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VOL 36 NO 34
AUGUST 19 – AUGUST 25, 2017
Chief of staff change: Kiga to replace outgoing Fong
FREE 35 YEARS YOUR VOICE
Vigil for Charlottesville at Chinese Reconciliation Park O
n Aug. 13, the citizen lobbyists group “Indivisible Tacoma,” along with others nationwide, came together in solidarity with people in Charlottesville, Va., who put themselves at risk to fight against white supremacy — on the spot commemorating the 1885 expulsion of Tacoma's Chinese citizens.
see VIGIL on 15
Fred Kiga
RAISING CANDLES (PHOTO BY LIZ SATTERTHWAITE)
Mike Fong
SEATTLE — Mayor Ed Murray appointed Fred Kiga as chief of staff on Aug. 10. Kiga will take over from current Chief of Staff Mike Fong on Sept. 5, and serve the remainder of Mayor Murray’s term. He comes to City Hall after five years at Vigor
Manilatown uproar By Staff NORTHWEST ASIAN WEEKLY
Filipino residents and community leaders say they are pleased that Seattle City Council President Bruce Harrell will draft a new resolution in response to one that sparked backlash. On July 31, council members unanimously approved an ordinance mandating affordable housing in the Chinatown International District (CID) neighborhood, as well as a companion resolution (Resolution 31754) promising to recognize the history of the International District (ID). However, the words “historic Manilatown” were removed from a sentence recognizing ethnic neighborhoods in the district — raising the ire of Filipinos in the ID. Concerned Peoples for Filipino History in the Seattle CID wrote to the City Council: “It is a recurring issue that Filipinos are disregarded from historical reference, for our great local contributions, and our general civic inclusion. The Filipino American community has had a
see KIGA on 15
Kin On CEO Sam Wan to retire
strong presence in the City, which includes but is not limited to: former council members, Dolores Sibonga and David Della, social advocate Cindy Domingo, and the late Uncle Bob Santos. … We seek to affirm our place as a valid, historical, and active ethnic community of Seattle.” Devin Cabanilla, a historian and member of the Filipino American Historical Society, said his uncle mapped out Filipino businesses in the ID. “The sheer scale of Filipino activity within the district is undeniable and should be afforded the integrity of a name, whether it be Manila Town or Filipino Town or Brownville,” said Cabanilla. He went on to say, “As many Filipinos and Filipino Americans now recognize, we have always gotten the short end of a deal. … intentional or not, the habitual effort against Filipino history can be categorized as a systematic effect that has reduced our community into obscurity.” see MANILATOWN on 11
Photo by George Liu/NWAW
Sam Wan
SEATTLE – After 32 years of leadership and dedication, Kin On CEO Sam Wan is set to retire on Dec. 31, 2017, according to the organization’s Aug. 15 news release. see WAN on 6
■
COMMUNITY NEWS » 3
NO OFFENSE
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35 YEARS
AUGUST 19 – AUGUST 25, 2017
■ NAMES IN THE NEWS Gym named in Hiroo’s honor
60 years of Seattle-Kobe Sister City partnership
Angela Lin (right) with Rep. Adam Smith on Aug. 12 Ed Hiroo
On Aug. 5, the Jefferson Community Center in Seattle’s Beacon Hill neighborhood honored Ed Hiroo by dedicating and naming the gym in his honor. Hiroo was on the committee that spent many years working on the plans, designs, and eventual construction of the gym. Hiroo started coaching when he was a teenager and at the age of 23, became the Athletic Director for Nisei Vets. He has coached over 100 different teams over the years. When asked why he coached, Hiroo said, “I wanted youth to participate in something, keep them out of trouble, learn skills, make friends, and most importantly have fun.” ■
9th congressional district 2017 Congressional Award Medal recipients
Rep. Adam Smith presented the Congressional Award Medals to local students at his town hall event in Tukwila on Aug. 12. Among the recipients were Angela Lin (pictured) and Jamin Zheng, Jiayi Wang, and Malav Dipankar, who were not present. Smith said, “It is a privilege to see young students… demonstrate personal initiative and a sincere commitment to bettering Puget Sound communities. I look forward to hearing about the accomplishments of these young leaders in the future.”
Established in 1979, the Congressional Award is the highest honor Congress bestows upon a youth civilian. ■
Melinda Gates praises China in poverty reduction, and commits millions more in joint work
Melinda Gates
Melinda Gates, cochair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, was recently in Beijing to participate in the launch of a joint program with the Chinese government — to alleviate poverty through
healthcare and AIDS control. On July 23, Gates met with Cui Li, deputy director of the National and Family Planning Commission. Cui Li thanked the Gates Foundation for its long-term support of China’s work in health and family planning by providing funds, technology, and personnel. Joining China’s First Lady Peng Liyuan, Gates also attended and spoke at the opening of the 2017 “Love in the Sunshine Summer Camp in Beijing.” Now in its eighth year, the camp was created to help AIDS affected children to broaden their horizon, experience warmth of the society, and improve their overall health of body and mind. ■
SEE IT ALL AT SAM NOW ON VIEW
Pure Amusements: Wealth, Leisure, & Culture in Late Imperial China Engage the senses with objects of intentional leisure from Late Imperial China at the Seattle Art Museum, where you can enjoy SAM’s Asian art treasures while our historic Asian Art Museum is closed in preparation for renovation.
Birdcage, Pentagon, 1850—1920, Chinese, Bamboo, Metal, 22 x 9 x 9 in., Gift of Henry and Mary Ann James, in honor of the 75th anniversary of the Seattle Art Museum, 2007.9.
The City of Seattle celebrated 60 years of cooperation with Kobe as Sister Cities. Kobe is Seattle’s oldest Sister City — the partnership started shortly after World War II under Seattle Mayor Gordon Clinton in 1957. Over the past six decades, the Seattle-Kobe City Council President Bruce Sister City relationship Seattle Harrell (right) and Kazuhiko Adachi, has produced economic Vice Chair, Kobe City Assembly Japan investment, cultural ex- America Friendship Association. changes, and strengthened civic institutions of both cities. A delegation from Kobe, including Kobe’s Vice Mayor Toshiro Tamada, Kobe City Assembly Chair Michio Kitagawa, and Kobe-Seattle Sister City Association President Eri Yag, visited Seattle last month. The city held its 60th Anniversary Reception at the Port of Seattle headquarters on July 28. ■
Photo provided by the City of Seattle.
2
March to support undocumented immigrants
A crowd marched on Aug. 15 from Sturgus Park to Hing Hay Park to support Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program (DACA), on the program’s fifth anAug. 15 rally at Hing Hay Park to protect the niversary. Action for Childhood Arrivals program A rally at the Deferred (DACA). end called on the Trump administration to keep DACA. If eliminated, DACA recipients or Dreamers, as they are commonly known, would lose deportation protections. They were brought to the United States illegally as children. Under DACA, they have been able to pursue college educations and professional careers.
Photo by John Liu/NWAW
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■ COMMUNITY NEWS
AUGUST 19 – AUGUST 25, 2017
3
South Asian heart health SEATTLE – Rep. Pramila Jayapal announced the introduction of the South Asian Heart Health Awareness and Research Act on Aug. 3. The bipartisan bill, co-sponsored by Republican Rep. Joe Wilson, will raise awareness of the alarming rate at which the South Asian community is developing heart disease and will invest in ways to reverse this trend. “Disproportionate levels of heart disease in the South Asian community are a red flag with a preventable cause,” said Jayapal. “By dedicating funding to research and ways to get the word out on the importance of heart health, we will not only save more lives in the South Asian community, we will also open a door to a new and better understanding of heart health that will benefit all Americans.” South Asians are the sixth-largest and fastest-growing ethnic group in the country.
Despite a traditional diet high in lentils, vegetables, grains, and spices, the Stanford South Asian Translational Heart Initiative found that South Asians have a four times greater risk of developing heart disease than the general population, and a much greater risk of having a heart attack
Activists protest at nuclear base to de-escalate North Korea crisis
before the age of 50. Additionally, South Asians have emerged as the ethnic group with the highest prevalence of Type 2 diabetes, according to a recent Mediators of Atherosclerosis in South Asians Living in America (MASALA) study. With diabetes being one of the most serious driving forces for heart disease, these high numbers underscore the urgent need for action. The bipartisan bill is co-sponsored by 19 members of Congress, and is backed by a growing list of organizations, including the South Asian Public Health Association, the Hindu American Foundation, and Hindu American Physicians in Seva. The South Asian Heart Health Awareness and Research Act would: • Create South Asian Heart Health Promotion Grants at the Centers for Disease Control to develop a clearinghouse and web portal of information on South Asian heart health,
create culturally appropriate materials to promote heart health in the South Asian community, and provide grants to work with community groups involved in South Asian heart health promotion; • Fund grants through NIH to conduct research on cardiovascular disease and other heart ailments among South Asian populations living in the United States; • Fund grants through USDA’s extramural science granting agency (the National Institute of Food and Agriculture) for the promotion of South Asian heart health nutrition; and • Urge U.S. medical schools to include a focus on South Asian diet and ways to achieve optimal nutrition in these populations as part of their nutrition curriculum. ■
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We can help you with: We Wecan canhelp helpyou youwith: with: Kirk Wong Kirk KirkWong Wong Activists protested at the gate to Naval Base Kitsap-Bangor on Aug 14.
