January - Chinese Chamber of Commerce of Hawaii

January, 2005
Narcissus Coronation Ball
CHINESE NEW YEAR
CELEBRATION
On Saturday, January 29, the evening
will begin with no-host cocktails
at 5:00 p.m., followed by the
royal procession at 6:00 p.m.
Darah Dung will be crowned
56th Narcissus Queen by
Governor Linda Lingle. The
usual scrumptious and sumptuous
Hilton Hawaiian Village’s Golden Dragon six-course Chinese
dinner includes: Chinese chicken salad; braised duck with black
fungus and Chinese bean cake stick; shrimp curry with fried
haupia; beef with hoisin sauce and tomato; crabmeat with
Chinese mushrooms and broccoli; and cake noodle with chicken and vegetables.
Post-dinner entertainment will include a performance by
Ms. Leonie Leong, a world-class Chinese martial arts master
from Malaysia and seven-time national martial arts champion in
Malaysian martial arts tournaments, and also a slide show,
“Journey to Remember,“ depicting the twelve Narcissus contestants’ three-month long preparation for the pageant. A special
guest will be Tim Chang, former UH quarterback and the most
prolific passer in NCAA history. Following the entertainment,
there will be dancing until 11:00 p.m. to the music of Clear Sky.
The cost for the fabulous evening of pomp as well as food,
fun, and fellowship is $60.00 per person or $550.00 per table.
According to Coronation Ball chair Ed Pei, 83 tables have
already been reserved. So don’t miss out, call the Chamber at
533-3181 and make your reservations.
This year, the Chinatown celebration of Chinese New Year will be
held on Friday and Saturday,
February 4 and 5. The Chinatown
open house will begin at 6:30 p.m.
on Friday, with firecrackers and
lion dances at the Chamber office,
42 North King Street. Then 56th
Narcissus Queen Darah Dung and
her court, escorted by Chamber
officers, will visit various stores
and restaurants in Chinatown to
offer their new year best wishes.
Meanwhile, the advent of Chinese
New Year will be celebrated at two
locations: on Friday, from 5:0010:00 p.m. at Fort Street Mall,.and
on Saturday, from 10:00 a.m. to
10:00 p.m. on Maunakea Street. In
addition to Chinatown stores and
restaurants, there will be booths,
many of them selling a variety of
Chinese foods and refreshments as
well as goods and crafts.. There
will also be a variety of entertainment.
The Hawaii Mainland China Overseas Association, the Hong
Kong-China-Hawaii Chamber of Commerce, the China Club,
and the Chinese Students and Scholars Association are holding
a Spring Festival Celebration. The venue is McCoy Pavilion at
Ala Moana Beach Park on Saturday, February 5. There will be
a potluck dinner starting at 5:00 p.m. and the celebration continues to 9:00 p.m. Entertainment will be provided by the
Phoenix Dance Chamber and the Chinese Song and Dance
Studio. There will also be a mini-drama, riddles, and many
prizes. For those planning to attend, please bring a dish that
serves 2-4 people for a chance to win a Food Contest award.
P R E S I D E N T S ’
President
Winfred Pong
M E S S A G E
Second Princess Janelle Siu Ling
ed a moment of silence in remembrance
Leong,
Caroline
of the Southeast Asian tsunami victims.
Cheung Wing Lau, and Fourth Princess
I noted that on the day after Christmas,
Cecilia Ann Shi Mei Fong. The
many of us were fortunate enough to be
Chinese Chamber congratulates the
enjoying our Christmas presents with
new Queen and her Court and all of
family and friends. However, on that
the contestants for their efforts because
same day, many Indonesians, [Thais,] Sri
without them, there would not be a
Lankans, and Indians lost not only their
Narcissus Queen Pageant.
homes and all their personal belongings,
Third
Princess
Also, the Narcissus Queen Pageant
but many also lost their daughter, son,
could not have been produced without
mother or father to the tsunami. I asked
the leadership of General Chairman Dr.
that we not only remember the suffering
For 56 years, the Chinese Chamber has
Ming Chen and Narcissus Queen
of the tsunami victims, but we also
celebrated the beginning of the lunar
Pageant Chairperson Michele Choy.
appreciate God’s blessing for all our
new year with its annual Narcissus
Typical of their dedication and support
abundance and good fortune.
