BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS 

Holidays with AAPIs

BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS

By Samantha Pak

NORTHWEST ASIAN WEEKLY

Holiday Heroine

By Sarah Kuhn DAW, 2022

The last few years have been nothing short of chaotic for Bea Tanaka, who’s made some questionable decisions and even almost went down the supervillain path. But with a new job hunting demons in Maui, she’s finally thriving.

But it’s all a lie. Bea is feeling lost and adrift. She and her boyfriend, Sam Fujikawa, are struggling to make the long-distance thing work, and it looks like she’s got some new powers she has to learn to control.

So when Christmas rolls around—Bea’s favorite time of year—and her family in San Francisco plans to visit her, Bea is more than a little excited. But they’re interrupted by otherworldly monsters and amidst the battle, Bea somehow gets transported back to San Francisco. So on top of trying to figure out her life, she’s got to find a way to get back to her reality, fight the demons, save the world, and have a Merry Christmas.

In this final installment of Kuhn’s Asian American superheroine series, we see how far Team Tanaka/ Jupiter has come—and it’s beautiful. After starting out as the definition of dysfunctional, it’s been great as a longtime lover of the series to see how Bea, Evie, and Aveda Jupiter have grown. Despite having super powers, they were all works in progress and we got to see that realistic progress with each book, as they worked to heal themselves and their relationships with each other.

I related to Bea quite a bit. While I don’t have the ability to control others with my mind, as a younger sister myself,

KING COUNTY, WASHINGTON NOTICE TO PROPOSERS

Sealed bids will be received for KC000675, Electric Vehicle (EV) Charging Transit Facility, South Base, by the King County Procurement and Payables Section, via the E-Procurement system, until 1:30 PM on December 1, 2022. Late bids will not be accepted. The public bid opening will only be conducted on-line following the Bid Close Date and Time; see Invitation to Bid Section 00 10 00 for details.

The Work under this Contract consists of, but not limited to, providing infrastructure for electric vehicle charging service and sub metering at King County Metro’s South Base. Work includes installation of infrastructure provisions for (8) Owner provided pedestal-type dual dispenser chargers (Level II chargers) (providing 16 charging dispensers, circuit sharing) and (1) Owner provided DC fast charger (Level III charger) for Metro light-duty vehicles.

Estimated contract price: $525,000

Pre-Bid: Please see Section 00 10 00 Invitation to Bid for details

There is a 15% minimum Apprentice Utilization Requirement on this contract.

There is a 5% minimum requirement for King County Certified Small Contractors and Suppliers (SCS) on this contract.

King County, in accordance with the provisions of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (78 Stat. 252, 42 USC 2000d to 2000d-4) and the Regulations, hereby notifies all bidders that it will affirmatively ensure that in any contract entered into pursuant to this advertisement, disadvantaged business enterprises will be afforded full and fair opportunity to submit bids in response to this invitation and will not be discriminated against on the grounds of race, color, or national origin in consideration for an award.

Prospective bidders can view more details at: https://kingcounty.gov/ procurement/solicitations

The complete set of invitation to bid documents, including all project details, specifications, and contact information are available on our web page at: https://kingcounty.gov/procurement/supplierportal

I completely understood her woes of having a more “successful” older sibling. Kuhn does a great job of illustrating all of Bea’s insecurities and her “faking it” to prove to Evie and others that she’s doing great (I’ve definitely been there). This has been one of my favorite things about this entire series. When you take away the superheroine elements, these are all strong Asian American women just trying to get through life, like the rest of us.

A Holly Jolly Diwali

By Sonya Lalli Berkley, 2021

At 29, Niki Randhawa has always made practical decisions. She became an analyst, despite her love for music and art. She stuck close to home for her family. And she went for guys who looked good on paper, but didn’t do much else for her.

Then Niki gets laid off and realizes practicality isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. So on a whim, she books a last-minute flight to India for her friend Diya’s wedding. When she arrives, it’s just in time to celebrate Diwali. Niki also meets Sameer Mukherji, a musician from London who’s also in town for the wedding. She’s immediately drawn to Sam—and the attraction is mutual. And when Niki and Sam join Diya and her new husband and their friends for a group honeymoon, the pair’s connection only grows.