Activists with Ground Zero Center for Nonviolent Action held a vigil and protest at Naval Base Kitsap-Bangor on Aug. 14. Participants briefly blockaded the base during the morning shift change by carrying banners onto the roadway at the main entrance gate. One of the banners implored the Trump administration to stop its incendiary rhetoric toward North Korea. It read, “No Nuclear Strike On N. Korea!” All were removed from the road by Washington State Patrol officers, cited for being in the roadway illegally, and released. Naval Base Kitsap-Bangor is the nuclear submarine base that would likely carry out
a strike against the North Korea should President Donald Trump give the order. Ground Zero spokesperson Leonard Eiger said, “No one knows where this escalating rhetoric of President Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un will end. To take either leader at his word, a nuclear holocaust is an acceptable event. There is no acceptable military solution to this nuclear standoff. Diplomacy is the only way out of this mess.” Just 20 miles from Seattle, Naval Base Kitsap-Bangor is home to the largest concentration of deployed nuclear weapons in the United States. ■
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AUGUST 19 – AUGUST 25, 2017
35 YEARS
■ WORLD NEWS
Citizens worried, but Seoul mum on Trump’s N. Korea threat By FOSTER KLUG and KIM TONG-HYUNG ASSOCIATED PRESS SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — When North Korea makes a threat, the government in Seoul usually vents its anger while South Koreans mostly shrug off what can seem like a daily barrage of hostility. President Donald Trump has introduced a new wrinkle to this familiar pattern. His recent Pyongyang-style threat to unleash “fire and fury” on North Korea has been met with silence from the top levels of South Korea’s government — and worry, sometimes anger, from the country’s citizens. It highlights an interesting feature of South Korea, a strong U.S. ally, trading partner and fellow democracy where there can seem to be as much, maybe more, worry about Trump’s unpredictable style of leadership as there is about archrival North Korea.
Philippines to cull 200,000 fowl after bird flu outbreak
MANILA, Philippines (AP) — The Philippines will cull at least 200,000 birds after confirming its first avian flu outbreak, but no animal-to-human transmission has been reported, officials said on Aug. 11. Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Pinol said he ordered the culling of all fowl within a half mile of six affected farms in northern Pampanga province’s San Luis town. The area has been declared a quarantine zone with a 4-mile surveillance area also established around the farms. Pinol said he was informed last week that 37,000 birds have died from avian influenza subtype H5, which can cause illness and deaths in both animals and humans. Experts believe the ducks to be the virus carrier, he added. He said he has informed President Rodrigo Duterte, the Department of Health and will report the outbreak to the World Organization for Animal Health. Pinol said farmers did not immediately report the deaths, which spiked in July, because they thought were from ordinary poultry disease. Alene Asteria Vytiaco, an official of the Bureau of Animal Industry, said they will send samples collected from the farms to the World Organization for Animal Health and the Australian Animal Health Laboratory for further testing. ■
Many South Koreans ignore Pyongyang because they have lived with near-constant North Korean belligerence, and sometimes violence, since the Korean Peninsula was divided in 1945 and the two countries fought a bloody, three-year war five years later. The government in Seoul, however, is far from indifferent
to its northern neighbor. When North Korea on Aug. 10 repeated a threat against Guam, saying it was working on a plan to launch missiles into the waters near the U.S. territory, Roh Jae-cheon, spokesman of South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, appeared on TV to declare that Seoul and Washington were prepared to “immediately and sternly punish” any provocation by the North. Contrast that with the official silence out of Seoul after Trump’s comments on Aug. 8, which seemed to take a page out of the North Korean playbook by warning of “fire and fury” if the North didn’t stop threatening the United States. South Korean citizens and the media have been less shy about ripping into both Trump, for his threat, and the government of President Moon Jae-in, for not taking see THREAT on 14
91-year-old Thai woman earns bachelor’s degree BANGKOK (AP) — A 91-year old woman in Thailand has earned a college degree after spending more than 10 years studying for it and has received her diploma from the country’s king. Public television broadcaster Thai PBS says Kimlan Jinakul was granted the Bachelor of Arts degree in human and family development on Aug. 9 at the government-run Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University just outside Kimlan Jinakul Bangkok. “If we do not study, do not read, do not know, then we won’t be able to speak and make sense,” she said. Her diploma was handed to her by King Maha Vajiralongkorn Bodindradebayavarangkun, who took the throne last year. Diplomas at Thailand’s public universities are traditionally
handed out by members of the royal family. “I am happy and honored that the king has graciously shown such limitless mercy,” Kimlan said, using a phrase meant to show utmost respect to Thai royalty. Kimlan traveled with her family from their home in Phayao province, 450 miles north of Bangkok, to attend the graduation ceremony. “Sometimes she felt weary because of her body,” Kimlan’s son, Mongkol Jinakul, told Thai PBS. “But we as her children tried to cheer her on and mom studied until the end and it was a success.” The Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University, which has courses catering for the elderly, this year had 199 students who are over 60 years old. It offers part-time and remote learning. “For the elderly, we focus on practicality rather than the academic aspect,” professor Panumas Kadngaongam, acting dean of the university, said. “So the subject can be studied and put to use immediately.” ■
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■ NATIONAL NEWS Asian couple buys exclusive street once restricted to whites only SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – These days, the price of a San Francisco home can easily top a million dollars. But a couple of savvy investors has bought up a whole street in the city's most exclusive neighborhood for a mere $90,000. Trouble is, some of the extremely wealthy residents of Presidio Terrace were not aware their street was up for sale and are not pleased it has been sold. Presidio Terrace is an oval shaped street sealed off by a gate from the tony Presidio Heights neighborhood. Lined with towering palm trees and multimillion dollar mansions, the street has been home, over the years, to famous residents, including Sen. Dianne Feinstein and
House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi. It was also once billed as a haven for white people looking to stay segregated from Japanese and Chinese people in 1906, according to the Virtual Museum of the City of San Francisco. Those who purchased property at Presidio Terrace could sell only to white people until 1948, when a U.S. Supreme Court ruling banned racial segregation in neighborhoods. Thanks to a city auction stemming from an unpaid tax bill, Bay Area real estate investor Michael Cheng, and his wife Tina Lam, bought the street and now own the sidewalks, the street itself, and other areas of “common ground'” in the private development that, the San
Francisco Chronicle reported, has been managed by the homeowners association since at least 1905. Cheng says reaction to the sale has been less than neighborly. “I thought they would reach out to us and invite us in as new neighbors,” Cheng told The Associated Press. “This has certainly blown up a lot more than we expected.” It turns out the homeowners association for Presidio Terrace failed to pay a $14-a-year property tax, something that owners of all 181 private streets in San Francisco must do, the Chronicle reported. see SAN FRANCISCO on 13
Tina Lam and Michael Cheng
Chinese woman awarded Warriors star Kevin Durant apologizes for $461K over run-in with India comments US border agent By CAROLYN THOMPSON ASSOCIATED PRESS A federal judge has ruled in favor of a Chinese businesswoman who was injured during a 2004 confrontation with American border agents at Niagara Falls and sued the Zhao Yan U.S. government. Following a nonjury trial in Rochester, New York, Judge Elizabeth Wolford awarded Zhao Yan $461,000 for false arrest, medical expenses, pain and suffering and lost earnings. Zhao’s 2006 civil rights lawsuit had sought $10 million in damages. The judge’s ruling on Aug. 7 found the government liable for U.S. Customs and Border Protection Officer Robert Rhodes’ “assault and battery and false arrest” of Zhao at the Rainbow Bridge U.S.-Canada border crossing in Niagara Falls. The judge found she was entitled to recover $385,000 for past and future pain and suffering, $64,000 in past medical expenses, $1,800 in lost earnings and $10,000 for false arrest. She was never charged. The case provoked anger in China after
pictures of Zhao, her face swollen from pepper spray and her eyes and forehead bruised, were widely published. Rhodes initially was fired and criminally charged with violating Zhao’s civil rights. He was acquitted at a 2005 trial and eventually reinstated to his job. Rhodes’ attorney, Steven Cohen, said Zhao’s civil case could have been avoided had Rhodes’ employer backed him instead of charging him amid pressure from China. Zhao’s lawyers in the civil case, he said, used the government’s treatment of Rhodes in their favor. “It makes me angry to see a frivolous lawsuit rewarded with a verdict,” Cohen said. Zhao, a business owner and piano teacher, had been in the United States on a business visa to study the market for wood in Pennsylvania, court documents show. She was sightseeing at Niagara Falls when the confrontation occurred. In charging Rhodes, government prosecutors claimed he used excessive force when he used pepper spray on Zhao, put his knee on her back and drove her head into the pavement. But during the 2015 civil trial, U.S. authorities said Zhao’s injuries were her fault because
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Basketball star Kevin Durant has issued an apology for calling India “20 years behind” and several other comments about the Asian country. The Golden State Warriors forward tweeted on Aug. 11 that he’s “sorry that my Kevin Durant comments about India were taken out of context.” Durant said he plans to return to India to run more basketball camps and meant no disrespect. Durant traveled to India recently and spoke about the trip in an interview with The Athletic website published last week. In the interview, Durant marveled at the “cows in the street, monkeys
running around everywhere, hundreds of people on the side of the road” and visible poverty. “It’s a country that’s 20 years behind in terms of knowledge and experience,” he said, adding that his visit to the Taj Mahal was eyeopening and not what he’d imagined. He’d expected the monument to be “holy ground, super protected, very, very clean,” but instead as he drove up it reminded him of places where he grew up, he said. “Mud in the middle of the street, houses were not finished but there were people living in them. No doors. No windows... stray dogs and then, boom, Taj Mahal, one of the seven wonders of the world.” ■
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.
