VOL 35 NO 34 | AUGUST 20 – AUGUST 26, 2016

PRSRT STD U.S. Postage Paid Permit No. 746 Seattle, WA

VOL 35 NO 34

AUGUST 20 – AUGUST 26, 2016

FREE

34 YEARS YOUR VOICE

Task force on police use of deadly force – set to implode or find common ground?

By Arlene Kiyomi Dennistoun NORTHWEST ASIAN WEEKLY Police accountability. It’s “the civil rights issue of our time,” said Toshiko Hasegawa during a phone interview. Hasegawa, a past president of the Japanese American Citizens League, is a member of the Joint Legislative Task Force on the Use of Deadly Force in Community Policing. She told panel members in July, “We’re not looking for a 90-yard touchdown here. Our job is to make two-yard gains, two-yard gains until we’re in a position

where we can do something that’s meaningful.

The community is looking for accountability when abuses occur. And that’s a difficult conversation to have, but we’re charged with having that conversation.”

A deep divide among the panel, tasked with examining police use of deadly force, threatens to fracture members oft-repeated but seemingly fragile goal of collaborating to find common ground. On one side of the divide are those who expected an honest discussion see TASK FORCE on 12

Even Olympic selfies are complicated by Koreas’ rivalry

By Foster Klug Associated Press RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Nothing is ever easy for the rival Koreas, even that most ubiquitous and usually innocent of Olympic interactions, the selfie.

Like dozens of athletes at the Rio Games, gymnasts Hong Un Jong of North Korea and Lee Eun-ju of South Korea met on the sidelines during competition and training.

The 17-year-old Lee, who is at her first Olympics, posed on Aug. 4 for the smiling selfie with Hong, a 27-year-old veteran. That friendly encounter and others between the two were captured by journalists — and immediately took on larger significance for two countries still technically at war.

Hong became the first female gymnast from North Korea to win a gold medal in 2008, when Lee was 9 and living in her native Japan. Lee moved to South Korea in 2013 because her Korean father wanted her to learn more about the country’s culture.

Niraj Shah

Niraj Shah’s FirstTwo offers “safer and smarter” intelligence for law enforcement

By Chris Kenji Beer Northwest Asian Weekly At a time when there is so much controversy over police incidents, Niraj proposes a solution for officers to become “safer and smarter.”

Today, he is building his fifth startup, Seattlebased technology company, FirstTwo. see SHAH on 16

see SELFIES on 14

A tweet from Ian Bremmer

By Beth Harris AP Sports Writer

■

see OLYMPICS on 12

Author seeks descendants of Seattle workers from 1800s » see 5

landing liam neeson UW grad, film producer on his new film, set in Korea. » see 7

Schooling Phelps: Singapore swimmer beats his idol for gold From left: Silver medal winners Hungary's Laszlo Cseh, South Africa's Chad Le Clos and United States' Michael Phelps and Singapore's gold medal winner Joseph Schooling celebrate.

ID HOMELESS PROBLEM Photo by Dmitri Lovetsky/AP

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Joseph Schooling was working on a school essay one morning in 2008 when Michael Phelps showed up to train at his club in Singapore ahead of the Beijing Olympics.

While other kids rushed at Phelps wanting photos, Schooling was frozen. He couldn’t believe his swimming idol was in front of him. Eventually, the 13-year-old mustered the courage to get a picture, too.

“I couldn’t really smile,” Schooling said. “I just opened my mouth.”

Their long-ago chance meeting made the rounds of social media Aug. 12 after Schooling upset Phelps in the 100-meter butterfly to win his island nation’s first Olympic gold, with the

ship canal builders

It’s cleaned up under the I-5 freeway.

But for how long? » see 10

Community » 2 Calendar » 6 Sudoku » 6 Astrology » 15

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asianweekly northwest

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34 YEARS

AUGUST 20 – AUGUST 26, 2016

■ names in the news

Scholars, recipients of the university’s most prestigious merit-based award.

The purpose of the IB is to develop inquiring, knowledgeable, and caring young people who help to create a better and more peaceful world through intercultural understanding and respect. 

Photo by George Liu/NWAW

Photo from the Korean Consulate General.

Korean Liberation Day recognition

House of Hong reopens

From left: State Sen. Bob Hasegawa, Ky Tran, Duc Tran, owner, Dennis Law, Renton mayor and Leeching Tran.

Pete von Reichbauer and Moon Duk-ho holding a proclamation recognizing Korea’s Liberation Day.

The Metropolitan King County Council, joined by Moon Duk-ho, Consul General for the Republic of Korea, recognized Aug. 15th as Liberation Day of Korea, celebrating the end of the Japanese occupation of the country with the surrender of Japan in World War II. “We celebrate this freedom from oppression — Korean independence and the immense value of the relationship between the Republic of Korea and King County,” said Councilmember Pete von Reichbauer, the sponsor of the recognition.

There are over 135,000 residents of Korean descent living in Washington, and King County — along with the cities of Federal Way and Seattle — have multiple economic and cultural ties with Korea, including sister city and sister county relationships. 

Chinese student receives top IB score Annie Wright School in Tacoma announced that 26 out of 27 students received its International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma and that class president Maggie Wang received the highest score on the exam. Wang, from Dalian, China, will go to Boston University in the fall as one of only 20 Trustee

simultaneously. This is Viet Wah’s second location. Founded in 1981, the original store is in the Chinatown International District.  From left: Amy Lee, Po Lee, owner, Lt. Gov. Brad Owen, and Seattle Deputy Mayor Kate Joncas.

Located at 409 8th Ave. S., the House of Hong reopened on Aug. 5 after three weeks of remodeling. Dignitaries for its grand opening on Aug. 13 included Lt. Gov. Brad Owen and State Sen. Bob Hasegawa. A lion dance was performed.

Po Lee, the new owner, is also the president of Hop Sing Tong and Lee Family Association. Several members of those groups were present among its 200 guests, as well as several Chinatown leaders. A buffet including a roast pig was served. The House of Hong serves dim sum and dinner seven days a week. 

Viet Wah relocation

Maggie Wang

The new location of Viet Wah Supermarket, at 2825 Sunset Blvd. in Renton, is across the street from its former location. Duc Tran, founder of Viet Wah, said the lease at the old site expired. He said the new location, formerly a thrift store, is not only bigger (16,500 sq. ft.) but makes customers feel comfortable. The grand opening on Aug. 14 saw over 200 guests, including Lt. Gov. Brad Owen and State Sen. Bob Hasegawa. Dragon and lion dances were performed

Bellevue College appoints copresidents On Aug. 3, the Board of Trustees of Bellevue College voted to appoint Dr. Gita Bangera, interim vice president of instruction and Aaron Hilliard, vice president of Human Resources as acting copresidents.

Dr. David L. Rule, president for the last three years, resigned.

The board will pick an Dr. Gita Bangera acting president at a later date and develop a process for a presidential search in the coming months.

Bangera is from Bombay. She earned an M.S. in Biological Science from Carnegie-Mellon before continuing to, and completing her Ph.D. in Microbiology from Washington State University. 

Tasty Vietnamese Fusion Cuisine, Pho, and Burgers!

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Open daily: 11 a.m.–10 p.m.

Happy Hour: 3–6 p.m.

Mee Kong Bar 2525 4th Ave Seattle, WA 98121 206-257-1030 @meekongbar

YOUR VOICE

■ community NEWS

AUGUST 20 – AUGUST 26, 2016

asianweekly northwest

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Concerns over Seattle City Light’s “smart” meter opt-out policy

To Seattle City Light,

To Bettie Luke, via Northwest Asian Weekly,

I do not want “smart” meters in my neighborhood, let alone on my home. The Opt-Out Policy is wholly inadequate to address my concerns.

The Advanced Metering Infrastructure provides NO benefit to me; it instead negatively impacts me whether I opt-out or not: Increased cost of electricity Increasing use of electricity to manage unnecessary usage data Increasing electromagnetic radiation, which harms the environment and the health of every living creature Increasing security risks; creating a computer network of 430,000 new access points that can potentially be hacked to attack the already vulnerable distribution grid The divergence of funds to protect utility revenue rather than creating sustainable energy solutions for the future Interferes with ability to add solar panels in future Then there are the unaddressed concerns of: Privacy rights Fire hazards Further, charging me an additional $15.87 per month, on top of already increased rates, to keep my service the way it’s been for decades, to avoid the above concerns, is unjustifiable.

As a customer of Seattle City Light, I demand a reconsideration of deploying the AMI “smart” meters, and if done at all, should be deployed as an OPT-IN only.

Advanced Metering will provide better support for customers with solar panels by allowing them to see how much their panels are producing and how much electricity their homes are using any time they want to check it online.

Seattle City Light is a publicly owned utility that operates as a non-profit department of the City of Seattle. We only collect enough money from our customers to cover the cost of electricity and our operations. Advanced Metering will help City Light hold down its operating costs and continue to provide some of the lowest electricity rates of any large city in the country.

Advanced Meters are the environmentally correct choice.

By eliminating the need to send meter readers to every home and business, City Light will avoid 200,000 miles of driving — and the carbon emissions associated with that driving — every year. The meters also will put more power in our customers hands so they will be able to see how much electricity they are using and how much it costs on a daily basis, which could help some customers who want to conserve energy reduce their bills.

The cost of installing the advanced meters is an operational cost for City Light and it is included in our projections for future rates. There is no separate charge for installing a new advanced meter. Many of our existing meters are far beyond their expected lifespan and need to be replaced, costs for the utility no matter what type of meter is used.