Spending time with Sam helps Niki get in touch with her passionate and creative side, as well as with her Indian roots. But then she gets a new job offer back home, and Niki needs to decide what she really wants out of her life.

“Diwali” is a fun romance with a strong protagonist. Niki is someone many readers can relate to: Being caught between doing what we want to do and what we think we should do. She’s spent almost her whole life choosing the latter and her life has been, well, not terrible, but not great either. It’s just been fine. So when she starts doing the things she wants, she sees how life can be—and it’s better than just “fine.”

In addition to the romance, it was fun to read a holiday romance that wasn’t about Christmas. As a romance lover, I appreciate seeing the subgenre branch out and introduce readers to a culture and holiday they maybe didn’t know much about before. I hadn’t known much about Diwali before this, and really enjoyed reading about the traditions here and seeing how people celebrate this holiday.

Holidays with the Wongs: The Complete Series

By Jackie Lau Jackie Lau Books, 2020

Meet the Wong siblings: Nick, Greg, Zach, and Amber. Things might be going well for them in their careers, but much to their parents’ and grandparents’ chagrin, they’re all single. So when the holiday season comes around, the family elders take it upon themselves to remedy this.

What follows is a series of holiday hijinks as each of the four siblings have to deal with their meddling relatives (or try

see SHELF on 14

S Korea leader criticized for banning broadcaster from plane

By KIM TONG-HYUNG

ASSOCIATED PRESS

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Journalist organizations say South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol attacked press freedoms when his office banned a TV broadcaster’s crew from the media pool on his presidential plane last week for alleged bias in reporting.

Yoon earlier accused MBC of damaging the country’s alliance with the United States after it released a video suggesting that he insulted U.S. Congress members following a meeting with U.S. President Joe Biden in New York in September.

Yoon’s office told MBC it wouldn’t provide the broadcaster with “reporting assistance” in his upcoming trips to Cambodia and Indonesia for meetings of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and Group of 20 leading rich and developing countries because of what it described as “repeated distortion and biased reporting” on diplomatic issues.

Yoon, a conservative who took office in May, doubled down on Nov. 10 on the decision to exclude MBC reporters from his plane, saying “important national interests” were at stake. Yoon left for Cambodia on Nov. 11 to attend the ASEAN meetings.

“The reason the president uses so much taxpayer money to travel overseas is because important national interests are at stake and that is also why we have provided reporting assistance to reporters covering diplomatic and security issues,” Yoon said. “(I) hope that the decision could be understood from that perspective,” he said about leaving MBC reporters off his plane, which will also exclude them from in-flight briefings and other media opportunities.

In statements provided to The Associated Press, MBC said Yoon’s office was ignoring press freedoms and democratic principles and that it will still send reporters to Cambodia and Indonesia on commercial flights to cover Yoon’s trip to serve the “public’s right to know.”

A coalition of journalist organizations, including the Journalists Association of Korea and the National Union of Media Workers, issued a statement demanding

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol (foreground) speaks to journalists on Nov. 10. Journalist organizations say he attacked press freedoms when his office banned a TV broadcaster's crew from the press pool traveling on his presidential plane for allegedly biased reporting. Ahn Jung-hwan/Yonhap via AP

Yoon’s office withdraw what they described as an “unconstitutional and ahistorical restriction on reporting,” and for presidential officials involved in the decision to resign.

“The presidential plane is operated with taxpayer money and each media outlet pays with their own money to cover the reporting costs,” they said.

“Reporting and monitoring how the president as a public figure carries out public responsibilities and duties are an essential part of democracy. We cannot repress our astonishment that the presidential office confuses reporters’ use of the presidential plane with the use of private property and sees it as charity extended by Yoon Suk Yeol the individual,“ the statement read.

The groups compared the incident to when the White House, under former U.S. President Donald Trump, suspended the press pass of CNN correspondent Jim Acosta after he had a heated conversation with Trump during a news conference.

Seoul-based newspapers Hankyoreh and Kyungyang Shinmun voluntarily gave up their seats on Yoon’s plane to protest what Hankyoreh called an “undemocratic attempt at media control.” They said their reporters will use commercial flights to cover the meetings in Southeast Asia.

