VOL 41 NO 13 | MARCH 26 – APRIL 1, 2022

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VOL 41 NO 13 MARCH 26 – APRIL 1, 2022

FREE 40 YEARS YOUR VOICE

“Celebrate Asia” 2022 encourages a community to move forward, together

By Kai Curry NORTHWEST ASIAN WEEKLY

Photo by Assunta Ng

“We all make music somehow, in our homes, in our communities…we are all connected through the power of music.”

So said Seattle Symphony President and CEO Krishna Thiagarajan as he talked to the Northwest Asian Weekly about the importance of this year’s “Celebrate Asia,” which took place at Benaroya Hall on March 20.

Two years ago, this annual festival showcasing Seattle’s diverse Pacific Rim communities, as it was described

by Thiagarajan, marked the last in-person event for the Symphony prior to COVID-19 lockdown. Now reaching its 14th iteration, it was hard to ignore the pandemic-related From left: Kala Ramnath, violinist; Reena Esmail, composer; and Kahchun Wong, conductor.

WA S H I N G T O N (AP) — President Joe Biden’s COVID-19 coordinator Jeff Zients and his deputy Natalie Quillian are leaving the administration next month, the White House announced on March 17. They Dr. Ashish Jha will be replaced by Dr. Ashish Jha, the dean of the Brown University School of Public Health.

Zients, an experienced manager and government executive, was brought on by Biden before he took office to devise and execute a “wartime” federal government response to the coronavirus pandemic, including shoring up supply and distribution of vaccines, see JHA on 16

■

AT THE MOVIES “Umma”: the horror of turning into your mom 8

WORLD NEWS Murakami plays antiwar songs on radio to protest Ukraine war  9

Long COVID: the disease that cannot be described The isolation of being her mother’s full-time caregiver in hospice in a remote New Mexico town prepared Robin Macnofsky. The following year, she developed long COVID—and is still haunted by the disease.

The story of Macnofsky, now 61, highlights the complications—both emotional and physical—of those suffering from this grim illness as well as the limitations, and hopes, of medical science.

As of last week, over 460 million people worldwide have had COVID-19. Of those who develop mild symptoms, or none, studies suggest that a full 30% may face long COVID, which springs from the initial infection and then effloresces into other, often more horrific symptoms.

Of those who have been discharged from a hospital after a more severe bout of COVID-19, over 87% will develop long-lasting symptoms of long COVID, according to another study.

Credit: Stanford University

By Mahlon Meyer NORTHWEST ASIAN WEEKLY Credit: Stanford University

By ZEKE MILLER

BUSINESS How one company continues to struggle with supply chain issues, tariffs, and the pandemic  7

see CELEBRATE ASIA on 11

Credit: UW Medical School

Biden COVID coordinators leaving in April, Jha to take over

THE INSIDE STORY

Dr. Eric Chow.

Dr. Linda Geng.

Dr. Upinder Singh.

“The way I think about it, if only 10% of the people who’ve had COVID-19 develop long COVID,” said Macnofsky, “That’s still millions, tens of millions.”

A stigmatized illness

symptoms could use it.

When she finally took a test, as her symptoms worsened, it came back negative.

“Whatever this is,” she thought at the time, “at least it’s not COVID-19.”

Robin Macnofsky (Credit: Robin Macnofsky)

During the initial months of the pandemic and until recently in many places, long COVID was dismissed as psychosomatic. Patients were told they were experiencing panic attacks, among other things.

For Macnofsky, it had started simply—a headache, fatigue, and she chose to downplay her symptoms, having just cared for her mother for six months, who was wracked with pain until the end.

Macnofsky decided against a nasal swab in the early days of the pandemic when they were scarce, thinking someone else with more severe

A mystery illness

One of the problems with not having a definition of the disease, much less an understanding of how it works, is that there is no diagnostic test that a doctor can give a patient to see if he or she has long COVID. Instead, the doctors must first rule out any other diseases or ill health that could see LONG COVID on 15

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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asianweekly northwest

40 YEARS

MARCH 26 – APRIL 1, 2022

■ NAMES IN THE NEWS Yang, Soma among James Beard finalists

Rachel Yang and husband-chef Seif Chirchi, who is also a finalist.

On March 16, the James Beard Award announced its finalists for its first awards in two years. Only three Seattle chefs and restaurants are still in the running for awards out of the 11 chefs, four restaurants, and one baker from Washington who were 2022 James Beard Award semifinalists.

They include Rachel Yang of Fremont’s Joule—a Korean restaurant famous for its beef short rib kalbi with grilled kimchi, and soba master Mutsuko Soma, whose restaurant Kamonegi serves soba noodles, local meat and seafood, and creative desserts like tempura Samoa Girl Scout cookies.

The winners will be honored during the James Mutsuko Soma Beard Restaurant and Chef Awards ceremony on June 13 in Chicago. 

Densho founder Tom Ikeda retiring Tom Ikeda, the founding executive director and longtime leader of Densho, an online archive and public history organization that documents the stories of Japanese Americans incarcerated during World War II, recently announced his pending retirement.

Ikeda co-founded Densho in 1996, shepherding Tom Ikeda its growth from a small, volunteer-run oral history project to a “gold standard” digital archive that reaches over a million people across the globe each year.

“Tom’s a real trailblazer, not just in using digital technology to make this history more accessible, but also in keeping it relevant and engaging the next generation,” said Board Chair Ron Tanemura.

A major national search for a dynamic new leader to take the helm is now underway.

Ikeda plans to stay on until a new executive director has been selected and to help guide the transition process. 

Mae Ngai wins Bancroft Prize Mae Ngai won one of the most prestigious awards in the field of American history.

The Columbia University professor wrote “The Chinese Question: The Gold Rushes and Global Politics,” which was published by W.W. Norton, and was praised by the jury as “an extraordinary

book” that “brilliantly shows us how much of the white Anglo-American world came to view the Chinese as a racially unassimilable and threatening people.”

The Bancroft Prize, which includes an award of $10,000, was established in 1948 by the trustees of Columbia University, with a bequest from the historian Frederic Bancroft.

Books are evaluated for “the scope, significance, depth of research, and richness of interpretation.” 

Bee Nguyen for GA Secretary of State Last week, AAPI Victory Fund announced their latest endorsement for the upcoming midterm elections: Bee Nguyen for Georgia Secretary of State.

Nguyen made history as the first Vietnamese American member elected to the Georgia General AsBee Nguyen sembly in 2017.

This year, if elected, Nguyen may make history once more as Georgia’s first AAPI Secretary of State.

AAPI Victory Fund President & CEO Brad Jenkins said, “Nguyen gained invaluable mentorship experience through a local nonprofit she founded to educate and empower young women and, over the decade she spent in the Georgia public school system, knows firsthand the best practices to organize and spark change for her community…as Secretary of State, we have no doubt Representative Nguyen will position the state of Georgia as a leader in our country for voting rights.” 

Mae Ngai

Thank you!

Our daughter Vanessa Lee won the 2022 Miss Chinese Chamber of Commerce, First Princess and Miss Talent in the Miss Chinatown U.S.A. pageant in San Francisco recently.

We are fortunate to have the support of friends, community organizations, and leaders. We appreciate their congratulatory advertisements in the Northwest Asian Weekly and Seattle Chinese Post, gifts, red envelopes, flowers, and good wishes.

Thank you to all the guests, including Seattle Police Chief Adrian Diaz, for coming to our celebration dinner on March 12 at China Harbor Restaurant.

Also, we’d like to thank our elected officials for sending us congratulatory letters, including Congressman Adam Smith, Gov. Jay Inslee, King

PHOTO BY ALVIN TANG

County Executive Dow Constantine, and Port of Seattle Commissioner Toshiko Hasegawa. Smith’s representative Arshia Nilchian, Constantine’s representative James Bush, Bellevue Deputy Mayor Jared Nieuwenhuis, and Bellevue City councilmember Conrad Lee were also at the event to present the certificate and acknowledgement letters.

Last but not least, we'd like to acknowledge the support of the Lee Family Association and Greater Seattle Chinese Chamber of Commerce for sponsoring and coaching our daughter, and also for attending the pageant in San Francisco to cheer for her success.

— Kristin and Tim Lee

YOUR VOICE

■ COMMUNITY NEWS

MARCH 26 – APRIL 1, 2022

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China’s power wobbles as Russia falters, says expert

By Mahlon Meyer NORTHWEST ASIAN WEEKLY The war in Ukraine is shaking the Chinese leadership’s faith in its own military buildup, threatening its geopolitical ambitions, and even rocking its political power base, according to a leading scholar in International Studies.

