Jul

23

2008

(8) Comments

Women are Half of Party, Gov’t Officials in NW China Ethnic Region

11:01AM by Alvin Lin

Western societies and literature love to paint Asian nations as somehow more backwards, sexist, oppressive, and misogynistic towards women.  But let’s look at the stats.  There are like two female CEO’s in the entire Fortune 500, a very small number of female senators and congresswomen, and a very small percentage of female entrepreneurs in this country. Before Westerners point fingers and act all smug, perhaps they should look at their own backwards statistics as they pertain to female equality.
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http://www.chinaview.cn

URUMQI, July 22 (Xinhua)—Woman account for nearly half of Communist Party members and government officials in northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, according to the latest report from the Xinjiang branch of the All-China Women’s Federation.

The number of female officials has been rising over the past five years and reached 330,700 at the end of last year, accounting for 49.16 percent of the total, the branch said. That was an 11.22 percent rise from 2003.

“Many women who have both ability and political integrity were put into leading positions, which enhanced women’s participation in various sectors,” said Wang Jianling, vice chairwoman of the Xinjiang branch of the federation.

The Chinese government has taken economic, legal and administrative measures to ensure that women enjoy equal rights with men in such areas as politics, the economy, culture, social affairs and family life.

About 350 million urban and rural women are employed, accounting for 45 percent of the employed population. In urban areas, more than 40 million women are employed, comprising 38 percent of total urban employment, according to official statistics. In rural areas, women make up more than 60 percent of the labor force.

Women also comprise more than 20 percent of the entrepreneurs in China. Among the professionals in the state-owned enterprises and organizations, women account for more than 40 percent.

Editor: Jiang Yuxia

Jul

21

2008

(8) Comments

Eating at Benihama

02:35PM by lan

The actual name is BenihaNa. Thanks Andrew!

So last night I was in New York with a friend (let’s call her Jane) and we ate at a hibachi restraurant called Benihana. Hibachi is a Japanese cuisine where they cook right in front of you while doing some neat tricks (i.e. flipping shrimp into their hats or people’s mouths). I haven’t been to one in a year, but from my experience last night, nothing has changed.

Jul

20

2008

(11) Comments

I Want A Red (Lesser) Panda!

10:00AM by lan

So while surfing on Youtube, I “StumbleUpon” a cute video of a Japanese girl that has baby red pandas as pets. After watching the video 20+ times, I couldn’t help but feel overly happy that such a cute animal can kick ass. Eat your heart out Paris Hilton!

Japan is known for having the weirdest and cutest animals (penguins, duck loving dogs, etc) but I never thought having a panda would be legal or much less possible. Then again in Japan they do everything. As soon as I can, I’m buying me one and training it to blog for me.

Jul

13

2008

(9) Comments

Oh noes! It’s a killer fan!

10:00AM by lan

With the summer heat getting hotter and hotter (thank you global warming), everyone needs to cool down with a fan. However in Korea, it’s not quite as simple.

In South Korea, there’s an urban legend that says if an electric fan is left running overnight in a closed room, the people inside the room will die via suffocation, poisoning or hypothermia. So if you’re lucky enough to be in Korea during the summer with one of their crappy fans, you’ll notice that they shut off every few hours or have a timer on them. Some fans even require you to wind them up. Aren’t air conditioners wonderful? 

Jun

27

2008

(10) Comments

Minority women and the issue of getting along

09:50PM by Alvin Lin

This is a very interesting article posted over at Fallout Central, about minority women in White male dominated society.  I think interesting parts or conclusions of this essay (from my interpretation) are that minority women who act in blatantly Uncle Tom or self hating ways, or revel in being the token Asian ‘honorary White’ among their friends, or who try to assimilate or get their White trophy, in reality are not actually gaining in privilege, though in their minds they somehow derive self esteem from this.

Article

[A lot of the times when I see another Asian girl that is a stranger on the street, for some reason I automatically act hostile towards them. We exchange unapproachable glances, and in my mind I am judging them by the way they look, the way the dress, who they are with, and sizing them up to see if they are any threat to me. Why do I do this? Every Asian girl I have talked to admits to doing this.. Actually, scratch that, every minority girl I know acts this way towards someone of their own race. Why?

