Georgia Asian Times Vol 9 No 10

Covering The Multicultural Asian American Community in Georgia www.gasiantimes.comMay1-15,2013Vol10No9

Page 2 May 1-15, 2013 Georgia Asian Times

Publisher: Li WongAccount Manager: Adrian WestContributors: Andrian Putra, May Lee, Mark HoPhotography: Ben Hioe

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Georgia Asian Times assumes no responsi-bility for damages from the use of information contained in this publication or the reply to any advertisement. The Publisher will not be liable for any error in advertising to greater extent than the cost of space occupied by the error and will only be made for a single publication date.

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GAT Calendar of Events(For latest & updated events, visit www.gasiantimes.com)

GAT welcome submission of announcement pertaining to community related events. Please email event, date, venue, and time to [email protected].

GAT does not guarantee insertion of event announcement and has the right to deny any posting.

Georgia Asian Times May 1-15, 2013 Page 3

APAC 28th Annual Unity Gala & Scholarship Award BanquetDate: Saturday, May 4, 2013Time: 6:30 pmVenue: Atlanta Marriott Gwinnett PlaceFor more info: 770-722-8486

USPAACC-SE Annual Business MeetingDate: Wednesday May 8, 2013Time: 8:00 am - 1:00 pmVenue: Turner Broadcasting Sys-tem Inc.101 Marietta Street NW, Centennial Tower, 20th Floor, Connector A&B, Atlanta GA 30303For more info: www.uspaacc-se.com

“Jiki to Hanga: Japanese Porcelain and Prints”Date: May 12-Aug 25, 2013Venue: Oglethorpe University Museum of ArtFor more info: [email protected]

“Discovering the Filipino American Experience”Date: May 18, 2013Time: 9:00 am - 4:00 pmVenue: National Archives Atlanta, 5780 Jonesboro Rd. Morrow, GA 30260For more info: www.filamexpere-ince.com

18th Annual Savannah Asian FestivalDate: Saturday, June 22, 2013Time: 11:00 am - 5:00 pmVenue: Savannah Civic Center MLK ArenaFor more info: www.savannahga.gov

GAT 25 Most Influential Asian Americans in Georgia - Awards DinnerDate: Thursday, July 18, 2013 Time: 6:30 pmVenue: TBAFor sponsorship and reservation: contact GAT 678-971-9388

18th Atlanta Dragon Boat FestivalDate: Saturday Sept 14, 2013Time: 7:00 am - 5:00 pmVenue: Clarks Bridge, Lake Lanier Olympic Rowing Facility For more info: www.dragonboatat-lanta.com

Peachtree City Dragon Boat FestivalDate: Sept 28, 2013Time: 8:00 amVenue: Peachtree CityFor more info: [email protected]

9th Atlanta Asian Film FestivalDate: Oct 11-25, 2013Volunteers needed.Apply: [email protected] more info: www.atlaff.org

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25 Most Influential Asian Americans in Georgia

In the spirit of 2013 Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month celebration, we are documenting the changing of power and the continual shifting of influence of Asian Americans in our communities.

This year’s 25 Most Influential Asian Americans in Georgia offer a list-ing of individuals who made an impact in arts, business, government, politics, social work, education, judiciary, and areas that influence every aspect of Georgian’s daily life. Some names are familiar as they continue to strive to make our community a better place to live. New faces are recognized for their effort and dedication to make a difference.

The list is made possible by the editorial staff and a selection committee comprises of community, civic, media, and professional organizations.

Aparna BhattacharyyaExecutive DirectorRaksha

Aparna Bhattacharyya was born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia. She has served as Executive Director of Raksha since 1998. Aparna gradu-ated from Georgia State University with a Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice.

She has served as a member of the Georgia Advisory Committee for the U.S Commission on Civil Rights, board Vice President for Tapestri, Inc, an Advisory Board member for the National Network to End Violence Against Immigrant Women, Advisory Board Member for Georgia State’s School of Social Work, Board Mem-ber of the Dekalb County Domestic Violence Task Force in 2006- 2012 (Board Chair from 2010-2011), and the Cross Keys Foundation Vice Presi-dent in 2011-2012.

Aparna is an alumni of Leadership Atlanta’s Class of 2010, and a 2009 recipient of the Center for Pan Asian Community Service’s Asian Women’s Leadership Development Grant.

Aparna was recognized by the Indi-an American Cultural Association for Excellent and Continued Contribution to the Community in 2010. Aparna is currently on the Board of the Georgia Coalition Against Domestic Violence, the National Immigrant Women’s Ad-vocacy Project and is the Board Chair of VIDA Legal Assistance. Aparna continues to advocate for access and justice for immigrant survivors of do-mestic and sexual violence and trains community members, law enforce-ment, attorneys, and law enforcement both locally and nationally.

Cecile J. Pasion-Bregman Chairperson, Kalayaan

Asst Professor, Emory University

Cecile J. Pasion-Bregman, MD, has been a practicing psychiatrist in Metro-Atlanta since 1996. She is a Clinical Assistant Professor at Emory University Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and has served in leadership roles in her professional career.

She is also very active in the Fili-pino-American community, having served as President of the Filipino-American Association of Greater Atlanta in 2001 and other positions.

As Chair of Kalayaan 2012, she worked cohesively with the different leaders of other Filipino-American organizations and expanded this celebration commemorating Philip-pine Independence from a one-day to a four-day affair. She is again Chair of Kalayaan this year which is now a one month celebration offering events that target Filipinos from all walks of life throughout Georgia. Kalayaan show-cases Filipino culture and values for the future generations to appreciate and perpetuate.

Cecile also serves the broader com-munity, being the Founding Chair of the Angels of Mercy Ministry, which is composed of volunteer doctors, nurses, lawyers and other allied health professionals who provide health screenings and medical and legal lectures to its parent parish, St. Philip Benizi Catholic Church. In the past year, this ministry has also served the Burmese refugees of Corpus Christi Catholic Church, The Monastery of the Holy Spirit, St. John Catholic Church and soon the Our Lady of Vietnam Parish.

Georgia Asian Times E May 1-15, 2013 Page 5


Estrella Cramer Corporate Finance ManagerCorporate Procurement Services UPS

Estrella Cramer started her career at United Parcel Service in 1989. She is currently the Global Procurement Fi-nance Manager in the UPS Corporate office overseeing financial analysis, business planning, new process de-velopment, supplier relationships and reporting to ensure finance leadership for UPS Procurement. She is involved with the UPS Supplier Diversity program which includes working internally and externally to develop, promote, guide, assist and implement the supplier diversity process.

Estrella has over 23 years of service across the different business units and functions in UPS (Supply Chain Solutions, Corporate, Finance & Ac-counting, Marketing, Strategic Cost, etc.). Expanded experience interna-tionally with a special assignment in

2004 as UPS Asia Pac Sarbanes Oxley Audit Coordinator estab-lishing program and leading all auditing efforts related to SOX for all UPS locations in Asia.

She played an active role in the pilot and launch of the offi-cial UPS Diversity Leadership Devel-opment (DLD) program in Corporate. Acted as co-chair in the DLD Business Connections which is an external networking program designed to give UPS employees exposure to a broad range of business perspectives, en-hance business acumen, and provide opportunities to develop new business relationships. She is now the chair for the UPS Asian Business Resource Group Community Connections where participants are encouraged to learn leadership through service and involvement in community projects outside of UPS.

Kim Hanh Dang PresidentVietnamese Community of Georgia

Kim is currently serving in her sec-ond term as President of Vietnamese Community of Georgia (2012-2015) and Secretary for the newly formed Georgia Vietnamese American Cham-ber of Commerce. She is a successful real estate broker with Atlanta Maxim International Realty.

Kim led the effort to establish the first Vietnamese Community Center in Georgia. The center provided a wide range of community services ranging from youth tutoring, after school program, English & Vietnam-ese language, and computer literacy class. It also provide free Tai chi class, ballroom dancing, and a monthly social gathering event to promote the Vietnamese heritage.

She organized an annual free health fair and a summer picnic with more

than 1000 attendees each year. Kim also organizes the Vietnamese TET Lunar New Year event that attracted more than five thousand attendeesand a Mid-Autumn Moon Festival with more than two thousand attend-ees every year.