see YAN on 13
Facebook anonymously launched an app in China By ALEXANDRA OLSON ASSOCIATED PRESS NEW YORK (AP) — Facebook anonymously launched a new photo-sharing app in China in a new effort to make inroads in the world’s most populous country. China’s ruling Communist Party controls internet traffic across the country’s borders and tries to keep the public from seeing thousands of websites including Facebook. The app, called Colorful Balloons, was launched in China earlier this year and does not carry Facebook’s name. Facebook confirmed on Aug. 12 that it launched the app. The social media company’s connection to the app was
first reported on Aug. 11 by The New York Times, which said it was released in China through a separate local company called Youge Internet Technology. The launch of the app comes as China is cracking down on technology that allows web surfers to evade Beijing’s online censorship. Last month, users of Facebook’s WhatsApp messaging service, which normally operates freely in China, were no longer able to send images without using a virtual private network. That came amid official efforts to suppress mention of the death of Liu Xiaobo, the imprisoned Nobel Peace laureate. China’s biggest internet service provider, China Telecom
Ltd., sent a letter to corporate customers last month saying that VPNs, which create encrypted links between computers and can be used to see sites blocked by Beijing’s web filters, would be permitted only to connect to a company’s headquarters abroad. The move could block access to news, social media or business services that are obscured by China’s “Great Firewall.” Chinese authorities have long blocked Facebook, Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube, arguing that foreign social media services operating beyond their control pose a threat to national security. ■
asianweekly northwest
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AUGUST 19 – AUGUST 25, 2017
■ COMMUNITY CALENDAR AUG
SATURDAY NIGHTS THROUGH AUGUST 26
SEATTLE ASIAN AMERICAN FILM FESTIVAL OUTDOOR MOVIES Hing Hay Park, Seattle’s Chinatown 7:30 p.m. THROUGH AUGUST 19
MADAME BUTTERFLY Seattle Opera 321 Mercer St., Seattle 7:30 p.m. seattleopera.org
17 API CHAYA BOOK CLUB Hing Hay Coworks 409 B Maynard Ave. S., Seattle 6 p.m. HAPPY HOUR FOOD WALK Seattle’s Chinatown-International District 4 p.m. IDEASPACE CANTON ALLEY PARTY Canton Alley 5 p.m. WORLD DANCE PARTY Little Brook Park, 14043 32nd Ave. N.E., Seattle 6 p.m. Free
35 YEARS
18
20
EDI GENERAL INFO SESSION Ridgewood Corporate Square, 320 120th Ave. N.E., Building B, Conference Room #105, Bellevue 12 p.m. RSVP by August 11 Apply at ediorg.org/application
TAP-SEA PRESENTS: 2017 SUMMER BBQ! Luther Burbank Park 2040 84th Ave. S.E., Mercer Island 11 a.m. tap-seattle.org
19 “TARGET,” GALLERY PARTY Core Gallery 117 Prefontaine Place S., Seattle 5:30 p.m. aaliyahgupta.net CAREER & COMMUNITY RESOURCE FAIR Filipino Community of Seattle 5740 MLK Jr. Way S., Seattle 10 a.m. fcseattle.org
19 & 20 ALL THINGS JAPANESE SALE JCCCW 1414 S. Weller St., Seattle 8/19 at 10 a.m. 8/20 at 11 a.m. jcccw.org 8TH ANNUAL UWAJIMAYA RENTON POLYNESIAN FESTIVAL Uwajimaya Renton 501 S. Grady Way, Renton 9 a.m.
WAN from 1 Wan said, “Kin On has been a huge part of my life. It’s hard to believe that it has been over 30 years since we started the organization. What an incredible journey it has been for me to be involved with Kin On since its beginning. It has been a privilege and honor to be a part of this mission.” During his tenure, Wan has led the organization from a small rented facility in First Hill to a multi-million dollar organization with offices in the Chinatown-International
SPECIAL INTRODUCTION AND PRESENTATION OF ENGAGING DOGEN’S ZEN Kinokuniya Seattle 525 S. Weller St., Seattle 2 p.m. THAI SIAM’S 30TH ANNIVERSARY BENEFIT DINNER Thai Siam Restaurant, 8305 15th Ave. N.W., Seattle 12 p.m. $25+ thaisiamrestaurant.com
21 SOLAR ECLIPSE VIEWING PARTY Pacific Science Center 8:30 a.m. pacificsciencecenter.org/eclipse THE GREAT AMERICAN SOLAR ECLIPSE The Museum of Flight 9404 E. Marginal Way S., Seattle 9:30 a.m. museumofflight.org
District, Columbia City, and Bellevue. Today, Kin On’s comprehensive services include healthy aging programs to help seniors stay active, in-home and caregiver support services to help seniors maintain independence while living at home, assisted living apartments and adult family home to offer affordable supportive housing, short-term rehabilitative services, and long-term skilled nursing care. “Sam has been instrumental in guiding the development and the expansion of Kin On services to meet the community’s
AAJA SEATTLE CHEF SHOWCASE 2017 Columbia Tower Club 701 5th Ave. Ste. 7500, Seattle 6 p.m. $25-$40 brownpapertickets.com
23 DONNIE CHIN UPDATE MEETING Nagomi Teahouse 519 6th Ave. S. #200, Seattle 5:30 p.m.
24 SUMMERFEAST - GATHER AROUND THE TABLE TO SUPPORT MARKETSHARE King Street Station 303 S. Jackson St., Seattle 5:30 p.m.
25 SEAED’S EVENT, “BEYOND THE NUMBERS” Filipino Community Center 5:30 p.m.
26 BÁNH MÌ FESTIVAL CLEAN UP Little Saigon International District 12th Ave. S. & S. Jackson St., Seattle 10 a.m.
needs,” said Kin On Board President Stella Leong. “Under his leadership and mentorship, the next generation of leaders are prepared to ensure Kin On’s mission is fulfilled after his retirement.” A CEO search committee has been formed to search for Wan’s successor. ■ Wan will also be honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award on Oct. 6 at the Seattle Chinese Post’s 35th anniversary gala at China Harbor restaurant.
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YOUR VOICE
■ SPORTS
AUGUST 19 – AUGUST 25, 2017
7
THE LAYUP DRILL
MMA visits Everett, a young tennis star, and a new Jeremy Lin JEREMY LIN CLAIRE LIU
YUSHIN OKAMI
By Jason Cruz NORTHWEST ASIAN WEEKLY Welcome to another edition of The Layup Drill. As the summer continues, we write about two up-and-coming athletes, as well as looking at a racial incident at a local event.
Sports and racism
Yushin Okami is an experienced mixed martial artist. Unfortunately, the rough and tumble world of combat sports is not immune to racist comments. A veteran of the Ultimate Fighting Championships (UFC) and a former title contender to the UFC middleweight title, Okami was in Everett, Wash. last month as part of the Professional Fighters League (PFL). The PFL is not as big or glamorous as the UFC, but it still has professional fighters that are on the rise or on the decline in their career. Okami might be considered one on the decline. Yet, he still dominated his opponent on July 29 for the win. Notably, as Okami’s bout started, someone in the sparse crowd of 2,000 or so in attendance at the Xfinity Arena in Everett yelled out, “Remember Pearl Harbor,” referring to Okami’s Japanese heritage. It served to show the ignorance of the one speaking, as it made no sense except for the fact that Okami is Japanese and the individual’s limited knowledge of anything Japan was Pearl Harbor. To compound its idiocy, the individual responded to a few that took issue with him by saying, “Come on, you know you all were thinking about saying it.” Actually, no. I for one knew that I was not. The unfortunate fact was that despite some people upset with the heckle, some laughed about how “it was wrong, but still funny.” As I looked back in the crowd to see where the person was sitting, some around me were chuckling and saying, at least he didn’t say “Hiroshima,” another U.S.-Japan World War II reference. Okami didn’t hear this racist taunt. As a trained fighter, and probably used to ignorant people, he focused on his fight and not the crowd. The taunts bring up an issue with racism in sports. While it seems that a lot has been improved in race relations, there are still people who feel compelled to spew hatred and ignorance. No other fighters were racially taunted that night. Of course, Okami was the only Asian athlete and he did stand out. Yet, the outright taunt should not be tolerated and the individual
was not even met with a warning. Either security could not identify the individual or they didn’t care. Hopefully, it was the latter.
