8Asians.com - Latest Comments

Re: Mail-Order Husbands: Brilliant or Disturbing?

grovemont11 — Mon, 04 Oct 2010 14:56:07 -0000

A thought experiment:

What is the Thai tradition of marriage?

The modern, Western ideal of marriage is all about free-will and true love -- two people coming together by their own choice and natural, uncontainable attraction (i.e. not because of an prior arrangement or family pressures economic concerns) to spend their lives together.

Perhaps we Westerners project our Western idea of marriagel onto Thailand, which, no doubt, has a traditional and very distinct view of the institution of marriage.

Are Thai marriages, traditionally, more about free will and true love or economic circumstances, village proximity, familial influence, etc? Did Thai women, in the past, have any input at all into who they married?

Perhaps in the context of Thai marital culture, it makes sense that women are making mostly economic decisions when it comes to marriage. They draw upon a tradition of looking to marry a man that will provide for them, keep them out of poverty and bring them local status . . .

Of course, this context doesn't justify the American male exploitation of this mentality, but it may help explain it . . .

Indeed, it seems undeniable that Thai society makes this sort of intermarriage possible in a way that, say, Pakistani or Jamaican culture do not.

Re: The 8Asians Talk About PF Changs and the People of Orange County

Blipblopblapbloobybloo — Mon, 04 Oct 2010 14:38:33 -0000

P.F. Chang's is like the equivalent of McDonald's. A Mom & Pop Chinese restaurant is like the equivalent of In n Out, The Counter, or any real hamburger joint that real hamburger lovers love to eat at.

There's much better Chinese food out there but it's sad they don't get the attention because of the restaurant's outward appearance.

Re: The 8Asians Talk About PF Changs and the People of Orange County

Blipblopblapbloobybloo — Mon, 04 Oct 2010 14:34:17 -0000

You hate it when people stereotype OC as full of pretty rich white republicans? Well, who stereotyped it that way? White people. The t.v. show, The OC, was about nothing except white people. According to Hollywood, asian-americans don't exist. At least not ones who aren't criminals.

Re: CNN: American Morning: An Asian glass ceiling?

Amused_Observer — Mon, 04 Oct 2010 00:17:26 -0000

You guys are hilarious. You know, there once was another minority group that was said to lack managerial ambition, leadership ability, interpersonal and communicative skills, and even a sense of humor. All these were thought to be natural traits inherent to the minority group... up until Executive Order 11246 started to be enforced heavily in their favor, and people found out, hey, it's not that they lack these skills, it's just that institutions used them as weak rationalizations for clearly discriminative practices.

This group was women.

Now, with the help and commitment of the EEOC and Labor Department, we have Indra Nooyi, ranked Fortune's #1 most powerful woman in business as head of PepsiCo. And she's Asian to boot! Go figure.

Also, Asians lack leadership skills? Do you people even take history classes? I defy you to tell me that Genghis Khan didn't know how to assert himself. Or Tsao Tsao. Etc.

Re: The 8Asians Talk About PF Changs and the People of Orange County

gogohorrorshow — Sun, 03 Oct 2010 23:16:45 -0000

i'm not going to defend P.F. Changs, as in my opinion it's just white-washed chinese food for people who wouldn't actually like chinese food. that being said, as a native of orange county, don't blame this on us! people forget that orange county is one of the most ethnically and culturally diverse region in the world (yes, the world). and with that kind of diversity, we have awesome and authentic "ethnic" foods. i'm not sure about the chinese food in orange county (which i'll admit, is probably better in the san gabriel valley), but the vietnamese food in little saigon tastes better than the vietnamese food in vietnam. i hate it when people stereotype orange county as full of pretty rich white republicans. it's kind of like when people assume all americans are white.

Re: The 8Asians Talk About PF Changs and the People of Orange County

csc3 — Sun, 03 Oct 2010 18:45:07 -0000

when i hear "pf changs", i just think of that one south park episode with randy eating pf changs everyday...