She also recently formed a senior citizen group that meets every Satur-day at the Vietnamese Community of Georgia Center with social activities that encourages physical and mental health.

Le Dam DoanPresident Asian/Pacific American Council of Georgia (APAC Georgia)

Le Doan is U.I. Field Tax Auditor II at Georgia Department of Labor to help raise business community aware-ness and compliant with the U.I. Tax Law.

Le currently serve as President of

Asian/Pacific American Council of Georgia. APAC Georgia is a federation organization of over 20 multicultural Asian organizations in metro Atlanta.

In addition, Le is currently involved in numerous community groups including: serving as Board Member, Atlanta Regional Commission Youth Council (ARC-WIA), Team Captain of Asian Experience Cultural in Georgia

(ACE), Public Relation Chair-Viet-namese-American Community of Georgia (VAC-GA), Advisor of Boat People SOS, Inc. (BPSoS), Member, The National Association of Asian American Professionals-Atlanta (NAAAP-Atlanta), Atlanta Asian Film Festival Organizing Committee (AAFF), Member, International As-sociation of Workforce Professionals (IAWP).

Duriya FarooquiChief Operating OfficerCity of Atlanta

Appointed by Mayor Kasim Reed, she is the youngest person to serve as Chief Operating Officer for Atlanta, the first Asian Ameri-can and the third woman to hold the position. She has led major Reed Administration initiatives across the city to drive results in public safety, service delivery and im-proved operations across city agencies including Hartsfield Jackson Interna-tional Airport, the busiest airport in the world. Duriya is responsible for the management of over 7000 city employees and operations that span an annual budget of over $2 Billion.

Duriya holds a Masters in Public Administration and International De-velopment from the Kennedy School

at Harvard University and was awarded a fellowship on merit of professional promise. She received a B.A. in Economics and Mathematics from Hampshire College, under a full scholar-ship. Prior to joining the City of Atlanta, Duriya’s experience

was focused on international policyanalysis and included positions with the World Bank, The Center for Glob-al Development and the Center for International Development at Har-vard University. Her research focused primarily on trade, education policy and impact evaluation. Her work was also cited in the World Bank’s 2004 World Development Report.


25 Most Influential Asian Americans in GeorgiaJulin GuPresident, Federation Associa-tion Chinese Professionals Southern USAPresident, Association of Chinese Professionals in AtlantaSenior Consultant, Bank of America

Julin Gu is currently working for the Bank of America as senior consultant with over 15 years of experience for medical claim and payment processing and related systems. Gu holds a BS from Dalian Maritime University and an MS degree in information system from Kennesaw State University. He also attended the Atlanta Regional Institute 2009 class.

Devoted to the friendship between

USA and China, Julin Gu contributed to promoting cooperation exchange in science and technology, economy, culture and talents. He has led and or-ganized a series of activities which in-clude the Sino-US science and technol-ogy, economic development, education and talents exchange seminar in 2005; the annual Suzhou Energy-Saving and Environmental Protection Forum in 2007 and 2008; three Asian Diversity Career Fairs from 2007 to 2009 in Atlanta; Beijing Olympic Sculpture

Exhibition in 2008 at the Centennial Olympia Park; jointly orga-nized several performances of the Art Troupe of Chi-na Federation of Returned

Overseas in USA; assisted the Sichuan disaster relief charity of the Art Troupe Sister Liu show in 6 cities in the east coast of USA in 2008.

Julin also organized and hosted the memorial sculpture ceremony and performances in 2009 for the com-memoration of the thirtieth anniver-sary of China-US diplomatic relations; and assisted in the final placement of the memorial sculpture in GSU and the Carter Center. Recently, he also chaired the 2010 Sino-US Environ-mental Protection and Energy Sum-mit and Expo at GSU in April 2010 which attracted close to 200 experts and scholars. Julin also leads bilat-eral delegation match-making several times a year to promote culture, trade, investment and technology exchanges between US and China.

May Gao, Ph. D Asian Studies Coordinator Kennesaw State University

Dr. May Hongmei Gao started her career at Kennesaw State University in 2004 as an Assistant Professor of Com-munication. She is currently the Asian Studies Coordinator, and Associate Professor of Communication and Asian Studies at Kennesaw State University.

Dr. Gao is the Founder and Chair of the Symposium on ASIA-USA Part-nership Opportunities (SAUPO), the largest Asia business conference in the Southern United States. SAUPO brings together prominent business leaders, scholars, policy makers, non-govern-mental decision makers, and diplomats to Atlanta for information exchange and networking. Dr. Gao has received recognition by “the White House Ini-tiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders” and “Asian American Heri-tage Foundation” for her work in pro-moting Asian investment in the U.S. and in enhancing education on Asia for students and community members. She teaches and conducts research in communication, business, conflict resolution and Asian studies. She has

published in Thunderbird Internation-al Business Review, Global Business Languages, China Media Research, Journal of Chinese Culture and Man-agement, and East West Connections.

Dr. Gao holds a Ph.D. in Speech Communication from the University of South Florida, an MA in Mass Commu-nication from Brigham Young Univer-sity and a BA in English from Shanghai International Studies University. Dr. Gao worked in China as a PR Specialist and a TV Anchorwoman prior to com-ing to the U.S. in 1998.

Daniel Fu Board memberIndonesian Heritage Community Foundation

Daniel Fu has been involved with ICHF (Indonesian Community Heri-tage Foundation) as a supporter since 1998 and has served in various roles as a board member and President. He has made a continuing effort to help the or-ganization grow and have bigger voice in the community.

Daniel is a key team member of THEFUREO as a Buyer Specialist and has more than 10 years of experience; he is passionate about helping his cli-ents find the best house according to their needs. He serves as the elder for Atlanta Chinese Christian Church, and also volunteers much of his time in community outreach. He also served as Board of Director for APAC (Asian/Pacific-American Council) in the past three years.

He is very proud of his Indonesian/Chinese heritage and enjoys meeting other Indonesian/Chinese profession-als who also make a difference in the United States. Daniel has earned his associate’s degree in computer science at Dekalb Community college, and took some business marketing courses at Georgia State University.

Steven Gu CPA, KPMG Tax Dept. Board MemberNational Association of Chinese Professionals (NACA)

Steven Gu is a CPA (Licensed in Georgia) and Attorney (Licensed in New York). He works for Mergers & Acquisition – Tax department of KPMG LLP. His practices include tax Reorganization and Restructur-ing, Bankruptcy workout, Basis and E&P study, Tax Carve-out (Spin off & IPOs), Due Diligence and other tax planning services. He has represented clients from different industries including Energy & Alternative En-ergy, Hotel Management, Aerospace, Private Equity, Financing & Banking, Healthcare, Telecommunication, etc. Steven also plays a key role in KPMG’s US China Practice which assists Chi-nese companies seeking to access U.S. markets – expanding operations, rais-ing capital and/or engaging in M&A. KPMG US China Practice, in collabo-

ration with the member firm in China, also helps U.S. companies implement cross-border invest-ment strategies and navigate the associated risks.

Steven is actively involved in the local Chinese and Asian Pacific American communi-ties. He has been serving as a NACA board member since 2007. He served as NACA Vice President, Senior Vice President for the term of 2009 and 2010, respectively and has served as President since 2011. He was the com-mittee chair for the Inaugural NACA US China Business Conference held in November 2010, which attracted more than 250 attendants, including many multinational corporate senior executives including the Mayor of Atlanta.


25 Most Influential Asian Americans in GeorgiaSharon Lim Harle

Assistant Vice President for Alumni ServicesMercer University Atlanta

Sharon Lim Harle, a Malaysian Chinese, has lived in Atlanta for more than 30 years. She holds a B.B.A. degree in Management and Marketing and an M.B.A. in Market-ing and International Business from Mercer University. She currently serves as Assistant Vice President for Alumni Services and University Special Events at Mercer University in Atlanta. Additionally, Sharon also serves as a business faculty special-izing in Marketing and International Business courses.

Sharon was an active interna-tional student during her collegiate years; she was chosen to represent Atlanta’s international students to receive the International Student Day Proclamation from then Mayor Andrew Young. Sharon served as a student Ambassador for Mercer University and was the recipient of several outstanding student awards, including the James Baggott Award for Community Service and Aca-demic Excellence in 1986. She was also named in Who’s Who Among

American Universities and Colleges in 1985.

