ccc news/apr 2003.Ä - Chinese Chamber of Commerce of Hawaii

April, 2003
SARS Affects Chinatown
As most members know, there has been a great deal of television
and print coverage about the incidence of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in Asia and Toronto, Canada. Following
Governor Linda Lingle’s visit to several Chinatown restaurants
on Wednesday, April 16 (as well as visits to their respective
Chinatowns by New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and
Toronto’s mayor), Chamber President Reuben Wong led a group
of Chamber officers and the presidents of more than twenty
Chinese societies on a “Taste of Chinatown” walkabout on
Saturday, April 19. Among the group were President-Elect Terrill
Chock; First Vice President Winfred Pong; former Chamber presidents Ronald Young, Kenneth Chong, and Victor Lim;
Chamber director Dr. Joseph Young; and Lantern editor and
Chang Wing Yong Tong president Gerald Chang. The delegation
visited Legend Seafood Restaurant; Won Kee Seafood Restaurant;
New Empress Restaurant; Glowing Dragon Restaurant; Nam
Fong, which offers roast pork, roast duck, and char siu; and
Golden Palace Restaurant. Dim sum from Legend and New
Empress, roast pork from Nam Fong, and dim sum and noodles
from Golden Palace were sampled to show the group’s confidence
that Chinatown and the food from its restaurants and food shops
is safe from SARS.
Continued on page 6
CHAMBER
INSTALLATION
DINNER
The 2003 officers and directors will be installed on
Thursday, May 29, at the
Waikiki Lau Yee Chai on
the fifth floor of the Waikiki
Business Plaza. Cocktails are
at 5:30 p.m. and dinner and
the program will start at
6:00 p.m. Lau Yee Chai’s
new chef will be preparing a
delicious seven-course dinner for your enjoyment. The
cost will be $25.00 for
Chamber members and
$29.00 for non-members.
More information will be
provided in a separate flier.
P R E S I D E N T ’ S
Reuben S. F. Wong
The big concern in our community has
been Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), which is prevalent in
Hong Kong and China. Our own
Chinatown has been affected by rumors
of SARS. However, the State Department of Health has investigated such
rumors and has stated unequivocally
that there are no confirmed cases of
SARS in Hawaii, and certainly none in
Chinatown. Yet our merchants in
Chinatown have seen their businesses
decline.
To support the merchants, on
Saturday, April 19, the Chinese
Chamber, through its Council of
Presidents Committee, along with lead-
M E S S A G E
ers and presidents of more than 20
Chinese societies held a “Taste of
Chinatown” event and tasted the foods
at five Chinese restaurants and a roast
pork shop. With coverage from our
local television stations, both in
Chinese and in English, our Chamber
and other leaders assured the public
that Chinatown is safe from SARS and
that dim sum continues to be a Chinese
delight for all of us.
The Chamber will host a mahalo
dinner on Friday, April 25, to thank
the many committee chairpersons who
worked so tirelessly to put on the
Narcissus Festival events. A special
mahalo and tribute is made to Michele
Choy for her distinguished service to
the Chamber over a period of almost
thirty years in chairing various aspects
of the Narcissus Festival events.
While the Narcissus Goodwill
Tour to the Orient was scheduled for
June 2003, due to the presence of
SARS in Hong Kong and parts of
China, the Chamber has indefinitely
postponed the tour out of concern for
the safety of the Narcissus Queen and
Court and other tour members.
In order to provide more activities
(and networking opportunities) for our
members, the Chamber will sponsor a
golf tournament in November in a
“turkey shoot” format. We are looking
forward to another fun event and a
chance to network among our members. Another event, a “Taste of China”
is also on the planning board whereby
the members can taste the foods and
products of “Things Chinese.” Watch
for announcements giving further
details on both these events.
This past month, the Chamber was
pleased to sponsor a welcome dinner on
Monday, March 24, at Hong Kong
Harbour View Seafood Restaurant for
Los Angeles-based PRC Consul
General Zhong Jianhua and his wife.
Representatives of many other Chinese
societies joined in this event. Also, the
Chamber and the State Department of
Business, Economic Development, and
Tourism co-hosted a luncheon and dinner on Monday, March 31, for Duon
Qiang and his delegation from the
Beijing Tourism Group.
We look forward to a busy summer
of activities for all of our members.
Consul General Jian -hua Zhong of the PRC in Los Angeles and Mrs. Zhong accompanied by 2 Consuls visited Hawaii 3/22-25/03. During his stay in Hawaii, Consul General
Zhong paid courtesy calls to Governor Linda Lingle and Mayor’s office on 3/24/03. A welcome dinner sponsored by the CCCH and supported by more than 30 Chinese societies
was held on 3/24 evening at the Hong Kong Harbor View Restaurant.