Re: The 8Asians Talk About PF Changs and the People of Orange County

julie k h — Sun, 03 Oct 2010 15:17:48 -0000

P.F. Chang's is a glorified Panda Express. That being said, Panda will forever win my heart because a) it reminds me of college and b) omg orange chicken. I have no expectation that Panda/PF Chang/Pei Wei taste authentic, but sometimes you just want greasy chain food.

Re: The 8Asians Talk About PF Changs and the People of Orange County

Paul — Sun, 03 Oct 2010 13:22:08 -0000

Of course, being Chinese I know how authentic food is supposed to taste but there's is a market for greasy fried American Chinese food drown in a thick sauce, or else they wouldn't be opened in every corner in every city. According to Eat This Not That and other sites, PF Chang's food has the most calories amongst different chain restaurants and since grease is taste, I'm sure they are one of the tastier food. Even I'm pretty sure I won't be a fan, I'm grateful that they are trying to elevate American Chinese food something on a higher end and giving people a "classier" Chinese food experience comparing to the corner take-out store and expose them to however much Chinese culture there is.

Re: The 8Asians Talk About PF Changs and the People of Orange County

Cindy — Sun, 03 Oct 2010 12:39:30 -0000

PF Changs is good for what it is...an American Mega-Chain Restaurant. There is little to nothing authentic any more than Olive Garden is authentic Italian. When trapped in Charlotte, NC and left with the choice of TGIF's et al and umpteem number of fast food choices, I'm going to choose PF Chang's.

Re: The 8Asians Talk About PF Changs and the People of Orange County

johnminh — Sun, 03 Oct 2010 10:00:39 -0000

Every time I hear about PF Changs, I can't help but think about "The Food" starring Randall Park: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...

Re: The 8Asians Talk About PF Changs and the People of Orange County

e.s.chan — Sun, 03 Oct 2010 09:55:07 -0000

Hey, life can be pretty interesting and nice behind the Orange Curtain. It's not all Republicans and white power! That said, as an Asian (Taiwanese) American, I spit on the idea of PF Changs as an Authentic Asian restaurant. I don't think any of the readers who voted in the poll ever stepped foot in Garden Grove or Beach Blvd. Maybe people who were really into cream cheese wontons flooded the polls or something.

Re: Vietnamese American Politicians in the National News

Philip — Sun, 03 Oct 2010 00:20:39 -0000

Could be this:

"Little Saigon is a common name used for various other Vietnamese-American communities and is often used as a sign of defiance towards the current government of Vietnam "

Since "Little Saigons"are historical and important to the older generation of Vietnamese-Americans, especially the refugees, that's probably why I would think they would fight over such a label.

Maybe they'll go even more extreme one day and start referring to themselves as "Saigonese" and not Vietnamese.

Perhaps Saigonese-Americans and Taiwanese-Americans could join and make a combined district to send a big FU to the communists.Strength in numbers.

Re: German Man Develops Chinese Accent After Migraine

Blipblopblapbloobybloo — Sat, 02 Oct 2010 19:22:11 -0000

That's the typical thinking of white people and wannabe white people. Anything "inferior" or "weird" or "silly" is something they'll associate Chinese or asians overall with.

Re: Vietnamese American Politicians in the National News

Tien V Nguyen — Sat, 02 Oct 2010 12:54:32 -0000

I've constantly tried and tried to understand the perspective of the old people that created the controversy behind naming the area "Saigon Business District" vs "Little Saigon" and have never come close to understanding. Maybe someone can shed some light on why this caused such a ruckus?

Re: Sean Kingston Is Suicidal for Bollywood Girls

Tien V Nguyen — Sat, 02 Oct 2010 05:24:46 -0000

This was, 2 years ago.

Re: Asian Men Have the Highest Salaries: A Follow-Up

Liriel — Fri, 01 Oct 2010 19:35:11 -0000

I hope you will excuse my tardiness (found this article just now) and still be able to find my comment relevant.

