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Songs For a New World – This musical is about one moment — or rather, isolated moments in the lives of many characters — in a variety of eras. Jason Robert Brown transports his audience from the deck of a 1492 Spanish sailing ship to a ledge 57 stories above Fifth Avenue to meet a startling array of characters. They range from a young many who has determined that basketball is his ticket out of the ghetto to a woman whose dream of marrying rich nabs her the man of her dreams and a soulless marriage. These are the stories and characters of today, the songs for a new world. (Now until October 25, 2009 at 2pm, Los Angeles, CA)
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For the non-technical: Yahoo! Hack Day is an event where web and software developers spend nights at the Yahoo! campuses around the world to develop anything they want using Yahoo! technologies. They try to make it fun (the US version brought in Beck one year, GirlTalk the next) and have awards the next day although it’s mostly for the camaraderie.
So when the event was held this year in Taipei, what did Yahoo! Taiwan do? They hired lapdancers. Needless to say, a lot of people formerly affiliated with Yahoo!’s developer programs — already smarting from the lack of females in technology — were pretty pissed. (Full disclosure: I also previously worked at Yahoo!.) But a quick straw poll from the Taiwanese members of 8Asians kinda shrugged it off: one commenter on Gawker even noted that “being Taiwanese, all I can say is this is considered harmless fun in Taiwan and is culturally OK.” Also, people completely up in arms about this: your outrage should have started last year.
Is this an example of Yahoo! Taiwan completely going over the line? Or is this truly just a cultural thing?
Shopping With GASP!
“Looks like we have a team of all liberos!”
When I was coaching The Daughter’s volleyball team, that was one of my fellow coaches’ comments about our team of short Asian girls. For those of you who don’t know volleyball, a libero is a defensive specialist who concentrates receiving on serves and “digging” out spikes that get past the blockers. While there are tall professional volleyball players like Kevin Wong and tall Asians in general who can “roof” people, liberos (and many Asians) tend to be short. Hence the comment.
Tamari Miyashiro is a 5 foot 7 Asian American libero who plays for the University of Washington. This article explains that she was lightly recruited, and while a walk-on (non recruited) red shirt (someone who doesn’t play in order to extend athletic elgibility), she practiced with the national championship team. After helping that 1995 championship team off the court, she wants to win one on the court. She is extremely good at her position, being volleyball magazine’s two time defensive player of the year and is the third all-time in digs in Pac-10 history.
One thing that puzzles me is how she was “lightly recruited” and had to walk-on. I know that Asian-Americans in other sports like Jeremy Lin have had trouble being taken seriously, but I wouldn’t have expected it in volleyball. Being from Hawaii could be a reason, although Kevin Wong was from Hawaii. There is history of excellent Asian-American players, such as legendary setter and Olympian Debbie Green and Olympic competitors Eric and Liane Sato.
Tamari Miyashiro is good example that you don’t have to be tall to make it in athletics and in volleyball. As for the short Asian kids on The Daughter’s middle school team, we always did pretty well and often beat taller and whiter teams. Two of the girls who continued to play volleyball in high school made all league honorable mention last year as sophomores, and I hear that one is being scouted by colleges as a setter. As my bad passing often infuriates my teammates when I play volleyball, I have to say I envy Tamari Miyashiro’s libero skills and wish her the best of luck in her quest for a championship.
Know how someone will look at you funny when you try a foreign language and you totally say something that you don’t have a clue about? Especially in Asian languages, where you could be throwing around phrases online translation software cannot translate correctly.
Such is the case with a Huffington Post political piece by the former ambassador to Morocco, Marc Ginsberg – Russia “Nyet!” and China “Bu Shi!” to Tougher Iran Sanctions. Truth be told, I didn’t even feel like reading the piece since the title bugged me so much; it was one of those moments that you feel like screaming, “what happened to your copy of Rosetta Stone?”
So here goes a little lesson in basic Mandarin:
不是 (bú shì) – is an interjection. Basically, bu is a negation of whatever the second character is describing. Usually, you answer a question with “bú shì,” like “Is the pencil hers?” And if you answer “bú shì” — “it isn’t.”
