WBC lightweight champion Manny Pacquiao throws a right to Oscar De La Hoya during the third round of their welterweight boxing match in Las Vegas, Saturday, Dec. 6. (Photo taken by Eric Jamison and provided by the Associated Press.)

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — From five-star hotel lounges to army camps to Manila’s slums, Filipinos celebrated a victory by boxer Manny Pacquiao that gave this country a break from its financial worries.

President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, a key supporter of Pacquiao, congratulated him by phone after he beat Oscar De La Hoya in Las Vegas.

“His triumph is again a great unifier of Filipinos,” Arroyo spokesman Jesus Dureza said. “While he was an underdog to bookies and matchmakers abroad, he was already a winner to all Filipinos.”

Amid many problems hounding the country, Pacquiao was a “saving grace,” Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said. Read the full story

By Cain Burdeau
The Associated Press

Republican Anh ‘Joseph’ Cao waves as he holds his daughter Betsy Cao, 4, with his wife Kate Hieu Hoang, right, at his victory party after defeating Rep. William Jefferson, D-La., for the 2nd Congressional District in New Orleans Saturday, Dec. 6. (Photo provided by the Associated Press.)

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Anh “Joseph” Cao was taken from war-ravaged Vietnam as an 8-year-old boy, leaving his parents for the safety and hope of America. He immigrated to the United States in 1975.

“Never in my life did I think I could be a future congressman,” Cao, 41, said at a victory party Saturday, Dec. 6, after he beat out nine-term Democratic incumbent William Jefferson. “The American dream is well and alive.”

In the 2nd Congressional District, which includes most of New Orleans, Republican attorney Cao won 50 percent of the vote to Jefferson’s 47 percent and will become the first Vietnamese American in Congress. His only previous political experience was an unsuccessful 2007 bid for a seat in the state Legislature. Read the full story

By Hope Yen
The Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — President-elect Barack Obama has chosen retired Gen. Eric K. Shinseki to be the next Veterans Affairs secretary, turning to a former Army chief of staff once vilified by the Bush administration for questioning its Iraq war strategy.

Obama will announce the selection of Shinseki, the first Army four-star general of Japanese American ancestry, at a news conference Sunday, Dec. 13, in Chicago. Shinseki will be the first Asian American to hold the post of Veterans Affairs secretary, adding to the growing diversity of Obama’s Cabinet.

“I think that General Shinseki is exactly the right person who is going to be able to make sure that we honor our troops when they come home,” Obama said in an interview with NBC’s “Meet the Press,” which is to be broadcasted on Sunday. Read the full story

By Jane Mee Wong
Northwest Asian Weekly

Mumbai memorial attendees, from left to right: Amrik Singh Kamoh, Murthy Kalkura, Priyanka Joshi, Habib M. Habib, Sunil Sharma, and moderator of the program Debadutta Dash.

As Mumbai finds itself grieving over the recent tragedy, Seattle’s South Asian community gathered to commemorate lost lives and unsung heroes.

Approximately 30 community members gathered at the University of Washington for a memorial service for the Mumbai terror victims. The India Arts and Heritage Society (IAHS), Indian Association of Western Washington (IAWW) and Monson Masala organized the memorial.

In the presence of diyas (clay lamps signifying light) and peace made by Indian and Pakistani community members, the audience grappled with the sadness they felt as they saw Mumbai come under attack. Read the full story

Steven Chu

Nobel Prize-winning physicist Steven Chu is President-elect Barack Obama’s choice for Energy secretary.

Chu, 60, brings additional diversity to the Obama cabinet. He is a Chinese American who currently is director of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California, has in recent years campaigned to bring together a cross-section of scientific disciplines to find ways to counter climate change.

Born to Chinese parents in St. Louis, he grew up in the Queens borough of New York City. His father, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology graduate and professor of chemical

engineering, and mother came to the United States in 1943 and two years later decided to stay because of the political turmoil in China.
One of the country’s most renowned scientists, Chu shared the Nobel Prize in physics in 1997 with two other scientists for his research into ways to cool and trap atoms using laser light. ♦

Newlyweds Stacy Huynh (left) and Bill Huynh pose in front of their wedding cake.

