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32 YEARS YOUR VOICE
Sister wants Bae free “It’s hard. It’s all consuming. It overshadows everything. I’m always on the phone, always on the computer e-mailing someone, writing letters to someone. I feel bad. I feel like I’m not entirely present. I try to be. We try to maintain as much normalcy as possible. I try to go to their games.” Terri Chung said, referring to her two daughters, ages 6 and 13. Chung, 41, used to teach English composition at North Seattle Community College. She’s currently on leave because she found it impossible to cope with the emotional stress and struggles that came with dealing with the ebb and flow of the news cycle, which sometimes demanded all of her time and energy, on top of teaching responsibilities. “Sometimes it’s all over the news. It’s hard to ignore it. It’s like an ever-present absence.” Chung’s brother, Kenneth Bae, is an American charged
Photo courtesy of Terri Chung
By Stacy Nguyen Northwest Asian Weekly
The family of Kenneth Bae saw happier times when gathered together for this 2009 Christmas photo. In the back row is his mother, Myunghee Bae, sister Terri Chung, daughter Natalie, father Sung Seo Bae, son Jonathan Bae, and brother-in-law Andrew Chung. In the front is Kenneth and his nieces Caitlin and Ella.
and convicted by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea) of planning to overthrow its government. Arrested on Nov. 3, 2012, in the Rason Special Economic Zone, he was
sentenced April 2013 to 15 years of imprisonment and hard labor. Since the end of the Korean War in 1953, no other U.S. prisoner of North Korea has been held longer. Before his imprisonment, Bae
had been living in Dalian, China, near the North Korean border. For about seven years he owned a business that led foreigners on {see BAE cont’d on page 16}
Marijuana is legal, now what? By Nina Huang Northwest Asian Weekly
You can buy a bottle of vodka in grocery stores in Washington state now. Soon, you’ll be able to buy a small amount of recreational marijuana from a shop, possibly as early as this summer. How did that all happen? With the privatization of the state liquor system, the Washington State Liquor Control Board (WSLCB) has gone through some tumultuous times, said board member Chris Marr. After the liquor privatization initiative by Costco was passed in 2011, the government went through an accelerated process to close its liquor stores. Washington Initiative 502, also known as “marijuana reform,” passed in November 2012. Along with Washington State Liquor Control Board (WSLCB) chair Sharon Foster, Ruthann Kurose and Marr are board members who were appointed by former Governor Christine
Tacoma man sentenced for murder plot claims it was just ‘a joke’
Photo from the Dept. of Homeland Security
VOL 33 NO 14
DIVERSITY MAKES A DIFFERENCE The final countdown » P. 7
system, the recreational marijuana stores will not be operated by the WSLCB. The private businesses will govern themselves. There will be 334 retail stores in the state, and 21 of them will be in Seattle. Marr said that the WSLCB would strictly have a regulatory, enforcement, and revenue collection role. The board will make sure the product is tested and tracked, and ensure that it doesn’t get diverted to the black market. It will also make sure that there is no use in facilities and retail stores. The board won’t be involved in the operations of the stores.
Kurose said that the Washington State Liquor Control Board has always maintained its top priority in ensuring public safety. “We believe that this can be achieved by creating a tightly controlled and regulated marijuana market,” she added. Legislators are looking for opportunities to increase revenues in education and healthcare, but cities and countries have argued that they should get some of the money generated from marijuana sales. One initiative calls for the direct revenue from sales to be used for prevention and education for youth. Many of those issues will be handled by the Department of Social and Health Services. Resources such as educational and community programs are the best ways to address the impacts from marijuana and other drugs on communities of color — impacts that are often disproportionally high compared to other communities,
Educating the public
{see I-502 cont’d on page 15}
Washington State Liquor Control Board members Sharon Foster, Ruthann Kurose, and Chris Marr. The WSLCB will have a regulatory, enforcement, and revenue collection role over marijuana sales.
Gregoire several years ago. Kurose has a long history of public service working on congressional legislative policy in Washington D.C., and on economic development policy in the cities of Seattle and Tacoma. Marr served as a State Senator for the 6th District in Spokane from 2006 to 2010. Prior to his election in the Senate, he spent 20 years as managing partner of the Foothills Auto Group in Spokane, after working in management at Ford Motor Company and McDonald’s Corporation. Recreational marijuana stores Unlike the previous liquor
Long Van Nguyen was photographed by Homeland Security agents outside a Tukwila Starbucks, where he unknowingly met with undercover agents.
By Jason Cruz Northwest Asian Weekly A University Place man, who pleaded guilty last September to federal conspiracy and solicitation charges for attempting to hire assassins to kill his own relatives in Vietnam, will serve 14 years in jail for his crime. Long Van Nguyen, 45, was sentenced on March 13 before the Honorable Robert Lasnik in the U.S. District Court of Western Washington. While federal prosecutors contend that Nguyen was serious about carrying out the plan, Nguyen contends that all of the talk of killing was “a joke.” A tip led to the discovery of Nguyen’s plan to kill relatives for mismanaging money he asked them to watch over in Vietnam while he was jailed on a previous drug conviction. Nguyen, a naturalized citizen, had led a “prolific marijuana trafficking organization” in Western Washington, according to court documents. Nguyen’s organization was one of the largest in Washington, importing marijuana — also known as “BC Bud”— from Canada to the {see NGUYEN cont’d on page on 15}
The Inside Story NAMES Doing this, doing that » P. 2
■
WORLD People on missing jet had rich lives » P. 5
SPORTS The Layup Drill » P. 8
BLOG Seattle Symphony Celebrates Asia » P. 10
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■ NAMES IN THE NEWS
Seattle’s Collin Tong was on KING 5’s New Day Northwest program March 18 to talk about his book “Into the Storm: Journeys Through Alzheimer’s.” The book details his and others’ experiences caring for people with Alzheimer’s Disease. Tong’s wife died in 2011, after a 12year struggle with early-onset Alzheimer’s. Tong was joined on the New Day Northwest set by Bob Le Roy, executive director of Western and Central Washington State Chapter for the Alzheimer’s Association, and former NBC news correspondent Margaret Larson. Tong is a writer for Seattle’s online website, Crosscut.com.
VFA honors 2 people, 1 church Two people and a church were awarded in the March 20 Vietnamese Friendship Association’s 2014 benefit dinner at the UW HUB Rifka Bahaman Trang Tu Ballroom. The Golden Spring Roll Award for Community Leadership went to Trang Tu, who was recognized for being a lifelong advocate in the Vietnamese community. She is currently a program
support orphans and poor children at Rinpoche’s Nga Gyur Shed Dup Cho Ling school (loosely translated to “The Early Translated Dharma Teaching and Study Center”) by providing education, housing, food, clothing, and other basic necessities. Each honoree was chosen “as demonstrating the timeless and universal human goodness celebrated by every wise culture.” Wong was born in Malaysia in 1970, grew up in Kuala Lumpur, and attended college in the United States. In 2007, her mother sponsored Sonam Rinpoche, a Tibetan Buddhist spiritual leader, to come to the United States to study English. Through many conversations with Rinpoche, Wong learned about the poverty, harsh conditions of the region, and challenges faced by many Tibetan children in the remote areas of China.
Dalai Lama thanks Wong
Taiwanese dance group debuts
Photo by Rebecca Ip/SCP
From left, Bob Le Roy, Collin Tong, and Margaret Larson appear on New Day Northwest.
officer with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, where she supports the expansion of adult English language learning opportunities and assistance to undocumented immigrant youth in the United States. The Golden Banh Mi Award for Service was given to the University Unitarian Church, which, among other things, supports the VFA Saturday English School through tutoring students and provides Thanksgiving meals. The Golden Hedgehog Award for Rising Young Star went to Rifka Bahaman for her exceptional leadership and commitment to service. After losing her father and home in Sri Lanka to the 2004 tsunami, she came to the United States and attends South Seattle College. She volunteers at the VFA in the Student Leadership Council and the Puget Sound Blood Center. She is currently working on an antibullying project.
Photo by Briana Forgie
Photo courtesy of Collin Tong
Tong promotes book on KING 5
Wendy Wong, founder of Education at Elevation, is acknowledged by His Holiness, the Dalai Lama at the recent “Unsung Heroes of Compassion” event.
The Dalai Lama was an honored guest at a luncheon event at the Ritz Carlton Hotel in San Francisco on Feb. 23, where he acknowledged and thanked 51 individuals who are the honorees of “Unsung Heroes of Compassion 2014.” Among the honorees was Wendy Wong, founder of Education at Elevation (E@E), a Seattle-based nonprofit organization that raises funds for a small school in a remote Tibetan village in western Sichuan, China (formerly Kham, Tibet). Founded by Wong in 2007 as the Vajrayana Dharma Foundation, Education at Elevation (E@E) was created to
UW World series artistic director Michelle Witt, right, chats with CloudGate founder Lin Hwai-min and the dancers after their performance.
Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan made its Seattle debut with “Songs of the Wanderers,” a modern dance by choreographer Lin Hwai-min, on March 8 at the University of Washington’s Meany Hall. The performance featured 39 dancers and 3.5 tons of rice. It was part of the UW’s “World Series” 2013-14 season, bringing “extraordinary performances from around the globe.”
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32 YEARS YOUR VOICE
■ COMMUNITY news
MARCH 29 – APRIL 4, 2014
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Zumbathon to raise funds for Beacon Hill students’ visit to China pen pals Victoria Lum-Nye is a proud alumna of Beacon Hill Elementary School, which is now Beacon Hill International School (BHIS). She recently attended the 50-year reunion of her sixth-grade class, where she was able to reminisce and reconnect with old friends. “It was such a great reunion. We had two-thirds of our class show up, and we just picked up where we left off. It was amazing,” she said. Shortly after the reunion, Lum-Nye found out that fifthgraders at BHIS are planning to travel to China this spring, as a culmination of their studies in the school’s Mandarin Immersion Program. She became concerned when she learned that financial barriers threatened to keep the trip from becoming a reality. BHIS is a Title I school with an overall poverty rate of 60 percent. Nearly half of the Mandarin program fifth-graders come from families that
Calif. Sen. Leland Yee accused of wire fraud and conspiracy By Paul Elias Associated Press A California state senator who was lauded for his efforts to make government more transparent was arrested March 26 during a series of raids by the FBI in Sacramento and the San Francisco Bay Area, authorities said. Federal officials are ac- Leland Yee cusing a California State Senator State Leland Yee of conspiracy to deal firearms and wire fraud. The allegations were outlined in an FBI affidavit in support of a criminal complaint against Yee and 25 other people. Also named in the affidavit is Raymond Chow, who is also known as “Shrimp Boy,” and was the former leader of a Chinese criminal organization with ties to Hong Kong. Chow is accused of money laundering, conspiracy to receive and transport stolen property, and conspiracy to traffic contraband cigarettes. The FBI searched Yee’s office and the offices of Ghee Kung Tong, a fraternal organization in San Francisco’s Chinatown that Chow reportedly headed. Firefighters were seen going inside with a circular saw and later said they had cracked a safe.
Most uninsured AANHPIs may be eligible for coverage According to a new report released today by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, eight out of 10 (1.6 million) uninsured Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders (AANHPIs) may be eligible for coverage through the Health Insurance Marketplace and could qualify for Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), or tax credits to help with the cost of premiums. That would be 89 percent of all AANHPIs, if all states took advantage of the Affordable Care Act, which Washington does. To sign up by the March 31 deadline, call 1-800318-2596 or visit HealthCare.gov.
