Jul

19

2008

(5) Comments

Spy Conspiracy, or Just An Unfaithful Idiot Who Got Robbed?

11:12PM by Alvin Lin

Maybe it’s just me, but I found this British article to be amusing, yet also infuriating.  Basically, one of Gordon Brown’s aides went to a night club in China, went home with a local Shanghai woman (cheating on his wife back home), and then got his blackberry stolen. Somehow, the theft merited a featured article about how this is linked to a massive Chinese spy ring conspiracy, and more anti-Chinese paranoia from Anglo press.  He likely just met someone looking to rob an old White guy. There is no evidence whatsoever to support anything speculated in the article.

Jun

9

2008

(16) Comments

S. Korea’s beef with US meat

04:00PM by armybratkat

http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=55389

U.S. military community members are being warned to avoid civil gatherings at Seoul City Hall plaza over the weekend, according to U.S. Forces Korea.

The National Conference for Opposition to Importing U.S. Mad Cow Diseased Beef planned to conduct candlelight vigils in the plaza Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

It was a bad day to be a Department of Defense Dependant School (DoDDs) graduate in South Korea… at least for those who had plans to go off base downtown and party the night away after the ceremony. My group didn’t even have any intention of going out to the clubs and hofs or bars after graduation--- you know, some good ol’ sam gyub sal [Korean BBQ pork] and noraebang [singing room] were on our agenda. Unfortunately for the class of oh-eight, political discourse surrounding the condition of imported US beef has escalated to public protest and “illegal demonstrations” that led to the timely ban on downtown access for the entire weekend. 

Jun

5

2008

(5) Comments

AA vs. APA vs. API - should we care?

01:31PM by kevinlee

Back in my day as a college student, when multiculturalism and politically correct language was just starting to hit the streets, my peeps pretty much stood contentedly under the banner of “Asian American” to represent our cultural identity and interests to the campus at large.  Back in the good ol’ days when kids were raiding Salvation Army stores for vintage corporate logo uniforms and wearing them ironically as grunge apparel, I picked out a work shirt that had a ready-made brand to tell the world who I was (see left).

In recent years as I’ve been working with AA community groups in the NYC area, I’ve noticed that the terms Asian Pacific American (APA) and Asian Pacific Islander (API) are being used with increasing frequency in place of the good ol ‘AA. I didn’t really think too much about what these new acronyms signified, other than that the extra letter made them kind of cumbersome to my mind (a superficial observation, I know). I always considered Samoans, Fijians, Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders to be Asian, if not geographically, then certainly racially (moreso than Asians from the Middle East). But I was brought to think more seriously about a video I produced and posted on YouTube on behalf of the Coalition for Asian American Children and Families (CAAF) announcing a new national health care partnership got the following comment:

May

29

2008

(13) Comments

So what’s your non-existent movie career karma for, Sharon Stone?

06:30PM by kevinlee

Is this even a legitimate understanding of how karma works???  Well Sharon Stone for one needs to learn how it works, as Christian Dior has pulled its spokeswoman from all of its advertising in China following her remarks from the red carpet at Cannes last Thursday.

But seriously folks, this begs the question, how does karma work?

May

29

2008

(2) Comments

Chinese TV to fans: “70,000 dead and you wanna watch Kobe? What’s wrong with you?”

03:34PM by kevinlee

If you are Chinese and a basketball fan, chances are you already know the that CCTV, China’s state-run national television network, as well as many regional television stations, have suspended broadcasts of NBA playoff games. The cessation of broadcasts supposedly falls in line with the suspension of all entertainment-related television programs, excluding those dealing directly with the earthquakes that ravaged China earlier this month, leaving a death count of over 68,000 as of today. 

Except that…

May

26

2008

(8) Comments

Adwatch: If you can read this, will you drink it?

03:20PM by kevinlee

I’ve been seeing this ad on the NYC subways for Oi Ocha, touted as the “original green tea” by Ito En, the largest green tea distributor in Japan (they also make the popular Tea’s Tea brand of bottled unsweetened tea). It’s hard not to notice how Japanese script features prominently in the ad, throwing its foreignness in the face of those who can’t decipher the characters.  It may take a moment to notice the red bubble near the top right with the English text: “If you can read it, chances are you already drink it.” Further down, next to the tea’s English name, is another blurb in red: “Japan’s #1 Green Tea.”

Taking all of these elements together raises questions about this ad’s target audience, cultural subtext, and bottom line effectiveness as advertising.

May

21

2008

(16) Comments

John McCain: “I Hate The Gooks”

03:51PM by Alvin Lin

No comment necessary from me.  Just read the article.

Arizona Sen. John McCain refused to apologize yesterday for his use of a racial slur to condemn the North Vietnamese prison guards who tortured and held him captive during the war.

“I hate the gooks,” McCain said yesterday in response to a question from reporters aboard his campaign bus. “I will hate them as long as I live.” McCain, a former Navy pilot who spent five years in a Vietnamese prisoner of war camp, was questioned about the language because of a story last month in the Nation magazine reporting his continued use of the slur. Since then, reports of McCain’s language have been circulating on Internet chat sites and e-mails among Asian Americans, many of whom find the the term offensive and inappropriate for an elected official.

May

18

2008

(11) Comments

Writer on Innate Superiority of Western Culture and Why Rest of World Should Adopt It

07:00AM by Alvin Lin

Agree or disagree? Is this writer unintentionally White supremecist, or does this writer have merit or validity?  A big concern for me is that I think many people can’t seem to separate culture from race.  Using an example of East Asians, oftentimes people say ‘American people’ when they actually specifically mean ‘White people’. Suburban White and Asian kids emulate Black rappers and hip hop icons. People into martial arts are into Asians and Asian stuff. And on and on.  A related topic to consider is multiculturalism versus assimilation.

Article

Titled ‘In Defense of Cultural Imperialism’

Western civilization of science, reason and democracy is superior to all others, and hopefully will be adopted by everybody. There is nothing specifically western about it - it is the birthright and greatest hope of every human on the planet.

Other races aren’t backward. As America shows, western culture belongs to all races. But other cultures are backward, and hopefully will die out. Nobody plans to force them, of course, because forcing would be against western culture (though not against traditional cultures). Instead, we plan to seduce them. It is strange but companies like McDonald’s and Coca-Cola, shows like Baywatch, and people like Madonna do deserve a medal of honour in the struggle for human freedom.

Apr

21

2008

(27) Comments

Interview with Far East Movement

04:56PM by Alvin Lin

Last week I had a phone and email interview with the members of the Far East Movement (FM), whose songs have gotten radio play on the West Coast, and in movies like ‘Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift’, and ‘Finishing the Game’.  They have a great sound and are starting to get some mainstream attention from TV channels like MTV.  Below is Part I of our interview.

Here is link to their Myspace where you can check out some of their songs.

Here is a link to their own website.

If you want to purchase their first album ‘Folk Music’, you can find it here.

Mar

30

2008

(6) Comments

Asian Inferiority Complex

07:00AM by Alvin Lin

-Why are White models and actors frequently used for ads and posters in Asia?
-Why do so many Asian women get eyelid enlarging surgery, dye their hair blonde, and wear blue contacts?
-How come some Asian youth are ‘not attracted to Asians’?
-How come if you are Caucasian or an English-speaking Asian in Asia, you are treated better everywhere you go?
-How come some Asians get ashamed from being around ‘too many Asians’?
-Why didn’t more Asian-Americans stand up after the ‘Vincent Chin’ murder?