I’ve just been featured as one of “100 Passionate People” of Taiwanese-America on TaiwaneseAmerican.org! View my profile here.

About the 100 Passionate People Project:

May is Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, and the 2nd week of the month is Taiwanese American Heritage Week. TaiwaneseAmerican.org is pleased to present the profiles of a wide cross-section of everyday Taiwanese Americans who many of you have told us that you find personally inspiring or passionate about what they do. Each day this month, we’ll present about three people, of all ages, generations, and careers until we reach 100 people.

Make no mistake, this is NOT the 100 “most passionate” people, because we know there are many more folks to connect with or hear about who also fit this criteria and deserve to be highlighted, too. With your help, we will find them. This project is just the beginning.

For now, this is a glimpse into the diversity of our community and a collection of their stories and opinions. In the future, we’ll be planning other “100 people” projects based on various themes (i.e. tech, community leaders, moms, etc.) and eventually grow our project into a historical archive chronicling the stories of Americans of Taiwanese heritage.

If you know of someone who you think should be profiled this month or in one of our future projects, please send this link to them: http://bit.ly/cSZvf4

My Thanksgiving photos on Flickr

Asian Variations

The Asian Variations album is a collection of remixes produced by MoShang in his Chinese Chill style of downtempo electronica, melding deeply laid-back beats with Chinese traditional instruments. Some of these remixes were solicited by the original artists, two were done for remix competitions, and in some cases MoShang approached artists directly requesting permission to remix their work. The artists represe nted on the album are literally from all over the globe; The U.S.A. (Fort Minor, Toao, Lovespirals, Brad Reason), Taiwan (Kou Chou Ching, Chang Jui-chuan, Viba, Andre van Rensburg, MoShang), South Africa (Gordon’s Suitcase), Japan (Akihiko Matsumoto & Chage), Italy (Tafubar), and Slovenia (PureH) and for the most part the collaboration with MoShang was via the web. With the exception of Fort Minor and J-pop star, Chage, none of the artists are signed to major labels and all are working hard to be heard.

More about MoShang and the remixed artists on AsianVariations.com

歡迎來唱我的歌 (Welcome To My Song)

An eclectic collection of Taiwanese music commissioned for the launch of Creative Commons Taiwan.  The title track is by Taiwanese pop icon Yue Hsin Chu.

Download MP3s and song lyrics at CC Taiwan (in Mandarin and Taiwanese)

See also: Launching Creative Commons Taiwan: Background, Experience, and Challenge

Monkeys in the Mission, San Francisco

Monkeys near San Francisco Chinatown

Popular Monkey helmet, Taiwan

Monkeys in Shikoku, Japan

Kris and Monkeys, New York

So I didn’t realize until a couple days ago that there was a difference between long and short grain sticky rice (I knew there was a difference between long and short grain regular rice though).  My mom was talking to me yesterday about how she associates long grain rice with “famine” (her word, not mine). WHAT!?

Ok, so my mom grew up in Taiwan. Long before it was the land of fist-fighting politicians and the Taipei 101 skyscraper, it was a poor developing country.  There was a rice shortage when she was growing up and they had to import long grain rice from South East Asia.  Short grain rice (similar to the kind the Japanese and Koreans eat) is more commonly eaten in Taiwan, so my mom said she couldn’t get used to the taste and texture of long grain rice.  She said it was so disappointing it made her cry, and she still won’t eat long grain rice today, because it reminds her of poverty and famine.  I, for the record, have no problems with long grain rice.

This reminds of me of the fact that my paternal grandfather, who is from China, won’t eat brown rice, despite the health benefits, because it reminds him of wartime poverty when white rice wasn’t available.

Or one of my fellow former JET assistant language teacher’s students in Japan, who cried when the JET made some American-style rice pudding in class.  Apparently the kid was upset that the teacher “ruined” some “perfectly good rice.”

Moral of the story: don’t mess with an Asian person’s rice, just like you wouldn’t mess with a French person’s baguettes.

In totally unrelated music news, the HEPNOVA recording sessions are going well.  More music coming soon.  Check out what we’ve got so far on HEPNOVA.com.  And follow us on Twitter.

I just made a batch of Taiwanese tea eggs, which are hardboiled eggs stewed in a tea and soy sauce-infused brine.  They were one of my favorite snack foods growing up, and super simple to make at home, although they are sold in pretty much every convenience store in Taiwan.

First you take some regular chicken eggs, put them in a pot and just barely cover with cold water.  Bring to a boil and cook for about 3 to 5 minutes.  Drain the eggs and rinse with some cold water to cool down.  Then lightly crack the shells all over, but don’t remove the shells.  This process is what gives the eggs their unique marbled pattern.