Pam Pilch Photography
By Evangeline Cafe Northwest Asian Weekly
Zumba enthusiasts hope the community will join them on April 5 at Jefferson Community Center for a fundraiser benefitting the BHIS Mandarin Immersion Program’s 2015 trip to China.
fall within the federal poverty level. “When did Beacon Hill get so poor?” she first thought, before realizing that it’s not that they’re so poor. “It’s that living has become so expensive,” said Lum-Nye. Parents, teachers, and students havo raise funds to help
this year’s fifth-graders make the inaugural trip to China to visit a school in Chongqing and spend time with pen pals with whom they have been exchanging letters for several years. The fifth-graders have been looking forward to it since they began the Mandarin program in kindergarten. Organizers hope to make the China trip an annual tradition for each fifth-grade class. Because of financial barriers that families continue to face, next year’s students may not be so lucky. Lum-Nye, a licensed Zumba instructor, immediately jumped in to help. She is organizing a Zumbathon to raise money ahead of the Mandarin Immersion Program’s 2015 China trip. Her goal is to raise $2,500 to provide a scholarship for at least one student to make the trip next year. “When I heard they needed money, my immediate thought was, ‘Let’s do something fun. I don’t have kids, I’m retired, I’ve fundraised all my life, and I’ve always believed {see BEACON HILL cont’d on page 13}
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■ travel
The Village Report Lost in the cacophany of Asia
By Dipika Kohli Northwest Asian Weekly Phnom Penh is hot, but not terribly so, and the air has a softness to it. People from around the world are here to invest, do business, and see the potential. While they do, I am lost in the Dipika Kohli cacophony of Asia — night markets lit with bare bulbs, autobike drivers raising a hand high in the sky with a winning confidence they know breaks all language barriers, and more. Glassy cafes with designer lattes await the elite, who linger, while international schools in gated enclaves teach the ABCs to their young. Slums, too. This is Cambodia? You go to India, you go to Thailand, and you think you’ve seen something. But when you cross a new line, without expectations, you marvel at the sensation of everywhere, all a blend. Modern culture is coming here fast, and the people know it. But there’s still a lackadaisical quality that doesn’t blare like Bangkok. It’s a natural byproduct of a place that doesn’t care if you come or go.
I’m at the Riverside part of town today. The red walls of the Opera Café are papered in music sheets. There’s a piano and a bar with upside down wine over the espresso counter. And jazz. I might as well be in New York. We are walking with our hosts, talking about art, music, and creativity. A man is eating pasta upstairs. He comes down and introduces himself as a photographer from Italy. Next come the web folks, then the ad agency veterans, and an opera singer. This is the vibe. This is the stage. Making sense of it in real time is impossible, but it feels like anything is possible, and the magic is tangible. You could show up anywhere in Asia that’s been visited a billion times, like the capital Siem Riep, and you could get lost in the whirl of the overdone, poorly managed tourism. You’re just a walking wallet. “Can I get a business license in Cambodia?” Wondering out loud about putting down a miniature root here, for a bit. “Yes,” says the photographer. “But you have to bribe the police.” “A hundred bucks?” “What?” “A hundred dollars?” “Fifty.”
“Oh, that’s not bad. I saw some of that at the border.” “Si, of course.” There’s a thing that happens when you’ve been gone for so long from a place that you’re not sure if you’re past the point of no return, but suspect that you are. You give up on certain things. Seems to me we delude ourselves when we think we want a thing so much that we can’t stop thinking about it. Obsessing leads to nowhere. Not one square forward, or even half an inch. The perfect house. The perfect clothes, appearance, set of friends, spouse, or girlfriend. Job. Ribbons from field days past. Yearbook photo. All of it. All different forms of the same thing: striving for a thing that’s just too perfect, too ideal. Every so often, like the chance crossing of ideas from around Europe and Asia at Opera Cafe, something cool comes along and shows you that picture-attaining is all pretty opaque, anyway. We are all hustling, and doing our best. I feel the old pictures getting scratched off all on their own, making space for the fresh and yet-to-be. Dipika Kohli (@dipikakohli) writes Kismuth. http://www. kismuth.com
■ NATIONAL NEWS ■ WORLD NEWS
US schools add Life of Fukushima nuke worker Vietnamese to recorded in comic-book style dual immersion By Amy Taxin Associated Press
GARDEN GROVE, California (AP) – When Thuy Vo Dang came to the United States as a young girl, her English took off. Her parents sent her to Vietnamese school on the weekends to learn her native language, but she eventually had to study it in graduate school to become fully literate. Now, the 35-year-old mother of two and archivist for the University of California, Irvine’s Southeast Asian Archive has been lobbying for her Southern California school district to start the state’s first dual immersion elementary school program in Vietnamese. She said she wants to help keep the language alive for the next generation growing up in the United States. “I can see how quickly they’re forgetting their Vietnamese,” Vo Dang said of her 7-year-old daughter and 3-year-old son. “I would love if this were available for him when he starts kindergarten.” The move to expand the use of Vietnamese in so-called dual immersion programs comes as the children of refugees who fled the aftermath of the Vietnam War are coming of age and striving to preserve the language for their American children. Nearly 1.9 million people of Vietnamese heritage live in the United States, and a third were born here, according to census data. In the last few years, schools in Texas and Washington state have begun Vietnamese language dual immersion programs. The Garden Grove Unified School District voted last month to consider starting a program in one of the largest Vietnamese immigrant enclaves in the United States. The move came after young Vietnamese American parents and 30-somethings pushed for the program, hoping their children will get a strong sense of their heritage and be better prepared to work in a global economy. Dual immersion programs are usually split between English speakers and English learners, so children model the languages for each other. “Our parents didn’t really have a say in our education and that’s understandable,” said Bao Nguyen, a Garden Grove schools trustee. “Now that we have our place in society and we want to contribute and we want to prosper, we want to make this a better place for everybody. We have a voice, and this is what we’re doing — we’re exercising our voice.”
TOKYO (AP) – First off, no one who works at Japan’s wrecked nuclear power plant calls it Fukushima Daiichi, comic-book artist Kazuto Tatsuta says in his book about his time on the job. It’s ichi efu, or 1F. It’s not “hell on earth,” but a life filled with a careful routine to protect against radiation. A good part of the day is spent putting on and taking off protective layer after layer: hazmat suits, gloves, boots and filtered masks. Even bus and van interiors are covered in plastic. Workers say they will lose their jobs if they talk to reporters and their bosses find out. That makes Tatsuta’s manga (comic book), “1F: The Labor Diary Of Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant,” a rare look at the nuclear plant that suffered three meltdowns after the 2011 tsunami, and will take decades to decommission. Tatsuta worked at the plant from June to December 2012 in part because he was struggling as a manga artist, but “1F” is his biggest success yet. The opening episode won a newcomer award and was published last year in “Morning,” a weekly manga magazine with a circulation of 300,000. The first several episodes are coming out as a book in April, and publisher Kodansha Ltd. plans on turning “1F” into a series. Tatsuta said “1F” is not about taking sides on the debate over nuclear power, but simply a story of what it’s like to work there. “I just want to keep a record for history. I want to record what life was like, what I experienced,” he said. Tokyo Electric Power Co, the utility that runs Fukushima Dai-ichi, rarely
Drawing by Kazuto Tatsuta
By Yuri Kageyama Associated Press
Comic-book artist Kazuto Tatsuta depicts the cleanup of the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant.
provides media access to the inner workings of the plant, except for orchestrated press tours. Tatsuta is a pen name. The 49-yearold artist asked that his real name not be used for fear of being barred from working at the plant in the future. He said the job is surprisingly similar to other construction work, which also carries its risks, such as flying sparks and crashing walls. “I never felt I was in physical danger. You can’t see radiation,” he said. Tatsuta’s story, complete with drawings of shattered reactor buildings, brings to life everyday details — how gloves get drenched with sweat, or how annoyingly itchy a nose can get behind the mask. Laughter and camaraderie fill the rest area, where drinks and food are plentiful but there are no flushing toilets. In one telling scene, an elderly worker says: “This is like going to war.” Drawings show the daily routine,
different kinds of masks, and the layout of the grounds. After Tatsuta had to quit when his radiation exposure neared the annual legal limit of 20 millisieverts, he decided to put down what he had undergone in manga. Almost every profession — baseball player, “salaryman,” samurai, chef— has been depicted in manga, exemplified in acclaimed works such as Osamu Tezuka’s “Astro Boy” and Oscar-winning Hayao Miyazaki’s “Spirited Away.” But no manga had ever depicted the life of the nuclear worker. Tatsuta stressed he doesn’t want to glorify them but insisted they deserve to get paid more. The work starts at about 8,000 yen ($80) a day, although it goes up to 20,000 ($200) a day for the most dangerous tasks. TEPCO declined to comment on the book. “It’s just manga,” says spokesman Koichiro Shiraki, who has read the work.