“The Russian invasion of Ukraine has been bad for China, and it’s likely to get worse,” said David Bachman, a professor in the Henry M. Jackson School at the University of Washington (UW), who specializes in Chinese Domestic and Foreign Policy, International Political Economy, Asian Politics, International Relations, and U.S.David Bachman China Relations.

Speaking at a panel co-sponsored by the Washington State China Relations Council on March 15, Bachman said the faltering war effort had alarmed President Xi Jinping and others, leading to a recognition that China is stuck in a disastrous situation as a result.

Among other consequences, Bachman said the poor performance of Russia’s military had led to a reevaluation of China’s own decades-long military modernization, since to a large extent it has been modeled on Russia.

“No one, including Xi Jinping, expected the Russian military to perform so poorly,” he said. “This, from the Chinese perspective, is what a modern military looks like.”

The failure of Russia’s military to quickly dispose of Ukrainian resistance is undermining Chinese confidence not only in Russia—but in itself.

“It’s also the modern military that the Chinese military

practices with because the Chinese military hasn’t engaged in modern military combat in many, many years,” said Bachman.

He added, “China also buys Russian weapons. Are they not very good? What does this mean for China’s defense buildup?

It’s raising real questions, I think, in military leadership and among China’s military defense complex.”

The Chinese were also shocked by Russia’s request for military and other supplies.

"The fact that the Russians felt the need to ask for Chinese equipment suggests how ill equipped and how ill prepared the Russians were to face the Ukrainians, raising doubts about Russia’s overall military and other competencies,” said Bachman. “So, are you linking yourself up with a sinking ship or not?”

Another lurching realization that came to the Chinese leadership was that it had profoundly underestimated the speed and solidarity with which the West would unite against Russia’s invasion.

“The rapidity with which NATO seemed to find a renewed sense of purpose and the casting of Ukraine as a conflict between autonomy and democracy was also a shock,” said Bachman. “More significantly, the EU, NATO, and others see this not solely confined to Russia. China policy is being reconsidered and potentially hardened.”

Even more stunning was “the breadth, depth and severity of the sanctions” imposed upon Russia, particularly the freezing of foreign exchange reserves.

“To put it in context, Russia had 640 or so billion dollars of foreign exchange. China has 3.25 trillion of which 1.06 trillion is sitting in US treasuries,” said Bachman. “So China has more to lose, and it is worried now about where its money is and what might happen to it.”

This comes at a time when China’s economy is suffering

a severe slowdown and the country is facing the worst COVID outbreak since early 2020, calling into question the government’s fundamental approach to the pandemic—the “dynamic zero” coronavirus strategy.

At the same time, voices among influential academics and others are emerging to challenge China’s support for Vladmir Putin’s war, while there are signs that Xi’s leadership is also being challenged in subtle ways.

“They are not really perceptible on any tangible level but are clearly growing,” said Bachman.

Finally, China is realizing it may be facing hardening opposition in Asia, which could very well delay its hopes of subjugating Taiwan.

With the election of a pro-U.S. president in South Korea, and the strengthening of security ties between the U.S. and Japan and Australia, China fears a NATO-like alliance may be emerging—or even that NATO itself might be extending to Asia, bolstered by opposition to the war.

China’s foreign minister, Wang Yi, spent an hour and a half complaining about such an eventuality during his session in the National People’s Congress earlier this month.

He and the Chinese government are worried that such a security structure “would apply to Taiwan,” said Bachman.

“So Taiwan in important ways is the beneficiary of this war and it may be one of the only ones,” said Bachman.

Meanwhile, support for Taiwan in the U.S. is higher than it’s been in 40 years, when the U.S. broke off relations with the island’s government for China. At the same time, Congress is showing increased support for Taiwan, including banning maps that include Taiwan as part of China, a highly sensitive issue to Beijing.

Both the quality and quantity of weapons sold to Taiwan see UW PANEL on 14

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asianweekly northwest

MARCH 26 – APRIL 1, 2022

40 YEARS

■ NATIONAL NEWS Chinese operative accused in plot to undermine US candidate

By ERIC TUCKER ASSOCIATED PRESS WASHINGTON (AP) — Five men accused of acting on behalf of the Chinese government have been charged with brazen and wide-ranging schemes to stalk and harass Chinese dissidents living in the United States, including by seeking to derail the election bid of a little-known congressional candidate, the Justice Department said on March 16.

The cases underscored what American officials described as increasingly aggressive efforts by the Chinese government—sometimes involving the

use of hired private investigators—to seek out, silence and threaten pro-democracy activists abroad.

“Authoritarian states around the world feel emboldened to reach beyond their borders to intimidate or exact reprisals against individuals who dare to speak out against repression and corruption,” Assistant Attorney General Matthew Olsen, the Justice Department’s top national security official, said at a news conference announcing three criminal cases.

“This activity is antithetical to fundamental American values,“ he added.

“We will not tolerate such repression here when it violates our laws.”

The criminal cases, filed in federal court in Brooklyn, allege months-long efforts to embarrass dissidents and stifle their speech.

The Justice Department in 2020 charged eight people with working on behalf of the Chinese government in a pressure campaign aimed at coercing a New Jersey man who was wanted by Beijing into returning to China to face charges.

In one of the new cases, two New York men operating under the direction of an employee of a China-based technology company spied on pro-democracy activists, sought to illegally obtain and disseminate the federal tax returns of a dissident and also plotted to destroy the artwork

of a dissident artist, prosecutors said. A sculpture depicting Chinese President Xi Jinping as a coronavirus molecule was demolished last year, though no one has been charged in that, according to the Justice Department.

Two of the three men in that case, Fan “Frank” Liu and Matthew Ziburis, were arrested on March 15 on charges that include conspiring to commit interstate harassment and criminal use of a means of identification. A third man, Qiang “Jason” Sun, who prosecutors say tasked the others, remains at large. see SCHEME on 12

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) — Olympic figure skating champion Nathan Chen withdrew from the world championships on March 16 because of what he called a “nagging injury” that he’s been dealing with after winning at the

Beijing Games.

The three-time reigning champion was replaced on the U.S. team by Camden Pulkinen in Montpellier, France.

“I am disappointed to have to withdraw from worlds,” Chen said in a statement.

Actor, producer, M.D., Ken Jeong to address Tulane grads NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Comedian and physician Ken Jeong will be the keynote commencement speaker at the university in New Orleans where he did research for a year after going through his medical residency at a local hospital.

There often are arguments about whether a speaker should be academically accomplished or a celebrity, but Jeong is both, Tulane University President Michael Fitts said in a news release.

Tulane said its ceremony on May 21 will be the first since the COVID-19 pandemic began at which all graduates will participate in person.

Jeong performed in New Orleans comedy clubs in the 1990s while working as a resident in internal medicine at the Ochsner Health system’s original hospital, followed by a research fellowship at Tulane’s School of Medicine. In 1995, he won the city’s Big Easy Laff Off, judged by Improv comedy club founder Budd Friedman and former NBC chief Brandon Tartikoff. Jeong got a chance to perform at the Improv in Los Angeles.

His performances since then have included Mr. Chow in “The Hangover” movie and its sequels; Senor Chang from the TV show “Community,” Wye Mun Goh in the movie “Crazy Rich Asians, and his own Netflix standup special “You Complete Me, Ho.” He wrote, produced and played

the lead in the ABC sitcom “Dr. Ken.” He has been a judge for six seasons on “The Masked Singer” and is host and executive producer of “I Can See Your Voice.”

Jeong’s undergraduate degree is from Duke University, which also has given him an honorary degree in humane letters, and see JEONG on 12

AP Photo/John Locher

Olympic champ Chen out of figure skating worlds with injury “I have been training for this competition since returning from Beijing. I have a nagging injury that I’ve been dealing with and I don’t want to risk further injury by see CHEN on 14

First-place finisher Nathan Chen poses with his medal in the men’s championship at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, in 2021, Las Vegas.

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.