Festival. Many past generations within
toward achieving a successful Narcissus
At this writing, I will be presenting
our Chinese community have enjoyed
Queen pageant was the effort they
to the board of directors a proposal to
and experienced Chinese culture by
made to construct the magnificent on-
dedicate some of the proceeds of the
attending the various events conducted
stage background. More than eight
Narcissus Festival to the American Red
as part of the Narcissus Festival. The
months before the Pageant, Michele
Cross for the benefit of the Southeast
Narcissus Queen Pageant is one of
and Dr. Chen gathered the pieces of a
Asian tsunami victims. With the sup-
those events that continues to draw the
boat that was once used as a back-
port of Narcissus General Chairman
most attention and is most popular
ground for another stage production at
Ming Chen, I am optimistic that the
with the general community.
the NBC Concert Hall. The many
board will concur with my proposal. We
On Saturday, January 15, 2005, the
large wooden pieces were transported
recognize that many of our officers,
Chinese Chamber once again conduct-
by an open flatbed truck to Dr. Chen’s
directors, and members are very gener-
ed its Narcissus Queen Contest for an
garage at his home on Waialae Iki until
ous when supporting initiatives benefit-
almost sold-out audience.
With the
it was sold, and then moved again to
ting the public. In lieu of the Chinese
support of their families and friends, all
the garage at his new home on Hawaii
Chamber establishing its own fund-rais-
twelve contestants presented their
Loa Ridge where it remained until the
ing initiative to solicit donations for
respective poise, beauty, talent, and
week of the Pageant. While the boat
the tsunami victims from within our
knowledge of the Chinese culture to an
pieces remained in his garage, the cars
membership, we are requesting that
appreciative crowd. Even though we all
belonging to Dr. Chen and his wife,
members make their own donations
came to the same conclusion at the end
Christina, remained parked on the
directly to the American Red Cross.
of their performances that each contes-
street for over eight months! Prior to
Send your check now, directly to the
tant was a winner, the panel of distin-
being transported back and reconstruct-
American Red Cross International
guished judges had the difficult task of
ed at the NBC Concert Hall two days
Response Fund, 4155 Diamond Head
selecting a queen and four princesses.
before the Pageant, it was painted red
Road, Honolulu, Hawaii 96816.
This year, the honor of being the 56th
on the lawn of Dr. Chen’s home.
Finally, on behalf of the officers
Narcissus Queen was bestowed upon
Thank you, Dr Chen and Michele for
and directors of the Chinese Chamber,
Darah Annette Kwai Mei Dung, and
another job well done!
I would like to wish you a happy and
for the court, the judges selected First
During my welcoming remarks at
Princess Christine Mei Gin Doo,
the Narcissus Queen Pageant, I request-
2
prosperous Lunar New Year of the
Rooster.
C H A M B E R
Narcissus and
Bonsai Display
The Honolulu Academy of Arts will be
holding a display of narcissus and bonsai plants, 10:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on
Saturday, February 12, and 1:00-5:00
p.m. on Sunday, February 13. The display in the Academy courtyards will
feature both crab-claw and upright
methods of narcissus plant culture.
Narcissus growers who want to display
their plants may submit them on
Saturday between 8:00 and 9:30 a.m. at
the Ward Avenue parking lot. There is
no charge for display entries. Plants
chosen for display can be picked up
again by their owners on Sunday after
4:00 p.m. There will also be a limited
number of blooming plants for sale during the exhibit.
