VOL 35 NO 15 | APRIL 9 – APRIL 15, 2016

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VOL 35 NO 15

APRIL 9 – APRIL 15, 2016

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34 YEARS YOUR VOICE

Photo by George Liu/NWAW

Image by Stacy Nguyen/NWAW

GARY LOCKE

It’s a bird, it’s a plane... it’s Asian Superman?

Gary Locke in front of Hing Hay Park on Thursday, March 31.

From notable “firsts” to a private citizen: One-on-one with the Honorable Gary Locke

By Ruth Bayang NORTHWEST ASIAN WEEKLY

The thin blue line: SPD struggles with recruiting API community members

By Andrew Kim NORTHWEST ASIAN WEEKLY

see LOCKE on 16

see SUPERMAN on 13

Thousands jam SR 520 Bridge grand opening

By John Liu NORTHWEST ASIAN WEEKLY On April 2, the longest floating bridge in the world opened up to the public for the first time. This would be the SR 520 Bridge.

The public had a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to walk on the bridge, undisturbed by vehicle traffic. A walkway on the north side of the bridge would be completed in three weeks, allowing people on the bridge from the Eastside. However, pedestrians and

bikers will not be able to head into Seattle until 2017.

My original plan was to get on the 520 bridge in time for the grand opening ceremony at 10:30 a.m. I quickly realized that was not going to happen when I saw the long line that snaked all the way to Stevens Way from the shuttle bus station. There were about 200 people. Surprisingly, the line moved quickly and I got on a shuttle bus in 20 minutes.

I ended up missing the opening ceremony as I

PRECARIOUS WORK SCHEDULES COMMON Study reveals how APIs are affected » see 3

QUEST FOR JUSTICE The famous legal case of Fred Korematsu, through the eyes of a Seattle professor » see 7

see SR 520 on 3 See related pictorial on 9

Police brutality, misconduct, and shootings have dominated news headlines in the past few years and Seattle has been no exception.

In 2012, the shooting death of John Williams, a Native American woodcarver, and other serious incidents involving the Seattle Police Department (SPD) and people of color eventually led to a settlement between the City of Seattle and the U.S. Department of Justice. As part of this settlement, the City of Seattle agreed to implement sustainable reform see SPD on 15

GL: I have my own consulting practice. I advise both the U.S. and Chinese companies on cross-border trade and investments… corporate social responsibility, how to be active in the community and improve their public relations.

I’m also part-time at my old law firm where I serve as consultant to the clients of the firm. I’m not doing legal work, I advise them on U.S.-China issues.

“Superheroes aren’t people,” said Daniel Nguyen, an account manager. “The comics medium makes it very difficult to show them as anything other than a faceless list of attributes. Flight. Strength. Laser eyes. Whatever. And I specifically use the word ‘faceless’ because who knows what Superman looks like? What are Batman’s distinctive facial features? We don’t really know. And every artist has a different interpretation. Plus — most of them wear masks all the time. …”

“This makes the issue of race a slightly tricky one to handle when stories involve giant monsters and alien

ON GARY, THE PRIVATE CITIZEN

He was first the Chinese governor in the United States, first Chinese American U.S. ambassador to China, first Chinese American commerce secretary, and the King County Executive.

Gary Locke is a private citizen now, and chatted with the Northwest Asian Weekly on March 31 to share his thoughts on the presidential race, his time in China, and whether he’ll run for office again.

By Stacy Nguyen NORTHWEST ASIAN WEEKLY

EN MASSE ENTREPRENEUR Under 40 gaming veteran, Chris Lee, on his rise to the top » see 8

MONEY WISE Publisher Assunta Ng’s views and tips on attaining financial independence » see 10

COMMUNITY » 3 CALENDAR » 6 SUDOKU » 6 Photo by John Liu/NWAW

ASTROLOGY » 15

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34 YEARS

APRIL 9 – APRIL 15, 2016

■ NAMES IN THE NEWS Governor signs educational opportunity gap bill

Linda Spain

Gov. Jay Inslee signed House Bill 1541 into law on March 30 at Aki Kurose Middle School in Seattle. The bill, sponsored by Rep. Sharon Tomiko Santos (D–Seattle), would implement strategies to close the educational opportunity gaps, and requires schools to collect and report data by Asian ethnicities so educators will have a better understanding of how to support students.

Southeast Asia Resource Action Center (SEARAC) Executive Director Quyen Dinh said, “This data will empower communities to develop and lead solutions to meet the challenges and recognize the full assets of AAPI students who have been systematically rendered invisible in our education data system.”

HB 1541 also addresses structural problems within the educational system that disproportionately affect students of color and reduce their opportunities to excel academically. These problems include the disconnect between students of color and their educators, as well as the disconnect between schools and families of students of color. The bill also addresses student discipline reform. 

Seattle Neighborhood Group undergoes change in leadership Linda Spain is now at the helm of Seattle Neighborhood

Group (SNG), as of April 1. Spain has been involved in nonprofit leadership for many years, at both the executive and board level. She has served as associate director of SNG since 2010. The native Seattleite and Filipina will lead the organization while the board of directors undertakes a search for the next permanent executive director.

Kay Godefroy, who founded SNG in 1989, retired on March 31. Today, SNG hosts more than 100 community events annually, including those in the International District, to teach personal safety, prevent identity theft, and to help neighbors solve problems. Their training brochures are translated into 11 languages.

AWAKE event sheds light on worldwide sustainability Photo by Stacy Nguyen/NWAW

Gov. Jay Inslee signs House Bill 1541 on March 30. Bill sponsor Rep. Sharon Tomiko Santos receives the pen used to sign the measure into law.

Kay Godefroy

Women of diverse backgrounds listen as Kara Hurst talks about female leadership and corporate responsibility.

On March 1, dozens of women came together to listen to Amazon Director of Worldwide Sustainability

Kara Hurst speak on female leadership at the Alliance of Women Achieving Knowledge and Excellence (AWAKE)’s quarterly event, which took place at K&L Gates LLP in Seattle.

Hurst leads the development and evolution of sustainability and social responsibility at Amazon worldwide. Utilizing Amazon’s scale, speed, and innovation, Hurst’s teams focus on Amazon’s key social and environmental opportunities across all of Amazon’s business areas globally.

AWAKE is a nonprofit that brings women together across professions. Its board members are: Nette Brintzenhofe Santamaria, Sondra Firestein, Jaekyoung Hong, Katie Lai, Jocelyne Nadeau, Mary Nickel-Nguy, Kendra Nickel-Nguy, Nina Saxena, Yan Perng, and Rachael Wallace. 

Angela Funamori awarded business scholarship from CWU–Lynnwood Angela Funamori was awarded a School of Business Scholarship from Central Washington University (CWU)’s Lynnwood campus.

“I have never felt so connected within a school program, and every day I am grateful for my decision of furthering my education and going to CWU,” said Funamori.

Angela Funamori “It is such an accomplishment, a blessing, and a humbling experience to see the hard work pay off through all of the adversity,” she added.

Funamori, who is half Filipina, currently works in the operations department of a small community bank.

She is the secretary of the Lynnwood Society of Student Accountants Club. 

YOUR VOICE

■ COMMUNITY NEWS

APRIL 9 – APRIL 15, 2016

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Unstable work schedules hit API women hardest The survey also found that women were almost twice as likely as men to get less than a week’s notice of their schedules.

Working Washington wrote, “You can’t live your life on a few day’s notice. You can’t make a budget if you can’t predict your paycheck because your hours change dramatically from one week to the next. And you can’t build a better future when you don’t have the flexibility to go back to school, get a second job, or start your own business.”

More than half of workers surveyed said they had worked “clopenings” (workers closing the store late at night and returning just a few hours later to reopen) and most said they experienced significant changes in the total number of hours they’re scheduled from week to week.

The report also found people of color are more likely to report wanting more hours than they’re scheduled for, and also more likely to say their work schedule interferes with their ability to find a second job. 

SR 520 from 1 predicted. During the grand opening celebration, there were exhibits explaining how the bridge was built, food trucks, and lots of opportunities to take pictures.

Getting back was a nightmare, as I heard the shuttle bus lines were over a mile long. Luckily, my friends found a great solution. On the east end of the bridge, there were very few people heading back to the west end and vice versa. It took us about 20 minutes to get back to the University of Washington. Afterwards, we joked that if you were waiting for a shuttle bus on the east end, it would be faster if you took the bus to the west end, got off, and waited in line for the bus to take you all the way to Bellevue.

At around 2:30 p.m., the event could no longer handle the crowd. Food trucks were the only source of food on the bridge, and they were closing up because they had sold all of their food. Those waiting in line were turned away and upset. At the same time, the 520 Bridge had reached capacity and in-bound buses had stopped. Once again, those waiting in line were turned away.

My friends and I eventually settled on eating at a restaurant on University Way. I walked over eight miles on the bridge alone and realized how lucky I was to experience

this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity without waiting hours in line.

520 bike ride

After that crazy experience, I did not know what to expect the following day, as 7,000 people participated in the 20-mile Emerald City Bike Ride. My plan was to use the light rail. I had read that each light rail car could hold up to two bikes.