KC000451 OPENS: 04/27/2022 2023-2027 Metro Connections Service Change Campaign(s) TDM Consulting & Marketing Pre-Proposal Conference: Thursday, March 24th at 10:00 AM (Audio Only) Conference Call: 1.425.653.6586 Conference ID: 847 894 828# KC000394 OPENS: 04/06/2022 Ammunition Collection & Recycling Services RFP/A SR-000099290 OPENS: 04/20/2022 Vehicle / Vehicle Licensing Sub-Agent - Renton KC000481 OPENS: 04/25/2022 Worksite Flu Shots and Covid-19 Vaccination Services Pre-Proposal Conference: Wednesday, March 30th at 10:00 AM (Audio Only) Conference Call: 1.425.653.6586 Conference ID: 498 905 045# KC000505 OPENS: 04/20/2022 Dental Managed Care Plan

YOUR VOICE

■ TECHNOLOGY

MARCH 26 – APRIL 1, 2022

March is Women’s History Month in America, a month dedicated to commemorating and celebrating the women who have played a vital role in American history. An equally important component of the month is empowering today’s women to continue striving for success in a variety of fields.

One woman currently working at the forefront of the STEM field is Ting-Yi Liu, a first-generation immigrant from Taiwan who is currently a junior software engineer at Google. Amongst her team’s many responsibilities are providing trusted data encryption, security, and protection for Google’s users.

“It’s challenging, but definitely very exciting,” she says of her job.

Although Ting-Yi has made it on the big stage by working for Google, it was a long path to get the opportunity in the first place. In Taiwan, she majored in chemistry and pharmaceutical sciences and worked in the biotech field there for eight years before moving to the United States in 2018 in pursuit of more opportunities. It was in the United States that she began her interest in coding.

“I took some online coding classes by myself and found it really fun,” she says. “I wanted to learn more, and I joined the Ada Developers Academy in Seattle, which taught me the necessary skills to become a full-stack engineer.”

The Ada Developers Academy is a Seattle-based “nonprofit, costfree coding school for women and gender expansive adults,”

Photo provided by Ting-Yi

By Juliet Fang NORTHWEST ASIAN WEEKLY

Ting-Yi enjoys hiking in Washington.

according to the organization’s website. They provide six months of coding classes and five months of internship to set up underrepresented minorities like Ting-Yi for success in the tech industry.

“I loved the Ada Developers coding program,” says TingYi. “As a new immigrant to the United States, I didn’t have the connections or networking resources to even get started.

Plus, there was the issue of my language barrier. Being a part of Ada built the foundation for me to land a job at Google.”

Despite programs like the Ada Developers Academy, women

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are greatly underrepresented in STEM. According to the 2020 U.S. Census, women make up nearly half of the American workforce, but only 27% are employed in STEM. This disparity is highlighted most in Ting-Yi’s field, computer science and engineering. Only about 20% of women working in STEM were computer workers, while 10% were engineers. These are statistics that Ting-Yi would like to see changed.

“Having a wide cast of genders and racial and cultural backgrounds fuels growth and productivity. It’s just good for the industry in general. But I think

there are broad social benefits as well. For example, being able to see women succeed in STEM gives women in the industry a role model to help navigate the field, making it more approachable.”

Increasing diversity in the workplace is a win-win situation, the benefits cutting both ways for business and consumers. Even so, Ting-Yi’s path to Google as a woman in STEM has not been free from challenges. Though she felt very supported by her community in Taiwan, she often felt the cultural expectations to act a certain way.

“Growing up in Taiwan, I felt the pressure to ‘be good.’ Smile

asianweekly northwest

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and get my work done as perfectly as possible. In America, I had to learn that it’s completely okay to ask for help, that my time, just like other people’s, is valuable.”

“At Google, I really feel that the company values the learning process and meets you where you’re at. Here, I’ve gotten the chance to think for myself more and use my ideas for the benefit of my team.”

One of the factors Ting-Yi attributes to helping her overcome the cultural box she felt restricted by was reading Peak: Secrets from the New Science of Expertise by authors Anders Ericsson and Robert Pool. The book contends that everyone has the potential to succeed and that excellence itself depends on focusing attention on a “discreet series of attainable practices.” These ideas helped Ting-Yi feel that she could become an engineer or take on “any kind of expertise.”

Looking forward, Ting-Yi hopes that the tech industry will adopt the culture of inclusivity that she has appreciated at the Ada Developers Program and Google.

“We need to keep encouraging other women, gender expansive groups, and underrepresented groups so that they have more confidence in their passions and ambitions,” she says with conviction. “For those that are thinking about entering or are currently entering the tech industry right now, don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t be good at something.”  Juliet can be reached at info@nwasianweekly.com.

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asianweekly northwest

MARCH 26 – APRIL 1, 2022

40 YEARS

■ COMMUNITY CALENDAR NOW THRU APRIL 1

3RD ANNUAL MUKAI FARM & GARDEN HAIKU FESTIVAL Poetry competition for all ages Submission deadline: April 1 Send the three-line poem with a 5-7-5 syllable pattern to mukaifarmandgarden.org/ haiku-2022 NOW THRU JULY 10

EMBODIED CHANGE: SOUTH ASIAN ART ACROSS TIME Seattle Asian Art Museum, South Gallery Fri-Sun, 10 a.m.–5 p.m. seattleartmuseum.org NOW THRU FEB 19, 2023

Exhibit, “We are Changing the Tide: Community Power for Environmental Justice” The Wing Luke Museum, 719 S. King St., Seattle Thu-Sun, 10 a.m.–5 p.m. wingluke.org/we-are-changingthe-tide

MAR

APR 2

22

30

READING AND BOOK SIGNING, “STARHUG BOOK” Panama Cafe, 650 S. Main St., Seattle 2–3 p.m.

KIN ON VIRTUAL GALA & AUCTION, “FUTURE FORWARD FESTIVAL” 6 p.m.

Register at kinon.cbo.io

LUNAR NEW YEAR CELEBRATION Seattle’s Chinatown– International District 11 a.m.–4 p.m.

WOMEN’S HISTORY MONTH EHC ROUNDTABLE 2 p.m.

Register at https://bit.ly/3IuNDoT

7

AAPISTRONG SMALL BUSINESS ROUNDTABLE SERIES: STATE OF SMALL BUSINESS IN SEATTLE China Harbor Restaurant, 2040 Westlake Ave. N., Seattle 11:30 a.m.

Register at bit.ly/ace_sattle

23

SAKURA-CON 2022 Washington State Convention Center, 705 Pike St., Seattle 8 a.m.–5 p.m. sakuracon.org/registration

27

31 VIRTUAL EVENT: WHITE HOUSE INITIATIVE ON AA & NHPI PACIFIC NORTHWEST ROUNDTABLE 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m.

Register at https://bit.ly/3umo9oC

CLUB MEETING WITH ANNABEL QUINTERO, 9/11 SURVIVOR, AUTHOR, LIFE COACH 11:30 a.m.–1 p.m.

For Zoom link, contact rotaryofseattleid@gmail.com

15-17

13TH SEATTLE INTERNATIONAL CHILDREN’S FRIENDSHIP FESTIVAL Seattle Center, Fisher Pavilion 11 a.m.-6 p.m. icffseattle.org

Prepare for power outages today

KING COUNTY, WASHINGTON NOTICE TO PROPOSERS

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Sealed bids will be received for KC000511, Underground Storage Tank (UST) Cleaning, Inspection, Repair & Lining WO 2022-2023 (Rebid); by the King County Procurement and Payables Section, via the E-Procurement system, until 1:30PM on April 7, 2022. Late bids will not be accepted. The public bid opening will only be conducted on-line following the Bid Close Date and Time; see Invitation to Bid, Section 00 10 00, for details.

The work under this contract consists of underground storage tank cleaning and inspection, which may also include tank lining and/or tank repairs. Work will be performed on

a work order basis at various Transit Facilities located throughout King County.

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

Estimated Contract Price: NTE $400,000 Pre-Bid: See Section 00 10 00 Invitation to Bid for details Prospective bidders can view more details at: https://kingcounty.gov/procurement/solicitations Complete Invitation to Bid Documents, including all project details, specifications, and contact information are available on our web page at: https://kingcounty.gov/procurement/supplierportal

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The only weekly English-language newspaper serving Washington’s Asian community. The NW Asian Weekly has one simple goal: “To empower the Asian community.”

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YOUR VOICE

■ BUSINESS

MARCH 26 – APRIL 1, 2022

By Jason Cruz NORTHWEST ASIAN WEEKLY

7

Courtesy photo

How one company continues to struggle with supply chain issues, tariffs, and the pandemic

Ben Zhang’s international business stemmed from his idea in a class at the University of Washington.