HOMESTREET BANK OFFER
Mona Choy-Beddow is a Chamber
member and regional manager for
HomeStreet Bank’s banking operations
in Hawaii. While HomeStreet has
served Hawaii residents for twenty five
years with mortgage offices in
Honolulu, Hilo, Kona and Maui,
HomeStreet’s banking operations
(branches in Honolulu and in Hilo)
celebrated their fifth anniversary in
December. HomeStreet offers a full
range of banking services, including
totally free checking and a free gift
when a new personal checking account
is opened, and currently has the most
competitive pricing on business money
market accounts in Hawaii. To celebrate Chinese New Year, Homestreet’s
Honolulu location at 2 South King
Street has free red li see envelopes for
your use. Located just half a block away
from the Chamber office, Mona invites
you to stop by to get some of the
envelopes.
N E W S
&
A C T I V I T I E S
Chinese New Year’s
Wednesday, February 9, will mark the start of the year
4702. The Year of the Rooster will be greeted by millions of Chinese around the world, in many cases
with fireworks, the giving of li see to youngsters, and
family gatherings.
Narcissus Souvenir Books
At long last, the 56th annual Narcissus Festival souvenir
books have been printed and are available for pickup by
Chamber members at the Chamber office, 42 North King
Street, during working hours, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.,
Monday through Friday. Copies also are available for
sale at $10.00 per book. For the foodies out there, the
Narcissus cooking program has recipes from Raymond
Siu, owner of Pah Ke’s Chinese Restaurant in
Kaneohe: fresh Waimanalo mixed salad greens with
mango-ginger vinaigrette, shrimp-stuffed steamed
moi with ginger-green onion sauce, and almond
cookie fruit tart with fresh fruits and sorbet.
According to the Narcissus cooking program article,
Raymond (who is a Chamber member) “honed his western culinary
skill,” which apparently influences some of the dishes he creates, at Michel’s Colony
Surf, Roy’s Restaurant, the Halekulani Hotel, and Alan Wong’s.
56th N
arciss
Souve us Festival
nir A
nnual
Sponso
red by
the Chi
nese
Chamb
of Com
er
merce
of Haw
aii
YEAR OF THE ROOSTER STAMP
The first day of issue ceremony was held
on Thursday, January 6, at the Hilton
Hawaiian Village Coral Ballroom.
Among the speakers were Chamber president Winfred Pong, Narcissus Festival
general chairman Dr. Ming Chen, and
the designer of the twelve years of
Chinese zodiac animal stamps as well as
the 2005 souvenir sheet, Clarence Lee.
Also present for the 11:00 a.m. ceremony
were 2004 Narcissus Queen Kerri Ching
and Fourth Princess Kristina Chang. Those attending the ceremony received a program in an envelope with one of the twelve stamps as well as the Chinese motif
first-day cancellation postmark which also was designed by Clarence. Over 1,000
people stood in line for the stamp sheets that were sold from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.,
and to get them autographed by Clarence and the other dignitaries.
3
Narcissus Pageant
After months of class, rehearsals, and
other preparation, the twelve lovely
contestants had their opportunity to
show their stuff on Saturday, January
15, at the Neal Blaisdell Concert Hall,
before some 1,800 family members and
friends. Master of ceremonies and radio
personality/comedian Frank B. Shaner
was joined after intermission by mistress of ceremonies and 1986 Narcissus
Queen Lisa Ontai-Stone. From the
opening number, choreographed by
Jacie Ann Oda, through welcoming
remarks by Chamber president Winfred
Pong and Narcissus Festival general
chairman Dr. Ming Chen, and on to
the talent, gown, and speech phases,
Frank and Lisa generally kept things
moving although there were times
when the chitchat went on interminably long. The final look at the
assembled contestants was unusual in
that they showed off individual gowns
4
specially designed for each of them by
Sue Wong of Neiman Marcus. The
2004 Narcissus Queen and court were
presented, and 55th annual Narcissus
Queen Kerri Ching kept her valedictory speech short and to the point.
