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SPORTS Kim leads » P. 9
VOL 33 NO 48 NOVEMBER 22 – NOVEMBER 28, 2014 FREE 32 YEARS YOUR VOICE
More than just a pretty cover...
China’s Black Friday was 11.11
Photo by Kayla Dawson, Chin Music Press Facebook page
Chin Music Press recreates the art of storytelling
Two billion dollars worth of merchandise was sold within one hour
By Jingyu Zhang Northwest Asian Weekly
Rutledge and his wife Yuko Enomoto founded Chin Music Press, a small publishing company, in 2002 while living in Tokyo. Rutledge worked at a copy desk at the Nikkei Weekly and covered events like the Kobe earthquake and served as translator for a journalist covering the Aum Shinrikyo gassing. Enomoto was a financial journalist covering the Asian commodity trade. The two moved Chin Music Press to Seattle, opening their showroom store and
Nov. 11 (11.11) is notable because it is considered the “Singles’ Day Shopping Festival” in China. On Nov. 11, 2014, Alibaba reinforced their recent notoriety by promoting a Singles’ Day Shopping Festival, which is China’s largest 24-hour online shopping promotion. This annual festival went global, as shoppers in some 200 countries and regions went online to select from more than one million products being offered at steep discounts by participating Chinese and international e-tailers. Alibaba’s retails totaled at $1 billion. Alibaba is China’s biggest online commerce company. Its three main sites, Taobao, Tmall, and Alibaba.com, have hundreds of millions of users and hosts millions of merchants and businesses. In addition, Alibaba is the most popular destination for online shopping in China, and is the world’s fastest growing e-commerce market today. Transactions on its online sites totaled $248 billion last year, more than those of eBay and Amazon.com combined. Since 2009, the Chinese Singles Shopping Festival encourages those untethered by a significant other to buy themselves gifts. Initially, 27 merchants on the company’s Tmall site offered discounts to perk up sales during an otherwise slow period. Now, the response has been
{see CHIN cont’d on page 15}
{see BLACK FRIDAY cont’d on page 15}
Post-demo book signing with Shiro
By Tiffany Ran Northwest Asian Weekly Day writer and translator Jay Rubin walked into the office of Chin Music Press when it was establishing itself in Seattle. The space had not yet taken on the identity of the small local publisher that had, for the last decade, worked to change the face of printed books. Chin Music Press founder Bruce Rutledge was in a casual t-shirt still painting the walls. The carpets had just been torn out.
Japan in recession as economy contracts 1.6 pct By Elaine Kurtenbach AP Business Writer
Photo by Fourhalf
TOKYO (AP) — Japan reported Monday that its economy contracted at a real annual rate of 1.6 percent in JulySeptember, in a second straight quarterly decline that returned the country to recession. A 24.1 percent plunge in private residential investment from a year earlier failed to offset a modest recovery in exports and a 1.5 percent increase in household spending. Most economists had forecast that the world’s thirdbiggest economy would expand at about a 2 percent pace. The negative growth figure was much lower than expected and makes it very likely Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will delay implementation of a sales tax hike planned for October, 2015.
The economy contracted 7.1 percent in April-June after the national sales tax was raised to 8 percent from 5 percent. The decline in July-September represented a 0.4 percent decrease from the previous quarter. The release Monday of the preliminary quarterly economic data, normally a routine event, was received with far more attention than usual since Abe is expected to make the dismal GDP reading the basis for calling a general election. “In light of the sharp fall in today’s preliminary estimate, it now looks likely that (Prime Minister) Abe will call off the hike and announce snap elections,” economist Marcel Thieliant of Capital Economics said in a commentary. The benchmark Nikkei 225 stock index dropped 1.4 {see JAPAN IN RECESSION cont’d on page 14}
The Inside Story NAMES People in the news » P. 2
■
A&E Delano Manongs » P. 8
A-POP! Hollywood loses an activist » P. 9
COMMENTARY E-cigs & the API community » P. 11
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NOVEMBER 22 – NOVEMBER 28, 2014
■ NAMES IN THE NEWS Miller Hayashi Architects awarded
donated two domestic flight tickets for the raffle.
KAC-WA awards students, community leaders
Justin Zhu Cai ICHS Shoreline Medical and Dental Clinic
Miller Hayashi Architects was merited a Masonry Institute of Washington 2014 design award for their work for International Community Health Services (ICHS). Shoreline Medical and Dental Clinic is the newest clinic in the ICHS network of nonprofit community health centers. Major structural elements and glazing were designed with future expansion needs in mind. ICHS wanted durable, sustainable materials as the clinic was designed for decades of frequent use. It chose a manganese Ironspot masonry facade and exposed concrete shear walls.
1st place winner of 2014 Washington State Recitalist Competition (Eastern Division). He has won 20 gold medals at MusicFest Northwest since 2009, and was titled “Piano Man” by Spokane Coeur D’Alene Living magazine.
When Seattle meets China
Student advances in piano competition Justin Zhu Cai, a Spokane native, will travel to Boise, Idaho, in January to compete as a Division Finalist in the MTNA division competition. Winners of each State Competition advance to the division competition. Division winners then proceed to the National Competition Finals. Justin earned this opportunity after winning the Washington State MTNA Junior Piano Competition. A 9th grade student at the Oaks Classical Christian Academy in Spokane, Justin has been studying piano for 10 years. He was the 1st place winner of 2013 Washington State Outstanding Artist Competition Junior Piano, and the
From left: Na Young Jenny Chung, Nathan Lee, and Kyoyi Kate Lee
From left: John Liu, Lance Grob, Martha Lee, Ming Zhang, Mike Medeiros, Michael Christ, Felicity Wang, Jesse Tam
The Greater Seattle Chinese Chamber of Commerce November hosted a luncheon “When Seattle meets China: Preparation, Opportunities, Results” at Sun Ya Restaurant. Panel speakers were MulvannyG2 Architecture President, Ming Zhang; Delta VP - Seattle - Mike Medeiros; and SECO Development - Michael Christ. Delta Airlines
Presented by Northwest Asian Weekly and Northwest Asian Weekly Foundation
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The Korean American Coalition of Washington 2014 Awards Gala, “Empower and Expand,” took place on October 17 at the Hyatt Regency Bellevue. The awards celebrate those who have empowered members in the community through their service. About 200 community members, leaders and elected officials attended. KAC-WA awarded scholarships to three students, Jenny Na Young Chung, Nathan Lee, and Kyoyi Kate Lee. Eyvind Kang and Jessika Kenny received the Artistic Achievement Award. Dr. Jae Hoon Kim received the Community Service Award. Dr. Eugene Yang received the Business/Professional Leadership Award. The final award, the Rocky Kim Pioneer Award, was presented to Hyeok Kim, Deputy Mayor of Seattle. Shari Song presented the award in memory of YoungSu “Rocky” Kim, a community activist who fostered tolerant race relations between Korean Americans and other ethnic communities located in the Puget Sound area before his untimely death.
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32 YEARS YOUR VOICE
NOVEMBER 22 – NOVEMBER 28, 2014
■ top contributors Frieda Takamura, lifetime contributor to the Asian community Photo by Senhao Liu/NWAW
By Senhao Liu Northwest Asian Weekly
From being a teacher to a policymaker in education improvement, Frieda Takamura has contributed much during the past 40 years to the Asian Pacific Islander community. Born in Tokyo right after World War II, Takamura came to the U.S when she was 18 years old to attend the University of Hawaii. Her father is nisei, the Frieda Takamura second-generation of Japanese immigrants who lived in Hawaii. Takamura transferred to the Whitman College in Walla
Walla and graduated with an English major. After graduation, she started teaching in a junior high school and also started contributing to the Asian Pacific Islanders (API) community in 1969. In 2008, she retired from the Washington Education Association (WEA) as human/civil rights coordinator. “There are big but divided groups of Asian communities in Seattle, but civically we are all Pan-Asian,” said Takamura. “The vibrancy of the Asian community inspired me to get involved.” Takamura said that the inclusive nature of the Asian community in Seattle--as opposed to being separate identities of Chinese, Japanese and Vietnamese, for example-made her want to contribute to the API community and help empower the people. Takamura said that she felt there was not much education about Asian history in the U.S., which leads to stereotyping about Asian heritage. She said, for example, that she knows much about Japanese American history due to her identity
Leny Valerio-Buford: A history of helping others reach a higher education By Nina Huang Northwest Asian Weekly
adapting to the culture,” Valerio-Buford explained. “The Asian culture does not necessarily reward Conversations, discussions assertiveness. You are and debates were a normal supposed to observe first thing in Lenore (Leny) before opening your mouth. Valerio-Buford’s household That was hard for many of growing up in the Philippines. us to learn and even harder Valerio-Buford was born to accept that this was an and raised in a small town obstacle. I had to figure Lenore (Leny) Valerio-Buford called Taypay. She was the out a way around this,” she second oldest of six children. explained. She has four sisters and one brother, who is She could still remember the times where the youngest. She and her siblings grew up she had to translate things in her head, but by helping their mother at her bakery business. the time she wanted to say it, the group had Education was a family passion. Her father already moved onto the next topic. was a high school teacher, and her siblings “I would like to think that I had been quick also had positions in education. Four of the enough to observe what the weaknesses women in her family were teachers. Her are in our culture and to figure out a way to oldest sister Nina was a tenured faculty accept it or overcome it,” she said. member from the School of Education at In her current role as Director of the Seattle University. Upward Bound Program for the University Valerio-Buford completed her Bachelor’s of Washington, her focus is in developing degree in education in the Philippines and projects to increase college retention for lowtaught high school for five years before she income and first generation college students. immigrated to the United States. She then Valerio-Buford has been with the Office of went on to study