Who's your Asian hero?
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Permalink Reply by Josh on -
Hmmm . . . this is a complicated question since there are so few prominent Asians of U.S. national note. I approach this question from my childhood in the 80's since that's when I believed in heroic ideals. I don't choose Connie Chung, I don't choose any other famous Asian. I don't know them and their influence, while not inconsequential, does not compare.
I choose my father, Ye Qing Xiong, as my Asian hero.
He had the courage to cross an ocean and the determination to make a good/comfortable life for his family in a new country without compromising his strict ethics or morals. The man I am today is thanks to his unbreakable moral fiber and pursuit of the truth as it pertains to people regardless of scientific fact or law.
As an example, we all have a moment in growing up when we finally see our parents as people rather than authoritarians, or in my case, someone who was never wrong. Not that he could do no wrong, but rather, when the smoke cleared and all the horse shit was scraped to the side the only thing left was my father's predictions. He is a brilliant social tactician who couldn't forget that people counted for more than money. Ironically, it was this strict adherence to this ethical/moral code that blinded me to his human side.
It has only been recently, in my father's advancing age, that I could see him as a human person. There has been no lapse in his judgments, but rather a loosening in his manner. He has, since I left the house, started holding my mother's hand in public, taken to caring for stray cats and generally worrying more about his own happiness. Until that point I had never seen him pay much attention to himself.
Of course, he's still my hero. I still call him when I can't solve problems. I seek opportunities to repay him for raising me so well.
Dou Xia di, Baba. Gwa kiam di.
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Permalink Reply by Stephen Chen on -
Thank you Josh, happiness is sometimes replaced with duty in Chinese culture. I encourage you to check out http://asianheroes.wordpress.com for some other examples of luminaries our community. Please, email me at some point at stephen [at] alumni [dot] brown [dot] edu. Cheers Josh.
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Permalink Reply by JayKay on -
I disagree with the selection of heroes that are listed on this website.
Celeste Thorton seems to be a very hardworking person in the modeling industry, I do not want to take away from her personal accomplishments and work ethic. However celebrating the portayal of Eurasian features as a substitution for distinctly Asian beauty is more harmful then helpful. It is sending the message that Asian features alone are not good enough. More and more models who are mixed with Anglican heritage are mis-identified as Asian. I'm sure the models would appreciate their background being correctly represented rather than exoticed into a whitened version of the the "other".
There is room for everyone, but we must be aware how the definition of "Asian and beautiful" is being manipulated by supplementing Asians in print with images of Eurasians. Young Asian people who do not posess "White" feautures may grow up with the feeling they are inferior. It's subversive and just plain incorrect.
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Permalink Reply by Stephen Chen on
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Thank you so much Jenn; I really appreciate the dialogue you are creating. I have to say, I am inclined to agreeing that many of our ideas of beauty are distorted by popular media--this is a first stab at being able to have a voice for ourselves. Jenn, please email me at stephen@mixrmedia.com and we can chat some more.
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Permalink Reply by Josh on
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Word up, Jenn. I often am faced with this problem when my contemporaries ask me if I think a female model of European descent is good looking. I always have to answer, "She seems to be attractive in a traditionally European way," or simply "Yes" if I'm not looking for any sort of fight.
I also share your disdain when I see ethnically mixed Asian models that exhibit distinctly European features prominently portrayed.
On the male side, I do occasionally feel as though my distinctly Asian looks are not perceived to be attractive. Most Asian men that the media tend to focus on are also of mixed heritage and do seem to exhibit more traditionally European features with prominent bridges, pointed noses bone structure.
Thank you for making this point. It's nice to know that these same thoughts are in other people's heads as well.
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Permalink Reply by Derek Choe on -
I would say my grandad from family because he served in WW2 as a digger..but died in action..great person..although ive never had the chance to meet my grandad..he wouldve been a cool dude... Outside of my family...Anh Do because hes oene of those comedians who flaunts their nationality and makes it into comedy!
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Permalink Reply by Stephen Chen on
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Thank you Josh for feeling so strongly. That's actually part of the reason why we started this project--to reclaim media for ourselves. For too long, information dissemination has been controlled by the privileged few. Today, we can do as we choose. Josh, Jenn, email me at stephen@alumni.brown.edu. I would love to learn more about your background and passion and see I can help plug you into some of the outlets we have. Your friend, Stephen Chen, co-founder of the Asian Heroes Project.
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Permalink Reply by Logan-X on
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My Chinese hero is a no-brainer: Wong Fei Hong. Even though he lived more than 100 years ago, he's a prime example of the ideal that Chinese people are not to be pushed around by foreigners in this world. He demonstrated that by fighting the Manchurian oppression of the Han Chinese people in China and abroad, and standing up to the whiteboys when they tried to poison us with opium in pre-industrial China. He did it all with compassion and smarts, and only relied on his martial skills (to kick some serious booty) when absolutely necessary. Personally, I don't think there'll ever be another Chinese hero who will stand up for the Chinese people the way Wong SiFu did, ever again.
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Permalink Reply by William on -
I'd like to add four new heroes to this list:
Jeff Yang, Parry Shen, Keith Chow, Jerry Ma
They're the editors of Secret Identities. Ernie, if you don't mind, I'd like to plug the book, as well as a feature interview with them here.
-William
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Permalink Reply by Ming on -
I have a few (not a lot, but a few) Asian heroes. I could go on about my father or Bruce Lee or my grandmother, but I want to highlight a person I who's particularly relevant these days:
Loverboy (links to a youtube video, so don't click if you're not interested in watching - it was much more fun when it had the music, but oh well.)
Loverboy is a relevant hero for all the talk about interracial coupling - specifically, white male/asian female and asian male/white female. For the good, bad, and ugly of his methodology (pick-up) and the social conventions that do exist in society, he's part of the unconventional.
Which is hero status to me.
I'm pretty sure William is affiliated to the pick-up community - I wish I saw your workshop while you were at Rutgers, but I was doing my own, so I missed it. So props to William.
And to Steve as well, for the Asian Heroes Project. It's a sweet endeavor, and I look forward to seeing more posts.
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Permalink Reply by Dan Cho on -
John Cho - Harold and Kumar of course, and because he's in a new show, Flash Foward.
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Permalink Reply by Stephen Chen on
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That's a great one! Someone just submitted Manny “Pac Man” Pacquiao. http://asianheroes.wordpress.com/
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