City Light is installing advanced meters to provide enhanced services for our customers. In addition to giving customers the ability to see how much electricity they are using and how much it will cost them before they get a bill, the new meters will automatically report power outages, eliminate instances of estimated bills that are currently used when a meter reader can’t access a meter, and allow for possible future services such as monthly billing, pre-pay and other optional alternative rate structures.

Sincerely, — Bettie Luke Seattle

Advanced metering will become City Light’s standard service. Customers who decide they do not want an advanced meter will receive a non-communicating digital meter and they will be charged to cover the cost of sending a meter reader to their home. That charge will be made each billing cycle, which is currently every two months. The fee City Light has established is about $1 less than the national average among utilities with opt-out programs.

As for privacy concerns, City Light will only collect the total amount of electricity used by the home. The meters will only transmit a meter number and the total amount of electricity used. This is the information we need to generate a bill and provide the enhanced services for our customers.

City Light will never share this information with anyone else.

As for safety, City Light will be installing the first electricity meters to be certified for safety by UL. Additionally, they will be equipped with heat sensors to detect short circuits or other problems that could lead to a fire, a safety feature our existing meters don’t have.

We have been reaching out to our customers to discuss Advanced Metering for four years, including open houses, strategic planning events and hearings, information on our website, articles in our Light Reading newsletter and now during the public comments period for the opt-out policy. We appreciate the many comments we have already received. We will review them and consider possible changes before the opt-out policy is finalized.  For more information on the program, please visit seattle.gov/light/ami.

Sincerely, — Scott Thomsen Seattle City Light (206) 615-0978

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AUGUST 20 – AUGUST 26, 2016

34 YEARS

■ world news

Grandmother of Thai Olympian dies watching him lift on TV BANGKOK (AP) — A celebratory occasion for a Thai Olympic bronze medal winner’s family turned somber as the athlete’s grandmother collapsed and died minutes before he won third place in the 56-kilogram weightlifting category.

A mourning ritual was held Aug. 8 at the home of Sinphet Kruithong, whose grandmother was among scores of family and friends watching his event live on a big television screen set up especially for the occasion in his village in northeastern Thailand. The festive atmosphere

Sinphet Kruithong

— villagers cheering and clapping as Sinphet heaved the weights up — turned somber when people noticed that 82-year-old Subin Khongthap had collapsed.

She did not live to see her grandson win the bronze medal.

A video taken by a local media outlet, Thai Rath, showed cheering villagers quickly rushing to Subin’s side and trying to revive her. She was taken to Chumphon Buri see KRUITHONG on 14

Rare giant panda baby born at Vienna Zoo BERLIN (AP) — Vienna Zoo is celebrating the birth of a rare giant panda.

The baby bear was born on Aug. 7 to mother Yang Yang and father Long Hui. It’s their fourth cub, after Fu Long, Fu Hu and Fu Bao. In a statement Aug. 8, the zoo said its newest addition was just 4 inches long and weighed 3.5 ounces at birth.

A spokeswoman for Tiergarten Schoenbrunn, the zoo’s official name, said the panda will be named after 100 days.

Johanna Bukovsky said no other European zoo had managed to successfully breed giant pandas by natural means.

The zoo noted that about 40 percent of giant pandas don’t survive the first year. 

■ community news

KING COUNTY NOTICE TO BIDDERS

Photo provided by ACRS

Washington’s AAPI communities gather to celebrate and grow civic voice

Khmer-speaking participants raise their hands during sound check as requested by their interpreter to indicate their headsets were working.

By Staff Northwest Asian Weekly On Aug. 12, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPIs) in Washington State and throughout the nation gathered to take part in a webcast of a Presidential Election Forum taking place in front of a live audience of over 3,000 AAPI community members, including journalists, community leaders, business leaders and elected officials in Las Vegas.

The event marked the first time that presidential candidates, or representatives from their campaigns, have addressed the AAPI community in a national forum during the election season.

In Washington State and in over 12 languages, more than 500 AAPIs gathered at community centers to watch the live cast, including in Seattle’s Chinatown/ see AAPI on 15

Sealed bids will be received for C01079C16, King County Mechanical Construction Work Order; by the King County Procurement and Payables Section, 3rd Floor, 401 Fifth Avenue, Seattle, WA 98104, until 1:30 PM on August 25, 2016. Late bids will not be accepted.

Scope of Work: Scope includes furnishing all labor, tools, equipment, materials, incidentals, superintendents, subcontractor coordination and overhead to perform mechanical repairs, replacements, minor modifications, upgrades, tenant and safety improvements in King County buildings, listed in §01010. The work includes HVAC repairs and modifications, plumbing, equipment installation, fire alarm systems, fire sprinkler, and related trade work including subcontractors, in secured jail facilities, office buildings, courthouses, public health clinics, King County Sheriff precincts, emergency management facilities and other county owned facilities as required. Secure facilities will require comprehensive background checks for all personnel accessing the facility.

Estimated contract price: $500,000 There is a 10% minimum requirement for King County Certified Small Contractors and Suppliers (SCS) on this contract.

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

YOUR VOICE

■ national NEWS

AUGUST 20 – AUGUST 26, 2016

asianweekly northwest

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Author seeks descendants of Ship Canal workers from 1800s

By David B. Williams The Lake Washington Ship Canal and Hiram M. Chittenden Locks will officially be 100 years old on July 4, 2017. But their story begins on another July 4 in 1854. On that day, Thomas Mercer spoke to a crowd of early Seattle settlers and suggested the name Lake Union for the lake where everyone had gathered. He chose the name because of the possibility “of this little body of water sometime providing a connecting link uniting

the larger lake and Puget Sound.”

Little was done to make Mercer’s dream a reality until March 1883 when a group of investors led by Thomas Burke and David Denny formed the Lake Washington Improvement Company. On June 6, the Seattle P-I reported that J.J. Cummings and Co. had won the bid to dig the canals.

They would employ a hundred men and many teams of horses. Reflecting the growing racism among some in Seattle, Cummings promised that he would not hire any Chinese laborers.

Cummings began work on June 16 and kept a rapid pace by adding more men and teams throughout the summer. In July, his crews removed 14,000 cubic yards of material for a canal connecting the two lakes at the location of the modern SR-520. But then the men ran into hardpan, firmly compacted sediment deposited during the last ice age. When Cummings asked for more money than he had initially bid for sediment removal, the see SHIP CANAL on 13

SEATTLE (AP) — Sound Transit, which for years ran light-rail trains that were too empty, now has cramped passengers clamoring for more railcars.

The Seattle Times reports that about 65,000 riders a day are taking light rail, two-thirds more than a year ago. That’s after the University of Washington and Capitol Hill stations in Seattle opened in

March.

The numbers aren’t a huge surprise in a densely populated corridor, but ridership has already reached the levels expected in 2018.

Transit managers have deployed a few more railcars but don’t have enough to see LIGHT RAIL on 13

Shutting down ‘shark finning’: US fishermen promise a fight

By Patrick Whittle Associated Press PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — American fishermen are digging in for a fight over a proposal to shut down the vestiges of the U.S. harvest of shark fins, prized for soup and traditional medicine in Asia, and send a message to the rest of the world.

The traditional “finning’’ of sharks — in which they are pulled out of the water, have their fins sliced off and are discarded into the sea, often still alive but unable to swim — is already illegal in the U.S., but fishermen are still allowed to hunt sharks and have their fins removed during processing on land.

A bill backed by Sen. Cory Booker, a New Jersey Democrat, and others promises to ban the sale and possession of shark fins to ensure U.S. fishermen and seafood dealers no longer participate in the global fin trade. Sen. Cory Booker Supporters say the bill would close loopholes left open by measures passed in 2000 and 2010 to protect sharks.

“America can become a global leader by shutting down the domestic market for

shark fins,’’ Booker said.

Fins from as many as 70 million sharks end up in the worldwide fin trade every year, and completely removing the U.S. from the industry would tell the world that it needs to stop, Booker said.

Lora Snyder, campaign director for the conservation group Oceana, has compared shark fins to the trade of elephant ivory and rhino horn. She said the legislation to ban the trade is a step toward saving sharks.

But some commercial shark fishermen and fish processors say the effort is wrongheaded and will harm industry more than it protects sharks. The U.S. shark fishery was worth about $2.5 million in 2014, Booker’s office said. The worldwide trade is worth hundreds of millions.

In the U.S., sharks are processed for their meat, as well as the fins, most of which are sold to Hong Kong. The U.S. also imported an annual average of 36 tons of dried shark fins from 2000 to 2011, according to Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat from Connecticut and a supporter of Booker’s legislation.

There are more than 400 permitted shark fishermen in the U.S., with the largest concentrations in Florida and Louisiana.

Fishermen brought more than 600 metric tons of sharks to land in states from Maine see SHARK FINNING on 13

Photo by Han Bui/NWAW

After new stations open Sound Transit sees crowded trains

asianweekly northwest

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AUGUST 20 – AUGUST 26, 2016

■ COMMUNITY calendar AUGUST 18

Ray Ishii: Budgeting & Cash Flow Workshop and Business Accounting Consultations Hing Hay Coworks, 409B Maynard Ave. S., Seattle 10 a.m.–12:30 p.m.

RSVP at hhc3free.eventbrite.com hAPPY hOUR fOOD Walk Seattle's International District 4–7 p.m.

