8Asians is a collaborative online publication that features original, diverse commentary by Asians from around the world on issues that affect our community. Established 2006.
In some places, books such as Dim Sum for Everyone (another seemingly innocuous Grace Lin book) have been removed from shelves while they are being “evaluated,” which leaves some school districts room to say it isn’t a ban. Then again, if the books aren’t available, then then that is a effectively a ban. One apparent reason for these bans is that the books are on lists of books recommended for teaching diversity. This article about how one of Kelly Yang books, Front Desk, about a Chinese immigrant family who run a motel and based on her own experiences, generated parental objections, is illustrative of the concerns and thinking of ban proponents. You can also see some of this thinking in the book’s one star reviews on Amazon.
Ironically, as this article points outs, book bans are a great way to get books read, especially as kids often do the opposite of what you tell them to do (i.e. forbidden fruit). AAJC has sourced the data for their list from Pen America’s Book Ban pages.
I’m not sure how I became aware of the independent documentary Invisible Nation,screening at the Mill Valley Film Festival, but I am glad I did. I was able to make the second, Saturday morning screening a few weekends ago in Mill Valley, which was about 60 miles north of where I live in Silicon Valley. Invisible Nation is director Vanessa Hope’s intimate view of the presidency of Taiwan’s sitting head of state, Tsai Ing-wen, as she fights for the future of her nation.
“With unprecedented access to Taiwan’s sitting head of state, director Vanessa Hope investigates the election and tenure of Tsai Ing-wen, the first female president of Taiwan. Thorough, incisive and bristling with tension, Invisible Nation is a living account of Tsai’s tightrope walk as she balances the hopes and dreams of her nation between the colossal geopolitical forces of the U.S. and China. Hope’s restrained observational style captures Tsai at work in her country’s vibrant democracy at home, while seeking full international recognition of Taiwan’s right to exist. At a time when Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has demonstrated the ever-present threat of authoritarian aggression, Invisible Nation brings punctual focus to the struggle of Taiwan as it fights for autonomy and freedom from fear.”
I was excited to meet with the film’s director/writer/producer Vanessa Hope and understand her motivations, as a non-Taiwanese/Chinese-American, to make the documentary. Sadly, she and her husband, Ted Hope (of Double Hope Films) were unable to attend since they were both sick with COVID.
If you subscribe to the ad-supported Hulu streaming service like I do, you will sometimes see ads for forhims.com, which sells products and services dealing with issues affecting men, such as hair loss, mental health, and erectile dysfunction. When I saw this particular ad, I was struck by the proportion of Asian Americans in it, including the men needing help, one of the men’s sexual partners, and the doctor who could help. It was great to see the representation and even an Asian American couple, and even better to see them overcome their issues.
“Last year, I interviewed the Atlantic columnist and author Stephen Marche on his non-fiction book, “The Next Civil War.” It was a sobering conversation; I found that Stephen and I shared many of the same concerns about American democracy and society coming apart as institutions struggle.
A few months later, Stephen and I were discussing ways to work together. How could we get out more of these ideas to the public? We agreed that stories are the best and most powerful way for people to understand something. We would tell a story that everyone would get and could access.
Thus was born “The Last Election,” a novel starring Mikey Ricci, the campaign manager of an insurgent third-party presidential candidate and Martha Kass, a journalist who gets a hold of some material that could determine the future of American democracy. The story proceeds from the launch of the fledgling new campaign for fourteen months through Election Day and the swearing in of a new – or is it the old? – administration.
I’ve written a few things, but I’m no novelist. Stephen, happily, has produced both fiction and non-fiction and had a bunch of research from “The Next Civil War,” that appears in “The Last Election.” We also had my campaign manager Zach meet with Stephen to give him nitty-gritty details and stories from what it’s actually like on the trail. I’m proud of the result and can’t wait to share it with you and the world. Hopefully it will both entertain and prepare you.”