British and American Minority Affairs and Diversity unit at the Literature at the University of Iowa where UW since 1991. she obtained her Master’s degree. Upward Bound is a program that was Although her father wasn’t her actual launched in 1965 as one of the initiatives teacher, she said that he was one of the best of President Lyndon B. Johnson’s “War teachers she’s ever had in her life. on Poverty” campaign. According to Her grandmother was also a huge influence Valerio-Buford, since 1983, the University in her life. She was a self-starter and of Washington’s Upward Bound is one of businesswoman who had limited education the most successful programs in terms of in the Philippines, but later became very preparing students for college and equipping successful in her career. them with retention skills needed for them to “I like reflecting back and thinking about obtain their bachelor’s degree. her no-nonsense personality,” she said. Being a parent, Valerio-Buford knows The generations in her family tended to be how important education is. Without a doubt, matriarchal, so in a sense, through a cultural being a mother to her daughter, Ria, has lens, that put them at a disadvantage. But the been her proudest achievement in her life. women in her family were strong and go- She worried that she’d be the oldest mom getters. in the PTA, and wasn’t sure how that would “There’s always a search for equality, resonate with Ria. especially in your professional life. That was “That was the hardest work I’ve ever done, hard to maintain and possess. I think it’s I had to be more patient, control my temper, the struggle of immigration and even now and had to learn to share,” she said. among younger groups that immigrate to the U.S. , they still have to face the problem {see VALERIO-BUFORD cont’d on of facilitating the use of the language and page 15}
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background, but she did not know much about other Southeast Asian countries. She spoke specifically about the Chinese experience, when immigrants first came to the U.S. The first generation came here mostly as laborers and their hardworking character contributed to American society. These types of histories of Asian communities were not being taught much in schools. That encouraged Takamura to keep educating others to improve people’s understanding for the next generations. “Frieda is a champion for kids of color in our state. She holds policymakers accountable by voicing the need to involve communities in the decision-making,” said Michael Itti, executive director of Washington State Commission on Asian Pacific American Affairs, and a colleague of Takamura. Takamura said that before she retired, she was involved {see TAKAMURA cont’d on page 12}
KING COUNTY INVITATION TO BID Project: Construction of Aircraft Rescue and Firefighting (ARFF) Facility at King County International Airport, C00914C14 Sealed Bid Time/Date: 1:30PM, December 16, 2014 Location Due: King County Procurement and Contract Services Section, Contracts Counter, 3rd Floor, 401 Fifth Avenue, Seattle, WA 98104 Engineer’s Estimate: Base Bid $4,378,000, Alternate 1 = $18,000, Alternate 2 = $21,000, Alternate 3 = $64,823, Alternate 4 = $28,000 Scope of Work: The project involves the demolition and construction of a new Airport Rescue and Firefighting Facility at King County International Airport at Boeing Field. Work site: 8190 E. Marginal Way S., Seattle WA 98108. Contact Information: Gib Myers, Contract Specialist, 206-263-9323, TTY Relay: 711, Fax: 206-296-7675, or gib.myers@kingcounty.gov. A bidder may be asked to put a question in writing. No verbal answers by County personnel will be binding on the County. Pre-Bid Conference: December 2, 2014 at 9:00AM, Room 201, Terminal Building, 7277 Perimeter Rd. S. Seattle, WA, 98108-0245. A site tour will be conducted immediately following the conference at 8190 E. Marginal Way S., Seattle WA 98108. Site tour participants will caravan from the Terminal Building to the construction site. Subcontracting Opportunities: Roofing, Plumbing, Electrical, HVAC, Fire Protection Apprenticeship Requirements: 15% minimum Apprentice Utilization Requirement. SBE Requirement: 15% minimum Small Business Enterprise (SBE) Requirement. DBE Goal: The County has determined that no DBE goal will be established for this Contract. However, the County will require that the selected Contractor report any actual DBE participation on this Contract to enable the County to accurately monitor DBE program compliance. Please see §00120 for further information. Applicable Federal Provisions: Executive Order 11246, Equal Employment Opportunity, Federal Labor Provisions and Davis Bacon (Federal) Wage Rates Permits: King County has applied for, but as of the date of advertisement, has not received the King County Department of Permitting and Environmental Review - Building Permit. If this permit is received during the bidding period, it will be issued by Addendum. If the County has not received the King County Department of Permitting and Environmental Review - Building Permit by the bid opening date, the County will evaluate whether to extend the bid opening, cancel the procurement or open bids. Award and execution of this Contract is conditional upon the County receiving the King County Department of Permitting and Environmental Review - Building Permit. Federal Funding: This contract is funded, in part, by the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT), and is subject to the requirements set forth in Grant 3-53-0058-051-2014 and incorporated by reference as if fully set forth herein. The federal participation is estimated at 90% of the total contract value. In accordance with the requirements of the Grant and with USDOT’s policy on the utilization of socially and economically disadvantaged individuals and disadvantaged business enterprises in procurement under assistance programs, the Contractor shall comply with 49 CFR PART 26. Bid Bond: Not less than five percent (5%) of the Total Bid Price Bid Documents Electronic copies of the plans, specifications, reference documents, and any addenda for this solicitation are available on the King County Procurement website shown below. Printed documents may also be ordered by contacting United Reprographics at 206-382-1177. Copies of documents are not available for purchase from King County, but are available for review 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. M thru F. at the Contracts Counter: Chinook Bldg, 3rd Floor, 401 Fifth Avenue Seattle, WA 98104. To receive email notifications of addenda or other important information concerning this solicitation, you must register to be a planholder under the “Solicitations” tab at the following internet link: Website: http://www.kingcounty.gov/procurement/solicitations This information is available in alternate formats for individuals with disabilities upon advance request by calling 206-263-9400, TTY Relay: 711. Notes: Bids received after Sealed Bid Time will not be considered. Bidders accept all risks of late delivery, regardless of fault. King County is not responsible for any costs incurred in response to this Invitation to Bid.
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NOVEMBER 22 – NOVEMBER 28, 2014
■ national news
US Sikh student: Rules bar him from Army program By Frank Eltman Associated Press
MINEOLA, New York (AP) — A Sikh university student has sued the U.S. Army, saying he cannot join the Reserve Officer Training Corps unless he violates his religious beliefs by removing his turban, shaving, and cutting his hair. The group United Sikhs and the American Civil Liberties Union filed a federal lawsuit Wednesday in Washington, D.C., on behalf of Iknoor Singh Iknoor Singh, a 19-year-old from the New York City borough of Queens. Singh, who is studying finance and business analytics at Hofstra University, said he has had a lifelong interest
■ world news
in public service and began thinking of a military career several years ago. Sikhism, a 500-year-old religion founded in India, requires its male followers to wear a turban and beard and keep their hair uncut. Under a policy announced in January, troops can seek waivers on a case-by-case basis to wear religious clothing, seek prayer time, or engage in religious practices. Approval depends on where the service member is stationed and whether the change would affect military readiness or the mission. There are currently only a few Sikhs serving in the U.S. Army who have been granted religious accommodations. But ACLU Attorney Heather Weaver said the only remedy offered to Singh is a Catch-22. He must comply with military rules and only then ask for a waiver that would allow him to wear his turban, beard, and long hair. Singh is being permitted to audit the ROTC classes,
Photo by Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP
Obama says ‘Rohingya,’ displeasing Myanmar hosts
said Lt. Col. Daniel Cederman, commander of Hofstra’s program, which trains students to become commissioned officers. But Singh and his attorneys argue that he is not receiving credit for the classes, nor is he eligible for potential ROTC scholarships because he is not an actual enlistee. Weaver also said Singh will not be permitted to audit the classes after his sophomore year. Lt. Col. Ben Garrett said in a statement that the Army does not comment on pending litigation. He said the service is “a diverse force with a long history of accommodating the religious practices of its members and the rights of soldiers to observe the tenets of their respective religions, or to observe no religion at all.” A statement from Hofstra said it supports “Singh’s ambitions to serve his country. ... We very much hope that the Army will permit us to enroll Mr. Singh in the program as a full cadet.”
Praise for Srikanth, Nehwal after China victories By C. Rajshekhar Rao AP Sports Writer
Saina Nehwal
President Barack Obama at the memorial to the Independence Martys with Than Myint-U, founder and president of Yangon Heritage Trust
By Todd Pitman and Julie Pace Associated Press YANGON, Myanmar (AP) — Myanmar’s minority Rohingya Muslims are among the most persecuted people on earth, and advocates of their cause were hoping President Barack Obama would not only press the issue during his visit this week — they were hoping he would simply say their name. On Friday, the last day of his trip, he finally did — uttering the word publicly for the first time on his threeday visit at a news conference with opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi. “Discrimination against the Rohingya or any other religious minority does not express the kind of country that Burma over the long term wants to be,” Obama said, in response to a reporter’s question about the status of reforms in Myanmar, also known as Burma. Myanmar’s government views the estimated 1.3 million Rohingya — living in dire, segregated conditions in western Rakhine state — not as citizens, but as illegal migrants from Bangladesh encroaching on scarce land. For that reason, they say the Rohingya ethnicity does not exist.