Art Walk & Open House Nikkei Manor, 700 6th Ave. S., Seattle 5:30–7 p.m.

Idea Threads: Global business, cultural consulting, business planning & process improvement Hing Hay Coworks, 409B Maynard Ave. S., Seattle 9 a.m.–5:30 p.m.

10 a.m. $15 253-839-1639 A Chinese-inspired, participatory art project, “Let’s Burn Some Money Together!”

Celebrate Shoreline Festival, Cromwell Park, 18030 Meridian Ave. N., Shoreline 12–5 p.m. shorelinewa.gov/art, 206-801-2661 Northwest Language Academy and Cultural Center’s International Food and Music Festival and Bazaar Whidstock Ranch in Langley, Whidbey Island 4–10 p.m. $20/person, $30/at the door 360-321-2101 nwlacc.org Back to School Day The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Visitor Center, 440 5th Ave. N., Seattle 10 a.m.–6 p.m.

Free gatesvc.org

18–27

20 & 21

"Do It for Umma," by Seayoung Yim and directed by Sara Porkalob 8 p.m. theatreoffjackson.org

Polynesian Festival Renton Uwajimaya 11 a.m.–5 p.m. uwajimaya.com

19 SAAFF Outdoor Film Series "Lilo and Stitch" Hing Hay Park 7:30 p.m.

20 Pruning & Wire-Checking of your Bonsai Oriental Garden Center, 30650 Pacific Highway S., Federal Way

Reading Thai Food and Craft Festival 2016 Prospect Park Reading RG30 2ND 8/20 at 11 a.m.

8/21 at 6 p.m.

21 THOMAS BATTY’S “IKEBANA, A CONTEMPORARY APPROACH” Nagomi Tea House, Seattle 1–3 p.m. $15/members, $20/non-members Registration at friendsofasianart.org

34 YEARS

22

28

Salute to Japanese Baseball Night Safeco Field 7:10 p.m. $21–$42 Promo code: Japan seattle.mariners.mlb.com/sea/ticketing/ special_event.jsp?group=japan

6th Annual Celebrate Little Saigon, “Café Sua Đá Edition!”

1025 S. King St., Seattle 1–7 p.m.

24 70th Anniversary Celebration of Cathay Post 186 and to honor WWII Veteran members Palisade, 2601 West Marine Pl., Seattle 11:30 a.m.–2 p.m. $110/person Register by August 19, at hara9@ comcast.net 206-283-9681

27 Nikkei Community Network mark the retirement of the three UW Professors: Tetsuden Kashima, Stephen Sumida, and Gail Nomura Lee Activity Center, Blaine Memorial United Methodist Church, Seattle 11:30 a.m.

WSCCNA’s Annual Potluck Picnic Renton Coulon Park, North Shelter, 1201 Lake Washington Blvd. N., Renton 11:30 a.m.–3:30 p.m.

206-850-5914 Talk and Q&A with artist Emi Lenox, author of “Plutona” Kinokuniya Book Store, 525 S. Weller St., Seattle 2 p.m.

Free

2nd Annual Portland Korean Food Festival: Mukja “Let’s Eat” Ecotrust, 721 N.W. 9th Ave., Portland 2 p.m.

Free–$100 CID Block Party 2016 900 S. King St., Seattle 3–9 p.m.

CIDBlockParty.com Kawabe Summerfest 221 18th Ave. S., Seattle 11 a.m.–4 p.m.

SEPT. 8

CULTIVATE: A Celebration of Food Justice Danny Woo Garden, 6:30–8:30 p.m. $70/ticket RSVP to bit.ly/DWGparty jwasberg@interimicda.org

10 Korean BBQ Cook-off Seward Park, Shelter #1, 5900 Lake Washington Blvd. S., Seattle 4 p.m.

14 A night of storytelling, “Stories of Finding Home” Rainier Arts Center, 3515 S. Alaska St., Seattle 6–8 p.m.

View the solution on page 14

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AUGUST 20 – AUGUST 26, 2016

YOUR VOICE

■ at the movies

asianweekly northwest

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UW graduate co-produced a film portraying the Battle of Inchon featuring Liam Neeson

By Andrew Hamlin Northwest Asian Weekly P ro d

uc er K yu

-c h

Le

an “Seattle, compared to different g cities, is clean and safe. And the weather’s great, and a great place to play sports and get along with your nextdoor neighbors. It wasn’t a big city where you could find places to get into trouble. It was a secluded area where you could be more outdoorsy, and stay out of trouble.”

That’s movie producer Kyu-chang Lee, known in Hollywood and the filmmaking world as “Q,” describing his childhood. Q came to the Pacific Northwest at the age of 2, growing up on Mercer Island, and later attending the University of Washington (UW). Q’s latest project, “Operation Chromite,” an epic of the Korean War starring Liam Neeson as General Douglas MacArthur, leader of the United Nations Command, opened last week.

Asked how he got interested in movies as a career, Q recalled majoring in business at the UW, but also studying drama. “I had stage fright,” he explains. “Two or three people in front of me, I’d be shaking in my pants, just couldn’t get anything out. Ballmer Hall, which is the business school at the UW, it’s across from Hutchinson Hall, the school of drama. One day, I just got curious and asked them what it was like to be a drama major.

“I used drama as a way to fight the fear,” he continues.

“Put the two together, put business and drama together, and what do you have? Entertainment. I also was a football player. I was exposed to a lot of celebrity events and pro athletes around the community. And I built my network through celebrities and athletes.”

e

“Operation Chromite” details the Battle of Inchon, which turned the tide for the South Korean forces fighting the communist North Korean army led by Kim Il-sung. Asked how he got involved in co-producing the film, Q traces his interest back to an earlier Korean film, “The Brotherhood of War.” That film, the producer recalls, “was huge in Korea. I had the opportunity to watch that film, while I was

Kirara Kamo

Kirara Kamo is a student from Bellevue College and was our intern for two months.

Thank you for all your hard work and dedication to our paper!

an employee at Sony Pictures Entertainment, and I worked for Sony Pictures for 10 years, five of those years, I was an assistant to the chairman of the studios, Jeff Blake.”

Q recommended the “Brotherhood” film to Blake, who ended up distributing it in the United States. “Taking my connections at Sony, and parlaying them into connections in Korean, I came across “Operation Chromite,” two years ago, through the main producer of this film, Tae-won Jeong,” Q said. “Jeong has been a big brother mentor to me, and gave me the opportunity to be a co-producer on this project. He asked me how I could possibly contribute, and if I could cast American talent to play General MacArthur and so on. It’s been a fun process. Didn’t know it would be as big as it has been. Been very humbled by it.”

As far as casting the Korean leads, Q mentions Jung-jae Lee, who plays General Jang, in the film — he’s like the Tom Cruise of Korea. “Beom-soo Lee, who plays General Lim, from the North Korean side, is a huge actor here in Korea. They’ve worked on films before … it was a great synergy between the three, them and Neeson. More than I would have expected.”

As for casting Neeson as the military genius MacArthur, Q said, “We thought about a lot of folks, but when we looked at MacArthur’s side profile and Neeson’s side profile, they look so similar! We made up our mind that it was either Liam Neeson or bust. It took us quite awhile to convince him, but the director of the film, John H. Lee, is represented by the same agency.” Q also credited his relationships at Sony, and old friends at the agency for bringing Neeson in.

“He studied the hell out of the Korean war,” says Q about Neeson. He read a thousand-page novel to make sure what he was doing. He’s been to Korea several times and he’s very welcomed by Korean fans. He’s done everything he can top-to-bottom in Hollywood, so he wanted to take this see OPERATION CHROMITE on 13

asianweekly northwest

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34 YEARS

AUGUST 20 – AUGUST 26, 2016

■ on the shelf

Awesome books with strong female characters

By Samantha Pak Northwest Asian Weekly

Heroine Complex

By Sarah Kuhn DAW Books Inc., 2016

Evie Tanaka has one of the most difficult jobs in San Francisco. As the personal assistant to a diva superheroine, she spends her days handling everything her childhood best friend Aveda Jupiter — self-appointed guardian of the Golden Gate City — throws at her. From epic tantrums to demon bloodsoaked clothing, Evie does it all.

The rest of her life, however, is a hot mess.

She struggles with standing up for herself and is in constant battle with the teenaged sister she’s been left to raise.

Evie is (mostly) happy with her life, but all of that changes when Aveda is sidelined and Evie is forced to take her place. Before she knows it, she finds herself facing catty gossip bloggers, an increasingly jealous best friend-slash boss, and a supernatural battle against the demons of the Otherworld.

And oh yeah, it turns out, Evie has super powers of her own.

While Evie, who is half Japanese, may start out as a sidekick, she has her own story. She is a complex character with her own thoughts, feelings, and fear, all with a little dash of sass and attitude. As the story progresses, we see her grow and come to terms with her own power (super and otherwise) and learns to stand up for herself.

“Heroine” is filled with strong Asian American females readers can look up to.

From Aveda, who is Chinese and has no qualms about going after what she wants, when she wants it, to Evie’s 16-year-old sister Bea, who has strength and wisdom beyond her years, the characters are not only taking action, they’re saving the world.

Kuhn also does a good job at highlighting the relationship between Evie and Aveda.

Having known each other since they were in kindergarten, their relationship is a codependent, imbalanced, and somewhat dysfunctional one. But even when the status

quo gets shaken, the two are able to deal with it and come back together to do what they need to do — all without losing sight of their friendship.

