[♪♪♪]

[♪♪♪]

[♪♪♪]

[♪♪♪]

[♪♪♪]

[applause] >> let's give liondanceme a big

round of applause. [applause] >> i just learned something amazing about this wonderful group of performers. over the last ten days, they have done 100 performances to ring in the new year. amazing job. >> hello. -- hello, everyone. my name is carmen chu, and i serve as the san francisco city administrator, and i am so glad to see you at city hall. [applause] >> i hope that you will indulge me as i just give my greetings in chinese. [speaking chinese language]

>> i think, as many of you know, we celebrate so many of our wonderful communities in san francisco city hall. the lune or new year holds a very special place for many of us in our communities. it's a time of the year that we all gather with relatives and friends, some who we haven't seen for a whole year, and i think especially as we enter into a new phase, we hope, of this pandemic, it's time for us to come back together, to connect with community, to rejoice, celebrate with one another, and to rebuild, and i think with that, reengaging in all of the civic celebrations that we're going to see all across san francisco. i want to thank all of our community members, our community partners, who have continued to make sure that our

celebration continues to be uplifted. in the year of the tiger, we can't wait to come roaring back into the year with our lunar new year parade that's coming up this saturday, so i hope you all are there and watching and enjoying and visiting all of our wonderful businesses that are out in chinatown. i also want to thank, at this time, of course, supervisor chan and mayor breed, the leadership, and making sure that our portsmouth garage has two hours of free parking, so make no excuse why you're not coming out to our great parking garages for our celebration. i want to welcome our supervisors and i'd like them to stand. you'll be hearing from them

shortly. mayor london breed, sheriff paul miyamoto, supervisor chan, and supervisor mar. supervisor. please stand. [applause] >> and, of course, to the many departments that are here today, of course, we couldn't do the work that we do in the city without all of you, so let me just name all of you. police bill scott, fire chief jeanine nicholson, linda

giroux, our c.i.o., kimberly ellis, eric shaw, patrick o'riordan with d.b.i., mary ellen carroll with the department of emergency management, and all the city departments who make this events possible. thank you all for being here. [applause] >> and, of course, our thanks to our community partners to help make an event like this feasible, possible, and done with such warmth. the a.p.a. heritage foundation, the chinese chamber of commerce, soma pilipinas, a.p.i. cultural center. thank you so much. and now, of course, i want to introduce to the stage someone who needs of course no introduction, someone who, what i remember when the pandemic

first started was clamoring, we've got to get the city open, and we've got to restore the city's economic vitality. mayor london breed, and i want to invite her up to say a few words. [applause] >> the hon. london breed: i don't know about you, but i just can't get enough of these lions. they are just the cutest, and even after the -- look at them. look at them. look at that. even after they were finished performing because i know that it took a lot of strength and energy, they were looking like they were breathing really hard. did you notice that? it's almost like they're real. but i just wanted to say, to

liondanceme, when they perform not just for people in san francisco but all over the bay area, they're an important institution for our city, and it's great to see the next generation that are performing this dance. and it takes a lot of work and practice to do what they do, so let's give them another round of applause. liondanceme. [applause] >> the hon. london breed: and i am just so happy to be here. it has been a very, very challenging two years, and san francisco, we have so much to be proud of. we have so much to be proud of because in the face of a lot of the hatred, in a face of a lot of the criticism, in the face of how people have tried to define our city, we continue to stand proud. we continue to collaborate and come together. we continue to uplift one

another, and so many of you who are here today have played an important role in not just dealing with the challenges of this pandemic but helping the city come together to build bridges during what i believe has been a very, very challenging time for our a.p.a. community. i really want to express my appreciation to so many amazing people. people like our deputy chief david lozar and/or commissioner, larry yee and claudine chang, people who worked on dealing with public safety challenges with our a.p.i. community but also building bridges, and when i was sitting here today, i was thinking about how amazing it is to be here not just to celebrate lunar new year, but also to celebrate black history month. wouldn't it be nice if we can