During the Atlanta Centennial Olympic Games in 1996, Ms. Harle served as a V.I.P. Host for Malaysia, and attended to her country’s royal family and contingent. She also served as a board member of the Inaugural Organizing Committee for the Atlanta Asian Film Festival. Sharon is an active member of Sec-ond-Ponce de Leon Baptist Church in Buckhead for 25 years, serving as a member in the Sanctuary Choir as well as in various community ca-pacities. In 2000, she was ordained Deacon and thus became the first Asian deacon in the Church’s 150-year history.

Jimmy HoVice PresidentChinese Community Center

Ho is a successful entrepreneur who is actively involved with the Taiwanese American community. He is serving as Vice President of Chinese Community Center and has previously served as President of Atlanta Taiwanese Chamber of Commerce.

Jimmy has previously served as executive board member in the United Way Gwinnett County, OCA Georgia Chapter, Mt. Jade Technology Association, Kwang Tung Association, and Chinese Ameri-can Lions Club.

He currently serves as Advisor Board member of Com-patriot Affair for Taiwan in Georgia; as an Executive Board Member of Asian American Commu-nity Strategic Partner for Georgia Republi-can Party.

Jimmy runs a suc-cessful import and wholesale business with his wife.

Tim HurChief Executive Officer, International Business AcceleratorBroker/President, Point Honors and Associates

Tim Hur is a graduate of the Georgia Institute of Technology with a Bachelor of Science in Industrial and Systems Engineer-ing.

Tim is fluent in Korean and English.

His extensive experience acting as a global business consultant has assist-ed Asian companies launch their U.S. Headquarters in the United States.

He is a founding member of the

Gwinnett Chamber’s Young Profes-sionals (hYPe), a charter member for the Gwinnett Mosaic Rotary Club, and a board member for the American Cancer Society - North Georgia and the Gwinnett Clean and Beautiful. He is also a member of the Atlanta Com-mercial Board of REALTORS, having his CIPS, ABR and GREEN designa-tions.

Active in the Korean community, he served as a board member for the Korean American Coalition (2008-2009), the Korean American Scholar-ship Foundation (2009-current), the

Vice-President of the Next Generation Divi-sion of the Overseas Korean Trade Associa-tion (OKTA) Atlanta Chapter (2010). He has been serving as the Assistant Secretary of the Gwinnett Place Community Improve-ment District, is a 2010

graduates of the Atlanta Regional Commissions’ Regional Leadership Institute, a graduate of the 2012 class of LEAD Atlanta (a division of Leader-ship Atlanta), a potential graduate of the 2014 class of Leadership Gwin-nett, was named one of the Top 35 Under 35 in Gwinnett County (2011), and was named one of the Top 25 Asian Americans in Georgia consecu-tively in both 2011 and 2012.

Tim was also elected as the President of the Atlanta Chapter of the Asian Real Estate Association of America, a trade association with 30 chap-ters and over 15,000 members and most recently been appointed by the President of the National Associa-tion of REALTORSas the 2013-2014 President Liaison for South Korea on behalf of the National Association of REALTORS.

Mika Kawana Finance Director Georgia Republican Party

Mika Kawana is the Finance Director for the Georgia Republican Party, a position she has held since February of 2007. She is a current member of the Governor’s Office of Children and Families Advisory Board, the Atlanta Alumnae Chapter of Delta Zeta Sorority, and the UGA Palladia Society as well as a former member of the Fi-nance Committee of the UGA Alumni Association Board of Directors.

Mika previously served as Regional Director for the Georgia Republican Party in Fulton and DeKalb counties

during the 2006 elec-tion. She also worked in the Finance De-partment for Georgia Inaugural 2007. She supports local organi-zations including The Linus Foundation, Foster Care Support Foundation, and Well-spring Living. Mika earned a bachelor’s degree from the Uni-versity of Georgia.



Chong LooFinancial ControllerUPS International Finance & Accounting Group

Chong Loo is a Financial Control-ler in the UPS International Finance & Accounting Group, responsible for the UPS Forwarding and Global Small Package costing systems and cost analysis. He also provides costing analysis support to the pricing system, and profit and loss measurement.

Chong Loo was project manager on the team that helped UPS develop and launch the first UPS Forwarding global web-based pricing system. He was also key architect and original developer of the first UPS state-of-the-art “activity-based costing” model for UPS package delivery.

Chong began his UPS career in New

Orleans, Louisiana in 1987 in the Industrial Engineering Department, holding positions in industrial en-gineering and operations. He was a manager in the Strategic Cost Analysis Department, and was named Domes-tic Product Cost Controller in 1994.

In recognition of his contributions to the community Loo was the recipi-ent of the 2012 OCA National Asian Pacific American Corporate Achieve-ment Award, which is dedicated to celebrating and recognizing APAs in the corporate sector who exemplify not only excellence in their profes-sion, but also leadership and commit-ment in their respective communities, and to the existing corporate culture of diversity

“Travis” Euisuk KimPresident. AutomallPresident, The Korean American Association of Greater AtlantaSr. Vice President, Korean Amer-ican Chamber of Commerce

Travis Kim is a businessman and a community leader. As a native South Korean, he came to US in 1983 and received BS and MS from Eastern Michigan University. After working for Johnson Controls and Coca-Cola for many years, he opened AutoUSA, an automobile dealership in 2000. He currently operates two automobile dealerships in Norcross and Duluth.

He is actively involved with the Korean American business community by having served as Board Member, Senior VP, President and Chairman of Korean-American Chamber of Com-merce of Georgia.

He currently serves as the President of Korean American Association of Greater Atlanta (KAAGA), currently representing over 100,000 local Ko-rean Americans for their civil rights and improvements through activities and programs in community service, culture, education, health, political participation, etc.

Made YataCEO & FounderMy International Gourmet

Yata is a creative and innova-tive food entrepreneur who has successfully launched a series of food outlets and restaurants in Georgia and North Carolina.

Made is originally from Bali, Indonesia. He started in the food and hospitality business in 1996 in Alabama.

He found success in innovative food theme and cuisines ranging from Cajun to Soul food cooking. He currently operates several successful food outlets such as Bistro 7 and Cajun Tropical Cajun. His business employs over 25 individuals.

Made is committed to the welfare of his em-ployees and community. He regularly contribute his time and funds to support community projects.

Farooq MughalManaging Partner MS Global Partners

Farooq Mughal heads up MS Global Partners and maintains an active govern-mental affairs practice in Atlanta, Georgia, specialized in political, legislative and governmental affairs mat-ters. A veteran political strategist and advisor, Farooq has worked on several influential state and federal political campaigns as senior political advisor and routinely advises lawmakers on legislative priorities and constituency outreach.

In 2012, Farooq was invited by President Barack Obama to attend the White House Iftar Dinner to honor the leadership of Muslim Americans. He was also selected to serve on the At-lanta Steering Committee of the White House Initiatives on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders Southeast Sum-mit 2012 in Atlanta, Georgia. With a

background in legislative affairs and public policy, he has received a numbers of awards: 2010 Georgia Trend Magazine “40 Under 40 Best & Brightest″ and 2011 CNN’s New Guard Member News-Makers. Farooq is the highest ranking Muslim American in Georgia politics and Asian American within

the Democratic Party of Georgia.

In 2013, Mr. Mughal led the legisla-tive committee of The Georgia Asian American & Pacific Islander Legislative Day Steering Committee and proposed a new Asian American Commission for Georgia to give AAPIs a stronger voice in state government. Farooq’s leader-ship has been recognized by the White House, Congressman Mike Honda of California, Congressman Keith Ellison of Minnesota, Georgia Governor Roy Barnes, Georgia Secretary of State and Georgia state legislators.



Elsie Medina Vidanes President of the Filipino- American Association of Greater Atlanta

As current president of Fil-Am, Elsie

aspires to continue to serve the com-munity and to promote the mission and vision of the association through Philippine cultural and educational presentations and to keep Fil-Am’s ties with other Asian countries stronger through joint efforts by active partici-pation and continual support of other Asian cultural celebrations in Georgia.