In a bid to draw attention to the issue, the U.S. advocacy group United to End Genocide launched a social media campaign titled (hash)JustSayTheirName, and thousands of people have signed an online petition and tweeted photos of themselves holding placards with the slogan on social media. During a private meeting with President Thein Sein on Thursday which focused largely on the Rohingya’s plight and a need for constitutional reforms ahead of 2015 elections, Obama used the word “Rohingya” multiple times and did so purposefully, according to a senior U.S. official who spoke only on condition of anonymity because the official was not authorized to comment by name. But in his public opening statement, Obama did not specifically mention the Rohingya, referring only to the “terrible violence in Rakhine state.” During his last trip in 2012, Obama employed the word in a speech at the University of Yangon as he pressed Myanmar’s leaders to end violence and consider granting them citizenship. Supporters applauded the move. Myanmar’s government bristled. {see THE ROHINGYA cont’d on page 12}
Kidambi Srikanth
NEW DELHI (AP) — It’s not cricket. But that hasn’t stopped the Indian media and sports fraternity marveling at a performance few people thought they’d ever see. Prime Minister Narendra Modi even joined in the praise for badminton players Kidambi Srikanth and Saina Nehwal after their victories at the China Open super series event on Sunday. The 21-year-old Srikanth pulled off a surprising 21-19, 21-17 win over two-time Olympic champion Lin Dan in the men’s final, becoming only the third player to beat the Chinese great since the 2012 Olympics. Olympic bronze medalist Nehwal defeated Japan’s world junior champion Akane Yamaguchi 21-12, 22-20 for the women’s title. “A wonderful day for Indian badminton! Congrats to Saina Nehwal and K. Srikanth for the victories,” Modi said in a message from Australia, where he attended the {see BADMINTON cont’d on page 13}
32 YEARS YOUR VOICE
■ world news Defectors play big role in North Korean rumor mill By Hyung-Jin Kim Associated Press
Kim Jong Un and wife Ri Sol Ju
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Video secretly taken in North Korea shows public executions by firing squad. The country is said to begin a currency revaluation that turns disastrous. Leader Kim Jong Un is reported to have thrown South Korean leaflets containing rumors about his wife in his aides’ faces. Two of those stories are true. The third, who knows? All came from people in North Korea, through networks of defectors determined to get out information on the authoritarian, highly insular country they left behind. Their words and images are snapped up with enthusiasm, and often credulously,
by South Korean and international media desperate for news from the poorly understood country. The sources may not be particularly well informed. They could be ruling-party officials or factory workers. Or smugglers, professors, or soldiers. Generally, they are in it for the money, not a desire to force change in their homeland, according to the defectors they communicate with. Whatever their motives, the risks they face are the same. Defectors say the firingsquad and currency stories came from sources now dead because of their work. The North inspires fervent curiosity and global headlines thanks largely to its tight control on information, its dogged pursuit of long-range nuclear weapons, and its widely condemned record on human rights. For outsiders, it can be a breeding ground for groundless rumors, as it was recently during nearly six weeks in which Kim Jong Un stayed out of the public eye. After rumors ranging from a coup to gout brought on by a cheese addiction, he emerged limping but still clearly in power. Leading defectors’ organizations say they are not responsible for many of the most sensational rumors, which could {see NORTH KOREA cont’d on page 13}
Tense turns in freeing US captives in North Korea By Calvin Woodward Associated Press
WA SHIN GT ON (AP) — When U.S. spy chief James Clapper flew to North Korea on a mission to bring home two U.S. captives, he ran into a potential James Clapper hitch. North Korean officials wanted a diplomatic concession of some sort in return for freeing the men and Clapper had none to offer. “I think they were disappointed,” Clapper said, fleshing out details of the secret trip a week after its completion. It was not until he was ushered into a hotel room for an “amnesty-granting ceremony” that he knew the release of Americans Kenneth Bae and Matthew Miller would proceed as planned. All told, the trip unfolded more smoothly than his first foray into North Korean air space, aboard a U.S. helicopter in December 1985. “They shot at us, and fortunately we made it back to the South,” he told CBS’s “Face the Nation” in an interview broadcast Sunday. At the time, Clapper was intelligence chief for U.S. forces in South Korea. This time, he was a presidential emissary with a deal in the works and per-
mission to land. Clapper arrived in Pyongyang in the dark, was taken to a guest house and met by a small party led by the state security minister and a translator. A “terse” dinner followed, hosted by the head of the Reconnaissance Guidance Bureau, which Clapper described as a combination intelligence unit and special operations force. North Korea “feels itself to be under siege,” he said. “There is a certain institutional paranoia and that was certainly reflected in a lot of things that he said.” Clapper heard complaints about the U.S. interfering with North Korea’s internal matters. “It wasn’t exactly a pleasant dinner.” He brought a short letter from President Barack Obama characterizing North Korea’s willingness to release the pair as a positive gesture. But the North Koreans wanted more. “I think the major message from them was their disappointment that there wasn’t some offer or some big — again, the term they used was `breakthrough.”’ Afterward, Clapper waited hours until he got word that he had 20 minutes to pack his luggage for a drive to a downtown hotel. It was then he knew he would be leaving with Bae and Miller. At a ceremony, Clapper exchanged handshakes with his North Korean interlocutor, the prisoners changed clothes and they left {see CLAPPER cont’d on page 11}
NOVEMBER 22 – NOVEMBER 28, 2014
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China wants Uighur refugees back from Thailand
AP Wire Service
BEIJING (AP) — More than 200 refugees detained in Thailand earlier this year are believed to be Chinese Uighurs and should be repatriated, a Chinese consul said, dismissing concerns they will be mistreated. The refugees’ claim to be Turkish cannot be confirmed and they refuse to cooperate with Chinese authorities on proper identification, said Qin Jian, the consul in Songkhla. “They have been uncooperative and refused to communicate at all,” Qin said. The refugees are likely fearful of being mistreated in China if they are returned, although Qin said such concerns are
unwarranted. “If they do not have criminal records back in China, there will be no prosecution,” the consul said. Tensions between minority Uighurs and the majority Han Chinese have left about 400 people dead in the past 20 months. Beijing has blamed the violence on terrorism, separatism, and extreme religion and has harshly cracked down in the Uighurs’ far northwestern home region. But human rights groups say the heavy-handedness is further alienating the Uighurs. In March, Thai immigration officers rescued 220 men, women, and children {see REFUGEES cont’d on page 13}
American questioned for shipping human body parts By Thanyarat Doksone Associated Press BANGKOK (AP) — A parcel delivery company in Bangkok put three packages bound for the United States through a routine X-ray and made a startling discovery: preserved human parts, including an infant’s head, a baby’s foot and an adult heart. The body parts were stolen from the medical museums of one of Bangkok’s biggest hospitals, its administrators said Monday. Police Col. Chumpol Poompuang said the sender was a 31-year-old American tourist, Ryan McPherson, who told them he had he found the items at a Bangkok night market. Police tracked down McPherson after being alerted by the shipper, DHL. “He said he thought the body parts were bizarre and wanted to send them to his friends in the U.S.,” Chumpol said, adding that the man was questioned along with an American friend for several hours and released without charges.
It apparently was not the first brush with notoriety for McPherson and his friend, identified by police as Daniel Tanner, 33. Photos of the two talking with police on Sunday closely resemble men by the same names and ages who were producers over a decade ago of a video series featuring homeless people brawling and performing dangerous stunts after being paid by the filmmakers, who were based in Las Vegas. They claimed sales of about 300,000 copies at $20 each, though their “Bumfights” videos were banned in several communities and generally shunned by retailers after criticism that the films’ subjects were being exploited. McPherson and Tanner exited Thailand into neighboring Cambodia on Sunday, and could not be contacted for comment. The three packages seized in Bangkok, which contained five body pieces, were labeled as toys, police said. They were being sent to Las Vegas, including one {see HUMAN BODY PARTS cont’d on page 12}
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The only weekly English-language newspaper serving Washington’s Asian community. The NW Asian Weekly has one simple goal: “To empower the Asian community.” The Editorial Board reserves the right to reject any advertisement, letter or article. Subscriptions cost $30 for 52 weeks of the NW Asian Weekly and $25 for 52 weeks of the Seattle Chinese Post. The NW Asian Weekly owns the copyright for all its content. All rights reserved. No part of this paper may be reprinted without permission. 412 Maynard Ave. S., Seattle, WA 98104 • t. 206.223.5559 info@nwasianweekly.com • ads@nwasianweekly.com • www.nwasianweekly.com
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NOVEMBER 22 – NOVEMBER 28, 2014
■ COMMUNITY CALENDAR THU 11/20
WHAT: Summit Sierra Info Session WHERE: ACRS, 1025 S. King St., Seattle WHEN: 6:30-8 p.m. INFO: summitps.org
SAT 11/22 WHAT: Hope for Freedom 2014 Annual Gala WHERE: Embassy Suites, 3225 158th Ave. S.E., Bellevue WHEN: 5 p.m. COST: $60/person, $480/ individual table of 8 tickets, $600/ corporate table sponsor of 8 tickets, plus an ad INFO: info@wppcnepal.org, 206-582-8700 WHAT: Liberasian’s first workshop hosted by Tracey Wong and Tre Johnson WHERE: Urban Impact Seattle, 7728 Rainier Ave. S., Seattle WHEN: 12-3 p.m. INFO: facebook.com/ ProjectLiberasian WHAT: Ken Taya book signing WHERE: Higo, 604 S. Jackson St., Seattle WHEN: 1-4 p.m. INFO: www.ifartrainbow.com WHAT: Upbeat on Jackson featuring M9 & Sumi Tonoka WHERE: Enerstine Anderson Place, 2010 S. Jackson St., Seattle
WHEN: 7:30-9:30 p.m. INFO: upbeatonjackson.org
SUN 11/23 WHAT: Buddhist Philosophy and Modern Business Management WHERE: Meydenbauer Center, 11100 NE 6th St., Bellevue WHEN: 2:30-4:30 p.m. COST: Free admission REGISTER: 206-512-5862, compassionseattle@gmail.com WHAT: Free screening of a documentary, “Project Fukushima!” WHERE: Japanese Cultural & Community Center of Washington, 1414 S. Weller St., Seattle WHEN: 2-5 p.m. INFO: admin@jcccw.org, 206568-7114 WHAT: Seattle Theaterwala presents, “Body Shopping” WHERE: Ethnic Cultural Theatre, 3940 Brooklyn Ave. N.E., Seattle WHEN: 2:30 p.m. and 5 p.m. on 11/16, 4:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. on 11/23 COST: $10 INFO: seattle.theaterwala@ gmail.com, 425-443-3845 WHAT: Taiko Classes WHEN: 12-2 p.m. COST: $95/person INFO: 206-919-1465, www. seattlekokontaiko.org
THU 11/27 WHAT: ACRS Thanksgiving Luncheon WHERE: ACRS, 3639 Martin Luther King Jr. Way S., Seattle WHEN: 11:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. COST: Free RSVP: 206-695-5967, victorl@ acrs.org INFO: acrs.org
WED 12/3 WHAT: December Civic Cocktail WHERE: Tom Douglas Palace Ballroom, 2100 Fifth Ave., Seattle WHEN: 5:30 p.m. COST: $10-$15 INFO: healthcare.gov
THU 12/4 WHAT: Screening, “Seven Samurai” WHERE: Northwest Film Forum, 1515 12th Ave., Seattle WHEN: 7 p.m. COST: $6-$11 INFO: nwfilmforum.org
FRI 12/5 WHAT: WSCRC Annual Banquet with keynote speaker Jian Wang, CTO Alibaba Group WHERE: Hyatt Olive 8, Seattle WHEN: 5:30-9 p.m. INFO: www.wscrc.org
■ world news
Photo by Vincent Yu/AP
Hong Kong-Shanghai stock link makes lopsided debut
Chow Chung-kong, left, and Leung Chun-ying
By Kelvin Chan AP Business Writer HONG KONG (AP) — International investors plowed money into Shanghai’s stock market, maxing out their daily limit,
in the debut Monday of a landmark trading link that gives outsiders wider access to mainland China’s main stock market through brokers in Hong Kong. {see STOCK LINK cont’d on page 12}
■ briefly
Memorial for Henry Miyatake
There will be a community memorial event for redress activist Henry Miyatake on Saturday, December 6, 2014, at NVC Memorial Hall, 1212 S King Street, Seattle, WA 98144. A pre-event social, with light refreshments, will begin at 1:00 PM. The memorial program will be from 2:00-3:00 PM. In 1973, Henry led a team of Seattle volunteers that developed the Seattle Plan which called for individual payments to anyone removed by the government during World War II. This plan was eventually introduced as legislation into Congress in 1979 by Congressman Mike Lowry. Although this bill died in committee, a future redress bill was finally passed in Congress and signed by President Reagan in 1988. Henry was also among the key organizers of the first Day of Remembrance held in 1978 at the Puyallup Fairgrounds, site of the wartime Puyallup Assembly
Henry Miyatake
Center that incarcerated over 7,000 Japanese Americans. Henry passed away in September 2014 in Auburn, WA. The community memorial event is open to the public and is an opportunity for people who knew Henry or who were involved with redress to come together and celebrate Henry’s life.
Have an event to promote? P lease send us the details at least 14 days in advance to info@nwasianweekly.c om.
