VOL 41 NO 9 | FEBRUARY 26 – MARCH 4, 2022

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VOL 41 NO 9 FEBRUARY 26 – MARCH 4, 2022

FREE 40 YEARS YOUR VOICE

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Photo by John Liu

CID gets attention Sound Transit sets it sights of city and SPD on CID

SPD presence in Little Saigon

Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell made an impromptu visit to the Chinatown-International District (CID) on Feb. 19.

When asked about his visit, he told the Northwest Asian Weekly, “It is my personal and professional commitment to make sure we have sustainable change in Seattle such that our community is

safe and clean. I want people housed and treated and Seattle to be prideful of the conditions of its residents and neighborhoods.”

Harrell’s visit comes a day after the Seattle Police Department (SPD) set up a mobile precinct see SPD on 15

Former PepsiCo CEO honored, retells story in forthcoming biography Indra Nooyi was chairman and CEO of one of the biggest corporations in the world. As the leader of PepsiCo, she helped create a strategic redirection for the company, which created long-term growth while leaving a positive impact on society and the environment. The Northwest Asian Weekly interviewed Nooyi ahead of International Women’s Day. She shared with us her upbringing and ascension to the upper echelons of her role as executive in her biography, “My Life in Full.”

In her memoir, she takes a look at her childhood and education in 1960s India and then her time at the Yale School of Management. She recounts her rise from corporate consultant and strategist to the highest ranks of PepsiCo. She became the first woman of color and immigrant to lead a Fortune 50 company. The book includes an inside look at PepsiCo, and her thinking in steering the company

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Photo from indranooyi.com

By Jason Cruz NORTHWEST ASIAN WEEKLY

These buildings may be displaced if the 5th Avenue site is chosen.

By Mahlon Meyer NORTHWEST ASIAN WEEKLY When Betty Lau was a girl, she climbed up a crabapple tree on a vacant lot in Chinatown and pulled off all the fruit. Her father, who ran a laundry, forced her to climb back up the tree and reattach the fruit with wires.

“Everything is owned by somebody,” he said.

But the question of who owns what today in Seattle’s Chinatown-International District (CID) and who should determine its future, is no longer clear.

Sound Transit (ST), which had $3 billion in revenue and funding last year, has set its sights on the CID. The behemoth plans to scoop up parts of the CID in its plans to expand a transit hub, shutting down part of the district for up

to a decade.

Now a community leader, Lau argues this will be the end of her childhood home.

“This is really about money, power, and arrogance that deep pockets and authority can bring.” Lau and others hope that all of Seattle will rise up to save the forsaken community, as the city once did to save the Pike Place Public Market, which they say is another distinctive and defining feature of the city.

But ST doesn’t play fair, they said.

In a series of emails viewed

by Northwest Asian Weekly, Lau said she was ghosted when she tried to join a community advisory group set up by ST. In addition, before the pandemic, ST sent agents to contact merchants solely along see SOUND TRANSIT on 15

THE INSIDE STORY

Indra with her husband Raj and daughters, Preetha and Tara

toward healthier products and reinventing its environmental profile despite resistance. She also writes about her challenges in managing her demanding job with a growing family.

Nooyi was born in Madras, India and after education in India, she went to Yale in 1978. She earned a master’s degree in Public and Private Management in 1980. After years as a consultant, she joined PepsiCo in 1994 and

was named the CEO in 2006.

During her time as CEO, she was consistently ranked as one of the world’s most powerful women in business.

Last fall, she was inducted into the Asian Hall of Fame.

“It’s an honor,” Nooyi told the Northwest Asian Weekly. “I’ve lived a life full of dualities as an Indian who immigrated to the see PEPSICO on 13

PUBLISHER’S BLOG To mask or not to mask is the question 7

PHOTO CONTEST Winners of 2022  9

ON THE SHELF Why be perfect when you can be yourself?  8

412 Maynard Ave. S., Seattle, WA 98104 • t. 206.223.5559 • f. 206.223.0626 • editor@nwasianweekly.com • ads@nwasianweekly.com • www.nwasianweekly.com

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40 YEARS

FEBRUARY 26 – MARCH 4, 2022

■ NAMES IN THE NEWS

The Seattle Asian American Film Festival (SAAFF) is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year.

The festival—held March 3-13—will have a virtual line-up of 102 films, 12 shorts programs, and two free programs, as well as four drive-in screenings and one special screening at Northwest Film Forum.

SAAFF showcases works by Pacific Northwest Asian American filmmakers, as well as film from across North America dealing with Asian American people, issues, and themes.

For more information, visit saaff2022.eventive.org/welcome. 

Photos provided by APCC

APCC’s Lunar New Year Celebration

This is the lion team from Mak Fei

Asia Pacific Cultural Center (APCC)’s 24th Annual Asia Pacific New Year Celebration was its first in-person event since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Each year a different country is featured, and this year, it was China.

Held at Clover Park Technical College in Lakewood on Feb. 19, the event

showcased 47 countries and cultures.

Seattle Deputy Mayor Kendee Yamaguchi emceed and state Sen. Mona Das was the keynote speaker.

Participants got to enjoy dances, music, and demonstrations on two stages, where dozens of Asian and Pacific Islander cultural groups performed. 

Sharon McGavick Center at the Clover Park Technical College: This is a bird’s eye view of the event.

Drum team from Huayin

Team from the Hawaiian Community

Team from the Guam Community

Qipao team from Huayin

Sampaco is Miss Washington USA First Runner-Up Starla Sampaco, who made the Puget Sound Business Journal’s “40 Under 40” list in 2021, and is currently a news anchor at KCTS Channel 9, was first runner-up at the recent Miss Washington USA 2022. Sampaco has written for Harvard Business Review and the Northwest Asian Weekly.

When asked how she felt after her win, Starla shared, “I’m proud of my placement,” Sampaco said. … “It’s not easy being ‘the only’—the only woman, the only person of color, or the youngest in the room. It’s a responsibility I take very seriously because I understand how impactful that representation can be for the other young women and girls who are watching.” While not sure if she will compete again, Sampaco said she “will continue to advocate for other women and people of color through my work in journalism, academia, and diversity, equity, and inclusion.”

The Miss Washington and Miss Washington Teen USA 2022 pageant was held on Feb. 5, at the Renton IKEA Performing Arts Center.

Northwest Productions, run by David Van Maren and Maureen Francisco, a husband and wife team in Washington state, delivered yet another memorable event. David and Maureen are Filipino Americans. What was most interesting about the show this year was the number of contestants who came from communities of color. In the Teen Division, 51% of participants

Joe Lubong, Seattle Premium Headshots

SAAFF 10th anniversary

Starla Sampaco

were from different minority groups, and about 34% in the Miss Division.

At the 2021 pageant, both Miss Washington Christine Brodie and Miss Washington Teen Novalee Lewis are Filipino American and Japanese American, respectively.

Among the Miss Washington USA contestants, Pa Nou Chee Xiong, who is Hmong American, made the semifinals.

In Miss Teen 2022, the semi finalists include Tara Le Gardner (Vietnamese American), Poorva Mishra (Indian American), and Angela Dela Cruz (Filipino American). 

YOUR VOICE

■ COMMUNITY NEWS

FEBRUARY 26 – MARCH 4, 2022

asianweekly northwest

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CACCWA: Strengthening the Cambodian community through partnerships and education

By Samantha Pak NORTHWEST ASIAN WEEKLY One of the key themes in everything the Cambodian American Community Council of Washington (CACCWA) does is its focus on working with others.

From government agencies, to other local Cambodian groups, to crossing the generational divide within its own organization, building partnerships are how CACCWA works to help the Cambodian community throughout Washington state.

For its latest project, the Small Business Resiliency Network (SBRN), the nonprofit has partnered with the state departments of Commerce and Labor & Industries (L&I) to help Cambodian-owned businesses by disseminating and translating information from the two state agencies.

“We can explain it to them,” Bill Oung, CACCWA cofounder and interim board chair, said.

The two public entities serve different purposes.