32 YEARS YOUR VOICE
■ world news
MARCH 29 – APRIL 4, 2014
5
Behind jet’s passenger list is rich human tapestry of life By Rod McGuirk and Stephen Wright BANGKOK (AP) – Numbered 1 to 227, the passenger manifest for the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 is an outwardly unremarkable document. But behind the columns of capitalized names, nationalities, and ages are 227 unique stories, part of a rich human tapestry that assembles every time a flight departs. Two-thirds of the passengers on the popular business and tourist route were Chinese, 38 were from Malaysia, and the rest were from a smattering of other countries, including America, Australia, India, France, Indonesia, Ukraine, and more. The flight had a crew of 12, all from Malaysia, a melting pot nation of ethnic Malays, Chinese, and Indians. Malaysia’s prime minister announced March 24 that the missing Malaysian Airlines flight — whose fate was a mystery that consumed the world — had crashed into a remote corner of the Indian Ocean. Ju Kun, a stunt man whose credits include the acclaimed
martial arts epic “The Grandmaster” and other films was among the passengers on the missing jet. Ju Kun also worked on “The Forbidden Kingdom,” and he was scheduled to work on the series pilot for “Marco Polo,” a joint Weinstein Co. and Netflix production, at a
studio in Malaysia before he boarded the flight to return home to Beijing. A joint statement from the production partners said, “We are deeply saddened by the news about Malaysia Airlines Flight 370. Ju Kun, who was on board, was an integral part of our production team and a tremendous talent. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family at this difficult time.” The last update on Ju’s verified Sina Weibo account was on Feb. 24, when he posted a photo of himself from Pulai, Malaysia, saying, “New hairstyle. New mood.” Hundreds of comments have been made on that post, many hoping he would make a safe return. Some traveled alone, some in groups. There were young sweethearts and wrinkled older couples. Some had business in mind, others thought of art. Seventy-four years separates the youngest, 2-year-old Moheng Wang, and the oldest, 76-year-old Rusheng Liu. {see MALAYSIA cont’d on page 12}
Japanese architect Shigeru Ban wins Pritzker Prize NEW YORK (AP) – The Japanese architect Shigeru Ban, who has combined a talent for innovative design and experimental use of everyday materials with extensive humanitarian efforts around the globe, has won the 2014 Pritzker Architecture Prize. Ban, 56, is the seventh architect from Japan to receive the honor, which will be officially awarded in June. For two decades, he has rushed to the site of disasters — for example, the 1995 earthquake in Kobe, Japan, or the 1994 conflict in Rwanda — to construct temporary relief shelters. He has often used cardboard paper tubes as building materials, since they are easily found, easily transported and can be waterproofed or fire-proofed. Ban’s relief work has not been limited to creating living shelters. In the wake of the 2009 earthquake in L’Aquila, Italy, for example, he created a temporary auditorium so the city’s musicians could continue to play. And after the 2011 earthquake and tsunami in Japan, he created partitions for existing emergency shelters so families could have some privacy. Outside his humanitarian work, Ban’s noted projects have included the Centre Pompidou-Metz, a modern art museum in Metz, France, that features a remarkable curved roof made of timber — and inspired by a Chinese hat. In its citation, the Pritzker jury noted Ban’s unique approach to materials. “He is able to see in standard components and common materials, such as paper tubes, packing materials or shipping containers,” the jury wrote, “opportunities to use them in new ways.” It noted his “Naked House” in Saitama, Japan, in which the architect used clear corrugated plastic on the external walls and white acrylic stretched across a timber frame to create a home that questions “the traditional notion of rooms and consequently domestic life.” Ban’s “Curtain Wall House” in Tokyo uses two-story high white curtains to open or close the home to the outside. Similarly, his “Metal Shutter Houses” in New York’s
Chelsea neighborhood feature a unique metal shutter system to open up apartments to the city air. But it is Ban’s humanitarian work that the Pritzker jury emphasized in announcing the prize, which will be formally awarded June 13 at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. “Where others may see insurmountable challenges, Ban sees a call to action,” the citation said. Speaking in an interview in one of the distinctive “Metal Shutter House” apartments, Ban, who has offices in Tokyo, Paris and New York, explained that despite his extensive work for private clients, his humanitarian efforts are of utmost importance to him. “This is my life’s work,” he said. Architects, Ban noted, are lucky because they always work for people who are happy — as people generally are when they’re building a house. But he’s always felt that architects need to play a broader social role. “After I became an architect I was very disappointed in our profession,” he said, “because we are mostly always working for privileged people, with power and money. So I thought that architects needed to have more of a social role. I thought we could use our experience and our knowledge for people who need help in a natural or man-made disaster. Even something like temporary housing, we can make more comfortable and more beautiful.” In times of disaster, building materials can be difficult and expensive to procure. That’s why, Ban said, his favorite building material is something most people throw out: cardboard tubes. “Even in Kigali, Rwanda, when I was building shelters, I found them,” he said. “I’m not inventing anything new, I’m just using existing material differently.” In 2011, when Japan was rocked by an earthquake and tsunami, Ban first created partitions to help families keep their privacy in shelters like gymnasiums. Then he built, on the grounds of a baseball stadium, a threestory temporary shelter to house 19 families. After the Kobe earthquake of 1995, he built a “Paper Church” which remained {see SHIGERU BAN cont’d on page 14}
Shigeru Ban
Photo by Bujdosó Attila
By Jocelyn Noveck Associated Press
The Takatori Catholic Church in Hyogo, Japan was designed by Shigeru Ban.
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■ COMMUNITY CALENDAR FRI 3/28
WHAT: “Diversity Makes a Difference” scholarship awards dinner WHERE: New Hong Kong Restaurant, 900 S. Jackson St., Seattle WHEN: 6–9 p.m. COST: $25–$45 INFO: 206-223-5559
SAT 3/29 WHAT: “Bollywood in Love with Itself: Indian Film, on Film” lecture by Sudhir Mahadevan WHERE: Seattle Asian Art Museum, 1400 E. Prospect St., Seattle WHEN: 9:30–11 a.m. COST: $5–$10 INFO: 206-654-3100 WHAT: Dinner & auction to benefit the Wing Luke Museum of the Asian Pacific American Experience
WHERE: Sheraton Seattle Hotel, 1400 Sixth Ave., Seattle WHEN: 5 p.m. COST: $200–$290 INFO: 206-623-5124
SUN 3/30 WHAT: Live auction to raise money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society in honor of the late Cheryl Chow WHERE: Mt. Baker Community Center, 2811 Mount Rainier Dr. S., Seattle WHEN: 4–6 p.m. RSVP: By March 23 cherylchowlls@hotmail.com INFO: 206-252-0472 WHAT: Lee Family Association grand opening & banquet WHERE: Grand opening at 3217 Beacon Ave. S., Seattle at noon; banquet at the House of Hong, 409 Ave. S., Seattle at 6 p.m. INFO: 206-227-8587
■ briefly
Photo by Adam Bouska
George Takei to beam up to Seattle for Pride parade Seattle Out & Proud, organizers of Seattle Pride, have announced that George Takei will lead this year’s Seattle Pride Parade as Celebrity Grand Marshal. Takei is known around the world for his role as Mr. Sulu in the George Takei television series Star Trek, in which he played helmsman of the Starship Enterprise. He starred in three seasons of Star Trek and later reprised his iconic role in six movies. He will star in the upcoming Broadway musical “Allegiance.” An openly gay Japanese American, Takei is also a social justice activist and author who uses his public persona to advance LGBT and human rights around the world. Takei was interned in two U.S. internment camps during World War II from ages 4 to 8. He is chairman emeritus and a trustee of the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles, has served as the spokesperson for the Human Rights Campaign “Coming Out Project,” and was cultural affairs chairman of the Japanese American Citizens League. He was appointed to the Japan-U.S. Friendship Commission by former President Clinton, and the government of Japan awarded him the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Rosette, for his contribution to U.S.-Japanese relations. Takei lives in Los Angeles with his husband Brad Takei.
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WED 4/2 WHAT: Author Nicole Mones reads from “Night in Shanghai” WHERE: Everett Public Library, 2702 Hoyt Ave., Everett WHEN: 2 p.m. COST: Free INFO: 206-634-3400, www. ubookstore.com
THU 4/3 THRU SUN 4/6 WHAT: Shen Yun 2014 WHERE: McCaw Hall, Seattle Center, 321 Mercer St., Seattle WHEN: 4/3 & 4/4 at 7:30 p.m., 4/5 at 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., 4/6 at 2 p.m. COST: $70-$180 TICKETS: ticketmaster.com, 800745-3000 INFO: shenyun.com
FRI 4/4 WHAT: OneAmerica (immigrant
advocacy group) 2014 annual celebration WHERE: The Westin Seattle, 1900 5th Ave., Seattle WHEN: 5-9 p.m. COST: $95 INFO: 206-452-8411 WHAT: April Monthly Luncheon featuring Arden Clise WHERE: Han’s Garden, 3020 78th Ave. S.E., Mercer Island WHEN: 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. COST: $15 before the event, $20 at the door
SAT 4/5 WHAT: “The Connoisseurship of Longing: Paintings of 17th-century India” lecture by Molly Aitken WHERE: Seattle Asian Art Museum, 1400 E. Prospect St., Seattle WHEN: 9:30–11 a.m. COST: $5–$10 INFO: 206-654-3100
TUE 4/8 WHAT: Chamber music by Trio con Brio Copenhagen—Korean sisters Soo-Jin Hong and SooKyung Hong and Danish pianist Jens Elvekjaer WHERE: University of Washington, Meany Hall WHEN: 7:30 p.m. COST: $10–$39 INFO: 206-685-4141, www. meany.org/tickets/?prod=6307 WHAT: International Women’s Day March Call for Gender Justice/Musical Brigade & Rally “Bring the Noise! Sound the Resilience!” with appearances by Kshama Sawant, the Fandango Project, and Rogue Pinay. WHERE: Pratt Park, 1800 S. Main St., Seattle. Post-rally event at Hing Hay Park, 423 Maynard Ave. S., Seattle WHEN: 11 a.m. INFO: 360-990-9424
32 YEARS YOUR VOICE
■ EDUCATION
MARCH 29 – APRIL 4, 2014
7
Diversity Makes a Difference —Part 4 (final)—
Janae Chan Inglemoor High School “I know that Janae likes to diversify her own life by being friends with all kinds of people and not being cliquish by hanging just with people of her own background,” said her teacher Katrina Allemeier. “She is just kind and sweet to everyone.” Janae has “excellent presentation skills and a fabulous grade” in her IB psychology class, said her teacher. “Janae seems to be an incredibly organized, hard-working, and wonderful young lady.” Julie Nguyen Shorecrest High School Julie is the managing editor of her school’s newspaper. “The production of this deadline-driven publication demands a great deal of discipline, dedication, and hard work,” says her teacher Toni Nyman, “all of which are par for the course with Julie.” She has also performed more than 300 hours of community service, primarily through a food bank and also teaching English to Vietnamese students. “We can be academically smart, we can get a big degree in college, and we can land a job that makes us wealthy,” Julie wrote. “However, if we do not understand or accept culture, we are not educated individuals. Diversity is crucial for us to understand that people come from different backgrounds and we are not all the same, which is not a bad thing, it makes life more interesting.” Kyle McCrohan Inglemoor High School Kyle is pursuing a full International Baccalaureate diploma. He is the captain of both his cross-country and track and field teams. He participates in Future Business Leaders of America, is the public relations officer of the Chinese Club, and created Christmas Music for the Cure to raise money for the American Cancer Society. “Through his tremendous efforts within the classroom and beyond, Kyle truly embodies a student who exhibits a passion for seeking knowledge, collaborating with others, and understanding the importance of working to benefit a cause that impacts our global community,” said his teacher Loni Tighe. As a mix of two ethnicities, Kyle sees himself as an ambassador of cultures. “All my life, I have lived simultaneously in two cultures,” wrote Kyle, “so I know how to bridge the gap between the two and cultivate understanding across barriers.” Marissa Yamane Issaquah High School “The most important thing diversity teaches is acceptance,” wrote Marissa Yamane. “Acceptance of those who are different and may not share the same thoughts is what lets our society gain new ideas and discoveries. Some ideas may be different, but that’s the beauty of the world we live in. Diversity is what shapes our world and society today.” Marissa has been a supervisor and manager at her job. “Her teammates rate her leadership skills as a 12 out of 10,” said her employer, Dr. Skube. “I would have full confidence in her to lead any project, any team, work well with diverse people, and excel in any task I provided her with.”
Janae Chan
Julie Nguyen
Kyle McCrohan
Marissa Yamane
Priyanka Kompella
Rahwa Beyan
Samantha Murira
Sarah Sawyer
Katarina Schrag
So Yeon Jung
Stephanie Rey
Tammy Yu
Tanner Hoang
Tulasa Ghimirey
Veronique Soriano
Vy Tang
Yi Fang
Zeena Rivera
Priyanka Kompella Issaquah High School “I consider myself a smoothie of cultures,” wrote Priyanka Kompella, whose extended family consists of relatives from New Zealand, England, Italy, Australia, India, and Japan. “The meshing of cultures from different regions of the world frees us from our predispositions and broadens our horizons.” One of Priyanka’s passions is science and she participated in the Washington Aerospace Scholar Program. She is also the director of Environmental Awareness and organized a weeklong event helping students decrease their carbon footprints. Priyanka, says her teacher Keri Dean, is a conscientious, diligent, intelligent young woman, with a desire to grow and improve the community around her. “Her involvement not only highlights her strengths in leadership, it also showcases her time management skills and maturity, both of which are far beyond that of her peers,” Dean said. Rahwa Beyan Edmonds-Woodway High School When Rahwa moved from Georgia to Edmonds, she really missed the “comfort zone” of her culture. This motivated her to create a place where African Americans, as well as other cultural groups, could enjoy their history and identity, she said. “If I believed Edmonds lacked diversity,” she said, “I would bring it myself.” Rahwa is the president of her school’s Black Student Union, participates in the A Hand to Help Club, and started Verbal Expressions, a club where students are free to express themselves through dance, poetry, and music. She is the president of the Snohomish County NAACP Youth Division, and in her spare time she sings and writes poetry and songs. She is also a full-time student in the International Baccalaureate program. “Rahwa is a force to be reckoned with,” said her teacher Nancy Branom. “She wants to be involved in school activities in an effort to make a change in the school community.”