32 YEARS YOUR VOICE
■ wayne’s worlds
NOVEMBER 22 – NOVEMBER 28, 2014
7
The rush of rabble rousing By Wayne Chan Northwest Asian Weekly
I’ve never been known to be much of a rabble rouser. I don’t even know where I can find any rabble that needs rousing. You can say a lot of things about me, but “troublemaker” has never been one of them. I file my taxes on time and don’t take any ridiculous deductions. I drive a sensible but safe Honda hatchback. Even our dog is mildmannered. But I must say, every time I’m in China, I definitely get a bit peeved at how they limit my access to the internet. It’s not even that I want to do anything remotely radical. I’m not trying to subvert the government. I don’t actually follow Chinese politics closely enough to have much of an opinion. No, what I’d like to do are the mundane things everyone does online - but can’t do in China. Since when does the Chinese government care whether I can find a jet-skiing bulldog on YouTube? What do they find objectionable about me making jokes on Facebook about a cheeseburger made out of two Krispy Kreme donuts as buns? What is so subversive about my
Instagramming from China
tweet to sell individual sheets of toilet paper to tourists in China who didn’t come prepared? What government official is going to be offended if I do a Google search on whether former NBA player Yao Ming has ever knocked himself out walking through a low door frame? Well folks - there you have it. Apparently, I’ve found my rabble. I guess it’s time for me to start rousing. For the first time, at the
suggestion of some friends, I decided to sign up for a Virtual Private Network - basically, it’s a service that allows me to bypass all of China’s censorship. I was actually told that such a network isn’t even illegal in China and that many people do it. And while it may be perfectly legal in China, where I am currently writing this column, I really do feel like the cat who caught the mouse. All of a sudden, my new-found
freedom from censorship has me doing daring things online that I usually don’t have time for (or particularly have interest in) back home. I just commented in a post on my Facebook page my theory that the way people drive here in China, instead of using defensive driving skills they seem to be using the “force”. Then I tweeted about how I just spent twelve dollars on two small bottles of water to help me wash down two
dollars worth of dumplings. And to top it off, I just posted a picture on Instagram of my friend and I doing the “horsey riding move” from the “Gangnam Style” video while walking along the Great Wall. What can I say? I’m a rebel. Does the Chinese government approve of how I just uploaded a video on YouTube of my friend eating traditional Peking Duck wraps along with some corn chips tucked in? I doubt it. Would they condone my watching a hilarious video of a dog and cat fighting over their pet bed instead of dutifully watching a particularly dramatic (and screechy) moment of a Peking Opera? Again, probably not. Let me make something perfectly clear. When I’m back home, I don’t spend a lot of time doing things like, say, watching old reruns of Star Trek on my laptop. But darn it, if you’re going to try and limit my access to it, all I can say is, “Scotty - beam me up!” I figure, sometimes you just have to throw caution to the wind and make a stand. Wayne Chan can be reached at info@nwasianweekly.com.
asianweekly northwest
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NOVEMBER 22 – NOVEMBER 28, 2014
■ arts & entertainment ‘Delano Manongs’ elevates Filipino Americans as civil rights heroes
Murals commemorating the Delano Malongs by Eliseo Art Silva
By James Tabafunda Northwest Asian Weekly Filipino American producer and director Marissa Aroy has a timely message. Her documentary, “The Delano Manongs: Forgotten Heroes of the United Farm Workers,” adds an important, but missing, story about Filipino Americans who stood with Mexican American civil rights icon Cesar Chavez as dedicated members of the United Farm Workers Organizing Committee. It features “manongs,” the Filipino word for “older brothers” or “older Filipino gentlemen,” who traveled to the United States in the 1920s and 1930s with the shared vision of earning money in white-collar as well as blue-collar jobs. Once they arrived, most of them realized that they could only find menial jobs, migrating from one labor camp to another. And since most of them were bachelors, they were subject to California’s anti-miscegenation law (1850 to 1948), which banned interracial marriage. “The Delano Manongs” tells the story of Larry Itliong and
Larry Itliong, Filipino labor leader
about 1,500 Filipino American farm workers in California who walked off their jobs in order to demand fair wages and better working conditions during the Delano Grape Strike of 1965. Other “manongs” include Philip Vera Cruz and Peter Velasco. Itliong’s Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee
merged with Chavez and the National Farm Workers Association (NFWA), which later became the United Farm Workers. The Filipino American and Mexican American solidarity changed the strike in rural Delano, Calif. into a national movement. Itliong became second-in-command under Chavez. His son, Johnny Itliong, provides such insights as, “He would stand up to anybody.” In addition to being a cigar-smoking, articulate, union veteran, Larry Itliong raised seven children and spoke seven languages. In the documentary, he said, “I’m not scared of nobody. And I’m a son of a (expletive) in terms of fighting for the rights of Filipinos in this country.” {see DELANO MANONGS cont’d on page 12}
SSAFF 2014 awards announced Sri Lankan filmmaker receives Tasveer Emerald Award Sri Lankan filmmaker Prasanna Vithana was awarded at the 9th annual Seattle South Asian Film Festival Sunday evening with a screening of his film, “With You, Without You.” Vithanage was Prasanna Vithana also honored for his contribution to Sri Lankan cinema during the Festival’s Closing Night Reception, receiving the Tasveer Emerald Award. This occasional award is bestowed upon exceptional prolific and influential filmmakers and was first given in 2011 to actress Deepti Naval for her contribution to Indian cinema. This year’s Festival welcomed eighteen visiting filmmakers. There were 27 screenings, two educational panels, copresented with Washington Filmworks and The Film School. A special award for Outstanding Film in a Social Category was awarded during the Festival to SSAFF 2014 selection “Fandry” by the Seattle chapter of Pratham, the largest education non-profit in India. Pratham is dedicated to improving the quality of education in India, ensuring access to all people regardless of caste – a subject addressed in “Fandry” through the story of a young lower-caste man in a small village. The first SSAFF Jury Award was given to Indian director Kanu Behl’s featurelength debut “Titlli.” The jury, staffed with local film scholars, critics, and writers, was
commissioned to select the film with the best storytelling and strongest alignment with the mission of Tasveer. “TITLI not only embodies Tasveer’s mission to engage and empower the community through thought-provoking art and conversation; it also clearly demonstrates SSAFF 2014’s theme of Stories that dare . . . ,” according to a jury statement. Founded in 2002 by Rita Meher and Farah Nousheen, Tasveer strives to curate thought-provoking artistic work of South Asians through films, forums, visual art, {see SSAFF cont’d on page 15}
32 YEARS YOUR VOICE
■ arts & entertainment
NOVEMBER 22 – NOVEMBER 28, 2014
9
Hollywood loses an activist A live-action manga remake and ultra-rich Chinese Canadians
Sumi Sevilla Haru
By Vivian Nguyen Northwest Asian Weekly With November officially underway and Daylight Savings in effect, it’s time to hunker down for the winter season and get ready for the holiday festivities. Even though we’ve turned back the clocks, we’re going to jump back briefly to chat about last month’s news! Read on to find out the latest in pop culture.
SAG-AFTRA leader passes away
Hollywood has lost a bright star and activist. Sumi Sevilla Haru, known as the longtime leader of the Screen Actors Guild (SAG), passed away last month in Los Angeles. She was 75. Haru, who served as interim president of the Screen Actors Guild in 1995, was widely known in the entertainment industry as being the first and only woman of color to serve as president. She joined SAG in 1968 and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA) in 1972, serving as a national board member for both organizations. In both roles, she worked hard to aid the movement to create opportunities for Asian Americans in the media.To mirror her advancement of Asian Americans in film and television, Haru refused to audition for any stereotypical roles in her own acting career, eschewing the clichéd maid or dragon lady roles that often plague Asian American female actors. She also spoke out against the use of yellowface and the discrimination of Asian actors in Hollywood.
Ultra Rich Asian Girls
Book cover art, Ghost in the Shell
Though some readers may be unfamiliar with Haru, it is important to acknowledge and remember her work. Often, people assume that it’s just minority actors that pave the road for Asian American actors in Hollywood — but it’s also the people behind the scenes, like Haru, who crusaded to advance opportunities for Asian Americans. After all, it is the people behind the scenes who wield the most ability and power to actually put those faces of color on the small and silver screens. The industry will miss you, Haru. May you rest in peace.
Scarlett Johansson offered lead in “Ghost in Shell”
Speaking of Haru’s cause, Caucasian actress Scarlett Johansson was recently offered the lead in the live-action remake of the classic manga and anime “Ghost in Shell.” Johansson may possibly be playing cyborg cop Major Motoko Kusanagi, who is a fictional Asian female character in the original anime. And for those unaware, Johansson is leagues away from being Asian. It is still unclear whether this “Ghost in
Shell” remake will be set in future Japan, like the original version. If the film is remade to be more palatable for Hollywood audiences — as in, making the characters Caucasian for American audiences — then I suppose it wouldn’t matter whether or not Johansson accepted the role. Of course, that presents a completely different concern. Why does Hollywood need to whitewash everything? It’s already bad enough that there’s the possibility of relocating the film for American audiences. But nothing screams whitewashed more than casting Caucasian actors for characters that were originally Asian.
Chinese Canadian girls storm into television
If popular reality television has taught us anything, it’s that watching rich people do absolutely nothing is an endless fountain of viewing fascination. This must be what was running through the minds of a Vancouver, BC-based television production company who, earlier this year, posted an open audition advertisement searching for “Ultra Rich Asian Girls” in the greater Vancouver area.
The result of their search? The new reality show is called “HBICtv.” As in, Hot (Expletive) In Charge TV. “HBICtv” spotlights four young, privileged Chinese Canadian women as they pursue their ideal, dream careers — all while living an enviable, luxurious lifestyle (on their parents’ dime, of course). The official description for the show describes the cast as “young independent women starting their life and careers with the newest Hermes Birken bags and YSL shoes, while vying for the status of #HBIC ‘Hot Bitch in Charge.’” In short, this sounds like the Asian Canadian equivalent of “Keeping up with the Kardashians.” You’ve been warned. For those curious, “HBICtv” is available for viewing on YouTube. I won’t lie. I’m a little tempted to watch the show. I’ve always been a sucker for trainwrecks. How about you fine people watch it for me and let me know how it is? Vivian Nguyen can be reached at info@ nwasianweekly.com.