Each light rail train was supposed to hold only four bikes.

If the train’s bike capacity was full, the rules stated that you needed to wait for the next train. The train was packed with over 10 bikes, but surprisingly, there was enough room for all of us. There were not many Sunday commuters at 6:40 a.m. who were not headed to the bike ride.

The bike ride started, and we quickly hit a bottleneck.

The Montlake Bridge was still open for traffic on the northbound lane, which meant we were all crammed into a 5-foot wide road. Bikers quickly joked this should be called the Emerald City Bike Walk. The pace was around 5 mph until the end of the 520 Bridge. Many people stopped here to take photos.

The 520 westbound ride was much smoother as the lane was wider, making it easier to pass slower riders. Biking on the I-5 express lanes was an amazing experience, and

Images by Working Washington

Survey finds unpredictable work schedules are pervasive in Seattle’s service industry, particularly for women and people of color Working Washington says businesses need to do a better job of giving out work schedules with more advance notice.

In a report released March 31, the union-funded advocacy group wrote, “Unpredictable, insecure schedules have become an emergency for thousands of Seattle workers who are denied the flexibility they need to plan time with their families, live balanced lives, and participate in their communities.”

Here are some key findings for Asian Pacific Islander (API) workers surveyed: • All of the part-time API workers surveyed had their work weeks vary by eight hours or more — a weekto-week difference of a full-time work day.

• 50 percent of part-time API workers reported they were expected to have open availability.

• 58 percent of surveyed API workers get their schedules one week or less in advance.

I started thinking of creative ways to take pictures. I took pictures of the freeway and speed limit signs. Most bikers, consisting of families, had finished their eight miles, so there were fewer bikers on this 3.7-mile stretch. You literally could take a picture without any bikers around.

At around 14 miles, the Hing Hay Park served as the first rest stop. I had never seen so many bikers there before.

I met a lot of the local International District community members from the Seattle Chinatown International District Preservation and Development Authority and International District Emergency Center. They did a great job making sure everyone got snacks and water. Even the line to the porta-potties was organized.

The bike ride continued on Lake Washington Boulevard all the way to Husky Stadium. Although there were a few anticipated hiccups, I found the bike ride to be a very enjoyable experience.

Thanks to the Cascade Bicycle Club, International District community members, and other volunteers who coordinated the Emerald City Bike Ride.  See related pictorial on page 9.

John Liu can be reached at john@nwasianweekly.com.

KING COUNTY NOTICE TO BIDDERS Sealed bids will be received for C01032C16, Countyline Levee Setback; by the King County Procurement and Payables Section, 3rd Floor, 401 Fifth Avenue, Seattle, WA 98104, until 1:30 PM on April 21, 2016. Late bids will not be accepted.

The project consists of the installation of temporary sediment and erosion control measures, tree removal, clearing, timber pile installation, the construction of a setback levee and engineered logjams (ELJs), removal of an existing levee, site grading, and site preparation for revegetation (by others).

Estimated contract price: $10,500,000 to $12,500,000 MANDATORY Pre-Bid / Site Tour: April 12th at 2:30 p.m. or April 13th at 8:30 a.m.

Pacific-Algona Community Center, East Room, 305 Milwaukee Blvd. S, Pacific, WA 98047. A site tour will be conducted immediately following the conference.

FAILURE TO ATTEND ONE OF THE MANDATORY MEETINGS AND SITE TOUR WILL RESULT IN A NON-RESPONSIVE BID DETERMINATION. A sign in sheet will provide evidence of attendance. It is your responsibility to ensure your sign in.

Apprenticeship Requirements: 12% minimum Apprentice Utilization Requirement.

SCS Utilization Requirements: 10% minimum requirement for King County Certified Small Contractors and Suppliers (SCS).

Complete Invitation to Bid Documents, including all project details, specifications, and contact information are available on our web page at: https://procurement. kingcounty.gov/procurement_ovr/default.aspx

BE A FOLLOWER visit nwasianweekly.com

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APRIL 9 – APRIL 15, 2016

34 YEARS

■ NATIONAL NEWS

Candidate apologizes for remarks about Vietnamese Americans

By Christian Hill THE REGISTER-GUARD EUGENE, Ore. (AP) — Faye Stewart, the East Lane County, Oregon commissioner who is running for the U.S. Senate, has apologized for remarks condemned by some Vietnamese Americans as insensitive and dehumanizing.

Stewart made the remarks at a March 10 forum at George Fox University in Newberg for the candidates seeking to unseat incumbent U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden (D–Ore).

The candidates were asked their views on how the United States should handle Syrian refugees who are fleeing their war-torn Middle East country.

In a heavily edited and spliced clip posted online, Stewart related the problems encountered in Portland after Vietnamese refugees arrived in the Rose City.

He said the influx “created a huge problem because their

culture and their lifestyle didn’t mix with ours,” noting that some refugees “started a fire” in their apartment because they didn’t know how to heat their home, and “when they needed something to eat, they went to their natural ways of doing it by harvesting people’s dogs and cats, their pets.”

The clip — which removed the question and the rest of Stewart’s Faye Stewart response and inserted his “their culture and their lifestyle didn’t mix with ours” a second time at the end – appeared on The Daily Caller, a

Pacquiao says he may fight in Olympics if pros allowed

By Tim Dahlberg AP BOXING WRITER LAS VEGAS (AP) — Manny Pacquiao says he’s thinking about fighting for his country in the Olympics this summer if the boxing competition is open to professional fighters.

His promoter, though, thinks the idea of any pro fighting in Rio — much less the eight-time world champion — is a terrible idea.

“The idea that you’ll allow professionals into the Olympics at this short notice is absolutely insane,” promoter Bob Arum said. “These people ought to have their heads examined.”

The head of the International Boxing Association (AIBA) has proposed allowing pros in the Olympics, though it’s doubtful the plan would be implemented

by Rio because qualification tournaments are either under way or have already been held for boxers in most countries.

Pacquiao, who fights Timothy Bradley April 9 in his first bout since losing to Floyd Mayweather Jr.

last May, said the idea of boxing for a gold medal intrigues him.

“I’m not saying I’m going to fight or saying I’m not,” Pacquiao said “I’m not closing the door. I’m thinking about it.”

Pacquiao is running for the Senate in his native Philippines, and Manny Pacquiao a win in the elections next month could put an end to his boxing career as he concentrates on politics. But the possibility of fighting for his country in the Olympics could also be used to help him win votes in the campaign.

No Filipino has ever won a gold medal in the Olympics, though boxers have won a total of five silver and bronze medals. A gold medal for see PACQUIAO on 14

conservative online news and opinion site.

It quickly made the rounds on social media. Last week, Eugene Mayor Kitty Piercy posted the clip on her Facebook page, with a one-word commentary, “Interesting ... ” On March 31, Piercy posted a link to the online version of this story and noted, “It is my experience that even when we disagree on policy and come to very different conclusions, Faye is a straightforward, fair, and kind person.”

Nhu Le, public relations coordinator at the University of Oregon’s Asian Pacific American Student Union, said Stewart’s comments made it appear as if Vietnamese Americans were inhuman and savage.

“The fact that he’s a representative for Lane County is disgraceful,” she said. “He’s a very public figure and a role model to many in this community, and the fact that he said see STEWART on 12

Harvard accepts record low percentage of applicants

Harvard University

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (AP) — It’s harder than ever to get into Harvard University.

The Ivy League school announced April 1 that it had accepted 2,037 students for next fall’s freshman class out of a pool of 39,041 applicants — a 5.2 percent acceptance rate.

Last year, Harvard admitted 5.3 percent of applicants.

The class includes record-high percentages of Black and Asian American students. Fourteen per-

cent of the admitted students are Black and 22.1 percent are Asian American.

William Fitzsimmons, dean of admissions, says the economic diversity of students is also increasing thanks to Harvard’s financial aid policy that bases tuition rates on family income. Students from families with an annual income of less than $65,000 pay nothing toward the cost of a Harvard education.

Admitted students have until May 1 to accept their offers. 

Democrat Lindy Li withdraws from congressional race WASHINGTON (AP) — Democrat Lindy Li has withdrawn from the race to represent a southeastern Pennsylvania congressional district.

The Philadelphia Inquirer reports that Li’s decision leaves Malvern businessman Mike Parrish as the only Democratic candidate in the 6th District race.

Parrish had challenged the validity of Li’s nominating petition, saying they had signatures from unregistered voters, people in other districts and members of other parties. Li said her notary failed to keep a proper log.

After a three-day Commonwealth Court trial, Li agreed April 1 to

Lindy Li

withdraw and not run for any other office. She vowed the following day that she “will be running again” but did not say for what office.

Li raised $60,000 during a December fundraiser in the International District. Her donors are now demanding their money back. 