While Commerce offers resources, such as consulting, grants, and COVID-19 assistance, L&I focuses on safety and regulations compliance (as well as those related to COVID-19). Oung said CACCWA wants to help businesses take advantage of government programs and assistance if they need it, and make sure they’re functioning within the law.

IN-PERSON CONNECTIONS Sambath Eat, program director for SBRN, said the network and CACCWA have been hosting informational events for small businesses, in partnership with Commerce and L&I. The first two events, one at the end of January, and the second one last week, were held in

Tacoma.

Since he started his position with CACCWA, Eat has also been taking classes, meeting with banking institutions, filling out documents, and going through the steps business owners would need to in order to apply for grants and other resources—all so he can explain the processes to business owners.

“It can be a frightening experience,” he said, pointing out that people would be disclosing their finances and other sensitive information on applications.

Right now, Eat and his SBRN staff are concentrating on Seattle and King County. And as many Khmer people prefer talking in person—as opposed to over the phone or by email—Eat has been visiting business owners in person. These interactions have taught him the importance of showing up. Because even if people don’t need help, connections have been made during these meetings. Eat has introduced himself, the network, and CACCWA to members of the Cambodian community, letting them know what the organization is and what they do. He said if all his legwork helps just one person start their own business or one business owner apply for a loan—if just one person or business benefits from his work—then that will have accomplished his goal for SBRN. Eat’s next goal for the network—which is currently paid for through state grants—is to secure funding so it can be a sustainable program within CACCWA. BUILDING A STRONGER COMMUNITY CACCWA’s origins date back to 2015. Oung and others in the community began organizing an event to mark the 40th anniversary of Cambodians in the United States, following the Khmer Rouge genocide in Cambodia.

The event took place in August 2015 at North Seattle Community College and CACCWA was formed shortly afterwards, Oung said. It officially became a 501(c)(3) nonprofit in 2020.

Since its inception, CACCWA’s mission has been to strengthen the Cambodian community. Oung said they share this goal with many of the other Cambodian organizations and groups they work with throughout the state, stressing the importance of these partnerships.

“Without them, we could not function,” he said.

CELEBRATING STUDENTS Building a stronger community means different things to different people—ranging from cultural centers and events, to a robust business community. For CACCWA, Oung said, it meant making education a priority.

CACCWA holds an annual event celebrating students who have graduated from high school and college (undergraduate and graduate levels).

Tey Thach, who sits on the organization’s education committee and was co-chair from 2020-21, said it’s to recognize students and tell them, “We see you.” While the events started out in person and were held in the greater Seattle area, like most events in the last two years, they moved to the virtual space as a result of the pandemic. Thach said one of the positive things to come from this was that it became easier and more convenient for students and families from all over the state to attend.

This event is Thach’s favorite part of CACCWA— seeing the graduates of all levels of education all together and being able to put faces to names from their applications to participate. see CACCWA on 13

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40 YEARS

FEBRUARY 26 – MARCH 4, 2022

■ COMMUNITY NEWS Washington state to lift indoor mask mandate March 21

By RACHEL LA CORTE ASSOCIATED PRESS OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) — Washington’s statewide indoor mask mandate, one of the few left in the country, will lift in most places on March 21, including at schools and child care facilities, Gov. Jay Inslee said.

And starting on March 1, vaccine verification or proof of a negative COVID-19 test will no longer be required for attendance at large events.

Masks will still be required in health care settings, like hospitals and doctor’s offices, and at long-term care facilities, prisons, and jails. They will also still be required on public transit, taxis, ride-hail vehicles, and school buses.

Private businesses and local governments that want to require masks for employees, customers, or residents will still be able to do so.

Inslee said that the late March date to lift the mask mandate is based on hospital admission projections.

During a Feb. 17 news conference, he showed a chart that shows hospitalizations for COVID-19 are about 20 per 100,000 people. His goal is to get that number down to 5, which is when he said hospitals can return to more normal operations.

“To those who think maybe it should end earlier, all I can tell you is we lost 1,000 people in January to this disease,” he said. “And when we make decisions, it seems to me we ought to have a recognition of how dangerous and deadly this disease still is after this period of time.”

Like the rest of the country, Washington—which first imposed a statewide mask mandate in June 2020—has seen a steady decline in both cases and hospitalizations since the height of the omicron surge last month.

Last May, the state changed its requirements to align with guidance from the Centers for Disease Control

and Prevention, which allowed vaccinated people to go without a mask indoors, but that exception was rescinded in August 2021 after the delta variant emerged. A face covering requirement for outdoor events of 500 or more people was imposed in September, but that mandate was lifted on Feb. 18.

Also that day, non-urgent procedures—which have been on hold since last month due to concerns about hospital capacity—can resume, since the governor decided to not extend the ban beyond the set four weeks.

Democratic governors in several states have already ended or set dates to end masking rules in public places or in schools. New Mexico’s governor announced on Feb. 17 that the statewide mask mandate there was being lifted, effective immediately, leaving Hawaii as the only state that has not indicated when its indoor mask mandates may be rescinded. 

New CID location for ACRS food bank SEATTLE — The ACRS Food Bank has moved to a larger, newly leased space in the Tsue Chong Building in the Chinatown-International District, just blocks away from its previous location.

At around 5,500 square feet, the new location at 800 South Weller Street is 10 times the space of its longtime home in the trailer on South King Street.

In a Feb. 10 news release, ACRS said it is responding to the growing need for culturally relevant food for people experiencing hunger in the Seattle metropolitan area and throughout King County.

“After over 20 years in a cramped trailer at South King Street, we are delighted to move into a much larger space to better address hunger, food insecurity, and access to culturally

relevant food in our community,” said ACRS Director of Aging and Adult Services Director G De Castro, who oversees the ACRS Food Bank. “The new space will allow us to offer an enhanced experience for those accessing food bank services and resources, even as we search for a permanent home for the food bank.”

The new food bank offers clients grocery store-style shopping where they can more independently self-select the food they need. It also includes expansive storage space, two walk-in freezers, and a large sorting area for staff and volunteers to operate its remote feeding and home delivery programs in the future.

During the pandemic, the food bank and senior meal program saw a 200%

King County ending vaccine requirements at bars, restaurants SEATTLE (AP) — Washington's most populous county will no longer require COVID vaccination checks to enter restaurants, bars, theaters, and gyms beginning March 1.

King County officials made the announcement on Feb. 16. The Seattle Times reports from March 1, businesses will be free to impose their own vaccination requirements if they choose, but there will be no countywide requirement.

Since last fall, indoor eateries and cultural and recreational spaces have been required to verify their customers' vaccination status or a negative COVID test, as a condition for entry.

The policy has also applied to outdoor

events with more than 500 people, like concerts and sporting events.

“Our public health experts believe that now is the appropriate time to lift vaccine verification, based on high rates of vaccine coverage and the decrease in new cases and hospitalizations across the county,” King County Executive Dow Constantine.

Constantine and Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell also announced that they will begin, gradually, calling back to the office the thousands of county and city employees who have been working remotely for nearly two years.

King County has an estimated 7,000 employees who have been working remotely, and Seattle has about 5,000. 

increase in demand, going from providing 600-700 food bags per week to home delivering over 2,100 bags.

Besides nutrition, ACRS programs cover medical check-ups, senior wellness, behavioral health, rent and cash assistance, youth development, job training, immigration assistance, and more.

The new food bank is open to the public on Fridays 10 a.m. – 1 p.m.

Volunteers donated over 850 hours at the ACRS Food Bank to help distribute over one million pounds of food in 2021.  If you’re interested in volunteering, go to acrs.org/volunteer.

YOUR VOICE

■ HEALTH

FEBRUARY 26 – MARCH 4, 2022

asianweekly northwest

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Unvaccinated face greater risk of financial ruin

By Mahlon Meyer NORTHWEST ASIAN WEEKLY

With the pandemic as one of the top health concerns worldwide, the unvaccinated are more likely to face higher medical bills.

Their likelihood of being hospitalized, while varying from state to state, remained significantly higher than those vaccinated.