Return the eggs to the pot, just barely cover with water.  Then add seasonings.  There are many variations, but I just used what I had in the pantry: 1 tablespoon of black peppercorns, 1 teaspoon of whole cloves, 1 cinnamon stick, 3 whole star anise, a 3 inch piece of dried kombu, 1 inch knob of ginger (peeled and cut into strips), 4 tablespoons of strong black tea, 2 tablespoons of soy sauce, 1 tablespoon of mirin (sugar works too), and a bit more salt to taste.  Bring everything to a gentle boil, then turn way down to a simmer.  Simmer for about an hour; the smell of the spiced tea brine simmering transports me right back to Taiwan.  Eat warm or cold.  You can store them in the fridge in the tea brine.

Michelle and I headed out to hitherto terra incognita Flushing, Queens today in search of some authentic Taiwanese and Chinese food.  Armed with a printout of a New York Times what-to-eat-map, we walked over from the last stop on the 7 train to the Flushing Mall.

Above: Michelle and Mouse.

When we walked into the Flushing Mall, it looked strangely deserted (and a little run down), but we followed our noses and finally found out that all the action was in the food court.

Above: We shared some Taiwanese favorites: oyster omelette (蚵仔煎) and steamed rice cake in a bowl with pork, mushrooms and shrimp (碗粿).  I had to go off the veggie wagon when dealing with the food from the homeland!

Below: A bowl of handmade beef noodle soup (手拉牛肉麵).  The noodles were thick and chewy and the beef extremely tender.  The broth was a little different from the typical Taiwanese-style beef noodle soup broth, which tends to be darker because it contains soy sauce and sometimes tomatoes.  This broth was light-gray and fragrant.  It reminded me of Vietnamese pho soup.

We also shared a scallion pancake (蔥油餅) and a cup of soy milk (not pictured).  The scallion pancake was amazingly crisp and light, but the soy milk had a strange off taste that happens when one burns the soybean pulp while making the soy milk.

I couldn’t help snapping this photo of the “Bland Houses” sign.  Funny, creepy, and definitely spot on.  Despite the savory food, Flushing was indeed very bland architecturally.

As the Beijing Olympics begin, the world looks on with mixed emotions. It’s a moment which should bring us closer together, and Chinese citizens deserve their excitement — but the Chinese government still hasn’t opened meaningful dialogue with the Dalai Lama, or changed its stance on Burma, Darfur and other pressing issues.

Even worse, extremists in China are promoting the view that Olympic activism like ours is anti-Chinese. We can’t stay silent, but we also can’t let our efforts be abused to divide people. So what can we do? The answer comes from the Dalai Lama himself, in an unambiguous gesture of Olympic spirit and friendship: a handshake.

It began in London, passed hand to hand by thousands of us — now the handshake has gone online, and is criss-crossing the globe on its way to Beijing. All of us can join, Chinese and non-Chinese, and it comes with a promise: to hold ALL our governments accountable where they fall short, in Tibet, Iraq, Burma or beyond. We’ll deliver our message in a bold media campaign in Hong Kong and around the world: Click below to see how the Olympic handshake started, sign up to join in, and watch it circle the globe –

http://www.avaaz.org/en/handshake

The handshake idea is nice (with all of the banality of that word fully intended), but let’s not forget to extend the dialogue to the Uighurs or with Taiwan.  Ok, I concede, the “round-the-world” map animation showing virtual handshakes is pretty rad, but I digress.

There’s not a lot of hope for the kind of openness that allows for fruitful dialogue on the Chinese side when they beat up and harass foreign journalists trying to cover the attack in Kashgar.  Then there is the systematic internet censorship.  The guarantee of press freedoms for foreign journalists was part of the contract that the Chinese government agreed to in order to host the Games.  The Chinese government isn’t living up to their side of the bargain.

And those missiles aimed at Taiwan aren’t too friendly or conducive to dialogue either, are they?  Or how about that attempted Chinese weapon shipment to Zimbabwe?  Not very peaceful either.

And then there are those Beijingers who were forcefully and unlawfully evicted from their homes without proper compensation to make way for the Olympics.  And the peaceful Chinese civil society activists (and regular residents of Beijing) who are living under lockdown as a result of the games.  Their grievances can hardly be considered anti-Chinese; since they ARE Chinese.  Same goes for the repression of Falun Gong practitioners and other religious groups.