Liu wins Wimbledon Jr. title
Claire Liu, a teenager from Thousand Oaks, Calif. became the first U.S. junior singles tournament winner at Wimbledon in over 25 years. She defeated Ann Li of Devon, Pa. The Wimbledon junior women’s final assured the United States of a feat not repeated since 1992. The two juniors in the final was a sign that the U.S. tennis program is on the rise at a time when Venus and Serena Williams are slowly bowing out from the sport. While the Williams sisters have dominated women’s tennis for most of the 21st century, not many other women tennis players in the country have been as prominent. Perhaps Liu or Li will be the next great tennis star. Wimbledon, one of the most esteemed places to play and one of the sport’s Grand Slam events, is a remarkable achievement for the 17-year-old. She won the junior girls double title last year at Wimbledon. Earlier this summer, Liu lost in the finals of the women’s junior tournament in another Grand Slam, the French Open. Her win at Wimbledon this summer vaulted her to the Number 1 ranking in the girls’ junior International Tennis Federation standings. Liu is not physically imposing, but is an aggressive tennis player that attacks early and comes to the net, where she is exceptional at volleying (returning the ball at close distance to the net). She is also not afraid of speaking her mind. During the finals at Wimbledon, she took issue with an umpire’s call after it did not go her way. Despite losing her argument with the umpire, she was able to refocus and win the title. Liu trains out of the United States Tennis Center in Carson, Calif. She is thought to be one of the top girls to come out of that training center and could very well be the next great American tennis star.
The next great Asian American basketball player: Jeremy Lin?
There may be another great Asian American point guard in basketball. His name is Jeremy Lin. What are the chances? A 14-year-old high school basketball player, with the same name as the Brooklyn Nets’ point guard, impressed at a recent summer league camp for elite
high school basketball players, with his passing ability and outside shooting. There is no relation between the 28-year-old NBA player and the young high schooler, except that they are both high-level basketball players. The younger Lin’s play drew the eyes of Mr. Linsanity himself. Lin, the NBA Player, noted via Twitter that it was the coolest thing ever with the hashtag “asiancanhoop.” Jeremy Lin’s NBA career is welldocumented and he has been outspoken about racism. Lin is a native of Taiwan and
became a global star with his surprising play with the New York Knicks as a bench player for a team that was beset with injuries. Lin’s trials and tribulations has likely paved the way for others like his namesake to play basketball without the stigma of being the “Asian” guy. Good luck to the younger Lin and maybe one day we’ll have another Jeremy Lin in the NBA. ■ Jason can be reached at info@nwasianweekly.com.
Hawaiian
Week August 16-22, 2017
Find great specials on Hawaiian snacks, Kona coffee, pineapples, papayas, fresh ahi tuna from Hawaii, poke, manapuas, Portuguese sausage and much more! Visit uwajimaya.com to view our Hawaiian Week specials
POLYNESIAN FESTIVAL at renton & beaverton • August 19 & 20, 2017
Join us for two days of live performances, hula, Hawaiian style food, shave ice, eating contests and much more! Featuring the “Godfather of Hawaiian Reggae”
BRUDDAH WALTAH
Performing at Renton on Saturday, August 19 and Beaverton on Sunday, August 20. For more details, visit uwajimaya.com. seattle | bellevue | renton | beaverton | www.uwajimaya.com
asianweekly northwest
8
AUGUST 19 – AUGUST 25, 2017
■ AT THE MOVIES
35 YEARS
“IN THIS CORNER OF THE WORLD”
lies imagination, heart, then hell By Andrew Hamlin NORTHWEST ASIAN WEEKLY “War is hell,” hissed the local writer Jack Cady once, at a public reading — extra hissing on the hell. He’d never fought in a war, but he’d read and heard plenty. He knew soldiers, and he’d read soldiers’ stories. And every so often, we need a reminder that war is hell. Especially a reminder that shows us life, in its beauty, and
complexity — both including sadness — on life’s terms, instead of war’s terms. “In This Corner of the World,” a new anime feature from director Sunao Katabuchi, gives us a young woman named Suze Urano, a daydreamy girl, teased but loved by her family, growing up in Hiroshima. It’s 1933. As her life unspools the years, months, and dates and eventually, times of day, slowly speed up. We’re counting up to Aug. 6, 1945, when the American bomber “Enola Gay” drops an atomic bomb called the “Little Boy” on Hiroshima, and the world changes. That isn’t important at first. The ticker ticks slowly. Suze grows, fools around with family and friends, runs up and down, gets forgiven for mischief. She draws, and in her
■ WORLD NEWS
Malaysian princess marries Dutchman
Princess Tunku Tun Aminah Sultan Ibrahim and Dennis Muhammad Abdullah
The daughter of one of Malaysia’s most powerful sultans married her Dutch fiance on Aug. 14 in a traditionfilled ceremony during a day of lavish celebrations witnessed by crowds of excited wellwishers. Princess Tunku Tun Aminah Sultan Ibrahim, 31, the only daughter of the Sultan of Johor, tied the knot with Dennis
Muhammad Abdullah, 28, capping a romance of over three years. The Dutchman, who has converted to Islam, and the princess wed according to Muslim Malay custom at the Serene Hill Palace, the royal family’s residence in the southern city of Johor Bahru. The private see PRINCESS on 11
drawings, she escapes into a world she controls. She isn’t bitter or frustrated about family life, but she treasures this other life, where she can cast white jumping rabbits as white rolling waves, rearranging shapes and sometimes colors, from real life, to suit her imagination. Everyday sensations, her inner life, and a few odd moments that don’t make logical sense, as would happen with any child (especially an imaginative one), thrill her from the moment she wakes. Masterful anime on war existed before, but unlike Isao Takahata’s “Grave of the Fireflies,” this movie doesn’t start with horror and then circle around to explain that horror. see MOVIES on 13
asianweekly northwest
YOUR VOICE
AUGUST 19 – AUGUST 25, 2017
■ ON THE SHELF
9
The complicated lives of API females
By Samantha Pak NORTHWEST ASIAN WEEKLY
Heroine Worship By Sarah Kuhn DAW Books Inc., 2017
Aveda Jupiter (also known as Annie Chang) had been the one to protect San Francisco from demons for a long time. But after being sidelined by an injury and watching her best friend and former assistant Evie Tanaka take her place and then agreeing to share the spotlight with her, Aveda is having a tough time adjusting — especially as there has been a lull on the demon front and she now finds herself without a mission. In short, Aveda is a lost soul having an identity crisis. Then Evie gets engaged and asks Aveda to be her maid of honor. With this new task, Aveda has to deal with the fallout of her diva behavior over the years and the fact that she hasn’t been a very good friend to Evie — or anyone else for that matter. So to make up for that, her sole focus becomes making sure Evie has the best wedding ever. This purpose goes into hyperdrive when a supernatural force
starts targeting brides-to-be. While the events in “Complex” led Aveda and Evie to work on their imbalanced friendship, it’s clear that it is an ongoing effort as things between them are still dysfunctional. This is a more realistic view on relationships, which are complicated and cannot be fixed overnight. What I love about Kuhn’s stories is that her Asian American female characters are multifaceted. They’re strong and quirky, but they are also flawed — like real people. Going into “Worship,” I wasn’t sure if I was going to enjoy it as I hate diva characters. But Kuhn does a great job in humanizing Aveda and showing readers why she is the way she is. We see that behind that high-and-mighty attitude is a young girl who is terrified of the schoolyard bullies, but can’t show it because she has to protect her best friend. While “Worship” can be categorized as a superhero (or in this case, superheroine) story, it is so much more than that. There’s also friendship, family, and even a little bit of romance thrown in for good measure.
Lily Clairet and the Romantic Non-Genre, Vol. 1
Written by Kaye Ng, illustrated by Christine Chong Atsuko Press, 2015 The end of Lily’s first year of high school in Japan is fast approaching when one day, she comes across a disgruntled elementary school girl arguing with a cherry tree for allegedly stealing her cookie. Lily feels reluctantly compelled to help the younger girl with her predicament and this sets off an interesting chain of events to close out the school year. Lily is forced to clean one of the school’s hallway after arriving to class late and this leads her and some classmates to discover an abandoned classroom in the music hall. They quickly learn that the room is home to the journalism club — something no one realized the school had. The club president and lone member Sonata Sonoda is missing and had been missing for almost the entire school year. While she is intrigued and curious to find out more about what happened to Sonata, Lily is hesitant to admit it and joins the journalism club under duress from a classmate. “Lily Clairet” is a slice-of-life novel with some light mystery thrown into the mix. There is not much of a plot see SHELF on 13
KING COUNTY NOTICE TO BIDDERS Sealed bids will be received for C01182C17, ALKI TREATMENT PLANT BLOWER AND SCRUBBER UPGRADE; by the King County Procurement and Payables Section, 3rd Floor, 401 Fifth Avenue, Seattle, WA 98104, until 1:30 PM on 8/31/2017. Late bids will not be accepted. Scope of Work: This project includes but is not limited to odor control system capacity upgrades including all mechanical and electrical components. The scope of this project includes modifications to one of the existing activated carbon odor
control scrubbers, the replacement of the associated fan, installation of a variable frequency drive, repairing ductwork, and performing air balancing. Installation of a new grease mist eliminator and flow meter directly upstream of the new fan. Installation of a custom bed limiter directly above the upper carbon bed and the rerouting of the lower bed exhaust duct to the exhaust stack. All work will be conducted within existing King County facilities. Estimated contract price: $610,000 MANDATORY Pre-Bid / Site Tour: 8/21/17,
2:30 p.m. OR 8/23/17, 2:30 p.m., King County Facility #400, Alki CSO Treatment Plant, 3380 Beach Drive SW, Seattle, WA 98116-2616. There is a 3% minimum Apprentice Utilization Requirement 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.
asianweekly northwest
10
35 YEARS
AUGUST 19 – AUGUST 25, 2017
■ PUBLISHER’S BLOG
OPINION
Want to visit
Photo by George Liu/NWAW
Buckingham Palace?
