By Assunta Ng

From left: Hery Setiawan, Lydia Gao, Tiee Ray, Mavis Orr, and Roger Lu of Panda Express (Photo provided by Mavis Orr)

Dragon politics

Partisan politics kicked in at the Northwest Asian Weekly’s 30th anniversary gala at the Seattle Sheraton Hotel last Friday, Oct. 5. Read the full story

Norm Rice (left) and Gary Locke

By Assunta Ng

Being detectives and negotiators, as well as resilient and forgiving people, has allowed us to deal with many conflicts over the past 30 years.

But sometimes, even these skills are inadequate to survive the types of challenges I am going to share with you. Read the full story

By Assunta Ng

The news business is full of conflict. I have lived through a lot of it in the past 30 years. I strive for win-win situations. But, no matter how hard I try, the result is not always favorable. Read the full story

By Assunta Ng

Ambassador Gary Locke’s car was surrounded Wednesday, Sept. 19, by Chinese protestors as he tried to entire the American compound. Luckily, he wasn’t injured. (Screen captured. Photo by Associated Press & KOMO Staff)

My heart sank when I saw the news that the U.S. Ambassador to Libya, Christopher Stevens, had been killed in an attack on the Libyan U.S. consulate Tuesday, Sept. 11. I have to confess that I never cared to learn about ambassadors. Last year, Gary Locke and Sung Kim were appointed as ambassadors to China and S. Korea respectively and that changed my attitude. But it is pitiful that I, a newspaper publisher, can only name two U.S. Ambassadors out of the over 170 in the American government. Read the full story

By Assunta Ng

Vancouver is a beautiful city with delicious food. (Photo by George Liu/NWAW)

What motivates me to travel long distances, spend lots of money, wait in hour-long lines, and even beg for it? Read the full story

By Assunta Ng

The Democratic candidates said we were, at the Democratic National Convention in North Carolina. For the Asian Weekly, the answer is also yes.  But the real question is, are we better off because of President Barack Obama? Read the full story

By Assunta Ng

June Chen (far right) at the 1992 Democratic National Convention

Recently, I received a list of Washington State Delegation delegates for the Democratic National Convention (DNC). More than 150 delegates are represented, 10 percent of which are Asian Americans, including Sofia Aragon, Robert Chu, Ruthann Kurose, Rep. Cindy Ryu, Ricardo Polintan, Nisha Nariya, Edward Song, Louis Watanabe, Rep. Bob Hasegawa, Noland Hoshino, and more. Also in attendance was Dean Ando, who passed around a copy of a childhood photo he took with a very young Obama.

I was at the DNC in New York as a media guest in 1992, when Bill Clinton was the presidential nominee. Even at that time, the API presence at the DNC was impressive. Normally, because I am an independent, I wouldn’t want to spend that kind of money to go to a political convention.

But I was there because I made a promise to my friend June Chen, who was running to be a Clinton delegate. It was the first time Washington Demorats elected a Taiwanese immigrant to be a delegate.

Chen had to campaign to get enough votes. She had to make speeches.

“If you got the position, I’ll go with you to the convention,” I replied. And then I encouraged her to practice her speech.

When she earned her spot as a delegate, I attended the convention with her and it turned out to be a memorable experience. I’m also proud to say that I was the only ethnic media representative from Washington state at the convention. (end)

By Assunta Ng

his Monday, the Seattle Times supported Port of Seattle CEO Tay Yoshitani to join the Board of Directors of Expeditors International. But his new position was questioned by 13 King County legislators, citing a conflict of interest. Read the full story

Cheryl Chow with her partner, Sarah Morningstar, and their daughter (Photo by George Liu/NWAW)

By Assunta Ng

While battling brain cancer, noted community leader Cheryl Chow came out of the closet and announced that she’s a lesbian. The mainstream media covered the issue extensively last week. Read the full story

From left: Bride’s parents Glen and Mo Stenson, bride Meesha Mary Stenson and groom Alexander Michael Yee, groom’s parents Fred and Clara Yee (Photo by George Liu/NWAW)

By Assunta Ng

“Double Happiness” is a common Chinese character seen at weddings. For Fred Yee though, “Double Happiness” is not enough to depict the number of blissful honors he has encountered this year. A week before his son got married on Aug. 18, he was elected as the U.S. western division vice president for the Yee Family Association at its national convention held in Seattle. Read the full story

Food donated to the Ethnic Media Candidates Meet and Greet (Photo by George Liu/NWAW)

By Assunta Ng

I volunteered to secure the food for Sea Beez’ Ethnic Media Candidates Meet and Greet. A man asked me if there were any dishes without pork. Read the full story

From left: Sheryl Gordon McCloud, Kathleen Drew, and Kim Wyman (Photo by George Liu/NWAW)

By Assunta Ng

While at the Ethnic Media Candidates Meet and Greet, organized by Sea Beez and members of local ethnic media, I enjoyed meeting the female candidates. It is encouraging to see female candidates running for top office. Kim Wyman and Kathleen Drew are pursuing a seat for the Secretary of State. If one of them is elected, that person will be the first woman to hold that office in our state.

Our Supreme Court is diverse, it already has four female justices. If Sheryl Gordon McCloud wins, she will be the fifth woman to serve as Washington State Supreme Court Justice. (end)

By Assunta Ng

Mei-Mei Chan, president of The News Press Media Group, and Frank Blethen, publisher of the Seattle Times (Photo by Assunta Ng/NWAW)

Current Seattle AAJA President Sona Patel and former Seattle AAJA president Lori Matsukawa (Photo by George Liu/NWAW)

Rep. Luis Gutierrez (Photo by Assunta Ng/NWAW)

Every four years, the UNITY Convention, a national conference for journalists of color, is highlighted on my calendar. I don’t go there looking for jobs, for career networking, or even to find a date, as some of my other journalist colleagues do.

I show up to be inspired by getting to know thousands of journalists of color, including Hispanics, Blacks, Native Americans, and Asian Americans from all over the country and overseas. On Aug. 2, I was at UNITY in Las Vegas, fully aware of the crisis it was facing. I was hoping to see a miracle.

The attendance didn’t just drop, it plummeted from 6,000 in 2008 to 2,300 this year. The National Association of Black Journalists voted to pull out of UNITY in 2011 because it didn’t make sense to the organization financially. President Obama wasn’t there. The career fair was almost half the size compared to past conventions.

Then one more bit of bad news hit UNITY at the end of the convention. UNITY’s director quit. The energy of the past conventions no longer existed. What a difference from the 2008 event!

However, when people or organizations are successful, they don’t need your support. When they are not, they need you more than ever. The least I could do is show up. Also, Sin City is fascinating. It’s a chance to indulge in a mini vacation. (end)

By Assunta Ng

Some journalists felt slighted that President Obama didn’t come to speak at UNITY. Rep. Luis Gutierrez came on behalf of Obama. Only 50 folks came to a hall of 500 seats. Gutierrez did a decent job. Read the full story

By Assunta Ng

The black convention had an attendance of 2,500 in its event, one of the highest of its attendance. One African American who worked for the ABC affiliate, told me that the black convention was well done and successful with many corporate sponsors. Read the full story

By Assunta Ng

It’s unusual for Asian Americans to share a lot about themselves when meeting with strangers. We met a television journalist from San Francisco outside the elevator of the Mandalay Bay Hotel, where the convention was held. Read the full story