By Jason Cruz
Northwest Asian Weekly

Harvard's Jeremy Lin (4) drives by Boston College’s Biko Paris, left, during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game in Boston at the end of last year. Could Lin be a new face in the NBA? (Photo by Elise Amendola/AP)

Harvard education. NBA skills. Jeremy Lin has both.

Lin, a 6′3”, 200-pound point guard, is training in anticipation of the NBA draft next Thursday, June 24. Lin, a Taiwanese American, would be rare in a league dominated by white and Black players.

“Jeremy loved soccer and basketball even before the age of 5. He would go to all of his older brother’s practices and just do the drills on the sideline by himself. When he was in the fourth grade, we realized that YMCA basketball was no longer challenging for him, so we started looking for higher level basketball leagues,” said Lin’s mother, Shirley.

Lin’s parents immigrated to the United States from Taiwan. They are both computer engineers. Lin’s father, Gie-Ming, is a huge basketball fan and shared this love with his three sons. When Jeremy began playing Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) basketball, Shirley and Gie-Ming realized that Jeremy had a talent. Even with talent, Shirley doesn’t forget the hard work and effort that her son has put in since he was young in order to one day play in the NBA. Read the full story

By Stacy Nguyen and Assunta Ng
Northwest Asian Weekly

The facade of the Washington First International Bank looks the same as it has for years, but as East West settles into its new home, it will change. (Photos by Rebecca Ip/SCP)

On Friday, June 11, the Washington Department of Financial Institutions closed Seattle-based Washington First International Bank (WFIB) because it didn’t have enough capital. Read the full story

By Samantha Pak
Northwest Asian Weekly

Cindy Ryu

On the surface, Cindy Ryu is like most people.

She cares for her family. She gets up early to take her 15-year-old son to school and calls to check in with her two daughters who live in other states. She spends time on her computer checking her schedule and answering e-mails. And occasionally, she has date night with her husband, Cody.

Throw in an acupuncture or chiropractor appointment here and there, and it is easy to assume that Ryu leads the life of an average citizen.

But the 52-year-old Shoreline resident’s life is anything but average.

The former Shoreline mayor is working on taking her political career beyond city limits. Ryu is running for Washington state representative for the 32nd legislative district, position 1. Read the full story

By Ninette Cheng
Northwest Asian Weekly

Seattle’s Chinatown/International District is a haven for dim sum Sundays, grocery shopping at Uwajimaya, and bubble tea, right?  Sure, but documentary filmmaker Andrew Hida would like to point out that this is only the beginning. Read the full story

On June 11, Sophia Aragon announced that she had suspended her campaign. She was running as a Democratic candidate for Position 1 in the 22nd District (Olympia, Lacey, and Tumwater) of the Washington State House of Representatives. Read the full story

On June 16, the National Commission on Asian American and Pacific Islander Research in Education (CARE) hosted a national media conference call to release and discuss its report, “Federal Higher Education Policy Priorities and the Asian American and Pacific Islander Community.” The report was written by CARE with support from the Asian & Pacific Islander American Scholarship Fund (APIASF), which also participated in the conference. Read the full story

Through collaboration with Bremerton’s sister city, Kure City, Japan, the Aurora Valentinetti Puppet Museum in downtown Bremerton has recently received three puppets in the Bunraku style. Read the full story

By Vivian Po
New America Media

Asian Americans may have the lowest unemployment rate of any racial group nationwide, but a new report shows college-educated Asian Americans have a harder time finding jobs than whites. Read the full story

By Carolina Hidalgo
The Oregonian

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — On a tidy shelf in a bright turquoise bedroom in Southwest Portland sits a framed certificate from the Cambodian Ministry of Education. It is written in Khmer, the official language of the Southeast Asian nation, except for a name: Christina Schmidt. Read the full story

King George Tupou V

NUKU’ALOFA, Tonga (AP) — The impoverished South Pacific island nation of Tonga should move quickly toward nuclear power as its main source of electricity, its king said on June 11.

Opening the nation’s Parliament, King George Tupou V said while energy-hungry Tonga is planning to produce half of its electricity from renewable energy within three years, “nature is dictating that we must look to nuclear energy.”

He did not indicate how the near-bankrupt nation would fund a nuclear power plant, and New Zealand-based independent energy analyst Molly Melhuish questioned its viability.

King George said his government is following a U.S. plan aimed at developing small 30-megawatt nuclear plants to curb electricity costs and reduce dependence on expensive imported fuels. Read the full story

By Niniek Karmini
The Associated Press

Nazril Irham (left) and Luna Maya

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Indonesians grappled with their first-ever celebrity sex tape scandal, casting aside social taboos as they swarmed around office computers and mobile phones to watch clips allegedly showing a much-loved pop star with two girlfriends.

The story topped newscasts for a week and dominated chatter on social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter. But just as controversial was the reaction of officials in the newly democratic nation.
Police initially threatened to charge the “stars” under a strict anti-pornography law. Read the full story

The weekend before Father’s Day, kids and their dads made the most of the good weather and hit the great outdoors. Some went running, some rode bikes, others went for a swim. In talking to people, we noticed something about the fathers and their children — their appreciation for one another extends beyond Father’s Day.

Photos by Jocelyn Chui/NWAW

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