It’s easy.
By Assunta Ng NORTHWEST ASIAN WEEKLY
the palace. You just need to do a little planning.
Imagine yourself walking through the Ambassadors’ Entrance, the main entrance of Buckingham Palace, standing in line for the red-carpeted Grand Staircase and admiring Queen Elizabeth’s gifts. Except I wasn’t imagining. I was there a few days ago, and even dined at the Queen’s garden. You might think I have pulled some strings to get in to the palace. And possibly used my journalist’s credentials. Buckingham was not even a location on my bucket list. By accident and luck, I was there at the right time and the right place. You don’t need the Queen’s permission to visit
Why Buckingham was opened England’s royal palaces are some of the most popular
spots on tourists’ wish lists. For some reason, I assumed that Buckingham, as the official London residence of the Queen and working royal palace of 450 staff members, would be off limits to the public. When I visited England for the first time in 1998, the tour guide took us to Buckingham Palace to see the changing of the guard. It was so jammed packed that I could hardly see the red-uniformed guards from afar. After hours of waiting, I thought it was still an interesting event. In retrospect, it was a waste of time.
The tour guide mentioned nothing about visiting the palace. That’s the disadvantage of joining tours. With any exciting spot, which requires more money, time, and work, including entrance fees and more than a couple of hours, tour operators are unlikely to share that information. Or they mislead you into believing they have taken you to see the best. The Queen announced that Buckingham Palace would be open to the public in 1993. The purpose was to raise funds to cover repairs at Windsor Castle from earlier fire damage. Tickets for the tours instantly sold out for the first three years. see BUCKINGHAM on 16
Celebrating 35 years! IN HONOR OF 35 YEARS IN PRINT, WE’D LIKE FOR YOU TO COME CELEBRATE WITH US!
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Get your tickets online at: http://35nwawf.bpt.me rsvp@nwasianweekly.com 206-223-5559
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PROCEEDS FROM THIS EVENT WILL GO TOWARDS TWO NORTHWEST ASIAN WEEKLY SCHOLARSHIP ENDOWMENTS FOR UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON STUDYING EDUCATION AND COMMUNICATIONS. THESE SCHOLARSHIPS WILL BENEFIT STUDENTS OF COLOR WHO HAVE A FINANCIAL NEED AND/OR FIRST IN THEIR FAMILY TO ATTEND COLLEGE.
asianweekly northwest
YOUR VOICE
AUGUST 19 – AUGUST 25, 2017
■ EDITORIAL
11
OPINION
Many sides?
It took President Donald Trump two days to condemn last weekend’s deadly white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Va., — the event that led to the death of counter-protester Heather Heyer. She was killed after a car plowed into a crowd. Democrats and some Republicans criticized Trump’s Heather Heyer first response to the events for blaming “many sides” for the violence. Sen. Cory Gardner (R-Colo.) tweeted: “Mr. President - we must call evil by its name. These were white supremacists and this was domestic terrorism.” The president followed up on Aug. 14 with a second, more comprehensive denunciation. “Racism is evil, and those who cause violence in its name are criminals and thugs, including the KKK, neo-Nazis, white supremacists,” Trump said in brief remarks at the White House. But for some, those words were too little, too late. This isn’t the first time Trump has offered belated words following hate crimes during his time in office. However, this was the first time such an incident caused immense
Sign the petition at splcenter.org/tell-president-trump-take-responsibility-hatehes-unleashed
political uproar from both sides of the political aisle. Even First Daughter Ivanka Trump was quick to call out white supremacy. And on the afternoon of Aug. 15, in a heated back-andforth with reporters, Trump shifted his tone yet again, returning to the “both sides” rhetoric of his initial statement. “What about the ‘alt-left’ that came charging at, as you say, the ‘alt-right,’ do they have any semblance of guilt?” Trump asked. “What about the fact they came charging with clubs in hands, swinging clubs, do they have any
problem? I think they do.” He added, “You had a group on one side that was bad and you had a group on the other side that was also very violent. nobody wants to say it, but I will say it right now.” Huh? I am just as confused writing this as you may be reading it. Sen. Lindsey Graham, (R-S.C.), issued a statement on Aug. 16, accusing Trump of “dividing Americans, not healing them” and suggesting “moral equivalency” between neo-Nazis and counter-protesters like victim Heather Heyer. The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), which monitors hate groups and other extremists throughout the US, encouraged people to sign a petition to “tell President Trump to take responsibility for the hate he’s unleashed.” “I think that the events over the past weekend were shocking to the country, and particularly terrifying for minority groups in this country,” said SPLC President Richard Cohen. “The problem … is that [Trump] doesn’t take responsibility for energizing the radical right. Given that he has energized this movement it just doesn’t seem enough for him to just say, oh I condemn it.” You can sign the petition here: splcenter.org/tell-presidenttrump-take-responsibility-hate-hes-unleashed.
■ LETTER
Open letters on ethnicity data
Last week, Asian Counseling and Referral Service joined the National Council of Asian Pacific Americans, 77 organizations, 180 community leaders, 105 students, and nearly 500 educators nationwide, in reaffirming our commitment to serve the needs of our very diverse Asian American and Pacific Islander communities. We are deeply troubled by recent opposition expressed to the collection of detailed data on Asian Americans by opponents, comparing it to data collected by Nazi Germany to persecute Jews and single them out for genocide. For decades, East Asian, South Asian, Southeast Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander organizations and leaders have called for detailed data collection to better serve AAPI populations. We have found that detailed and accurate data collections from a variety of sources, including the U.S. Census Bureau,
MANILATOWN from 1 “It is all about our roots, our history as Filipino Americans, and our rightful place in Seattle’s Chinatown International District,” said Frank Irigon. The community leader also acknowledged Harrell for his leadership, patience, and willingness to accommodate the concerns of the Filipino community. “I know I’m not alone when expressing our gratitude for allowing us to speak and respectfully listening for the need to revisit the deletion of ‘historic Manilatown’ in that Resolution,” said Irigon. Members of the public spoke at an Aug. 7 council meeting and urged council members to bring back the language recognizing Filipinos’ presence and
PRINCESS from 8 ceremony was attended by close family and friends. The groom wore traditional white Malay wedding attire and the bride wore a white dress, with Dennis Muhammad placing
other federal agencies, state and local agencies addressing health, education, and other issues–are critical to helping our communities in need. As researchers, educators, advocacy organizations, and community leaders, we strive to better understand the challenges faced by our student populations, and to better serve and support their varied educational needs. We cannot do this without high quality data. For example, Cambodian, Laotian, Native Hawaiian, and Samoan Americans have among the lowest rates of graduation from community college. Mental health issues also vary across the Asian American and Pacific Islander population, with some groups, such as Chinese American women, showing higher rates of suicide than other Asian American groups. High quality, detailed data is essential to understanding student challenges in all communities, and is vital to
securing public and private resources to help students in need. Comparing the effort to collect data on Asian Americans to the tactics of Nazi Germany is grossly misleading and misrepresentative of the goals and desires of the Asian American and Pacific Islander community. Historically, Asian Americans, including Chinese Americans, have been at the forefront of calls for detailed data collection. The purpose of these data is not to single out a group for persecution or surveillance, but to better recognize and support all segments of our community, and to ensure that all students count in education. As community organizations, educators, and leaders, we believe it is imperative to continue the push for high quality, detailed data that can serve the diverse needs of our Asian American and Pacific Islander students. ■
history in the neighborhood. Harrell’s office said he plans to draft a new resolution and introduce it for a council vote within the next few weeks. Pio DeCano said, “Let me add my thanks to all the participants whose collective voices were presented to the city council members who listened with care to the Filipino American community concerns with respect to our historical, economic, cultural, and growth contributions to Seattle’s International District over the past 100 years.” ■ Staff can be reached at info@nwasianweekly.com.
the ring on his bride’s finger in a special room of the palace and offering a dowry of around $5, in line with centuries-old local customs. More than 1000 members of the public were invited to attend the main wedding event, which involved a formal “sitting-in-
state” ceremony. And others were able to watch the event on a large public screen in city squares in Johor. The couple met three years ago in a café in Malaysia when the Amsterdam-born groom was named Dennis Verbaas. In 2015, he embraced Islam and now works as a
property developer in Johor. In a statement, the Princess said: “We will move into our own home and start life anew as husband and wife. It will be the first time I will be living alone and away from my parents and family.” ■
asianweekly northwest
12
AUGUST 19 – AUGUST 25, 2017
35 YEARS
■ NATIONAL NEWS Spokane residents share Japanese internment camp stories By RACHEL ALEXANDER THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) — “Seventy-five years ago, I lived in a horse stable.” That’s how 90-year-old Kay Yamamoto describes the summer of 1942. Yamamoto, a longtime Spokane resident, lived in the Yakima Valley with her Japanese immigrant parents when President Franklin Roosevelt signed the Feb. 19, 1942 executive order evacuating Japanese Americans from the West Coast. Her family was sent to a hastily built “assembly center” in Portland, where they lived for three months, making due with sheets for walls to separate families, no ceiling, blazing heat, and the constant smell of horse manure. For Jeanne Tanaka, now 93, internment started earlier. Police came for her father one January day while he was working in the pea fields on their farm in Auburn, Wash. They took him away with no explanation. Tanaka came home and found her mother, who didn’t speak English, sobbing on the floor. “She said, ‘They’re probably going to line all of us up and take us and shoot us,’ and I told her, ‘No, America doesn’t do things like that.’” Her father would remain incarcerated in a special Department of Justice facility for the rest of World War II, separated from Tanaka, her mother, and her brothers. The rest of the family was ordered to Puyallup and eventually to Tule Lake, a camp in California reserved for “disloyal” Japanese and Japanese American people. The pain on Tanaka’s face is still palpable as she described her family’s forced relocation: sent by train in the middle of the night, told to pack only a suitcase, with no idea where they were heading or whether they would be killed or imprisoned when they arrived. She teared up more than once during an interview and said this will be the last time she talks publicly about internment. Even now, it’s just too difficult. “It’s hard to believe, isn’t it? Our country doing something like that. But they did it to us,” she said.