Dove Exiled

By Karen Bao Viking Books for Young Readers, 2016

After escaping an almost certain death on the moon, Phaet Theta is now a fugitive, hiding in plain sight on Earth. Living with her friend Wes’ family, she learns that not everything she was taught growing up on the Lunar Bases was true and that “Earthbound” people are not as dangerous as she was led to believe.

Her peace is disrupted when the Committee — the governing body on the moon — discovers she is alive on Earth. The village of St. Odan, where she has been living, is attacked and the danger Phaet and Wes previously escaped has now caught up with them.

In this sequel to “Dove Arising,” we see Phaet struggle with the guilt she feels once she discovers how dire things have become on the moon after she left. Her actions may have been the catalyst to a brewing revolution, but the growing rebellions have not gone unchecked and lives have been lost.

Phaet discovers all of this once she returns to the moon and becomes even more determined to not only save her brother and sister, but bring down the Committee and their heavy-handed law enforcement, the Militia.

Despite this determination, at 16 years old, Phaet is still not sure how much of an impact she can make — especially when it seems that the Lunar people have turned her into a symbol of hope and a leader of the movement. But these doubts, as well as the growing guilt she feels for leaving the moon, do not stop Phaet from doing what she believes is right and from saving her siblings.

As this is the second in Bao’s Dove Chronicles, much of the expository has been taken care of and it is much more action packed, from the battle on Earth to Phaet and her ragtag team’s daring attempt to rescue her brother.

Like its predecessor, “Dove” is filled with strong characters, in addition to Phaet, as they all learn to work together — despite their difference of opinions — toward a common goal.

Sarong Party Girls

By Cheryl Lu-Lien Tan William Morrow, 2016

At 26 going on 27, Jazzy and her girlfriends Imo and Fann are close to becoming spinsters — at least by Singaporean standards.

So in hopes of avoiding such a fate, Jazzy hatches a plan and strategy for the three of

them with one goal in mind: landing an ang moh — or Western expat — husband. This will then lead them to the ultimate status symbol: a Chanel (or half white) baby.

While some people would say a marriage should be based on love, Jazzy approaches it like a business venture — and at times, like war (even referencing Sun Tzu of “The Art of War” fame). From the reconnaissance work she and her friends do to scope out the competition and study ang mohs in their (somewhat) natural habitats, to the strict deadlines she sets for them, she leaves little room for actual romance. But this does lead to much hilarity as the trio encounter a number of situations they are not prepared for.

On the surface, Jazzy may be a gold-digger. But as her quest toward marriage moves forward, we see why she is so determined. She and her friends are looking for a way to move up

in the world and avoid the same fate as their mothers, who are either in unhappy relationships or have to live with a husband with a second family. As modern as Singapore may seem, Tan shows readers how the country is still very traditional when it comes to gender roles and upward mobility for women is still very much tied to their relationships with men.

In addition to Jazzy’s adventures and antics around Singapore, Tan really gives readers a feel for the city in that the story is told in Singlish — Singaporean English with very specific slang and turns of phrase.

The language is a character in and of itself and while initially may throw readers off, Tan balances it in such a way that we readers can really get to know Jazzy and hear her distinct voice as she shares her story.  Samantha Pak can be reached at info@ nwasianweekly.com.

AUGUST 20 – AUGUST 26, 2016

YOUR VOICE

asianweekly northwest

9

■ arts & entertainment Artistry arising from the incarceration of Japanese Americans A hard subject on display at the White River Valley Museum

By Arlene Kiyomi Dennistoun Northwest Asian Weekly The concentration camps at Minidoka and Tule Lake, where Japanese American families would live for the next four years, were hot and dusty. Communal bathrooms were filthy and had no partitions.

Rattlesnakes, black widow spiders, scorpions, and ticks tormented families, and the land was barren, except for the sagebrush. Barbed wire fences and armed soldiers patrolled the camps. Upon their arrival, folks stumbled off trains, confused and scared, and were pushed along by the soldiers with bayonets. “What did we do that was so bad that they had to push us along with bayonets? That scared me more than the bullets,” recalled Shiyoji Kawabata, in a video. These stories and more are a part of “Handmade in Camp: What We Couldn’t Carry,” an exhibit currently on display at the White River Valley Museum in Auburn.

Forcibly removed from their homes, Japanese Americans took see ARTS on 13

Photos by Arlene Kiyomi Dennistoun/NWAW

Suitcases handmade by Sauce Shimojima during his incarceration at Tule Lake.

Families were forced to wear tags to identify his or her family’s number for identification.

The Matsuda family’s number was 16758.

Items donated to the museum that would have been impossible or impractical to fit in a suitcase and would have been left behind during mass removal and incarceration.

Shell artwork made by Kumataro and Kadju Nishimura. The Nishimuras woke up at the crack of dawn and dug waist-deep holes to find the shells.

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34 YEARS

AUGUST 20 – AUGUST 26, 2016

OPINION

■ PUBLISHER’S BLOG

How Chinatown battles homeless encampments Will it win?

It was impossible for Su to reroute the parade with tents on King Street.

An eyesore vanished in Chinatown when I came home after a trip to Asia. The 10-plus homeless encampments, along with the filth, trash, and smell, had been cleaned up on South King Street under the I-5 freeway on July 18.

That’s the good news. The bad news is, it might be temporary. How do we, as a community, make it permanent? How do we get government officials not just to listen, but act? Why is it so hard to get the City to do something, while the Asian community is in anguish with public safety concerns over the camps?

The homeless camps started popping up early this year, shortly after the nearby Nickelsville camp closed on Mar. 11 and the clearing out of “The Jungle” during the summer. Chinatown became a convenient dumping ground for homeless camps. The impact was appalling. Crimes, including robberies, mugging, car prowls, and graffiti in the International District (ID), were evident.

Drivers who parked their cars during the day under the freeway lot (managed by the InterIm Community Development Association) were

Shift the blame

Photo by Dennis Su

By Assunta Ng NORTHWEST ASIAN WEEKLY

Garbage piled up on King St. under I-5

afraid to walk back after work.

In April, InterIm sent a letter (also printed in the Northwest Asian Weekly) to Mayor Ed Murray asking for help to close the camps due to the continued deterioration of the increased unregulated tents under the freeway. The tent residents created fire hazards through cooking, and unsanitary conditions through urination and illegal

drug use.

According to the Wing Luke Asian Museum’s newsletter, “In June, at an emotional all-staff meeting (a block away from the camps), some said they no longer felt safe coming to work, and irresponsible asking visitors to come visit. The Wing is a significant tourist attraction, educational resource, and community gathering space in a fragile neighborhood, and in July, the Museum board came close to closing down operations.”

The issue with many government bureaucracies is that they like to pass the buck. From one department to another, they point to the next guy. Which department should take the initiative? Is it the Seattle Police, the Department of Transportation, someone else? Why is no one stepping up and taking the leadership role to say, “All agencies need to work together — gather everyone together to figure out a solution.”

Obviously, the community couldn’t figure it out. How in the world would we know how to cut through red tape?

Another issue is, who has jurisdiction over South King Street? The parking lot belongs to Washington state, and leased to InterIm. The sidewalks and streets are under the City of Seattle’s jurisdiction. However, the place in between the sidewalk and the parking lot, where the homeless tents are erected, is no man’s land. That’s where the frustrations lie.

The homeless know how to take advantage of the law. As Chief O’Toole said at the June meeting, police have no power to remove the camps. There are procedures to follow, and it takes time. The police presence did increase after the meeting.

To be fair, the police were watching for

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Also in June, there was an outcry about the homeless tents at a community meeting with Seattle Police Chief Kathleen O’Toole, and attendees begged for action. The chief even walked with Rep. Sharon T. Santos and Pradeepta Upadhyay, executive director of InterIm, to see firsthand how the camps were occupying King Street.

However, none of these events resulted in any direct action from the City until the preparation of the Seafair Chinatown Parade on July 24.

Shaming the city

To get the City’s attention, Dennis Su, parade chair of the Greater Seattle Chinese Chamber of Commerce, posted a photo on Facebook, of hundreds of kids who would be parade participants, and he showed the challenge in managing the parade through the homeless camps (along the parade route).

He said Seafair would need to get more police in front of each camp to guide parade participants. The photo was picked up by KING-TV anchor Lori Matsukawa, who posted it on her Facebook page.

opportunities. One cop told Su that if the tents’ residents sell drugs — it is illegal — and it would be grounds to clean up the tents.

Police did end up finding out about the drug activity, and they conducted an inspection.

Su said the mayor did work behind the scenes. On July 12, the City coordinated with the Washington Department of Transportation (WSDOT) and the State Department of Corrections to get cellmates to clean up the garbage. On July 14, the City posted an eviction notice. Some camp residents began to move away. On July 19, the City’s big power trucks arrived and washed the streets. No camp residents objected, said Su. A police car was present to observe and protect just in case there was resistance. A representative from the City’s Department of Finance and Administrative Services, who reports directly to the mayor, was there to assist.

After the cleanup

“We have seen tremendous improvement see BLOG on 15

AUGUST 20 – AUGUST 26, 2016

YOUR VOICE

asianweekly northwest

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OPINION

■ editorial The pinnacle of success ... in athletics Team USA remains on top of the overall medal count at the Rio Olympics, but two Asian countries are in the top ten for most medals won: China and Japan.

Overseas, Asian dominance in athletics is everywhere. Most recently, Singaporean swimmer Joseph Schooling beat U.S. swimming legend Michael Phelps — winning the 100m butterfly with an Olympic record time of 50.39s and nabbing his country’s first Olympic gold ever.