Samantha Murira Shorecrest High School “Every time I encounter Samantha Murira, my day is a little brighter and I can’t help but smile and feel so thankful to
know this subtly charismatic young lady,” says her teacher Linda Cobb. “She truly makes a difference in the lives of those {see DIVERSITY cont’d on page 12}
asianweekly northwest
8
MARCH 29 – APRIL 4, 2014
■ SPORTS
The Layup Drill
Michael Sam
Masahiro Tanaka
By Jason Cruz Northwest Asian Weekly Racism alive and well in the NFL? Former University of Missouri football player Michael Sam made waves with his landmark announcement that he was gay prior to the NFL Combine, the annual testing of college players aspiring to be drafted in the NFL. Sam said he wanted to give NFL teams full disclosure. Most scouts believe that he will be drafted and make a team. It would make him the first openly gay football player in the National Football League. The announcement was met with much support from current NFL players, celebrities, and even First Lady Michelle Obama. One would think that this outpouring of acceptance for Sam would mean that the NFL is a progressive league. Think again. A recent investigation into claims of alleged bullying
Hisashi Iwakuma
on the part of Miami Dolphins offensive lineman Richie Incognito of fellow teammate Jonathan Martin led to the discovery that Incognito and other teammates harassed and made racial slurs geared toward a trainer of Japanese descent. Incognito, a white player, and two African American players made fun of the trainer, according to a detailed report of the Dolphins organization. According to interviews, which were summarized in the report, Incognito called the trainer a “Jap” and “Chinaman.” On the anniversary of Pearl Harbor, Incognito and the other Dolphins players donned headbands with the Japanese rising sun emblem and jokingly threatened to hurt the assistant trainer in retaliation for the Pearl Harbor attack. The players thought that this was OK because they meant it as a joke and the trainer acknowledged it as a joke. The insensitive jokes about his race occurred daily. Although others saw it happening, no one did anything about it to
Photo courtesy of UW
Photo by LiAnna Davis
Photo by Neier
Photo by Marcus Qwertyus
Racism in NFL, baseball is back, and good news for UW golfer
Cheng-Tsung Pan
correct this behavior. Funny, eh? Not really. If you were to ask me, this seems like one of the most racist things you can do. The trainer likely went along with their jokes for the simple fact that he was not in a position of power to do anything about it. When interviewed during the investigation process, the unnamed assistant trainer did not feel comfortable answering questions because he felt like he would lose the trust of his players. And, of course, he’s dealing with men over 300 pounds that hit other 300-pound men for a living. Speaking out about this would likely leave him in danger if he saw these guys again. Unfortunately, this case of racial insensitivity was not just an isolated incident. Earlier this year, New England Patriots’ tight end Rob Gronkowski made derogatory statements about an Asian fan at a Patriots fan party. {see SPORTS cont’d on page 11}
Friday, March 28, 2014 • 6-9 p.m. • New Hong Kong Restaurant • 900 S. Jackson St., Seattle • 206-223-7999 diversity.nwasianweeklyfoundation.org • rsvp@nwasianweekly.com • $25 for students & family • $45 regular ticket price
Abiel Zewolday
Barbara Biney
Erick Yanzon
Julie Nguyen
Nicolas Garcia
Tammy Yu
Adora Nwankwo
Bryan Contreras
Gary Wang
Kayla Wheeler
Nicolas Tonel
Tanner Hoang
Alexis Cavagnaro
Caleb Walin
Genevieve Macdonald
Katherine Chun
Oscar Mwaba
Tulasa Ghimirey
Alyssa Chow
Charly Nelson
Hannah Stulberg
Kevin Dominguez (Sosa)
Priyanka Kompella
Veronique Soriano
Amanda Levenson
Chloe Batara
Hayden Kim
Kyle McCrohan
Rahwa Beya
Vy Tang
Ana Cervantes
Christina Nguyen
James Nelson
Llanteo Okamura
Rose Yasukochi
Yi Fang Wu
Angela Geyer
Christopher Adams
Janae Chan
Leonel Reyes
Samantha Murira
Zeena Rivera
Asosa Sailiai
Cici West
Jessica Allen
Leta Ames
Sarah “Cha Cha” Sawyer
Austin Moungchanh
Courtney Gu
Jiawan (Demi) Tu
Marissa Yamane
Schrag, Katarina
Ava Gharai
Courtney Vu
Josh Bean
Monisha Gonzales
So Yeon Jung
Ayesha Quadri
Daniel Kim
Juliana Da Cruz
Nicola LaGuardia
Stephanie Rey
Edmonds-Woodway High School Nominated by Shana Lipscomb Olympia High School Nominated by Matt Grant Issaquah High School Nominated by Cathy Blankenstein Inglemoor High School Nominated by Kieran McCormick Issaquah High School Nominated by Cathy Blankenstein Squalicum High School Nominated by Aramis Johnson Lynnwood High School Nominated by Don R. Ide Highline High School Nominated by Laura Weist Chief Sealth High School Nominated by Jol Raymond
Squalicum High School Nominated by Gabriel Mayers Shorecrest High School Nominated by Suzanne Monson
Prime Sponsor:
Mountlake Terrace High School Nominated by Nancy Paine Edmonds-Woodway High School Nominated by Brad Serka Issaquah High School Nominated by Cathy Blankenstein Issaquah High School Nominated by Cathy Blankenstein Holy Names Academy Nominated by Megan Diefenbach Chief Sealth High School Nominated by Jol Raymond
Mountlake Terrace High School Nominated by Ashley Johnson Inglemoor High School Nominated by Jan Fitzgerald Issaquah High School Nominated by Cathy Blankenstein Issaquah High School Nominated by Cathy Blankenstein Squalicum High School Nominated by Michelle Nilsen Issaquah High School Nominated by Cathy Blankenstein
O'Dea High School Nominated by Jeanne Eulberg Holy Names Academy Nominated by Alice Tanaka
Inglemoor High School Nominated by Katrina Allemeier Squalicum High School Nominated by Michelle Nilsen
Edmonds-Woodway High School Nominated by Frances Chapin Issaquah High School Nominated by Cathy Blankenstein Issaquah High School Nominated by Cathy Blankenstein
Sehome High School Nominated by Jim Gaines Issaquah High School Nominated by Cathy Blankenstein Issaquah High School Nominated by Cathy Blankenstein
Corporate Sponsors: Ying Kam Chan Eng
Sponsors: Supporting Sponsors:
Eric Liu
Shorecrest High School Nominated by Jenny Breed Mountlake Terrace High School Nominated by Nancy Paine Issaquah High School Nominated by Cathy Blankenstein Inglemoor High School Nominated by Bryan McNiel Inglemoor High School Nominated by Lonnie Tighe Roosevelt High School Nominated by Eugene Edwards Sehome High School Nominated by Lindsay MacDonald Sehome High School Nominated by Ashleigh Bobovski Issaquah High School Nominated by Cathy Blankenstein Sehome High School Nominated by Jeff Smith
Roosevelt High School Nominated by Dr. Littlebrave Beaston
O'Dea High School Nominated by Jeanne Eulberg Chief Sealth High School Nominated by Jol Raymond Issaquah High School Nominated by Cathy Blankenstein Edmonds-Woodway High School Nominated by Nancy Branom Holy Names Academy Nominated by Alice Tanaka Shorecrest High School Nominated by Suzanne Monson
Ingraham High School Nominated by Angie Allemand O'Dea High School Nominated by Jeanne Eulberg Foster High School Nominated by Lori Penor Ingraham High School Nominated by Angie Allemand Ingraham High School Nominated by Angie Allemand Inglemoor High School Nominated by Kevin Bliss Holy Names Academy Nominated by Alice Tanaka
Holy Names Academy Nominated by Alice Tanaka
Honoring Chief Sealth High School Counselor Jol Raymond for his 36 years of service
Issaquah High School Nominated by Cathy Blankenstein Issaquah High School Nominated by Cathy Blankenstein Sehome High School Nominated by Lindsay MacDonald
KEYNOTE SPEAKER
EMCEE
David Santillanes
Tina Young
President D. Lark, Inc. Women’s Foundation
O'Dea High School Nominated by Jeanne Eulberg
Director of Multicultural Services Seattle Central Community College
32 YEARS YOUR VOICE
■ arts & entertainment
MARCH 29 – APRIL 4, 2014
9
J-Pop inspired clothing designer moves studio to Sassafras in Belltown
Malia Peoples, the designer best known as Lady Konnyaku, recently moved her women’s clothing design company from Olympia to Belltown. Inspired by the comfort of knit fabrics, Japanese street fashion, and the colors and silhouettes found in mid-century vintage clothing, Peoples’ whimsical tops and dresses flaunt geometric patterns, bold hues, and playful details. “We’re so excited to have Lady Konnyaku designs at Sassafras!” says Amy Tipton, proprietor of Sassafras boutique and design studios. “The first time I saw her designs, I was blown away. Her designs are quirky and modern, with a touch of nostalgia from our childhoods, incorporating prints and fabrics that we remember from times in the not too distant past.” Working out of her space at Sassafras boutique since February, Peoples is excited to have a concrete location to test out her designs and garner a dedicated following. “Seattle is great because ours is a small pond,” says Peoples. “If a person wants to show their line, it’s really easy to get an audience here. People are supportive of one another here.” Institutions like The Wing Luke Museum and Seattle Art Museum have provided Peoples with a platform for showing off her talents. The Wing featured Lady Konnyaku’s designs in its “Fashion: From Workroom to Runway” exhibit, which brought Peoples’ work to the attention of the Seattle Art Museum. As part of SAM’s public programming for its Japanese fashion exhibition
Photo courtesy of Malia Peoples
By Shin Yu Pai Northwest Asian Weekly
Malia Peoples displays her fashion.
