Sharkbites Newsletter

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OCTOBER 1, 2022


Hello, everyone!

On Tuesday, San Francisco City Supervisors Shamann Walton and Connie Chan announced their plans to develop a cultural district for Pacific Islander residents.


Walton represents Visitacion Valley, an area with a large Pacific Islander population, and hopes that this will bring much-needed resources and the visibility of the PI community and their accomplishments.

Should the plans be approved, city officials say that it will be the 10th cultural district in the city and the nation’s first Pacific Islander cultural district.

Spotlight đź’ˇ

David Louie, one of the first Asian Americans hired by a TV news outlet in San Francisco, retired on Wednesday after 50 and a half years with his colleagues at KGO/ABC7.


His interest in journalism started at the age of five when he appeared on a weekly public affairs program in his neighborhood in Cleveland, Ohio. He would go on to join KGO in San Francisco as an adult in 1972 and serve in multiple positions including the bureau’s technology business reporter and the South Bay Bureau Chief.

Louie also served as the President of the Asian American Journalists Association during his professional career. Thankful for the support he received throughout his career and wanting to support future journalists, he endowed a scholarship for Asian American students at the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University.

David Louie talked about his career and retirement on ABC 7.

Race in America 🌎

In northern California, the
Wat Khmer Kampuchea Krom
, a Khmer Buddhist Temple Foundation, is pushing for the construction of a Cambodian Buddhist temple in the Evergreen community of San Jose.

The group submitted its fourth proposal in February and continues to face objections from local neighbors. Organizers have been listening to their concerns and making adjustments to address those issues with the most modest plan proposing that only eight monks live on temple grounds, that the weekly weekend service bring only an estimated 50 visitors, the construction of surface parking, and the restricting of special events to accommodate only 300 people, even as the community totals around 6,000.

Lyna Lam, the founder of A Khmer Buddhist Foundation, explains her motivation behind the temple construction amid slow progress:

“I want it to be more than just a religious place to come and worship. It should be a place that the community can come together to support one another. A place where we can teach the young kids the language and our history and traditions, and to provide leadership and resources to other temples if they need it. We’re putting together a list right now of all the temples here in America, not just Khmer Krom but all Cambodian temples. I want to work with them to meet the needs of the community. Cambodians have not always succeeded as a community and I think part of it is we are somehow not working together, not building each other up. I want to change that. By working with the temple to see what the needs are within the community and how can we help.”

In Other Asian News đź—ž

As some borders start to ease, people who previously wished to travel are now reconsidering going to the U.S. – particularly mainland Chinese people.


Scott Moskowitz, a geopolitical risk analyst for the Asia-Pacific region at Morning Consult, a decision intelligence company, argues that state-controlled media in China has played up examples of anti-Asian violence in the U.S. to dissuade citizens from going there.

Morning Consult’s study published earlier this month also details that out of 1,000 survey respondents, 22% and 23% of mainland Chinese respondents are
“not interested at all” or “not that interested” in visiting the U.S., respectively, with 57% of those respondents citing violent crime as a primary reason - 52% cite terrorism, 36% cite petty crime, and 44% said that they were concerned about anti-Chinese bias from U.S. locals. Now more than ever, Chinese travelers are more likely to look at destinations in Europe.

 

...


On Friday, the president of the World Uyghur Congress, Dolkun Isa, called on Japan to do more than make “empty promises” to stop the human rights abuses occurring in China.

Isa told reporters that Japan’s efforts were
“not enough to stop the ongoing genocide,” and that its parliament had “some obligation to more actively engage in the Uyghur genocide.” In efforts to build support for a motion at the U.N. Human Rights Council, Isa and his organization, along with other Western allies, have been working to build coalition support around the globe. The motion requires a majority vote to pass in the Geneva council, which in its current state, remains deeply divided.

Dolkun Isa speaks in a Vice News video.

Dolkun Isa
Image:
VICE News

Entertainment đź“ş

“Bridgerton” season two star Charithra Chandran will be the lead in a new drama titled “Song of the Sun God,” based on the novel from author Shankari Chandran.


The story follows the love and lies of a Sri Lankan family across three generations. Chandran will play Leela, an Australian woman in London who is disconnected from her family, but will go on a journey to find her lost aunt and uncover all sorts of truths.

Charithra Chandran talks about her work in Bridgerton.

Indian American filmmaker Sujata Day will write and develop a new “American Pie” film.

The exact plot and details are not known at this time, but Day promises a “fresh take” from the original series and describes the comedy franchise as one of her all-time favorites.

Sujata day talks about her work.

What else is on our minds? 🧠
 

  • “Grendel” star Abubakr Ali is expressing his thoughts on the cancellation of his Netflix show and what it means for Muslim representation.

  • A profile on Kashmiri chef Prateek Sadhu who forages for native ingredients. 

  • Another trailer for “Suzume,” the animated film from “Your Name” and “Wandering With You” director Makoto Shinkai, is out now. 

  • The chief of Toyota is calling out California’s zero-emissions goal by 2035 for being “difficult.”  

  • Street food Lumpiang Shanghai is declared the second best in the world.

What is your least favorite car?

Daniel dislikes Tow Mater from the Cars’ franchise. I dislike Lighting McQueen. (On a more serious note: I don’t drive, so I am not well-acquainted with car culture.) 

Sincerely, Mya Sato and Daniel Anderson 
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