■ sports
Christina Kim leads Lorena Ochoa Invitational AP Wire Service
Christina Kim
MEXICO CITY (AP) — Christina Kim shot a 4-under 68 on Saturday to increase her lead to five strokes in the Lorena Ochoa Invitational. A stroke ahead after each of the first two rounds, Kim had a 14-under 202 total at Club de Golf Mexico. She won the last of her two LPGA Tour titles in 2005. “It’s a combination of things,” Kim said. “I’ve been really working hard on the game. My caddy, T.J. Jones, and I have been kind of using the mindset every day is Sunday because the previous six weeks in Asia, I’ve been putting up really good scores on Sunday.” Kim matched China’s Shanshan Feng for the best round of the day in calm, sunny conditions on the tree-lined course. The
30-year-old American birdied two of the first three holes, bogeyed No. 5 and pulled away with birdies on Nos. 10, 13 and 17. “I’m just here to enjoy myself and really just go out and try and play some good golf,” Kim said. “I’ve come to realize that it’s just a game. And that golf is what I do, not who I am. I just turned 30 in March — I know it was like 8 months ago, but I still say I just turned 30 — but life has just begun. So for me, this is like my second act.” Feng was second. She won the LPGA Malaysia last month. “My putting was good.” Feng said. “The greens were a little hard to read, so I missed a couple of birdie chances.” South Korea’s So Yeon Ryu, Spain’s Azahara Munoz and Thailand’s Pornanong Phatlum were 8 under. Ryu had a 69, and Munoz and Phatlum shot 71.
Munoz struggled on the greens. “I think something was going on with my stroke because everything was messing up,” Munoz said. “Couple I probably misread a little bit, but a couple of them, I missed them. It’s been frustrating because I gave myself so many chances, especially on the back nine.” Top-ranked Inbee Park was sixth at 7 under after a 69. She’s coming off a victory two weeks ago in the LPGA Taiwan. Paula Creamer, second entering the round, had a double bogey and two bogeys in a 76 to drop into a tie for eighth in the 36-player field at 5 under. Michelle Wie was 3 under after a 71. She won the 2009 event at Guadalajara Country Club for her first LPGA Tour victory. Second-ranked Stacy Lewis had a 70 to reach even par.
asianweekly northwest
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NOVEMBER 22 – NOVEMBER 28, 2014
■ arts & entertainment
Words to the Blind Japanese and English collaborate
By Andrew Hamlin Northwest Asian Weekly
“Words to the Blind” begins with whispering. Soft words, soft intonations, and then harder intonation, pungent, like clouds of cigar smoke. Japanese words, and some French words. This is a collaboration—Bo Ningen is Japanese and the Savages are mostly English, with a French singer. The wisps climb higher and burn heavier. Then guitar lines, fired like warning shots across a ship’s bow, appear. Bo Ningen, from Gumma, Tajimi, Nishinomiya, and Tokyo, by way of London, UK, consist of bassist Taigen Kawabe, guitarists Yuki Tsujii and Kohhei Matsuda, and drummer Monchan Monna. They got together in London and made friends with the Savages—singer Jehnny [sic] Beth (née
“Words to the Blind” album cover (left) Bo Ningen (above)
Camille Berthomier), guitarist Gemma Thompson, bassist Ayse Hassan, and drummer Fay Milton. The eight musicians gathered and produced more than 30 minutes of continuous music for “Words To The Blind.”The Savages were cutting their debut album “Silence Yourself” in London in 2012 when they set off one night for fun and found Bo Ningen at Café OTO. Love at first twitch of the ear-hairs. Savages said they wanted the feel of Zurich, 1916, when Hugo Ball’s Cabaret Voltaire—not exactly
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Japanese students visit CPTC for study tour
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■ community news
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{see BO NINGEN cont’d on page 12}
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leading, because the Dada movement associated with Ball and Cabaret Voltaire refused the idea of leaders—demonstrated a path. Opening a way through reality, through substance of everyday life, driven by outrage, expanded by grief (World War I was still on everyone’s mind), consuming and juggling any concept in its path. Bo Ningen describe themselves as substantially influenced by the German “krautrock” bands, especially Faust, with whom they’ve collaborated, and Can.
“Words to the Blind” sounds very little like the trance-inducing surrealistic funk grooves featured on most Can albums. It sounds much more like early Faust, when Germans were pouring noise down the middle of the mix, laughing to each other with their mouths and through their instruments down the sides. If someone wanted lyrics, they obliged with the likes of “Daddy/Take the banana/Tomorrow is Sunday!” The two combined groups. They don’t bother with hooks, chord changes, harmonies, or lyrics, unless they feel like them, which isn’t often. A promotional video for the album shows them banging on things, smashing things, swaying melodramatically in front of their microphones, hovering over their stringed axes. They’re waiting for the right moment to pluck, ring, rip. They affirm the right of the individual to express as he or she sees fit. Formlessness and noise aren’t as transgressive as they were decades ago, let alone in 1916 in Zurich, and everywhere else. But they carry their own messages still. They tell us that “history” is a construct and that people wanting to learn about history could put down the textbooks awhile and look around. Anything happening before your senses, at real time, is history. Anyone can make a statement. Anyone can use
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CPTC’s Medical Laboratory Technician lab assistant PeriSue Harshbarger demonstrates a blood draw to students from Osaka Jikei College
By Somer Hanson Clover Park Technical College A group of Japanese medical laboratory students from Osaka Jikei College visited Clover Park Technical College in Lakewood, WA for a three-day study tour Oct. 27-29.The partnership between the two colleges spans a decade and introduces international students to CPTC’s health sciences facilities and U.S. culture, and gives them the opportunity to visit offsite professional labs in Seattle. The
trip is required for the Japanese students as part of a three-year program. The OJC students were given campus tours and learned hands-on with Medical Laboratory Technician and Medical Histology Technician instructors and students. “It was very helpful and educational,” said OJC student Kosuke Iijima through a translator. The study tour also included interaction {see STUDY TOUR cont’d on page 14}
32 YEARS YOUR VOICE
NOVEMBER 22 – NOVEMBER 28, 2014
11
OPINION
■ editorial
Where are we on the marginalization ladder?
A colleague who works in the media recently posted one of those rare “stop-scrolling-down” updates on Facebook. It was thought-provoking and hard to ignore. To understand fully, there should be background information. The only things you need to know is that she is white/Anglo/Caucasian, highly regarded in her field, and her son is adopted. And he is also black/African American. So those details provided, here is her post, via social media: If this conversation hadn’t knocked the breath out of me, I would remember the exact words better. But basically, I was trying to explain to my kid why we moved. I said I
wanted to get my career back on track, and felt like I was running out of time. “I’m a middle-aged woman and you’re just 13,” I told him. “You have the rest of your life ahead of you.” And he replied very calmly, “Well, you could be wrong, mom. I’m black.” Wow, right? Heartbreaking. After chest flipping and stomach sinking, and contemplating, it also makes you consider, as Asian Americans, do we ever have this type of conversation with our families? Most likely not. Degrees of marginalization and
discrimination vary. We can’t discount the stereotypes and assumptions that being Asian involves—whether full/part/ small percent of whatever we are. However, when it comes down to it, are we scared of our heritage? Do we worry about it? Will it hinder us? Are we truly marginalized? Doubtful. Perhaps we should be grateful for whatever step we have on the marginalization ladder. And we should remind our colleague’s son that he could be President. It’s happened.
■ commentary
E-cigarettes and the API community By Reid Mukai For Northwest Asian Weekly
Cigarette smoking is a public health issue of particular concern to the Asian-Pacific Islander (API) population. According to Oaklandbased Asian Pacific Partners for Empowerment, Advocacy and Leadership (APPEAL), tobacco smoking is associated with three of Reid Mukai the top killers of Asian Americans nationwide: heart disease, cancer and stroke. 80% of lung cancer deaths are caused by smoking and it is the leading cause of cancer fatalities among Asian Americans. While the American Lung Association reports Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders have the lowest smoking rates among adults of all racial/ethnic groups, unfortunately the true rates of smoking among APIs are often not accurately tracked because of common research practices such as dumping data collected from various Asian subgroups into one category or conducting surveys only in English. A 2006 National Latino and Asian American Study cited by APPEAL indicated roughly one in three Vietnamese and Korean American men smoke. Last year, APPEAL conducted community-based studies in Asian languages which revealed high smoking prevalence rates among men of the following groups: Cambodian (13–58%), Chinese (11–36%), Korean (22–37%), Lao (32%), and Vietnamese
(24–41%). A 2001 research paper published in the journal Tobacco Control reviewed internal tobacco industry documents from the 80s and 90s and found a concerted effort to target API communities because of their population growth, high prevalence of smoking in countries of origin, high purchasing power, cultural predisposition to smoking, high proportion of retail businesses under API ownership, and desire to assimilate. The documents also revealed Asian American women were targeted because they might connect smoking with a sign of gender equality and start “smoking more as they believe they should enjoy the same freedom as men.” Having grown up in Hawaii, the only state with a majority API/multiracial population, I witnessed first-hand a high prevalence of smoking among Asians and Pacific Islanders, especially among working class young adults. My brother used to smoke and was fortunately able to quit (but not until after multiple failed attempts) and I myself smoked for a short period during college. A few years ago during one of my regular trips to Hawaii to spend time with family, I happened to visit Pearl Ridge Shopping Center and noticed a long line of people waiting to make purchases at a small kiosk in the middle of the mall. It turned out the kiosk sold e-cigarettes and refill cartridges. It was the first time I heard of such devices. Though I no longer smoked, it stoked my curiosity because it made me wonder what made them so popular, if they were any more addictive than regular cigarettes, and if it was more harmful or less harmful. When I found out my brother quit smoking cigarettes for good with the help of
an electronic cigarette two years ago, it motivated me to research it and eventually get into the industry. The earliest documented electronic cigarette invention is attributed to Herbert Gilbert who patented a smokeless cigarette in 1963. The device allowed users to inhale nicotine steam by heating a nicotine solution but was never commercialized. Fast forward forty years to 2003, when a Chinese pharmacist, Hon Lik, created a device which used an ultrasound element to vaporize a compressed jet of propylene glycol nicotine liquid. In 2006, the cartomizer, a type of cartridge containing an atomizer (an innovation adopted by many major e-cig brands), was developed by British entrepreneurs Umer and Tariq Sheikh. Nicotine is addictive, and while there needs to be more studies on long-term effects of e-cig use, the most up-to-date studies suggest that they’re a safer habit than tobacco cigarettes. According to a recent issue of the journal Addiction, scientists reported risks to users and passive bystanders from electronic cigarettes are far less than those posed by tobacco cigarette smoke. E-cigs contain fewer toxins than tobacco smoke and at much lower levels, and there’s no current evidence that children move from experimenting with e-cigarettes to regular use, and it also concluded that the products do not encourage young people to go on to conventional smoking habits. Their analysis also suggests switching to e-cigs can help tobacco smokers quit or reduce cigarette consumption. Another concern I had about e-cigs was how much Big {see E-CIGARETTES cont’d on page 15}
{CLAPPER cont’d from page 5} for the flight back. The U.S. and North Korea have no formal diplomatic relations and a legacy of mutual hostility. Clapper sensed a “ray of optimism” about the future from his brief encounter with a younger generation — specifically, an official in his 40s who accompanied him to the airport and “professed interest in more dialogue, asked me if I’d be willing to come back to Pyongyang. Which I would.” In any event, said Clapper, visiting North Korea has “always been on my professional bucket list.” Bae was detained in 2012 while leading a tour group to a North Korean economic zone. Miller was jailed on espionage charges after he allegedly ripped up his tourist visa at Pyongyang’s airport in April and demanded asylum. They were the last two Americans held captive by North Korea.