Ben Zhang’s business has dealt with major obstacles in the last couple years.

The pandemic, tariffs lodged against China, and staggering inflation have caused many companies that depend on the shipping of goods major headaches.

“The biggest impact are productivity and supply chain issues,” said Zhang, who is the CEO of Greater Pacific Industries, a wholesale import and export business based in Bellevue.

“Shipping could be two weeks, or it could be two months,” said Zhang of the current uncertainty. “That’s unbelievably slow.”

Zhang depends upon the continuous flow of movement in and out of ports, which include the Port of Seattle and Long Beach, Calif.

“Before the pandemic, it would take 3-5 days for containers to clear customs. Right

asianweekly northwest

Aerial photography of container terminal

now, it may take 2 months.” Zhang attributes the slowdown to the absence of truck drivers and employees that usually would be in place to ensure that products keep on moving.

Due to the pandemic, some workers have not returned to their jobs or have found new ones leaving a void in employment. As a result, Zhang’s company cannot get the freight.

“A lot of shipments are not able to get to clients on time.”

Another impact of the supply chain stagnation was Zhang’s inability to grow his business.

“In order to grow, we have to hire,” explained Zhang. However, Zhang noted the lack of qualified candidates applying for positions at this time.

While many businesses felt the economic slowdown during the pandemic, Zhang was able to pivot a portion of his business of supplying promotional items for companies to personal protective equipment. Zhang noted that his company experienced a slowdown in revenue in January and February of 2020 see ZHANG on 16

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asianweekly northwest

MARCH 26 – APRIL 1, 2022

■ AT THE MOVIES

“Umma” the horror of turning into your mom is real

By Kai Curry NORTHWEST ASIAN WEEKLY “Umma” is a thriller starring Sandra Oh as Amanda, a woman haunted by her mother (“umma” is “mother” in Korean). It’s an unexpectedly multi-layered story, as much dramatic as it is scary, that explores the notion of motherhood within a horror movie framework, yet for the genre gives an unusual amount of empathy to each character, including the antagonist—“umma.”

“I feel like I have to preface every interview with saying this is not directly inspired by my mother,” laughed writer and director Iris K. Shim, who insisted to the Asian Weekly,

in case anyone wonders.

“None of it is a literal interpretation of my life.” Instead, Shim wished to talk about identity, as a mother, or a daughter. While not explicitly a topic of the film, immigration also comes up, as well as connection to one’s culture.

For Shim, the process of writing the story brought her closer to her Korean roots. Certain symbols in the movie, such as Korean funerary masks, were objects Shim had seen in her house, yet didn’t know much about.

“I just knew they were Korean, something that my parents had. I never really questioned it, but when I started learning more…I started to understand that there was this rich history behind those masks.”

In the movie, Amanda must cope with her PTSD from an abusive mother (played by MeeWha Alana Lee). You can tell immediately that she has spent her lifetime not only dealing with this trauma, but also making sure it did not trickle into her life with her daughter, Chris (played

by Fivel Stewart). We know something is up right away from Amanda’s nightmares, where “umma” talks to her in typical guilt-laden maternal language, “Why can’t you see how much you hurt me?” And we get flashes of horrifying implications that “umma” tortured Amanda in some way.

We learn that Amanda lives “off the grid” as a beekeeper see UMMA on 13

40 YEARS

■ WORLD NEWS Murakami plays antiwar songs on radio to protest Ukraine war

By MARI YAMAGUCHI ASSOCIATED PRESS TOKYO (AP) — Playing James Taylor’s “Never Die Young” and going back to songs that marked the antiwar movement in the 1960s, author Haruki Murakami added his voice to protests against the war in Ukraine with a special edition of his Japanese radio show.

“Does music have the power to stop war? Sadly, the answer is no,” Murakami said. “But it has the power to make listeners believe that war is something we must stop.”

For a recent 55-minute program called “Music to put an end to war,” broadcast across Japan by Tokyo FM, Murakami chose 10 tracks from his collections of records and CDs at home that “in my mind best fit our theme.”

Some were more straightforward antiwar songs and others “songs that deal with the importance of human life, love and dignity, they can be considered antiwar songs in some broader sense.”

“Lyrics are going to play a big part in tonight’s show, so be sure to keep an open ear,” Murakami reminded his listeners. “By the end of the show, I have a feeling that you’ll be more inspired to bring an end to war. Time will tell.”

For some songs he rehearsed passages of the lyrics he translated into Japanese in his own words, adding historical background that included racial and social disparities while conveying the message of anger, sorrow and love.

The antiwar songs from the 1960s included Peter, Paul & Mary’s “Cruel War,” which he used to play as part of a folk

song band in high school, and “Unknown Soldier” by the Doors, which he remembered always playing on the radio in his college days.

With his youth years overlapping with the antiwar movement, his words—and choice of songs— gave a deeper meaning and relevance to the conflict in Ukraine.

He opened his program with James Taylor’s “Never Die Young,” a song aimed at young people in the city losing their lives to drugs and crime.

“There’s a clear connection here to young people sent to war,” he said. “In a war started by an older generation, it’s the younger generation that gives up their lives. That’s the way it’s been for a long time, and it’s truly heartbreaking.”

As he played “Last Night I Had the Strangest Dream,” written by folk singer Ed McCurdy in 1950, he recalled the year the Korean War started, the Cold War turned hot and the threat of nuclear war intensified. Murakami chose the version performed by the Weavers, whose records were banned on the radio because of their antiwar message.

Murakami provided his Japanese translation of passages from reggae singer Eddy Grant’s “Living on the Front Line,” explaining that the front line also was about “a society on the brink of destruction.” Grant mostly wanted to get African tribes to stop killing each other, but “his heartfelt lyrics could

asianweekly northwest

9

AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko

YOUR VOICE

MARCH 26 – APRIL 1, 2022

JAPANESE NOVELIST HARUKI MURAKAMI really apply to any war.”

He chose “Blowin’ In The Wind” that Stevie Wonder sang for Bob Dylan’s 30th anniversary concert celebration in 1992, and summarized what Wonder, before performing, told the audience—that despite the civil rights movement and the Vietnam War, the world’s troubles haven’t ended and the song remained relevant.

After playing John Lennon’s “Imagine” performed by Jack Johnson, Murakami said that the lyrics sounded “pretty optimistic“ because they were written in 1971, when “we could still believe in the future, when we still had our ideals.” see MURAKAMI on 13

10

asianweekly northwest

■ PICTORIAL

40 YEARS

MARCH 26 – APRIL 1, 2022

CELEBRATE

ASIA

Founders of Celebrate Asia, Naomi and Yoshi Minegishi

2022

Audience packed at the Celebrate Asia concert after a two-year hiatus.

PHOTOS BY ASSUNTA NG The International Dance Team performed at Celebrate Asia’s preconcert show

L. Trombone player Ko-Ichiro Yamamoto and conductor Kahchun Wong Madhu and Ravi Sanga

The last in-person performance was March 8, 2020 where most of hall was empty.

Seattle Deputy Mayor Kendee Yamaguchi and Seattle Symphony President and CEO Krishna Thiagarajan.

From left: Prof. Paul Atkins, Prof. Zev Handel, Assistant Prof. Yen Kim Nguyen, Prof. Liping Yu, and Kate Mortensen, assistant for the Arts & Humanities in the College of Arts & Sciences at the University of Washington

From left: Judy Bailey. in the orange ao dai, Kathy Uyeta in the kimono (middle), and Abby Bailey in the white ao dai.

From left: Neida Acuario, Alberto Corpuz, Tessie Corpuz, and Zaida Quimby.

YOUR VOICE

■ EDITORIAL

MARCH 26 – APRIL 1, 2022

asianweekly northwest

11

We need our safety back

Photos by George Liu

Violence against Asians still rampant

Nearly 50 people attended a remembrance of the Atlanta spa shooting, held by APA Chaya, on March 15 at Hing Hay Park.

A year after the fatal shootings at three Georgia massage businesses, crowds gathered at rallies across the country last week to remember the victims and denounce anti-Asian violence that has risen sharply in recent years.

Six women of Asian descent were among the eight people killed in and near Atlanta on March 16, 2021. The slayings contributed to fear and anger among Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPIs) and motivated many to join the fight against the rising hostility.

At the Atlanta Asian Justice rally, which drew some 100 people, speakers railed against the stereotypes of Asian women

as either docile or exotic and said those harmful perceptions contribute to the violence.

