Fans were elbowing each other to pose with Miss Vietnam DC, Catherine Ho, at the Pearl Gala. She’s tall, strikingly attractive and charismatic, and brainy, too. A graduate of the Smith School of Business of University of Maryland, Ho is a senior consultant providing “project-based finance, accounting and operational consulting services.” She is going places, and the A-List will follow …

By Andy Liu  

By Michelle Phipps-Evans The name Theary Chan Seng generates a fervor approaching reverence in the Cambodian community here and abroad. She is the Cambodian-born, American-educated lawyer and civil rights activist who founded the Cambodian Center for Justice & Reconciliation. It is a major component of another organization she serves as founding president, CIVICUS: Center for Cambodian Civic Education. This nonprofit …

Case Against Korean Food Truck Dismissed  By Dottie Tiejun Li   (Arlington, VA)—The Korean fusion food truck Seoul Food will continue to roll, thanks to a judge’s decision completely dismissing a case against Hyun “Anna” Shil Goree, who owns the mobile eatery with her husband J.P. Goree. Shil faced up to a year in jail and a $2,500 fine for …

By Dottie Tiejun Li Washington, D.C.—Metropolitan Police Department Chief Cathy L. Lanier and Chinatown’s business and neighborhood leaders have been struggling to find common ground since December when the Department cleaned out the longtime, but under-utilized, headquarters of the special Asian Liaison Unit (ALU) on H Street, close by the ceremonial arch. At a meeting January 7, the Chief faced …

Accurate numbers are difficult to achieve, but according to The Pew Research Center, both Maryland and Virginia are in the top twelve states in the U.S. with the highest percentages of undocumented immigrants, in this order: California, Texas, Florida, New York, New Jersey, Illinois, Georgia, Arizona, North Carolina, Maryland, Washington, and Virginia. Here are the Pew Center’s best guesses for …

Emerging From the Shadows By Mary Tablante and Jhee Yoon Rockville, MD—Ray Jose thought his future looked bright during senior year at Richard Montgomery High School in Rockville. The Philippine-born athlete with an interest in medicine was intent on attending a university. So he was elated to be offered three college scholarships for track. But when he announced the wonderful …

Washington, D.C.—As of March 4, 2013, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security will permit certain visa applicants to file for family unity waivers within the United States, reducing the amount of time families must spend apart. “We applaud the Obama Administration for prioritizing family unity by easing burdensome bureaucratic hurdles,” said Erin E. Oshiro, senior staff attorney at the Asian …

Ray Jose says he’s lucky to be able to attend Montgomery College now, but worries that some of his fellow undocumented students are suddenly not as fortunate. It seems the Dream Act, which took effect January 1, is having the unexpected result of making education cost more, not less, for some of them. High school students in Montgomery County are …

A-List watchers want to know: who’s that athletic-looking guy who has been popping up on national TV lately every time President Obama talks to the press? Moments before POTUS shows, there’s Kevin Xu, a 26-year-old White House press aide, arranging the boss’ notes on The Blue Goose, as insiders call the presidential podium. Here he is, looking businesslike behind the …

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says Asians lag behind other groups in receiving recommended cancer screenings such as mammograms. CDC’s National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) shows that rates of screening tests for breast cancer are significantly lower among Asians than among whites and blacks. Only 64.1% of AAPI women follow the guidelines, a significant finding as breast cancer …

By Daphne Domingo While I was a speaker last November at the 3 Days of Light Festival in Asheville, North Carolina, I couldn’t help but notice a striking figure walking among hundreds of young, creatively dressed attendees. Aside from being one of the few fellow Asian Americans at the festival, he stood out because of his shaved head, long white robe and …

By Mary Tablante First, the good news. Asian American women have the highest life expectancy of any ethnic group in the U.S., living an average 85.8 years, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Life expectancy among Asian subgroups ranges from Filipinos at 81.5 years, to Japanese at 84.5 years, and topping out with Chinese women at …

AF Adding a new Federal Column In March, AF will begin a new column, Asian Feds that will feature any federal agency’s work, history, fun events or tidbits about its AAPI employees. The very first story idea came from the Federal Aviation Administration. Dan Treadwell of FAA discovered some archival photos of the agency’s AAPIs in the vault of the National …

By Amanda L. Andrei Tonight, there is fog in Lorton, Virginia. The normally murky Route 123 is even more difficult to navigate—until you see bright lights emanating from the Lorton Workhouse Art Center. Inside, a welcoming gallery glow illuminates art lovers as they walk to artists’ opening receptions, admire new paintings and sculpture, and watch demonstrations of glassblowing and pottery …

Chris Lu is taking a break from the demands of his top White House job. Lu and his wife Katie Thomson chatted with AF’s Dottie Li at the Pearl Inaugural Gala, several days before he stepped down as White House Cabinet Secretary. His old law school pal, President Obama, praised Lu, writing, “Chris Lu is one of my longest-serving and …

Joe Zee, (r) creative director of ELLE Magazine, guided CNN’s Piers Morgan and Erin Burnett through DC fashion hits and misses Inauguration night. Broadcasting from the Official Inaugural Ball at the Convention Center, Zee gave Michelle Obama a thumbs-up for her stunning red Jason Wu gown and her day coat. Zee, born in Hong Kong and raised in Toronto, is …

By Devika Koppikar Gaithersburg, MD—Jisu Nelson, a Korean American hairdresser was making a modest income during the dot-com boom. So when her then-teenage son wanted to attend a special ROTC program in Rockville, she moved the family from Virginia to Maryland and became a homeowner. It took holding down two jobs, but the single mother was able to make her …

From: Wylie Chen  Sent: Wednesday, January 23, 2013 7:42 PM To: Lanier, Cathy (MPD) Cc:David Chung; Richard Chiang; Chris Y. Chan; Martha Watanabe; Koo, Soohyun (EOM); Lawrence Liu; Groomes, Diane (MPD); Quander, Paul (EOM) Subject: Asian Liaison Unit Relocation January 23, 2013 Dear Chief Lanier: As members of the Commission on Asian Pacific Islander Affairs, we write to express our concern over …

A Sample of Community Response to the Chinatown Meeting “I think the meeting was productive. There will be a civilian officer, there’ll be a space where victims if they need to, they can run to, instead of looking for roaming officers. Sometimes the phones are stolen, and they can’t just grab the nearest stranger and ask for help. So they …

By Lily Qi Having lived in the National Capital region for 15 years and worked for two local governments on economic development and public policy, I have come to appreciate the need for serious collaboration across the boundary lines of our counties and state governments. It is essential, if we are to effectively deal with the area’s biggest problems, from …

International Leadership Foundation (ILF) held a 3-day leadership retreat in Rockwood Manor, MD, where presidents of 10 ILF chapters attended to plan next year’s activities and to attend the Inauguration. The 40-delegate ILF group was one of the biggest sponsors of the Pearl Gala where 1200 people participated in the celebration at Mandarin Oriental. ILF is helping to develop a …

By The Car Chick   Shine on, Silver Moon: 2013 ACURA RDX AWD TECH I admit it. I’m developing a taste for small luxury crossover SUVs, especially when they give me a feeling of style backed by nimble, car-like handling and performance…the sport part… while still providing the things we like about the SUV, like options for cargo and people …