A Bachelor of Science in Foreign

Service graduate from the University of the Philippines, Elsie worked a combined total of 24 years of service at Emory Clinic Business Office and Emory University as the Main Office Branch Manager of Emory Alliance Credit Union.

In another aspect of her life, Elsie had joined in the Strong Legs fund raising campaigns to benefit Egleston Children’s Hospital and was one of the top notchers in the Annual Heart Walk fund raising campaign for the Ameri-can Heart Association.

Bryan Ramos Principal, Ramos Law Firm President, Philippines American Chamber of Commerce

Bryan Ramos is a workers’ compen-sation trial lawyer. He graduated from Florida State University and Mercer University’s School of Law. His career began as the staff attorney for the Houston Judicial Circuit. Thereafter, he was an associate with a large Atlanta law firm.

In April 2005, he opened the Ramos Law Firm handling workers’ com-pensation matters exclusively. He has recovered millions of dollars for his clients and has published national and local articles on workers’ compensa-tion law. In addition to his AV rating, Mr. Ramos was named a “Rising Star” by Super Lawyers Magazine in 2010 through 2012.

In 2011 and 2012, he was selected as one of the top 25 Most Influential Asian Americans in Georgia by the Georgia Asian Times. He also serves as a special assistant to the Philippine Honorary Consulate in Atlanta as well as the President of the Philippine-American Chamber of Commerce of Georgia for 2013.

B.J. Pak Georgia House of Representative 108th District Partner, Ballard Spahr LLP

In November 2010, B.J. was elected into the Georgia General Assembly. He is the first American of Korean descent to be elected into any State Legislature in the Southeastern United States. As State Representa-tive, B.J. has served in the Health and Human Services, Judiciary Non-Civil and Code Revision committees.

B.J. is a Partner at the Atlanta law office of Ballard Spahr LLP where he works to assist his clients (ranging from small business owners to For-tune 500 Corporations) solve complex business, regulatory, and criminal is-sues. Through his current position, he has the experience and the knowledge of how businesses are impacted by taxes and other regulatory burdens.

He has been recognized by Georgia Super Lawyers as a Rising Star, Best attorneys under 40 by the National Asian Pacific American Bar Associa-tion, and one of 13 attorneys to watch by the Fulton County Daily Report.

Umpon Sangmalee, MD AdvisorThai Association World Center

USA

Dr. Umpon Sangmalee, MD is a family practitioner for over thirty-three years in Rockmart, Georgia. Dr. Sangmalee has over the years contributed much to the health wel-fare of refugees and new immigrant community. He leads the effort of organizing annual free health fair for the underprivileged community.

Behind the scene, Dr. Sangmalee also provided the critical financial and logistical support for the orga-nizing effort of Asian Cultural Expe-rience (ACE) every year. ACE is the largest annual event celebrating Asia Pacific American heritage, culture, and food in metro Atlanta.

A soft spoken physician who cares about his patients and the well being of the entire community. He fre-quently sacrifices his time to help others without hoping for any per-sonal gain or financial returns.



Eugene C. Yu PresidentFederation of Korean Association of USA

Eugene Chin Yu is the President of the Federation of Korean Associations U.S.A. as well as the President and CEO of Continental Military Services Inc., located at Augusta, Georgia since 2007. Previously, he served US army and as deputy sheriff in Richmond County, Georgia.

He has funded, built, and organized a Korean War Veterans Monument in downtown Augusta, Georgia. He regarded his effort as symbol of his love for both countries: the USA and Korea. He also served as member of the Board of Trustees at Newberry College in Newberry, SC since 2008.

Yu had successfuly mediate and settle a serious dispute between the Korean and African American com-munities in Dallas, Texas in 2012. His skills in persuasion and meditation has resulted in peace for both parties.

Lani WongChair, National Association of Chinese Americans (NACA)

Lani is a recognized community leader at the local, national, and in-ternational level. She has been at the forefront of community service and community leadership for over 30 years.

Lani is a true pioneer in her vision and foresight in promoting U.S.-China relations, excellence in education, participation of Asian Americans in the American political process, and the importance of charitable organizations to serve the greater needs of the com-munity.

Currently, she serves as Secretary on the DeKalb County Economic De-velopment Authority and serves as a member on the Delta Air Lines Global Diversity Alliance Board of Directors, Georgia Perimeter College Founda-tion’s Board of Trustees, the Metro At-

lanta Chamber of Commerce Global Busi-ness Council; the Atlanta Women’s Foundation Board of Direc-tors; and is a Charter Board of Directors for the Geor-gia Women’s Institute. She

also served on Public Broadcasting of Atlanta Board of Directors.

Lani has served on Mayor Kasim Reed’s Transition Team, on the Lead-ership Atlanta Foundation Board of Trustee for the past 3 years, she serve as a member of the Coca-Cola Scholars National Selection Committee for 3 years, a Trustee on the Saint Joseph Hospital Health System Board for 4 years, and a member of the Presiden-tial Search Committee for the new President of Georgia Perimeter College.

Bonnie Youn PrincipalYoun Law Group

Bonnie M. Youn is an attorney in Georgia. Ethnically Korean but born in the Philippines, she began practic-ing as an immigration attorney in 1997 and is principal of her own law firm, the Youn Law Group. She has worked tirelessly to provide a voice for immigrants and AAPI communi-ties.

She led teams that organized the 2013 Georgia AAPI Legislative Day, gathering the largest number of AAPIs in history at the state Capitol to meet and lobby elected officials. In 2012, she worked closely with the White House Initiative on AAPIs to organize its Southeast Regional Ac-tion Summit at Emory University in Atlanta. The Summit brought together over 500 participants to meet federal agency officials, culminating in a town hall meeting discussing con-

cerns about immigration, healthcare and mental health issues, small busi-ness, and housing needs.

Her current passions are advocat-ing for more AAPI judges and political appointees, challenging state legisla-tion that disenfranchises immigrants, and creating a legacy of a sustainable AAPI Commission for Georgia.

Kim DoHyang Reimann, PhD Associate Professor, Political Science Director, Asian Studies Center Georgia State University

The daughter of Korean and German immigrants, Dr. Kim DoHyang Reimann interest in bridging cultures is informed by growing up in a multicultural house-hold. Her research explores transna-tional activism in East Asia.

GSU’s Asian Studies Center offers the only Bachelor’s degree in Asian Studies in the state of Georgia. Under Kim’s leadership, the Center has sponsored countless public events and collaborates with a wide range of Asian Pacific American community groups. Kim also spearheaded the ex-pansion of the Asian studies programs and faculty in Chinese studies in 2010-2012, and is promoting Korean studies and initiatives as the current Chair of GSU’s Task Force on Korea.

Kim feels hon-ored to support the dedicated work of the leaders in the diverse Asian American commu-nity. She has served as Director-at-Large on the board of the Asian Pacific Ameri-can Council of GA (APAC) since 2011, Co-Chair of APAC’s

Unity Gala in 2012 and 2013, a mem-ber of the Atlanta Asian Film Festi-val Organizing Committee, the Pan Asian Action Network, OCA-GA and an advisor to Thai Association World Center - USA.

Kim earned her Ph.D. in Political Science from Harvard University in 2001, a Master’s degree in Regional Studies –East Asia from Harvard in 1993 and a Bachelor’s degree in Ori-ental Studies from Barnard College of Columbia University in 1986.

Community Spirit Award


FEATURE

Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month

May is Asian American Pa-cific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month – a celebration of Asians and Pacific Islanders in the United States. A rather broad term, Asian-Pacific encompass-es all of the Asian continent and the Pacific islands of Melanesia.

Like most commemorative months, Asian American Pa-cific Islander Heritage Month originated in a congressional bill. In June 1977, Reps. Frank Horton of New York and Nor-man Y. Mineta of California introduced a House resolution that called upon the president to proclaim the first ten days of May as Asian-Pacific Heritage Week. The following month, senators Daniel Inouye and Spark Matsunaga introduced a similar bill in the Senate. Both were passed.

On October 5, 1978, President Jimmy Carter signed a Joint Resolution designating the an-nual celebration. Twelve years later, President George H.W. Bush signed an extension mak-ing the week-long celebration into a month-long celebration. In 1992, the official designation of May as Asian-Pacific Ameri-can Heritage Month was signed into law.