Upon reading both the initial post and this one, I must confess an incredible but resigned sadness. It was a sadness born of reading a blog titled 8Asians and yet finding part of my Asian identity completely erased by your claim that this report is somehow incontrovertibly "good news" for the Asian American community. How is this claim that Asian American men have the highest average salaries going to affect the Khmer American (Cambodian) community, 40% of which don't even finish high school? Forty Percent. Another 24% graduate high school but never attend college. I assume you can guess as to the impact that has on the community’s overall average salary. Does that mean Khmer men somehow less than Asian, less than men, or simply less than? It is not simply that wealth and education vary widely among individuals of a race, but that wealth and education vary widely among the various ethnic communities of a race; a fact which is too often lost when our smaller, less powerful communities of Southeast Asians and Pacific Islanders are subsumed into the success stories of our larger, more vocal communities of East Asians and South Asians

If you're willing to bear with me through a personal anecdote, I'll attempt to explain why the stance taken in your posts is problematic. I'm a fairly recent graduate of a very large university (for credibility’s sake, I will say that it was 1 of the UC schools; but for privacy’s sake, I won’t say which, fair?). At my university, we have an alliance of Student Advocacy Groups that have historically worked for the advancement of marginalized communities; it binds together groups as diverse as the Muslim Students Association and the Queer Alliance, the Afrikan Student Union and the Vietnamese Student Union. As you can imagine, this alliance is old and valued and storied, but it isn’t without its tensions. ASU and VSU in particular have a tense relationship with regards to VSU’s projects. You see, VSU has always been a political organization as well as a cultural one, and it hosts several projects focused on encouraging SE Asian matriculation to college as well as SE Asian student retention and empowerment in college. ASU has expressed its belief that these projects serve no purpose as Asian students as a whole do not have problems with college matriculation or retention.

Understand that I am not attacking ASU in any way; it’s an incredible organization that does great work on difficult issues. What I am attacking is this belief in the educational and economic prowess of Asian Americans that is so widespread it is found everywhere from blog posts written by Asian Americans for other Asian Americans to activist organizations at top tier universities.

In recent years, VSU has slowly been giving up ground in its identity as a political organization. As for the reasons behind this, I can only speculate. It might have nothing to do with pressure from ASU; it might have to do with its members internalizing the beliefs that Asians generally do well in society and need no help; or it might have to do with the changing politics of VSU’s member makeup. The only thing I am certain of is that ideas matter and words matter. If you make the time to contribute to blogs, I believe you know that.

Our lives will always be a negotiation of intersecting identities; your college graduate identity affects your Asian identity which affects your male identity which affects your gay identity which affects your father identity and so on and so forth. Your musings about these identities typically give rise to eloquent and poignant writings that I’m glad you share with us. But in this case, your identity of belonging to an ethnic community of which 25% have a graduate/professional degree allowed you to overlook, to disregard our Khmer community of which only 3% have a graduate/professional degree. I’m not saying that I want to break down the diverse Asian American community into its component ethnicities. I’m not even saying that you should never make broad generalizations of Asian Americans at large. I’m just saying that the next time someone, especially a marginalized someone, takes issue with either your point or your presentation of it, please listen to his/her pain and try to understand its genesis rather than simply dismissing it as an “attack” on you.

*Notes: 1) My statistics are obtained from the US Census Bureau and the US Department of Education and are rounded to the nearest 1's place for simplicity. 2) I must admit that I found Tim Wise's words on the model minority to be invaluable and some of his ideas from <http: confusionethic.html="" www.lipmagazine.org="" ~timwise=""> may have unconsciously entered my overly verbose comment. 3) I really am sorry about my overly verbose comment; I tried to edit it down in length but found myself unable to cut anything.</http:>

Re: The New Billy Blliot on Broadway is Asian!

Alda Don — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 03:35:46 -0000

Just enjoy the show....