In Washington state, unvaccinated people between the ages of 35-64 were seven times more likely to be hospitalized with Covid-19 compared to those vaccinated, according to a Feb. 9 Department of Health report. For older adults, the likelihood was eight times higher.

“State data suggests that across age groups, unvaccinated individuals are more likely to get Covid-19 and be hospitalized because of it, compared to vaccinated individuals.

Beyond health outcomes, this could create greater financial burden on unvaccinated individuals, increasing medical bills and risk of medical debt at a time when some may also be grappling with unemployment and insurance coverage,” said Dr. Josh Liao, associate professor of medicine and associate chair for Health Systems in the UW Department of Medicine.

In Los Angeles County, the contrast was even starker.

There, unvaccinated people were 23 times more likely to be hospitalized, according to a CDC report, released early on Feb. 4 and obtained by Northwest Asian Weekly.

As a result of such disparities, the vaccinated may have a greater chance of avoiding medical debt.

“We know those that are vaccinated are less likely to be hospitalized and tend to need less expensive interventions which naturally decreases their medical debt risk exposure,” said Allison Sesso, executive director of RIP Medical Debt.

For the unvaccinated, however, even if this translates into only slightly higher rates of medical debt, the effects may still be staggering. Among cases reviewed

by Northwest Asian Weekly, credit ratings damaged by medical debt resulted in people failing to be able to rent apartments, get credit cards, or even qualify for government health care.

Asian Americans, who by far have been the largest segment of new Medicare enrollees in recent years, might feel themselves safe from horror stories emerging in the media of surprise medical debts due to Covid-19—and resulting ruination of credit..

But Bob Mitchell, a former marine trainer for special operations, now an attorney, has defended many

Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) clients. They are on the contrary more vulnerable to fraud and misrepresentation, he said.

For cultural reasons, AAPI clients may have the propensity just to pay any medical debt that comes their way, rather than challenge it, said Mitchell.

Now that many more medical debts will be coming due as the pandemic wanes, fraudulent medical charges appear also to be increasing. This will make it doubly hard on AAPI patients to respond.

“The smallest population I represent would be Asian Americans. It’s a cultural thing.

They don’t like being accused of things. They would rather just pay it than get an attorney.

As a different cultural group, they are more prone to just pay it, even if they didn’t owe anything,” he said.

But simply paying a surprise or fraudulent medical debt can be the beginning of trouble.

One of Mitchell’s clients, a Pacific Islander, initially agreed to go on record, but later asked for anonymity.

Despite paying three medical bills accrued during the pandemic, all the charges ended up in collections. The debt collector willfully changed the amount owed, so that even when the man paid them off, he was still technically

in debt, ruining his credit record, according to a lawsuit reviewed by Northwest Asian Weekly.

Some people, unvaccinated or not, turn to alternate sources of funding to attempt to pay off steep medical debt, such as crowdfunding—setting up a site online to ask for donations.

But scholars say this approach actually entrenches ethnic and class hierarchies, and often does not solve the problem.

“Crowdfunding as an unfortunate consequence of a broken U.S. health system, the hierarchies at its core are the same as those embedded in privatized health care solutions.

Indeed, it is the notion that communities and corporations should choose who gets care that is the central basis of the most marketized, neoliberal health care alternatives and a cornerstone of opposition to universal health care,” wrote Nora Kenworthy, an associate professor in the University of Washington (UW) School of Nursing and Health Studies, in a 2021 paper in Medical Anthropology Quarterly, “Like a Grinding Stone: How Crowdfunding Platforms Create, Perpetuate, and Value Health Inequities.”

In her studies, Kenworthy found that the app, GoFundMe, employs algorithms that lead viewers towards monetarily successful

sites and away from less successful ones. This gives the appearance of greater success for marginalized groups than is the reality. This would also impact the unvaccinated, since the largest population of unvaccinated are the unemployed, said Sesso.

Between February and May 2020, 5.4 million people lost their jobs and health coverage, said Sesso, a ripple effect that is still working its way through the health care system.

When using crowdfunding apps, such as GoFundMe, those with the most affluent social networks were the ones that fared well, while those campaigns undertaken by poor and marginalized people had fewer resources to call upon—and often garnered nothing despite desperate appeals for help.

In addition, campaigns that emphasized easy and sure cures tended to receive more attention, complicating the fate of those who have such maladies as diabetes, which are more prevalent among some marginalized groups. That could also include people who are suffering as a result of being unvaccinated.

“The stories that GoFundMe had curated and put into public view reinforced a rhetoric of deservingness centered on individual, unexpected, solvable tragedy,” she wrote in another paper she co-authored last year in Social Science and Medicine, “Crowdfunding as a response to COVID-19: Increasing inequities at a time of crisis.”

Even such apparently novel approaches to tackling medical debt, such as crowdfunding, can make things worse and ingrain in marginalized groups the belief they don’t deserve care, said Kenworthy.  Mahlon can be contacted at info@nwasianweekly.com.

This health series is made possible by funding from the Washington State Department of Health, which has no editorial input or oversight of this content.

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■ COMMUNITY CALENDAR FEB

NOW THROUGH FEB. 28

VACCINATION EVENT Federal Way Performing Arts Center, 31510 Pete von Reichbauer Way S., Federal Way, WA 98003 Appointments and dropins are welcome Pre- registration: tinyurl.com/bdf4y3bf

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FEBRUARY 26 – MARCH 4, 2022

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MAR 3

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CLUB MEETING ABOUT RURAL UGANDAN EDUCATION WITH HARNEET GREWAL 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m.

For Zoom link, contact rotaryofseattleid@ gmail.com

LITTLE SAIGON MONTHLY COMMUNITY CLEAN UP 1227 S. Weller St. Ste. A, Seattle 9:30-11:30 a.m. https://bit.ly/ littlesaigoncleanup info@flsseattle.org 253-245-9341

CLUB MEETING WITH DOUG CHIN, ACTIVIST, JOURNALIST, HISTORIAN 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m.

For Zoom link, contact rotaryofseattleid@ gmail.com

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KING COUNTY, WASHINGTON NOTICE TO BIDDERS Sealed bids will be received by the King County Procurement Services Section through the County’s E-Procurement system for the following listed bids.

Instructions on how to submit a bid electronically, view any current bid opportunities, express interest, communicate with the Buyer via Message app and/or successfully submit a bid through the E-Procurement system prior, and more are provided on the County’s website: https://kingcounty.gov/procurement/registration King County encourages minority business enterprise participation. King County does not discriminate on the basis of disability in its programs, services, and employment opportunities for persons with disabilities.

KC000434 OPENS: 03/18/2022 Consultant to Assess the Vulnerability of Metro Assets to Projected Climate Change

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YOUR VOICE

■ PUBLISHER’S BLOG

FEBRUARY 26 – MARCH 4, 2022

asianweekly northwest

7

To mask or not to mask is the question

By Assunta Ng NORTHWEST ASIAN WEEKLY In Washington state, the mask mandate will be lifted on Mar. 21, one of the last states to lift the mandate. Is this bad or good news?

To millions of people, it will be a relief. Some say, “I can’t wait.” Those who oppose masks will likely say they finally have their freedom back, and they might even attribute it to their relentless fight against the mask requirement.

Let’s put politics aside. I know we are all tired of the virus. You want this bad dream, Covid, to go away. You want it to be over with and move on with your lives.

Therefore, not wearing masks symbolizes your break from this illness and a new beginning in the Year of the Tiger. Empathetically, I am with you. Realistically, I am not with you.

Whether you plan to wear masks or not after the mandate lifts, the fact is, the pandemic still exists even though the number of infected cases and deaths have been dropping. Covid has not ended. No one knows if there will be another new variant or if the current variant will stick around. You can get infected even though you have the vaccine and booster, although the impact would be much milder and no hospitalization is likely needed.

If you are sick with Covid and unvaccinated, you may die like Washington state Sen. Doug Erickson at the age of 52. For those who have recovered, their immune system is never the same again. Patients who suffer from long Covid experience constant fatigue, memory loss, and muscle and joint pain, according to a New York

Times article.