It seems Asian and minority men don’t face this same hostility with each other. When I asked my brother if he felt the way that I do towards Asian girls he asked quite shocked, “You actually feel threatened?” I got similar astounded responses from my Asian guy friends as well. Why do they not judge each other as much as Asian women do?

Perplexed by this issue, I turned to my friend Soumya (pronounced like Sonya with an “m”–Somya), a beautiful girl from California who happens to be Indian as well. I asked if she felt threatened at times, and she said yes. We were both surprised by our own responses. It seems that while many girls feel threatened or hostile, rarely do we acknowledge it. Even when we acknowledge it, we don’t even know exactly why we feel and act this way. For me, the actual reason may be a little frightening. It reveals an intense insecurity about our identity as minority and Asian women.]

Jun

22

2008

(13) Comments

What’s With This Cat!?

09:26AM by andrewlim

She has got to be the most famous feline coming out of Japan. No I am not talking about this chick, I am talking about the cat that has a loyal following around the world. Her fans range from elementary school girls to celebrities like crazy ass Mimi and Brit Brit. Who’s she? Well, she’s none other than the beloved Hello Kitty. 

Jun

18

2008

(10) Comments

Death Note is the Root of All Evil

07:00AM by lan

People are so quick to blame “otakus” or everything in the world but themselves. Turns out the popular manga series turned anime, novel, tv-series and movie Death Note, has caused crime and controversy in every where but Japan. I guess Japan has enough problems.

If you don’t know what Death Note is, it’s a popular manga series that turned into a big franchise. For those of you who have seen it would understand why. It is probably the most well written anime I have ever seen. If you really enjoy suspense, mystery, shinigamis (death gods) and a cute blonde Anime girl, Death Note is definitely for you. 

Jun

16

2008

(10) Comments

Two Thumbs Up for ‘Kung Fu Panda’

09:50PM by Alvin Lin

I recently saw this new animated movie and was pleasantly, extremely surprised at how great it is.  The basic plot is that a legendary Dragon Warrior would come to save a Chinese village from an evil powerful villain, and that this legendary prophesized warrior turns out to be a fat goofy panda who must be trained by a group of martial arts masters.  Yes it sounds formulaic but in my opinion it was better than ‘Forbidden Kingdom’ (which by the way would have been great if they had made the protagonist an Asian American teen). I thought it was just as good as ‘Shrek’ or ‘Finding Nemo’ or ‘Toy Story’.  ‘Kung Fu Panda’ has a star studded cast including Jack Black, Angelina Jolie, Dustin Hoffman, Jackie Chan, Lucy Liu, and Seth Rogan.  Oh, and the music was done by Hans Zimmer.  Also…

Jun

15

2008

(10) Comments

NSFW but It’s Okay for the Subway

11:00AM by lan

While surfing Youtube, I “StumbledUpon” this video. I hope it’s some kind of joke or she’s European but this woman literally undresses on a Hong Kong subway.

At first she’s only wear a long trench coat with nothing but red lingerie underneath and starts by doing her makeup. Don’t ask me why, they just see it as something you should do in private. And while I begin to watch this, I’m thinking “wow, Hong Kong trains are 10 times smoother/better than New York’s”.

But anyways she then dramatically pulls off her coat and everyone turns their head. Good thing she’s hot otherwise I would have turned off the video. However she starts shaving her legs. I was hoping she would nick herself but again Hong Kong trains rock. Afterwards she get dressed in her uniform and again everyone but she sits and gets off like nothing happened.

Jun

14

2008

(3) Comments

US Education Dept Expands Investigation into Anti-Asian Bias in College Admissions

11:46AM by Alvin Lin

This is related to that Jian Li case from two years ago where he filed a civil suit against Princeton for its discriminatory admission practices against Asian American applicants, who must have higher SAT’s, gpa’s, and leadership activities than their nonAsian peers for the same percentage rate of admission:

http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2008/06/11/asians