不要 (bú yào) – is more of a “don’t want”. So, in this case, if you say that you do not wish to have Iranian sanctions, then in an answer to the question, you would say: “bú yào.”
There are many different ways around this particular question itself as to how to answer it with a negation, but none of them start or end with “bú shì.” In fact, I feel bad for picking on Google itself since their translation system does actually tell you the correct usage of the words. The most interesting part of this is that I’m glad it wasn’t any more difficult term being translated since throwing out incorrect translations could sometimes lead to, you know, international incidents.
Lesson learned: “不是” 用的不对.
(h/t: Joz)
Shakira made an appearance on Dancing with the Stars last week — a very odd combination, with ballroom dancing, Shakira’s non-ballroom dancing, hip shaking dancing, and the weirdest “backup dancers”… Korean drummers! Has anyone seen such shiny han-bok? I guess they went glitzy for TV!
Korean drums are really striking during performance, although I don’t like how these women were in the background for this one. If you look towards the end of the clip, you see Shakira drumming alongside the ladies. It’s sorta funny to see them do choreographed movements to pop music, (alonside Shakira, nonetheless), but glad to see the public exposed to the wonderful Korean drummers.
I cried. Like a little girl. It was like the moon landing for us — finally, a president is directly speaking out to me and my people — a president celebrates Diwali in The White House!
This weekend I made the trek back to The Bay Area where I grew up, to celebrate the Hindu New Year, Diwali. Diwali is a celebration of lights, and marks the triumph of good over evil, and is celebrated with great fanfare by Hindus, Jains, Sikhs, and some Buddhists, around the world.
All through the weekend I received phone calls and texts from inspired friends and families wishing me Diwali wishes, and gushing over the news that Obama was the first president ever to celebrate Diwali in The White House. (It started in the Bush era, in 2003, but President Bush never personally took part in the celebration, nor was it celebrated within the main White House walls.) The President lead a small ceremony which included an invocation by a Hindu priest, and a ceremonial lighting of the Diya (lamp, symbolizing the brightness of truth and knowledge over darkness and ignorance), and had this to say:
”This coming Saturday, Hindus, Jains, Sikhs and some Buddhists, here in America and around the world, will celebrate this holiday by lighting Diyas, or lamps, which symbolize the victory of light over darkness, and knowledge over ignorance. And while this is a time of rejoicing, it’s also a time for reflection, when we remember those who are less fortunate and renew our commitment to reach out to those in need.”
He later went on to address the people of the fore mentioned faiths, in a special video message, and continued to wish everyone a ‘Sal Mubaraq’ which is Hindi for Happy New Year.
This, of course, is a part of the trend which President Obama has started, by being involved personally with holidays and festivals that are shared amongst the many faiths and cultures that makes up the great diversity in America; this includes his recent messages and galas for both the people of the Jewish faiths for Rosh Hashanah, and of the Muslim faith during Ramadan and Eid.
In addition, this great ceremony culminated with the joyous event of the President re-establishing the President’s advisory committee and White House initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (which was created under Clinton, but later died under Bush.)
In the end, I will never forget the faces of my family as we stood around the computer screen, and watched The President speak to us… to acknowledge us, and to let the world know that we too are just as American as any! I know I will tell my children, and hopefully children’s children, of the day when Diwali was celebrated in all of America. Thanks again Mister President, and Happy Diwali.
In 1969, my dad came to the United States to get a Ph.D., on the recommendation of a mentor of his in Taiwan. The idea was to get the Ph.D., then return to Taiwan and get a high paying job in government, considered the easy way to get prestige and money in Taiwan. About a year after he arrived in the U.S., the U.S. government sent a letter to my mom, inviting her and the kids (myself and my sister) to move to the U.S. with a complimentary green card. This was part of a program the U.S. was running trying to convince foreign graduate students to stay in the U.S. after their studies were over. It was also known as the brain drain program, the U.S. government had in effect at the time, a.k.a. the brain gain for the U.S.