Re: Far*East Movement’s ‘Like A G6′ Hits #1 on iTunes; Internet Asks “What Does Like a G6 Mean?”

bsa — Wed, 29 Sep 2010 22:24:31 -0000

so epik.

Re: Far*East Movement’s ‘Like A G6′ Hits #1 on iTunes; Internet Asks “What Does Like a G6 Mean?”

Miles Austin — Wed, 29 Sep 2010 15:17:09 -0000

nice to see asians gettin more street cred

Re: DNC Chairman Governor Tim Kaine Speaks to AAPI Democrats

Frank Chow — Wed, 29 Sep 2010 11:59:42 -0000

This election is paramount for our country. Especially in states like California, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, New York and Indiana (many others as well). In order for progress to continue the AAPI vote needs to turn out and make sure the GOP does not take control of Congress. If that happens we can kiss everything goodbye that we as a community have accomplished. Makes calls, tell your friends, post like this daily, and please vote.

Chow!

Re: The 8Asians Talk About: Charice, Glee and Anti-Charice Critics

Recognize0 — Wed, 29 Sep 2010 02:25:50 -0000

Those people who out right says that they hate Charice are little shit-heads.... sorry for the vulgar language, but prejudice and envy are two traits I cannot tolerate in someone. I am not saying I don't do those things, but at least have some factual support before you come to the conclusion that Charice is arrogant, and obnoxious. Those who categorizes her as an arrogant person for her sudden gain of fame are just ignorant. Do you have any idea the type of environment she grew up in? Can you even possibly imagine the kind of life she led in Philippines, and the things she had to do to survive on a daily basis? Though she may appear confident on stage, but as a performer and entertainer, confidence is essential to your performance, and how you carry yourself is imperative to your success. A person's personality, and how he or she presents himself depends on both the external and internal dispositions of the given situation. I think it is quite arrogant for those who quickly come to the hasty conclusion of her true nature based on one narrow observation of her. It is quite ironic that those who condemn arrogance are the ones who are performing it. Maybe my argument is too much for you little asswipes to understand, but nevertheless I felt compelled to address the uneducated, and the ignorant regardless of whether they understood it or not. Though Jesus did say, "cast not your pearls before swines", but just I can't help but lament over the amount of idiots that this world is filled with.

Re: Yi Jianlian Would Never Marry Someone Not Chinese

Rob — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 20:57:12 -0000

Someone doesn't get it.

The point is to for Asian men to get off the damn reservation and NOT stand by Asian women (a demographic which has no qualms about tossing you aside).

Re: Yi Jianlian Would Never Marry Someone Not Chinese

Blipblopblapbloobybloo — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 16:51:28 -0000

Another example of an Asian guy sticking by asian women. I personally don't care who one marries, whether they be of the same race or a different race. As long as they're marrying each other for the right reasons and arent' doing it for sex, desperation, money, convenience, racism, exploitation, or ignorance, then it's all good.

But when you compare his feelings and beliefs to those of his female counterparts, Michelle Yeoh, Zhang Ziyi, Bai Ling, etc., one can easily see he's alone in his own little party that no one is going to show up for.

Mr. Basketball thinks he's being impressive by saying he'll only marry a Chinese woman. Meanwhile, these Chinese women like Zhang Ziyi, Michelle Yeoh, and Bai Ling are banging and marrying white men.

It's almost like being told to hold your female friend's purse while she bumps nasties with a white guy in the changing room. You think you're being impressive by holding that purse. For those out there who don't see the metaphor behind this, you need not reply. I'm not talking about the actual holding of actual purses.

Re: Long Live Blogger Prom Queen & 8Asians Co-Editor Joz!

csc3 — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 16:43:33 -0000

congrats!

Re: The Amazing Race’s Michael & Kevin, Meeting Winner Tammy

RollEgg — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 16:29:37 -0000

Whenever the son is talking, the father's facial expressions are priceless!