Future Beauty, the museum invited Peoples to offer a series of sewing workshops in conjunction with the show. As both a working artist and teacher, Peoples enjoys providing guidance and motivation to others. “This feeling goes beyond fashion and design — I love to help people feel happiness and satisfaction in life. I’ve found that in teaching, and I strive to do that with each piece of clothing I create,” says the young designer. Peoples entered the world of designing fashion after leaving a career in the nonprofit world. She worked briefly for China Labor Watch, where she put her Chinese languages skills to use as a translator. Peoples’ passion for Chinese culture grew out of
a desire to better understand her family and roots. Born in Hawaii and raised as an American, Peoples always wanted to know more about the Chinese side of her ancestry. “I wanted to get closer to my ancestors, even though they were Southerners from Macau,” says Peoples. She jumped at the opportunity to study abroad in Beijing for a year and later chose Chinese as her college major. Her proficiency in Chinese allowed her to apply her abilities to interpreting. “It was quite an experience, hearing firsthand accounts of factory life in China, as well as Bangladesh and other Southeast Asian countries,” says Peoples. But eager to explore her
creative side and a deep love for fashion informed by Japanese street styles, Peoples enrolled in classes at the New York Fashion Academy in Ballard. “I love the art of dressing oneself and wanted to learn how to make clothing,” she says. In two years, Peoples learned the skills needed to start her own clothing business. The idea for Lady Konnyaku was born when Peoples worked at Uwajimaya. She became fascinated with the packaging and marketing of Japanese foods. “There were so many ‘nonsense English’ phrases, funny phrases that made little sense,” she says. “My original plan was to find a fast-track way to sell exclusively to Japan. Part of that plan was to create a brand that was sort of
‘nonsense Japanese.’ My hope was to catch someone’s eye in the same way that ‘nonsense English’ catches my eye and makes me laugh. At the same time all of this happened, konnyaku jelly cups were being recalled due to choking deaths.” In addition to her clothing designs for women, Peoples is developing a new line of clothing for men. “Other Peoples Polyester (OPP) is influenced by a time capsule I found in my parents’ garage — a box of clothes my older brothers wore as little boys during the 1960s and 1970s.” Since Peoples already uses vintage polyester details in her Lady Konnyaku designs, she plans on carrying over her pop aesthetic to a new line of items for men and T-shirt lovers that will debut later this year. With her partner Mike McSorley, Peoples also designs and produces a line of textile bartending equipment for McSology. Last year, Peoples and McSorley successfully funded their first Kickstarter campaign to produce a craft bartender’s tool roll. The couple also fulfilled their first wholesale order of 1,000 bags to the United Kingdom in 2013. With her recent move to her new studio, Peoples hopes to be able to attract an audience for her designs. “Most Seattleites are afraid of color, and I aim to change that,” she says. Peoples also plans to focus her energies on expanding through wholesaling to cities beyond Seattle. Lady Konnyaku designs are currently carried at Sassafras, located at 2307 1st Avenue. Her online store is at http://www.etsy. com/shop/LADYkonnyaku.
King County Invitation to Bid Project: Eastgate Interceptor Rehabilitation Phase 2, Contract No. C00879C14 Sealed Bid Time/Date: 1:30 p.m., April 8, 2014 Location Due: King County Procurement & Contract Services Section, Contracts Counter, 3rd Floor, 401 Fifth Avenue, Seattle, WA 98104 Engineer’s Estimate: $830,000.00 Scope of Work: Work under this contract will consist of installing cured-in-place or spiral wound PVC pipe lining in approximately 3,575 linear feet of 24-inch diameter reinforced concrete pipe; diversion of all King County and local sewage around the worksite via a parallel King County sewer and overland pumparounds; restoration of service connections; site restoration; interior pipe preparation; interior pipe video tape surveys of sewers before and after lining; and traffic control.. Work site: Eastgate / Lake Hills area of Bellevue, Washington. Contact Information: Tina Phipps, Contract Specialist, 206-263-9329, TTY Relay: 711, tina. phipps@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: Tuesday, April 1, 2014 at 2:00 p.m., at Chinook Building, 3rd Floor, Bid Conference Room, 401 Fifth Avenue, Seattle, WA 98104. A site tour will not be conducted, however the location of the work is public and you are encouraged to visit. Subcontracting Opportunities: Traffic Control; PE for Sewage By-pass Design; and Sewer Cleaning and Videotaping Apprenticeship Requirements: No minimum Apprentice Utilization Requirement. SCS Utilization Requirements: No minimum SCS Utilization Requirement. Bid Bond: Not less than five percent (5%) of the Total Bid Price. Bid Documents Electronic copies of the plans, specifications, 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 206-3821177. 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: 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
10
MARCH 29 – APRIL 4, 2014
■ publisher’s blog
OPINION
The good and unexpected of Celebrate Asia
Celebrate Asia, which was designed to highlight the merits of Asian cultures as part of the Seattle Symphony program, got mixed reviews last Friday. Even with much effort and investment in its sixth year at Benaroya Hall, the audience gave a thumbs-down to the first part of the program — especially “Nam Mai,” a composition performed by Vietnamese and Swedish musicians synchronized with film images of a dance on a big screen. But they gave high marks to the second part, which featured a promising young composer named Shuying Li, who wrote an interesting and dynamic opera overture performed by the Seattle Symphony, and a piano concerto by Haochen Zhang. Haochen Zhang’s piano concerto The only performer to receive a standing ovation during Celebrate Asia was 23-year-old Haochen Zhang. Zhang played Edvard Grieg’s piano concerto in A minor, Op. 16. with the Seattle Symphony. Zhang saved the show. The disgruntled audience, after complaining about the early part of the program, happily cheered and applauded for the pianist, for which he returned to the stage and bowed three times. Zhang didn’t grant the audience’s wish for an encore. Zhang is different from famous pianists Lang Lang and
Nam Mai performers Nguyen Thanh Thuy, Ngo Tra My and Stefan Ostersjo
Conductor Julia Tai
Sponsors Ming Zhang of Mulvanny G2 and Eric Booker of Snoqualmie Casino with Haochen Zhang and Supersonic Fred Brown
Nobuyuki Tsujii, who performed for Celebrate Asia last year. Although Zhang and Lang had the same teacher, Gary Graffman of the Curtis Institute of Music in
Piano Competition and tied for the gold medal. Tsujii revealed The Nam Mai big screen power and emotion when he hit his fingers on the keys. But Zhang took a little longer to warm himself up. For some reason, Zhang and the orchestra did not click during the first-minute introduction of “Allegro molto moderato.” As soon as he was comfortable, he exhibited virtuosity, vitality, and strength. Zhang started the piano at age 4, and came to the United States to study when he was 14. He now performs all over the world, including Europe and Asia. He told this reporter his hobbies are reading, writing Chinese poems, and painting. How is Zhang connected to Seattle? Zhang’s mother was a childhood friend of Seattleite Peter Xu, when they went to school together. Score competition winner Shuying Li and her husband Erzhan Xu A couple out of millions Pianist Haochen Zhang It’s not unusual to meet people in China whose goal is to pursue money. But the couple I met at Celebrate Asia, Shuying Li, who won the score competition, and her husband, Erzhan Xu, might be the one couple out of thousands, if not millions, from China whose goal is different. Pre-concert display of native costumes Both are graduate students at the University of Michigan, aiming Philadelphia, Zhang is low key. He Zhang’s skills, along with his for doctoral degrees. Both are does not possess showmanship, command and depth of the music pursuing their passions — Li in which Lang fondly unveils in all for someone his age. {see BLOG cont’d on page of his concerts. Yet the longer we Zhang and Tsujii competed in 14} listened, the more we appreciated the 2009 Van Cliburn International
■ PICTORIAL First Lady in China
F
Touring the Forbidden City
irst Lady Michele Obama traveled to China March 20 through March 26 with her mother, Mrs. Marian Robinson, and daughters, Malia and Sasha Obama.
Visiting a geometry robotics Lab at the Beijing Normal School in Beijing
Touring the Great Wall of China
They visited historical and cultural sites, as well as schools, including a calligraphy class in which one student taught Mrs. Obama how to draw the character for “eternity.” They visited the Forbidden City, went to dinner and a show with saw the Summer Palace, and visited the U.S. Embassy. During the trip, the first lady hosted a roundtable with students on the topic of education, which included a
Ping pong at the Beijing Normal School
Practicing tai chi with students in Chengdu
Feeding pandas at Chengdu Panda Base
Michele Obama greets family members of the U.S. Embassy staff in Beijing.
Rope jumping at the Xi’an City Wall
Joining performers at the Xi’an City Wall
discussion on the treatment of ethnic minorities in the Chinese education system. She and her daughters toured the Great Wall of China, and rode a gondola to a high point on the wall, where news reporters said despite the heavy smog none of the Obamas wore masks. They rode toboggans down from the wall. On their last day they visited the Chengdu Panda Base, home to about 50 pandas.
Photos courtesy of the White House
Chinese President Xi Jinping and First Lady Peng Liyuan,
32 YEARS YOUR VOICE
MARCH 29 – APRIL 4, 2014
11
OPINION
■ editorial
Legal marijuana: Should you be very afraid? There’s no denying it, legal marijuana is happening. But is it a good or a bad thing? Possibly a little of both. The medicinal value of cannabis has long been touted, from treating glaucoma to easing the pain and symptoms associated with cancer and AIDS. But recreational use — that’s a tricky one. The biggest scare is probably the fear of marijuana being addictive or becoming a gateway drug to harder and more damaging drugs, such as cocaine, meth, or heroin. Science journals across the board have pegged the addiction rate at about 9 percent among those who’ve tried it, and 20 to 30 percent among those who smoke it daily, which is weird, because if you smoke pot every day, then that seems more like 100 percent. Still, the overall addiction potential for cannabis is said to be less than that of caffeine, tobacco, alcohol, cocaine, or heroin. Ultimately, pot will most likely carry the highest risk of addiction for people who become addicted to things anyway because they are simply addictive people. As for its “gateway” status, if you remove the criminal element involved with buying pot, people will be less likely to associate with drug dealers who sell not just pot, but also harder drugs. The local, legal pot store clerk’s product will not only be regulated, without mystery ingredients, he won’t be trying to upgrade you to his cocaine special the next shelf over. This may reduce some of the gateway factor people
fear. While most hard drug users probably began by smoking pot, most pot smokers do not move on to harder drugs. Health-wise, it’s only logical to assume that inhaling smoke is detrimental, especially if followed by the ingestion of an entire bag of Cheetos. But, unlike alcohol, marijuana doesn’t fuel aggressive or violent behavior — in fact, it has the opposite effect. And while no one should ever drive a vehicle under the influence of a mind-altering substance, a stoned driver is more likely to crash at 20 mph, while a drunk one will crash at 70 mph. Still, getting high all day long could really hamper your motivation to do anything constructive, unless maybe you’re an artist. In the end, it’s up to individuals to use it responsibly, just like we ask them to do everything else in life. Just because something is bad for you doesn’t mean it should be illegal. Tobacco, alcohol, unprotected sex, potato chips, soda, touching dead birds, mining for coal, driving cars, and licking frozen flagpoles are all bad for you, but perfectly legal. The federal government’s confusion over marijuana’s legality also poses risks, and those people just need to figure things out. Marijuana legalization poses a unique problem for communities of color, who already face barriers when it comes to educational and community resources, according to Washington State Liquor Control Board members Ruthann Kurose and Chris Marr (see related story on page 1), and to
anyone else with the powers of observation. Exposing their kids to easier access to pot is one headache that minority parents do not need or want. It is probably safe to say that most people in the Asian American community are against legalization. So many young Asian Americans are either immigrants or the children of immigrants who work very hard to succeed and provide opportunities for their children, from whom they demand much. And the kids know it. They study hard, get good grades, and respect the work ethic of their elders. The last thing their parents want to see is their teenager coming home stoned. It is, after all, still against federal law, and completely illegal for kids. But like alcohol, it’s very easy for them to acquire. They already have access from random dealers in the neighborhood (see other related story on page 1). Keep your grades up, kids. Either way, it’s coming. The baby boomers make up a giant swath of the American electorate, and there’s a good chance that many of them are ready to retire and get high. It’s hard to deny that a taxed and regulated marijuana industry could be a benefit for our suffering economy. We’ll just have to see how that plays out. Ultimately, marijuana is mostly harmless, but not completely harmless. Its legalization is sweeping the country. Individuals need to adjust with knowledge and discussion, not fear.