YOUR VOICE

■ WORLD NEWS

APRIL 9 – APRIL 15, 2016

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Seoul: North Korea fires missile and tries to jam GPS signals

By Hyung-Jin Kim ASSOCIATED PRESS SEOUL, South Korea (AP) – North Korea fired a shortrange missile into the sea and tried to jam GPS navigation signals in South Korea on April 1, Seoul officials said, hours after U.S., South Korean, and Japanese leaders pledged to work closer together to prevent North Korea from advancing its nuclear and missile programs.

Officials said the attempt to jam GPS signals, which began March 31, did not cause any major disruptions of South Korean military, aviation, and sea transport and telecommunication systems. However, more than 130 fishing boats reported problems with their navigation systems and some were forced to return to their ports, the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries said.

South Korea’s Defense Ministry called the jamming attempt a provocation that threatened public safety and military operations in the South. A ministry statement warned North Korea to immediately stop the jamming efforts or face unspecified consequences.

South Korea has blamed North Korea for several previous jamming attempts. Last week’s jamming signals are the first since 2012, according to South Korea’s Science Ministry. North Korean state media had no immediate comment.

North Korea also fired a surface-to-air missile off its east coast on April 1, three days after it launched a projectile that hit land in its northeast, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said without elaborating.

North Korea has launched a number of short-range missiles and other projectiles since the start in March

Htin Kyaw sworn in as Myanmar’s president

By Esther Htusan ASSOCIATED PRESS Htin Kyaw, a trusted friend of Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, took over as Myanmar’s president on March 30, taking a momentous step in the country’s longdrawn transition toward democracy after more than a half-century of direct and indirect military rule.

But democracy in this impoverished Southeast Asian nation still feels incomplete.

The military retains considerable amount of power in the government and parliament, and the president himself will play second fiddle to Suu Kyi, who has repeatedly said that she will run the country from behind the scenes because the military has ensured — through a constitutional manipulation — that she can’t be the president.

For now, the country was celebrating the installation of the 70-year-old Htin Kyaw, as he took the oath of office in a joint session of Myanmar’s newly elected parliament, as Suu Kyi sat watching in the front row.

“I, Htin Kyaw, do solemnly and sincerely promise and declare that I will be loyal to the Republic of the Union of Myanmar and its citizens,” he said, reading from a written pledge, while repeating after the house speaker Mann Win Khaing Than. “I will uphold and abide by the constitution and its laws ... I will dedicate myself to the service of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar.”

The same pledge was simultaneously read by First Vice President Myint Swe and Second Vice President Henry Van Tio. After a 20-minute tea break, all 18 members of Htin Kyaw’s Cabinet, including Suu Kyi, took a joint oath of office read out by the speaker.

Rightfully, the job belonged to Suu Kyi, who has been the face of the pro-democracy movement and who endured decades of house arrest and harassment by military rulers without ever giving up on her nonviolent campaign to unseat them. But a constitutional provision barred Suu Kyi from becoming president, and she made it clear that whoever sits in that chair will be her proxy. She has said repeatedly she will run the government from behind the scenes.

Htin Kyaw

Still, Htin Kyaw will be remembered by history as the first civilian president for Myanmar and the head of its first government to be elected in free and fair polls. Suu Kyi’s party, the National League for Democracy, won a landslide victory in elections last November, in a reflection of Suu Kyi’s widespread public support.

The constitutional clause that denied her the presidency excludes anyone from the position who has a foreign spouse or children. Suu Kyi’s two sons are British, as was her late husband. The clause is widely seen as having been written by the military with Suu Kyi in mind.

The military has reserved 25 percent of the seats in parliament for itself, guaranteeing that no government can amend the constitution without its approval. The military also heads the Home Ministry and the Defense Ministry, which gives it control over the corrections department, ensuring that the release of political prisoners is its decision to make.

Also, it ensured that one of Htin Kyaw’s two vice presidents is a former general, Myint Swe, a close ally of former junta leader Than Shwe. Myint Swe remains on a U.S. Treasury Department blacklist that bars American companies from doing business with several tycoons and senior military figures connected with the former junta. 

of annual South Korea-U.S. military drills it views as a rehearsal for an invasion. It also has repeated threats of nuclear strikes on Seoul and Washington and warned it will test a nuclear warhead and ballistic missiles capable of carrying it.

This year’s drills, set to run until late April, are the biggest ever and come after North Korea conducted a nuclear test and long-range rocket launch earlier this year.

In Washington, President Barack Obama met March 30 with the leaders of South Korea and Japan to discuss ways of countering North Korea’s nuclear threat. Obama also met Chinese President Xi Jinping and both called for North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons. China also agreed to fully implement recent economic restrictions imposed by the U.N. Security Council against North Korea. The Asian leaders were in Washington for a two-day nuclear summit. 

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APRIL 9 – APRIL 15, 2016

34 YEARS

■ COMMUNITY CALENDAR APRIL 8

11

SAMUEL E. KELLY DISTINGUISHED FACULTY LECTURE’S HIDDEN BIAS IN HEALTH CARE: A REFLECTION ON 10 YEARS OF HEALTH CARE DISPARITIES RESEARCH University of Washington, Intellectual House 6 p.m. engage.washington.edu/site/ Calendar/1764254689

2016 KIN ON SPRING BENEFIT DINNER Joyale Seafood Restaurant, Pacific Rim Center, Seattle 4:30–9 p.m. $16 206-556-2272, kristintan@kinon.org

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UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON BOTHELL IS HOSTING ITS SECOND ANNUAL DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION CONFERENCE University of Washington Bothell Campus 9 a.m.–5:30 p.m.

425-352-5101

AUTHOR TALK, “JOURNEY INTO CONSCIOUSNESS,” WITH SHELLY WILSON East West Bookshop, 6407 12th Ave. N.E., Seattle 7:30–9 p.m. $20 shellyrwilson.com

ENGLISH LUNCHEON WITH DAVID MAO: AN UPDATE ON DOING BUSINESS IN CHINA China Harbor Restaurant 11:30 a.m.–1:30 p.m. $15–$25 seattlechinesechamber.org

16 “ASIANS COLLABORATING TOGETHER” CONFERENCE University of Washington, Samuel E. Kelly Ethnic Cultural Center 8 a.m. naspa.org

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CREATING THE LIFE YOU DESIRE WORKSHOP WITH SHELLY WILSON East West Bookshop, 6407 12th Ave. N.E., Seattle 10:30 a.m.–2:30 p.m. $50 shellyrwilson.com

AWARD WINNING CLASSICAL GUITARIST CONNIE SHEU IN A FREE CONCERT FEATURING ORIGINAL WORKS BY WOMEN COMPOSERS AND A TRADITIONAL CHINESE SUITE Frye Art Museum Recital Hall 2 p.m.

206-622-9250, info@fryemuseum.org

PLANTING BLOOMING BONSAIS Oriental Garden Center, 30650 Pacific Highway S., Federal Way 10 a.m. $75 253-839-1639

ASIAN AND GLOBAL ARTS TREASURES SALE Phinney Neighborhood Center, 6532 Phinney Ave. N., Seattle 11 a.m.–3 p.m.

Friendsofasianart2@gmail.com

SEATTLE PARKS & RECREATION’S 2ND ANNUAL “WELLNESS: IT’S A FAMILY AFFAIR” HEALTH & WELLNESS EVENT Rainier Beach Community Center 10 a.m.–2 p.m.

206-288-7800 SEATTLE FILM PREMIERE OF “PETALS IN THE DUST — THE ENDANGERED INDIAN GIRL” SAAM Auditorium 3 p.m. petalsinthedust.com

16 & 17 PRIVATE SESSIONS WITH SHELLY WILSON East West Bookshop 4/16: 3:30–7 p.m.; 4/17: 12:30–6 p.m. $70 shellyrwilson.com 4TH ANNUAL SEATTLE CHINESE GARDEN PEONY AND BAMBOO FESTIVAL South Seattle College 10 a.m.–4 p.m.

Suggested donation $5/adult seattlechinesegarden.org

23 & 24 KIDS NINJA WARRIOR INFLATABLE OBSTACLE COURSE Hazen High School, Renton 4/23 10 a.m.–5 p.m.

4/24 10 a.m.–3 p.m. $30 425-988-3954, birthdaydreams.org

24 JAPANESE LITERATURE PUBLIC READING, “GOLIATH” UW, Penthouse Theatre, Seattle 2 p.m. $8–$10 206-543-4880, drama.uw.edu/ performances

26 RAINIER VALLEY COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT FUND’S 2016 ANNUAL MEETING Ethiopian community Center 5:30–7:30 p.m.

206-722-5280

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50TH ANNIVERSARY GEE HOW OAK TIN WOMEN’S AUXILIARY Joyale Restaurant 6–10 p.m.

RSVP at 206-218-4709, by April 12

MUCKLESHOOT CASINO’S 21ST ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION Muckleshoot Casino 6 a.m.–6 p.m.

Free

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“I AM AN AMERICAN,” FREE CITIZENSHIP HELP Tacoma Community House Clark College Yakima Valley Community College 10 a.m.–1 p.m.