If you are vaccinated and boosted, no matter how mild your case is, you will still need to be confined and isolated for days. During that time, it’s not just you who suffers, but your loved ones as they have to take care of you, and can’t be close to you for fear of infection. Is this a risk you want to take? Anything you do will have consequences.

Lately, science has a new invention. If you get really sick, you don’t have to die as there is an expensive medicine, Paxlovid developed by Pfizer, which studies say can reduce hospitalization and death. It costs the U.S. government $530 per course. It has side effects,

including diarrhea, according to goodrx.com.

Even if I’m not paying for the treatment, I don’t want to suffer from Covid and the side effects from strong medicine. So don’t expect me to be unmasked on March 21. I will continue to wear a mask in public among crowds. I will unmask only if I venture to parks, forests, and waters, and sometimes, dining in restaurants. I will eat without masks, but will quickly mask back up after I eat.

There are advantages to wearing masks. My hay fever has disappeared for the past two years, and possibly this year, too. No more pollen has wandered into my nose. My husband notices some symptoms like colds he had experienced in the past, from time to time, have vanished. With masks, we are protecting ourselves from all kinds of germs, not just the coronavirus. During winter, the mask actually keeps my face from being cold and dry. It protects our skin. It’s a skin-care mechanism.

One unexpected benefit is that I don’t have to wear much make-up anymore. The logic is simple: No one can see me. So why do it? I save lots of time. Money, too.

I get used to seeing my true self in the mirror. Vanity has suddenly turned into an unfamiliar word. And I feel free.

I do put on make-up when I dine out with friends, as I have to remove my mask. The make-up process would then be more therapeutic. I imagine myself as an artist transforming an aging face into an energetic-looking woman. This is an odd thing during Covid—I need to break away from certain routines and reinvent myself

We want to help you get back on track.

COVID Bill Payment Assistance We know this has been a year unlike any other, and right now paying bills can definitely be a challenge. So, PSE is designating $27.7 million in bill payment assistance. Here’s how we can help you: •

Up to $2,500 in additional utility bill payment assistance

•

Extended payment plans up to 18 months

•

Up to $2,500 to forgive past balances for customers who received energy assistance in the past

•

The option to change your energy bill’s due date to help with monthly budgeting

To see if you qualify, go to pse.com/covid

see BLOG on 16

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40 YEARS

FEBRUARY 26 – MARCH 4, 2022

■ ON THE SHELF

Why be perfect when you can be yourself?

BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS

By Samantha Pak NORTHWEST ASIAN WEEKLY THE DONUT TRAP

By Julie Tieu Avon, 2021 With no boyfriend and no job prospects, Jasmine Tran finds herself back home after college, working at her parents’ donut shop.

Her daily grind now consists of donuts, Netflix, and sleep, and she wants nothing more than to break free. But then a spike in rent threatens the shop’s survival and her parents need Jasmine’s help even more.

Then she runs into Alex Lai, her crush from college and things start looking up.

Successful, good looking, and Chinese, he’s the ideal boyfriend in her parents’ eyes. But that changes after a disastrous meet-the-parents dinner. Jasmine is also having her own doubts.

Now Jasmine has to figure out whether she really wants to be with Alex, how to save her family business, and what she wants to do with her life.

“Donut Trap” is the story about a young woman dealing with familial pressures.

Wanting to live up to our parents’ expectations is a feeling many people can relate to, regardless of our background. But when you add the immigration experience to the mix, it just adds another layer of pressure. We want to make our parents’

sacrifices and struggles worth it and Jasmine is no different. And as the story progresses, we see how all of this has affected Jasmine, both presently as well as in the past.

This is also a story about the Cambodian diaspora and how diverse it is. Jasmine’s parents grew up in Cambodia, are ethnically Chinese, and, when they escaped the

Khmer Rouge, ended up in Vietnam before coming to the United States. So Jasmine’s upbringing includes aspects of all of these cultures. While my family is (mostly) ethnically Cambodian, we have extended family and friends who fit this description or sare in a similar situation. Just as not all Asians are the same, not all Cambodians are the same and I appreciated Tieu

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including this detail. I also appreciated that this was not a story about Jasmine’s family surviving the genocide. It’s part of her story, but Tieu does a great job of showing that there’s more to Jasmine than just her family’s trauma. see SHELF on 14

YOUR VOICE

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FEBRUARY 26 – MARCH 4, 2022

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FEBRUARY 26 – MARCH 4, 2022

■ WAYNE’S WORLDS

40 YEARS

A winter wonderland without the winter

By Wayne Chan NORTHWEST ASIAN WEEKLY The Winter Olympics has been an Olympian effort, if I ever saw one.

I’m not talking about the athletes, although their dedication to their chosen sport is, as always, a marvel to watch. And I’m not talking about any particular country winning a truck load of gold medals either.

No, I’m talking about Beijing, the site of this year’s WINTER Olympics.

I’m highlighting “WINTER” because this is the first winter Olympics where the competition is taking place in a city with virtually no snow. Every venue, from snowboarding, the luge, to Alpine skiing, is all done on man-made snow.

Olympian effort, indeed!

Watching some of the coverage on TV, it became immediately apparent to me. Just beyond any of the ski runs, if you look carefully at the backdrop, you don’t see the normal snow lined fir trees in the background. What you do see is low-lying brush and foliage, or as someone like me who lives in Southern California might call it, “my backyard.”

That means the International Olympic Committee awarded the Winter Olympics to a city with no snow. In other words, snow is no longer a requirement for a city to host the Winter Olympics.

I’m not trying to criticize China for hosting the Winter Olympics in a city with no snow. The Olympics bring a lot of prestige to a city. And I don’t mean to make light of the fact that experts warn that future Winter Olympic games will undoubtedly face similar changes due to climate change.

But this development does raise some intriguing possibilities for me. If you don’t need real snow for the Winter Olympics, then you really can hold it anywhere. Why not have the Winter Olympics in San Diego?

Here’s my 30-second elevator pitch to have San Diego host Winter Olympics: 1. We can easily replace the giant slalom flags with palm trees. It’ll be the perfect tropical winter wonderland!

2. We can save a lot of money on the curling venue by using a local gym and replacing the curling stones with Roomba vacuums—great competition and you end up with a clean gym.

Nothing like killing two birds with one Roomba.

3. Since running snow machines non-stop can get expensive, we can cut back on some of the less popular winter events and introduce some new events.

Take the biathlon, for example. This is the sport where the athlete skis until they’re exhausted and then stops and shoots targets with a rifle. Personally, unless your name is James Bond, I just don’t see this as a very practical skill.

We can still call it the biathlon, but instead of skiing and shooting, let’s adapt it to something more relevant to San Diego. How about a timed event where you ski over to the local taco stand and down some fish tacos?

But one thing I won’t sacrifice—we need to keep skiing as an event. The only question now is, snow…or water?  Wayne can be reached at info@nwasianweekly.com.

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YOUR VOICE

asianweekly northwest

11

■ NATIONAL NEWS NYC man charged with hate crimes in attack on Asian woman NEW YORK (AP) — A Brooklyn man punched an Asian American woman in the face in an unprovoked attack and later told police that “Chinese people are not supposed to be in this country,” prosecutors said.

Mercel Jackson, 52, was arraigned on Feb. 17 on charges including assault, attempted assault as a hate crime, and menacing as a hate crime in the Jan. 19 attack, Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez announced.

“This cowardly attack against a vulnerable member of our community will not be tolerated in Brooklyn,” Gonzalez said in a news release. “We will continue to work with our partners in communities across the borough to take a strong stand against hate crimes and pledge to bring to justice those who attack individuals based on their race, ethnicity, religion, gender, or sexual orientation.”

According to prosecutors, a 67-year-old Asian American woman was walking to

a store in the Clinton Hill neighborhood when she heard yelling and saw Jackson walking toward her.

Jackson approached the woman and punched her in the face three times, causing bruising and swelling, prosecutors said.

Officers canvassed the area and arrested Jackson, who told police that Chinese people are not supposed to be in this country and that they “look like the measles,” the district attorney said.