Ok, so I’ve given a handshake for peace, but what is the Chinese government going to give its own citizens and the international community in return?  Do Chinese leaders and hardline nationalists even want a handshake?  Or do they want the world to kowtow in reverence and awe at the “new” China’s coming-out party?  As much as we all wished that the Olympics were about sports and international goodwill, the truth is, they are also about state-sponsored political propaganda (and uncomfortable displays of nationalism if you ask me) as well as corporate bottom lines.

I got back last night from a 2 week vacation in Taiwan. The trip back to the homeland featured stays in Taipei, the bustling metropolitan capital of Taiwan, and Taichung, the 3rd largest city and my mom’s hometown. We also made a jaunt up to the mountains for a few days to escape the subtropical heat of the cities.

I fell off the vegetarian wagon in a bad way on the trip and overate in general. Taiwanese hospitality is the downfall of my waistline. But why, oh why are the Shanghai soup dumplings at Din Tai Fung so good? And why must they contain pork? I did try some vegan ‘tuna’ sashimi at a seafood buffet in Taichung, but it was slimy and rather nasty.

I hope that being back to my daily routine in NYC will put me back on track. Stopped by the new Tribeca Whole Foods on my way home for some soy milk, organic bananas and açaí for smoothie making. How BoBo of me.

Photos from the Taiwan trip on Flickr.

For those of you new to the blog or who do not know me personally, I worked at Avaaz for 1 year during its initial start-up phase. I’m now at Human Rights Watch, working with their China team on their China Olympics campaign, among other things. My commentary is solely my own as a concerned and engaged citizen blogger and activist and does not reflect the opinion of Human Rights Watch. I am doing this for the sake of open debate and dialogue about China, the Olympics and human rights.

Dear Friends,

The Beijing Olympics are a crucial chance to persuade China’s leaders to support dialogue and human rights in Tibet, as well as Burma and Darfur, and we need to seize it.

Dialogue alone is not enough, Tibetans, Burmese, Darfurians, Chinese and everybody else need concrete actions that result in better human rights. It’s also time to China to work on human rights in China as well. Learn more about the human rights issues surrounding the Olympics on Human Rights Watch’s China Olympics page.

Also, don’t forget the issue of Taiwan and the rise of rampant nationalism in China. I hope a Taiwanese athlete wins a medal. As in previous Olympic games, China has pressured the international community into forcing Taiwanese athletes to compete under the name “Chinese Taipei.” The Taiwanese (Republic of China) flag and national anthem are banned at the Olympics. When an athlete wins a medal, s/he gets to stand with the other medalists while their national flags are displayed and national anthems are played, but if and when a Taiwanese athlete wins a medal, s/he will stand without the Taiwanese flag and in silence. I’m not one for flag waving and national(ist) anthems, but I have to admit, the silent symbolism will sure be poignant.

China wants the Olympics to be a coming out party for a newly modern, powerful, and respectable nation. But the Olympics are about humanity and excellence–we can’t celebrate them in good conscience while ignoring the suffering of Tibetans and others. The Olympics are also about perpetuating nationalist propaganda and corporate sponsors making millions of dollars (or Euros or Yuan since the US dollar is becoming increasingly worthless).

So Avaaz is launching a major new campaign: SAVE THE OLYMPICS. We’ll ask China to save the Olympics for all of us (and more importantly for the Chinese Communist Party’s propaganda team and for the shareholders of the corporate sponsors), by making specific, reasonable progress in dialogue with the Dalai Lama, securing release of Burmese and Tibetan political prisoners, and supporting peacekeeping in Darfur.

Ok, so even if the Chinese government does talk to the Dalai Lama, what will they say, what are the asks? Talking for the sake of talking is a start, but there has to be an agenda and a concrete roadmap for improving the human rights of Tibetans.

Our appeal will be placed on billboards and ads in major Olympic cities, in Chinese overseas publications, and we’ll hire a Chinese language team to engage directly on China’s lively blogs and in chatrooms. Sounds like a great idea, I hope they can pull this one off, especially the billboards and ads. Do the major Olympic cities in Beijing? Probably not, since I don’t think the Chinese government would allow that to happen. That’s pretty indicative of the lack of freedom of speech in China, isn’t it? We need 10,000 donations from people from 100 countries to kickstart the campaign this week with a truly global sponsorship–click below to see the ads and donate whatever you can, however small:

https://secure.avaaz.org/en/save_the_olympics/1.php?cl=77024255

Within China, where the Olympics were once seen as a victory for greater openness and internationalism, the internal debate has taken a bitter turn. Most Chinese are now growing angry over Olympic activism, seeing it as biased and “anti-Chinese.” Most Chinese also live on a highly controlled media diet, which along with a fiercely nationalistic education system, indoctrinates them to think that attacks against the Chinese Communist Party and government (which are one and the same) are attacks against “China” or the Chinese people.