■ commentary
Chinese Americans to benefit from the Affordable Care Act By Daphne Kwok For Northwest Asian Weekly Almost one in seven Chinese Americans does not have health insurance. Chinese Americans are also at higher risk for many illnesses that can be prevented early on. For example, Chinese American women have experienced a dramatic increase in uterine cancer rates, rising 7 percent each year from 2003 to 2008. That’s why the Affordable Care Act is so important to the Chinese American community. It will help those without health insurance get affordable coverage and provides new benefits and protections for millions of Americans, including Chinese Americans. Because of the Affordable Care Act, we no longer have to pay out-of-pocket
costs for certain preventive services, such as screenings or flu shots. And we can no longer be discriminated against by an insurance company if we have a pre-existing condition, such as asthma or diabetes. More than 4 million Americans have already enrolled in health coverage through the Health Insurance Marketplace. There is no doubt that the program is working well. Millions of consumers, including thousands of Chinese Americans, many for the very first time, are now enjoying the peace of mind that comes with having health coverage. Betty Li, a young Chinese American woman from Philadelphia, Pa., is one of them. She stopped by her neighborhood community-based organization, Southeast Asian Mutual Assistance Associations
{SPORTS cont’d from page 8} Gronkowski, who is a good football player when he’s not injured, tried to make a joke with the crowd as a Patriots fan wearing his jersey danced at the fan gathering. Alcohol was the likely reason for the Asian fan’s dancing and carrying on, but that’s beside the point. Commenting on the fan’s dancing, Gronkowski told the crowd, “They told me he could only cook fried rice.” He was not done with the racist comments, as he referred to the guy as “Leslie Chow.” Chow is the flamboyant character played by Ken Jeong in The Hangover movies. Realizing that this was a public relations debacle that was being recorded on cell phones, a party organizer reminded the crowd that they would have to turn over the cell phone footage at the end of the night. I guess the organizers were not successful as Gronkowski’s remarks made it to the Internet. Believe it or not, attendees actually paid $87 each to attend the party and get a photo with Gronkowski. The question is whether or not we should be insulted by these insensitive remarks about Asian people. In the case of Incognito, he recently checked himself into a mental health facility for treatment after bashing the grill of his Porsche with a baseball bat. It’s safe to say that Incognito has problems. Gronkowski’s ignorant remarks likely resulted from his lack of public speaking experience and an unsuccessful attempt at crude humor. Still, it’s no excuse, especially when he is making a public appearance.
Coalition (SEAMAAC) in south Philadelphia, after hearing that she could receive enrollment assistance there. Betty works at a small business that doesn’t offer health insurance, so both she and her husband have been without coverage. SEAMAAC, a certified navigator, helped her apply for and enroll in a marketplace plan for the both of them. They will now pay less than a dollar a month for their coverage. HealthCare.gov is working smoothly, so visit the website to sign up for affordable healthcare. Across the country, six out of 10 uninsured Americans can get covered for $100 per month or less. For those who are limited in their English proficiency, there are also educational materials available in Chinese at ed.gov/ aapihealthcare.
While America is becoming more comfortable with diversity — shown through the support of Michael Sam — there are still pockets of people that remain stuck in their own ignorance. Yankees latest prize The latest and greatest Japanese baseball player to play in Major League Baseball is Masahiro Tanaka. The 25-year-old right-hander was signed by the New York Yankees and will make his first appearance in the major leagues at the start of the 2014 season. Sporting 24 wins and zero losses in the Japanese professional league last year, the Yankees signed Tanaka to a seven-year, $155 million contract. The deal made Tanaka one of the richest pitchers in history and he hasn’t thrown a pitch in the majors. The Yankees commitment to Tanaka conveyed what the other teams that pursued him knew — he is one of the best players to ever come out of Japan. The Yankees heavily recruited Tanaka and former Yankee Hideki Matsui helped in the process to land the young pitcher. With the announcement that Derek Jeter would be retiring at the end of this season, maybe Tanaka will be one of the faces of the Yankees franchise in the years to come. Iwakuma out during spring training Speaking of baseball, the Mariners are in spring training, but without pitching ace Hisashi Iwakuma. Iwakuma will
If you or someone you care about is uninsured, it’s not too late to sign up for quality, affordable coverage — but you’ll want to act before March 31. If you don’t enroll by March 31, you can’t enroll again until November 2014. Sign up today online at HealthCare.gov, over the phone with help available in 150 languages at the 24/7 call center at 1-800318-2596, or directly through an issuer, agent, or broker. You can also find in-person assistance in your community at localhelp. healthcare.gov. Statistics and consumer stories provided by the Association of Asian Pacific Community Health Organizations. Daphne Kwok is chair of the President’s Advisory Commission on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders.
likely not start the season with the Mariners because of a sprained tendon in his middle finger of his throwing hand. The injury may sound small, but the injured finger would affect how he pitches. It’s a downer for the Mariners, as they have been mired with poor season after poor season. Iwakuma is the second best pitcher on the Mariners and he is coming off of his best year in his career. He made the All-Star team and was one of the finalists for the American League Cy Young Award. Hopefully, Iwakuma’s finger will heal fast as the Mariners will need him this season. Pan wins British Open spot UW golfer Cheng-Tsung Pan has qualified for one of golf’s most prestigious major events, the British Open. Pan, a junior, earned the spot by tying for second at a qualifying event in Thailand. Pan is No. 14 in the World Amateur Rankings and said he was in “a state of shock” and “happy” about his grand accomplishment. The British Open will be held from July 17 through July 20 in Holylake, England. Originally from Taiwan, Pan is one of the shining stars on the UW golf team. He was an All-American in 2013 and was named the No. 1 NCAA golfer last year. Congratulations to Pan and we will look for him at The British Open in July. Jason Cruz can be reached at info@nwasianweekly.com.
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{DIVERSITY cont’d from page 7} around her.” Samantha is a member of her school’s Black Student Union, where she helps organize and host a communitywide Unity Festival. “We are young, but someday we will be the leaders of tomorrow,” wrote Samantha. “Diversity is important because it enhances society’s responsiveness to an increasingly diverse world, which can improve relations with the surrounding community and increase our ability to cope with change and expand the creativity of the society.” Sarah Cha “Cha Cha” Sawyer Holy Names Academy “What is important to Cha Cha is equal rights and fighting against prejudice,” says her college counselor Alice Tanaka. Sarah has been active in her school’s Social Justice Committee, is a leader in the Multi-Cultural Student Union, has been a co-class president, and has been recognized with a service award. She was a group leader for Shirts Across America to raise money for Hurricane Katrina and travels each spring break to help with the reconstruction of New Orleans. Sara also volunteers with Global Visionaries and at the Seattle World School. She has been involved with World Bus, which encourages young people to participate in politics. “We all have the duty and right to respect our differences, not the duty to neglect and abuse them,” wrote Sarah. “Diversity is important because it lets everyone know they have a life worth living with distinct attributes to better our society.” Katarina Schrag Issaquah High School “From the differences our ancestors identified in other cultures, commerce was born, discussions were had, and history was made,” wrote Katarina Schrag. “Diversity has created an inherently interesting global community.” Katarina combines her love of sports with charitable activities, participating in bicycling events that raise money for juvenile diabetes research and to support women against domestic violence. She told her teacher she would like to set up schools for underprivileged children in undeveloped areas, teaching them about health and nutrition. “Katarina is a gentle soul with a giving spirit,” says her teacher Carolyn Bilby. “Her active interest and good work for the community make her an ideal candidate.” So Yeon Jung Issaquah High School “If the world was a gigantic bowl of stew, having no diversity would have a bowl of only the broth,” wrote So Yeon Jung. “She has challenged herself with our school’s college preparatory coursework, including our most rigorous English and World Language classes,” said her high school counselor Stacy Carlson, adding that So Yeon is a great role model to her peers. “She has been a joy to work with, and I can’t wait to see what she will achieve in her future.” “To create the most sublime bowl of stew,” continued So Yeon, “it is absolutely necessary to have diversity — various people with distinct gifts they have to offer to their community.” {MALAYSIA cont’d from page 5} “I can only pray for a miracle,” Daniel Liau said in the early days of the search. Liau was the organizer of a calligraphic and painting exhibition in Malaysia attended by acclaimed Chinese calligrapher Meng Gaosheng, who boarded the flight with 18 other artists plus six family members and four staff. “I feel very sad. Even though I knew them for a short time, they have become my friends,” Liau said. Also traveling as a group were eight Chinese and 12 Malaysian employees of Austin, Texas, semiconductor company Freescale, which had assembled “around-theclock support” for their families. Among the family groups on board were teenage sweethearts Hadrien Wattrelos, 17, and Zhao Yan, 18, students at a French school in Beijing who were returning from the Malaysian leg of a two-week holiday, along with Hadrien’s mother and younger sister. In December, Zhao changed her Facebook profile photo to one of her and Hadrien. He had commented, “Je t’aime,” followed by a heart, and she had “liked” his comment. Some boarded the plane with more serious purposes in mind. Colleagues of Chandrika Sharma said the 50-year-old director of the Chennai chapter of an organization that
Stephanie Rey Sehome High School “Making connections to faces across borders offer endless opportunities to better understand others and ourselves,” wrote Stephanie Rey. “I’ve realized how wonderful it is not only to define myself to others, but also to experience the enrichment of embracing another culture.” Stephanie spent her junior year in Germany for the Rotary International Youth Exchange. She’s been involved with cross country, swimming, track and field, ski racing, diving, dancing, piano, and gymnastics. She was on the Youth Advisory Board of a tutoring program, sang in the church choir, and was in the leadership program of Toastmasters International. When she lived in Oregon, she was recognized by the governor for her volunteer service. Stephanie has a “deep altruistic commitment to a better world,” says her teacher Lindsay MacDonald. “She is a very impressive young woman who holds great promise.” Tammy Yu Ingraham High School Tammy experienced culture shock as a Running Start student at North Seattle Community College, where she encountered fellow students of all ages and backgrounds. “There were many students that had just moved to Seattle from different countries,” she wrote. “It was interesting to see how they adapted to the cultural norms here in Seattle. Working with them during group assignments was always fascinating. I learned that although people came from many different places across the world, we all shared one common goal, which was to attend school to have a better future. “To embrace diversity,” she added, “means to be culturally aware and to have the ability to adapt to different environments that contradict one’s own idea of social and cultural norms.” Tanner Hoang O’Dea High School “Educating ourselves on other cultures helps us relate to each other and accept the different perspectives,” wrote Tanner Hoang. “This knowledge of diversity is good because it integrates new ideas and cultures into society as well.” Tanner is immersed in academics and sports, and is a member of the school bands. “Tanner always places his highest priority on his school work,” said his assistant principal Jeanne Eulberg. “He is a motivated student who is an eager participant in each of his classes, and he has pushed himself to go beyond his comfort zone and also try new activities.” Tulasa Ghimirey Foster High School Tulasa is in the Girls Leadership Group at Seattle’s Refugee Women’s Alliance (ReWA), involved with Youth Against Tobacco, and is a volunteer with the Senior Nutrition Program. She is the president of her school’s Bhutanese Club. “Tulasa always exceeds my expectations by being a supporter and leader to the whole community,” said Lori Penor, a ReWA Youth Program teacher. “I have witnessed her strength and poise in presenting on issues that affect refugee populations and candor when reflecting on her works with fishermen was on her way from the southern Indian city to Mongolia for a Food and Agriculture Organization conference. For 24-year-old Firman Chandra Siregar from Medan, Indonesia, the flight was a new chapter. In Beijing, he was to start a three-year contract with Schlumberger, an oilfield services company. When the plane went missing, dozens of relatives and neighbors had gathered at Siregar’s family’s home, some tearful, praying, or watching news of the search and rescue operation. Like Sharma’s colleagues, they were forced to let hope ebb away. Just by chance, Liu Hongwei was not on Flight MH370. The Beijing-based head of an investment company and friend of the calligrapher Meng said that he was invited to the exhibition and cultural exchange in Malaysia as a sponsor, but that business commitments kept him from going. “That could have been me on that plane,” he said. McGuirk reported from Canberra, Australia. Researcher Fu Ting in Shanghai, Associated Press video journalist Isolda Morillo in Beijing, and AP writers Gillian Wong in Beijing, Katy Daigle in New Delhi, Ali Kotarumalos in Jakarta, Indonesia, and Eileen Ng in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, contributed to this report.