Jackson was ordered held on $2,000 bail.

A spokesperson for the Legal Aid Society of New York, which is representing him, said the organization had no comment.

The assault was one of a string of attacks on people of Asian descent in New York City, including the fatal stabbing of Christina Yuna Lee in her lower Manhattan apartment earlier this month. Police arrested a man who they said stabbed Lee after following her into her building. 

China accused of failing to buy more Maine lobster PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — China has failed to live up to its promise to buy more lobster under a deal that opened the door to an easing of a trade war under former President Donald Trump, Maine's congressional leaders say.

Maine’s lobster industry was hurt by retaliatory Chinese tariffs in 2018 and failed to see substantial export gains after China committed to buying an additional $200 million in U.S. goods, the delegation contends.

Under the “Phase One Agreement,” China was supposed to increase purchases to 2017 levels but China has bought “almost no lobster above 2017 levels,” according to a letter on Feb. 17 by Maine Sen. Angus King, an independent, and Reps. Chellie Pingree and Jared Golden, both Democrats.

They urged U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai to “hold China accountable for its purchase commitments.”

Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine sent a letter voicing the same concerns and urging “swift and

appropriate action.”

Maine’s live lobster sales to China fell in the year after the lobster tariff was imposed in July 2018, and China shifted its lobster purchases to Canadian dealers, industry officials said.

The sparring over lobster came as the U.S. trade representative accused Beijing of failing to carry out market-opening promises made when it joined the World Trade Organization. China rejected the accusations. 

■ WORLD NEWS

Last known freshwater dolphin in northeastern Cambodia dies PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — The last known freshwater Irrawaddy dolphin on a stretch of the Mekong River in northeastern Cambodia has died, apparently after getting tangled in a fishing net, wildlife officials said.

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The aquatic mammal was found dead on Feb. 15 on a riverbank in Stung Treng province near the border with Laos, Cambodia's Fisheries Conservation Department announced on its Facebook page.

The Irrawaddy dolphin, also known as the Mekong River dolphin, is classified as an endangered species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. Other groups of these dolphins are still to be found farther downstream

in Cambodia and in two other freshwater rivers—Myanma’'s Irrawaddy and Indonesia's Mahakam on the island of Borneo. see DOLPHIN on 14

12

asianweekly northwest

40 YEARS

FEBRUARY 26 – MARCH 4, 2022

■ WORLD NEWS

Taiwan premier wants athlete punished for wearing China suit TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Taiwan’s premier wants a Taiwanese Olympic speedskater to be punished for wearing what appeared to be a suit from China's team during training.

Symbols of the two sides are especially sensitive at a time when China’s ruling Communist Party, which claims Taiwan as part of its territory even though the island has long operated with its own government, is trying to intimidate the democracy by flying fighter jets and bombers nearby.

Huang Yu-ting, one of four Taiwanese athletes at the Winter Games, posted a video on her social media page

Jan. 23 showing her training in what appeared to be a Chinese suit, the Central News Agency reported. It said Huang apologized and removed the video.

Premier Su Tseng-chang asked the Ministry of Education and the Sports Administration to investigate so Huang would “receive an adequate punishment,” CNA reported, citing a Cabinet spokesperson, Lo Pingcheng.

The Olympics are one facet of a wide-ranging campaign by Beijing to isolate Taiwan.

The International Olympic Committee requires Taiwanese athletes to compete under the name “Chinese

Analysis: China’s bubble Olympics kept reality at a distance

By TED ANTHONY AP NATIONAL WRITER BEIJING (AP) — They did it—that much seems obvious. But what, exactly, was the “it’’ that they did?

China pulled off a logistically adept Olympics with very few mechanical glitches—no small affair in the pandemic era. It made that happen primarily by creating what it called, in inimitable Chinese government style, a “closed-loop system’’—the nowrenowned Olympic “bubble’’ designed to corral anyone affiliated with the Olympics and, just as important, keep them from infecting the rest of the country.

For these Games, the government made sure to put out the nice China.

Inside the loop, all was amiable— fronted by young and enthusiastic volunteers, embodied by a cheerful fat panda mascot named Bing Dwen Dwen.

The earnest men and women in hazmat suits were friendly, at least as far as one could tell underneath the masks and goggles and full-body plastic. Even the relatively few police encountered inside the bubble were, by Chinese law-enforcement standards, downright chatty.

And yet.

The closed-loop bubble removed a sizable portion of heart and soul from the 2022 Olympics—a global moment that in the best of circumstances is supposed to be overflowing with both.

And here’s what it also did: created some convenient side effects that surely didn’t displease the Chinese authorities.

First, some background. For decades, the country’s Communist Party and government have honed a multipronged system of keeping visitors from seeing—and reporting on—what’s really going on across the astonishingly multifaceted nation that is China.

Since the bloody 1989 crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square in particular, those who try to peer behind the curtain—be

they journalists, activists or sometimes just curious tourists—are often blocked, slapped back or redirected to more innocuous locations and pursuits.

Today, international journalists living and working in China—if they’re not among those getting kicked out—have a challenging time piercing the official narrative and have to fashion innovative end runs to get at the more contentious topics.

For many years, “foreign affairs offices’’ in different Chinese cities, ostensibly designed to facilitate things for visitors, have in fact become official impediments in many cases. Many foreigners trying to travel solo to one of the places the central government considers restive—the western regions of Xinjiang and Tibet in particular— might well be thwarted.

And Chinese journalists? In a society where propaganda is positioned as patriotic rather than repugnant, they face perils and pressures that would be hard for anyone who grew up in a democracy to imagine.

So in a way, the Olympic bubble was the perfect microcosm of hide-all-theblemishes business as usual, set against a globalized, mascot-saturated, winterwonderland backdrop.

Regular international spectators weren’t permitted to come, which eliminated one random element.

More saliently, thousands of visiting international Olympics journalists with prying eyes and rollicking story ideas were effectively prevented from any encounters with regular Chinese people other than a carefully vetted, inside-the-loop cadre of pre-approved representatives.

The reason, obviously, was COVID interdiction. But the outcomes are more than aligned with the goals and practices of Xi Jinping’s government.

This is not to imply that the bubble was created for anything other than COVID-19 inte rdiction. Certainly see DISTANCE on 16

Taipei,” which obscures the island’s longstanding selfruled status.

Taiwan’s Sports Administration said Huang would face no penalty but should be “more aware of the sensitivity of cross-Taiwan Strait politics,” according to CNA. The Taiwanese team leader at the Olympics, Steven Chen, said the Chinese Taipei Olympic Committee would review in April whether Huang was wearing the appropriate clothing, according to CNA. 

Singapore air show subdued 2 years into pandemic

By ZEN SOO ASSOCIATED PRESS SINGAPORE (AP) _ Singapore’s biennial air show opened on Feb. 15 on a smaller scale than before the pandemic, even as the aviation sector gears up for a recovery two years after coronavirus outbreaks nearly paralyzed air travel.

Members of the general public were not allowed, but about 600 exhibitors showed their products and services. That’s down from 930 during the last show in February 2020, when coronavirus cases were just beginning to rise.

Experts say the aviation market is poised for recovery, with defense spending on the rise and commercial aviation picking up despite the latest wave of omicron-driven infections.

Those attending the show had to

observe stringent coronavirus rules including regular COVID-19 testing and potential isolation for those found infected with the coronavirus.

The air show began in 2008. It typically attracts senior corporate executives of aviation companies and delegations from countries around the world. About 13,000 people are expected to attend this year's show, less than half the 30,000 who visited in 2020.

Many Southeast Asian countries have kept their borders closed or imposed strict limits and quarantine and testing requirements to try to curb outbreaks that have ravaged most countries. Some are now slowly relaxing those precautions.

“The air show comes at an interesting time, because the market in Southeast see AIR SHOW on 16

YOUR VOICE

■ ASTROLOGY

FEBRUARY 26 – MARCH 4, 2022

asianweekly northwest

13

Predictions and advice for the week of February 26–March 4, 2022

By Sun Lee Chang Rat—You have been holding steady for a while now, but there are signs that you should consider moving forward instead.