Even with our entire nuclear family in the U.S., my parents still planned on moving back to Taiwan after my dad’s studies were completed. But months turned into years, and at some point it became easier to stay than to go back, so my parents became U.S. citizens and made America their home. For most coming to the U.S. in the past few decades, the idea of returning home was a less common one, instead most immigrants came to the U.S. to find a better a life here for their families. With the recent downturn in the economy in last few years, there’s been a dramatic change in this attitude according to the Tech Crunch which is reporting a reverse brain drain to India and China.
Tech Crunch found in a recent survey of recent arrivals from India, over three-fourths indicated they were planning on returning to India. In a separate study of foreign students, a majority stated they did not think the U.S. was the best place for professional development and they planned on returning to their homes. Some of you reading this may think there’s little wrong with immigrants returning to their homes. The reality is, there is a price to pay if highly skilled workers go back to their home countries. As Tech Crunch states:
… A growing body of evidence indicates that skilled foreign immigrants create jobs for Americans and boost our national competitiveness. More than 52% of Silicon Valley’s startups during the recent tech boom were started by foreign-born entrepreneurs. Foreign-national researchers have contributed to more than 25% of our global patents, developed some of our break-through technologies, and they helped make Silicon Valley the world’s leading tech center. Foreign-born workers comprise almost a quarter of all the U.S. science and engineering workforce and 47% of science and engineering workers who have PhDs. It is very possible that some of the smart Indians who sat in the room with me holding their hand up on Columbus Day will start the next Google or Apple. Many of them will build companies which employ thousands. But the jobs will be in Hyderbad or Pune, not Silicon Valley.
Perhaps many of those planning on returning home will end up staying like my parents, but in this economy there’s definitely a higher chance of these immigrants going home. In my particular case, I’m happy my parents stayed, as I’ve definitely had more opportunities than my cousins who grew up in Taiwan. The question for these new arrivals is whether they and their children will do better in the U.S. or back in their home countries.
Over the past few weeks, the Philippines has been attacked relentlessly by typhoons that have caused the worst flooding in Metro Manila in decades as well as flooding all over the northern island of Luzon. As a result, relief efforts by Filipinos all over the globe have been begun to aid those who need it the most. Unfortunately, politics has reared its ugly head.
In a politically ugly–but unfortunately unsurprising–move, the Filipino government has threatened to tax every box sent to Filipino relief organizations in a blatant way to make money off this natural disaster which could ultimately bankrupt many of these groups. Groups in New York and New Jersey here in the US have responded by trying to pressure the Filipino government and in the meantime have also threatened to send these boxes to the Philippines themselves to avoid the tax and to distribute these goods to the people who need it most.
My recommendation is to send money to reputable organizations like the Philippine Red Cross until this brouhaha settles down. Personally, it’s one of many reasons why I consider the Filipino government so corrupt.
The other night, I saw for the first time ever a commercial for Panda Express. You’ve probably seen a Panda Express before at your local mall food court; if I’m hungry and at the mall and in the mood for fast greasy Chinese food, Panda Express is there to serve its purpose. So I was kind of shocked to see a commercial for the restaurant — I mean, I wouldn’t go out of my way to eat there. But what got me were the two UGLY talking pandas, Eddie and Tom-Tom, with a “gong” at the end of the commercial as the tag line “Experience Pandamonium” is shown along with the Panda Express logo.
Since the Panda Express is the name of the restaurant, it’s not a huge surprise that the restaurant uses talking pandas to pitch itself. But there’s also been another commercial that has been bothering me that’s been airing for a while — Wanchai Ferry’s “restaurant quality Chinese in your grocer’s freezer” commercial pitching their orange chicken – with, you guessed it, another UGLY talking panda.
What’s with the ugly talking pandas pitching Chinese food? I wonder how much money it would cost to make a decent looking panda suit or something in CGI? Enough of the ugly talking pandas! Jennifer 8. Lee, do something!
A recent news item that has been gaining in momentum is the story of a Louisiana justice of peace Keith Bardwell who refuses to marry interracial couples for the sake of the children as he insists that interracial marriages tend not to last as long as other marriages.