I have not read fiction since college, so I though, “damn, I’m going to have to read and review this.” But The Last Election was an easy and enjoyable read. This novel is NOT based on Andrew Yang’s his presidential campaign run, but there are definitely certain elements of the campaign that are echos of the campaign. I asked if the third party candidate, Cooper Sherman, was modeled after himself – and he had said no – more of a combination between Mark Cuban and Dan Gilbert (and maybe a little of himself).
If you enjoy following politics and learning a little bit more about the behind the scenes of a presidential campaign, you will enjoy the book. The Last Election is a political thriller in the spirit of the film The Manchurain Candidate (2004 remake) and the TV series Designated Survivor. To be honest, I couldn’t get past the third or fourth episode of the first season of Designated Survivor because I thought the conspiracy nature of the series was just too over the top.
If you don’t know about his background and might think that he is just some corporate fatcat, you would miss that he is a rather remarkable individual. He is the youngest graduate of Harvard Law School, finishing at the age of 19. Prior to starting CS Disco, he started the law firm of Sibley and Camara and built the first version of CS Disco’s eDiscovery product as an internal tool at the company, which he spun off later to become that company.
Camara has generated some controversy. He came under fire over his use of a racial slur at Harvard Law, which is yet another demonstration that academic and technical brilliance does not guarantee greatness in other aspects of life. He later apologized for his action. Camara’s apparently huge pay package attracted negative attention, although as this article points out, the $109.5 million of that package is stock related and subject to goals and is most likely to be worth zero.
So it Valley Fair an Asian mall? It’s not like it has a Ranch 99 there. Not all of the stores and restaurants are Asian-oriented, but there are many Asian restaurants packed together in the mall, with long lines for ramen and udon joints. Some restaurants, like Gold Hill Bistro and Shihlin Taiwanese Street Snacks, catering almost exclusively to Asians and Asian Americans. There are seven places to get Boba in Valley Fair the last time I counted. On the second floor near the movie theater where many of these restaurants are located, Valley Fair does feel like an Asian Mall! Baekyoung Korean BBQ just opened up at Valley Fair, and may family and I are eager to check it out.
Catering to Asian Americans seems to be good business here in Silicon Valley. Main Street in Cupertino has many Asian oriented restaurants and businesses. My family usually gets ramen there and then a dessert at Meet Fresh. The Asian mall story mentions how malls can build community and attract business in that way. Lower end malls like the Great Mall of the Bay Area in Milpitas not only have restaurants like Jollibee, but holds events like the 626 Night Market. I joked about Valley Fair mall not having a Ranch 99, but Westfield Oakridge mall actually has one!
Will Asian malls stay viable? I think they will for some time. One reason for my opinion is that I see many younger people frequenting these areas. Number One Son and Number Two Son have been to more of those Asian shops and restaurants than I have.
“Asian American” implies a fusion between Asian and American, and this performance by Luna Lee of the Steely Dan classic Do it Again, is definitely a cross-cultural fusion. She plays the song on the Korean gayageum. I am reminded of songs from the band Hiroshima and their use of the Japanese koto.
Earlier this month, Love in Taipei premiered on Paramount+ on August 10th. I’ve been behind on my blogging, but wanted to let everyone know about some things about the movie, including a free promo code to see it, a review, and a Q&A session held in San Francisco that I attended (warning – spoilers in the Q&A).
Promo Code Love is Taipei is available on Paramount+ streaming service. If you don’t have that service, you can watch it on Paramount+ with the one month free promo code: TAIPEI. This offer is good until 9/10. Note that the normal free trial is only for a week. If you’re already subscribed, you can click here to start the film.
“A young woman’s cultural immersion program in Taiwan turns out to be a liberating free-for-all known as “Loveboat” where unexpected romance leads her to question her future. Based on the best-selling book “Loveboat, Taipei” by Abigail Hing Wen.”
