for the performers has helped fuel a fad for “Sherlock” fan fiction in China. Some stories play on the complicated relationship of Holmes and Watson by making them a gay couple. “The sexual orientation is also an interesting point,” Terigele said. “Their relationship is a bit more than friendship. They appreciate each other. It is cute, and it makes the audience more eager to watch it.” And “Sherlock” makes a helpful cultural ambassador for Britain. When Prime Minister David Cameron visited China last year, fans posted appeals on microblogs for him to press the BBC to speed up the release of a new season. Today, a popular online comment aimed at Cameron is, “Thank you for ‘Sherlock.’”
asianweekly northwest
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FEBRUARY 22 – FEBRUARY 28, 2014
{HIRABAYASHI cont’d from page 1} and exclusion convictions on proof of the allegations of governmental misconduct. She will present Hirabayashi’s Timely Lessons About Courage. Other speakers and moderators include: • Lane Ryo Hirabayashi, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Asian American Studies, UCLA • Roger Daniels, Ph.D., Charles Phelps Taft Professor Emeritus of History, University of Cincinnati • Tetsuden (Tetsu) Kashima, Ph.D., Professor, Department of American Ethnic Studies and Adjunct Professor, Department of Sociology, University of Washington • Anne Jenner, Pacific Northwest Curator, Special Collections, University of Washington Libraries • Gail Nomura, Ph.D., Associate Professor, American Ethnic Studies, University of Washington In addition, the family of Gordon Hirabayashi will share their personal recollections. Panelists include: • Susan Carnahan (Gordon Hirabayashi’s widow) • Esther Furugori (Gordon’s sister) • Sharon Yuen (Gordon’s daughter) • Marion Oldenburg (Gordon’s daughter) • Jay Hirabayashi (Gordon’s son) • Alisha Hurley (Susan Carnahan’s daughter)
• Kim Furugori (Gordon’s niece, Esther’s daughter) Stephen Sumida, Ph.D., UW professor of American Ethnic Studies, will perform an excerpt from Hold These Truths by Jeanne Sakata (which will receive a staged reading at the Theatre Off Jackson on Feb. 22 and Feb. 23). Jay Hirabayashi, executive director of Kokoro Dance, which organizes the Vancouver (B.C.) International Dance Festival, will perform a brief Butoh dance in honor of his parents. And “Civil Disobedience!” — an exhibit of Hirabayashi papers, will be in the Allen Library from 1 p.m.–5 p.m. The day will include a book signing by Professor Lane Ryo Hirabayashi, co-author of A Principled Stand: the Story of Gordon Hirabayashi v. United States (University of Washington Press, 2013), which he wrote with his uncle Gordon and his father, the late James Hirabayashi. The UW Press and the University Book Store will be in the Walker Ames room in Kane Hall from 3 p.m.–4 p.m. Admission to the symposium is free, but advance registration is requested. Visit UWalum.com/ Hirabayashi. For more information, call 206-543-9389.
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{TSUTAKAWA cont’d from page 8} Kore Ionz band, managed by Tsutakawa’s grandson Kazumi Tsutakawa. A similar event was held last year, featuring music, food from the college’s culinary program, and a silent auction. It was a success, and the upcoming concert is expected to help the committee get closer to its target, while building awareness of the importance of artworks and the stories behind them. “Fountain” was donated to SCCC by Tsutakawa himself in 1973, who attended Broadway High School — now the site of SCCC — in the mid-1920s. The artist later attended the University of Washington. Situated at the heart of the campus, the sculpture symbolizes the rich history of Japanese Americans in Seattle, but over the last decade, it fell into disrepair and is no longer running. At one point, the college considered selling it, but dismissed the idea due to concerns of faculty, staff, and students. In 2012, a group of former and current faculty and staff of the college formed a committee to try to save the fountain. To date, they have raised
more than half of their goal of $40,000, with donations from the college’s student council committee, fellow faculty and staff members, students, and the local arts community. The committee was told by SCCC administrators that the college would only finance the rest of the refurbishment cost if the committee has reached its goal. Arlene Martinez is an SCCC student and a volunteer for the event. She was in her Asian art history class last year when she first heard about the effort to save the fountain, and she identified with it immediately. “My whole thing is that if I’m aspiring to be an artist, it’s my obligation as an artist that I support artists of the past, to show the importance of their message and also what art can do for people, bringing them together,” Martinez said. “[George Tsutakawa’s] message is beyond us, and even beyond him.” For more information about “Memory and Interlude: An Evening of Music with the Tsutakawas,” contact Tina Young at tina.young@seattlecolleges. edu or Melanie King at melanie. king@seattlecolleges.edu. Alia Marsh can be reached at info@nwasianweekly.com.
Have an event to promote? Please send us the details at least 14 days in advance to info@nwasianweekly.com.
32 YEARS YOUR VOICE
FEBRUARY 22 – FEBRUARY 28, 2014
Women Leaders in Health Care Friday, February 7, 2014 • New Hong Kong Restaurant • 900 S. Jackson St. #203, Seattle
Thank you for making it happen! Honorees Carolina Lucero, Claire Spain-Remy, Ekene Amaefule, Shaquita Bell, Julie McElrath, Karlotta Rosebaugh, Katie Lai, Lily Jung Henson, Maria Carlos, Mariko Kita, Sarah Patterson, Seok Bee Lim, Mary Mahoney Professional Nurses Organization, and Zeineb Mohammed
Emcee Wendy Zheng
Co-chairs Bonnie Miller, Lourdes Sampera Tsukada, and Winona HollinsHauge
Planning Committee Sponsors
Carol Cheung, Kiku Hayashi, Charlene Grinolds, Chayuda Overby, Connie Sugahara, Francine Griggs, Kathy Purcell, Leny Valerio-Buford, Diane Martin, Elizabeth Younger, Alia Marsha, and Assunta Ng
Upcoming Event May 2, 2014 — Women of Color Empowered luncheon
Rising Stars: Young Female Professionals Making a Difference 11:30 a.m.–1:30 p.m. China Harbor Restaurant 2040 Westlake Ave. N., Seattle
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FEBRUARY 22 – FEBRUARY 28, 2014