2
C H A M B E R
N E W S
&
A C T I V I T I E S
China Trade Video Conference
“Breakfast with China ... in the Afternoon” was held on Tuesday, April 29, at the
Hawaii Convention Center. (The seemingly odd title was due to the fact that while
the talks were in the afternoon in Hawaii, 2:00 p.m. was 8:00 a.m. Wednesday in
Beijing). Robert “Mike” Murphy, director of the U.S. Export Assistance Center,
Honolulu, introduced the participants, and DBEDT director Ted Liu made brief
opening remarks. An hour-long presentation was made by Dr. Thomas Lee Boam of
the U.S. Commercial Service, U.S. Embassy, Beijing, and his staff. (Dr. Boam
remarked that he was nearing the end of his three-year assignment and will soon be
transferred to Toronto). There was also time for a half hour of questions and answers.
Dr. Boam’s presentation was full of up-to-date information about doing business
in China. He pointed out that while China has a population of about 1.3 billion,
some 800 million Chinese live on a dollar a day. That leaves 400- 500 million
Chinese, concentrated in a largely coastal arc from Guangdong province north to
Shanghai and then inland to Beijing. It is this group that has the buying power and
disposable income. He pointed out the pitfalls of doing business in China – counterfeiting is a significant problem as is intellectual property protection—and he
closed by stating that the Chinese want to buy high quality U.S. goods if they can
afford them. Just remember to do your homework in advance and have a good business plan.
A business seminar, held on April 3, 2003 at the Buffet
100 Restaurant and focused on how to gain a contract
with the federal government, especially with the Navy,
Air Force and Army in Hawaii, as well as how to obtain
a small business loan, was co-sponsored by the
DBEDT & the CCCH for local small businessmen.
New members were invited to attend the seminar.
PROTECTING YOUR DATA, Part II
by Gerald Chang
Last month, we took a look at ways of
protecting your high-speed (DSL or
cable modem) connection to the
Internet. These included use of a hardware firewall (router), a software firewall (such as Broderbund’s Zone Alarm
Pro (ZAP), Norton Personal Firewall or
McAfee Firewall) or both. In addition,
consideration was given to reducing
unsolicited commercial e-mail (UCE)
or spam. (As an update, the May issue
of PC World’s “Natural-Born Spam
Killers” article tests six anti-spam utility programs).
If you don’t have any protection for
your high-speed connection, you may
want to see just how unprotected your
hard disk(s) are. There are three free
ways to get a system check or scan.
Software maker Symantec (manufacturer of the Norton line of software) offers
the Symantec Security Check at its
Website (www.symantec.com). Just
scroll down the left-hand side of the
home page, and left click on “Symantec
Security Check.” Once at the SSC
page, you can click on “Scan for
Security Risks” or learn about the scan
before doing so. Initially, your computer is scanned for the static IP (Internet
protocol) address and there are also
instructions on how to check your
address. During the scan, ZAP kept
track of twenty-nine attempts to access
my computer, and the result was my
computer is safe based on SSC’s network vulnerability, NetBIOS availability, and active Trojan horse scans. The
antivirus product, antivirus definition,
and browser privacy scans were not
completed because I was using
Netscape Navigator 4.7 rather than
Internet Explorer 5.0 or later.
(However, my computer is protected by
Norton Antivirus 2003, so I don’t
worry about the “uncompleted” scans).
Another free computer scan is
Shields Up!!—the two exclamation
points are theirs—from Gibson
Research Corporation (www.grc.com).
At the home page, left click on the
Shields Up!! logo. You can then “test
your shields” or “probe your ports.”
Having successfully done both several
days ago, I didn’t retest my computer.
Finally, Hacker Whacker (www.
hackerwhacker.com) offers three-month
home ($29.99) and business ($89.99)
memberships, but supposedly also has a
free trial scan. However, you apparently
have to register (deleted in twenty- four
hours), and having already tried the
Symantec and Gibson scans, I declined
the offer.
So there you have it. If you have a
high-speed Internet connection and
don’t have any protection for your
“always on” connection, I urge you to
make use of one of the free scans. It will
be an eye-opening experience. (NOTE:
about a week after the first article was
written, CompUSA had rebates on
ZoneAlarm Pro 3.0, which made it a
freebie!).
3
The Princess Diaries
by Sue-Ping Kuo, Narcissus Fourth Princess
Although it seems just like yesterday, it
has been more than four months since
the 2003 Narcissus Queen pageant
when five of use were selected to represent the Chinese community in Hawaii.
