By Assunta Ng
Northwest Asian Weekly

I love Christmas. Yes, I do.

I know I am stepping on some toes by saying this. Being the publisher of Northwest Asian Weekly, I’ve had people accuse me of not being politically correct when I wish others a Merry Christmas. Read the full story

Dominic Ng (Photo by Rebecca Ip/NWAW)

Dominic Ng, chairman and chief executive of East West Bank, which acquired Washington First International Bank, surprised Asian media by showing up in Seattle on June 11. Last year, when East West bought United Commercial Bank, only a few senior managers came. Read the full story

Conrad Lee (Photo by Assunta Ng/NWAW)

For years, Bellevue City Councilmember Conrad Lee wanted to be the mayor of Bellevue. Well, believe and your dream will come true. Last Sunday, his head was held higher than usual. Lee was voted 7–0 as deputy mayor at the last Bellevue City Council meeting in January.

Lee proudly showed his new business cards at an event. Guests proudly shared the news with others. They were buzzing that Lee is only a heartbeat away from being mayor. Lee is now serving his 5th term on the city council.

Bellevue’s population comprises 23 percent Asian Americans. ♦

The other day, I had lunch in the ID with a couple of political gurus. “We have only 0.5 Asians on the Seattle City Council,” complained one of them.
She was referring to Seattle City Councilmember Bruce Harrell, who is half Japanese and half African American. This can also be applied to the Black community — now there are only 0.5 Blacks on the council (Seattle City Councilmember Richard McIver retired last December). Read the full story

Seattle School Board member Betty Patu may be the only newly elected Asian American in the Greater Seattle area. But the opportunity for Asian Americans to rise in the political scene may be promising this year. Although Wilson Chin has lost his seat to Patu, don’t rule him out yet. Chin still has a great future in politics and is making a difference. Read the full story

By Assunta Ng
Northwest Asian Weekly 

The annual Top Contributors to the Asian Community awards dinner took place on Dec. 4 at the House of Hong restaurant in Seattle. Shown above, from left: Top Contributor planning committee members Kiku Hiyashi and Ruoxi Zhang, Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn, Northwest Asian Weekly Publisher Assunta Ng, King County Executive Dow Constantine, and Northwest Asian Weekly staff member John Liu. (Photos by George Liu/NWAW)

In a year of recession gloom, business closures, and newspapers dying in droves — why are we, a small paper, still here? Why didn’t we fear that Northwest Asian Weekly would be next? Why didn’t we blame the competition that caused us so much grief, such as Craigslist and other Internet advertising? Why do we feel lucky, energized, and strengthened by the economic turmoil? Read the full story

Attendess and honorees, from left: University of Washington (UW) Provost Phyllis Wise, UW Regent Fred Kiga, King County Executive Dow Constantine, and Seattle Mayor-elect Mike McGinn. Constantine and McGinn are UW School of Law alumni. (Photos by George Liu/NWAW)

Have you ever done something in your life that involves taking a countless number of risks in a short amount of time? Read the full story

The Sun family, father Lo-Yu (left), mother Shao-Ling (middle-right), and daughter Sandy (right) stand with Attorney General Rob McKenna at a fundraiser they helped to host at China Harbor on Dec. 3. (Photo by Rebecca Ip/NWAW)

The day before the Diversity at the Top dinner, a group of Republicans held a fundraising event at the China Harbor Restaurant for Attorney General Rob McKenna, a hopeful candidate for the 2012 Washington state gubernatorial race. Read the full story

The facade of McNeil Prison (Photo by Assunta Ng/NWAW)

I was reading the Sunday New York Times and one article stated that there were too many people who wanted to volunteer serving Thanksgiving dinner for the poor. Too many volunteers in the wrong places!
May I suggest you another option? Read the full story

Thanksgiving is a time to reflect on those who you have taken for granted. I will make it up to those people.

This is also the time that I notice some folks who have taken the Northwest Asian Weekly for granted. I want to say, “Thanks for nothing,” to the following people: Read the full story

Local women attend a networking event at New Hong Kong Restaurant.

President Obama told the nation to commemorate the day as a day of service.

I served the community by hosting a lunch for 19 powerful and promising women.

I am not one of Washington state’s powerful women, but I was generous to host them in a dim sum lunch in the New Hong Kong Restaurant, in the International District.

What an experience! Read the full story

Have you felt annoyed at events when speakers go on and on? How do you stop them? If your program is not strong but has a great emcee, s/he would know how to make it work.

A good emcee, master of ceremonies or moderator as they are called, would know how to make the program flow on time.  I only know how to do these things by observing some of the pros in the Asian community like Lori Matsukawa, KING TV anchor Mary Nam, KOMO TV anchor, and Al Sugiyama, executive director of Center for Career Alternatives.

Control the mic. The emcee holds onto the mic as much as possible even if the other speakers try to grab it away from them. Read the full story

Risk-taking is a scary matter especially during recession. If you get stuck in a job you dislike, this might not be a good time to switch jobs. Yet, I was asked to mentor a group of young Asian American professionals last week on Sept. 10 on the subject. They were taking a leadership class sponsored by the Executive Development Institute (http://www.ediorg.org)

So the challenge of my speech is to move my audience from fear toward wanting to take more risks and feeling hopeful about their life situation. That’s the intent. Not an easy task in this economic climate! Read the full story