Yet in the United States, the stereotype that Asians are uncoordinated and not athletic, and are physically inferior to whites, Blacks, and Latinos, persists. “It is common that coaches and teachers at schools presume that an Asian American kid belongs in the science lab, not on the football field,” said Yun-Oh Whang, a professor of sports marketing at the University of Central Florida and a native Korean. “Asian Americans put huge value on education… Becoming a doctor or lawyer is the ultimate goal of many Asian American kids, which is heavily imposed by their parents,” Whang added.

Generally speaking, as a culture, Asian Americans don’t see sports as a road to reach social, economic, or educational goals. Another generalization: beyond academics, any extra time should be spent on extra academics (even if you’re an A student), or playing an appropriate musical

instrument (piano and violin), not sports.

There are Asians who immigrated to the United States to flee war and oppression, and to escape poverty. But in general, four of the six largest Asian American population groups — Chinese, Japanese, Indians, and Koreans — came to America already highly educated and of middle- or upper-class means. Census data shows, Asian Americans have a higher household

This came a year after earning his medical degree.

Sports is not a time-waster. Besides the obvious health benefits, a University of Florida study found that kids who participate in sports earn better grades in school and develop better social skills. Participating in sports provides opportunities to develop friendships, to learn to lose and win gracefully, to practice taking turns, to take on leadership roles, to learn to follow rules, and to practice managing conflict. The social interaction experienced while participating in sports also improves mood and mental health.

And here’s a statistic that could appeal to parents with old-school Asian sensibilities.

Asians make up 5 percent of the U.S. population, but only 1.5 percent of Fortune 500 CEOs are Asian. A survey by Fortune magazine of individuals at the executive vice president level or above in 75 Fortune 500 companies found that 95 percent of those corporate executives participated in high school athletics. 95 percent. That in itself is a strong case to pursue sports.

So break through that “bamboo ceiling” and go for the gold! You can mix athletics and academics. And since the world already expects us (model minority) to, we can excel. 

income and a higher graduation rate than any other demographic group, including whites. To play sports to enter mainstream American life is not seen as a path to success in most Asian communities.

Asian Americans are underrepresented in professional sports. While students of Asian ethnicity attend universities at a disproportionate rate, only half of 1 percent of Asian students choose to participate in college-level athletics, according to the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). The sports in which Asian Americans do excel tend to be solo sports, like figure skating and diving, sports that require little or no physical contact.

Before Jeremy Lin, Asian Americans never got a fair shake in basketball. And even Lin fought an uphill battle. Despite leading Palo Alto High School to a Division II State Championship and winning Northern California’s Division II player of the year award in high school, Lin received no Division I scholarship offers. He ultimately attended Harvard University, before joining the NBA. Lin was certainly not the first Asian super athlete to embrace and excel in both academics and athletics. Sammy Lee of California, 5-feet, 2-inches tall, became the first Asian American to win an Olympic gold medal, finishing first on the 10-meter diving platform at the 1948 London Games.

■ letter A letter, and a plea, about Donnie Chin [On Aug. 8], I managed a visit to beloved Chinatown after several years in a Pittsburgh college. I came by train. I went by the antique shop in Canton Alley to say hello and stopped short when I saw the door all decorated and learned of what befell Mr. Chin.

Everybody knew Mr. Chin. I’m not special. I cursed and spat with fury like you did. This is a man who had an unusual impact on our lives. He was brave and sensible, present, and endearing. He was also a man of learning, always there for Chinatown with his knowledge.

One day, there was a real good old samurai photo in a frame for sale in the store that I wanted to buy, despite being a little expensive for me. Mr. Chin, knowing me, could see why I wanted it. It even made him a little sad, but he agreed to hold it while I made some payments. My mother recalls how I struggled to hold onto it when I didn’t have a place to live, insisting on stowing it in her small office closet. For years, it hung over my desk, so I thought about Mr. Chin from time to time.

When I first read about Donnie Chin and then met him, I remembered that when I was very little, I used to scare easily.

Because it got me into trouble, I have always known that I was not very brave and wished that I was. I never wanted to be a soldier, although I look up to veterans.

I have always thought soldiering a bit much. Seeing Mr. Chin in his hobby as a volunteer at all the Hing Hay Park parties and ceremonies, I thought to myself, that is who I would want to be like, for Donnie Chin was a brave and sensible man.

I cannot accept what happened. I

know that cynicism is understandable sometimes, but when a young person on the margins decides to undermine the I-thou relationship, I feel it is proper to do so with the goal of making yourself the best person you can be, not to take down something

you can never be. It was a terrible mistake.

I ask again, if there is a witness, please step forward.

If you have young people not old enough to have known him but old enough to appreciate and love Chinatown, be so good as to say

who he was. We all lost a role model.  — Mac Crary Former ID resident visiting from Pittsburgh

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AUGUST 20 – AUGUST 26, 2016

TASK FORCE from 1 of changes to current law, implicit bias, the impact of community policing on communities of color, immigrants and refugees, and the huge elephant in the room — the fatal shootings of persons of color and racism. On the other side, stakeholders in the law enforcement community who want to maintain the status quo.

The task force was a compromise response by the legislature after House Bill 2907 died, which would have removed malice and good faith requirements for deadly force to be lawful. But after spending the better part of seven hours over the course of two days discussing everything but the law on police use of deadly force, Hasegawa, representing the Commission on Asian Pacific American Affairs, finally asked, “Is there a reason we are not addressing the Washington state law on deadly force?”

Several other members chimed in, wanting answers about why the agenda seemed one-sided for law enforcement, why no one consulted members about discussion items, and why they couldn’t get requested documents.

Sen. Kirk Pearson (R-39th District), the co-chair of the committee, resisted discussions on implicit bias based on his personal experience.

He said he had no biases and never treated anyone differently based on their appearance. He told frustrated members the issues raised were beyond the scope of the task force. The divide got deeper, as members strenSen. Kirk Pearson uously objected, and Hasegawa’s voice rose above the clamor, insisting, “It is not beyond the scope of this committee.”

Twelve of the 26 task force members went so far as to send co-chairs, Rep. Roger Goodman (D-45th District) and Pearson a letter asking for transparency, time for public comment, and consideration and identification of priority issues.

Task force members also wanted prosecutors’ memos explaining why they declined to charge police Rep. Roger Goodman officers in King County and other jurisdictions after widely publicized fatal shootings by police in the state.

Goodman guaranteed the task force would consider the law related to police use of deadly force. Goodman said during a phone interview, “When stakeholders from all

OLYMPICS from 1 American losing the last individual race of his career.

Phelps finished in a three-way tie for silver with longtime rivals Chad le Clos of South Africa and Lazslo Cseh of Hungary.

“A lot of this is because of Michael,” Schooling said.

“He’s the reason why I want to be a better swimmer.”

The youthful looking Schooling might be unknown to the rest of the world, but in swimming circles he has solid credentials. He earned bronze in the 100 fly at last year’s world championships in Russia, and he owns a slew of medals from the Asian, Commonwealth and Southeast Asian Games.

The 21-year-old Schooling competes for the University of Texas, where he’ll be a junior this fall. He swept the 100 and 200 butterfly at this year’s NCAA championships and swam on all three winning relays for the Longhorns. He has the school’s mascot and the words `Come and take it’ tattooed on his left shoulder blade.

Did he ever.

From left: Che Taylor, John T. Williams, and Antonio Zambrano-Montes

sides gather, there’s always going to be a lot venting.” But he said he’s confident members will come together and find common ground because they all have a common interest in finding ways to reduce violent confrontations between law enforcement and the public. Goodman pointed out that of 500,000 cases of police violence in the state, only three ended in fatalities. Asked whether they should discuss the three widely publicized deaths (Che Taylor, John T. Williams, and Antonio Zambrano-Montes) that were the catalyst of demands for police accountability, Goodman was noncommittal. “We haven’t figured out yet the issues that will form the policy recommendations to the legislature.” Goodman hopes to flesh out the issues at the next meeting in September. Goodman said he didn’t think it was helpful to compare Washington law with other states’ laws, although he’s curious because each case is different, and the way laws are applied and interpreted differ. “We have to have laws that fit our culture and community.”

Mark Roe, for one, believes the “good faith” provision in the current law fits the community and is critically necessary to protect police. Roe is the Snohomish County prosecutor, representing the Washington Association of Prosecuting Attorneys on the task force. Roe also wants to have a free and open discussion no matter how “ugly or dirty.” The working group wants to get at the big elephant in the room, and they should have that on the next agenda.

“I’m ready for it,” he said.

Gerald Hankerson, president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People for Seattle-King County, Alaska, Oregon, and Washington, balked at all the time spent talking about training. “I’m here to deal with deadly force, not how police have been training. For police shootings, when police do it, they get training. When we do it, we get prison.” Hankerson said if biases can’t be trained out of people, “we need to take away your guns if you kill somebody,” because you can’t “un-ring that bell.”

His community is calling for indictments of officers who kill, so “we feel like justice is working.” Even if officers are not found guilty, at least Hankerson’s community will feel

Schooling created a stir in the preliminaries, beating Phelps by 0.19 seconds in their shared heat. They swam in different semifinal heats, with Schooling winning his and Phelps getting beat by Cseh in the other.

Schooling was just getting warmed up.