Being chosen was a great honor and we
have taken on the task of serving the
community with immense pride. In the
past few months, we have attended
numerous Chinese spring banquets
hosted by various clans, associations,
and societies. We believe that it is an
honor to be invited and we have
savored every delicious meal and
enjoyed some truly wonderful company.
To counter the effects of all our eating
at these lavish feasts, we’ve been taking
Muay Thai kickboxing classes, practicing our hula performances, and running
at Ala Moana Beach Park.
One of the highlights of our year so
far has been the visits to many elementary schools around Honolulu. (We also
attended a gathering of adopted chil-
dren, mostly young girls from China, at
the Waldorf School). We’re able to promote the Chinese culture to young
island children through fun activities
and talking with them about Chinese
traditions and customs. We’ve also read
Chinese-themed storybooks to the students as well as answered questions the
children have about us and the pageant
in general. It’s really amazing what a
smile from a young child can do for the
duration of your day.
On Wednesday, April 16, we
received certificates from the Honolulu
City Council, visited with Mayor
Jeremy Harris, Governor Linda Lingle,
and Hawaii Pacific University President
Chatt Wright at their offices, and
filmed a short video to be sent to
American troops fighting in Iraq. We
have even been televised eating lunch
in Chinatown to show the general public that SARS cannot be contracted
while eating in Chinese restaurants.
Recently, we helped collect food
and money donations at Restaurant
Row as part of the Hawaii Foodbank’s
annual food drive. We also participated
in many activities for Child Abuse
Prevention Month, including the Teddy
Bear Round-Up at Ala Moana
Shopping Center. Since the Narcissus
Goodwill Tour has been postponed until
later this year, we are filling up our calendars with other public service events:
a visit to the Shriner’s Hospital for
Children (May 2), the annual Chamber
installation banquet (May 29), assisting
with the Special Olympics State Games
(June 1), and participating in the
Kamehameha Day parade (June 7).
Thank you to everyone who has
supported us and all of our events. We
welcome your sharing your ideas with
us for future community service projects
and to give us feedback on how we can
better serve the Chinese community.
Condolences
Former past President (1962-63)
Hung Lum “Aluma” Chun recently passed away. He was born in
Honolulu on October 8, 1911, and
was a graduate of Punahou School
and attended the University of
Hawaii. He was a retired business/man, president of C. Q. Yee
Hop and Company and several
other companies. Mr. Chun was
active in the Chinese community as
a trustee of Mun Lun School
(which was founded by his father,
C. Q. Yee Hop) and the Lung Doo
Society, and was a member of the
Waialae Country Club, the
Shriners, and a charter member of
the Rotary Club of West Honolulu.
Our deepest sympathies and sincere
condolences go out to his family.
4
Above & Below: 54th Narcissus Queen and Court
attended the Ching Ming activity and the Prevent
Child Abuse Hawaii’s Toddy Bear Drive event.
The DBEDT, WATG, & CCCh co-hosted an Aloha dinner in
honor of Mr. Duan Qiang, Chairman of the Beijing Tourism
Group on 3/31 evening at the Royal Garden Restaurant.
The Mahalo Party combining with the Membership Spring Banquet was held on
April 25, 2003 at the Oahu Country Club.
M E M B E R S H I P
For the most part, former Narcissus
Queens are not Chamber members.
(Notable exceptions are 1971 Narcissus
Queen Queenie Mow Chee and 1992
Narcissus Queen and Board member
Maile Loo). Nevertheless, from time to
time, news about former Queens is
received. In the Spring 2003 issue of the
Punahou Bulletin, there was a picture of
1999 Narcissus Queen Leilani Tan
(Iolani class of 1992), who got married
on August 3, 2002 to Alan Ching
(Punahou class of 1988). According to
the photo caption, Leilani recently
graduated from the UH Richardson
School of Law and is now a law clerk
for Circuit Court judge Michael Town.
It was family fashion day in the
“Style” section of the April 9 issue of
Midweek. The families of George and
Bertha Chu, Victor and Anita Lim,
Wesley and Linda Fong, and Charles
and Stacey Djou were pictured. The
fashions were provided by Hawaiian
Moon, which is owned by former
Chamber president Ban Chan with his
N E W S
son Aaron as president and Ban’s wife
Susanna as designer. The Chu family
were wearing the “Diamond Head”
print in navy with the men in two types
of aloha shirt and the women in different dress styles. The Lim males were in
the bluish “Bamboo Bay” print while
the females were in the reddish “Taro”
print. The Fongs were in the blue “Ulu”
print – Wes in an aloha shirt, daughter
Pamela in a spaghetti strap dress, and
wife Linda in a “princess flounce.” (The
Fongs’ other two daughters are in college on the mainland). And the Djou
family were all wearing the “Tiki Palm”
print, Charles and Stacey in a burgundy
version and everyone else (except baby
Tori) in natural. A short narrative,
penned by Yu Shing Ting, accompanied
the pictures.