If the games are a fiasco, China’s repressive hardliners will win the day–and we could see the worst crackdown yet.

We need to stop this, and fast. So our campaign aims to reach out to China and Chinese people to show that we’re not anti-China but pro-humanitarian, and that our desire is to save the 2008 Olympics, not ruin them. Click below to donate now: China, Chinese People, and the Chinese Communist Party are three very different things. One can be pro-human rights, anti-Chinese Communist Party, but still be pro-Chinese people.

https://secure.avaaz.org/en/save_the_olympics/1.php?cl=77024255

The Slogan of the 2008 Olympics is “One World, One Dream”. Let’s reach across barriers of perception and division, and ask the Chinese to make this dream come true for us this summer.

Does the implied “we” in “let’s reach across barriers of perception and division” include the Chinese government and state-controlled press? The Chinese government can help “reach across barriers of perception and division” by going easy on the jingoist national propaganda, letting journalists report unhindered in China, and by bringing down the “Great Firewall of China,” which prevents netizens in China from accessing fair and balanced news and other information about their own country and the world.

With hope,

Ricken, Ben, Graziela, Galit, Pascal, Iain, Milena, Sabrina and the whole Avaaz Team.

PS – If you are new to Avaaz, we are a new global campaigning organization launched in January 2007 that has rapidly grown to over 3 million members in every nation on earth. The Economist magazine has written of the power of Avaaz to “Give world leaders a deafening wake up call”, and we have been featured on the BBC talkshow HARDtalk. David Miliband, the UK foreign secretary, calls Avaaz “the best of the new in foreign policy”. You can see the results of our last campaign fundraiser, on Burma here, and the results of our last campaign on climate change here, as well as other campaign results here. Avaaz Foundation is a legally registered non-profit organization.

ABOUT AVAAZ
Avaaz.org is an independent, not-for-profit global campaigning organization that works to ensure that the views and values of the world’s people inform global decision-making. (Avaaz means “voice” in many languages.) Avaaz receives no money from governments or corporations, and is staffed by a global team based in London, Rio de Janeiro, New York, Paris, Washington DC, and Geneva.

Don’t forget to check out our Facebook and Myspace pages!

For continued coverage and commentary on China, the Olympics and Human Rights, check out Human Rights Watch’s China Olympics website.

请不要出席29届奥运开幕式–致世界各民主国家首脑的公开信
作者:
中国社会民主党中央委员会

尊敬的先生们、女士们：
第29届夏季奥运会四个月后将在北京举行。我们获悉世界上的民主国家中，有的国家领导人拟定出席29届奥运会的开幕式，如美国布什总统等；有的拟定不出席，如加拿大哈珀总理等。我们谨敦促所有民主国家的领导人都不要出席29届奥运会的开幕式。
本来，作为中国人对奥运会能在中国的国土上举行是有着由衷的喜悦。可是我们又不能不看到举办奥运已被中国共产党政府高度政治化。它倾全国之力来举办奥运，仅为奥运改善北京空气一项就投入了150亿美元，这本身就是政治行为。中国共产党是想通过举办奥运来粉饰现实，来为它充满暴力、谎言、贪腐的政权涂脂抹粉，以欺骗世界舆论，延续其一党专政的政治结构。
虽然我们深刻地洞察这一点，但我们考虑到运动员们经过几年的刻苦训练都希望在运动会上显示自己的成绩；考虑到一些中国民众以在自己的国家举办奥运为荣；考虑到更多的中国民众将观看奥运比赛作为重要的娱乐项目，故此，我们不主张抵制奥运，我们愿意看到奥运如期举行。愿意看到中国运动员多获奖牌。
但是，你们作为国家领导人出席奥运开幕式就有着不一般的意义。开幕式不同于一般的比赛项目，高层政治人物云集的开幕式明显带有政治意味。你们出席开幕式可以诠译为对中共政权的认同、支持。作为民主国家的领导人去支持一个专制政权明显是不恰当的。我们诚恳地希望你们都不要去出席奥运开幕式。如果你们对某些体育运动项目确实爱好的话，你们可以专项地去观看那些比赛。
敬请你们能认真考虑我们的意见，并作出有利于中国民主事业的正确的抉择。
顺致崇高的敬意！

中国社会民主党中央委员会
2008年4月15日

Please Do Not Attend the Opening Ceremony of the 29th Olympic Games
—A letter to Leaders of Democratic Nations

Respected Ladies and Gentlemen:

The 29th Summer Olympic Games will be taking place in Beijing about four months from now. We learn that some leaders of Western democracies, such as the president of the United States, have planned to attend its opening ceremony; others, such as the premier of Canada, have decided not to. We, members of the Central Committee of the Social Democratic Party of China, urge all of you not to attend the opening ceremony.