He won gold in an Olympic-record 50.39 seconds, leaving Phelps, Le Clos and Cseh in his wake. The winning margin of 0.75 seconds was the largest since American Mark Spitz won gold at the 1972 Munich Games and the time was faster than Phelps’ winning time four years ago in London.

“I don’t think I’m anywhere close to these three guys next to me,” Schooling said. “A real roller coaster ride and a real fun one, too.”

Phelps steered Schooling in the proper direction during the medalists’ parade around the deck, the veteran of dozens of such walks showing the newest champion the way.

“I was like, `Dude, this is crazy,”’ Schooling told Phelps.

“He looked at me, he smiled and it’s just, `I know.”’

At the medalists’ news conference, Phelps urged

34 YEARS like the wheels of justice have spun. “Please forgive me for saying this, but if we don’t address this in the right way, this is what triggers Dallas, this is what triggers Baton Rouge.

This is what we’re afraid of — at least I am — wackos that take the law into their own hands.”

One organization is taking the law into their own hands, but not through violence. Washington for Good Policing filed Initiative 873 earlier this year to change the law on the use of deadly force. The initiative seeks to remove seven words, “without malice and a good faith belief,” from the law. Andre Taylor spoke about the initiative at the meeting.

His brother, Che Taylor, was shot and killed by police.

Good Policing claims Washington is the only state with the malice standard. Sponsors of the initiative need 250,000 signatures by the end of this year to get the initiative on next year’s ballot.

It’s hard to predict whether the task force will find common ground, given the apparent chasm between law enforcement supporters and members seeking police accountability. We reached out to Pearson for comment, but he didn’t respond in time for this article. “My heart is heavy today,” said Dr. Karen Johnson, president of the Black Alliance of Thurston County at the meeting.

“It feels like we’re back in the 1960s.” Johnson thinks about the young black men and police who’ve been killed recently and wondered, “When will we stop the hate and learn to relate.”

Although not a task force topic, the lack of confidence in community police was coincidentally mirrored in the results of a 2016 Chinatown International District (CID) survey. 44.3 percent of survey respondents said they “rarely” see police engaging with the public. Only 2.4 percent said police-community relations were “very good,” and 70.5 percent of the community think policecommunity relations are “fair,” “poor,” or “very poor.”  The next open, public meeting of the task force is on Sept. 13, between 1:00 and 4:00 p.m., at the Criminal Justice Training Center (19010 1st Ave. S., Cascade Bldg., Rm. C-206, Burien). Additionally, Hasegawa is hosting community conversations to provide updates and get feedback on the task force. Discussions will be held at Keiro NW’s Garden Room (1601 Yesler Way, Seattle), on Aug. 25 and Oct. 6, between 5:30 and 7:30 p.m. The conversations are open to the public, please RSVP Hasegawa at toshikograce@ gmail.com.

Arlene can be reached at info@nwasianweekly.com.

reporters to ask Schooling some questions.

“I’m proud of Joe,” Phelps said. “I’ve been able to watch him grow and turn into the swimmer that he is.”

By winning his country’s first Olympic gold, Schooling earned a bonus of $1 million Singapore dollars or nearly $750,000 US. He’ll have to give back $150,000 US to the National Sports Association for future training and development.

“I hope this paves a new road for sports in Singapore,” Schooling said. “I hope it shows that people from the smallest countries in the world can do extraordinary things.

Hopefully, it changes all of sporting culture in Singapore.”

Schooling’s grand-uncle Lloyd Valberg was Singapore’s first Olympian at the 1948 London Games. Hearing about him as a child, Schooling told his father he wanted to compete in the Olympics.

“This race means more to my family and my friends and those people who supported me. I did this for them,” Schooling said. “When you race for people bigger than yourself, I think it means a lot to accomplish what you wanted to.” 

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YOUR VOICE SHIP CANAL from 5 Improvement Company rejected his demand. In October, they abrogated his contract and hired Chinese labor contracting firm Wa Chong.

Run by Seattle’s first Chinese resident Chun Ching Hock, the Wa Chong Company provided work crews for numerous manual labor contracts around Seattle. For the canal, they would open a cut three-fourths of a mile long, 10 feet deep, and 20 to 30 feet wide between Lake Union and Salmon Bay.

By March 1884, Wa Chong’s men had advanced from Salmon Bay to within 50 yards of the lake, but were forced to stop work by a court case brought by David Denny’s mill

AUGUST 20 – AUGUST 26, 2016 company. He worried that the canal would lower the lake and make the mill inoperable. The only way Wa Chong’s crew could complete the job was to follow the court’s restraining order to build “sufficient locks, gates, or dams” to keep the lake at its “ordinary natural level.”

Beyond these details, what Wa Chong’s men did and when is not clear. All the information that exists comes from later sources. The crews either finished digging in 1885 or 1886. Contemporary accounts describe their work on the canal from Salmon Bay to Lake Union, but there is no first hand evidence as to whether they worked on the Portage between the lakes, even though it makes sense to assume that they did complete the job started by Cummings. The one clue that points to this outcome is a

could carry are poignant reminders of a sad history. Tags assigned and attached to family members, reducing their humanity, few belongings. The mass removal and are stunning displays of incarceration. incarceration of over 120,000 Japanese “Handmade in Camp” provides visitors Americans, based on Executive Order with audio and visual stories of survivors 9066, transported families to hastily describing their experiences through prepared barracks and structures Stqry (pronounced Story) and written originally designed for horses and other material. There’s Hiro Nishimura’s story. animals. Out of this grim, depressing, Nishimura graduated from Garfield High and racist four-year period in American School in Seattle and was recruited by history, some of the most amazing art the Military Intelligence Service during was created, representing the heartbeat of his incarceration at Minidoka. Nishimura American resilience. described the strangeness of serving his “Handmade in Camp” is a moving and country, visiting his parents behind a crucial reminder of the unconstitutional guarded fence, and being physically on incarceration of Japanese Americans the opposite side of soldiers who were during World War II. The exhibit showcases also serving their country by guarding the American ingenuity, determination, and incarcerated families. “Sauce” Shimojima pride borne out of necessity, boredom, Made of toilet paper and scrap tells the story of the outhouses with five and a desperate need to thrive, despite the silk by Shizuko Hara at Minidoka Camp. (Photo by Arlene holes and no partitions that served as bitter injustice of having their freedom Concentration Kiyomi Dennistoun/NWAW) community bathrooms. Shimojima relates stripped away because they looked like the outhouses were so embarrassing to use the enemy. Items, never seen before, are that folks often waited until after midnight to use them. displayed in “Handmade.”

“Handmade” inspires with its display of art both Patricia Cosgrove, the museum’s director, designed the exhibit to show visitors the shocking mass removal of subtle and glorious. There are the delicate intricacies thousands of Japanese Americans to concentration camps of a Buddhist altar, called obutsudan, made out of scrap in desolate areas throughout the country. Subtle pieces — wood, and exquisitely detailed. Charles Natsuhara loaned practical items like furniture, tables, suitcases, made from the piece to the museum and is a former museum board scraps of wood, and exquisitely intricate jewelry and a president. His uncle, Jack Natsuhara, made the obutsudan doll made from toilet paper awaken a sense of American while incarcerated at Tule Lake. The obutsudan is the only item on display that identifies Tule Lake. Natsuhara found ingenuity and pride.

The museum is tucked away on a side street in Auburn the obutsudan and other items made at Tule Lake in his and wasn’t easy to find. Cosgrove has worked at the grandmother’s home. At the time, he thought it was just a museum for the past 25 years. She sees about 300 visitors typical obutsudan, and didn’t believe it was a big deal until monthly and isn’t shy about wanting 1,000 visitors every he saw the engraving.

Natsuhara shyly answers questions about his family month. “We’d love it!” Cosgrove exclaimed. “Handmade in Camp” contains items loaned by relatives of incarcerated history. He’s a volunteer docent at the museum, after 37 years folks and the Wing Luke Museum. Nearly a third of of working as a soil scientist for the federal government.

Auburn’s population were citizens of Japanese ancestry Both of his sisters were born in the camps — one in Tule at the time of the mass removal and incarceration, which Lake, and the other in Minidoka. What Natsuhara finds explains why “Handmade” found a home in a small, out of most meaningful about the exhibit is the ingenuity and the way museum in Auburn. Cosgrove believes the exhibit perseverance of the families in the camps, despite what demonstrates family values, artistry, and imagination. She they were going through. He has an appreciation for the feels compelled to create presentations on the hard subjects, talent, skill, and craftsmanship of the inmates today that he lacked when he was younger. It’s amazing to Natsuhara that even if it doesn’t make money.

Cosgrove points out the sign at the entrance that the unjustly imprisoned families found what they needed to explains the use of Densho’s terms. Densho is a nonprofit make items of necessity and beauty.  organization whose mission is to preserve and pass on the stories and information of incarcerated Japanese The White River Valley Museum is located at 918 H Street, Americans. Densho’s reasoning for its terminology has to Auburn, and is open Wednesday through Sunday from do in part with congressional findings that the incarceration noon to 4 p.m. “Handmade in Camp: What We Couldn’t of innocent Americans of Japanese ancestry was race- Carry” is a display of “items of necessity and objects of beauty made in U.S. World War II Concentration Camps.” based, unnecessary, and unconstitutional.

Cardboard signs bear the handwritten pleas of Japanese The exhibit is open through Nov. 6.

Americans stating, “evacuation sale” and “furniture – all must be sold.” Treasured personal belongings left behind Arlene can be reached at info@nwasianweekly.com. because families were allowed to bring only what they ARTS from 9

SHARK FINNING from 5 to Texas in 2014.