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NOVEMBER 22 – NOVEMBER 28, 2014
{THE ROHINGYA cont’d from page 4} The United Nations describes the Rohingya as one of the world’s most persecuted minorities, and human rights groups say they comprise one of the world’s largest stateless groups. Over the past two years, their plight has deteriorated markedly, with 140,000 trapped in crowded, {HUMAN BODY PARTS cont’d from page 5} parcel that the man had addressed to himself. Police said they were contacting the FBI to get information about the would-be recipients of the items. Clinical Professor Udom Kachintorn, the Dean of the Faculty of Medicine at Bangkok’s Siriraj Hospital, told reporters that the five human body parts were stolen from the hospital’s museums. Two of them belonged to the department of anatomy and the other three to the department of forensic medicine. He said the two Americans visited the museum last Thursday but that closed circuit television video did not show them taking any items away. Police Col. Chumpol had initially said a baby’s heart and intestines were among the body parts. But police at a news conference Monday said the heart, which had been stabbed, was from an adult and there were no preserved {STOCK LINK cont’d from page 6} In contrast, the flow of money in the opposite direction was just a trickle on the first day of trading on the Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect, which lets investors buy and sell shares through each other’s exchanges. “Today we are going to witness history,’’ C.K. Chow, chairman of stock exchange operator Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing, said at an opening ceremony. “It is a breakthrough in the opening up of China’s financial markets and an important milestone in the development of Hong Kong as a unique gateway between the mainland and international investors.’’ Chow and Hong Kong leader Leung Chun-ying banged a gong at the Hong Kong stock exchange to mark the start of trading. In Shanghai, city Communist Party Secretary Han Zheng and China Securities Regulatory Commission Chairman Xiao Gang hit their own gong at the same time. The stock connect gives all sorts of investors outside mainland China access to the stock market in the world’s No. 2 economy for the first time. Until now, access has been closely managed, mainly through a quota program for select fund managers representing a fraction of the overall market. In a sign of the huge demand from global investors, Hong Kong’s daily 13 billion yuan ($2.1 billion) quota for mainland China shares in socalled “northbound’’ trading in the stock connect was used up by midafternoon. The trading link also gives wealthy Chinese investors access to a market outside of the mainland for the first time. But Chinese investors only used up 17 percent of their daily 10.5 billion yuan ($1.7 billion) limit for Hong Kong stocks by the end of the day, according to data posted on the Shanghai Stock Exchange website. Trading is subject to overall limits of $49 billion for Shanghai shares and $40 billion for Hong Kong shares. Officials say the trading limits are in place so the stock exchanges can regulate the pace of turnover. Investors are also restricted to buying and selling selected stocks, consisting of 568 mainly blue-chip companies on the Shanghai exchange
unsanitary camps and more than 100,000 more fleeing as refugees in flimsy boats. Hundreds have been killed in mob attacks, and an unknown number have died at sea. Although many Rohingya arrived in Myanmar generations ago, the government and most residents of Rakhine state insist they are ethnic Bengalis from Bangladesh — which also denies them citizenship. In intestines. Police Lt. Gen. Ruangsak Jarit-ake displayed graphic pictures of the five body parts and told reporters that the parts had been preserved separately in formaldehyde inside sealed acrylic or plastic boxes. Two of the parts were pieces of tattooed adult skin — one with a jumping tiger and the other bearing an ancient Asian script. One of the pictures showed the baby’s foot had been sliced into three sections. “DHL has a policy of prohibited items, which include human body parts. To the best of our knowledge, we have never experienced a similar case before,” said Chananyarak Phetcharat, DHL Express Thailand-Indochina’s Managing Director. According to DHL, the parcels were declared as “Puzzleunlimited collectors ED”, “Steamer Cap” and “Antique Train Collector E.” In some Thai cults, preserved fetuses or spiritual tattoos are believed to give the owners good fortune or protection
and about half that number in Hong Kong. Hong Kong has officially been part of China since Beijing took control of the former British colony in 1997 but the Asian financial hub retains its own separate legal and financial system and currency. The stock link is also expected to expand Hong Kong’s role as a trading hub for China’s tightly controlled currency, the yuan, which Beijing is eager to promote abroad. Last week Hong Kong dropped a daily cap on how much yuan residents are allowed to buy. “It’s really the beginning of a new era,’’ said Hong Kong Exchanges CEO Charles Li. When asked by reporters about lackluster gains for Hong Kong shares on the first day, he said the link was “a massive bridge, this is a massive road, and it is going to be here not for days, not for weeks, not even for months, it is going to be here for years and decades.’’ “At this point, safety, smooth travel is much more important than how many cars that actually cross the bridge,’’ he added. There’s minimal interest from mainland Chinese in buying Hong Kong shares because small-time investors are effectively shut out by a requirement that participants have at least half a million yuan in their accounts, said Huang Cendong, an analyst at Sinolink Securities in Shanghai. That leaves only the bigger, wealthier clients, who probably already had other channels to invest in Hong Kong, Huang said. Mainlanders who wanted to open a brokerage account in Hong Kong were already able to do so by flying to the former British colony and using their Chinese passports as identification, according to Danny Lam, an account executive at Kingston Securities in Hong Kong. He said most of the interest in the stock link was coming from global rather than local investors. Huang added that Chinese investors also need more time to study Hong Kong shares, which perform differently than Shanghai shares. He said uncertainty hanging over Hong Kong because of ongoing democracy protests was also damping sentiment. AP researcher Fu Ting in Shanghai contributed to this story.
Myanmar, neither `Rohingya’ nor `Bengali’ are counted as one of the 135 officially recognized ethnic groups. Since the start of this year, Myanmar’s government has stepped up pressure on foreign officials not to use the word “Rohingya.” Pitman reported from Bangkok. from evil. They can also be used to practice black magic. In 2012, a British citizen was arrested with six roasted fetuses covered in gold leaf after a tip-off that infant bodies were being sold through a website offering black magic service. The district attorney’s office in San Diego, California, in 2002 filed felony charges including battery against McPherson and Tanner and two others in connection with production of the “Bumfights” videos. A judge reduced the counts to misdemeanors and the four pleaded guilty in 2003 to arranging a fight without a permit. They were fined $500 each and ordered to perform community service at a homeless shelter, but McPherson and one colleague were sentenced to 180 days in jail in 2005 for failing to complete their community service. Associated Press writer Jocelyn Gecker contributed to this report.
{DELANO MANONGS cont’d from page 8} Itliong’s philosophy (“If you’re going to punch me, I’m going to punch you back”) was not the same as Chavez’s. Aroy also said about Itliong, “And so, that’s not really good PR for the union, and it’s very opposite of what Cesar Chavez was after, which was non-violence.” “A lot of the Filipinos, because that’s how they had grown up, under these really tough union and striking practices, they had to learn what this anti-violence movement, this peaceful movement was about. So that would be another reason why Larry Itliong didn’t become the leader.” “The Delano Manongs” is a 30-minute documentary. It enlightens all of us that historical accounts of the civil rights movement in the 1960s need to be more inclusive. Filipino American activists deserve the same recognition given to Mexican American activists for organizing farm workers in California. Aroy has said her main goal is to get the story of these Filipino American farm workers taught in universities and high schools. Some educators and community leaders have agreed with her {TAKAMURA cont’d from page 3} with a program to research bullying in schools. She said that API students were disproportionately bullied in schools compared to Anglo students, and she and her colleagues were working on policies to deal with the issue on the state-level. They worked with the legislature to make policies to help empower API students. “Public schools did not really give equal opportunities for students of color to succeed in schools,” Takamura said. “Her commitment to community is evident in the way that she advocates for community voice and authentic engagement and as an educator,” said Sili Savusa, executive director of White Center Community Development Association. “I haven’t seen a stronger advocate and champion for kids of color throughout my years as a community organizer.” When she was a teacher 30 years ago, she didn’t have many API students. But before she left the classroom, Asian students were {BO NINGEN cont’d from page 10} the microphone, with or without an idea beforehand. Anybody can swarm up out of the present. That’s a little frightening. And it can lead to some very frightening results. But it refuses the idea of history as belonging to the
and have organized community screenings of the film. She pointed out, “The post-1965 generation, they don’t know this history at all.” Recent interviews with Dolores Huertas, NFWA co-founder with Chavez, and interviews with grape growers provide the documentary with fairness and balance. Sound recordings of Larry Itliong’s voice used in the film are supplemented with English subtitles to ensure his words (spoken with a slight Filipino accent) are easily understandable. Most of the original Filipino American farm workers have died. The few survivors left are shown living in Delano’s Paulo Agbayani Retirement Village, a facility created specifically to honor these elderly and displaced Filipino Americans. “The Delano Manongs” will be broadcast on PBS stations in 2015. For more information about “The Delano Manongs: Forgotten Heroes of the United Farm Workers,” go to www.delanomanongs.com. James Tabafunda can be reached at info@ nwasianweekly.com.
increasing in number, which inspired her to do things when she went to the WEA to help improve the education opportunities for Asian students. This included recruiting more Asian teachers to help students make more connections in an educational setting. “When I was teaching, I remembered that Asian students always came to talk to me,” Takamura said. “That really brought to me the importance of having teachers of color.” She said negative comments toward young people are unfair to them. To help them improve, she said that the public systems should be responsive to their needs and cultures. “Every contribution I made to my community is far overshadowed by what I obtained from the community,” Takamura said. She says she will stay actively involved with the community and use the rest of her time contributing. “I never feel bored,” Takamura said. “Ever.” Senhao Liu can be reached at info@ nwasianweekly.com. winners or the ones with the loudest speakers. In a pinch, you don’t need a microphone to make real history. You make your statement in any way you can. Andrew Hamlin can be reached at info@ nwasianweekly.com.
Thank you for recycling this newspaper!
32 YEARS YOUR VOICE
■ astrology
NOVEMBER 22 – NOVEMBER 28, 2014
13
For the week of November 22–November 28, 2014 By Sun Lee Chang
Rat — If you are lucky enough to be offered a second bite of the apple, then don’t squander that opportunity.
Dragon — There is no doubting that you have a good grasp of the details, but a strong leader also knows how to delegate some of the tasks.
Monkey — Feeling less than enthused for the occasion? It will be what you make of it, so go forward with a positive attitude.
Ox — As you unravel the riddle, you will find a few puzzling layers at the beginning. However, your persistence should pay off.
Snake — Avoid judging others too harshly for an innocent mistake. There will come a time when you may appreciate that leeway.