CHANGING THE FACE OF SPOKANE
Japanese internment occupies a strange place in American history. It’s the only act of large-scale violence or discrimination for which the U.S. government has formally apologized and paid reparations: $20,000 to each surviving internee, as mandated by a 1988 law signed by President Ronald Reagan. Still, it’s often a footnote in World War II history. Many internees describe the places to which they were sent as concentration camps, and point out the hypocrisy of the United States freeing Jews from death camps in Europe while keeping their own citizens imprisoned here. But especially outside the American West, in communities without Japanese populations or camps nearby, internment is often barely mentioned in school. Roosevelt’s 1942 order, which turns 75 this year, applied to people of Japanese descent living in coastal areas of the United States. In Washington, the line was drawn at the Columbia River. Anyone west of it, including the Yakima Valley, had to leave or be sent to camp, while Spokane’s Japanese people were generally allowed to remain. But internment left a wide mark across the Inland Northwest. Sumi Okamoto, 97, was 21 and getting married on the morning Japanese planes bombed Pearl Harbor. FBI agents interrupted her Dec. 7 wedding reception at the Desert Hotel and detained everyone of Japanese descent for several hours. Two men, first-generation immigrants who were prominent in the local community, were arrested and taken to Department of Justice camps, where they would remain for the rest of the war. The rest were free to go, but told not to leave town. The raid interrupted Okamoto’s planned honeymoon. “He was going to take us to California, but they told us we’d better not go anywhere,” Okamoto said, speaking of her husband. Internment pushed Japanese people from across the Pacific Northwest to Spokane. A handful moved after Roosevelt’s executive order, hoping to avoid forced relocation. They came because they had family here, or because they thought it would be safer, said Rose Krause, who wrote a master’s thesis at Eastern Washington University about the local impact of internment. Many, like Tanaka and Yamamoto, settled in Spokane
after the war because they had nothing to go back to. Krause estimated 2,500 people of Japanese descent moved into the Spokane region between 1943 and 1945. Those not sent to camp still faced restrictive laws governing their movements and who they could do business with. People of Japanese descent had an 8 p.m. curfew. Older Spokane residents who lived here during the war said they didn’t know what happened to those who broke curfew: it wasn’t something they ever considered. “My sister discouraged us from speaking Japanese. It drew attention to us,” said Alice Tanaka, 81. For decades after the war ended, internment wasn’t mentioned at all in schools. Elaine Okamoto, Sumi’s daughter, said she never learned about it. “It wasn’t in the history books,” she said. She learned about it from relatives in Seattle who were sent to camps. “It reminded me of Hitler and concentration camps. It was scary,” she said.
THE ‘DISLOYAL’
Tanaka was 17 and months away from high school graduation when the relocation order came. In Auburn, where she’d grown up, the Japanese community mixed with German-American neighbors and American families. Her first job was picking weeds in the neighboring Snyder family’s corn patch, and she remembered hearing Mrs. Snyder yodeling during the day. After school, the Japanese American children of firstgeneration immigrants went to a special Japanese school. There, they learned the language so they could communicate with their parents. There were no English classes for the immigrants to take. Tanaka hated the extra schooling and said she felt distant from her parents. English was her first language, and her communication with her parents was restricted to mundane topics like work and getting ready for school. They never talked about politics, religion, or anything “deep,” she said. “I vowed that when I raised my family, we’re going to speak only English,” she said. She found out about the attack on Pearl Harbor on the radio, and immediately thought she’d be treated differently at school. “They kind of shied away talking to me after Pearl Harbor,” she said. “In a way, I can’t blame them.” No one, including young Japanese Americans, knew what to think of the attack. After her father was taken, the family spent several days in shock. Eventually, they learned he was being held in an immigration office in Seattle and went to visit him. He was behind steel bars. “We were not even allowed to get close to that cage,” she said. “It was hard to see him behind bars for doing nothing.” Later, they would learn he’d been reported as a possible Japanese spy, an absurd claim, Tanaka said. No evidence was ever presented and her father was never told what the allegations against him were. He wasn’t even involved in the local Japanese immigrant community, she said. Japanese, Italian, and German community leaders and noncitizens who were suspected of being influences were detained in special Department of Justice camps during World War II. Officially, they were supposed to have hearings, after which they could be released to the general internment camps run by the War Relocation Authority, but in practice, many were held without evidence and without legal representation. The rest of the family had to leave in the spring, she said. They could pack 60 pounds of personal belongings. Her mother brought one pot so she’d be able to cook rice wherever she went. Many neighbors and people who had been friendly with the family stayed away, but Tanaka’s art teacher, Mrs. Drake, came to say goodbye. “I appreciated so much that she had the courage to come,” she said. The family was sent to the Puyallup fairgrounds as a temporary assembly place, then to Fresno, Calif. It was so hot people regularly fainted, and internees had to make their own mattresses from straw. Tanaka said her family was moved to the Tule Lake camp in northern California in the fall of 1942. Once again, the internees weren’t told where they were going — they were simply ordered to get on a train. The camp housed about 18,000 people on 26,000 acres. Newspapers were banned, and armed guards said anyone who left without authorization would be shot. Because she had finished high school, Tanaka was put to work as a nurse’s aide, where she changed beds, cleaned
bedpans, and helped with minor procedures. They had wards A through H, which included people with infectious diseases, children, maternity, and more. In 1943, the War Relocation Authority made people of Japanese descent fill out a “loyalty questionnaire.” Two questions, numbers 27 and 28, would shape the rest of the war for many families. Question 27 asked if the respondent would be willing to serve in the U.S. military. Many Japanese Americans did, even while their families were locked in camps, but Tanaka said no, she didn’t want to serve unless she was released. “Why should they go to war if their parents were in a concentration camp?” she remembered thinking. Question 28 asked if the respondent would forswear loyalty to the Japanese emperor and swear allegiance only to the United States. Tanaka reasoned that she’d been born an American citizen and had never sworn allegiance to the emperor of Japan in the first place, so she had nothing to forswear. Her answers put her in a group called the “no-nos,” people of Japanese descent who were branded disloyal. “They can call me whatever they want to. I don’t think I’m any more disloyal than anybody else,” Tanaka said. Those from other camps were relocated to Tule Lake, sometimes separated from families. People who led strikes or protests in other camps also ended up there. “Loyal” Japanese from Tule Lake were supposed to be moved elsewhere, but many declined to transfer. “The people that came to Tule Lake were people who were loud about the injustice that was done to us,” she said.
SURVIVING AT HEART MOUNTAIN
Yamamoto’s family spent three years at Heart Mountain, a camp about 60 miles east of Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming. They were farmers before the relocation order came down and had to get rid of any possessions related to Japan: dishes with the Japanese flag on them, photos from her parents’ home. “We had to either burn it or break it,” she said. The family tried to sell their farm implements, but left some things sitting where they were, including a brand-new Dodge pickup. Most Western states, including Washington, had laws barring immigrants from Japan and other countries from owning land or becoming citizens. The Supreme Court would rule those laws unconstitutional in 1952. Both Tanaka and Yamamoto’s families were farming on rented land. When they left, they lost everything: the houses they had built, the improvements they’d made. At camp, Yamamoto’s family was assigned to barracks and given an identification number: 37004. One barrack would house six families, with the two at either end reserved for families with more than five. Her family had one of the middle rooms, she said. Inside, they had straw mattresses and a coalburning stove. It was better than horse stables, she said, but not by much: “blazing hot in the summer and freezing cold in the winter,” she said. The food was served in a mess hall and was often weak stew. Toilets were communal. Privacy was a scarce resource. No one knew how long the war would last, but Yamamoto assumed her family would be there until it ended. She remembered the Army coming through to try to recruit young men. “I never heard of such a thing, putting people in camps and telling them to serve,” she said. At camp, she went to school and still has the 1944 and 1945 yearbooks. They had a student government and sports. It was as normal as a school can be when its students live surrounded by barbed wire and armed guards.
NO HOME TO RETURN TO
When the war ended, many internees were unsure what to do next. “A lot of people in camp didn’t go back home because there was nothing to go back to,” Yamamoto said. Her family settled in Spokane, where her father had a friend. She’d wanted to go to college, but after internment, the family had no savings, so she did housework and eventually went to beauty school. The U.S. government offered internees a free one-way ticket see INTERNMENT CAMP on 15
asianweekly northwest
YOUR VOICE
AUGUST 19 – AUGUST 25, 2017
■ ASTROLOGY
13
Predictions and advice for the week of August 19–August 25, 2017 By Sun Lee Chang Rat — A variation on a theme is simply not enough. You will need to find a completely new method to get the job done.