I never got around to reading Loveboat, Taipei, as I don’t think I’ve read any fiction since college … so I couldn’t exactly tell you what the differences are, except from this review:
“When she wrote her bestselling YA novel “Loveboat, Taipei,” Bay Area author Abigail Hing Wen met her audience where they were, detailing the delightful summer debauchery of Taiwanese American teens. Sure, there’s earnest self-discovery and cultural exploration as her characters take in their ancestral homeland, but there’s also sex, racy photo shoots, backstabbing and reconciliation.
Now adapted as a film, the most risque thing to happen in the novel’s story onscreen just might be a closed-mouth kiss. And it’s a shame, because this is one absolutely gorgeous cast.”
I’m assuming the decision was made due to audience considerations. Personally, I think I would have enjoyed the racier version! What I did love was that Love in Taipei was actually filmed in Taiwan. Taipei is a character in the film, very much like how Singapore was in Crazy Rich Asians. I think Taipei and Taiwan are underated vacation destinations for most Americans, so I’m more than happy to see when they can get highlighted in popular culture or in the news.
In any case, the main character, Ever Wong (Ashley Liao) does a lot of self reflection during her stay in Taiwan and meets two very different young men who relate to her challenges differenty — Boy Wonder Rick Woo (Ross Butler) and troublemaker Xavier Yeh (Nico Hiraga). There isn’t a lot of drama, but the characters are relateable. I thought that the lead actors all did an excellent job, especially Ashley Liao – her first leading role. If you liked To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before, you should enjoy Loveboat, Taipei – and audiences seemed to have enjoyed the film as well, with an 85% on Rotten Tomatoes.
The Wife, my Brother-in-law (BIL), and I were watching Only Murders in the Building when we were blown away the showstopper duet of Meryl Streep and Ashley Park. Having never seen Emily in Paris and having not known about her musical theatre and Broadway background, I was pleasantly stunned that Ashley Park could sing so incredibly well. So for those you who like myself didn’t know that or having only seen her in Joy Ride, I thought I would share.
I am looking forward to more wonderful musical performances in the series, which has been weaving Broadway themes together with a murder mystery. Only Murders in the Building streams on Hulu and drops a new episode every Tuesday.
The authors attribute the disadvantage to legacy admissions and an apparent bias against Asian applicants from areas with large numbers of Asian applicants. The effects of the legacy admission advantage is visible in the graph above. While this graph shows groupings by test scores, the author did comparisons of students with similar sets of test scores, grades, and extracurriculars.
I know that selective colleges seek geographical diversity, and I suspect that this works against Asian Americans applying from states with many Asian Americans such as California, Texas, and Washington. Figure 3 in the paper shows this. I also wonder if Asian American parents will use this data to apply to selective colleges from states with small Asian American populations such as North and South Dakota.
I have gone over the results of the paper at a very high level. I think that the way it disaggregates Asian Americans is timely and revealing. The actual paper has much more detail.
The American Heart Association reported on a recent paper describing how Asian American diets can be tuned to prevent heart disease and diabetes. An important point that the paper makes make is that understanding the diets of each Asian ethnic group is key in order to improve them. Dr. Latha Palaniappan says that her patients are often asked to fill out food surveys based on an American diet:
Her Asian patients were going to nutritionists and being told to not eat foods such as hamburgers, fries or mayonnaise. “The patients would say, ‘Oh, well, I don’t eat those things anyway.’ And they would go back to eating their samosa (fried pastries stuffed with anything from meat to chocolate), jalebi (a syrupy dessert) and fried foods and not connecting that those, also, were not healthy for their heart or their blood vessels.”
The report goes into detail about specific strengths and weakness of different Asian Ethnic groups by region. It doesn’t advocate that everyone turn to the Mediterranean diet, but suggests how Asian American diets can be tuned to improve them. For example, South Asian diets could benefit from adding more vegetables to stews.
Interviewing Randall was my first time interviewing a well known actor (and now film director!), but he was so down-to-earth that I felt very comfortable talking to him. My only concern was that I was asking meaningful questions around his directorial debut on Shortcomings. Please view above or click on this link to watch!