Then came the special awards:
Miss Popularity (based on pageant ticket sales) was Christine Doo, Miss
Congeniality (selected by the contestants’ votes) was Cecilia Ann Fong; and
Miss Talent was Darah Dung, who performed a classical vocal, “Quando men
vo” from the opera La Boheme. Finally,
the moment that everyone had been
waiting for, the announcement of the
2005 Narcissus Queen and her court (in
order of the announcements): Fourth
Princess Cecilia Fong, Third Princess
Caroline Lau, Second Princess Janelle
Leong, First Princess Christine Doo,
and 56th Narcissus Queen Darah Dung.
M E M B E R S H I P
Kenneth and Jennifer Chan’s Little
Village Noodle House was recognized
in the January “2005 Hale Aina
Awards” issue of Honolulu magazine as a
“Little Restaurant You Love” at the
Gold-level, along with Olive Tree Café,
Le Bistro, and Swiss Haus Restaurant.
At the Silver level, Thomas Ky’s Ala
Moana Assaggio’s location was one of
the restaurants selected. The awards are
based on the vote of Honolulu magazine
subscribers who get a ballot in the
annual August Restaurant Guide issue,
and following tabulation of the ballots,
gold and silver awards are made. This is
the twenty-first year that the awards
have been made.
Ceci Chang-Freeman and husband
Myron Freeman were pictured in the
January 5 Midweek “Honolulu Pa’ina”
section while attending the Adult
Friends for Youth’s gala annual dinner
at the Sheraton Waikiki. The dress for
the men ran the gamut from some in
tuxedos, others like Myron in business
suit, and even a few in aloha shirts.
Midweek columnist Jo McGarry
must have seen the December 17
Honolulu Star-Bulletin story, “Building a
better bathroom,” about high-tech bathroom fixtures, examples of many of
them in Li May Tang‘s recently opened
Shanghai Bistro Her January 5 “Table
Talk” column mentioned a female reader who asked why her restaurant reviews
never looked at the bathrooms. Based
on her research, McGarry wrote that
“men don’t care what [restaurant] bathrooms are like” while women do, and
that “I love the bathrooms at Shanghai
Bistro at the Discovery Bay Center.”
N E W S
In the same Midweek issue, 2000
Narcissus Queen Libby Lum is pictured
in a Hawaii Pacific University ad for its
graduate degree program, apparently
making use of the HPU scholarship
that was among her prizes.
Hawaii Heritage Center president
(and Chamber emeritus director and
former president) Walter Chang was
pictured (along with Center executive
director Karen Motosue) in the
January 6 Honolulu Advertiser story by
James Gonser on the Center’s new
home at 1040 Smith Street, at the corner of Smith and Hotel streets.
Chamber director and auditor
Elvira Lo was pictured on the front
page of the January 7 Pacific Business
News (admittedly below the fold) as
part of a story on greeting the new year,
“Prayers, Fireworks and a good scrub get
businesses set for the new year.” Owner
of Elvira Chocolat on Queen Street,
Elvira burned a string of 10,000 firecrackers on New Year’s day; required her
12 employees to thoroughly clean the
warehouse before January 1; filled the
warehouse and office with green plants,
symbolic of the wood element; will use
green cellophane and ribbon to package
products in 2005; and burned incense at
an ancestral altar in the office.
Helemano Plantation’s annual
fund-raiser, Enchanted Pleasures, was
featured in the January 12 Midweek’s
“Honolulu Pa’ina.” Among the guests
pictured were Wesley and Linda Fong
and their daughters, Cecilia and
Pamela; Michele and Bernard Choy;
Joseph Young, Helemano Plantation
CEO Suzanna Cheung and husband
Ho Ming; and Narcissus contestants
Shirley Lam, Christine Doo, Caroline
Lau, Roberta Ching, Courtnee Lee,
and Jerilyn Young. Wes (pictured three
times) and Joe were resplendent in
their tuxedos.
The Hawaii Opera Theater (HOT)
Lover ads feature local men and women
in publicizing upcoming operas. For
“The Flying Dutchman” on January 28
and 30 and February 1, Eddie Flores,
Jr., is pictured leaning on a ship’s wheel
and of course with an L & L Drive Inn
cup in hand. The ads have been
appearing in the two daily newspapers
as well as Midweek.