MUCKLESHOOT CASINO’S OFFICIAL GUINESS WORLD RECORDS ATTEMPT Registration at 7 a.m. with one-minute session starting at 8 a.m. muckleshootcasino.com

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John Liu

rebecca@nwasianweekly.com

Ruth Bayang

kelly@nwasianweekly.com

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john@nwasianweekly.com

Associate Publisher john@nwasianweekly.com

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4 6 7 1 3

Account Executives

Publisher assunta@nwasianweekly.com

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Assunta Ng

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Editor editor@nwasianweekly.com

Rebecca Ip Kelly Liao John Liu

Layout & Web Editor han@nwasianweekly.com

Stacy Nguyen

At-large/special projects stacy@nwasianweekly.com

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The NW Asian Weekly has one simple goal: “To empower the Asian community.”

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APRIL 9 – APRIL 15, 2016

YOUR VOICE

■ ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

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Japanese American Fred Korematsu (1919–2005), a Nisei, made American legal history in 1942. With the help of the American Civil Liberties Union, he fought against his government-mandated internment in a camp.

Korematsu lost his case in federal court, and spent most of the war at the Central War Relocation Center in Utah. But decades later, he tried again. His conviction was vacated in 1983. President Clinton presented Korematsu the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1998. His singular story is recounted in the new book “Enduring Conviction: Fred Korematsu and His Quest for Justice” by Lorraine Bannai.

For Bannai, an attorney and a member of Korematsu’s latterday legal team, now a teacher of legal skills at Seattle University School of Law, her former client’s story carries some echoes of her own. “I am a third generation Japanese American — a Sansei,” she explained. “I was born in Gardena, Calif., a community that had a large population of Japanese Americans — I think the largest concentration of Japanese Americans on the U.S. mainland.”

I was lucky to grow up in a community with many Japanese American role models, one that merged Japanese cultural traditions brought by my grandparents, with the American lifestyle of my parents, into a unique Japanese American upbringing.

I was greatly influenced by Nisei civic leaders in my community, including my father, and their commitment to public service. I was also greatly influenced by my grandmothers and mother who were wonderful, strong, smart women.”

Bannai became aware of Korematsu through activist Peter Irons, who contacted her in the early 1980s. Her then-small legal firm in Oakland, Calif. did work advocating redress for Japanese Americans for their wrongful incarceration. Bannai said Irons found evidence that during World War II, the government had suppressed, altered, and destroyed material evidence while it was arguing Fred Korematsu’s, Min Yasui’s, and Gordon Hirabayashi’s cases to the U.S. Supreme Court.

“I first met Fred,” Bannai recalls, “when a number of us crowded into the living room of his home in San Leandro. He struck me as being like one of the many other Nisei dads who were around me when I grew up.

He was a bit quiet and soft-spoken, and I think he was a bit skeptical, seeing how young we all were. But he was also fully behind the idea of moving forward with reopening his case. He had waited for over 40 years to challenge the ruling that he knew was wrong. In many ways, he and his wife, Kathryn, later came to treat us like members of their family, something I’ll always treasure.”

In 1942, when Japanese Americans were ordered to leave the West Coast to be incarcerated, Korematsu refused. He was arrested and convicted, and he appealed his case to the U.S. Supreme Court. In 1944, in Korematsu v. United States, the Supreme Court upheld the forced removal of Japanese Americans. A year and a half earlier, in 1943, in the Hirabayashi and Yasui cases, the Supreme Court upheld the curfew orders issued against Japanese

Photo provided by University of Washington Press

By Andrew Hamlin NORTHWEST ASIAN WEEKLY

Professor Lorraine Bannai

Americans.

The Supreme Court’s decision in Korematsu is one of the most infamous cases in American legal history for several reasons. One, the Court upheld the orders based on racial stereotypes about Japanese Americans. And two, the Court deferred to military authorities without scrutinizing whether their actions had any factual basis.

Bannai recalled the extensive work undertaken by the legal team Irons helped to assemble. “We worked on legal and factual research for about a year before filing a petition for writ of error coram nobis on Fred’s behalf in January 1983. A petition for writ of error coram nobis seeks vacation of a criminal conviction that was the result of a manifest injustice.

“There were many legal issues we had to work through,” she explained. “What court to file in, how to handle possible procedural roadblocks. We also struggled to ensure we had the money to pursue the effort.

Bannai said they relied on their parents and family friends for money. In addition, at one point, former Supreme Court Justice Arthur Goldberg publicly stated that their effort to challenge the Korematsu case was ill-advised, even before he had seen any evidence. “We were, of course, undeterred. Youthful idealism?” Bannai said. “We knew the evidence could not be refuted. After all, the evidence was from the government’s own records.”

Bannai went into teaching law, and that eventually took her to Seattle University.

“I also have the great privilege of now working with [Seattle University’s] Fred T. Korematsu Center for Law and Equality,” Bannai said. The Center is engaged in advocacy on a wide range of civil rights cases all over the country. For example, Bannai revealed, it is challenging an Arizona statute used to terminate a highly successful Mexican American Studies program in the Tucson Unified School District.”

Asked what the Korematsu case can teach us today, Bannai mustered these see BANNAI on 14

asianweekly northwest

8

34 YEARS

APRIL 9 – APRIL 15, 2016

■ TECHNOLOGY

UNDER 40 GAMING EXECUTIVE

The recipe for

CHRIS LEE’s success

By Chris Kenji Beer NORTHWEST ASIAN WEEKLY

certain. “I am passionate about games.” Chris started at the bottom of the corporate ladder as a quality assurance tester for Electronic Arts (EA) in Vancouver, B.C. “I just became immersed in my work. I thought it was amazing I could make a career out of something I loved to do,” says Lee. Among a team of developers and testers, an opportunity arose for Chris to volunteer in EA’s marketing department. He took the initiative and volunteered his time to help make the marketing project happen and was instantly recognized for his good work and initiative. This evolved into a product manager position and really was the initial impetus for launching his career into management. Finding and teaming with a good and willing mentor was also critical to Lee’s success.

“I was also very lucky to have a manager at EA who took me under his wing and help me grow professionally,“ adds Lee. In 2004, Chris joined the Halo team at Microsoft and played a role in the launch of Age of Empires and Forts.

Then, he project managed the launch of Gotham Racing and Halo Wars, all prominent Microsoft Xbox titles.

His career at Microsoft peaked when he became group product manager of Halo 3.

Around that time in 2009, Blue Hole, a South Korean games studio holding company, created En Masse Entertainment initially to bring Tera to America, the popular MMO (massively multiplayer online) game. Tera was the first game published by En Masse. The company published it in the United States in 2012 after launching first in South Korea and Japan a year earlier. Given Chris’ reputation for building strong business and development teams, he was asked to run the newly formed company.

“I believe in keeping your head down and working your

C

hris Lee is our first candidate for the 2016 Asian Technology and Innovation 40 and Under award category. There are a number of noteworthy innovations going on at En Masse Entertainment. It is no secret in the gaming world that Japan and South Korea are far and away the world’s best and most innovative countries for gaming. As the “largest independently Asian-owned games studio in the U.S.,” En Masse was recently rated in the top third of all games studios in the country by Develop 100’s Annual Studio Hot List.

Lee and his associates decided to locate their company’s headquarters in Seattle —America’s number one gaming city, according to a Gamasutra report and Sperling’s BestPlaces. When you walk into En Masse offices toward the top of the Russell Investments Center skyscraper in downtown Seattle, you notice there are no corner offices that set apart the management or executive team. In Japan and South Korea, this may be standard. But in the United States, it is quite unusual, even for the tech industry known to be more open, level, and innovative with their management style, office space, and layout.

Chris Lee, the CEO, claims his desk right in the middle of a large open space of desks and computers. He comes to greet me with a resolve and curiosity.

Like so many successful entrepreneurs, Lee’s mother was a poor, hard working immigrant from South Korea.

“Her life goal was to survive, find stability. I didn’t have to think so much about that,” he says.

After earning a Business Administration degree from the University of Washington, Chris knew one thing for

way up in the company,” said Lee. “Take care of your own business, and the other stuff takes care of itself.”

Chris says you need “hard skills and soft skills” to succeed. “Hard skills,” Lee says, are the same as business skills —“how to use the information and technology tools, the marketing performance metrics, and building the right company support, such as customer support and administration, and strategic framework. “Soft skills are much harder to teach,” says Lee. You start by “putting yourself in the shoes of your audience. Position the product in a way that the audience can get excited about it.” The soft skills includes feedback from the audience and your own intuition about what the audience wants or needs.

Other soft skills Lee considers important is your ability to work with your peers.

Being the middle child of a large family and dealing with lots of personalities helped Lee prepare for his see LEE on 11

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APRIL 9 – APRIL 15, 2016

YOUR VOICE

■ PICTORIAL

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Emerald City Bike Ride participant, Isaac Kuek.

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asianweekly northwest

10

34 YEARS

APRIL 9 – APRIL 15, 2016

■ PUBLISHER’S BLOG

OPINION

$earching

for the right balance when dealing with money

By Assunta Ng NORTHWEST ASIAN WEEKLY My young Asian friend got accepted into Yale University’s MBA program. That’s the good part. The bad news is he can’t pay for it. The program costs over $100,000 a year.