Dragon—You have the ability to inspire positive outcomes. As an added bonus, your position could also be elevated.

Monkey—In order to see the big picture, look a few steps ahead and not just right in front of you.

Ox—Afraid your idea will be rejected? If you don’t share it, it won’t even have a chance to be accepted.

Snake—While doing the bare minimum is acceptable, a little extra effort could yield even better results.

Rooster—If you are trying to be true to yourself, you must seek out the truth no matter where it leads you.

Tiger—Are you confused about some of the things you are hearing lately? Thankfully, it should all become clear soon.

Horse—Reworking something old can be just as satisfying as getting the new version, if not more so.

Dog—Others have worked to pave the way before you, so by all means learn from their example.

Rabbit —Although there is much work to be done on the front end, the rest should be much easier by comparison.

Goat—Avoid making a rash decision. Take the time to gather the facts and really think through the consequences.

Pig—Don’t let a label define you. You are capable of so much more, if you strive to see beyond it.

WHAT’S YOUR ANIMAL SIGN? RAT 1912, 1924, 1936, 1948, 1960, 1972, 1984, 1996, 2008, 2020 OX 1913, 1925, 1937, 1949, 1961, 1973, 1985, 1997, 2009, 2021 TIGER 1914, 1926, 1938, 1950, 1962, 1974, 1986, 1998, 2010, 2022 RABBIT 1915, 1927, 1939, 1951, 1963, 1975, 1987, 1999, 2011 DRAGON 1916, 1928, 1940, 1952, 1964, 1976, 1988, 2000, 2012 SNAKE 1917, 1929, 1941, 1953, 1965, 1977, 1989, 2001, 2013 HORSE 1918, 1930, 1942, 1954, 1966, 1978, 1990, 2002, 2014 GOAT 1919, 1931, 1943, 1955, 1967, 1979, 1991, 2003, 2015 MONKEY 1920, 1932, 1944, 1956, 1968, 1980, 1992, 2004, 2016 ROOSTER 1921, 1933, 1945, 1957, 1969, 1981, 1993, 2005, 2017 DOG 1922, 1934, 1946, 1958, 1970, 1982, 1994, 2006, 2018 PIG 1923, 1935, 1947, 1959, 1971, 1983, 1995, 2007, 2019

*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.

CACCWA from 3 Ammara Touch, a 2021 University of Washington graduate, wasn’t able to attend last year’s virtual graduation, but has been to in-person events in the past and loved the energy in the room. She said a lot of the students are likely the first generation in their family to go to college following the genocide.

“Being the first to go to college is a big thing,” she said.

IT ALL ADDS UP In addition to the celebration, CACCWA offers students scholarships, which are typically about $1,000.

Touch received the CACCWA scholarship in 2020 and it was one of many scholarships that paid for her entire college education.

As a woman of color, attending a predominantly white institution and going into a STEM field (double majoring in biology and American ethnic studies and double minoring in Oceania and Pacific Islander studies

PEPSICO from 1 U.S. This felt like a unique and special way to honor that.”

“Asians have accomplished so much in the last few decades, and together, as a cohesive community that includes all of the individual Asian identities, we can go even further.” Nooyi added, “I want to express my gratitude to the Asian Hall of Fame for inducting me.”

Of all of Nooyi’s positions throughout her esteemed career, she notes her current time teaching Army Cadets at the U.S. Military Academy as her most rewarding experience.

“I truly enjoy meeting and teaching these cadets.

In our sessions, we discuss responsible leadership and business fundamentals, topics I enjoy discussing.”

She noted that she learned from the students as much as she taught them.

During her time at PepsiCo, she attributed the great growth in sales to her “crown jewel” during her tenure: Performance with Purpose.

“With Performance with Purpose, we focused on three core areas: human sustainability, environmental sustainability, and talent sustainability. In short, this meant building out our product portfolio with healthier products, and changing our methods to make production, packaging, and other elements of our process more environmentally sustainable.

The last element refers to creating a diverse, inclusive environment that empowered talent at the company.”

Not only did she attribute

and diversity studies), Touch put her body through a lot during college. This included commuting every day from Kent to Seattle, and back home. Not having to worry about finances took away one stressor for her and her family.

Touch is very grateful that the CACCWA scholarship is specifically for Khmer students. She noted the community’s low high school graduation rate (about 66%) and even lower college graduation rate (about 14%), and hopes they can grow their sources of money so higher education is more accessible.

STRENGTH IN THE NEXT GENERATION Touch said the stories of the Cambodian community and Khmer people have been systemically and systematically erased. So to her, being Khmer is about creating a space where their stories can be told safely, honored, and held in the way they should be to restore the community. Being Khmer means being a future ancestor, a story catcher and teller, and a healer, and understanding and knowing about the genocide because,

this business strategy to pure growth in revenue, but growth in business culture.

“I wouldn’t narrow it down to just growth in sales, but also growth for the company and its future,” she said.

“Performance with Purpose set forth a plan to ensure the company endured and thrived long-term.”

In addition to her time at PepsiCo, she sits on the Board of the International Cricket Council. Once again, she broke barriers as the first International Female Director.

“In my book, I actually talk about starting the first women’s cricket team at my school in India. We even organized the city of Madras’ first-ever women’s tournament.” As part of the board, she assists in finding ways to grow the sport and finding ways to expand its

Touch said, they need to know their history in order to know themselves.

As a member of the older generation, Oung admires younger folks like Touch and their determination for a better future—which is why CACCWA finds strength in the next generation. He said for the older Khmer folks who came to the United States, it was difficult for them in a new country and adapting to a new culture.

But for the ones who were born here, they’re able to access the Khmer community as well as society as a whole. It’s easier for them to navigate the multicultural environment.

And tapping into this strength is key for the community’s ongoing success.

“We can remind them of the past,” Oung said of his generation, “but the future, it’s not for us to say.”  Samantha can be reached at info@nwasianweekly.com.

reach and presence.

Nooyi provided three pieces of insight for those aspiring business people looking to climb the corporate ladder and make it to the upper executive suite.

“One is to always put your hand up for the toughest jobs.” She added, “It will set you apart from the crowd and contribute to your learning.”

“The second is: understand the politics of your organization, but don’t play in them. And the last is: focus on doing your best work in the role you have. If you focus too much on what’s ahead, you get distracted. Be present.”  For more on Nooyi, visit indranooyi.com.

Jason can be reached at info@nwasianweekly.com.

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40 YEARS

FEBRUARY 26 – MARCH 4, 2022

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DOLPHIN from 11 The first census of Irrawaddy dolphins in Cambodia in 1997 estimated their total population was about 200. In 2020, the population was estimated to have fallen to 89, almost all in the group that still exists downstream from Stung Treng.

“The remaining population of ‘critically endangered’ river dolphins in the Cambodia section of the Mekong is now stable, whilst still facing serious challenges,” said a statement from Lan Mercado, Asia-Pacific director of the World Wildlife Fund. “This latest river dolphin death highlights how vulnerable these and other species remain.”

The tail of the dolphin that died was seen tangled in a fishing net about a week earlier, the Cambodian state news agency AKP reported. It said the

SHELF from 8 LUPE WONG WON’T DANCE

By Donna Barba Higuera Levine Querido, 2020 Lupe Wong’s big goal in life is to be the first female pitcher in Major League Baseball. Her goal in the short term is to meet her favorite pitcher, Fu Li Hernandez, who’s C h i n a ca n / Mex i ne se — C h i ne se and Mexican American—like her.

But she can only meet him if she gets straight As on her next report card. All grades are pointing to the seventh grader meeting her hero, but then—horror of all horrors— she learns she’s going to have to square dance in physical education.

As a champion of causes—from the worthy, like expanding the race options on school tests to more than just a few bubbles, to the maybenot-as-worthy, like complaining to the BBC about the length of time between seasons of “Doctor Who”—Lupe realizes this will be her next fight.

“Lupe Wong” is the story of a girl who is not afraid to speak her mind.