Dr. Joseph Young is adamantly
opposed to a proposal by Chamber
member and Big Island Representative
Jerry Chang that drivers 75 years and
older pass a road test in order to renew
their driver’s licenses, according to a
story in the January 22 Honolulu
Advertiser. Joe, who is 79 years young,
has been a licensed driver since he was
16, and says he has never had a traffic
accident or a moving violation. (FYI,
the Lantern editor had to renew his
license for another six years by January
15 and made the mistake of going to the
main driver’s license bureau at the old
Kapalama Gem store location. After
spending half an hour in line and faced
with the prospect of another hour to go,
he got close enough to see a sign at the
counter that listed alternative renewal
locations. Ah, the downtown satellite
city hall! Once there, it took about fifteen minutes to get a new license—and
without his Social Security number).
N E W
M E M B E R S
At its December 21 meeting, the Board
of Directors approved the applications
for Datong Wang, a student at the
University of Hawaii/Japan-America
Institute of Management Science
(sponsored by Yen Chun), and Pearl
Yuen, a registered insurance and financial representative for Guardian (sponsored by Sylvia Louie). Welcome to
the Chamber and we look forward to
meeting you at the February 16 general
membership meeting.
5
CALENDAR OF EVENTS
GENERAL MEMBERSHIP MEETING
The first general membership meeting of the new year will be at 11:30 a.m. on
Wednesday, February 16, at Legend Restaurant’s new second location in the Waikiki
Trade Center, located at the corner of Seaside and Kuhio. The guest speaker will be
Richard Philpott, a partner in the law firm of Goodsill Anderson Quinn and Stifel,
who concentrates his practice in the areas of labor and employment law. Mr.
Philpott’s topic for the GMM is “Ten Most Common Mistakes in Business
Employment.” In addition to networking, new members will be introduced. The cost
for the lunch meeting is $11.00 for Chamber members and $13.00 for non-members,
and parking is presumably validated. Call the Chamber at 533-3181 to make your
reservations.
Jan 29 • Sat
56th Narcissus Coronation Ball
Hilton Hawaiian Village Coral Ballroom
5:00 p.m.
Feb 4 • Fri
Chinese New Year Celebration
Fort Street Mall
5:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.
Feb 4 • Fri
Chinatown Open House
Chamber’s office - 6:30 p.m.
Feb 5 • Sat
Chinese New Year Celebration
Maunakea Street
9:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m.
Feb 15 • Tue
Executive Board Meeting
Chamber’s Office - 12:00 noon
Feb 16 • Wed
General Membership Meeting
Legend Seafood Restaurant at
Waikiki Trade Center
11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
Feb 22 • Tue
Board of Directors Meeting
New Empress Restaurant - 12:00 noon
N E W
M E M B E R S
At its December 21 meeting, the Board
of Directors approved the applications
for Datong Wang, a student at the
University of Hawaii/Japan-America
Institute of Management Science
(sponsored by Yen Chun), and Pearl
Yuen, a registered insurance and financial representative for Guardian (sponsored by Sylvia Louie). Welcome to the
Chamber and we look forward to meeting you at the February 16 general
membership meeting.
The LANTERN a monthly publication
of the Chinese Chamber of Commerce of Hawaii
42 North King Street • Honolulu, Hawaii 96817
(808) 533-3181
THE CHINESE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE OF HAWAII
42 North King Street • Honolulu, Hawaii 96817
42 N. King Street
Honolulu, Hawaii 96817
The Chamber and JAIMS will
sponsor a seminar by Shanghai
lawyer Audrey Li Hong on
Friday, February 11, 1:00-3:00
p.m. at JAIMS, 6660 Hawaii Kai
Drive. The seminar will be on
'Legal Aspects of Doing Business
in China.' The cost is $20.00 for
Chamber members. For more
information or reservations,
contact Yen Chun at 396-7163.
Editor: Gerald Chang
Graphic Designer: Angela Wu-Ki
Staff: Wen Chung Lin, Grace Chan