As Chinese, we are sincerely happy to see the Olympic Games take place in China. However, we cannot ignore the fact that hosting the Olympic Games has been highly politicized by the communist government of China. On the one hand, the Chinese government makes an all out effort to host the Olympic Games and takes advantage of this opportunity to promote nationalism. On the other hand, it does not keep its promise to improve human rights in China. Its goal is to whitewash reality, to cover up the regime’s brutality, lies, and corruption, and to deceive the world community. Its real intention is the legitimization and continuation of the current political structure, the one party dictatorship. Therefore, its actions are highly political.

We do not advocate boycotting the 29th Summer Olympic Games even though we see through the Chinese government’s intention. We understand that all athletes want to show their accomplishments achieved after many, many years of hard practices. We understand that most Chinese feel honored to have the Olympic Games held the first time in their country. We understand that the Chinese view the Olympic Games as the most important sports event, and they want to see them in their own land. For all these reasons, we would like to see the Summer Olympic Games take place as scheduled, and we hope Chinese athletes will win a lot of medals.

Nonetheless, we want to point out that, unlike sports games, the opening ceremony featuring the presence of high ranking political leaders is a highly political event. As leaders of nations, your attendance will have political implications. The presence of leaders of democracies at the opening ceremony may be interpreted as approval and support for the Chinese communist regime. It is obviously inappropriate for democratic leaders to support an autocratic regime. We sincerely call on all of you not to attend the opening ceremony. You may certainly go and see your favorite items if you really like sports games, but please do not attend the opening ceremony.

We respectfully request all of you to consider this suggestion and make the right choice to support the cause of China’s democratization.

With best regards,

The Central Committee of the Social Democratic Party of China

2008.4.15

Hi, my name is Lee-Sean and I am from Taiwan, one of the most robust democracies in Asia, and a major trade partner with the European Union and the United States. However, due to diplomatic bullying and intimidation on the part of the People’s Republic of China, only a handful of countries have formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan and the more than 22 million people in Taiwan no longer have a voice in international organizations like the UN or the World Health Organization.

Why doesn’t the UK have official diplomatic ties with Taiwan and treat Taiwan as an independent country? And why not urge the Chinese government in Beijing to plan peace talks with Taiwan, just as the London government has done on the issue of Northern Ireland and in other conflict zones in the world?

“I Love Taiwan” T-shirt. Order from Zazzle.com

Greenland Polar Bear Coat of Arms T-shirt. Order from Zazzle.com

Taiwan has been excluded from the United Nations and its related organizations since 1971. Since then Taiwan has neither been privy to the health related work of the World Health Organization (WHO) especially regarding the spread of infectious diseases.

“The objective of the World Health Organization shall be the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of health.”So reads Article 1 of the Constitution of the World Health Organization (WHO). Article 2 stipulates that the function of the WHO, in general, is “to take all necessary action to attain the objective of the Organization.” And Article 3 states, “Membership in the Organization shall be open to all States.”

Taiwan’s participation in the WHO is being blocked by China. China’s political meddling is potentially dangerous to the 23 million people who live on the democratic island of Taiwan. Once again, China has gone too far!

Support WHO membership for Taiwan! Sign the petition.

Read more:

The Economist – Diseases Without Borders: Taiwan’s Unhealthy Exclusion from the WHO

Boston.com – Taiwan makes plea for WHO membership

Taipei Times – World body denies press accreditation to Taiwan

Reporters Without Borders – The UN and WHO deny accreditation to Taiwan journalists
International Herald Tribune – U.N. health chief faces test over bird flu cooperation, Taiwan membership bid

visited 31 countries (13%)

create your own visited countries map

Check out this amazing bilingual comic book series that depicts the history of Taiwan. Also available as an e-book.

Left: Oyaki おやき　(buckwheat flour pies filled with various vegetable fillings, a specialty of Nagano)

Top-Center: Zongzi 粽子(Taiwanese sticky rice dumplings steamed in bamboo leaves, similar to tamales but with sticky rice instead of masa and bamboo leaves instead of corn husks)

Bottom-Center: Jiaozi/Gyoza 餃子 (dumplings filled with meat and vegetable, panfried or boiled, eaten in both Taiwan and Japan)

Top-Right: Gongwan 貢丸 (Taiwanese pork meaballs)

Bottom-Right: Taiwanese savory taro and rice cakes (I don’t think I have had these before, look good though!)