“My parents are not helping me,” he said.

“They said they already paid for [my] undergraduate degree.” It sounds fair. He was already considering taking out a couple of loans to cover his Yale degree. Loans or credit cards are the first thing millenials will consider when they are short on cash. What I don’t understand is that my friend worked five years at a major financial institution and yet, he had not saved enough to pay for his advanced education.

Sure, it’s exciting and glamorous to get into a prestigious school like Yale. What an adventure it must be to study on the East Coast and hang around some of the smartest and brightest in the country! But is such a high-cost degree worth the investment?

Financial guru Suze Orman wouldn’t recommend it. A graduate from the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign, she argued that she didn’t graduate from an Ivy League school, yet still became successful — building a multi-million dollar empire as talkshow host, author, and motivational speaker.

I wouldn’t recommend it either. My whole life, I have been uncomfortable with being in debt (except for mortgages). Could this be a generational issue? Are young people today more spoiled than baby boomers?

They know they can count on their parents and grandparents for a financial bailout. As for me, if I didn’t make it in America, I’d be doomed with no options, except returning home to Hong Kong, shaming my parents, and breaking their hearts.

Financial highs and lows

I never considered buying my first house at the age of 25, together with my husband, as an achievement until my peers bragged about becoming homeowners. Being poor in my childhood and college days, I realized early that I couldn’t afford to indulge in a lavish lifestyle.

You might assume that I have never experienced any financial disasters. But I did, many times in my life, due to bad decisions.

The funny thing is, I never felt desperate, anxious, or unhappy in those moments.

In 1997, a huge financial loss struck us, but it didn’t cause any sleepless nights. The old Kokusai theater building (now the Northwest Asian Weekly office) we bought suddenly collapsed after an earthquake months prior. At the time, we had only liability insurance, not full coverage, because the old building had little value to be insured for.

The whole incident cost us over $150,000 for demolition and cleanup. Was I devastated?

No. My philosophy is, I am the master of my life, not money. The good thing was, I discovered that I had many banker friends who offered me loans. Of course, we paid them back. The collapse was a blessing in disguise — it forced us to plan a new building.

Poverty has taught me to be efficient and frugal, lessons learned from my mother. To bring in income, my mother leased a big apartment and subleased it to four separate tenants. Being a landlord was a lot of work for her, but it also covered our own rent. I never realized how tight money was in my family because there was always food on the table and a roof over our heads.

Mom couldn’t afford to give me an allowance, but she would give me some lunch money. It was difficult to get it from her though. I had to remind her several times and she always said, “I owe you. OK, later?”

If I needed money for school supplies, I simply skipped lunch or ate a roll, instead of having a rice box. And Lunar New Year was always a financial blessing. I would receive countless lucky red envelopes from relatives and friends, which lasted a long time.

To pay for college, I worked three jobs one summer. After paying tuition and rent for my dorm at the University of Washington my first year, I had only $15 in my bank account. I was overjoyed when I found that I still had money left to buy toothpaste and candy! Did I ask my friends to give me a loan for security purposes? Never. Being a full-time student, I didn’t have much time to spend money anyway. The only time I cried was when I was unable to find my first summer job after walking for two weeks with holes in my shoes.

I looked back at my ‘poverty’ days as high points in my life because it strengthened my determination and perseverance.

Consequences of not giving

Today, young people have a different mindset about finance. This could be a generational issue. Most Americans don’t practice saving. Just look at their credit card debt; it’s absurd. Most have confessed that they don’t have an emergency fund.

While I advocate “Save, save, save,” I never imply that you have to be stingy with yourself and your friends. If you are financially established, you should spend money to help the economy. If you are old and successful, you don’t have to save much or invest further to multiply your wealth. How much longer are you able to enjoy it? And please don’t even think about giving wealth to your grown children. A big inheritance would not motivate them to stand up on their own.

What is wise is to develop a plan to give money away periodically to help the less fortu-

nate. There’s a consequence if you can afford to give and don’t. You may not realize it right away, but everything happens for a reason.

I remember a guy who was asked to donate $30 at a community fundraising event for Katrina victims in 2006, at the House of Hong. When several friends urged him to do so, he flatly said no. The following week, he lost $9,000 in one night, gambling. None of

his friends had any sympathy for him. Some said he deserved it. Had he donated that $30, he might have escaped the $9,000 loss. There isn’t always a direct cause and effect, but an unexplainable correlation remains. We shouldn’t ignore it. It is giving us subtle messages to wake up— and do the right thing. see MONEY on next page

APRIL 9 – APRIL 15, 2016

YOUR VOICE

asianweekly northwest

11

OPINION

■ EDITORIAL

Victory for champions of charter schools Gov. Jay Inslee announced that he would not veto the public charter school bill, and he let it become law April 2.

The new public charter school law ensures Summit Public Schools’ students in Seattle’s International District and Tacoma will continue to thrive.

In a letter explaining his decision, Inslee said he remains concerned about whether there will be adequate public oversight of charter schools, but said he doesn’t want to see the schools shut down.

Summit Public Schools commended “the bipartisan work of Washington state’s legislature for their work on the new public charter school law that honors the will of Washington state’s voters.”

In 2012, Washington state voted to allow publicly funded schools to run privately. So, students enrolling in charter schools are not required to pay tuition.

Then in September 2015, the Washington State Supreme

MONEY from previous page Many young people have complained that it’s tough to save money these days, with rent and the cost of living being so high in the greater Seattle area. But there are ways to save money if you are determined to be financially independent. Here are some suggestions.

• No lattes. One young staff member enjoys a Starbucks latte a few times a week. That’s at least $10 a week, and hundreds of dollars a year. And if you drink and smoke, that’s costly, too. Do you have expensive habits you can eliminate?

• No expensive hobbies. An example of an expensive hobby is skiing. In addition to the pricey equipment, it costs at least a couple hundred dollars to travel out of town and to pay for facilities. Even though I am not strapped for money, I have enjoyed many good hobbies that cost nothing, like strolling in parks, hiking, and checking out books and movies from the library.

• Stop online shopping as one can spend too much surfing through the internet. Avoid famous brands. My former classmate wears expensive St. John clothes, while I prefer finding sales and deals. I rather buy 20 nice outfits with no-brand name than one outfit from St. John. Since I changed my ward-

•

•

• •

Court decision proclaimed the use of state funding for charter schools unconstitutional.

Parents, students, and education reform groups, who lobbied hard for the legislature to pass a bill to save the schools, are now breathing easier. Their tireless work ensures that Washington state will continue to offer this much-needed public school choice.

Summit Sierra, on 1025 South King Street, opened its doors in fall 2015 to 100 ninth grade students. It will grow to serve grades 9–12 by the 2018–2019 school year. The Summit Sierra student body consists of ethnically diverse students from the African and Black communities, white students, and Asian students (with majority Chinese, Filipino, and Vietnamese), from 15 different zip codes.

Instead of grades as criteria for admission, the youth were selected through a lottery system.

robe from dresses to pants a decade ago, I have saved a lot of money. Dresses cost double what pants and tops do. For the past 10 years, I have not bought a single dress.

With pants, you can mix and match with various tops, thus creating many styles.

Invest in real estate. Learn from Asian Americans who invest in real estate by buying their first home before investing in rental homes and apartments. Getting fixer-uppers at low prices then turning them into valuable properties to sell, has been the strategy of many real estate tycoons in our area. As James Wong, chairman of the Solterra development company, said, “Time is on your side in real estate [investing.]” The longer you hold on, the more money you make. It really is better than putting your money in a bank CD. Get a roommate. Living alone in an apartment or house is never economically feasible. It makes a big financial difference if you can share living expenses with your friends or loved ones.

Have kids later. If my husband and I started a family right after getting married, it would have been a financial drain.

No fancy apartments. Rent eats up a big chunk of your salary. Thanks to subsidized housing ($250 a month) from the University of Washington for married student couples,

TAITUNG

In a letter, one parent said, “Our child has some learning issues and does not do well unless some special attention can be given to her. Without a learning environment that can cater to her needs and a school that can take the time needed to understand her, she would have fallen through the cracks. We feel so fortunate that a school like Summit exists.”

This is an important reminder to speak up and take action, especially when it comes to issues that affect you or your family. Your voice and your vote do count. Thank you to the parents who cared and fought for the best education for their children. Thank you lawmakers for putting aside your political differences and collaborating on a bipartisan decision that is good for our state and our children’s future.

It is exciting to see what will unfold next if this spirit of partnership and cooperation continues. 

we were able to save money to buy our first home. My husband was a graduate student working as a research assistant, while I was a school teacher. After working two years, I was able to save $11,000 (in the 1970s) for a down payment on our house. Although we were thrifty as a young couple, we never felt deprived. We took vacations once a year, enjoyed going to movies and dining out.

Of course, we always patronized affordable restaurants. One of them was a $1 Sunday breakfast with an egg, sausage, and coffee in the University District. Also, we entertained regularly by inviting friends over for dinner.