The month of May was chosen to commemorate the immigra-tion of the first Japanese to the United States on May 7, 1843, and to mark the anniversary of the completion of the trans-continental railroad on May 10, 1869. The majority of the work-ers who laid the tracks were Chinese immigrants.

Asian American Pacific Is-lander Heritage Month is an annual call to action for the AAPI community and an op-portunity for the country to see its breadth of its diversity in “e pluribus unum.”

Asian American Pacific Is-lander Heritage Month rec-ognizes the history, concerns, contributions and achieve-ments of Asian Americans and

their role in the American story.

While the Asian American experience reaches across borders and spans oceans, with roots in the Asian continent and archipelagos across the Pacific Ocean, the Asian Ameri-can story reflects the American spirit.

Like so many other com-munities in America, Asian

Americans worked to expand frontiers, forging the iron rails that linked sea to shining sea. They shed blood to defend the nation and stood up to preserve its cher-ished values, in classrooms and courtrooms, in legislatures and in the streets.

Georgia Asian Times is proud

to be a part of the celebration by featuring an annual list of “GAT 25 Most Influential Asian Americans in Georgia.” The prestigious list recognizes the important contributions made by Asian American individuals in their respective professional fields.

SPORTSPage 12 May 1-15, 2013 Georgia Asian Times

NEW DELHI, April 28, 2013 (AFP) - Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia maintained his perfect record against Kenichi Tago, seeing off the challenge of the Japanese player to win the India Open badminton tournament in New Delhi on Sunday.

The Malaysian, ranked number one in the world, needed just over an hour to down a battling Tago 21-15, 18-21, 21-17 for his 13th victory over his op-ponent in as many matches.

In the women’s singles, Thai teen-ager Ratchanok Intanon claimed her maiden Super Series title with an im-pressive 22-20, 21-14 victory over sec-ond-seeded German Juliane Schenk.

Lee and Tago entertained a near-capacity crowd with some exciting badminton, with the Malaysian even-tually ending the match with a smash to claim his second India Open title in three years.

Top-seeded Lee was the winner in 2011 and runner-up last year.

Sixth-seeded Tago lost the opening game but raised his performance to level the match and gave his illustrious opponent some anxious moments in the decider.

Lee led 16-9 in the final game, only to see the margin cut to 17-16. The Ma-laysian then won three points in a row to make it 20-16, with the Japanese saving one match point before slipping to defeat.

“It was a tough match as Tago did very well. I have played him a lot

of times and hope to keep winning against him,” said Lee.

“Thanks to Indian fans who came to support me today. Last time, I lost in the final at the India Open, but this time I won,” said Lee. “I am very happy with my performance.”

Third-seeded Ratchanok, 18, trailed 10-5 in the opening game but came back strongly to lead 20-13. But she was forced to wait as Schenk saved seven game points before losing 22-20.

Ratchanok looked in control in the second game, building an 18-12 lead before completing her sixth victory over the German in nine matches.

“I am very excited to win my first Su-per Series title. I lost seven points in a row (after leading 20-13 in the opening game) as I tried to finish the game in a hurry,” she said.

Schenk, who lost to Ratchanok at the 2012 London Olympics, said her opponent played better on “deciding points”.

Chinese pair Liu Xiaolong and Qiu Zihan claimed the men’s doubles title with a 22-20, 21-18 over South Kore-ans Ko Sung-Hyun and Lee Yong-Dae.

Japan’s Miyuki Maeda and Satoko Suetsuna won the women’s doubles when they rallied to down Denmark’s Christinna Pedersen and Kamilla Ryt-ter Juhl 12-21, 23-21, 21-18.

Spurs sweep depleted Lakers out of playoffsLOS ANGELES, April 28, 2013 (AFP)

- Tony Parker led five San Antonio players in double figures Sunday as the Spurs beat the depleted, dispirited Los Angeles Lakers 103-82 to knock them out of the NBA playoffs.

Parker scored 23 points as San Antonio completed a four-game sweep in the best-of-seven Western Confer-ence first-round series -- the first time the 16-time champion Lakers had been swept in a first-round series since the playoffs expanded to 16 teams in the 1983-84 season.

“It was just a weird feeling,” Parker admitted after the Spurs posted their fourth straight double-digit victory over the Lakers, a team that scraped into the playoffs but had to make do without superstar Kobe Bryant, who tore an Achilles tendon in the final week of the regular season.

“Obviously, I’m happy we won, but it’s just weird,” Parker said of facing a Lakers team that by Sunday was miss-ing not only Bryant but also injured point guard Steve Nash, Steve Blake, Jodie Meeks and veteran Metta World Peace.

To make matters worse, big man Dwight Howard was ejected from the game after receiving a second technical foul shortly after halftime.

He had been whistled for his first technical with 50.3 seconds left in the first quarter for elbowing San Antonio guard Cory Joseph, and was slapped with the second for arguing with an official.

Howard finished with seven points, eight rebounds and five turnovers before exiting what may have been his last game as a Laker, since he becomes a free agent on July 1.

Pau Gasol -- who battled knee tendinitis and a foot injury during the season -- led the Lakers with 16 points, but Los Angeles never led and never really threatened.

Bryant made an appearance in the courtside seats, hobbling off on crutches as time expired.

“Obviously, it wasn’t a fair fight,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said of the lopsided series. “But having said that, they came to play every night... What I was pleased about with our team is that we kept our focus every night. We respected them every night.”

Tim Duncan had 11 points and six rebounds for the Spurs. Kawhi Leon-ard and DeJuan Blair added 13 points apiece and Gary Neal contributed 11.

It was an ignominious end to a Lak-ers season in which the acquisition of Howard and Nash swelled the payroll to more than $100 million -- a price tag meant to be justified by a return to the top for five-time champion Bryant and his new teammates.

But the new-look Lakers never really caught fire. Their early season strug-gles saw coach Mike Brown sacked in November. The selection of D’Antoni over former coach and fan favorite Phil Jackson extended the turmoil and once the Lakers began to mesh, injuries kept them from building any momentum.

The sweep gives the Spurs plenty of time to rest before a second-round clash with either Denver or Golden State.

The Warriors took a 3-1 lead in that series Sunday with a 115-101 victory on their home floor in Oakland, Califor-nia.

Golden State’s Stephen Curry shrugged off his sore left ankle, scoring a game-high 31 points that included 22 in the third quarter.

Curry got off to a slow start, going just 1-for-3 for seven points in the first half, but finished by connecting on 10-of-16 from the field to go with seven assists as the Warriors notched their third straight victory.

Jarrett Jack scored 21 points and

handed out nine assists, and Carl Landry chipped in 17 points for the Warriors.

Ty Lawson led the Nuggets with 26 points and six assists and Andre Iguodala added 19 points and eight re-bounds, but Denver head home facing a must-win when they host game five on Tuesday.

Lee, Thai teen win India Open titles


SPORTS

Birmingham owner denies money-laundering charges

MANILA, April 25, 2013 (AFP) – Philippine boxing hero Manny Pacquiao will likely face either of US fighters Brandon Rios or Mike Alvarado in Macau in Novem-ber, his promoter Bob Arum said Thursday.

Pacquiao, 34, who has won an unprecedented eight world titles in different weight divisions, had wanted to fight either Mexican Juan Manuel Marquez and un-beaten US boxer Timothy Bradley, who both beat him last year.

But they decided decided to fight each other in Las Vegas in Sep-tember.

“The choice is between Alvarado and Rios,” Arum said via a long-distance telephone call, conceding that Marquez or Bradley had been his initial priorities.

Pacquiao’s next fight was pushed back because October was a busy

month for the Chinese in Macau with many holidays, making No-vember a better choice, Arum said.

Pacquiao lost his World Boxing Organization welterweight crown in June last year in a controver-sial points decision to Bradley, then suffered a knockout defeat to Marquez.

The Philippine boxer, who has a win-loss record of 54-5 with two drawn and 38 knockouts, was until then regarded by many as the best pound-for-pound boxer in the world. But the losses raised calls that he should consider retiring.