Stop AAPI Hate has been tracking incidents nationwide based on victims’ self-reporting. From March 19, 2020, through the end of last year, it recorded a total of 10,905, with 4,632 occurring in 2020 and 6,273 in 2021. Women reported 61.8% of the incidents.

Earlier this month, a Black man used an anti-Asian slur before punching a 67-yearold Asian woman in an apartment building vestibule in Yonkers, New York, more than 125 times, police said. Also this month, a 28-year-old white man was charged with

hate crimes after police said he randomly punched seven women of Asian ethnicity over two hours.

Prejudice and discrimination against AAPIs in the U.S. are not new, but racist verbal and physical attacks increased sharply after the coronavirus first appeared in China just over two years ago, with former President Donald Trump’s use of racial terms to talk about the virus contributing to the trend.

Asian women tend to be perceived as submissive and easier targets, less likely to fight back. That stereotype and realities of how gender bias and racism works has created an environment where Asian

American women are disproportionately being targeted.

An NPR poll last October found that one in four Asian Americans feared—in the past few months—that members of their household would be attacked or threatened because of their race or ethnicity.

We need our safety back.

How much longer must we live in fear that we will be attacked because of the color of our skin, the way we look? We are not foreigners. We are Americans like the rest of the Americans who live and work in this country When do we get our life, our liberty, and the pursuit of happiness freely? 

CELEBRATE ASIA from 1

that means and tell a whole story.”

Listening to “Meditation,” the audience was on edge as pounding drums and highpitched strings vividly called to mind the approach of a storm—specifically, the tsunami that hit Japan’s shores as a result of the “3-11” earthquake 11 years ago— another somber anniversary.

“La Mer,” inspired by something more benign—Katsushika Hokusai’s famous painting, “Under the Wave off Kanagawa,” or “The Great Wave,” expressed the swelling motion of the ocean and the relationship familiar to Western Washingtonians of sand and sea. The mountain—for us, Mount Rainier; for Hokusai, Mount Fuji—peeks out from the clouds when it wants to—or capriciously, suggested Singaporean guest conductor Kahchun Wong, whose movements were jaunty, his hands as expressive as the instruments he directed through each permutation of sound.

This year’s “Celebrate Asia” was a particularly visual synesthesia of music.

You could listen to each finely crafted detail, watch the musicians giving their all, or simply be caught up in the associations provided by the pieces. During the U.S. premier of Tan Dun’s “Trombone Concerto: Three Muses in Video Game,” one could imagine grand natural vistas, or a marching army hoisting bright-colored flags. There was a jazzy element juxtaposed with familiar strains of quintessential Chinese instruments. Master trombonist, Ko-Ichiro Yamamoto, delighted the audience with

challenging breathwork and sounds many had never heard come out of a trombone, while moving his body to the rhythm of this surprisingly danceable composition.

The interplay between the star soloist and conductor was one of the most enjoyable parts of the concert. During the third piece, Kala Ramnath’s beautiful smile charmed as she followed Wong’s lead before coming in with her own rich Hindustani violin in the world premiere of Esmail’s “Concerto for Hindustani Violin and Orchestra.” According to Esmail, the piece explores five elements of the natural world—space, air, fire, water, earth —that can be destructive when out of balance, yet beautiful when balance is restored. All were hypnotized by this musical journey through climate change, and the havoc wreaked upon our planet, which ends with a “note of optimism,” said Esmail—a prayer of atonement, sung by Ramnath.

The piece received a standing ovation, as did the Trombone Concerto. At program’s completion, conductor Wong graciously spotlighted every section of the orchestra as the audience applauded.

“March 11, 2020, around 11 o’clock,” Thiagarajan remembered. The Symphony had been rehearsing “for 45 minutes or so, and I had to walk into the Hall, interrupt our conductor, and orchestra and tell everyone, ‘You have to go home. The governor just put out the mandate,’ and we all had to go into lockdown.” How far we have come, yet not out of danger yet. The usual bevy of pre-concert entertainment was pared down

to minimize close contact, and masks were still required inside the concert hall. At the start of the concert, Thiagarajan announced the Symphony’s joining with the “Yellow Whistle” campaign, which calls out antiAsian hate, and encouraged everyone to pick up a whistle to employ in the case of witnessing a hate incident.

The celebration was paired with pain, yet how vibrantly the Seattle community endeavored this day to pull itself out of the gloom, hesitantly, remembering, but also moving forward. While it rained outside, inside was a rainbow of women in bright saris and their best scarves, young girls in sequined dresses, and men in shined shoes and suit coats, or their best guayabera. As we entered, red and yellow lion dancers cavorted with the audience, their spangled eyes blinking flirtatiously.

As we exited, everyone looked to the second floor where the taiko drums beat.

Once again, “Celebrate Asia” had helped an audience find harmony in disharmony and, as Thiagarajan described, create “an understanding between cultures” and “a bond between communities.” 

implications as “Celebrate Asia” was back to help us come outside our homes again.

“We are trying to create inspiring and empowering moments…The times we are living in are so fraught with stress and anxiety, we want to leave you with a moment of hope…to be able to manage all of that tension,” said Thiagarajan.

War wages in the Ukraine, and we’ve been at war as a country, maskers and non-maskers, pro- and anti-vaccine, while incidents of hate have risen. But at “Celebrate Asia,” we come together as a city, to “strengthen bonds” as Deputy Mayor Kendee Yamaguchi explained in her introduction; and to strike a balance between the beauty and destruction of Mother Nature, as Symphony composerin-residence, Reena Esmail, hoped.

That dichotomy is in us and our planet.

The evening’s program explored this theme through four compositions that each represented musically the rising and falling of fortune just like the waves of the ocean, which can be both soothing and treacherous.

The opening piece by Toshio Hasegawa, titled “Meditation,” is about the “power of water,” Thiagarajan explained. While on the other end, as the closing piece, was Claude Debussy’s “La Mer” (“The Sea”), which “explores a romanticized, beautiful nature of glistening, lapping waves,” Thiagarajan continued. “We wanted to bring [an] arch from all the aspects of what

“Celebrate Asia” 2022 will be available to stream on demand from Seattle Symphony Live for a full week through 11:59 p.m. on Sunday, March 27.

Kai can be reached at info@nwasianweekly.com.

12

asianweekly northwest

MARCH 26 – APRIL 1, 2022

40 YEARS

■ WORLD NEWS US expels another Chinese phone carrier on security grounds BEIJING (AP) — Washington has expelled another state-owned Chinese phone carrier from the U.S. market over national security concerns amid rising tension with Beijing.

The Federal Communications Commission revoked authorization for Pacific Networks Corp. to provide domestic and international service under an order issued on March 16.

The U.S. government is reducing Chinese access to American markets and investment over possible spying and Beijing’s military development.

The FCC cited “significant national security and law enforcement risks” that

Pacific Networks could monitor or disrupt U.S. communications. It said there were no steps that could eliminate those risks while the company operated in the United States.

President Joe Biden has extended efforts begun under his predecessor, Donald Trump, to limit access to U.S. technology, investment and markets for Chinese companies due to concerns they are security risks or helping military development.

In October, a unit of China Telecom Ltd., one of China’s three main state-owned carriers, was expelled by the FCC from the U.S. market on similar grounds.

The FCC said in 2019 it planned to revoke licenses granted two decades earlier to China Telecom and another state-owned carrier, China Unicom Ltd. It rejected a license application by the third carrier, China Mobile Ltd. The FCC also cited unspecified “conduct and representations” by Pacific Networks to regulators and Congress that “demonstrate a lack of trustworthiness and reliability.”

Pacific Networks owns an American company, ComNet (USA) LLC, which provides international service, calling cards and global SIM cards, as well as network

management, business phone systems and website services, according to a U.S. Senate report in 2020.

The companies ultimately are owned by the Chinese Cabinet’s main holding company, CITIC Group, which “may be able to access U.S. customer records,” said the report by the Senate’s Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations.

The companies are obligated by Chinese law to “support the Chinese government’s intelligence work,” the report said. 

SCHEME from 4

candidate’s phone number, address and vehicle. He later asked the investigator to “dig up things from 1989 to now” in search of flaws against the candidate to hurt his candidacy.

At one point, according to charging documents, Lin told the investigator that, in the end, “violence would be fine too” and suggested that he could be beaten “until he cannot run for election.”