The Seoul Foreign Correspondents’ Club issued a statement saying that “restrictions placed on one outlet for coverage deemed to be ‘distorted’ raise concerns for the freedom of all press, domestic and foreign.” It called for all media to be treated with the “same principles of access, regardless of the tone or nature of the journalistic coverage.” In September, MBC caught Yoon on tape talking to his aides and top diplomats following a brief chat with Biden on the margins of the U.N. General Assembly meetings. While the audio was unclear, Yoon could be heard using what seemed to be indecent language in comments the broadcaster captioned as, “Wouldn’t it be too darn embarrassing for Biden if those idiots at legislature don’t approve?”

Yoon’s meeting with Biden came after they both delivered speeches in support of the Global Fund, an international campaign to fight AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria. The Biden administration has pledged $6 billion in U.S. contributions to the initiative through 2025, but it is pending congressional approval. Yoon’s government has promised $100 million.

Yoon’s office later insisted he wasn’t talking about the U.S. Congress or Biden. Kim Eun-hye, Yoon’s spokesperson, said he was expressing concern that the South Korea’s opposition-controlled National Assembly could reject his plan for the $100 million contribution. She insisted that the word MBC heard as Biden was actually “nalli-myeon,” an expression that can be used to describe something being thrown away.

After returning to Seoul, Yoon said that media could put South Korea’s security in danger by “damaging the alliance with reports that differ from facts.” He has yet to specifically address whether he described South Korean lawmakers as “idiots.”

Yoon’s predecessors have also been accused of suppressing freedom of speech.

Former liberal President Moon Jae-in faced international criticism after members of his governing party in 2019 singled out a Bloomberg reporter with South Korean nationality over what they insisted was a “borderline traitorous” article, resulting in threats to the reporter’s safety. The article’s headline described Moon as acting as the “top spokesman” for North Korean leader Kim Jong Un at the U.N. General Assembly and described his efforts to salvage faltering nuclear diplomacy with the North.

Under Moon’s conservative predecessor, Park Geun-hye, prosecutors indicted a Japanese journalist on charges of defaming Park by citing salacious rumors about her whereabouts on the day of a ferry sinking that killed more than 300 people in 2014.

Before Park, former President Lee Myung-bak was criticized for arresting an anti-government blogger and accused of turning major news networks into his mouthpieces by filling their leadership with supporters and having them compete over a small number of new TV licenses issued by his government. 

■NATIONAL NEWS Chinese firm guilty of paying $1M in bribes to LA councilman

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A company owned by a billionaire Chinese real estate developer was convicted on Nov. 10 of paying more than $1 million bribes to a Los Angeles city councilmember for help in getting a downtown project approved.

Shen Zhen New World I LLC was found guilty of eight counts of honest services wire fraud, bribery and interstate and foreign travel in aid of bribery, the U.S. Department of Justice announced.

The company is expected to face a multimillion-dollar fine during a sentencing hearing next January.

The company’s owner, Wei Huang, 57, also was charged in the federal case but he is a fugitive and is believed to be in China, prosecutors said.

From 2013 to 2018, Shen Zhen bribed Jose Huizar to help obtain city approval to build a 77-story tower that would have been the tallest skyscraper west of the Mississippi River, prosecutors said.

At the time, the councilmember chaired the city’s powerful Planning and Land Use Management Committee.

Huizar allegedly received cash, casino gambling chips, luxury stays in Las Vegas, expensive meals, prostitution services, political contributions and funds to settle a sexual harassment lawsuit.

Prosecutors say the bribes were part of Huizar’s pay-toplay scheme tied to approval of downtown developments. He has pleaded not guilty to a 41-count indictment accusing him of bribery, racketeering, fraud and money laundering.

The Shen Zhen conviction is the latest in a sweeping and ongoing City Hall corruption probe. Nine defendants have been convicted or pleaded guilty to federal charges, including Huizar’s brother, Salvador Huizar; a former Huizar assistant, a Huizar fundraiser and another real estate developer.

Huizar is scheduled for trial in February along with former Deputy Mayor Raymond Chan, who also has pleaded not guilty to corruption charges. 