Sure, she can be stubborn at times, but that also means she won’t just fall in line and let things be—especially

dolphin was unable to swim properly after that and died due to its injury and inability to catch its usual prey for nourishment.

The World Wildlife Fund said the 25-year-old male dolphin, 8.5 feet long and weighing 242 pounds, is believed to have died three days before his body was found.

In addition to being entangled in fishing nets, the species is also threatened by pollution, according to Cambodia’s Fisheries Administration and other conservationists.

In recent years, risks have also increased due to climate change and waters made shallow by the construction of upstream dams, both of which decrease water flow and the number of other aquatic species that the dolphins eat. 

when she thinks injustices have occurred. Sometimes this backfires, particularly when she doesn’t think things through, and with dire consequences (at least dire for a pre-teen).

Barba Higuera does a great job of blending humor with themes such as the importance of being true to yourself and speaking out about something for the right reasons.

Lupe is a hilarious character and it’s great to see her grow throughout the story. Her crusade to end square dancing in P.E. starts out a little selfish (she is only 12, after all), but by the end, we see her shift and become more thoughtful and compassionate. Her evolution serves as a reminder to readers of all ages that we can all take the time to stop and think before we speak or act.

A TASTE FOR LOVE

By Jennifer Yen Razorbill, 2021 To most people, Liza Yang is pretty much perfect. But to her very traditional Taiwanese mom, Liza is too stubborn and rebellious—and needs to be more like her older sister, Jeannie. The one thing Liza and her mom do agree on is their

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love for baking. So when her mom lets her take on a bigger role in their family bakery’s annual junior baking competition, Liza sets out to prove she is, in fact, a good daughter.

But when she sees that all the competitors are Asian American boys, Liza knows her mom is up to something—specifically, matchmaking. And as annoyed as she is at her mom, Liza is even more annoyed to find herself actually drawn to one of the “bachelors,” the stoic but irritatingly hot James.

“Taste for Love” is a fun retelling of Jane Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice.” My favorite parts were the baking competition. All the guys have been handpicked by her mom and while they may appear to be good matches on paper, real life is a whole other thing. So obviously, hilarity ensues—especially because a number of them have next to no baking skills.

This is definitely one of those books you don’t want to read while hungry. Yen’s descriptions will have you craving everything from boba, to Korean barbecue, to dumplings.

And in a society where anything “too different” is open to ridicule, I appreciated Liza’s unashamed love for all different types of Asian

food and the normalizing of different aspects of our everyday lives without exoticizing or “othering” us.

Finally, I just loved Liza. I related to parts of the fraught relationship with her mom, as well as her relationship with Jeannie and her role as a younger sister. That pressure to try to be perfect and live up to an older sibling is something I still deal with today.

But as Liza learns the value in being herself and following her own passions, she reminds readers that who we are is enough, in any situation.  Samantha can be reached at info@nwasianweekly.com.

SOLUTION from SUDOKU on page 6.

FEBRUARY 26 – MARCH 4, 2022 CID from significant disruption.

While both of these options would spell massive disruption for the CID, community leaders, given the choice, would much prefer 4th Avenue.

SOUND TRANSIT from 1 5th Avenue in the district, according to community leaders who spoke with them, yet the agency now maintains that both 4th and 5th Avenues are still options for demolition and construction.

Finally, ST has withdrawn an option for construction that would not impact the CID directly without explaining why, said community leaders.

THE BACKGROUND The need for light rail is pressing and urgent, according to government leaders.

Gov. Jay Inslee and others have promoted a massive cross-border initiative with Canada called the Cascadia Innovation Corridor in response to a huge anticipated growth rate in population along the Vancouver, B.C., to Portland corridor. By 2050, the population is expected to increase by up to 4 million.

Inslee and his Canadian counterparts wish to link together not just an expanded transit system, but universities, hospitals and other institutions.

At a Feb. 15 ST meeting, community members urged the agency to choose the least-impactful option to develop its new transit hub. Even this option, which is called the “4th Avenue ‘Shallow’ Option 1A,” would mean the full closure of 4th Avenue from Main Street to Jackson for four years, and an estimated nine to 11 years of construction, including the loss of 210 parking spaces in an already highlycongested district.

EXCLUDED? When Lau heard that ST was forming a community advisory group last year to offer comments on the project, she acted in good faith. According to emails she sent to other community leaders, Lau first notified them about the community advisory group, then signed up herself.

ST stated it never received her application but did so only after three months of Lau sending multiple emails to their government and community relations manager for the central corridor, Leda Chahim, their board, and their civil rights office—all without a response.

“This is emblematic of the way they treat the voiceless,” said Lau. In the end, Chahim said she “thought” she had responded to Lau’s attempts to join the committee and why Lau had not received a response.

As of press time, Sound Transit had not yet responded to a request to produce any emails from Chahim to Lau responding to her concerns.

Lau and other leaders dismissed ST’s claim that it never received her application.

Lau filled out the applications of two other community leaders for them before filling out her own, according to Brien Chow, the chair of the outreach committee for the Chong Wa Benevolent Association, whose application was received and who was admitted to the group.

SPD from 1 at 12th Avenue and South Jackson Street in Little Saigon.

Business owners and residents have long complained about this intersection— rife with crime, drugs, and stolen merchandise. Several shootings have also been reported at the intersection.

Police Chief Adrian Diaz said, “Since the beginning of 2022, the SPD has run many operations, resulting in the arrests of multiple people who have been preying on the community surrounding 12th and South Jackson for months.

Since last week, SPD officers have provided a very visible presence that will

Brien Chow

In addition, Lau took on the role of filling out the applications for others and herself because of her proficiency with such forms.

As a lifelong educator, she has garnered over $1 million in educational grants from the federal government.

“Everyone who completed an application from the CID was accepted,” said Rachelle Cunningham, ST’s public information officer, in response to questions.

“What do they have to fear from me?” asked Lau. OPTION REMOVED? According to an ST PowerPoint dated July 16, 2018, it was considering an option of expanding its transit hub in the neighborhood by joining with redevelopment of the 4th Avenue viaduct.

The PowerPoint, obtained by Northwest Asian Weekly, depicts a slide with a colored bubble indicating the proposed construction labeled, “Opportunity to partner on 4th Ave. viaduct rebuild.”

This would have been preferred by community leaders, said Chow, because it would mean businesses in the CID would not have to be shut down, streets in the district would not be closed for years, and thousands of older people’s lives and health as well as children’s schooling and youth programs would not be affected.

It would also have meant streets would not have to be ripped up twice at a cost of more taxpayer’s dollars and a double increase in lost years for the community, he said.

But this option has been removed from promotional material shown to the community in 2022, according to Chow.

At the moment, community leaders and residents are asked to choose between options that involve either 5th or 4th Avenue, he said.

Cunningham said that an option involving the reconstruction of the viaduct had not been abandoned. However, it was not immediately clear if this was the same option shown in 2018 that would save the

continue for the foreseeable future. We understand how detrimental the on-going criminal activity has been to residents, businesses, and community leaders in that neighborhood, and the SPD commits to continue its work with city partners to help keep this area safe.”

King County Metro has also moved a bus stop from 12th and Jackson to a different location across the street to increase safety.

The Little Saigon neighborhood is hosting a monthly community cleanup, with one happening on March 5.

Event coordinators anticipate 50 to 100 participants each month. 

AGENTS SENT? Sound Transit claims both options are under consideration and the final result will not be decided upon until June.

But Lau and another community leader, both Chinese speakers, visited businesses in 2019 along 5th Avenue and were told that they had already been approached by ST agents wanting to buy them out—an option she and others see as tantamount to the death knell of the CID. ST denied this.

“Sound Transit did not send agents to offer to buy out businesses or begin negotiations to purchase property in the CID or in any other location along the project corridor.

Sound Transit is still in the planning phase of the project and cannot make such offers to purchase property until granted authority to do so by the Sound Transit Board. Board authority is not typically granted until after the Final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) has been published and the Board has selected the project to be built. Based on the current project schedule, such Board authority would not be anticipated until 2024,” wrote Cunningham in an email to Northwest Asian Weekly.