The investigator Lin is accused of contacting was actually a source for the FBI, who reported the initial outreach to agents and said he believed Lin to be a retired agent of China’s Ministry of State Security.

In an affidavit, an FBI agent conducting the investigation wrote that, “Based on the conduct summarized herein and my

experience and training, I assess that LIN continued to act on behalf of the MSS even if ostensibly retired.”

The candidate is described in court papers as a Chinese dissident and student leader of the Tiananmen Square protests in 1989.

Though the candidate is not identified by name in the complaint, the biographical details in the document match those of Yan Xiong, who announced his candidacy as a Democrat for a congressional seat in New York City in this year’s election.

Lin remains at large, officials said. He faces charges that include conspiracy to commit interstate harassment.

The top federal prosecutor in Brooklyn, Breon Peace, would not describe any conversations that officials may have had

with Yan, but said that the Justice Department takes seriously its obligations to warn victims of potential threats and to avert violence.

Yan, who has lived in the U.S. for 30 years, said in an interview with The Associated Press that he did not know any details about the allegations and learned about them after reporters reached out to him. He said he had not witnessed any harassment or intimidation and had not been contacted by the FBI or Justice Department, and that he did not know why the Chinese government would be interested in his campaign for Congress.

“This has nothing to do with them. Why they do that, I can’t understand,” he said. He added: “I’m getting mad. I have nothing to do with them. I’m a purely American citizen.” 

In another plot that U.S. officials say was orchestrated by China’s Ministry of State Security, an author who once helped start a pro-democracy organization gathered intelligence on dissidents and activists, Uyghurs, Tibetans and advocates for Hong Kong’s independence. The man, Shujun Wang, 73, was arrested on March 16.

A third scheme by a man described as a Chinese government operative sought to undermine the candidacy of a congressional candidate by plotting to locate, or even manufacture, derogatory information.

The operative, identified as Qiming Lin, is accused of having contacted a private investigator seeking information about the

JEONG from 4 his medical degree is from the University of North Carolina.

He worked as a physician for years, moonlighting in comedy clubs and as an actor. He became a full-time actor after the huge success of the 2007 movie “Knocked Up,” in which he played a burned-out doctor.

In 2018, he used his medical training to help an audience member who had a seizure while Jeong was performing at a comedy club in Phoenix. He volunteers with Stand Up To Cancer and speaks out against racism and hate crimes against members of the Asian American and Pacific Islander community. 

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MARCH 26 – APRIL 1, 2022

YOUR VOICE

■ ASTROLOGY

asianweekly northwest

13

Predictions and advice for the week of March 26–April 1, 2022

By Sun Lee Chang Rat—What you initially thought was a temporary assignment could be extended. Pursuing one opportunity could mean forgoing another.

Dragon—A weight has been taken off your shoulders, but it might be a while before you truly notice a difference.

Monkey—Is there some unfinished business that you cannot leave behind? Try looking at it again from another angle.

Ox—Be wary of those who seek to divide, as it will likely run counter to your interests in the long run.

Snake—You are not one to stray off course.

However, don’t be surprised if others opt for a different route.

Rooster—Are you finding it difficult to maintain consistency? Remember that it happens one decision and action at a time.

Tiger—If you have a strong preference, make it known sooner rather than later before it is claimed by somebody else.

Horse—Just as practice can elevate your game, the lack of it could show when you need to perform better.

Dog—As a relative newcomer to the scene, you are seeing things with fresh eyes. Use that perspective to your advantage.

Rabbit— Despite the extra effort involved, setting the right tone upfront could help to ensure a good outcome.

Goat—Although you are enamored with a certain idea, practical considerations should be taken into account as well.

Pig—While it is not possible to go back and change what is already the past, the future is a different story.

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.

UMMA from 8 and that no electricity is allowed on the property because it “makes her sick.”

Amanda and Chris live a peaceful, almost connected-at-the-hip, relationship, until the “umma” begins to insert herself more and more.

Chris knows nothing about her roots, her grandmother, or the suffering her mother is experiencing, except that she often comforts Amanda after she’s had a nightmare. Along with the masks, other symbols, such as the nine-tailed fox, are meant to represent this unfamiliarity that Chris has with all things Korean—and reflect Shim’s experience writing the story.

“When I started thinking a little bit more about Korean folklore, I came across this nine-tailed fox…It was an image that I had not seen before.”

Shim, who was born in Korea but came to the United States as a baby, started calling around to her first generation relatives, asking about the lore.

“It was an interesting moment for me to feel like my blood is Korean, but it was this thing that I wasn’t aware of.” The same goes for Chris, who “even though she has Korean blood in her, she sees this imagery that seems so foreign, so different…it’s really meant to be a little bit of a non sequitur where it’s just this moment that she realizes, I don’t know what this is.”

Chris not only has to learn “on the fly” about her Korean heritage, but also about her mother’s trauma as it becomes all too real in both of their lives due to the malicious haunting by “umma.” As the alarming episodes pick up (we don’t know at first if “umma” is dead or alive), we wonder if what Amanda has spent her life trying to avoid will occur—if she will “become” her mom.

“The idea of turning into your mother is almost every woman’s worst nightmare,” Shim said. “Even if you adore your mom, the idea of turning into her is still a little bit scary…That definitely was something I wanted to tap into. What’s fun about doing it in [this] genre space, is that you can really have a scene where they are literally…turning into a physical manifestation of one’s worst fear.” (Shim acknowledged we can see ourselves turning into our

dads as well).

The movie is definitely scary, and supernatural, but what “keeps it real” is that for one, there are abusive mothers like “umma” in the world and two, most people can relate at least in some part to the push and pull that exists between children and their parents, the guilt, the burden, and also the love. Amanda wants to be “free” of “umma,” while Chris just wants to go to college. Both are threatening to the older person. Amanda, it turns out, has done a lot towards her daughter’s happiness, yet Chris is unaware, until Amanda, “under the influence” of “umma” cannot resist that whole “I carried you in my womb” spiel, accusing Chris of being disrespectful and willful.

The words are familiar to us, even triggering. There is a joy of motherhood, but there is also a tyranny, such as when Amanda’s uncle tells her that it was her responsibility to look after “umma”—even if “umma” was abusive. Warning—this movie could be hard to watch by someone who has experienced abuse. On the other hand, the opportunity for healing that is there could be helpful to many viewers.

There are things about our parents, and about “umma” that we, and Amanda, don’t know. This was the case for Shim, too, who explained that her parents, as immigrants, “tried to protect me from what it was that they were going through…Now that they’re a little bit more open with me about the things that they did, or some of the struggles that they had, and realizing that they were trying to protect me by hiding certain things from me, it really made me appreciate that sort of struggle that they went through.”

Will Amanda turn into her mother?

Will Chris and Amanda sustain their close bond? Why can’t Amanda turn on a light bulb? Will Amanda get with Dermot Mulroney, who is still hot? “Umma” keeps your heart pounding but also makes you think, and feel. It is more than just a horror movie. “Umma” brings cultural and psychological insights while moving the viewer through the entire arc from the horror, to what caused it, to a resolution that is deeply satisfying.  Kai can be reached at info@nwasianweekly.com.

MURAKAMI from 9 In closing, Murakami quoted Martin Luther King Jr. as saying in his speech that “Never forget that everything Hitler did in Germany was legal.“ Murakami said that King probably meant that individual rights could be the first to be taken away when the law says so.

He never explicitly mentioned Russia or

President Vladimir Putin.

But he noted that many people, frustrated by representative democracy, are drawn closer to authoritarianism.

“That might seem efficient, but it’s important to remember that if things take a turn in a dark direction, where we end up is truly dangerous, so please be careful.”

“I hope there will be some peace in our world.” 

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This contract includes development and submittal of an Equity and Social Justice (ESJ) Innovation Plan. The ESJ Innovation Plan details the approach, strategies, and actionable steps that will be taken to maximize the participation of Minority Business Enterprise (MBE) and Women Business Enterprise (WBE) firms. Both MBE and WBE firms must be certified by the State of Washington Office of Minority and Women’s Business Enterprises.

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MARCH 26 – APRIL 1, 2022

40 YEARS

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CHEN from 4 practicing and competing.”

The 22-year-old Chen was one of the stars of the Winter Games with his thrilling “Rocketman” free skate clinching the gold medal that eluded him four years earlier

UW PANEL from 3 will likely increase, said Bachman, as well as more overt training between Taiwan’s military forces and U.S. forces or those of other allied countries.

