[applause] >> good evening, everyone. thank you jason, mayor lee, mrs. lee, general gao. at&t is all about connecting people across the world. while most people think of that with a phone or a mobile phone, which also connect people through events like this, through the sponsorship of a beautiful dragon boat i can see lit up up there. that is gorgeous. we threw the switch on early tonight. thank you so much for letting us be part of your celebration. thank you. [applause] >> thank you, and think at&t for your continued commitment to our communities. finally, we have the chair of the asian american heritage month committee foundation. this is a dedicated leader in

our asian american community. please welcome commissioner who claudine at chiang -- commissioner claudine chang. >> [speaking chinese] at the beginning of every year, whether chinese new year begins in january or february, the city and county sets a great example for the other major cities in this country in the way we celebrate lunar new year, and especially with the leadership of all the members and supporters and volunteers of the chinese chamber of commerce. we have seen so many years of

the street fairs, the parades' that attract a quarter million people. we really have set an example for the rest of the country. i want to congratulate everyone for their hard work. i look forward to seeing everybody this saturday at the parade. taking an example of the lunar utah -- lunar new year and how celebrate it, we talked about it lunar new year and chinese new year as the same period that are pretty much the same, but lunar new year is celebrated by many groups within the asian american community, including korean- americans, vietnamese americans, and many others. we want to celebrate the chinese new year every year, but also the occasion of asia pacific heritage month in grand style, and set an example for the rest of the country. this year, our theme is celebrating heritage, advancing education. we will be presenting three

awards to distinguished individuals and organizations in the area us of advancing education. the nomination is open to the public. we will have more information in the weeks to come. this evening, talking about history and culture, a reception for the ceremony. we have a calligrapher and a musician who will entertain us as part of tonight's celebration. [speaking a foreign language]

lastly, we have a special presentation. i would like to bring up commissioner and each one -- commissioner amy chuang. also representing -- i did not realize all of this. would you like to introduce the artist? this is a very special year of the dragon presentation.

the artist. [speaking a foreign language]

>> thanks, claudine. mr. mayor, i know you are pressed on time. thank you for being here tonight. your staff has asked me to call you back. i think you are late for a meeting. the work of a dragon. thank you, sir. tonight, we are honored to be with family, friends, and loved ones who help us celebrate this new beginning. we are also here with members of the elected family and special dignitaries. i want to acknowledge some of the other officials present in the audience. i know the mayor's wife is here. would you stand up?

say hello. the director of civic affairs is here. emily murase is here. police chief greg suhr, and the director of dpw. we also have the president of the police commission, mr. mazzucco. we have tiger mendoza, who sits on the school board. and we have the consul general of the philippines and the consul general of vietnam. we also have share of -- sheriff mirkarimi here, and treasurer cisneros. it is an honor on behalf of the city and county to celebrate such a cultural event as the

lunar new year. this concludes tonight's ceremonies. please enjoy the reception that follows in the north light court. thank you to moon star for providing delicious food. thank you to the youth at cyc for the amazing dragon dance. speaking [a foreign-language] thank you all. good night.