AUGUST 10, 2022

Hello, everyone!

Native Hawai’ian women and young girls make up the majority of sex trafficking victims in the state with the Office of Hawaiian Affairs reporting that Native Hawaiian women and girls represent 67% to 77% of victims, and also represent 37% of child sex trafficking cases.

Senator Mazie Hirono (D-HI) asked FBI Director Christopher Wray to pay special attention to Native demographics because of this issue that disproportionately affects the safety of young Hawai’ian women. At a prior hearing meeting, Senator Hirono also emphasized that the U.S. government also owes Native Hawai’ians the same accountability that it must continue to work towards for Indigenous and Alaskan native populations.

Hirono has also introduced a resolution to officially designate May 5 as “National Day of Awareness for missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls,” along with her colleagues Senators Jon Tester (D-MT) and Steve Daines (R-MT).

Spotlight 💡

Issey Miyake, or Kazunara Miyake, the Japanese designer that made his mark with pleated style clothing, perfumes in the 80s, and Steve Jobs’ iconic turtleneck, died this past Friday at 86 due to liver cancer complications.

His death was officially announced on Tuesday by the Miyake Design Studio. Miyake was born in 1938 in the midst of war and devastation, and grew up during WWII and experienced the drop of the atomic bomb first hand in his hometown of Hiroshima. His mother died three years later from radiation poisoning while Miyake lived the rest of his life with a limp.

Throughout his career, his heat-treating system that created micro pleats that never faded throughout various washes spoke to a young market. His ready-to-wear fashion and comfort pieces continue to be trendsetting designs in the fashion industry. 

Race in America 🌎

Yesterday, Cambodian and U.S. officials returned 30 Khmer and pre-Khmer antiquities back to the nation. 

Officials reported that all of these antiquities were stolen and trafficked through organized looting networks that transported these artifacts into Western art circles. This ring was operated by Douglas A.J. Latchford, a British art dealer and collector of Cambodian antiquities, who died in 2020 after being charged with smuggling art and falsifying documentation.

At Monday’s news conference, Cambodian ambassador to the U.S. Keo Chhea expressed that this act of repatriation was like, “returning of the souls of our culture back to our peoples.”

In Michigan, Asian American women are still finding it hard to access reproductive healthcare.

Amidst obstacles like language barriers, income issues, lack of legal documentation and health insurance access, less than 2% of the total 30,000 abortion services were from Asian American and Pacific Islander residents in Michigan. With Roe v. Wade overturned, traveling to get an abortion became a necessary option for a lot of people. However, with many Asian residents working in frontline or low-income jobs, the money and time required for that procedure is even more difficult if not impossible.

In Other Asian News 🗞

India employs the highest percentage of women in the flight industry globally, but as a country that ranks very low on the gender equality scale, how did they beat the U.S.?

The South Asian nation mobilized in the late 20th century to include more women in fields like piloting and other STEM programs, which continues to this day. Although social stigma and pressure continue to build barriers for women who may want to pursue these fields, government and business programs, along with the Indian Air Force, recruit and plan to retain women.

Airlines in India, such as Vistara and more, offer many benefits for women pilots including paid maternity leave for six months, late-night drivers for pick-up at airports, and flexible contracts with monthly two-week leaves for mothers with young children up to the age of 5. With women on the job, there are fewer flight accidents and fatal crashes, which makes the option of hiring more women even more important.
 

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In Seoul, heavy rainfall flooded the streets, subway stations and homes, killing at least nine people.

Almost 17 inches of rain poured over the capital between early Monday and Tuesday. Weather officials reported that the amount of rain that accumulated in that one day was equivalent to the amount of rain that typically falls in a summer month. Drivers abandoned their cars, buildings and homes experienced outages, and people were sucked into manholes.

More heavy rain is expected to fall going into the afternoon and all throughout Wednesday.

Food, Film and Music 📺

Christy Innouvong-Thornton and Beatriz Aurelio-Saguin are the founders of Tuk Tuk Box, a monthly subscription service that assembles Southeast Asian snacks and meal kits. Products include tom yum base instant noodle soups, canned mango nectar and ube-flavored wafers.

“Tuk Tuk are the rickshaws in south-east Asia. My dad said it would be a good name for our company because it’s also our vehicle to make social change.” Aurelio-Saguin said. Innouvong-Thornton adds, “A lot of our dishes were made out of war, distress or poverty. We had to ferment things and turn an item like rice into paste, noodles and crackers. It shows the resilience of our community but also a forced resilience.”

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A period drama about Indonesian women dealing with war trauma and a patriarchal society has been picked up for a theatrical release next year. Titled “Before Now & Then,” the film won the jury prize at the Brussels International Film Festival.  Director Kamila Andini says, “‘Before, Now & Then’ is a recollective memory of my Sundanese mother, grandmother, great-grandmother. It is a journey through my own roots and history.”

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Billboard is launching its platform in China. In a press release today, Billboard President Mike Van said, “We look forward to providing a platform for Chinese musicians to share their art and unique sound amongst a global audience. Today marks the beginning of another exciting chapter in Billboard’s evolution and we are eager to witness the proliferation of new artists shaping pop culture.”

What else is on our minds? 🧠
 

• Trader Joe’s is now selling an instant boba tea kit with brown sugar flavor with tapioca. 

• A store in Japan with soft-serve ice cream adorned with platinum and gold leaf is reportedly the most expensive in the country and may just turn your poop sparkly.

• The USC Pacific Asia Museum currently has an exhibit featuring Asian American artworks highlighting contemporary issues called “Off Kilter: Power and Pathos.”

• Acting icon Michelle Yeoh can now add Dr. to her title as she will receive an honorary doctorate in fine arts from the American Film Institute.

• Rising ocean temperatures are harming the edible seaweed harvest of Fijian fisherwomen and their livelihoods.