Pacquiao has said he wanted his next fight to be outside the US, where he has traditionally fought in front of huge crowds and for enormous pay-per-view television revenues, to avoid high taxes.

HONG KONG, April 29, 2013 (AFP) - Birmingham City owner Carson Yeung insisted he made his fortune through legitimate stock trading as he pleaded not guilty to money-launder-ing charges in court Monday at the long-delayed start of his trial.

The former hairdresser-turned-foot-ball tycoon from Hong Kong was ar-rested and charged in June 2011 with five counts of knowingly dealing in ill-gotten gains worth tens of millions of dollars.

The high-profile case is set to put Yeung’s wealth under an intense spot-light and will probe his rise from the position of hairdresser to the own-ership of the English football club, which plays in the Championship, England’s second tier.

But Yeung’s counsel said there was nothing suspicious about the 52-year-old’s rags-to-riches rise, as the defence seeks to permanently halt the trial on the ground that he was unable to receive a fair trial.

“Carson Yeung will not receive a fair trial. He is prejudiced as such that no fair trial is possible,” lawyer Graham Harris told the district court.

The prosecution has said the alleged offences occurred between 2001 and 2007, but Harris said a “significant portion” of Yeung’s wealth came from “lawful and legitimate stock trading” through a large number of stock bro-kers before 2001.

The lawyer said Yeung would be un-able to prove his innocence as official papers that could trace the stockbrok-ing activities are normally kept for only seven years in Hong Kong.

“The defendant cannot receive a fair trial because of missing materi-als fundamental to his defence due to the lapse of time,” he said, urging the court to drop the trial.

Prosecutor John Reading disagreed,

saying there was “no suggestion” Yeung would be subject to an unfair trial, as the missing papers only re-lated to part of the transactions.

Prosecutors say their investigations show that around HK$720 million ($93 million) passed through five accounts connected to Yeung, who has been free on bail since he was charged.

Judge Douglas Yau adjourned the hearing until Friday, when he will decide on whether to halt the pro-ceedings.

The long-awaited trial started after Yeung, who was clad in a dark suit and appeared calm, pleaded not guilty to all five charges read out before him.

Media reports have previously described how Yeung made his first fortune on cheap stocks, then in-creased his earnings by co-founding Greek Mythology, a casino in Asian gambling haven Macau, in 2004.

He was prosecuted by Hong Kong’s financial regulator for failing to dis-close his holdings in a company in the same year, and ordered to pay a small fine.

His other business interests include investments in “apparel sourcing trading, entertainment and media services” through Birmingham Inter-national Holdings, according to the firm’s listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange website.

Birmingham International Holdings, controlled by Yeung, is the parent company of Birmingham City.

Yeung has made several unsuccessful attempts to postpone or strike out the charges. A court last month rejected his application to move the trial to a high court, after the prosecution slammed the bid as a delaying tactic.

Yeung, who was little known prior to his emergence in English football,

took control of the club in October 2009 in an £81 million ($130 mil-lion) takeover from David Sullivan and David Gold, now the co-owners of West Ham.

The club’s fortunes have gone downhill. They were relegated from the Premiership three months after

winning the League Cup amid finan-cial troubles, and are set for another season in the second-tier Champion-ship.

Yeung has assured Birmingham City he will continue to support the club financially despite his legal troubles.

Pacquiao eyeing November fight in Macau


Misc AsiaInstant noodle sales top 100 billion units a year TOKYO, April 26, 2013 (AFP) - Global

sales of instant noodles have topped 100 billion units annually, an industry group said Friday -- more than one monthly serving of the portable meal for every person on the planet.

Five decades after the easy-to-cook food’s launch, sales climbed again last year with China, Indonesia and Japan rounding out the world’s top-three con-sumers, according to the Japan-based World Instant Noodles Association.

“The results show that instant noodles have become a global standard dish,” said Norio Sakurai, an official with the Osaka-based association.

“We think global sales will continue growing particularly in some developing nations.”

Of the 101.4 billion units sold worldwide last year, China, including Hong Kong, ac-counted for 44.0 billion servings, followed by Indonesia with 14.1 billion units, Japan at 5.4 billion units and Vietnam close behind with 5.1 billion units.

Instant noodles, which come dried or pre-cooked and can be boiled quickly with accompanying flavour packets, were invented in Japan by Momofuku Ando, founder of major noodle maker Nissin Foods, in 1958.

JAKARTA, April 25, 2013 (AFP) - A gaffe-prone Indonesian minister has backed the idea of state-run cannabis farms in a country that imposes the death penalty for people caught traf-ficking the drug.

State Enterprises Minister Dahlan Iskan, whose slogan is “manufacturing hope”, said he warmed to the idea after a pharmacist told him about cannabis’s medicinal effects.

“This idea was proposed by a phar-macist, who said marijuana seeds can be used as medicine for heart disease and cancer,” Iskan was quoted as say-ing by state-run news agency Antara earlier this week.

“Why doesn’t the ministry consider managing marijuana plantations as an alternative to other medicines, instead of always burning it?” he said. Soldiers and police regularly torch cannabis fields as part of eradication efforts.

Indonesia has some of the world’s toughest drug laws. Trafficking more than one kilogram of marijuana carries a maximum sentence of death by firing squad.

Iskan, a media tycoon and potential presidential candidate, is known as an attention seeker who regularly gets himself caught up in embarrassing situations.

In January, the minister charged with modernizing the country’s state sector crashed a $300,000 prototype electric sports car, held up as being in the vanguard of Indonesia’s auto sec-tor, into a cliff.

In one of his best-known publicity stunts, he jumped out of Jakarta’s no-torious gridlock to personally lift a toll gate and usher cars through.

Indonesian minister backs state cannabis farms TAIPEI, April 25, 2013 (AFP) - Asian

countries on Thursday urged renewed vigilance against a spread of H7N9 bird flu after Taiwan reported a case of the deadly strain, the world’s first outside mainland China.

The self-governing island urged its residents to take “enhanced precau-tions” when visiting China -- placing Shanghai, Beijing and five Chinese provinces on particular alert for travelers after at least 22 deaths were confirmed there.

Taiwan’s Centers for Disease Control (CDC) confirmed on Wednesday that a 53-year-old Taiwanese man, who had been working in the eastern Chinese city of Suzhou, showed symptoms three days after returning home via Shanghai on April 9.

The man, who was infected in China, has been hospitalized since April 16 and is in a serious but stable condition, it said.

There have been at least 111 con-firmed cases of human infection with H7N9 avian influenza in China, includ-ing the fatalities, figures from Chinese authorities and the World Health Organization showed Thursday.

State news agency Xinhua reported early Friday that the eastern province of Jiangxi had reported its first case. Xinhua, citing local health authorities, said a 69-year-old man was in a critical condition in hospital.

On Thursday the WHO maintained its global advisory for combating the bird flu, urging against contact with live poultry but not recommending any restrictions against travel to China.

The “enhanced precautions” urged by Taiwan’s CDC were in line with WHO advice, counseling people to avoid going to poultry markets, stay away from anyone with a fever and eat only thoroughly cooked bird meat and eggs.

WHO experts said on Wednesday that H7N9 was a particularly lethal influenza virus but that there was no proof yet of sustained transmission between humans.

Chinese researchers reporting in The Lancet on Thursday confirmed poultry as a source of the virus and also said they found no evidence of person-to-person transmission.

Asia on guard as Taiwan reports first bird flu case

Words of Wisdom

Flattering words will not be spoken from the mouth of an affectionate person.Bhutanese Proverb

A small trash fire can burn down a palace.Burmese Proverb

A single word may have ten shades of meaning.Burmese Proverb

Knowledge comes from study, wealth comes form business.Cambodian Proverb

The faintest ink is more powerful than the strongest memory.Chinese Proverb

If a child washes his hands he could eat with kings.Chinese Proverb

If you like what you are doing, nothing is too far and no job is too hard.Filipino Proverb

Water can wear away even the hardest rock.Filipino Proverb

A frog in a well does not know the great sea. Japanese Proverb

Don’t let your daughter-in-law eat your autumn eggplants. Japanese Proverb

A turtle travels only when it sticks its neck out.Korean Proverb

It rains gold in other lands, it rains rocks in our own. Be it ever so humble, there’s no place like home.Malay Proverb

Fish from the sea and tamarind from the mountain will still meet in the same pot.Malay Proverb

Even foul water will quench fire.Mongolian Proverb

Who cleans up the dirt washes away hap-piness.Mongolian Proverb

Ten tongues that spread the word are worth less than two eyes that have seen, and two eyes that have seen are worth less than one hand that feels.Thai Proverb

Water in the mouth before eating; water in the eyes when the bill comes.Tibetan Proverb

All chili is hot; all women are jealous.Vietnamese Proverb

Good wine must drink together with good friend.Vietnamese Proverb


Asian nations stressed they had measures in place, pioneered during a deadly outbreak of Severe Acute Respi-ratory Syndrome (SARS) a decade ago, but appealed to their citizens to heed the WHO guidelines in light of the Taiwan case.