LEE from 8

Save, even if you don’t have any specific goals in mind. The balance between making, keeping, and spending money is important to our well-being. To have a sense of security, you have to strike a balance between what you desire and what you have to live your best life.

As for my friend heading off to Yale, I dare you, pal, to prove this baby boomer wrong. If this serves as a motivating force, more power to you. Understand that you are special to be chosen. In two years, come back and share how you blazed a trail and please say to me, “I told you so.” 

professional life. “I was also open to being coached. It came naturally to me,” said Lee. “In the work world, you have to be coachable, listen, and be open to advice from others.”

“I also believe in constantly improving myself. I do lots of reading outside of work.”

Most recently, Lee has read and recommends “Switch,” by Chip and Dan Heath, and “The Tipping Point,” by Malcolm Gladwell. Lee encourages other young aspiring professionals to never stop learning.

Chatting with Chris, you really get a sense that he believes in the team he built. “I don’t know if I could do it without them.”

Lee’s advice to those just starting out? “Figure out what gets you the most excited,” asserts Lee. The word “passion” comes to Lee’s mind. “Figure out a way to make it match up with your professional life. There is no way you will fail if you work hard at it.” 

Assunta Ng can be reached at assunta@ nwasianweekly.com.

Chris Kenji Beer can be reached at info@nwasianweekly.com.

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APRIL 9 – APRIL 15, 2016

34 YEARS

STEWART from 4 that is really disheartening.”

Duy Chi Nguyen, president of an organization that oversees Vietnamese student associations at about 10 universities in Oregon and Washington, said he considered the remarks to be racist.

Nguyen, who is an architect in training at a firm in Portland, said his parents fled Vietnam for the United States, settling in San Diego, after the fall of Saigon in 1975. He said both sides of his family are highly educated and served in the South Vietnamese military.

“Sure, there was a lot to get used to and there was a lot to learn about,” he said. “Just to make a claim that we didn’t know anything and we’re going out and hunting dogs and cats, that’s ludicrous. That’s absurd and that’s incredibly insulting.”

Stewart said he used those examples, which he said he had heard from a friend who lived in Portland at the time, to make a broader point that the United States needs to be careful about not creating a worse situation in trying to help people.

Stewart said he “made a mistake” and could have made his point “in a different fashion.”

“It’s just unfortunate that people are using dirty politics and cutting ... the question and context out and painting a very small sliver of what I said completely out of context.”

He added, “I’m sick over this, to be completely honest with you because that’s not who I am. ... I’m a leader of inclusiveness and helping people. ... I’m just sick that somebody — I don’t even know who did it — determined that we need to create this piece and drive a political process based on hate. I think it’s incredibly unfortunate.”

The other Republicans in the race are Mark Callahan, Sam Carpenter, and Dan Laschober.

The primary election is May 17.

Kevin Stine, a Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate, said in an email March 31 that he participated in the forum and had it videotaped with permission from the other candidates.

Stine said he provided access to the video to all the candidates, but didn’t know “who gave it to the Daily Caller or who chopped it up.”

Decades ago, another Oregon politician also had to explain himself after joking about Vietnamese eating pets.

In 1982, according to a news report at the time, U.S. Rep. Earl Blumenauer, then a Multnomah County commissioner, suggested during remarks to a local Rotary club that the county could save money on dog control by relaxing restrictions on food served at Vietnamese restaurants.

Blumenauer said he didn’t mean to offend and noted his record of supporting civil liberties and in dealing with refugees.

“I don’t think I included it to bait or harass [the Vietnamese community],” he said, according to the report. 

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YOUR VOICE

APRIL 9 – APRIL 15, 2016

SUPERMAN from 1

Persisting influence

invasions and whatever,” added Nguyen. “And why is Superman white? He’s supposed to be a goddamn alien.”

Nguyen’s parents divorced when he was young. His mother worked long hours and Nguyen retreated into the world of superheroes. “They helped inform my ideas of masculinity and manhood,” said Nguyen.

Nguyen watched “Batman: The Animated Series” on Fox (1992), helmed by Bruce Timm and Eric Radomski, written by Paul Dini and others. In 1997, this Batman series was retooled as “The New Batman Adventures” and packaged with “Superman: The Animated Series,” airing as a block on the WB. “[That] Superman looks vaguely Asian,” said Nguyen.

“Bruce Wayne also looks vaguely Asian. Now, I’m not saying that the creators intended for these characters to be Asian. I’m just saying it’s vague enough for young Daniel to be really confused about who these heroes were. Did they represent me? Did they speak for me? Could I just — blur their race and ignore their civilian names? Could they be heroes for me?”

“Well, yes. Of course they could,” said Nguyen. “Because I didn’t have any other options. There were no Asian superheroes. I had no role models who looked like me. This was the closest thing. So I was hooked. I watched every episode. I bought all the toys. I was a weak kid who got picked on. I wasn’t as tall as the other boys. But every day after school, I could hangout with Batman and Superman and Spiderman and the X-Men. They were strong. They beat up the bad guys. The appeal is really that simple. They were powerful. … Only once I grew older and gained some perspective on race did I really become disillusioned about the whiteness of my idols.”

A new (non-white) superhero At WonderCon in Los Angeles during the last weekend in March, DC Comics announced a new addition to its Superman canon. Titled New Super-Man, the series will follow Kenji Kong, a teen who will be infused with super strength, super speed — the things associated with the most famous Clark Kent incarnation — but this Super-Man is Asian and will fight evil-doers in Shanghai.

New Super-Man is being penned by Gene Luen Yang (art is by Victor Bogdanovic). Yang is Chinese American with parents from Taiwan and Hong Kong.

In a 2008 interview at Penn State University on graphic novels, Yang revealed that his mother purchased his first comic book for him when he was in fifth grade. That title was “DC Comics Presents Superman #57.”

Yang graduated from the University of California, Berkeley in 1995 with a degree in computer science. The following year, he self-published his first comic. From the start, his work featured Asian Americans and dealt with issues of race and ethnicity. Notably, in 2007, Yang’s “American Born Chinese” graphic novel won the Michael L. Printz Award for Best Graphic Album: New. Details on the upcoming New Super-Man title are still sparse — it’s unclear why the character has a Japanese first name and how he fits into the at-times convoluted Superman continuity — but expect some answers on July 13, when “New Super-Man #1” appears on stands.

The birth of an American icon In 1933, while still in high school, classmates Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster wrote and illustrated a short story starring a villain with psychic powers — a character that had the underpinnings of what would eventually become an icon.

“Superman always felt a bit like he was supposed to be a symbol of American might and goodness,” said Andrea Squires, who is a teacher. “Even if he wasn’t originally created in that vein, he could be and probably has been used that way during wartime.”

In 1938, Superman debuted in “Action Comics #1,” and the response to the series was overwhelmingly positive. At the time, the United States was nearly a decade deep in the Great Depression (Black Tuesday occurred Oct. 29, 1929).

In 1939, the world was on the brink of another global war and, in the coming years, the United States would starkly increase its military spending and draft its millions of unemployed young men into war.

Siegel and Shuster have admitted that Superman was derived from wish fulfillment. Superman’s alter-ego Clark Kent is a seemingly normal everyman — who possesses extraordinary powers and uses those powers for the greater good. This kind of optimism touched the imaginations of a generation of young Americans.

An immigrant story Just as Superman has been politicized in the past — he was once used to sell war bonds to children — he continues to be used as an allegorical device to this day. It’s been pointed out by many that Clark Kent is the quintessential illegal immigrant — a foundling with no documentation, who has to live a double life hiding his true identity.

Of course, this notion of having dual identities resonates in all immigrants and people of color. Cultural historian Aldo Regalado wrote in his book, “Modernity, Race, and the American Superhero,” that the Superman character pushed the boundaries of immigration acceptance in the United States at the time of his conception, challenging the notion that Anglo-Saxon ancestry was the source of all might.

However, Regalado also has asserted that these stories and characters both affirm and subvert “conventional notions of race, class, gender, and nationalism.”

That is, despite technically being an immigrant, Superman is still a superhuman, white, blue-eyed American male.

Race, gender, ethnicity, sexuality — things that deviate from the traditional white heterosexual male homebase in comic books — can be areas fraught with stereotypes or fetishized. “[There’s] Shang-Chi (Marvel),” said Nguyen, “who is a minor Asian superhero who took a backseat to Iron Fist — this is stupid because they essentially have the same

“Well, this [New Super-Man book] sounds interesting, and I’ll definitely check it out,” said Rob Veatch, an artist.

“Don’t know if this will grab enough readers to continue for more than a year or so, but we’ll see. I think the setting being in China gives you more unique cultural territory to explore than you would have if this was a Chinese American dude.”

According to Bloomberg, China is set to overtake the United States in box-office receipts by 2020. In 2014, Chinese movie theaters reportedly brought in $4.8 billion.

With China as a huge customer, Hollywood — and similar media such as comics — have moved away from casting the Chinese as villains. Because it just doesn’t make financial sense to alienate such a significant customer base — one-fifth of the planet.