come together and merge the two events and have them together? because our communities are stronger together. our communities are stronger when we build those bridges, when we learn about one other's culture, when we express appreciation for one another. that is something i'm looking forward to do next year, and i was especially inspired by the work of claudine chang, who consistently has been a bridge builder in those efforts. so lunar new year, for the last two years, with you didn't have that crown of events, and i

know down at the pier, we are working at getting those outfits ready, working at getting everything ready so we can show that the lunar new year parade in san francisco is one of the best lunar new year events anywhere in the world. and now more than ever as we celebrate the year of the tiger, which signifies courage, it signifies strength, san francisco is going to exercise its current and its strength in weekend by showing that we are one of the greatest cities in the world, how despite these challenges, we are coming back

bigger, better, and stronger than ever, and all of you are going to be an important part of that. [applause] >> the hon. london breed: i want to thank the chinese chamber of commerce for the work that they have done year after year in making sure that the businesses in chinatown and our chinese and asian businesses all over the community but businesses like this represent san francisco values at their very best. so thank you so much to the chinese chamber for their commitment to this event and the activities during lunar new year. thank you to the consolidated benevolent association. so many great activities, and finally, we get to do them in person. and i want you all to remember

this year more than anything, that we haven't been able to do this, which is why being able to be here today is so much more special than it has ever been. and i am looking forward to that celebration, demonstrating san francisco's courage, our strength, and our resilience. time and time again, people have counted us out and knocked us down, and we emerged stronger than ever before, so this weekend, let's show that strength, let's show that courage, let's show that love, that compassion, all the things that our city is known for, and let's continue to renew our commitment, our fostering our relationships with some of our sister cities and our consular generals are here to celebrate with us from all over the world. from indonesia, from mongolia,

china, singapore, and viet nam. i want to ask our consul generals to please stand as we honor the year of the tiger in san francisco. [applause] >> the hon. london breed: thank you all, and i'll see you all on saturday.

>> if i can ask the consul generals to please stay up on stage for a moment, and we're going to ask all of our elected officials to standup for a photo.

>> thank you, and with a special request for our mayor, our elected heads, please come up for a photo.

>> thank you so much. [applause] >> we have a fantastic slate of performers to celebrate the new year coming up. i want to thank the a.p.a. heritage foundation for sponsoring today's performances, and i want to introduce our next group. our next group of performers is focused on promoting philippine

culture through dance and music. through filipino dance, performances, and songs, they teach people about filipino heritage.

[♪♪♪]

>> good evening. could we give one more hand to the dance company? that was beautiful, and i'm so glad they were here tonight. the event organizers said that if they were not here to perform, that sheriff miyamoto and i would have to perform. my name is david chiu, and i'm so glad to be your city attorney. thank you, mayor breed. and it is so wonderful to be back here in city hall. the last seven years, i spent time in every asian neighborhood in the state of california, and what i can tell you is that california has a lot of asian communities, but san francisco is the capital of asian america.

between chinatown and japantown, little saigon and our filipino heritage district, we envision the asian american community, the asian diaspora in san francisco. we are the center of the culture, of the social community, of the politics, and of the history. and i know, many of us, as the mayor just said, we are thinking how hard it's been between the pandemic and recession and antiasian hate, and the fact that we appear to be recreating the history of antiasian hate here during this time period. we let me just say the following. last night, i happened to be reading a little bit of the history of chinatown. in 1877, there were three days of rioting where literally hundreds of san franciscos were

attacking -- san franciscans were attacking chinese residents in chinatown. and at that time, there were a handful of san franciscans that stood up and stood up for the chinese community, and i just want to say how proud i am of the san francisco community, saying no to the hate. we're at a time, 145 years later, at this asian ceremony, we have our first asian sheriff, sitting next to our first asian public defender, sitting next to asian supervisors, supported by our mayor, our district attorney, our commissioners, and so many of you from the community, whether you're our commissioners, whether you're from the chamber, whether you're from the six companies or whether you're a nonprofit that's stood with us, i just want to say thank you. and during the year of the