“Our healthcare institutions remain on heightened alert and are prepared for the eventuality of a possible case, especially given today’s globalized travel patterns,” Singapore’s health ministry said in a statement.

Many Asian countries including China’s neighbors Japan and South Korea are anticipating an influx of Chinese tourists during next week over the Labor Day holiday.

Japan’s foreign ministry reissued a travel advisory to citizens planning to visit China or Taiwan, warning them to stay away from bird farms and wear masks in crowded areas.

Reviving a SARS-era precaution, Japan has been checking inbound trav-elers with body temperature monitors as it gears up for the “Golden Week” spring vacation starting next week.

“We are taking every possible mea-sure just in case,” Chief Cabinet Secre-tary Yoshihide Suga told reporters on Thursday.

South Korea, Hong Kong and the Philippines have also resumed using thermal scanners at their main ports of entry to detect anyone arriving with a fever.

Continue from Page 14

Municipal authorities in South Korea have designated a network of clinics and hospitals to quickly test and treat potential patients. Teams of cleaners are ensuring that public venues are regularly wiped with disinfectant.

Lyndon Leesuy, the Philippine health department’s manager for emerging diseases, said his own government’s precautions including a ban on Chinese poultry imports were routine.

“We do not want to create panic,” he said.

Taiwan said it was bringing forward plans to ban the killing of live poultry in traditional markets by a month, to May 17.

Under the ban, market vendors will not be allowed to sell birds they have killed themselves, only poultry supplied from Taiwan’s 79 approved slaughterhouses.

There are about 870,000 Taiwan-ese people living in China. Trade and cross-strait travel have soared in recent years after decades of tension since the two sides split in 1949 at the end of a civil war.


LIFESTYLE

Hong Kong, April 30, 2013 (AFP) - The young woman pours a pack of brown powder into a glass of hot wa-ter, stirs it well and drinks the murky mixture down, hoping the traditional Chinese medicine will cure her fever-ish cold.

Sofie Lau may work as a pediatric nurse and she may live in the modern, fast-paced city of Hong Kong -- but when it comes to treating her own ill-health, she prefers ancient remedies.

Despite the age of its recipes, Chi-nese medicine -- which has continued to thrive among Hong Kong’s seven million residents -- is not standing still.

A growing number of young univer-sity-trained practitioners are pio-neering changes within the industry, providing traditional remedies with modern efficiency.

Lau, 25, says it feels more natural to turn to Chinese medicine.

“I’ve tried Western medicine, but usually I feel very tired after I take it. Even though I can recover very fast, I will become sick again afterwards,” she explains at the Chinese medicine

centre where she has come for treat-ment.

“But I can’t just sit in front of the stove and watch herbs boiling for eight hours. I’m busy with work, if we had to boil the herbal soup like we did in the past, perhaps I wouldn’t consid-er Chinese medicine as an option.”

While Chinese medicine masters used to issue instructions for the tedious hours-long process of mixing, soaking, brewing and distilling herbs, nowadays practitioners prescribe ready-made powders.

The complicated brewing process is even outsourced, with orders made over the Internet for doorstep deliv-ery.

It is the latest development for a practice that is thousands of years old and was traditionally passed down through the generations but was regu-lated in 1999 as the city eyed becom-ing a Chinese medicine trading hub.

The health department said the regulatory framework has helped “boost public confidence”.

Its popularity is growing, with

Hong Kong prescribes new dose of old Chinese medicine

imports of Chinese herbal medicines having reached HK$2.35 billion ($303 million) in 2011, up 37 percent from 2009. Health insurance plans often cover consultation costs at Chi-nese medicine centers.

In the late 1990s, universities began offering courses, attracting fresh thinking to the industry, which now has about 6,500 practitioners, about half the number of regular doctors in the city.

Dennis Au, 31, opened his first clinic in 2008 after a five-year un-dergraduate course and now has four more branches with a network of 20 colleagues.

Most of his patients are between 20 and 40, and many are surprised by how young the practitioners are, but he says it is important to keep the industry moving forward.

He offers instant medication rather than a list of boiling instructions, wears a white coat, and stores patient records on a computer.

“We didn’t change the philosophy or the concept of Chinese medicine, we just changed the image of Chinese medicine,” he says in a break between consultations.

“It’s necessary to have this revo-lution. If the old trend continues, Chinese medicine will die.”

Critics accuse the industry of being unscientific.

And although most cures are plant-based, in the West the image of Chi-nese medicine has been tarnished by its association with the use of animal parts such as rhino horn -- which has continued despite a Chinese ban in 1993.

Other traditional Chinese remedies also raise eyebrows, such as lizard-on-a-stick, dried seahorses and deer antlers, which can apparently cure ailments from acne, to colds and impotence.

But international studies have at least given credence to certain herbal concoctions, including US research last year that said a flowering plant called blue evergreen hydrangea could treat fever and ease malaria.

The Chinese have kept the faith, with the recent outbreak of bird flu on the mainland leading to a run on ban-langen, a traditional Chinese medicine for colds made from the roots of the woad plant.

Hong Kong’s health department is now working with the World Health Organi-zation on a system of classification.

The industry is also obtaining a gloss of professionalism when it comes to made-to-order remedies.

David Tang set up the Hong Kong Chi-nese Medicine Service Centre in an indus-trial area six months ago, with a team of 10

staff members taking orders online, boiling the herbs, packaging them and providing next-day delivery.

“We helped simplify the logistical issues. We’re a modern herb store, although we continue to use the tradi-tional prescription,” says Tang.

“We’re just like the old wine in a new bottle.”

WASHINGTON, April 22, 2013 (AFP) - An experimental therapy that uses Listeria bacteria to infect pancreatic cancer cells and deliver tumor-killing drugs has shown promise in lab animal research, US scien-tists said Monday.

While it remains unknown whether the method might work in people, researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University in New York said they are encouraged by its ability to halt cancer’s spread, known as metastasis.

“At this point, we can say that we have a therapy that is very effective for reducing metastasis in mice,” said co-senior author Claudia Gravekamp, associate professor of microbiology and immunology at Einstein.

The experimental technique described in the Proceedings of the National Academies of Science works by using a weakened form of Listeria, which in its wild form can cause food borne illness.

Ninety percent of mice with pancreatic cancer treated with the technique showed no evidence of cancer spread after three weeks.

Researchers halted the experiment at 21 days because that is when the control mice, who had pancreatic cancer but were not treated, began to die.

Pancreatic cancer tends to spread quickly through the body and is particularly lethal, since it is often discovered only once it has progressed beyond the pancreas.

Untreated patients usually die within three to six months, and the five-year sur-vival rate is just four percent.

Researchers attached radioisotopes, commonly used in cancer therapy, to the bacteria. The radioactive bacteria then infected cancer cells but not normal cells.

The treatment stopped the cancer’s spread in most cases, and appeared to have no ill effects on the mice, but more work needs to be done to see if it may extend survival time.

“With further improvements, our ap-proach has the potential to start a new era in the treatment of metastatic pancreatic cancer,” said Gravekamp.

HEALTH

WASHINGTON, April 28, 2013 (AFP) - There is no evidence that the deadly H7N9 bird flu has yet spread between humans in China but health authorities must be ready for the virus to mutate at any time, a top US virologist has warned.

Anthony Fauci, the head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), said officials in China had studied more than 1,000 close contacts of con-firmed cases and not found any evidence of human-to-human transmission.