Rooster — Does it seem like you are going around and around with the same result? If that is the case, try doing something different this time.
Tiger — Are you trying to force two pieces together that just don’t fit? Stop what you are doing as there is an easier way.
Horse — Despite the image you present to the outside world, there are some things that you would rather keep to yourself.
Dog — This is not the time to start another project. Instead, you would be better served finishing what you have already started.
Rabbit — While the content is important, the presentation should not be ignored. At their best, both should enhance the other.
Goat — As you go further along your journey, the harder it becomes to justify turning back. At the end of the day, it might still make sense to start over.
Pig — Your rules don’t necessarily translate to someone else. While your way works for you, that doesn’t mean it applies to everyone.
What’s your animal sign? Rat 1912, 1924, 1936, 1948, 1960, 1972, 1984, 1996, 2008 Ox 1913, 1925, 1937, 1949, 1961, 1973, 1985, 1997, 2009 Tiger 1914, 1926, 1938, 1950, 1962, 1974, 1986, 1998, 2010 Rabbit 1915, 1927, 1939, 1951, 1963, 1975, 1987, 1999, 2011 Dragon 1916, 1928, 1940, 1952, 1964, 1976, 1988, 2000, 2012 Snake 1917, 1929, 1941, 1953, 1965, 1977, 1989, 2001, 2013 Horse 1918, 1930, 1942, 1954, 1966, 1978, 1990, 2002, 2014 Goat 1919, 1931, 1943, 1955, 1967, 1979, 1991, 2003 Monkey 1920, 1932, 1944, 1956, 1968, 1980, 1992, 2004 Rooster 1921, 1933, 1945, 1957, 1969, 1981, 1993, 2005 Dog 1922, 1934, 1946, 1958, 1970, 1982, 1994, 2006 Pig 1923, 1935, 1947, 1959, 1971, 1983, 1995, 2007
*The year ends on the first new moon of the following year. For those born in January and February, please take care when determining your sign.
{NORTH KOREA cont’d from page 5} come from South Korean officials, businessmen doing business with the North, or someone else. But that doesn’t mean the defectors are always right, either. In the months after the North’s December 2013 execution of Jang Song Thaek — an uncle of Kim Jong Un who had been widely regarded as the country’s No. 2 official — a defector’s organization reported on its website that another top official, Choe Ryong Hae, had been detained for unclear reasons. Those reports, cited by many news outlets, appeared doubtful days later when state TV aired photos of Choe accompanying Kim on an inspection trip. Kim Seong-Min, a well-known defector who heads the organization involved, Free North Korea Radio, said he now believes Choe was least investigated, if not detained. There have been varying reports about Choe’s political fortunes, but on Friday, state media reported that he will soon travel to Russia as Kim Jong Un’s special envoy. Kim Seong-Min is unperturbed as long as the information helps expose North Korean wrongdoing. And he has worked to help North Koreans bolster their reports by smuggling in illegal cellphones and camcorders for them. “There are lots of stories about North Korea, and I think all of them are good as long as they don’t praise that country,” Kim said in a recent interview. “I think they will help people understand the North’s dictatorship.” Stories about top North Korean officials often have the murkiest sourcing. Another defector in Kim SeongMin’s group said it was a North Korean military official who told him about Kim Jong Un’s angry rant over leaflets South Korean activists sent to the North by balloons. The leaflets criticized the leader’s father and grandfather and made allegations about his wife’s sexual behavior before they married. The defector said the official had not witnessed Kim Jong Un’s tirade, but talked to a colleague who said he did. The defector requested anonymity due to worries about safety of relatives in North Korea. Most of the defectors’ groups in
Seoul specializing in sneaking news out of North Korea have no more than 10 North Korean sources. They regularly call their South Korean contacts at dawn or late at night, when North Korean security officials are less likely to be out with mobile equipment to detect cellphone signals. Defectors’ organizations say they don’t tell their sources exactly who they are or how their information will be used, so the sources will more freely share information and will face less danger. The organizations usually release no details about a source except the province he or she reported from. “They’d face espionage charges if they’re arrested” and owned up to a connection with an anti-Pyongyang organization in South Korea, said Kim Heung Kwang, a North Korean defector who heads the North Korea Intellectuals Solidarity organization. “I just tell them I’m writing something and need some information.” His organization got a legitimate big scoop about the North, one of the few reports by defectors’ groups to be independently confirmed, which was the news of the country’s botched currency revaluation in 2009. South Korean officials confirmed the details days later. Defectors say their sources often include their own relatives, friends, and acquaintances. In return for information, they often get cash or gifts. Kim Heung Kwang says he gives $50 to $100 to ordinary sources when they give him useful information, with more money for “ace” informants. He says he sent about $3,000 to both of the sources who told him about the currency reform as a special bonus. South Korea’s central bank estimates North Korea’s gross national income per capita last year at about 1.4 million won ($1,320). “They definitely do it for the money,” Kim Seong-Min acknowledges. He says his group gives gifts, usually electronic products, to his sources because of a cash shortage. Son Jung-hun, a defector and human rights activist who communicates with North Koreans in border towns, said they sometimes demand up to 2 million won ($1,840) for information, but he does not pay them. He said he is trying to monitor life on the border, not publish information. He
also said he doubts that his contacts have information about specific news events, or even would understand what sort of information would interest the outside world. Ahn Kyung-su, a North Korea researcher at a Seoul-based nongovernmental organization, says he suspects that sources are mostly ordinary citizens who pick up rumors circulated in North Korean border markets. That can be useful in getting a picture of life in many North Korean communities, but much less so when it comes to high-level government decisions. Ahn pointed out that defectors’ organizations missed a big story that thousands of ordinary Pyongyang residents had to have known about: the collapse of a 23-story apartment building in the capital that North Korean state media ended up being the first to report, five days after it happened on May 13. Defectors “were lucky to catch the currency reform,” Ahn said. “By looking at the high-rise collapse, we can say that they have no truly reliable sources” in Pyongyang. Defectors’ organizations respond to criticism by saying they are not trying to be journalists, but are simply trying to expose the North’s abysmal human rights conditions. When they do produce accurate information, the sources sometimes suffer for it. Kim Seong-Min said an army major who sent him the video clips of public executions was arrested and executed in 2008. North Korean authorities identified him after spotting his motorcycle repeatedly in the footage. “I felt wretched. I was speechless,” Kim said. Kim Heung Kwang says one of his two sources who obtained the information about the currency reform was arrested in 2012 while returning home after conducting a mission to meet and tape a former South Korean soldier held in the country. The source, a local official, eventually died during interrogation. “She didn’t launch a revolt but only informed us about what was happening in North Korea. There was no reason to kill her,” Kim Heung Kwang said. “My resolve to fight and overthrow the dictatorial regime was strengthened.”
{BADMINTON cont’d from page 4} G-20 summit in Brisbane over the weekend. In the media, badminton hogged the kind of attention generally reserved to cricket. The Hindu newspaper ran the front page headline: “Srikanth, Saina conquer China.” The Hindustan Times was just as lavish in its praise, headlining its reports with “Srikanth stuns Super Dan” and “Saina doubles the joy.” Srikanth’s coach Pullela Gopichand, who won the all-England championship in 2001, said the win was “sensational.” “It stands out among the best performances by Indian players as it was also a high-quality match,” said Gopichand, who has also coached Nehwal in the past. “We have a very talented bunch of players who have been doing well consistently and we can expect more such results.” Indian television channels and radio stations highlighted the badminton wins while social media was abuzz with reaction from athletes including cricket stars Anil Kumble and Bishan Bedi. “Congrats Srikanth for winning China open!!! Well done!!” Kumble tweeted, while Bedi posted about the “Gr8 Sunday” for Indian badminton. “What a day for Indian Badminton. Saina and Srikanth win the China open! Few would’ve imagined watching an Indian beat Lin Dan in China!” former India field hockey captain Viren Resquinha tweeted.
{REFUGEES cont’d from page 5} held by presumed human traffickers at a remote camp. Qin said there has been no confirmation of their Turkish identity after staff from the Turkish embassy met with the group. Dozens of men have been identified as Chinese Uighurs and the others in the group are believed to be based on their physical features, habits, and customs, Qin said. He declined to elaborate. The Washington-based Uyghur American Association has called upon the Thai government not to return them to China, but allow them access to the United Nations’ refugee agency for asylum requests. “Uyghurs have been forcibly returned into the hands of their persecutors in the past with dire results,” said Alim Seytoff, president of the association in a statement. Seytoff said China’s economic and political leverage with other governments leaves genuine refugees unprotected and that the increasing numbers of Uighur refugees is an indication of Beijing’s repression of the Muslim minority. Thai officials have said their investigation is not yet complete.
Send your exciting news to editor@nwasianweekly.c om.
asianweekly northwest
14
NOVEMBER 22 – NOVEMBER 28, 2014
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.c om. {HUMAN BODY PARTS cont’d from page 10} and communication practice. For students like Iijima, the visit to CPTC was his first to the U.S. mainland. The second day of the tour included visits to Public Health Laboratories and Harborview Medical Center in Seattle for hospital and lab tours.
The final day of the tour included two guest lectures and culminated with a luncheon and cultural exchange at the McGavick Conference Center. The event’s theme was American football and featured Seattle Seahawks multimedia and decorations. The OJC students taught CPTC students how to write their names in Japanese, shared foods brought from Japan, and gave lessons on how to use chopsticks and how to fold
{JAPAN IN RECESSION cont’d from page 1} percent in its first hour of trading. A recession commonly is regarded as two straight quarters of economic contraction. Japan emerged from its last recession in late 2012, just as Abe took office pledging to restore the country’s economic vigor. In calling the snap election, Abe wants a renewed mandate for his “Abenomics” policies aimed at revitalizing the economy through lavish injections of cash into the economy by the central bank, strong public spending and reforms intended to improve the country’s waning economic competitiveness. Tax increases are crucial for getting Japan’s battered
origami. “I enjoyed the interaction with people,” said OJC student Sakiko Inamoto through a translator. “I was shy at first and am now more open.” For CPTC’s Medical Laboratory Technician students the tour was the second group of OJC students they have hosted, with the first group visiting last spring. “The workforce is getting more global
government finances into better shape, and putting off the hike slated for next year carries some risk that financial markets may doubt Japan’s resolve to restore its ailing public finances. After many years of deficit spending the total public debt is more than twice the size of the economy and the largest among developed nations. But Abe and his advisers appear to view the threat to Japan’s recovery, which has limped along since the April 1 increase in the sales tax to 8 percent from 5 percent, as the more urgent risk. Critics say Abe has failed to deliver on promises for drastic reforms of labor regulations, the tax system and the health industry, among other areas. Meanwhile, companies have largely refrained from passing windfall gains from
every year,” said Yuko Chartraw, CPTC’s International Education program specialist. “It’s important for our students to know people from other countries. There are many differences but through the cultural exchange I think they find there are more similarities.” Dr. Joyce Loveday, CPTC’s vice president for instruction, presented the international students with CPTC completion certificates.
share price gains and surging profits on to their workers in the form of higher wages. The extreme monetary easing by the Bank of Japan has helped drive the value of the Japanese yen to seven-year lows against the U.S. dollar, pushing up costs for imported food and fuel in this resource-scarce country. Meanwhile, household spending has remained lackluster, as families and small companies tightened belts to meet higher costs. Elaine Kurtenbach can be followed on Twitter: http://www. twitter.com/ekurtenbach.