tiger, i say thank you as we come roaring back. and with that, it is my pleasure to welcome not just our first asian public defender, but the first asian public defender in the country. >> it's truly an honor to be in this space today. i owe so much to san francisco, san francisco's asian american community. i actually began a lot of my belief and identity about empowerment by teaching a class for san francisco kids in chinatown, and my first interaction was with the asian law caucus. i'm your first south asian public defender, and i want to wish everyone a happy, healthy,

and lucky year of the tiger. the tiger is known for being aggressive, tenacious, ambitious, and strong. and just like the tiger, we at the public defender's office believe in skillful advocacy, and we also believe in building supporting, thriving communities. we're particularly excited to be collaborating with community, to challenge systemic issues that impact our a.p.i. community, including our immigration unit that helps immigrants facing deportation. our clean slate programs that gives formerly incarcerated prisoners a chance.

we look forward to collaborating closely with the cities, community partners, and to fight for more just and equitable systems for all communities, including our a.p.i. community. thank you so much. [applause] >> and with that, i want to introduce our first asian american sheriff, sheriff paul miyamoto, who, in addition to being a sheriff is being a real family man. even though we disagree, we still respect each other, and he still takes my calls. sheriff miyamoto? >> hello, everyone. forgive my accent here, but -- [speaking cantonese language]

>> as was mentioned, i'm the first asian american sheriff here in san francisco, and as we mentioned, all of the san franciscos, i hope that will not be the first but just the beginning, and we will move on and become part of the history that david mentioned earlier, the rich history that we have here for not just the a.a.p.i. community but being a community of color and being a community that comes together during times of diversity, during times of challenge, and really shows the best of what it is to be a part of humanity, and, you know, i had some things to stay, and everyone had said some -- pretty much everything i wanted to say, so i'm just going to tell you a little bit about myself because i've been here for a very long time, and i am so looking forward to the parade because for years, as part of the sfsd lion team, i

had the duty of carrying the dragon head. i can't do anything what the kids here tonight did, but i can carry a dragon head about 10 feet. it is an amazing program to support and be a part of. the mayor mentioned, you know, having events and bringing different communities together. our agency is planning on a different event called bridging the communities, where we're bringing together people from the black and a.a.p.i. communities to have discussions about challenging things that face us now. safety is a paramount thing for us here, especially those in the a.a.p.i. community that feel that they're being

targeted, and i want to say, as a member of the public safety team here in san francisco, rest assured that we are here for you, we are there to keep everyone safe, and all of us as a community have to work towards that goal. if you see something, say something. if he observe something that needs to be reported, please do. >> commissioner so: that we can get the assistance that's needed, and we can report out everything. i do want to mention that since david mentioned that we were going to do some [indiscernible] together later, my daughter actually is participating on a team, so i do have some skills, and i'm more than happy to do so in full uniform with you if they have the bamboo sticks here. thank you very much, and it's my honor at this time to introduce -- well, let me try

this one more time, too, by the way. [speaking cantonese language] [applause] >> and at this time, i'd like to introduce supervisor connie chan. [speaking cantonese language] >> supervisor chan: it's great to be here, and it's honor to be here with you all tonight, celebrating lunar new year. i wanted to say that i wholeheartedly support mayor breed's idea for next year, that we will celebrate black

history month and lunar new year together in solidarity. it's also great to be here. when i think about lunar new year, when i was a little girl, i was really excited about it, thinking about the firecracker and the new year. getting rid of the old year and welcoming the new year. it's why i'm also excited to say that it is this year, for me, i got elected last year, took office last year. i didn't have a chance to have the chinese new year parade that i wanted, so i'm really excited that, this year, i finally got to join the parade as your district one supervisor. [applause] >> supervisor chan: all the more reason is the reason why i

hope that we can bring more people to the new year parade and making sure that everyone can come and join us at the parade, so thanks to our partnership with m.t.a. and with the support of my colleague, supervisor aaron peskin, and supervisor dean preston, who is a strong transit advocate that we get to announce free muni for saturday and sunday for this coming weekend so that everyone can ride muni for free to get to chinese new year parade. let's celebrate chinese new year, but most importantly, let's celebrate it new year. here is my honor to introduce my colleague, the only chinese american supervisor besides myself on the board, supervisor