Earlier this month, former secretary of state Mike Pompeo visited Taiwan, calling for the U.S. government to formally recognize Taiwan as a country, a move that if actually adopted could be considered as a pretext for war on the part of China.

“The degree to which the U.S. is going to increase its support for Taiwan is going to be quite shocking, I think, to the P.R.C.,” said Bachman.

As for news reports that a number of Chinese imagine their country will emerge the sole victor from the war, Bachman called it “wishful thinking” as a result of lack of information, a by-product of the government’s tight control over the internet, media, and education.

Such thinking discounts many of the realities of the changing geopolitical order, as well as “the possibility that China will

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in Pyeongchang, South Korea. Chen also helped the Americans win a team silver medal, which could become gold pending the outcome of a doping investigation involving the Russian team.

Chen has not lost at the world championships since 2017, when he finished in sixth place. His run of dominance

be subject to secondary or even primary sanctions” if it aids Russia in its invasion.

Such sanctions could include technology and the same financial measures taken against Russia, said Bachman.

But he cautioned China’s response would be punishing for the U.S., including cutting off pharmaceuticals, personal protective equipment, and electronics such as iPhones and iPads.

Nelson Dong, an attorney specializing in export controls, economic sanctions, national security and international trade and investment who moderated the panel, said, “The U.S. does have quite a bit of leverage, but it would come at a very, very high cost.”  Nelson Dong

Mahlon can be contacted at info@nwasianweekly.com.

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began the next year with his three straight titles interrupted only by the cancellation of the 2020 championships due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

He could have become the first skater to win four straight titles since American star Scott Hamilton from 1981-84. 

SOLUTION from SUDOKU on page 6.

YOUR VOICE LONG COVID from 1 cause the symptoms.

“There’s no laboratory test that’s going to confirm long COVID, and a large part of it is making sure we don’t miss alternate diagnoses that we can treat with medication,” said Eric Chow, respiratory viral epidemiologist and the chief infectious disease fellow at the University of Washington (UW) Medical School. Chow was also one of Macnofsky’s doctors.

Upinder Singh, one of the founders of the Stanford long COVID clinic, said this is essential because other diseases can mimic long COVID. “So if somebody just walks in if I was a primary care doctor, I would make sure of everything else, do their health maintenance, make sure they’re not anemic, make sure their thyroid is normal, all those other things, make sure there are no other problems,” she said.

In Macnofsky’s case, she eventually got to the point where she was unable to walk, think, or move. She stayed in bed like a “zombie” for days. Finally, her husband found her passed out one day on the bedroom floor and took her to the hospital. Then began even-more serious symptoms.

Lying on a stainless-steel slab—the kind used in a morgue, she thought—she watched blurry-eyed, without her glasses as almost a dozen surgeons moved around her. For this procedure, the patient must be fully conscious. She felt a long needle going into her heart, stopping just short so it could draw water from the sack surrounding it. The nurse showed her a big plastic bag with four cups of pink slurry fluid they had removed.

“I cannot accurately convey my overwhelming anxiety, sleepless nights, or general discomfort during my hospital stay,” she said.

A DISEASE WITH NO CLEAR BOUNDARIES One of the dangers of long COVID is that it both triggers and weakens the immune system.

Researchers believe this is why many people then become infected with the coronavirus again and develop another case of COVID-19, on top of their symptoms of long COVID. Macnofsky developed fevers, shortness of breath, scrambled thinking with language impairment, reduced cognitive ability (“like a car that won’t shift into gear”), severe headaches, sleeplessness, crushing fatigue (“like having concrete in my veins instead of blood”), depression and anxiety, and more recently, what she worries is short-term memory loss and the loss of the ability to multitask.

This is why, at clinics like Stanford, researchers are poring over new studies and new reports about the disease daily.

Linda Geng, co-director of Stanford’s long COVID clinic said, “New papers come out each day and sometimes multiple ones and then you have to discern: is this going to impact the way that I practice? Is this going to impact the way we think about long COVID? And you have to make that judgment call based on the rigor and context of the study and of course the individual patient in front of you.”

SIGNS OF HELP After her surgery, Macnofsky was isolated in a room with a drain attached to the sack around her heart.

One night, her mother appeared to her in a dream dressed in an outlandish costume, but one that fit with her life and personality. Her mother had been an artist and mask maker before becoming a Jungian psychotherapist. She was quite well-known in San Diego where she lived.

At one point, she had worked with the sister of Mark Hamill, who had played Luke Skywalker, so she was a fan of Star Wars.

In the dream, Macnofsky saw her mother come down from the clouds on the kind of starship Senator Palpatine used in one of the later movies. She was dressed in a costume that seemed similar to the protective suits worn by nurses in the early days of the pandemic, but made from Japanese paper. And her face was barely visible because the mask was like that of a wolf.

MARCH 26 – APRIL 1, 2022 “But I could see her eyes, and she was telling me, ‘I’m here,’” said Macnofsky, who is a former grant writer, poet, and on the editorial staff of the Berkeley Poetry Review.

Acknowledging the breadth of the crisis, the government is starting to throw resources behind increased research into long COVID, starting with a four-year study that seeks to enroll 15,000 people nationwide.

Researchers like Chow say it is crucial to assess data over the whole course of the illness.

Some of the pre-existing conditions or early signs that would indicate that a person is going to come down with long COVID are present only during the early stages. If doctors try to test for them later, while a person is actually experiencing all the full-blown symptoms of long COVID, some may not show up, said Chow.

What is surprising to clinicians and researchers, is that the disease can strike young people who’ve had virtually no symptoms at all while bypassing older folks who one might have expected to be susceptible.

Macnofsky also was surprised by this, when she eventually found a group online of other people enduring long COVID. “Most of them were young, healthy people with no preexisting conditions, in really good shape, some were training for marathons and biathlons, some were professional dancers,” she said. “Today, people with a healthy lifestyle... think they have a strong immune system so they’re not afraid, but it’s going to come to get them—that doesn’t work for long COVID. Because you can have an asymptomatic or very mild case and in a few weeks, it’s going to come back again and again.”

FINDING HELP IS CRUCIAL As Macnofsky passed through the following months, and now years, of her bout with long COVID, she has felt that her mother was with her.

So many people have long COVID that finding support is crucial. Even at clinics with as large a staff as Stanford’s, there are long waiting lists.

Experts recommend starting with one’s primary care doctor. And if you don’t have one, then get one immediately. That doctor can then refer you to a long COVID clinic, such as the one at Stanford or one at the UW. Because the disease has so many manifestations, the clinic at Stanford, for instance, has a team of specialists representing infectious disease, internal medicine, cardiology, neurology, autonomic neurology, headache clinic, pulmonology, gastroenterology, rheumatology, sleep medicine, psychiatry, psychology, ENT, endocrinologists, and others.

“This is practically a list of all the specialists I saw in the hospital,” said Macnofsky. “I mean, seriously, they were just coming and going.”

People can also enroll in studies, such as the National Institute of Health (NIH) RECOVER study.

NEW HORIZONS—OR NOT? Macnofsky is now able to articulate what was once unspeakable.

When Chow, for instance, put her in front of a computer to choose a new primary care doctor within the UW system, she felt paralyzed. She could not explain that her brain was “broken.”

She could hardly sustain a conversation.

Today, two years later, she has recovered significantly, but still has trouble walking up hills.

But in one sense, Macnofsky was one of the luckier ones, if that word can be used for someone who has gone through what she has.

Thankfully, she had medical insurance. And a loving husband with a stable job. Many people in her long COVID survivors’ group, in this respect, fared much worse—and lost hope.

“Many lost their jobs, their savings were wiped out, their marriages fell apart, they lost their medical insurance,” she said.

For those who are infected with COVID-19, one of the most promising things to emerge recently is the possibility that new oral drugs might prevent the development of long COVID. “That’s the million dollar question,” said

Annie Luetkemeyer, a professor at the University of California, San Francisco Medical School, in response to a question from Northwest Asian Weekly during a March 17 presentation sponsored by the University of Southern California Annenberg Center for Health Journalism.

Luetkemeyer said, “it stands to reason” they would make a difference in slowing or preventing the development of long COVID, because, as with other viral diseases, such drugs reduce inflammation, which is one of the trip-wires that seems to lead to long COVID. Still, few people can presently get these antiviral drugs in time to take them so that they would be effective, according to Aaron Carroll, the chief health officer at Indiana University, who also spoke at the Annenberg presentation.