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32 YEARS YOUR VOICE
NOVEMBER 22 – NOVEMBER 28, 2014
{CHIN cont’d from page 1} office among a row of shops beneath the Pike Place Market where Rubin went to find them. Rubin is widely known for translating Japanese to English text, and more notably for his translations of Haruki Murakami’s novels. When it came to his own novel, he could have been published anywhere and by anyone, but instead, he approached Chin Music Press, saying something about wanting to avoid the “nonsense in New York” and expressing his desire to stick with a small local publisher. Chin Music Press was born at a challenging time for publishing. Bookstores large and small across the country shuttered, e-books emerged as the new kid on the digital stage, and large publishers would begin to feel the pinch that would not soon wane. Some attributed these fast changes to the rise of Internet culture, but it was with the Internet and the lack of opportunities for alternative books to get into print that Rutledge and Enomoto saw potential. “In the beginning, we were really Japan specific. We knew that through the Internet, we could find all these people. We needed two to three thousand people to buy our books to make a decent business,” said Rutledge. “Before the Internet, trying to find all those Japanophiles across the world would be so hard. Now we could track and use mailing lists. It was a lot easier to find our readership. It’s weird because publishing was in such tumult, but because of what was happening, we felt like we had an opportunity.” That was also a time, following the Haruki Murakami fanfare of the 1990s, when many publishers then shifted their attention to books about China. Even as the spotlight on Japan shifted, Rutledge and Enomoto saw merit in the contemporary stories they had access to that hadn’t seen the light of day in mainstream publishing. Chin Music Press’ first book, “Kuhaku”, is an anthology of such stories of life in Japan.
Beautiful as a way in
“Kuhaku” is a jewel box of a book, like other Chin Music books that would follow. Designer and illustrator Craig Mod filled its pages with colorful graphics and illustrations from Japanese artists of scenes from daily life, cartoon figures, and everyday objects. Chin Music Press invites designers and artists to contribute in the publishing process, from the beginning from manuscript to the editing process and publication. “We’re not the only ones, but I do think our focus on book aesthetics will set us aside. People will always say, ‘Your books are so beautiful.’ What I hope that leads to is that they’ll actually read it and they’ll say, ‘…and they’re so
Photo from Chin Music Press Facebook page
Starting small
Artist Enfu, signing copies of “Cute Grit”
interesting.’ I do see beautiful as a way in. People may pick it up even if it’s an obscure indie author,” said Rutledge. Never judge a book by its cover, some have said, but with the state of publishing in flux, Rutledge and Mod saw the underrated cover as a vehicle for storytelling, every bit as valuable as the words behind it. They were breaking the rules. Rutledge and Mod decided against having book jackets. Instead, they sought to have a uniquely designed cover for each book. They also used removable obi strips that wrap around the books to include the requisite barcode and price. Rutledge soon observed that even larger publishers like Penguin Books were following suit: out with the book jackets, in printed covers. “You realize that if you’re part of this wave of innovation, you can change the way things are made in some small ways.”
A triumphant kick in the pants
The press seeks to elevate the mere book to a “literary object,” one that is as much a pleasure to touch as it is to read or display, with pages that bloom into visual scenes when flipped and stories that transcend geography. Lucia Silva,
book buyer at Portrait of a Bookstore declared the books at Chin Music Press as “a triumphant kick in the pants for anyone who doubts the future of paper-and-ink books.” But even with popular reception, Rutledge and Enomoto continue to temper their expectations and stay small, sticking to about three books a season. In the 12 years since they founded Chin Music, Enomoto and Rutledge continue to do freelance editing and translation work on the side for added income. Enomoto also works as a yoga instructor. “We have our hopes and we’re working hard towards it, but there is a part of us because we know how the industry has crumbled so much that says, ‘Yeah, don’t fool yourself into thinking this will turn into a goldmine,’” said Enomoto. “Keep chugging away at it because what else are we going to do? We love what we do. We have to temper our expectations, yes, but we have to keep doing it because it’s just too fun. It brings us so much joy even though it’s really hard.” When sushi chef Shiro Kashiba decided to write a book, what he had hoped was for it to be “a thank you letter to the Seattle area.” He brought the idea to Chin Music Press. Kashiba haphazardly shared stories of his life and experiences in the Pacific Northwest during Enomoto’s regular visits. She ate a lot of sushi and, along with help from designer Josh Powell, compiled a biography that had reached 450 pages. It was clear that they had more than just a “thank you letter” on their hands, but a story of the life of Seattle’s sushi pioneer. It was published in 2011 at a more modest 320 pages.
The storytellers’ stories
“Somebody described us as ‘publishing books that was difficult to categorize,’” Enomoto said, recalling a largely positive review about Chin Music. Following “Kohaku,” Chin Music Press’ books grew to include poems about pie, an exploration of otaku culture, a photo journey down the Yellow River, and a printed collection from Seattle-based artist Enfu. When the levees broke in New Orleans, Rutledge directed his attention to stories centered on Hurricane Katrina and recovering regions. Along with Asian-Japanese fiction and nonfiction, Chin Music Press’ list of books grew to include stories from New Orleans and Americana poetry and fiction. “People can walk in and see what our press is about. This is who we are, these are our books, and we can connect with other publishers and create an ecosystem that supports these kinds of things.” . For more information about Chin Music Press, visit www. chinmusicpress.com. Tiffany Ran can be reached at info@nwasianweekly.com.
{BLACK FRIDAY cont’d from page 1}
{E-CIGARETTES cont’d from page 11}
global and enormous. Last year, an 11.11 promotion sales showed the rising power of the Chinese consumer and the increasing presence of e-commerce. After only about half a day on last year’s 11.11, Alibaba reported sales on its shopping sites had topped $3.1 billion. Alibaba sets up a series of screens to track sales and orders at its headquarters on the outskirts of Hangzhou, China. At one point, bright streaks on one screen showed orders flying across a map of China. Tallied total sales as of 23:59:59 were RMB 35.01 billion (USD 5.7 billion) in Alipay GMV (gross merchandise volume). It was more than the $2.5 billion that Americans spent online on Black Friday and Cyber Monday combined. This year, Singles’ Day landed on a Tuesday. It was expected to generate about $8.18 billion in sales for Alibaba, up 42 percent from last year, since the company listed on the New York Stock Exchange earlier this year. 11.11 promotion sales have become increasingly attractive to all countries. Until midnight on Nov. 11, real-time figures on a giant screen at Alibaba’s headquartered in Hangzhou illustrated the buying power of Chinese (and other) consumers. Alibaba sold $2 billion of goods in the first hour. More than 27,000 brands and merchants participated in the event, consumers not only in China, but also those in over 200 other nations and regions that were able to participate in the 24-hour spending spree. Although 11.11 will most likely break the selling record every upcoming year, the tremendous selling record of this year draws a lot of attention. Last year’s record was CNY 57.1 billion ($ 9.3 billion) just after midnight. CNN reported that the Chinese Singles’ Day shopping festival has become the global shopping festival, selling necessities and the extreme. Last year, Alibaba sold a 13-carat diamond ring, which was valued at $40 million. The company has decided to take 11.11 worldwide, highlighting global marketing. Even Costco is on board. The U.S.-based bulk discount retailer joined Tmall in October and is promising five-day international shipping for 11.11 in the future. In addition, Aliexpress, which lets shoppers outside of the country purchase from merchants within China, will be a part of the event. Hong Kong, the United States, and Taiwan are the top countries for exports of Chinese goods.
Tobacco was profiting off the vaping trend. While Big Tobacco initially was resistant to electronic cigarettes, they have since embraced it by buying out or creating some of the largest e-cig brands in the market (mostly cheap devices with disposable cartridges and limited selection of flavors). However, unlike with tobacco cigarettes, Big Tobacco has not yet reached a monopolistic hold on the market. A recent multiethnic study of e-cig users in Hawaii published by the American Journal of Public Health found that smokers who used e-cigs reported higher motivation to quit, higher quitting self-efficacy, and longer recent quit duration than did other smokers. Though I have yet to come across data showing e-cig vaping prevalence
Jingyu Zhang can be reached at info@nwasianweekly.com.
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{SSAFF cont’d from page 8} and performances that engage and empower the community. Tasveer presents three keystone events each year: AAINA, a women-focused arts gathering (spring); South Asian International Documentary Festival (spring), and Seattle South Asian Film Festival (fall). The purpose of Tasveer is to increase awareness of {VALERIO-BUFORD cont’d from page 3} Valerio-Buford knows that she will continue volunteering after she retires. She already has projects laid out. She is very active at her church, Rainier View Christian Church in Tacoma. She is conducting workshops for people who are transitioning to a job. She hopes to continue holding workshops for college bound students as well. She also wants to be more involved with women of color projects. “I enjoy my students, I get a kick out of being with young people,” she explained. Valerio-Buford said that most people find high school
rates among the API community, judging from what I’ve seen in Hawaii, Oregon and Seattle, it seems to be catching on faster than in the general population. It wouldn’t be surprising because the Asian-Pacific Islander demographic are often sought after by marketers because they are statistically early adopters of new technologies. E-cig use may not be as healthy as being completely drug-free, but it has proven to be healthier than smoking tobacco cigarettes, and if it can help smokers to quit, or at least switch to a healthier habit (which data from studies have suggested), then it is in fact a societal trend which can greatly reduce the harm of cigarette smoking among groups most affected, including the API community. Reid Mukai is a Seattle blogger and owner of Cascadia Vape. South Asian countries and cultures from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka; to provide a platform for South Asian filmmakers and artists; to initiate dialogue that bridges communities; to provide an alternative to corporate media; and to employ independent South Asian film as a vehicle to give voice to marginalized communities. For more information, please visit www.tasveer.org. students difficult to work with, but she’s always found those in the age group to be interesting and challenging. “I believe they are at the brink of something, and that something is what I wanted to find out. That’s why this age group is enthralling, compelling and wonderful to see who’s going to fly.” she said. Courage was a trait that Valerio-Buford wished her daughter would possess after she was born. When she told Ria about that, she laughed and said that she has plenty of that. Nina Huang can be reached at info@nwasianweekly. com.
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NOVEMBER 22 – NOVEMBER 28, 2014