Lau said, “The problem is that those immigrant businesses owners think ST is basically the same as the government and they think they have no choice but to accept whatever they say,” said Lau. Those who approached the businesses did not speak Chinese, according to Lau, complicating cross-cultural understanding.

“Many thought they could move away for eight years then maybe come back and everything would still be the same,” she said. “But they don’t know that the buildings will be different, the rent will be higher, and how are they supposed to survive for eight years someplace else?”

Cunningham, said it would be unlawful for anyone to approach businesses to attempt to buy them out.

Lau said, however, she had been able to ask this question during a community advisory group meeting—about why the merchants had been approached—and received a different answer.

All meetings are video-recorded for public viewing, but have not yet been posted, said Lau. PLEADING FOR MERCY At this point, community leaders have come together to simply plead with Sound Transit to choose the least harmful of options for their neighborhood.

If 5th Avenue is chosen, as it appears to be already in the sights of the agency, they said, the impact will curtail the lives and livelihood of the entire community for a decade, putting an end to the ties that bind the community together.

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The list of the community institutions that will be harmed, not only by environmental destruction and pollution, but also through shutting off access, includes virtually the entire network that keeps the CID alive, they said.

These include: The Indian Health Board and their clients, all residents, business, and visitors; the Chinese Information and Service Center (CISC) and its children’s programs; Denise Louie Early Education Center; a daycare in Hirabayashi Place; several kung fu Schools; Chinese language schools; Massive Monkees dance school; Bailey Gatzert Elementary School; Summit Sierra public school; Puget Sound Community School; Helping Link tutoring and Vietnamese classes'; the Wing Luke Museum and its youth programs; over a dozen low-income buildings with Legacy House; Hing Hay Park; Donnie Chin Park; Kobe Terrace Park; Nikkei Manor; Chong Wa Chinese Girls Drill Team; and the Chinatown Dragon Team.

Community leaders note that Chinese residents of Seattle were once before driven out of their homes in 1886 following the Chinese Exclusion Act. As a result, a whole consortium of groups have banded together to issue pleas in an attempt to stave off what they fear is the inevitable end of the entire CID—Chinatown, and eventually, Japantown, and Little Saigon.

“With our history in mind, we ask that the light rail be placed on 4th instead of 5th, where the impact on the health of people and the livelihood of businesses in the Chinatown community will be reduced or diminished,” said Winston Lee, president of United Chinese Americans, Washington chapter.

For others, the incursion by ST marked another catastrophe in a long series of erosions of the district’s integrity.

Jesse Tam, past president and current board member of the Greater Seattle Chinese Chamber of Commerce, said, “Unfortunately, throughout the years, the commercial and residential areas of [the CID] are being diminished in size by many other public development projects. The upcoming light rail station will be a major disruption to our neighborhood again…

If the development on the 5th continues, it will be devastating, affecting many businesses and will hurt a lot of the elderly residents who call Chinatown their home.

Fourth Avenue is a much better choice for everyone.”

Ali Lee, a parent involved with the Seattle Chinese Community Girls Drill Team,, said she was concerned about environmental impact.

“Elderly individuals, children and businesses hit hard by COVID would feel those impacts twofold,” she said of placing the station on 5th Avenue.  Mahlon can be reached at info@nwasianweekly.com.

Photos by John Liu

YOUR VOICE

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asianweekly northwest

DISTANCE from 12 Tokyo had a system last year for its Summer Games that shared some characteristics with Beijing’s, though was much less hardcore, reflecting the differing types of governments that Japan and China have.

And as China readily points out, the bubble system worked. As of Feb. 19, the segregated system that effectively turned Beijing into two cities—one sequestered, one proceeding very much as normal—had produced only 463 positive results out of 1.85 million tests among thousands of visitors entering the bubble since Jan. 23.

“The success in insulating the event from the virus and keeping disruption to sports events to a minimum

AIR SHOW from 12 Asia is finally starting to recover after almost two years of decimated impact on air travel, particularly in the international market,” said Brendan Sobie, an independent aviation and aerospace analyst based in Singapore.

Many Chinese companies stayed away from this year’s show, likely because of Beijing’s “zero-COVID” policies that involve lengthy quarantines.

Major exhibitors at this year’s show included Boeing, Airbus and Lockheed Martin. Boeing’s newest widebody jet, the 777X, made its Asian debut at this year’s show, demonstrating aerial maneuvers during a daily flight display.

The 777X is about 20% more fuel efficient than the aircraft it replaces, according to Darren Hulst, the vice

40 YEARS

FEBRUARY 26 – MARCH 4, 2022 also reflected the effectiveness and flexibility of China’s overall zero-COVID policies,’’ the Global Times newspaper, which is pro-government even by Chinese standards, enthused.

So those “authoritarian Olympics’’ that human rights groups criticized and that some Western governments boycotted (even as they sent their athletes)? The bubble created to host them was, in some ways, not unlike the bubble town that the Marvel character Wanda Maximoff created in last year’s popular TV series “WandaVision.”

Like the fictional Westview, Bubble Beijing definitely had some things in common with reality, and sometimes you could glimpse the real world from inside. But it was shiny and closely calibrated and—unless you did some serious digging to find the seams—you couldn’t really

president of marketing for Boeing’s commercial airplanes.

Singapore Airlines is among Boeing customers planning to include the new jet in their fleets.

“The number one trend we're seeing is how resilient the demand for aviation is and how important it is for people to connect,” Hulst said. He noted that short-haul flights have recovered quickly in regions like the U.S., where high gas prices are discouraging people from traveling by car.

“As we see the industry recover more, as more and more restrictions are lifted on long haul travel, we’ll see the market continue to recover and we think the industry will be back to where it was in 2019 somewhere by the end of 2023 or early 2024,” Hulst said.

China’s absence at the show leaves a big gap, said Sobie.

Chinese tourists usually are the

world’s biggest spenders, having splashed out $254.6 billion on overseas travel in 2019, according to the UN’s World Tourism Organization.

“It’s not about them not participating in the show necessarily. It’s about them not participating in the recovery of the international aviation industry,” he said.

“China is a very important market for Asia and in particular, Southeast Asia relies very heavily on China,'” he said.

“So it’s an extremely important market that has to recover in order for the market overall to fully recover.”

While civil aviation has been decimated by the pandemic, experts said defense innovation and spending were less affected, apart from disruptions to supply chains that have troubled many industries worldwide. 

leave until the story played out.

Ultimately, the 2022 Winter Olympics enter the books with two dominant storylines. One is the sports story—a narrative dotted with the triumphs of Eileen Gu and Nathan Chen and Su Yiming, the sadness of Mikaela Shiffrin and the mess that is Russian figure skating.

The other, though, captured from inside that bubble, is the story of the Olympic host country. That one is a pandemic-era tale of apparent medical and logistical triumph on the surface, with a different reality floating below, sanitized for the government’s protection and viewed, inevitably, through the COVID-flavored prism of our era—as if through a mask, goggles and a fullbody plastic hazmat suit. 

BLOG from 7 from time to time to keep myself sane. And cosmetics seem to do the trick.

There’s a silver lining for masks. Masks are here to stay.

No one would perceive it as strange or a sign of weakness like before. People won’t laugh as much at those Asian Americans who wear masks. It’s the only protection for many Asian countries during SARS and Covid. Now, we understand it’s for life and death, self-protection, and for the protection of others.

The irony is, it takes a pandemic and millions of tragedies in deaths and infections, and several scientific studies to convince people that the mask is an effective medical tool.

Only Hawaii has not set a date to unmask. It may never set a date to unmask for indoor gatherings. I know some fools who oppose masks, will tease those who wear one. But don’t be afraid to be teased. Stand firm for your principle of safety and protection because you are selfless. Your health matters. Keep your masks on especially if you are sick or not comfortable with the people around you. Those fools being bullies, are not my concern. What I worry about are their children. I pray they are alright and survive from their parents’ stupidity.

Who may have the last laugh? Probably Hawaii and its people.  Assunta can be reached at assunta@nwasianweekly.com.