own story.” Tulasa plans to attend college and wants to enter the field of medicine. “I understand the value of diversity,” wrote Tulasa. “I will be using my skills in order to actively contribute to a world that truly accepts the diverse backgrounds we come from. Veronique Soriano Ingraham High School Veronique’s experiences dealing with prejudice has shaped her outlook on the importance of embracing diversity. “Being multiracial has helped me learn that it’s not about what you look like, but rather about who you are inside,” she wrote. “With all the challenges I have faced being multiracial, I know that I am not the only one that encounters them. There are many kids around the world that face cultural differences every day. It’s how you face them that makes you a better person.” Vy Tang Ingraham High School “Being different is what makes us interesting,” wrote Vy Tang. “Our individual opinions build who we are as a person in society. To me, the passion of learning about another culture is a significant key factor in creating a mentally healthy, peaceful community. Diversity creates open mindedness, where any idea or culture can be accepted. Having diversity anywhere is important, because it creates a sense of togetherness.” Yi Fang (Yvonne Wu) Inglemoor High School “Yvonne is the sort of student who will make the best of every opportunity given to her,” said her teacher Kevin Bliss. When Yvonne first came to America, she said she did not have any concept of diversity. But when she began taking Spanish classes, she made Hispanic friends and was “amazed by their open, cheerful, and lively culture,” she said. “It was a big lesson for me, not just learning the language, but also learning the culture. I started to learn and respect other cultures and backgrounds. “To absorb different cultures not only can help me know others better, but also improve myself,” she added. Zeena Rivera Holy Names Academy “Zeena Rivera is an amazingly astute and talented individual,” said her school’s college counselor Alice Tanaka. “She marches to the beat of her own drum and is proud of her accomplishments.” Zeena Rivera is the founder and editor-in-chief of Be! Magazine, an online nonprofit magazine written by and for LGBTQ youth and allies. She has interned at the Seattle Nativity School, participated in Junior State of America, has been on the speech team, and pursues theater, music, volunteering, writing, and more. Diversity is important in our world because alone we are only parts. The things that make us foreigners or weird can also make us familiar and resilient. Our differences have the power to empower and unite us as members of a greater community. I have a choice in whether I let my differences inhibit or enable my ability to give to the world, she added.
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32 YEARS YOUR VOICE
■ astrology
MARCH 29 – APRIL 4, 2014
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For the week of March 29–April 4, 2014 By Sun Lee Chang Rat — As a natural negotiator, you know that the trick to making a good deal is by listening carefully before you speak.
Dragon — A spur-of-the-moment decision could have long-lasting ramifications. While it may be hard to adjust, you will be glad you made the leap of faith.
Monkey — Has somebody spoken out of turn, much to your dissatisfaction? Keep your cool. There is no reason to escalate the conversation into an argument.
Ox — Ever aware of the things to be thankful for, you inspire others with your humble and gracious attitude.
Snake — Are you finding it difficult to separate truth from fiction? People may be telling you what you want to hear — even if it is not accurate.
Rooster — Conventional wisdom may work for some, but you want to make your own way in the world with the knowledge you’ve gained from personal experience.
Tiger — Finding it hard to relate to a different generation? Whether they are younger or older, be patient as you search for common ground.
Horse — Do you feel as though your destiny is waiting for you just around the corner? It very well may be, but don’t forget to enjoy the present as well.
Dog — Does it seem a little too quiet for your liking? As one who is used to commotion, the relative calm could take some getting used to.
Rabbit — Why look for conflict right now when you can choose the path of lesser resistance? Allow yourself to flow easily from one task to the next.
Goat —With the advantage of advance warning, cover your bases while you still can. A little bit of effort on the front end will save time and trouble later.
Pig — By choosing to spend less in certain areas, you will soon have enough to make a down payment on a desirable investment.
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.
{BEACON HILL cont’d from page 3} in participating in the community,” she said. Zumba is a fitness program that combines Latin and international music dance moves. It has increased in popularity around the globe in recent years. “I love Zumba, it’s just so much fun,” said Lum-Nye. “You get people together, and it doesn’t seem like a workout. It’s like a dance party.” The Zumbathon will take place on Saturday, April 5, from 10 a.m. until noon at Jefferson Community Center in Seattle. Four teams of instructors will donate their time and effort as they lead two hours of Zumba exercises. LumNye encourages anybody who enjoys Zumba, is curious about it, or simply wants to help students in need, to attend. “People can expect to have fun. They’ll just want to move and enjoy the music.” Local merchants have offered cash donations to help cover the event expenses and in-kind gifts for raffle prizes and goodie bags. Lum-Nye believes it is important for people, young and old, to experience life in another country. After studying abroad in college, she lived and worked in Hong Kong for several years. Although she came to the country speaking only English, she had achieved conversational fluency in Cantonese by the end of her stay. Lum-Nye wants the Mandarin program students to have the same cross-cultural enrichment. “The trip is a way to facilitate the curriculum, and to take it out of the textbooks and travel abroad,” she said. “It’s a great opportunity for the students to create a sense of community and to work together. If you don’t build a sense of community now, you wouldn’t know how to build it as an adult,” she said. Lum-Nye hopes that members of the community will break a sweat for students who have spent years working it out inside the classroom. “We want it to really be an event, not just a fundraiser. It’ll be one fun party. We hope this is the first of several.” Zumbathon participants may register at brownpapertickets.com ($20 donation) or pay cash at the door ($25 donation). Donations to the BHIS 2015 China trip fund may also be made at: https://www374.safesecureweb. com/alliance4edo/donate/donate-individualschool.asp?school=20504+BHIS+Class+ of+2015 Evangeline Cafe can be reached at info@ nwasianweekly.com.
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MARCH 29 – APRIL 4, 2014
{SHIGERU BAN cont’d from page 5} there for 10 years, he said, because of affection for it. Ultimately it was dismantled to make way for a permanent structure and rebuilt in Taiwan as a community center. “Even a building that is made of paper can permanent, as long as people love it,” he said. “And even a concrete building can be temporary, as we see in earthquakes.” Ban grew up in Japan and traveled to the United States at age 17, hoping to study architecture at Cooper Union in New York. But he learned upon arrival that the school didn’t take foreign students, except as transfers. He discovered the Southern California Institute of Architecture, where he studied for several years, and eventually transferred to Cooper Union. In 1985, he started his own practice in Tokyo. One of his earliest projects: A boutique for his mother, a fashion designer. Now based in three cities, Ban said he felt nonetheless a little underqualified for the Pritzker award.
“It’s too early,” he said. “I haven’t achieved enough, so I am taking this as encouragement for my future work,” he said. He also said he wanted to be careful not to let the prize cause him to expand his offices and overstretch himself. Ban mused that he gets similar satisfaction seeing people enjoy his most expensive designs or his simplest structures of paper. “Sometimes people are so happy in my temporary shelters that they don’t want to move out,” he said. “And the same with my work for private clients. The satisfaction is the same — I just love to make nice spaces for people to enjoy.” Sponsored by the Hyatt Foundation, the annual Pritzker Architecture Prize was established in 1979 by the late entrepreneur Jay A. Pritzker and his wife, Cindy, to honor “a living architect whose built work demonstrates a combination of those qualities of talent, vision and commitment, which has produced consistent and significant contributions to humanity and the built environment through the art of architecture.”
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{BLOG cont’d from page 10} music and her husband in social work. “Social work?” I asked. So it’s not those subjects, including business, technology, communication, or international studies, that many Chinese nationals are attracted to? He was the first person from China that I ever met who was more interested in helping other people. What exactly does Xu want to do with a degree in social work in China? “Community organizing,” he said. Now, that’s not a field for making money. Can it be much of a career in China? You never know. President Obama was a community organizer before. See where he is now! Nam Mai is like “horror music” When talking about the first part of the concert, many politely responded, “I just don’t know.” A few shook their heads. One said, “I liked it when it ended…I didn’t know how to follow what the musicians and composers were trying to do.” A few simply said, “I don’t like it.” One young man said, “It (Nam Mai) sounds like music for horror movies.” The melody focused on tension, fear, dissonance, drama, and horror. It is a piece for sophisticated audiences, who are accustomed to classical music. However, most of the Celebrate Asia audience is made up of the general public, who might not understand complex music. Many, like me, were there to support the Asian community, not music fans. The images projected on the big screen for the music was distracting. I did not find one person, among the dozens I interviewed, who enjoyed the visual effects. Strangely, some indicated they liked Nguyen Thanh Thuy, who played the Vietnamese string instrument and changed her costumes to tie in with the mood of the music she performed. In fairness, Nam Mai is a wonderful collaboration between the East and West — talented Scandinavian and Vietnamese artists. For two consecutive years, Celebrate Asia has presented a disappointing first part of the program. If there was a drop in attendance (1,425 this year and over 2,000 last year), that might be the reason. Viewers I talked to suggested to the committee that they select more pleasant and popular melodies for next year. On a Friday night, people are more interested in relaxing music. Few appreciate music with a mingling of unresolved musical chords, which induces stress.
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32 YEARS YOUR VOICE
MARCH 29 – APRIL 4, 2014
stores. Colorado had the same issue, as nine of the top 10 Colorado cities either had bans or moratoriums in place, but Marr doesn’t think it’ll be as bad in Washington State. The board is concerned that the black market will continue to operate if there are more bans in place. Marr said they are working with the local government to address some of these concerns. In addition to the bans, there are still challenges with the initiative. Financially, medical marijuana has largely been run on a cash system, and some folks are unable to obtain loans from the banks.