Dragon — Spotting potential pitfalls early should allow you enough time to avoid them before they become a real problem.
Monkey — Although covering up should conceal for a while, it is far less work to be upfront about what is actually going on.
Ox — Don’t let a lack of focus take you off your game. In order to finish in a timely manner, other things will just have to wait.
Snake — You are looking for something that is not readily available. There are those who can help you in your search, but you have to be willing to ask.
Rooster — An alternative might not be so bad once you allow yourself to let go of what you initially wanted.
Tiger — Even though you have clear ideas about what should happen next, it won’t hurt to listen to what others have to say on the matter. Rabbit — Caught between two very different options? If you take a closer look, you will see that they are not as far apart as you initially thought.
Dog — Unlike your previous encounters, this one is not the same. There is a change happening that you should be attuned to.
Horse — Going back to where you started isn’t necessarily a bad idea. You may see things that were not apparent to you before.
Pig — Not sure where you should go next? Draw from what you know to be able to determine the best strategy going forward.
Goat — Set your expectations at a reasonable level when learning a new skill. Otherwise, you may be setting yourself up for disappointment.
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, 2017 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.
SAN FRANCISCO from 5 So the city's tax office put the property up for sale at the cost of $994 in an online auction to regain unpaid back taxes, penalties, and interest. The couple eventually won the street with a $90,100 bid in an April 2015 auction. Scott Emblidge, the attorney for the Presidio Homeowners Association, said in a letter to the city that the owners failed to pay because the tax bill was mistakenly being sent to the address of an accountant who hadn’t worked for the homeowners association since the 1980s, the Chronicle
YAN from 5 she ran from the officer and then kicked, punched and scratched him before two other officers arrived and helped restrain her on the ground. The then-38-year-old Zhao and two other women had run from the inspection station, instead of obeying officers’ orders to come inside after they detained a drug suspect they thought may have been with the women. Zhao said she ran because the officers frightened her. Acting U.S. Attorney James P. Kennedy Jr. said the judge’s decision delivered the justice the government has sought all along, even as it took the seemingly contradictory positions of prosecuting Rhodes criminally and then defending him in the civil case.
reported. Emblidge said the residents didn’t know their street was put on the auction block, let alone sold, until May when a title search company hired by Cheng and Lam reached out to ask if any residents had interest in buying back the property. That was one of several options Cheng and Lam have considered for making the investment pay off. Another option is to charge residents to park on their street – and rent out the 120 parking spaces that line the grand circular road.
The burdens of proof for excessive force differ in criminal and civil contexts, he said. Kennedy said his office wanted to hold the officer accountable but not allow Zhao to be “unjustly compensated for injuries which, according to Judge Wolford, did ‘not even approach the magnitude she (claimed).”’ Zhao, in her lawsuit and accompanying court documents, said the confrontation humiliated her and the mental and physical trauma she suffered left her unable to work and afraid of uniformed police. “This incident harmed almost all aspects of my life,” she said in a court filing. Zhao’s lawyers did not immediately respond to requests for comment. ■
Thank you for recycling this newspaper!
SHELF from 9 in the first half of the story, which may make it difficult for some readers to get into (myself included). But things do get more interesting once Lily joins the journalism club and the members have to produce some sort of product in order to remain a club. Lily herself is an interesting character. Although she initially appears to be the type of student who does her best to stay under the radar — giving minimal effort in academics and taking on library duties as her after school “club” activities — as the story progresses, we see Lily become more invested in others and even becoming somewhat friends with some of them, which she seemingly tries to avoid whenever possible. She is not your typical protagonist, as she is more of the type to let things happen to her rather than to make things happen. However, Lily is a strong character who knows her own self and mind, and does not hesitate to stand up for herself and others when needed.
“As legal owners of this property, we have a lot of options,” Cheng said, adding that nothing has been decided. The matter could be headed for court. Last month, the homeowners petitioned the Board of Supervisors for a hearing to rescind the tax sale. The board has scheduled a hearing for October. The homeowners association has also sued the couple and the city, seeking to block Cheng and Lam from selling the street to anyone while the city appeal is pending. ■
MOVIES from 8 Unlike Mori Masaki’s “Barefoot Gen,” it doesn’t start close in on the Hiroshima bombing. The action builds slowly, to show that life builds slowly. Then soldiers, and more soldiers, and more war announcements. Then finally, hell. I’m not giving away too much by saying that Suze suffers her greatest loss before August 6. She loses parts of herself inwardly and outwardly. Her faith in what she thought she knew — goodness, strength in spirit, strength in family — suffers a huge crack. She has to learn to live with the pieces. Her imagination pushes her through, but she no longer feels in control. The day I started typing this, Facebook and the news were full of Trump and Kim Jong-un shouting at each other from across the globe. Fire and fury, promised our president to North Korea. Fire and fury. And Trump later added that he didn’t go far enough. Cooler heads tell us that nuclear war isn’t likely. Not for the moment. We have to hope that cooler heads have a point.
P.S. I Still Love You
By Jenny Han Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2015 All of Lara Jean Covey’s love letters have been delivered and after the hilarity and misadventures that followed, she and Peter Walinsky are now together — sort of. Maybe? She’s not sure because they were just pretending. Until they weren’t. And now Lara Jean’s not sure what’s what. And then just as she and Peter are starting to figure things out, John Ambrose McClaren (yes, three names) — the one boy Lara Jean wrote to but never responded — finally does respond and she realizes that she may still have feelings for him. What follows is drama that comes part and parcel with teen romance: big emotions, confusion, and the feeling that every decision you make could mean life or death. Han captures all of this so well and in a way that will have teen readers relating to Lara Jean and older readers reminiscing about their teenage years.
Because if missiles fly this time, we probably won’t have time for the weariness towards war that the characters in “Corner” come to. Attrition to readiness, when the air raid siren screams and the loudspeaker blares for the 10th, 20th, 40th time, and somewhere in there, folks lie in bed wondering if the bombers are really coming, if they’ll hit anything as far out as their homes anyway. Wondering if they might as well turn over and stay in bed. The Hiroshima bomb made the world new, and made war new. But we have plenty of war left to us on Earth. Plenty of attrition. Plenty of hell. I wish Trump and Kim and other world leaders would watch this one, and look carefully at what life builds, how life breathes. Before hellfire (and fury) from the push of a button burns it all up. ■ “In This Corner of the World” opens Aug. 18, at theaters in and around Seattle. Consult local listings for prices, showtimes, and other information. Andrew can be reached at info@nwasianweekly.com.
While “P.S.” is a love story, Han has also created a character in Lara Jean who is well-rounded and has other interests than just boys. As a half-Korean, half-white teenaged girl, Lara Jean is very close to her family, which consists of her father and two sisters, as her mother died when the girls were younger. Whether she’s planning the perfect birthday sleepover for her 10-year-old sister Kitty or creating an online dating profile for her father, it is clear to readers that Lara Jean’s family is one of her top priorities. She also volunteers at a local senior center and goes above and beyond when it comes to planning activities for them and taking care of them. This aspect of Lara Jean’s character is refreshing, as Han shows readers that there is more to life than romance. This can sometimes be lost in romance novels, as stories can focus solely on the relationship between the two protagonists. What Han has done is show readers that while romantic love is important, it is not the only type of love that matters. ■ Samantha Pak can be reached at info@nwasianweekly.com.
asianweekly northwest
14
AUGUST 19 – AUGUST 25, 2017
THREAT from 4 the U.S. president to task for evoking a potential war that would likely result in tens of thousands of Korean deaths. “Doesn’t the Moon Jae-in government have to say something about Trump’s over-the-line comments?” Jang Shin-ki, a 42-year-old man who lives in Seoul, wrote on Facebook. There are feelings of bewilderment and powerlessness: Why should South Korea get sucked into a crisis created by a war of words between leaders in Washington and Pyongyang? “Moon has talked about how South Korea should be in the driver’s seat when it comes to dealing with North Korea, but that clearly was just rhetoric,” Choi Do-hyun, a 39-year-old office worker in Seoul, said in an interview. “In reality, he can’t say a word to Trump over an uncoordinated, excessive comment that threatens to send the Korean Peninsula to the path of war.” Moon, a liberal who favors engagement with the North, has kept mostly quiet over the past week. In a meeting with military officials Aug. 9, he said that South Korea would need to “slightly supplement” its military readiness in the face of threats from North Korean nuclear weapons and missiles. The daily JoongAng Ilbo newspaper took those comments
35 YEARS
as a sign of Moon’s lack of urgency while Washington and Pyongyang trade “verbal bombs as if they are predicting a real war.” “These are times of emergency, when the strategic balance of the Korean Peninsula is entirely changing, and the expression ‘slightly supplement’ reflects an understanding of the situation that is too lax,” the newspaper said in an editorial. South Korea has long worried about being sidelined in international diplomacy meant to persuade the North to abandon its nuclear ambitions. The angst even has a name in Seoul: Korea Passing. The Hankyoreh newspaper called for South Korea’s government to take on a bigger role in solving the North Korean nuclear problem. “It’s very concerning that both Trump and (North Korean leader) Kim Jong Un are more unpredictable than the countries’ previous leaders,” the newspaper said in an editorial. “Although rhetoric is just rhetoric, you can’t dismiss the possibility that a small misunderstanding could lead to an accidental clash if the comments continue to escalate.” The paper compared the situation to “two cars speeding toward each other.” ■
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asianweekly northwest
YOUR VOICE
AUGUST 19 – AUGUST 25, 2017
15
“Congratulations to the Northwest Asian Weekly on its 35th anniversary. Thank you for 35 years of community dedication and community engagement. Thank you for being a voice and information source to the greater Seattle API family.” — Bill Tashima, JACL board member “The Northwest Asian Weekly has always presented a unique voice in our community that rounds out the understanding and perception of the mix of people and issues in our community. It is hard to separate the publishers’ voice from the paper, but I consider this a strength. The keen awareness of politics and the big picture peppered with personal observations make us all think more deeply, and at times, enjoy the lighter side of life through food and travel.” — Teresita Batayola, MSUA President and CEO of International Community Health Services (ICHS)
The only weekly English-edition newspaper serving the Asian community in the state of Washington for 35 years.