The 2012 “Red Dawn” remake originally pitted the United States against a Chinese enemy — but thought better of it and changed the threat to North Koreans in postproduction.

This light treading is a clear deviation from the antiAsian rhetoric in popular media mid-century, when racist anti-Japanese and anti-Chinese propaganda was widely used during World War II. “[Gene Luen Yang] is obviously a bombass Asian American writer, and I’m sure he will do baller things with this [New Super-Man] book,” said Nguyen. “His previous work always handled Asian American identities in interesting, tangible, and relevant ways. I wonder how much creative freedom DC will give him though. … [But] having an Asian writer write an Asian character is obviously the right choice — one that Marvel hasn’t always made in the past.”

“To echo what Daniel [Nguyen] said, who knows how much freedom DC will give [Yang]?” said Squires. “Also I might be reading more into what past Superman iterations mean for this one than I need to, I don’t know. I just have little trust in big American publications when it comes to representing Asian countries with nuance. Hopefully the choice of author will counter this tendency in this case. I do think that broadening canons to make them more reflective of the reality of racial diversity is a good thing — obviously.”  *Daniel Nguyen is not related to Stacy Nguyen, this story’s reporter.

Stacy Nguyen can be reached at stacy@nwasianweekly. com.

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powers, but Iron Fist is white.”

Nguyen also pointed out that the Mandarin, a major villain for Iron Man, was played by Ben Kingsley, who is of British and Indian descent, in the films. “The Mandarin is essentially Fu Manchu, the ‘Yellow threat’ embodied in a person,” said Nguyen. “[I’m] a little nervous about how DC will represent Chinese power structures [in New Super-Man] and how it will want to position [Kenji Kong] vis-a-vis those power structures,” said Squires. “And [whether] the U.S. [will] appear as a counterpoint to China — which could be problematic.”

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APRIL 9 – APRIL 15, 2016

BANNAI from 7 sobering thoughts. “In vacating Fred Korematsu’s conviction, Judge Marilyn Hall Patel reflected on the lasting meaning of his case when she said that it ‘stands as a caution that in times of international hostility . . . our institutions, legislative, executive and judicial, must be pre-

34 YEARS

pared to exercise their authority to protect all citizens from the petty fears and prejudices that are so easily aroused.’

“Although she wrote those words 34 years ago,” Bannai concluded, “her words show how Fred’s case has a disturbing and continued relevance. This country continues to vilify individuals and groups perceived to be the enemy. Now those perceived enemies are Muslims, persons of Middle

Eastern descent, and anyone believed to look like them. Our institutions, and each one of us, needs to be vigilant to protect vulnerable populations from prejudice, exclusion, and attack.”  Andrew Hamlin can be reached at info@nwasianweekly. com.

Solution

PACQUIAO from 4 Pacquiao would, if anything, cement his status forever as the country’s greatest sports hero.

Trainer Freddie Roach said he believes the 37-year-old Pacquiao has been re-energized in training for Bradley and still has fights left in him. Pacquiao said earlier he planned to retire after fighting Bradley, but has since wavered.

“He asked me if I would train him if they let pros in the Olympics,” Roach said. “I said of course I will.”

Pacquiao and Bradley meet for the third time at the MGM Grand in a fight that will pay him $20 million. Bradley won their first fight in a controversial decision, and Pacquiao

dominated him the second time they met.

Pacquiao is currently a congressman in the Philippines and there is talk of him some day becoming a presidential candidate should he win a seat in the Senate.

Arum said he can’t imagine Pacquiao fighting teenage amateurs in what would surely be mismatches in the Olympics.

“Pros can play basketball in the Olympics, yes,” Arum said.

“But in basketball, you just dunk over somebody. It’s not a hurt game. If you put experienced pros in with rank amateurs, there will be serious health consequences.”

Even if pros are not allowed in Rio, the boxing will resemble the pro game more, with a 10-point must system scoring and no headgear for the first time. 

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APRIL 9 – APRIL 15, 2016

YOUR VOICE

■ ASTROLOGY

asianweekly northwest

15

Predictions and advice for the week of April 9–April 15

By Sun Lee Chang Rat — You are considering many offers, but there is only one that really catches your fancy. Taking a chance could yield surprising results.

Dragon — Even if you are the only one who has a grasp of the big picture, it is enough for now as all are working towards the same goal.

Monkey — You have diligently followed the plan you had laid out. However, a change in circumstances will require a different course.

Ox — Going back to visit some old friends? Distance will reveal some things that you did not see when you were closer.

Snake — While it is natural to want to relate to someone else’s experience, true sympathy means taking the focus off of yourself and on to the other person.

Rooster — Are you looking for an enjoyable way to pass some free time? Rediscover a favorite pastime and experience it again.

Tiger — If you want to be kept in the loop, then it is your responsibility to reach out to those who have the information you are seeking.

Horse — Although it seems like you are starting from scratch, in reality, you are benefiting from the resources and experiences that you have learned to this point.

Dog — In your excitement, you may have overlooked a couple of details. Address them quickly, before they become a major issue.

Rabbit — Mastering a new skill requires both time and patience. You will see results in due time.

Goat — There is something specific you have in mind, but are having trouble finding it. Depending on what it is, you might have to create it yourself.

Pig — This is an opportune moment to make that switch you have been mulling over. A leap of faith can be intimidating, but worthwhile in the end.

What’s your animal sign?

Rat 1912, 1924, 1936, 1948, 1960, 1972, 1984, 1996, 2008 Ox 1913, 1925, 1937, 1949, 1961, 1973, 1985, 1997, 2009 Tiger 1914, 1926, 1938, 1950, 1962, 1974, 1986, 1998, 2010 Rabbit 1915, 1927, 1939, 1951, 1963, 1975, 1987, 1999, 2011 Dragon 1916, 1928, 1940, 1952, 1964, 1976, 1988, 2000, 2012 Snake 1917, 1929, 1941, 1953, 1965, 1977, 1989, 2001, 2013 Horse 1918, 1930, 1942, 1954, 1966, 1978, 1990, 2002, 2014 Goat 1919, 1931, 1943, 1955, 1967, 1979, 1991, 2003, 2015 Monkey 1920, 1932, 1944, 1956, 1968, 1980, 1992, 2004, 2016 Rooster 1921, 1933, 1945, 1957, 1969, 1981, 1993, 2005 Dog 1922, 1934, 1946, 1958, 1970, 1982, 1994, 2006 Pig 1923, 1935, 1947, 1959, 1971, 1983, 1995, 2007

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

SPD from 1 within the SPD, including but not limited to training revisions, increased accountability, and a civilian oversight board, the Community Policy Commission (CPC).

Although many other cities nationwide are under similar consent decrees with the federal government to reform their police departments, Seattle is the only one with a civilian commission.

The CPC is a holding meeting on April 13 to formulate recommendations to Seattle police. Its purpose is “to give community members a voice and stake in police reform efforts.” The CPC has identified one way to reduce police brutality against people of color: a police force whose ranks within SPD mirror the ethnic makeup of the community it serves. Increasing the racial diversity of the SPD is particularly relevant right now in light of Seattle Mayor Ed Murray’s goal of increasing the total number of police officers by 200.

In his 2016 state of the city address, the mayor doubled down on his original commitment of adding 100 new officers… “for an overall goal of 200 net officers.” In addition, the newly appointed chief, Kathleen O’Toole, continues to fill out her command staff.

SPD BREAKDOWN BY RACE

The racial makeup of the SPD as it compares to the population of Seattle and the applicant pool is shown in the graph on the right.

Although Asians are by far the largest ethnic minority group in Seattle, they are noticeably absent from the command staff and police force.

The figures were taken from a recent CPC Report (“An Assessment of the Seattle Police Department’s Community Engagement: Through Recruitment, Hiring, and Training”) that studied how the SPD recruited, hired, and trained police officers. Although the report demonstrates that the “SPD is more diverse in its racial and ethnic composition compared to law enforcement agencies in other cities,” the SPD is significantly

75%

50%

25%

White

Asian

Black

Hispanic

Native American

Other

Percent of total population (2013 Census data) Percent of Seattle Police Department (May 2015) Percent of SPD applicants (February 2014–May 2015)

Image by Stacy Nguyen/NWAW

more white than the population of Seattle. In addition, the report also highlights the “significant number of applicants from racial/ethnic communities… that drop out early in the application process.” In general, non-white applicants do not become police officers at the same rate as those applicants who are white. Ethnic applicants make up 44 percent of the applicant pool, but comprise only 26 percent of the SPD. Asians are proportionately the least represented. Asians make up 13 percent of the population of Seattle and 10 percent of the applicant pool, but only 7 percent of the department is Asian.

Detective Carrie McNally, a member of the Seattle police recruiting team, noted that the department was “well aware of the need to recruit police officers from diverse backgrounds.” She is working on building relationships

with the community, including strategies to have Asian police officers attend recruiting events, and working directly with the CPC to gather feedback from the community.

In addition, Mike Fields, Seattle police human resources director, maintains that the “department continues to work to hire officers that reflect the cultures and communities within our city. We are aware that the number of Asian American police officers is not representative of Seattle’s population and we are constantly reviewing our outreach practices to ensure robust recruitment in all our communities.”