Newlyweds Bill Huynh and Stacy Huynh held their wedding reception at New Hong Kong Restaurant on Nov. 15. More than 300 people attended and celebrated as the happy couple started off their new lives together. The groom is a self-employed landscaper. The bride is a bakery supervisor. ♦

Young girls perform a traditional dance to a large audience.

On Nov. 15, the Laos Heritage Foundation had a formal dinner called, “A Celebration of the Light Festival,” which signified the end of Buddhist Lent. It was its second annual cultural show.

The dinner had dance performances by girls and boys ranging from 4 years old to college-age. Musicians as young as 6, some who only had 3 months to prepare, performed traditional music beautifully.

Attendees were treated to authentic Lao cuisine, silent auctions, raffles, Washington wines, gourmet coffee, a dessert bar, and much more. ♦

Artist Boss Hiko stands in front of two paintings he created from start to finish in front of a live audience. (Photo taken by Kazuko Wohlers)

Densho’s seventh annual Sushi Sake Fest took place on Nov. 5 at the Westin Hotel in Seattle. The event was attended by more than 1,400 people, and raised over $75,000. It consisted of silent auctions, food, artist booths, and performances by local musicians.

Eateries represented at the event included Beard Papa’s, Flo restaurant, Hiroshi’s restaurant, Kozue restaurant, Mashiko restaurant, Miyabi restaurant, Nijo restaurant, Nishino restaurant, NuCulinary, Ricenroll, Sake Nomi, Sook Enterprise, and Sushi Zen. Artist Boss Hiko, from Osaka, Japan, was also featured. He completed two live paintings at the Sake Fest. ♦

Lillian Kimura

Lillian Kimura, the first woman to be elected as the national president of the Japanese American Citizens League (JACL) and a long time JACL leader, received the Ina Kay Award from the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) on Nov. 17 at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C.

Kimura was interned in a concentration camp during World War II. Her family was uprooted from their home and taken to Manzanar when she was 13 years old. Later settling in Chicago and New York, Lillian became active in the JACL and worked on the Redress Movement, which provided reparations and apologies for Japanese Americans interned during World War II. ♦

Renren Zhang

MulvannyG2 Architecture’s international group announced the addition of Renren Zhang as the principal and general manager, in its Shanghai, China office.

Zhang brings more than 20 years of experience in managing and developing international business relationships throughout China and the United States. He will be in charge of all operations for the Asian market. Zhang’s most recent position was being the chief representative for Weyerhaeuser in China.

Educated in China with a degree in English literature, he also spent an academic year with the University of Washington as a visiting scholar. In 1991, the U.S. Congress awarded Zhang the Hubert Humphrey Fellowship, a program under the Fulbright Fellowship. ♦

Amazon.com employee Lisa Mirth modeled to a crowd of fans. She is half Vietnamese.

Goodwill held its 25th anniversary of the Glitter Sale, called the Glitter Gala, which raised funds to benefit Goodwill’s Job Training and Education Program on Nov. 14.

The event held a fashion show, “Past, Present, Future,” where NWAW publisher Assunta Ng was a model. All the models came from diverse sections of the Greater Seattle community.

Other highlights of the event included a raffle, dinner, dessert, and jazz music.

Goodwill raised $150,000 during the gala and an additional $140,000 during the first weekend’s sale. ♦

By Catherine Spangler
Northwest Asian Weekly

Peter Chu

When he first arrived in America, Peter Chu did not speak one word of English.

Now, as he tells his story, he speaks in a concise and direct manner. Chu is economical with details as he tells his remarkable history. However, his equanimity does not undermine the most important elements of how he got to where he is today.

In 1979, Chu’s family arrived in the U.S. as one of the boat people — Vietnamese refugees who sought asylum abroad following the Vietnam War. He was 11 years old when his family settled in Dundee, Ore., under the sponsorship of a Quaker community. Chu remembers their immense kindness to his family during a difficult time and cites it as one of the reasons he was able to eventually master the English language and earn a degree in law. Read the full story