Send in your thoughts to editor@nwasianweekly.com. Join us for our 35th Anniversary Celebration dinner on Oct. 21 at China Harbor restaurant. For tickets, please go to http://35nwawf.bpt.me, or email rsvp@nwasianweekly.com, or call 206223-0623. To sponsor the event, contact Assunta Ng at assunta@nwasianweekly.com. For more info, visit nwasianweekly.com/35years.
VIGIL from 1
SPEAKING TO THE CROWD STOP THE HATE
TACOMA STANDS IN SOLIDARITY SIGN VIGIL FOR CHARLOTTESVILLE AT CHINESE RECONCILIATION PARK
KIGA from 1 Industrial. Ahead of Kiga’s appointment, King County Executive Dow Constantine announced Fong will become the County’s Chief Operating Officer. “Fred has more than two decades of experience serving our community, from the state level to the private sector and more,” said Murray. “He will be a fantastic addition to this team, as we make this year as productive and successful as our first three. While we are excited for Fred to come aboard, we will miss the steady leadership and wit Mike has brought to this office and to the City. Simply put, Seattle is a better place because of his service and he has been an invaluable part of my administration. I want to thank Mike and wish him well as he moves forward.”
INTERNMENT CAMP from 12 to Japan after the war. Many first-generation immigrants wanted to go home, including Tanaka’s mother. So the family left for Japan, where she lived for several years. One of her four brothers had been studying there during the war. They stayed with family, and Tanaka got a job with a shipping company. In 1952, she moved to Seattle for school, leaving her family behind. There, she met and got engaged to John Tanaka, an aspiring doctor, and followed him to St. Louis for medical school, then to Spokane around 1967 when he got a job at
PHOTOS BY LIZ SATTERTHWAITE
“I am excited to join Mayor Murray’s team, as we sprint through the finish line with major initiatives still in play this year,” said Kiga. “From finalizing our homelessness RFP to KeyArena and Seattle Center, and to the Waterfront, affordable housing and our progressive stance against the Trump administration, we have so much more work to do. Seattle has thrived under Mayor Murray’s leadership and I look forward to continuing that work.” Kiga has served as chief of staff to Gov. Gary Locke and in senior positions at Amazon, Boeing, Russell Investments, and Vigor Industrial. He has bachelor’s and law degrees from the University of Washington and has served on the board of directors for the YMCA of Greater Seattle and Arcora. Fong leaves City Hall after 16 years of service to the City, including his final two as chief of staff for Murray. He
started as a legislative aide to Councilmember Heidi Wills, before joining Councilmember Tom Rasmussen’s office, and then Council central staff. Fong first served in the Murray administration as the Deputy Director of the Office of Policy and Innovation and has overseen major milestone as chief of staff, the implementation of Pathways Home to address our homelessness crisis, and the shift to using performance metrics to measure success across city investments. “It has been an honor to serve in Mayor Murray’s administration, as we have made incredible strides toward making Seattle a more equitable city that is open to everyone,” Fong said. Fong’s final day in the Mayor’s office will be Sept. 1. Kiga will officially begin as chief of staff on Sept. 5, with a salary of $181,301. ■
Deaconess Hospital. Tanaka has few photos from camp: cameras were banned at Tule Lake, though a few people managed to sneak them in. She said she’d like to forget what was done to her, but doesn’t think she’ll ever be able to. The contrast between her father’s personality — kind, soft-spoken, eager to try her cooking — and the way the U.S. government treated him is an especially bitter memory. No apology, even if it came with a check, will ever make that right, she said. “I don’t think we really received justice for what they did to us because we lost everything,” she said.
For her, internment was an act of racism, plain and simple. If there’s any good that can come out of it, she hopes it will serve as a cautionary tale against the knee-jerk fear and assumption that all people of Japanese ancestry were the same that led Roosevelt to sign the order. “The United States is a pretty young country and we’ve got a lot to learn yet,” Tanaka said. ■ Information from The Spokesman-Review, spokesman.com.
asianweekly northwest
16
35 YEARS
AUGUST 19 – AUGUST 25, 2017
BUCKINGHAM from 10
InMyLondon husband
booked a hotel around the River Thames. I wanted to see the Parliament building and Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, right next to the Thames. The river provides memorable walks on both sides, packed with people, history, architecture, and culture. I wasn’t aware how close we were to the Palace — about a mile and a half. When our taxi driver drove us into London, he said, “That’s Buckingham Palace.” He thought we hadn’t seen it before. I noticed that it wasn’t as packed as before. At the time, it never occurred to us that we could hop into the palace. We asked the concierge for information about a Broadway play on Aug. 13 in the late afternoon. Casually, he mentioned that he helped another customer buy tickets to get into Buckingham Palace. We asked if he could help us, too. The palace was more appealing than the play. We booked tickets online for the next day. You can book a specific time slot. It’s £23 ($30) for adults, and £13 ($17) for the disabled and kids under 17. On Sunday, we arrived at the gate at 10:30 a.m., 15 minutes ahead of time. The wait was short. There were fewer than 100 people. Everything was well organized and efficiently run. After the security check, we were inside the Palace at 10:50 a.m. with an audio guide. There are 15 languages to choose from, including Chinese, Japanese, and Korean.
The Palace “This is real,” I told myself, as
we marched into the entrance, the same one used by Ambassadors of all countries. We were thrilled and amazed that an ordinary person like me could venture into the same room that Her Majesty often passes by, for dining with heads of state, knighting her subjects, meeting with important people, and greeting her guests for her garden reception three times a year. By the way, the Queen doesn’t even come to Buckingham during the summer. She lives in Scotland
The Throne Room
and Windsor Castle (which we visited two years ago. It’s another great site to visit). Queen Victoria and Prince Albert moved to Buckingham Palace after they were married in 1840. They played an important role in transforming the palace for state functions and activities. Between Windsor and Buckingham, I would recommend Buckingham Palace if your time is limited. Buckingham Palace offers much more for the public to see. The tour features 16 different rooms, from dining rooms for bigger events for heads of state to smaller groups, ballrooms to music rooms, and art gallery and the red-carpeted Grand Staircase for visitors to walk up to meet Her Majesty. As each room unveils its spectacular beauty, every piece of furniture is a piece of art. The art collections, including the marble sculptures, 350 clocks, chandeliers, paintings, and vases of all sizes, from China and Japan, overwhelm the visitors. Even the mirrors, trim, and carvings on each wall is different. It reveals the care, work, heart, and creativity of the designer in every inch of the space, striving for perfection. As I sat down to rest in one of the rooms, I could imagine the royal family’s comings and goings on the wedding day of Prince Charles and Princess Diana. They were holding hands,
The Queen’s Gallery
getting ready for their family portraits with the Queen and the royal family.
The security guards Inside the palace, the guards are
diverse. There are many people of color, including several Muslim women wearing their hijabs and Sikhs with their turbans. Muslims are welcome with open arms in all types of government jobs. No way would this happen in Trump’s White House. England is way ahead of the United States in that regard. What are the qualifications to work inside the palace? You don’t need a college degree. You have to be interested in talking to people and enjoy history, according to one of them. Yes, there are immigrants working as guards. Some of them were from the United States and Australia.
Visiting the British palaces is deeply personal for me. Mesmerized by a 200-year-old palace, I held my breath like witnessing a fairytale, except this was real. As a former resident of Hong Kong, a former British colony, the television images of Buckingham Palace, with white stones and gold and black fences — were always familiar in my mind — except I never imagined what’s beyond those fences. And to suddenly be inside the actual palace seemed surreal. At the end of the tour, a woman said, “This has been my dream.” Well, it wasn’t really my dream because I didn’t think it was possible.
The morning before, I had no idea that I would march into Buckingham Palace, and stay there for more than three incredible hours, including enjoying a lunch at the garden, where Her Majesty hosts her reception for thousands of people. My former Hong Kong classmate, who lives in London, said I was lucky. Buckingham Palace opens only from the last week of July to Oct. 1. If you plan to visit London, pick that time of the year, so Buckingham can be a part of your trip. It’s worth it. ■ Assunta can be reached at assunta@nwasianweekly.com.
European palaces I was fortunate that my past jour-
neys included visits to many Austrian, Russian, French, and German palaces. They are all impressive reflections of each nation’s culture and history. The most extravagant palaces belong to the Russians in St. Petersburg. What it means is that the government taxed the people hard to build such a wondrous structure. How much the people suffered in those eras!
The dining room
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