Asians are also noticeably absent from Chief O’Toole’s command staff.

Sarah Baker, Seattle Chapter President of the Japanese American Citizens League, recently sent

an open letter to O’Toole regarding the lack of API representation on her command staff. In response, O’Toole replied that she is “absolutely committed to a police service that reflects the community we serve” and although she has not hired an API for her command staff as of yet (four white, two Black), she has hired APIs for other management positions.

A NEGATIVE VIEW ON POLICING?

There are a number of reasons why API representation in the Seattle Police Department may be low and the CPC report discusses a few of these possibilities, including “the challenge of negative views about policing and police careers within many ethnic communities.” However, APIs make up 4 percent of the active duty members of the armed forces, a similar

type of career, while making up 5.4 percent of the overall population in the United States, according to the Department of Defense.

This suggests that there may be other factors, rather than API sentiment towards policing careers, that contribute to the lower than expected API representation of police officers. Determining those root causes and addressing them will be the central topic during the April 13 CPC meeting. McNally believes that “recruitment has to start early, during school” because becoming a police officer is a commitment and a “long process that takes several months.” She believes that many candidates become discouraged and take other jobs, which is why she is working on several internship programs and focusing on recruiting efforts at schools to get students thinking about a career in law enforcement.

The issue of API representation in the police force is top of mind for Al Sugiyama, a former executive director of the Center for Career Alternatives (CCA) and an active community member of the International District.

He expressed his concern for the “high risk of violent crimes in the International District and the lack of timely response by the Seattle Police Department to incidents.”

In addition, Sugiyama believes that “police officers do not understand the many nuanced issues in the International District, and that cultural and language barriers remain between the police officers and the community it has sworn to serve.”

The CPC continues to have community meetings and contact community-based organizations to “facilitate the conversations that we need to have — [The CPC] is the community’s voice in the police reform process. It’s literally getting the community voice at the table for policy reform, training, doing these assessments, making sure silent voices that are not usually at the table are at the table.”  Andrew Kim can be reached at info@nwasianweekly.com.

asianweekly northwest

16

34 YEARS

APRIL 9 – APRIL 15, 2016

LOCKE from 1 GL: It was an incredible cultural experience and great opportunity for the children to really understand the land of their ancestors. …

It was really an eye-opening experience for them to really appreciate the two Chinas. There’s… the urban China. Then, there’s rural China, where almost half the population live, in very meager accommodations. …[At my family home,] they still cook in the back using wood kindling and a propane stove, or over a burner. They don’t have microwaves, big refrigerators, washing machines, or dryers. The bathroom for the whole village is 100 meters away.

Before we came back (to the United States), [the kids] went to Chengdu to see the pandas. They’ve been to Guilin and enjoyed bicycle riding.

(Locke has three children: Emily, 19, Dylan, 17, and Madeline, 11.)

ON SPEAKING CHINESE

GL: [I’m] terrible! I’ve been trying to take Mandarin lessons — I get so confused between Cantonese and some (Mandarin) words that sound the same, but have totally different meanings. I just couldn’t do it.

[My kids’] Chinese is so much better. They were learning Chinese in Maryland and [continued] in China — and they’re keeping it up, too. I’m really proud that they’re keeping it up.

ON BEING AMBASSADOR VS. BEING GOVERNOR

GL: The staff at the embassy said as an ambassador, I had more access to top Chinese government officials, more face time, than any other ambassador before — the doors were opening more for me. …

A lot of people think — the ambassador [deals only] with government issues. We deal with a lot of things. We deal with the education of the children of the employees at the embassy.

If someone has a heart attack, and they don’t understand the medical system, we offer help. If they get arrested, we — visit them to make sure they’re okay and protect them. …

Governors have a lot more power, but you still have to work with the legislature, and if the legislature doesn’t give you the money or the authority, you can’t do it. And of course, you have to answer to the people. You have to make sure you’re not too far out from what the public would support.

ON PRESIDENTS

GL: [Chinese President Xi Jinping] is a very impressive individual, charismatic, easygoing, relaxed, and confident. …

When I sat in on the meetings with him and Vice President (Joe) Biden, [Xi] would often talk about what his father would say, or what his father used to do… he’s very much influenced by… the sayings, teachings, observations, and experiences of his father.

He has a clear view of what he wants for China and is moving very hard on the reforms.

[President Barack] Obama is super smart — very sharp, and wants to hear from everybody at the table. He — makes people feel very relaxed. …

[He’s a] very good athlete — he plays basketball with members of the cabinet and some of his staff, maybe once or

Gary Locke at Northwest Asian Weekly and Seattle Chinese Post office on Thursday, March 31.

Photo by George Liu/NWAW

ON CHINA

twice a week at a local gym. …

I have golfed with [Obama] twice and he’s a very good golfer. He won!

I was so nervous around the president when I was playing.

He said (does Obama impression) “Gary, just relax. Slow down, we got all day. It’s fun, just relax!”

ON A PROUD ACCOMPLISHMENT

GL: [As ambassador,] we were able to do things — that most ambassadors were not able to, like the visa (application process to enter the United States) …

When I first arrived (in China), it [took] 70 to 100 days just for an interview — with no guarantee you’ll get that visa. …

It was hurting jobs in America.

If a family in China — wants to visit Disneyland or the Grand Canyon, and they have to wait 100 days for a visa interview, they’re not going to come to America on vacation.

So, they don’t shop in Macy’s — Costco, they don’t eat in the restaurants — stay in a hotel. But if they do – that’s lots of jobs for Americans.

My staff said — we need more people to [conduct] more interviews — or we need to pay people overtime and so we need more money. …

I said no — that’s not an excuse. We just completely reanalyzed everything. We set very high goals. Within a month and a half, we got it down to five days — no new people, no overtime. … Over the next few years, the demand for visas went up by 70 percent. The wait time dropped to three days.

ON PM 2.5

GL: People know what we have done at the embassy and all the consulates throughout China to make the Chinese people aware of pollution. Because of what we did, the Chinese government now publishes the PM 2.5 (measurement of air pollution levels). …

They didn’t like it at the time – they asked us to shut down [our website] . … We said no, we have an obligation under U.S. law that if we know that something is [harmful to people], we have to [inform] all the Americans living in that city.

Then, the Chinese people [demanded to know] why the U.S. embassy was releasing the data, but not [their own government]. … The Chinese government — didn’t have a good answer. So they finally backed down and gave in.

[We began] air monitoring on top of the U.S. embassy in Beijing… then expanded our program to all the consulates (Chengdu, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenyang, and Wuhan). …

The schools used our [pollution] readings. If the reading

was over 150, the kids were not allowed outside during recess.

And for the high school, if it was more than 200, they would cancel all soccer games, athletics, or track events.

Pretty soon, the international schools started building these huge domed covers. …

It’s fabric and they pump air inside to keep the ceiling up – but the air inside is filtered. And they spent millions of dollars doing it. Once one international school [built a dome], the others had to follow, because if they didn’t, all the students from there would go to that school.

ON THE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES

GL: I’m supporting Hillary. …

I think sometimes her sharpness… and intellect overshadow her personality. Because deep down she can be very funny – she’s very loyal to her employees. …

People don’t see the warm, friendly, relaxed side of Hillary Clinton. I think if they did, more people would support her.

Bernie is promising everything, and — not saying how we’re going to pay for it. Not many of his ideas were very successful when he was in the U.S. Senate. So I wonder how much he’ll be able to get done as president. His ideas are so pie in the sky. …

Donald Trump on the other hand — is blaming the problems of [his supporters] on everybody else — Hispanics, Muslims, Asians. And he says terrible things about women. I want a president who brings us together.

America is a land of immigrants and [Trump] is turning his back on what America stands for. ... I want someone who will say – yes we have problems, but this is how [we can] work together and it’s going be a brighter future for everyone.

ON RUNNING FOR PUBLIC OFFICE AGAIN

GL: No, I’m here in Seattle. I’m done with government, done with running for office.

Dylan, in a year and a half, will be heading off to college.

Madeline is 11 years old, and pretty soon she’ll be off to college, too. I really feel like the time is getting shorter and shorter to spend with the kids.

ON PAVING THE WAY FOR OTHER ASIAN AMERICAN POLITICIANS

GL: When you’re forging a new trail, you’re cutting the brush, and it may not be perfect. The next person comes in and cuts a little bit more brush – makes it a little bit wider.

Then the next person comes in and makes the path a little smoother. Pretty soon, everybody’s able to follow. …

I felt that if I could do an effective job and be respected by the people of Washington state, I could actually encourage more Asian Americans to run for office. And if I did a credible job, make it possible for them to win.

There have been in the past Asian American members of congress and the U.S. senate who were not well respected and sometimes used as the butt of jokes. It would hurt Asian Americans who would run for office.

[Now], we’ve got so many examples of Asian Americans in office. It’s [no longer] unusual or a novelty.  Ruth Bayang can be reached at editor@nwasianweekly. com.

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