This news story has drawn nearly universal indignation as even the most knuckle dragging traditionalists among us mostly agrees that the 1967 Supreme Court decision that recognizing multiracial marriage was a good idea. Many would even consider it silly that in 2009 the nation should be debating the benefits and costs of interracial marriage.
Asian Americans have one of the lowest divorce rates – a measly 20% as compared to the 25% national rate. To top it off, being a college graduate also lowers one’s divorce rates (to 22%). Considering that the rate interracial of interracial marriage for Asians is among the highest of any group – a whopping 33%, I would say that we’re probably out forming strong interracial marriages.
It is true that interracial marriages tend to encounter more difficulties than same race marriages but so does marriages between those of different education levels, between people who marry in their early twenties and teens, and also among people who smoke. If one wishes to eliminate interracial marriage on the grounds that those marriages tend not to last then one should also deny marriage to those who haven’t received a college education, haven’t reached 25 and those who haven’t yet quit smoking. Otherwise, one would be in danger of being hypocritical.
As the couple in question themselves have stated, interracial marriage already suffers from covert discrimination, any attempt at open discrimination needs to be dealt with mercilessly. As Asian Americans, I feel evidence of covert discrimination in interracial relationships is well known to us all. From our friends who whisper “I don’t like it when I see white people dating Asians” upon seeing an interracial couple visiting a Bubble Tea house to websites — and comments from our own site – committed to bring a greater stigma to Asians who want to explore relationships outside their own ethnicity, covert discrimination is in many cases tolerated, even encouraged. Although I do not believe that believe that such discrimination will lead to unfair laws or wanton physical harm, it is important for us to recognize and eradicate veiled discrimination in ourselves.
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- Festival kick off Party for Breaking the Bow – The festival kick-off Party for Breaking the Bow (see below) will feature Improv troupe Cold Tofu and R&B artist Dawen. (October 22, 2009 from 5pm to 6pm, Santa Monica, CA)
BREAKING THE BOW: The 1st Annual Independent Asian Pacific Islander Performing Artists and Writers Festival – Shattering the disparity between up-and-coming artists and writers and their established professional counterparts, smashing the chasm between Hollywood movers and non-traditional and independent-minded talent, demolishing the divergence between the young, hip, Youtube artists and those who paved earlier inroads, the festival is an artistic explosion of positive images not normally seen in mainstream media. Never before has such a coalescence of diverse groups ocurred with an ultimate goal of education, outreach building and strengthening the community through the arts. (October 22, 2009 at 6:30pm to October 25, 2009 at 11pm, Santa Monica, CA)
AARGH!!, the Asian Pacific Islander cabaret – AARGH!! comes to Southern California as part of BREAKING THE BOW: The 1st Annual Independent Asian Pacific Islander Performing Artists and Writers Festival. The showcase includes a wide variety of internationally recognized artists as well as up-and-coming performers. Headlining the show is pioneering theater artist Jude Narita, best known for her award-winning one-woman play, COMING INTO PASSION/SONG FOR A SANSEI. She is the recipient of the Los Angeles Drama Critics’ Circle Award; three Drama-Logue Awards; and a James Wong Howe “JIMMIE” from the Association of Asian Pacific American Artists (AAPAA). (October 23, 2009 at 8pm to October 24, 2009 at 8pm, Santa Monica, CA)
On Wednesday, President Barack Obama reestablished the President’s Advisory Commission and White House Initiative on Asian American and Pacific Islanders by executive order (.pdf), which was initially established under President Bill Clinton and expired under the Bush administration. Obama noted that he has a personal connection to the Asian American community – his half-sister Maya; brother-in-law, Konrad; his nieces, Suhaila and Savita; and the folks he grew up with in Indonesia, and in Honolulu.
A large segment of the Asian-American community is often ignored or blinded by the “model minority” perception and their needs not met. Approximately 60% of all Asian Americans in the United States were born abroad in 1998, and that very fact highlights some very specific issues that need to be addressed; hopefully, this reestablished commission can help address those needs.
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