{I-502 cont’d from page 1} said Marr. Both Marr and Kurose agreed that the greater availability of marijuana would have a larger impact on communities of color, where resources are generally less available. “We wanted to make sure that everyone had a voice in the process, so we held public forums around the state, and worked carefully to include community input in our decisions,” Kurose said. The board also worked with the community to create rules specifically to prevent underage use of marijuana, such as restrictions on advertising around schools, penalties for allowing minors to enter stores, and serious criminal charges for selling to minors. These penalties are harsher than their alcohol-related counterparts because of federal directives, Kurose stated. “As legalization gains momentum and passes in other states, the need for a federal response grows. The current federal system for marijuana enforcement disproportionately affects communities of color,” Kurose said. She said that the government needs to focus its resources on more serious threats to society, instead of nonviolent drug offenses. Local organizations, such as Sea Mar and the International Community Health Services (ICHS), have spoken out about the need for linguistically appropriate needs for marijuana education. {NGUYEN cont’d from page 1} United States. In 2004, Nguyen began serving a prison sentence for his illegal operation. It was during this time that he learned his relatives had spent the money they were supposed to hold for him. “A good family man” Nguyen was born in Vietnam, the youngest in a family of 10. He grew up squalor, and was the only member of his family to attend school. In 1990 he immigrated to the United States, where he eventually earned citizenship. He met his common-law wife while finishing high school. According to court documents, Nguyen is the father of four children. He earned an associate degree from Shoreline Community College and attended the University of Washington and Seattle Pacific University, but did not earn a college degree. Phuong “Tina” Pham, the mother of Nguyen’s four children, wrote a letter to the court prior to the sentencing, requesting the court take into consideration their family. She described the man that the U.S. Attorney characterized as an “angry and violent man, with a long history of committing very serious crimes,” as “a good family man.” Pham said Nguyen always woke up first to make breakfast for their children and drive them to school, so that she could sleep in. Nguyen’s Criminal History Nguyen’s criminal history revealed a different person. Court documents show Nguyen turned to selling marijuana after working several jobs that did not produce much in earnings. Nguyen and his business partner, Nghia “Neal” Pham, employed Vietnamese and East Indian associates to help him launder money and traffic marijuana from Canada to the United States. When law enforcement sentenced Nguyen in December 2004 and shut down his drug business, the government seized more than 3,000 pounds of marijuana and nearly $1.8 million dollars in drug proceeds, according to court records. “Sleep with the fish” While in prison, Nguyen left some of his properties in care of members of his wife’s family in Vietnam. This included $100,000 he left with a nephew known as “Bon” to look after while he was in prison. After Nguyen instructed Bon that he could spend “only the interest earned on the money,” he discovered that Bon had almost spent the whole amount. When Nguyen was released from prison in 2011, and still under federal supervision for his prior offenses, he inquired
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Looking ahead “People are going to have to be patient because it will take some time. I feel pretty confident that we’ll have a system that balances people’s concerns about public safety and usage, and generate state revenue. It’s really important for the public to continue to be engaged,” Marr explained. Marr said that the Office of Financial Management estimated that the recreational marijuana industry could make from zero to $1.9 billion dollars in five years. He also added that the Revenue Forecast Council predicted about $1 billion for five years. Kurose said, “I-502 passing was a landmark event. Legalization poses many policy and operational uncertainties, but it challenges us and makes the work unique.”
Economic impacts Marr said that consultants said that they would get 13 percent of the market on the first day of sales, and they’d be lucky to get 25 percent. The rest of the market would be illegal or medical marijuana sales. “We know we won’t displace the marketplace that already exists, it’ll take a number of years.” “It’ll be one of the more significant additions to state revenue that the state has seen in the years,” Marr said. “I’m optimistic about the effect the new tax revenue will have in allowing our state to take a more public health oriented approach to marijuana use and help community and schoolbased programs, particularly in underserved communities,” Kurose said. Marr explained that rural areas tend to ban the marijuana
about carrying out the murders of Bon and others he believed had squandered his money. After an informant’s tip, an undercover agent from Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) was introduced to Nguyen. After many phone calls and communications, it became clear to HSI that Nguyen wanted to make a plan to kill Bon and others. Nguyen’s initial idea was to have Bon work with the hired assassins in Vietnam to show them where the people were located, and then have the assassins turn on Bon and kill him as well. Nguyen indicated that he would pay $5,000 per murder, and then pay $6,000 for the killing of Bon. According to court documents, Nguyen went to a Starbucks in Tukwila to meet with an undercover FBI agent whom he believed to be one of the assassins. They went over the plan to murder the individuals. As a sign of good faith, Nguyen gave the agent $200 as “coffee money” to reflect his intent on using them as assassins. Nguyen made it clear that he wanted the people he identified to “sleep with the fish,” according to Homeland Security Assistant Special Agent in Charge Aaron Wilson. He had the locations of the individuals he wanted killed, photos, and potential escape routes for the killers. “He was detail-oriented,” Wilson said of Nguyen’s meticulous plans. “He was laserfocused and unmistakably driven…to have these people killed.” Nguyen proposed a variety of methods to murder the targets, said Wilson, including shooting and firebombing. He wanted to be sure the bodies were “not disposed in a hidden way,” meaning Nguyen wanted relatives to find the bodies. He wanted the murders to be in the news, said Wilson, so the killings would serve as a warning to others. Throughout the sting operation, Nguyen was “surveillance conscious” and wary of being followed in public by authorities, said Wilson. Nguyen used pre-paid cell phones and switched sim cards in phones to ensure that there could be little chance that his conversations or locations could be traced. It was through coordinated efforts with the HSI special agents in Vietnam and the Vietnam Ministry of Public Security that the plot to kill several people was eventually thwarted. Nguyen was arrested in July 2012. Threats “Lost in Translation” Attorneys for Nguyen paint a different picture of Nguyen’s threats, claiming they were “lost in translation.” Through his counsel, Nguyen wanted to be clear that he was “simply venting and ‘talking big’ to some fellow Vietnamese friends.” He said this kind of talk was customary in Vietnamese culture. In a letter to the court,
Nina Huang can be reached at info@nwasianweekly.com.
Nguyen claimed that he was just running his mouth. Defense attorneys submitted letters, including some from family members who were targets of Nguyen’s plot. Even though the relatives cooperated with depositions and discussed openly about Nguyen’s tendencies toward violent and angry behavior, they did not condemn him. Wilson believes that the relatives still depend on Nguyen for their own financial stability. “Long Van Nguyen was the goose that laid the golden egg,” said Judge Lasnik at the sentencing hearing. Lasnik believed that Nguyen sent millions of dollars back to Vietnam, which is why the relatives, whom Nguyen wanted to make “sleep with the
fish,” want him to continue sending them money. “Nguyen’s actions cannot be dismissed as puffery or culturally acceptable behavior,” said Wilson. “If the persons that Nguyen was speaking to were not agents investigating the case, then those persons would have followed through and carried out the killings.” In addition to the 14 years in prison, federal authorities seized $10,000 from Nguyen’s garage, which he was going to use in part to pay for the hits on his relatives. Nguyen’s lawyers did not respond to a request for comment on this story. Jason Cruz can be reached at info@ nwasianweekly.com.
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{BAE cont’d from page 1} tours into North Korea. Established in the early 1990s, the Rason lies at the northeastern tip of North Korea, next to Tumen River, which separates a portion of North Korea from China and flows into the Sea of Japan. Relatively shallow and narrow, the Tumen has been used as a passageway to China by North Korean defectors for decades. “He was really into business,” said Chung, explaining her brother’s motives for creating a business that led tours into North Korea. “He had a family really young and he felt very responsible because of it. He wanted to make sure he could provide for them. He had an entrepreneurial spirit.” “He also wanted to help because he saw a need there,” she added. “He felt he was helping people contribute to the [North Korean] economy. He wanted foreign investors to contribute to the economy. He felt very compelled to do that because he had visited that area a few times before moving there. He just fell for its people, saw their hardships.” There are state-owned and private tour bureaus and operations for travel in North Korea. Though known to be extremely controlled by the government, North Korean tourism has seen modest increases in recent years to increase foreign investment. The idea of bicycle tours and cruise ships may seem incongruent to the typical Western image of North Korea, but they do exist. In the summer of 2011, North Korea opened its northern borders to Chinese citizens, allowing tourists to drive their own vehicles into the North Korean town of Luo. In 2012, tourists were allowed to bring their own mobile devices into North Korean, though they have to use North Korean sim cards. Family background Born in 1972, Terri Chung is four years younger than her brother. She describes their family as a close-knit family of four. They grew up in Seoul and were middle-class — fairly comfortable, she said. But, citing more opportunities, such as better education, their parents sought immigration to the United States. Korean immigrants to the United States experienced a boon after 1965, with the Immigration Act of 1965, which abolished racist immigration laws that heavily favored Northwestern European immigrations. During the 1970s and 1980s, South Korea had a relatively low standard of living. According to a 2011 report by Pyong Gap Min entitled “Koreans’ Immigration to the U.S.: History and Contemporary Trends,” per capita income in South Korea was $1,355 in 1980, one-eighth that of the
United States in the same year. The study also cites political “insecurity and lack of political freedom associated with military dictatorship between 1960 and 1987” as another reason South Koreans — even middle-class families like the Baes and high-class families — to make the move. Getting a visa was competitive. The Baes got the good news in autumn of 1984. However, their father, a notable college baseball manager and coach, got offered a job for a pro team he didn’t want to refuse. He stayed behind. His wife and two children left. “Maybe that’s why Kenneth was so protective of me when we were growing up. He felt like —” Chung paused to find the right way to articulate her thought. “You know.” They landed in California. Bae was a sophomore in high school and Chung just starting middle school. “I think it was easy to adjust to American culture,” Chung said. “We had a pretty strong community where we were in California. Our church community made it easy.” “I think it was easier for me than Kenneth because I was younger,” she added. Chung graduated from Wellesley College with a degree in English. Bae attended the University of Oregon and studied psychology. He dropped out after two years to support his family. Chung married and moved with her husband to Edmonds. Her mother and brother followed, settling nearby in Lynnwood. After Bae moved to China, he still visited home, coming back annually during Christmas. Failing health On March 17, 2009, journalists Euna Lee and Laura Ling were arrested for crossing the border into North Korea from China without a visa. They were sentenced to 12 years hard labor around June 16, 2009. They didn’t serve their sentence, as they were pardoned by Kim Jong-il a month and a half later. In late October 2013, retired businessman and former U.S. Army officer Merrill Newman was detained in North Korea, after completing a nine-day tour. He was released 42 days later on Dec. 7, 2013. Chung doesn’t know why her brother has been imprisoned an inordinate length of time. She is very careful and deliberate when she talks about her brother because she’s become hyper aware of how the media can positively or negatively influence her brother’s situation. They’ve only had a handful of very short phone calls since his imprisonment. His health took a downturn — he was hospitalized from Aug. 5 to Jan. 20 — during which time their mother, Myunghee Bae, was able to visit him briefly. She reported that he had lost more than 50 pounds in three
months. Since his release from the hospital, he’s presumably back to serving his hard labor sentence — eight hours a day, six days a week. The conversations Chung has had with Bae are short, five to 10 minutes and only three have taken place in the last 16 months. “We asked if he was okay, how he was doing, how he was holding up,” Chung said. “He just reiterated the same message, that he needed help.” Next steps By default, Chung is the sole contact person for all inquiries and matters involving her brother. Some of her days consist of giving interview after interview to press, managing web content about her brother, writing letters and press releases, and coordinating with the State Department, members of Congress, and media organizations. Other days consist of following up on inquirie and reaching out to experts on North Korea for advice. She’s often on back-to-back phone calls for hours at a time. For the better part of a year, she tried to balance it all with her job of 17 years as a college instructor, with mixed success. There were days she was on national TV from 3 a.m. to 9 a.m., taught her classes from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., gave interviews well into the night, and was woken up again at 4 a.m. by reporters on the East Coast. This spring, she reluctantly stepped away from teaching, taking leave. “It’s hard to do as a teacher,” said Chung. “You’re committed to your students. You love your job. They have to find replacement teachers. It’s very hard to walk out and have someone come in mid-quarter.” “We want to make sure he’s not forgotten,” she said. “That’s our biggest fear. Right now, there are a lot of things happening in the world — when there are big world events, this fades from the limelight and nobody knows anything about it. We just want attention on the case. We want people to write to their representatives, write to Sen. [John] Kerry. We want to make sure there’s constant presence in the news and on social media, so that people don’t forget about this American. He’s been detained longer than any other American. It’s been 500 days.” For more information: freekennow.com, facebook.com/ FreeKennethBae, twitter.com/FreeKennethNow. To sign a petition: change.org/freekennow. To participate in a letterwriting campaign: letterforkennethbae@gmail.com (letters will be screened). Stacy Nguyen can be reached at info@nwasianweekly. com.
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