“That is powerful evidence because if you had a thousand contacts with someone with the flu you would be pretty sure some of them would have been infected,” Fauci said in an interview.

Nevertheless, Fauci cautioned that authorities needed to be ready for the pos-sibility of the virus mutating and spreading between humans.

“It’s unpredictable as are all the in-fluenza. One of the things we need to be concerned about is this might gain the capability of going human-to-human which up to this point has not happened and is somewhat encouraging news,” Fauci said.

“But we still need to be very prepared for the eventuality of that happening.”

Researchers are already developing a diagnostic test to identify H7N9, along with a vaccine, with clinical trials due in July or

August.

“Work is under way on making a diag-nostic test to be able to pick it up quickly,” Fauci said.

“We have already started on an early development of a vaccine as we did with H5N1 years ago... Hopefully, we will never have to use it.”

More than 110 people in mainland China have been confirmed to be infected with H7N9, with 23 deaths, since Beijing an-nounced on March 31 that the virus had been found in humans.

Most of the cases have been located in eastern China, although Taiwan has reported one case. Another case has been found in southern China, while Chinese officials confirmed a further outbreak in the central province of Hunan.

Chinese authorities have identified poultry as the source of the virus and have confirmed that patients became sick from contact with infected live fowl.

A visiting team from the World Health Organization, which wrapped up a week-long visit to China on Wednesday, said there had been no human-to-human trans-mission but warned H7N9 was “one of the most lethal” influenza viruses ever seen.

Fauci praised Beijing for its handling of the current crisis, contrasting it to the

response of the outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome in 2002-2003, when China stood accused of covering-up the scale of the crisis.

“It was not the case with SARS in 2003 but the transparency has been excellent,” Fauci said. “I am quite satisfied with the Chinese response.”

Fauci likened the current H7N9 strain of bird flu “in some respects” to the H5N1 bird flu strain of several years ago.

“The similarities are that it is funda-mentally a chicken or bird flu that jumps from chicken to humans and is quite severe when it infects humans,” he said.

However, Fauci added: “The difference between H7N9 and H5N1, is that H5N1 kills chickens very rapidly so it is easy to identify where the infected flocks of chick-ens are. H7N9 doesn’t make the chicken sick, so it has been difficult to pinpoint where the infected chickens are.”

There have been 566 confirmed cases of the H5N1 strain of bird flu, which killed 332 people in the world -- a mortality rate of 58 percent, compared to 20 percent for the H7N9 bird flu strain.

The H1N1 “swine flu” pandemic in 2009, which appeared in Mexico at the same time of year as the H7N9, eventually infected 60 million people throughout the world and killed more than 12,000.

US health leader warns of human-to-human H7N9

Bacteria shows promise against pancreatic cancer: study

WASHINGTON, April 17, 2013 (AFP) - US regulators have ruled that any generic forms of OxyContin must include the abuse-curbing properties of a reformulated version of the highly addictive painkiller released two and a half years ago.

Manufacturer Perdue Pharma dis-continued original OxyContin (oxy-codone hydrochloride) in 2010 after the US Food and Drug Administration approved a new version of the drug that is more difficult to snort or inject.

“Because original OxyContin pro-vides the same therapeutic benefits as reformulated OxyContin, but poses an increased potential for certain types of abuse, the FDA has determined that the benefits of original OxyContin no longer outweigh its risks,” the FDA said in a statement late Tuesday.

“Accordingly, the agency will not accept or approve any abbreviated new drug applications (generics) that rely upon the approval of original OxyContin.”

FDA Deputy Director Douglas Throckmorton said that “while both original and reformulated OxyCon-tin are subject to abuse and misuse,” reformulated OxyContin is more dif-ficult to crush or melt down, making it harder to snort or inject.

“When FDA finds that a new for-mulation has abuse deterrent proper-ties, the agency has the authority to require generics to have abuse-deter-rent properties also,” regulators said, indicating the ruling could apply to other medicines.

OxyContin sales generated $2.8 bil-lion in 2012, according to IMS Health, an industry information service. The latest FDA ruling extends Perdue Pharma’s patent protection over the drug.

US says generic OxyContin must be anti-abuse



FOCUS

BUON MA THUOT, Vietnam, April 17, 2013 (AFP) - Most Vietnamese coffee farmers have never heard of a double tall skinny latte, but they could tell you the price of the beans that go into one in their sleep.

From high-tech Israeli irrigation systems to text message updates of global prices for the commodity, coffee farming in Vietnam’s Central High-lands has come a long way since the French first introduced the bean over a century ago.

“I used to carry my coffee to market by bicycle,” said 44-year-old farmer Ama Diem. “Now I check the bean price on my mobile phones” before making the trip.

By texting “CA” to the number 8288 from any Vietnamese mobile phone, farmers almost instantly receive a mes-sage with the London prices of Robusta coffee beans and the New York price of Arabica beans from a data supply firm.

Farmers are only too aware that the price of coffee -- the second most traded commodity in the world after oil -- can move quickly.

“We only take the coffee to market when we can be sure of getting a high price,” said Diem at his plantation out-side Vietnam’s coffee capital Buon Ma Thuot. “We check the price a lot.”

Vietnamese coffee farmers have changed the global market: if you had a cup this morning, there is a high

chance you consumed at least some Vietnamese beans with companies such as Nestle and Britain’s Costa Cof-fee among major buyers.

In 20 years, Vietnam went from con-tributing less than 0.1 percent of world production in 1980 to some 13 percent in 2000 -- staggering growth that has been partially blamed for the collapse of global coffee prices in the 1990s.

The rise of cash crops such as coffee in the Central Highlands has come at a price, however. Some indigenous minorities have lost their land to large-scale plantations, often run by majority Kinh who have migrated to the region. Demonstrations have been repressed.

The communist country is now the world’s second-largest coffee producer, but is seen as high volume rather than high quality -- its bitter-tasting Robus-ta wins few accolades internationally and is mostly exported as raw beans.

“Vietnam is an amazing phenom-enon,” said Jonathan Clark, general director of coffee exporter Dakman.

He said exports “shot up” last year to nearly rival Brazil, the world’s top exporter and producer.

Last year, Vietnam exported 1.73 million tons of coffee, worth some $3.67 billion and accounting for more than 50 percent of the world’s Robusta, which is used in instant coffee or other blends.

Tech-savvy Vietnam coffee farmers brew global takeover

Putting Vietnam’s Robusta on the map

Coffee consumption in Asia is on the rise and roasters are eyeing the low-cost country -- where there is no tax on coffee exports -- to set up operations to boost their regional presence, Clark said.

As consumption volumes have stag-nated in the west, Vietnam, with its growing middle class and long stand-ing love of coffee, is full of “tremendous opportunities,” said Jinlong Wang, president of Starbucks Asia Pacific.

Starbucks - which opened its first store in southern Ho Chi Minh City in February -- says it could open hun-dreds more in the near future in Viet-nam, which it describes as a “dynamic, exciting” market.

The country’s volcanic soil is perfect for growing coffee, and while global coffee drinkers are more used to Ara-bica -- which has 1.5 percent caffeine -- they should wake up and smell the joys of 2.5 percent strength Robusta, according to Vietnam’s “coffee king” Dang Le Nguyen Vu.

The founder of home-grown coffee giant Trung Nguyen -- which has 55 stores in Vietnam and five in Singapore -- is passionate about putting Viet-nam’s Robusta coffee on the map.

“Robusta is not lower quality. It’s just that globally, people have learned to drink Arabica coffee,” Vu told AFP in an interview at the Trung Nguyen Village in Buon Ma Thuot.

A big part of the company’s work is to improve the quality of local beans, working with farmers to introduce high-tech irrigation, reduce pesticide use and boost their income.

Trung Nguyen already exports to 60 countries and Vu said Starbucks’ recent arrival in his homeland had increased his determination to open cafes in the United States offering Vietnam’s traditional style of thick, strong coffee brewed in individual drip filters.

“We must be able to surpass Star-bucks. We must offer something more attractive for US consumers,” Vu said.

“I want the world to understand that Vietnamese coffee is the best, the cleanest, most special coffee.”

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Georgia Asian Times Vol 9 No 10

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