Jeff Oden, a former North Carolina shark fisherman who left the business about 10 years ago to focus on other species amid mounting regulatory pressure, said the legislation is well intentioned but won’t stop international finning, and could actually increase pressure on sharks.

“Other countries that are less likely to be as sustainable as us will fill our void,’’ Oden said.

Shaun Gehan, a lawyer who represents shark fishermen, said the inability to sell fins would devastate the shark fishing business, which he described as conservatively managed already. Eleven states already have laws against the sale of shark fins, though shark fin soup can still be found on the menu in Chinese restaurants in many states.

American fishermen are allowed to harvest many

different kinds of sharks, including tiger sharks, bull sharks and some species of hammerhead. Shark conservation group Shark Savers has said the 14 kinds of shark that are most prevalent in the international shark fin trade are all threatened with or near-threatened with extinction.

The bill would still allow fishermen to harvest sharks for their meat, though some in the industry say it wouldn’t be worth the cost of business, because much of the value is in the fins. There would also be an exception for smooth dogfish, which could still be used for fins.

The bill is pending in the Senate Commerce Committee, but no votes are scheduled. Booker introduced the bill along with Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, a West Virginia Republican, Rep. Ed Royce, a California Republican, and Gregorio Kilili Camacho Sablan, the Northern Mariana Islands delegate to Congress. 

asianweekly northwest

13

letter written in 1903 by Army Corps Assistant Engineer Eugene Rinsecker, who noted that he remembered seeing Chinese workers using picks and wheelbarrows at the cut, which was wide enough for logs and small vessels.

Although Wa Chong’s canal was eventually supplanted, it was an essential first step in the development of the modern ship canal and locks.  Author David B. Williams is working on a book for HistoryLink.org about the history of the Ship Canal and Locks. He needs help connecting with descendants of the men who worked for Wa Chong on the canal still living in Seattle. David can be reached at wingate@seanet.com.

LIGHT RAIL from 5 convert the entire fleet of two-car trains into three-car trains. They say crowding isn’t severe enough to justify major costs to run a three-car fleet.

Fuller trains are crossing the city as voters consider this fall’s $54 billion Sound Transit 3 ballot measure, to increase annual taxes for a median household by about $326. That would add 62 miles of light-rail lines in seven directions by 2041, bus-rapid transit lines and more Sounder train capacity.

Sound Transit CEO Peter Rogoff proposes a second downtown transit tunnel to prevent bottlenecks.

“They are rare incidents, but they are very real incidents, when we’ve got real crush loads,” Rogoff said.

“People let a train go by, to board the next train.” He’s bracing for the first 80,000-rider day.

For now, passengers are adapting.

“They need to always run with three cars, anticipating the people are going to get on and use them. They have that capability,” said Kristina Sawyckyj, who struggled to steer her electric wheelchair through baseball fans and onto a train two weeks ago, on her commute from night school to Rainier Valley.

Ideally, each railcar carries the same number of people standing as sitting — 74 of each, for a total of 148. You can find a strap to hold, and there’s no need to bump bodies.

Lasers on board 30 percent of trains take sample counts of riders at the doorway.

Based on data for the International District/Chinatown Station this spring, some 40 percent of afternoon-peak trains traveling south exceeded the magic number of 148 passengers.

Rogoff told the Sound Transit board on Aug. 4 that crowds can arrive unexpectedly, even when there’s no ballgame or concert, and he needs to get better at predicting that. But overall, the system is operating as designed, officials insist.

“I’ll take standing for 10 minutes on a crowded train over fighting traffic from a bus or my car for 30 minutes any day,” spokesman Bruce Gray said.

Sound Transit’s service plan says that if any scheduled train exceeds the 148 riders on 60 percent of its daily runs, capacity will be added.  OPERATION CHROMITE from 7

chance to see what he could do outside of Hollywood.”

Asked about the film’s reception, Q said proudly, “Hitting 6 million admissions this weekend, which is incredible box office (in Korea). We’re opening [in America] on about 120 screens. It’s the largest opening in the U.S., by a pretty long range.”

Asked about his future projects after “Operation Chromite,” Q mentioned an upcoming film with Samuel L. Jackson, and also an adaptation of the popular American TV show “Criminal Minds,” for South Korea.  “Operation Chromite” is currently playing on several screens in the Seattle area. Check local listings for theatres, prices, and showtimes.

Andrew can be reached at info@nwasianweekly.com.

asianweekly northwest

14

AUGUST 20 – AUGUST 26, 2016

34 YEARS

Have a story idea that you think would fit perfectly in Northwest Asian Weekly?

We want to know about it. Send it to us at info@nwasianweekly.com.

KRUITHONG from 4 Hospital in Surin province, 210 miles away, where she was pronounced dead. She was to be cremated Aug. 10.

Sinphet, 22, was the second Thai to win a medal at the SELFIES from 1 A few days after the selfie was taken, Lee and Hong interacted again on Aug. 7 while on the floor at the same time during preliminary competition. Lee was eliminated, while Hong will compete in the vault final.

Photos of their warm moments delighted many South Koreans and provided a rare note of concord in otherwise abysmal relations between the rivals. Such meetings are not illegal in South Korea, but they are complicated by the two countries’ long history of animosity and bloodshed.

The Korean Peninsula is still technically in a state of war because there has been no peace treaty signed to officially end the 1950-53 Korean War. Nearly 30,000 U.S. troops are stationed in South Korea as a deterrent against North Korea, and the neighbors regularly trade insults and warnings of war, including recent threats from the North of missile strikes on Seoul and its ally, Washington.

A web of laws, most left over from

Rio Games, following Sopita Tanasan, 22, who won a gold medal for weightlifting in the women’s 48 kilogram category on Aug. 6. He was, however, the first Thai man to medal in weightlifting while nine Thai women have won medals in the past.

the days when the South was ruled by a dictatorship, govern how South Koreans are supposed to interact with North Koreans. Travel and communication are severely restricted; even praising the North is illegal in the South.

South Koreans are required by law to obtain government permission for any planned meeting, communication or other contact with North Koreans.

This requirement is waived for spontaneous interactions with North Koreans that can happen during foreign travel, like the Olympics. But South Koreans must still provide an account of what happened to the South Korean Unification Ministry, which handles inter-Korean issues, within seven days, according to the ministry.

So while it’s OK for South Korean athletes to talk to the North Koreans they meet at the Olympics, they must later submit reports about the encounters to their Olympic committee, which will then pass the information to the government.

These brief, friendly moments between

The gold medal in his event went to China’s Long Qingquan and Om Yun-Chol of North Korea won the silver. 

North and South Korean athletes may not seem to be a big deal to outsiders, but they often stimulate deep emotions on the Korean Peninsula, which has been divided by the world’s most heavily armed border for decades and where many long for eventual reunification.

Inter-Korean ties, never good, have been terrible in the past decade of conservative rule in the South. But there were friendlier days under previous liberal governments in Seoul, and they were often seen most clearly in sports.

North and South Koreans, for instance, marched together under a flag that symbolized unification during the 2000 Sydney Olympics.

Whatever happens in politics, many South Koreans love seeing their athletes treating North Korean competitors with respect, and there’s always lots of media attention on these moments of harmony.

When North Korea’s women’s soccer team won gold at the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea, and the South won bronze, many South Koreans expressed delight in seeing players from

both countries celebrate together after the medal ceremony, smiling and putting their arms around each other.

Similarly, the Rio Olympic selfies represent a small thaw in otherwise frigid ties — just as long as it’s all reported to the authorities. 

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AUGUST 20 – AUGUST 26, 2016

YOUR VOICE

■ astrology

asianweekly northwest

15

Predictions and advice for the week of August 20–August 26

By Sun Lee Chang Rat — Silence is not an effective way of communicating what you want. Give voice to what you are really after.

Dragon — Is someone taking advantage of your generous nature? It’s up to you to establish a boundary, if one is necessary.

Monkey — A sympathetic ear can be quite helpful.

Even if you don’t know what to say, just being there is sometimes enough.

Ox — The faster you finish what you need to do, the more time you leave for the things that you really want to do.

Snake — Are you feeling a tad misunderstood the past few days? Instead of dwelling on it, look forward to the chance to start anew next week.

Rooster — When no real choices are present, you are inspired to go out and seek ones that are actually worthwhile.

Tiger — Don’t let a difference of approach keep you from reaching a shared goal together with the friends that you started with.

Horse — A well-earned prize can easily be lost if you are not careful. Chances are that if you desire it, others will too.

Rabbit — It will be a race to get everything done in the time that you have allotted. Avoid taking on more than you can reasonably handle.

Goat — In trying to go around one obstacle, you could encounter yet another. Keep in mind that there won’t always be a detour.

Dog — Instead of adding fuel to the fire, take a step back and decide to go another way. Soon you will wonder why you cared so much in the first place.

Pig — While you are reluctant to give up some conveniences, the savings of doing so should eventually win you over.

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

BLOG from 10 in the area,” said Upadhyay. “Police patrolling has significantly increased, garbage is being collected, and the (InterIm) parking lot is filled as it used to be previously.” Parking revenue has since increased, she added.

Maiko Winkler-Chin, executive director of the Seattle Chinatown International District Preservation Development Authority (SCIDpda), said she now feels safer walking to her car at night, which she parks under the freeway. “I don’t feel as anxious of someone popping out from behind the columns in the lot. I do not have to walk through trash and other items to get to and from my car. I do not smell excrement or urine. I do not witness the same level of uncomfortable behavior.”