Speaking of Charles Djou, he was
“co-star” of a cartoon by John Pritchett
in the April 23 issue of Honolulu Weekly.
Reminiscent of the famous picture of the
lone man facing down a line of People’s
Liberation Army tanks in Beijing in
June, 1989, Charles is pictured singlehandedly facing down a “higher taxes”
steamroller driven by the well- known,
fist-shaking driver shouting, “Get out of
my way. I am the mayor.” The April 29
Honolulu Advertiser story on the City’s
budget review by the Council pointed
out that Charles has suggested $24 million in cuts in a major effort to avoid
raising property taxes, with assessments
having skyrocketed over the last two
years. (If Charles as well as Chamber
members Rod Tam and Nestor Garcia
think they’re having budget-balancing
troubles now, they should remember
City plans to start the BRT later this
year; operations and maintenance as
well as debt service will total some $154
million annually and that will be borne
entirely by Honolulu property owners!).
As most members who watch local
TV news or read the local daily newspaper may know, Governor Linda
Lingle and members of her cabinet
made trolley stops at several Chinatown
restaurants on Wednesday, April 16, in
an attempt to allay fears of Honolulu
residents about SARS. Among the
restaurants that were visited were
George Lau’s Empress Restaurant and
Jennifer Chan’s Little Village. Both
restaurants (as well as a host of other
Chinatown restaurants and shops) need
and deserve our patronage at this critical time. As President Franklin D.
Roosevelt said many, many years ago,
“The only thing we have to fear is fear
itself.”
5
SARS Affects Chinatown
Continued from page 1
As Chinatown merchants have told
local television and newspaper reporters,
rumors about SARS have drastically
hampered business for Chinatown merchants, even if they don’t sell food. The
state Department of Health (DOH) has
fully investigated these rumors and has
stated that there is no case of SARS in
Chinatown (or in Honolulu, for that
matter). Linda Rosen of the DOH was
quoted in the April 21 issue of Honolulu
Weekly: “None of the people under
investigation [for SARS] by the DOH
are from Chinatown. Nobody in
Chinatown has been under investigation.” And an “extra edition” dated April
10, included in the April 16 issue of the
Hawaii Chinese News, has a news release
from the DOH containing the bold-face
statement that “To date, there are no
confirmed cases of SAS in Hawaii and
no restaurants have been closed due to
the illness.” For further information, you
can call DOH at 586-4418.
CALENDAR OF EVENTS
May 20 • Tue
Executive Board Meeting
New Empress Restaurant - 12:00 noon
May 26 • Mon Memorial Day
May 27 • Tue
For those wondering about the possible origin of SARS, an April 2 frontpage article in the Wall Street Journal was
entitled “Rural Life May Be Source of
Disease in South China,” and stated that
“The close proximity of ducks, chickens,
pigs and humans can create a toxic stew”
with ducks as “the incubators for new
viruses that jump to pigs and then to
humans in mutated form” and “has
caused 3 major influenza outbreaks in the
last 50 years.” An article by Elisabeth
Rosenthal in the April 27 New York
Times, “From China’s Provinces, a Crafty
Germ Spreads,” focused on Guangdong
province’s live animal markets where
chickens, cats, turtles, frogs, snakes, and
badgers are cut up and sold. (As is sometimes said, Cantonese will cook and eat
anything that flies, swims, walks or is
grown). She notes that the health
departments in Zhongshan, Shunde, and
Heyuan reported strange pneumonia
clusters in early January to Guangdong
provincial authorities. However, the
provincial authorities may not have
passed the reports on to the Ministry of
Health in Beijing. And finally, the April
30 Wall Street Journal has a story entitled
“Infection Rates Might Drop As Spring
Temperatures Rise.” The story notes that
“For all the fear it has generated, ...
SARS isn’t highly infectious.” This is
backed up by a graphic, “The Epidemic
Scorecard,” on the April 30 New York
Times editorial page which compares
deaths per year for a host of other far
more infectious diseases. (The scorecard
is downloadable as a .pdf file that can be
read by Adobe Acrobat Reader).
Board of Directors Meeting
New Empress Restaurant - 12:00 noon
May 29 • Thur Installation Banquet
Waikiki Lau Yee Chai - 5:30 p.m.
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
Editor: Gerald Chang
Graphic Designer: Angela Wu-Ki
Staff: Wen Chung Lin, Grace Chan