gordon mar. [applause] >> supervisor mar: happy year of the tiger, everyone. [speaking cantonese language] >> supervisor mar: i want to thank mayor breed and my community leaders for thanking you for your compassion and leadership during the pandemic and standing up against the surge of crime against chinese americans. we ought to be able to come together on this most cherished holidays for our families here at city hall, in chinatown, and

in all our neighborhoods throughout the city. in fact, in my district, which is 50% asian american, we had an incredible lunar new year celebration at our outer sunset farmers market and mercantile. in fact, if you missed it, you'll be able to celebrate the great highway lune or celebration on february 26 from 3:00 p.m. to sunset. we're going to have more kite makers and lunar new year activities. thanks, everybody, for coming together in events that bring so much hope to our city and looking forward to seeing you all at our lunar new year parade next saturday.

>> thank you, supervisor mar. supervisor mar is actually my home district supervisor. thank you for your service, i've got to call out david chiu, our city attorney. every year, david comes out and tells us he's going to come out and do some kind of performance -- dancing. this year, david, our challenge to you is actually to carry through on your words and do a performance, so i hope that you will. let's give a round of applause to the upcoming performance of our city attorney, david chiu. i want to also take a pause to introduce a few more elected officials who did join us today. our district attorney, chesa boudin, and our assessor-recorder who is here with us.

our next performer is considered one of the great saxophonists of his generation. please welcome francis wong and his partner, melanie takata, to the stage.

[applause] >> thank you so much, frances and melody. let's give them another round of applause. [applause] >> and next, i'm pleased to invite to the stage two community asian american leaders. we want to bring up robert wong to represents the chinese american benevolent association, and also, mr. dough lu who represents the die knees chamber of commerce and serves -- chinese chamber of commerce and serves as their vice chair. [applause] >> good evening, ladies and gentlemen, honored guests,

honorable mayor london breed, and all the supervisors, elected officials, and appointed officials. happy chinese new year of the tiger. my name's robert wong, and you represent the chinese consolidated benevolent association. first, i would like to introduce some of my colleagues that's here tonight. also, my upper management, president larry yee, also our san francisco police commissioner. will you stand, please? thank you. president of the [indiscernible] association, and the president, president of

the yung wa association. they're all in chinatown. and i'm president of the kyung chao association here in san francisco. also, the executive secretary for the chinese [indiscernible] companies. first, i'd like to say happy new year of the tiger to everyone. everyone should be at the parade this coming saturday. hope everyone have a good time. [speaking cantonese language]

>> wishing everybody here a very happy new year, with safety, healthy, and prosperous new year. thank you very much. mr. liu? >> good evening. happy lunar new year. hello. my name is donald liu, and i'm the president of the chinese chamber of commerce. we want to thank you for supporting our annual chinese new year activities. between the flower fairs, the street fairs, and upcoming parade, it's going to be

televised internationally. we bring people to chinatown at the exact moments when we need it, but in the coming year, we need even more support from the city. while the economic impacts of covid continue, our community serving small businesses are failing due to covid relief programs. while understanding that these programs cannot continue indefinitely, we want to see if we can come up with a transformative investment in our a.a.p.i. communities to stabilize businesses or we will lose them forever. we are seeing many of our long

time community property owners being forced to list their buildings for sale at a pace i've never seen before in 30 years of my time in chinatown. we are approaching or even at a tipping point in chinatown as a true immigrant gateway. i am ringing the bell for chinatown, but i am also hopeful and confident that we can find a way to work together to make sure that the oldest chinatown in the united states remains a community serving place for another 150 years. thank you. [speaking cantonese language] >> excuse me. i just want to add in chinatown, we need the two hour free parking a lot longer because our businesses are

really suffering. i would appreciate it if our supervisors could help us out and give us free parking for longer than the two-hour parking. thank you very much. >> thank you very much for your advocacy on behalf of the chinese american community and chinatown. this is our final performance of the evening. these talented performance highlight the asian american experience through dance and promote cross cultural understanding. please welcome the college of alameda dance group and the wynn dance company. [♪♪♪]