The U.S. health system has been set up to prevent people from getting care, he said, which translates into delays in getting the drugs, such as Paxlovid or Molnupiravir. Unless these new oral drugs are taken within days of the onset of symptoms, it is too late for them to be effective.

Unless one has vast resources and time, he said, it is virtually impossible to get in to see a doctor on the same day one asks for it, making it impossible to get a prescription for the drugs immediately.

Added to that is the delay in finding a pharmacy that stocks the pills.

Moreover, most of the new drugs must be taken in high quantities, up to 40 pills within five days, making it difficult for some.

RECOVERY Today, Macnofsky celebrates that she can walk her dog for an hour, cook meals for her family, and clean her house.

“These feel like victories.”

Meanwhile, medical researchers have

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had their own breakthrough—it is now found that vaccines greatly reduce the chances of developing long COVID. “Based on the available data, it seems that vaccines function in two ways to prevent long COVID—one, by preventing the infection itself and two, by reducing the odds of persistent symptoms in situations where infection occurs after vaccination,” said Chow.

Macnofsky insists that her condition improved markedly following each dose of the vaccine.

“My walking endurance improved, the fatigue diminished, my headaches diminished, the list of symptoms occurred less frequently. The daily fevers were gone,” she said—although now that her booster is fading after six months, the fevers are slowly returning.

“I’ve bought a really cool paddleboard,” she said. “And by this summer, I’m going to be up on it, even if I’m not standing.”  To enroll in the NIH RECOVER study, go to openredcap.nyumc.org/apps/redcap/surveys/?s=TYCLM7PE97 For the UW’s long COVID clinic, go to uwmedicine.org/specialties/ post-COVID-rehabilitation For a list of long COVID clinics around the country, go to survivorcorps.com/ pccc 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.

Mahlon can be reached at info@nwasianweekly.com.

asianweekly northwest

40 YEARS

MARCH 26 – APRIL 1, 2022

Photos provided by Greater Pacific

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Hole-in-one crystal trophy

Hole-in-one coin bank gift

Hole-in-one golf ball display

Hole-in-one golf ball display

ZHANG from 7

Drug Administration attorney to assist with regulatory issues.

In addition to COVID-19 closures, his staff worked at home and the company paid for employees to order computers to work on at home. Like most other places, conference calls and Zoom were a necessity.

Another issue that Zhang and many other companies are facing are the tariffs that have been levied on China since July 2018. Zhang notes that Greater Pacific Industries imports are 80% from China.

“Until tariffs are lifted, prices will rise,” predicted Zhang. The tariffs imposed on Chinese goods during the Trump administration have yet to be lifted under the Biden presidency. President Biden is set to review the first group of tariffs on more than $300 billion worth of Chinese imports.

According to the law in which the tariffs were imposed, they are set to expire within four years. But the U.S. Trade Representative’s office must analyze the effectiveness and consequences of the tariffs prior to its expiration. There is no indication from the Biden administration as to a plan to remove the tariffs. This is a concern for many businesses as the inflation rate continues to rise.

While the official inflation rate is at 7%,

Zhang believes that it is actually greater than 20%. As a result of the rising costs, Greater Pacific Industries has had to increase its own prices to its customers. Even with the tariffs in China, Zhang stated that there is not really another alternative partner for his business, due to China’s established supply chain and quality in manufacturing products. He’s indicated that his company has worked with other suppliers, but they do not have the same production as China nor are they as efficient as the Chinese.

Zhang noted that working with China during the pandemic had been difficult due to a zero-tolerance policy in the country.

Zhang explained that if one individual in a city or village tested positive for COVID-19, they would seal off the city and not allow visitors from outside. This made it hard for his employees working in China as quality control representatives to visit the various facilities to check on the products being made for the company.

Additionally, the latest global issue Zhang faces is the invasion of Ukraine by Russia. At this point, Zhang is not clear how the conflict will affect the supply chain issues that are already strained.

“Oil prices are going up and we see that inflation is not coming down,” he said.

Even with the concerns of inflation and an ongoing conflict in Ukraine, Zhang has planted the seeds for two new businesses he hopes will grow. Zhang established an e-commerce division on Alibaba and Amazon.com. As a fan of the sport, Zhang indicated that one of the highlighted retail products for the company is golf. The company’s launch on Amazon is “totally different” from what the company has done in the last 27 years.

“It’s a way to diversify the income stream,” explained Zhang.

In addition to e-commerce, Zhang noted the launch of the Pacific Retail Group (PRG).

Zhang brought in industry veterans into the division with an eye toward targeting the largest retailers in the U.S. He stated that PRG has licensed brands, which it plans to sell in stores such as Walmart, GameStop, and Costco. The challenge with this division is targeting a familiar brand known by consumers and then gaining traction in the marketplace. The goal for PRG is to “continue to grow because of recognized name brands.” 

when the shutdown of businesses began. In March 2020, a portion of the company’s work pivoted to helping the country with personal protective equipment. This helped to sustain Zhang’s business.

“It was not easy,” he advised of the move from promotional products to personal protective equipment. He recalls that from mid-March to May, employees worked tirelessly to produce masks for companies in need. Zhang would only get “3 to 4 hours of sleep a night” during this period. The company’s move to provide masks came with a steep learning curve and large orders to fill.

“We would grin on one hand,” Zhang recalled due to being fortunate with the business, “but do we have the factories [to produce the products for the customers on time]?” Another challenge was the regulatory uncertainties at the time. Zhang noted that guidance from the governmental regulatory bodies were evolving with the pandemic.

Masks that they had purchased in China were prohibited in the United States. But, as soon as they learned of the prohibition, a change of course occurred, allowing the masks.

“We lost a lot of sleep,” Zhang said of the experience. Zhang hired a former Food and

JHA from 1 therapeutics and tests. His departure comes as the White House is shifting its posture from one of confronting an emergency to nudging Americans back to normalcy as the nation learns to live with a less-severe virus that is likely to remain endemic.

The latest national COVID-19 strategy, released by Zients and his team earlier this month, outlined a strategy to allow people to resume their usual activities safely after two years of pandemic disruptions.

The selection of Jha comes as the Biden administration has come under criticism for confusing public messaging around the virus as many restrictions and mandates are easing.

Biden’s statement announcing Jha’s appointment highlighted his communications skills and familiarity to Americans as a fixture on cable news.

“As we enter a new moment in the pandemic—executing on my National COVID-19 Preparedness Plan and managing the ongoing risks from COVID—Dr. Jha is the perfect person for the job,” he said.

Biden, in a statement, praised Zients and his team for “stunning” and “consequential” progress against the coronavirus pandemic.

“When Jeff took this job, less than 1% of Americans were fully vaccinated; fewer than half our schools were open; and unlike much of the developed world, America lacked any at-home COVID tests,” Biden said. “Today, almost 80% of adults are fully vaccinated; over 100 million are boosted; virtually every school is open; and hundreds of millions of at-home tests are distributed every month.”

Biden noted that the U.S. is leading the global effort to fight COVID, “delivering more free vaccines to other countries than every other nation.”

The State Department announced on March 17 that the U.S. has shared more than 500 million doses with the world of 1.2 billion doses promised by the end of this year.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki said that the transition reflected the changing circumstances in the pandemic response. “Jeff Zients’ superpower is that he is an operational and managerial guru,” she said, while Jha is a respected public health communicator.

The 90-page National COVID-19 Preparedness Plan spells out initiatives and investments to continue to drive down serious illness and deaths from the virus, while preparing for potential new variants and providing employers and schools the resources to remain open.

“This plan lays out the roadmap to help us fight COVID-19 in the future as we move America from crisis to a time when COVID-19 does not disrupt our daily lives and is something we prevent, protect against, and treat,” the White House said. “We are not going to just ‘live with COVID.’ Because of our work, we are no longer going to let COVID-19 dictate how we live.”

Before his service in the Biden administration, Zients served as vicechair of Biden’s transition. In the Obama administration he was the director of the National Economic Council, acting director of the Office of Management and Budget, and led the effort to fix HealthCare. gov after its disastrous rollout in 2013. He was also a top executive at the Advisory Board Company.

Quillian served as a deputy campaign manager for Biden in 2020, and was top aide to the chief of staff in the Obama White House, with stints at the National Security Council and the Pentagon. 

Jason can be reached at info@nwasianweekly.com.