Is it sustainable?

“I am very much concerned that the tents will come back, and in such high concentration,” said Winkler-Chin.

Su said for now, the City will continue the power truck wash every week for five weeks, since their first clean up on July 18.

After that, the City can’t stop the homeless from coming back.

“What we need to do is stay on it. Make sure we call the City’s Customer Service Bureau (CSB) when we see tents, and don’t presume that someone else is calling,” said Winkler-Chin.

Meanwhile, the mayor’s CID Task Force, made up of community members to develop strategies to improve neighborhood policing and economic development, were pushing on the other front. Task force member Alan Lai said that WSDOT attended their AAPI from 4 International District and at Asian Counseling and Referral Service (ACRS) in Seattle’s Rainier Valley. Additional watch parties were held in Spokane, Yakima, and Tacoma.

While all presidential nominees were invited to speak in Las Vegas, only Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson and Green Party candidate Jill Stein participated in person. Hillary Clinton was represented by President Bill Clinton. Donald Trump was represented by Sean Reyes, the Attorney General of Utah. Although the overwhelming demand for live streaming across the country caused many viewing parties to experience technical glitches, at ACRS, Executive Director Diane Narasaki took the opportunity to review candidate policy positions with community members on is-

meeting two weeks before the cleanup. The members voiced their worry that the camps might be back.

Deputy mayor Hyeok Kim visited the ID on Aug. 13 to meet with Chinatown leaders focusing on public safety. Most of the recent crimes are purse snatchings and restaurant robberies.

InterIm is working with the community and the City to develop a short and long term plan to activate the space under 1-5, according to Upadhyay.

“By activating the space, we hope to make it beneficial for the community and also ensure the encampments do not start building up again,” Upadhyay said.

So far, a couple of events with a dance and food trucks, organized by Ali Lee, founder of Eco8 Community Builders, were held at the parking lot to discourage homeless folks from returning. The turnout was not ideal due to the lack of publicity.

“If we’re not getting a response from the administrative or executive side of the city (mayor and his departments),” said Winkler-Chin, “we need to let the … city council know… our district representative, Bruce Harrell, and the two at-large members who represent us all — Lorena Gonzalez and Tim Burgess.”

Lai said the task force wants a steering committee to continue to monitor the situation. “[Asians] are too polite,” Lai said.

“We need to pressure the city more.”  To file a complaint, call the Customer Service Bureau (CSB) at (206) 386-1234.

Assunta can be reached at assunta@nwasianweekly.com.

sues such as strengthening hate crime laws, banning Muslims from the U.S., and creating a path to citizenship and family reunification through comprehensive immigration reform.

“The viewing parties are just one example of our intensive voter education efforts over the last two years; and the forum is only one day among decades of advocacy on the issues that matter most to AAPIs. Our community is building a culture of engagement in our democracy for generations to come; in the languages we speak, through people we trust and in places we gather. Today, we celebrate the strength of our own voices as we mobilize for November and beyond,” said Narasaki.  Staff can be reached nwasianweekly.com.

at

info@

Photo by Rebecca Ip/NWAW

*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.

Deputy mayor Hyeok Kim and Chinatown leaders.

asianweekly northwest

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34 YEARS

AUGUST 20 – AUGUST 26, 2016

SHAH from 1 FirstTwo offers a platform that utilizes deep background in information and utilizes it to support police officers out in the field. Given the political climate, Shah said his business “steers clear of the politics and specifically provides a technology and information service to law enforcement while they are in the community.” Shah’s company “provides real-time intelligence to enhance the security, safety and effectiveness of law enforcement agencies.”

“We hope to change the way law enforcement is practiced to improve the safety and security of both officers and the people in our communities. Law enforcement is really an underserved group of people and we join them in this cause where it’s not about the paycheck.” Imagine an incident where they can contact people in a home, mark that home clear and safe, and share that with various agencies when they arrive on scene, all at the same time seeing all first responders and their locations.

Given the volatility of gun violence, Shah also wanted to be clear that his software does not profile. What it does is equip officers with useful information about both the victim and criminal. For example, a police officer might be assigned to check in on a Level 1 sex offender who has been a fully compliant registered offender for 20 years. That same officer must be prepared in a different way if he’s responding to a 911 call involving a Level 3 offender who has a track record of Department of Corrections (DOC) violations and a history of prostitution while consuming illegal narcotics. “FirstTwo is making law enforcement safer and more effective,” said Commander Chris Guerrero of the Kennewick Police Department. Imagine if the City of Seattle police department had used Shah’s real-time intelligence to find the person who took the life of Chinatown’s longtime emergency assistance provider and favorite son, Donnie Chin.

Niraj Shah

“My company provides location-based identity understanding that equips the officers to be well informed with the background data they need to be prepared for issues they face when making their site visits,” stated Shah. Today, Shah’s company already has signed on 60 police agencies in California, Oregon, and Washington.

That’s an amazing number considering the company is less than a year old.

Shah’s family is part of the original Indian community in the Pacific Northwest.

He reflects on how different today’s Indian community is from the one he was raised in, in the Renton area in the 1970s. During those times, “there were only around 500 Indian families in the Seattle area and we knew everyone. I was part of the first group of American-born Indians in the U.S.” Niraj’s father emigrated from Gujarat, India and arrived in Pueblo, Colo. in the late 1950s, before going to college at Columbia University and then landing a job at Boeing after graduating. His father supported the family as a Boeing engineer for 41 years.

Shah has demonstrated a knack for being at the right place at the right time.

After graduating from Lindbergh High School, he was accepted to the University of Washington (UW). He was a member of the first graduating class from the newly established Computer Engineering Program.

Today, the UW program is considered one of the top programs in the country. After

graduating, Shah worked as a software engineer for IBM and Attachmate. In the 1990s, Niraj founded StockTick, a stock portfolio program. He then settled in for four and a half years as a software architect at Seattle’s Active Voice. The timing couldn’t have been better, as he joined a project from the ground up to build a unique messaging routing system. This included producing two patents. This project was separated out from Active Voice, and sold to InfoSpace in 1999 for $20 million. “This technology I helped build at Active Voice was also used in the core Unity product that was later acquired by Cisco Systems,” added Shah.

Shah joined InfoSpace, directing innovation for three years, including 20 key acquisitions for the company. He then cofounded and helped run inome (now Intelius, Inc.) and Talentwise as their president and Chief Technology Officer, respectively. He hired at least 150-250 people locally in Seattle over those 12 years. Shah became part of four technology startups, eventually cofounding and overseeing technology for three Seattle area companies, which sold for a combined $300-plus million in 2015 and 2016.

Earlier this summer, Shah took the opportunity to explore the United States

by RV to achieve his family’s life goal to travel to 50 states and 50 countries. He traveled over 4,000 miles with his family in the United States and over 2,000 miles in Europe this summer.

During this last year, Shah thought about his next move. He knew he had a history of building big data businesses. He considered the challenges police departments face with their first response to potential crime scenes, for example. “I explored the idea of arming law enforcement with intelligence.”

His first contact with law enforcement was with the Tri-Cities patrol. “The Commander in Kennewick opened their agency to me for partnership.” While the patrol officers had laptops in their cars, using Shah’s deep knowledge of information and technology “proved to provide very useful

information about the person a police officer was dealing with.” Shah initially gave the Tri-Cities patrol a free trial, and they were sold on it. “We gave the officers situational intelligence at the location they are responding,” said Shah. “I call it location-based identity resolution.” Shortly following the final sale of his last startup in January, he made the move to start another business from the ground up — FirstTwo. Shah recognized the sacrifice and high risks his parents’ generation took to travel to “the other side of the world. For them, doing everything in this new world was like going up river.” In this time (as immigrants), family stability was the top priority, he said.

“My parents’ generation were conservative — were engineers, doctors, lawyers.” In his generation, “we are so fortunate, one could always go to work at Amazon or Microsoft if you have the skill set,” said Shah. “The next generation, or second generation of Indians born here, we have progressed beyond that community we were raised in, but so grateful for the foundation that they gave us,” added Shah. Shah believes in paying it forward, passing on his experience to other young entrepreneurs. He also currently advises local companies in Seattle and San Francisco. Shah suggested it is the responsibility of his generation, regardless of the person’s skills, to be entrepreneurial in whatever you do. This, in itself, is a way of giving back and building on his parents’ generation. “The next generation, my generation, is a fortunate generation, and we should take that risk (of doing something different).”  Niraj Shah will be an honoree at the Northwest Asian Weekly’s Technology and Innovation Awards on Oct. 7 at China Harbor Restaurant from 6–9 p.m. For more information, email editor@nwasianweekly. com.

Chris can be reached at info@nwasianweekly.com.

Legacy Celebration the

meet our panelists

Final Chapter

Mary Yu Washington State Supreme Court Justice

Sandra Madrid

former assistant UW law dean

Hon. Claudia Kauffman

Friday, Sept. 16, 2016 TIME: 11:30 a.m.–1:30 p.m.

WHERE: China Harbor Restaurant 2040 Westlake Ave. N., Seattle RSVP: rsvp@nwasianweekly.com, 206-223-0623

Dr. Sheila Edwards Lange President, Seattle Central College

LORI MATSUKAWA

CO-ANCHOR, KING 5 NEWS

With Special welcome

by HYEOK KIM Deputy Mayor, Seattle

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