and i want to thank those of you who are not asian on the outside but our asian on the inside. [applause] thank you for being part of the richness of who we are common here in san francisco. and i want to thank all of you who are the community leaders of this wonderful city that was founded as col down. we know we have had struggles over the decades and have accomplished many things. but i want to take a moment to say a quick thanks to those of you who are working to make sure that our asian american brothers and sisters, and grandparents who are still living in sro's, i want to thank you for the work you are doing for them. the work we are doing for asian- american brothers and sisters who still today may not have health insurance or child care. for young people who may not have access to the youth services they need. or to our grandparents who may not have access to the prescription drugs or senior services that they need. we have come a long way but we have a long way to go. i just want to thank you in this year of 2011 are coming together as a community for the work we have

welcome to the asian art museum. my name is jay shee, the director of the asian art museum. on behalf of the staff and board, we welcome you in the backdrop of the upcoming exhibitions, ritual performances. it will be open to the public february 25. this is the first time in history of the united states that the indonesian culture, particularly the island of bali, will be presented to our public. this is a wonderful example of the value and service that a museum provides to our community. we are a platform for cultural exchange, as well as cultural diplomacy. this museum has served for many years this say and we continue to be more robust in our service to the public. as you know, our museum is governed by a couple of foundations. the foundation is a private fund-raising arm for the museum. that museum took out a loan in 2000. we have had some difficulty and this is the news lately. under the leadership of our city and our commission and foundation board, today we are pleased to present to the public a proposal to solve a bond issue that is conflicting the foundation. let me

the asian american art form.t the same time this was not something that pertained to san francisco it spread. it became a symbol for asian americans all over the country. it was on television with the whole country to see much the struggle to save the hotel was over. both sides continued to maneuver trying to win the real victory hawould have on 848 kerny the impact lasted for 15 years. >> our mission was to get the building up. the e vision was 77 the building went down in 79. after 79 it was a hole in the ground. all the years when it was a hole in the ground nobody knew it was a manila town. this is the manila town district. this is the first community was here in san francisco. >> our whole goals was farming in the manila town center through the heritage foundation was to make sure we passed that legacy on the story would be told again and again. to other younger ones so they would look upon this international hotel as a symbol of heroic struggles like you would a folk tale. we are hosting stan ordand ucla. i

as asian-americans in this country. as we look toward the new year, i think we can say that the asian-american community has come far in san francisco since we first started immigrating here in the 1950's, and there were many challenges for our community, beginning with the first exclusion act, immigration and for men and women that came for san francisco, to labor issues, and also segregation that we faced. and that was then brought forward as a court case to look at what it means to be equal but separate in our public schools. there is much work we have done here, and now we see we have our first asian-american mayor, the first time we have seen four asian american sitting on the board of supervisors. it is certainly an honor and privilege for me to be here today. i want to recognize the history not only of our communities, but of many communities that have fought for us to be here today. again, happy new year. thank you for being here and joining in on the celebration. [applause] >> thank you, supervisors. assessor p

>>a special show from the asian winter games in kazakhstan... an event not only impressive for spectators, but also a golden opportunity for the country to grab the world's attention. >>if major gangs come to a developing country, the halo effect of you know a great brand like the asian winter games actually has passes off that positive impact to the nation. >>along with the winter olympics in sochi and the fifa world cup in qatar and russia.... these gamesare part of a trend towards emerging markets hosting global sporting events. >>more and more interesting developing countriesave t that kind of money now but i think also the tv audiences are up for a bit of variety. i think they're interested in seeing new places, new landscapes, new cultures. >>and why embracing sport is good for the health of the population and the economy. >>hello and welcome. i'm eckart sager and this is world business, your weekly insight into the global business trends shaping our lives. this week we are coming to you from kazakhstan... where the asian winter games are

>>a special show from the asian winter games in kazakhstan... an event not only impressive for spectators, but also a golden opportunity for the country to grab the world's attention. >>if major gangs come to a developing country, the halo effect of you know a great brand like the asian winter games actually has passes off that positive impact to the nation. >>along with the winter olympics in sochi and the fifa world cup in qatar and russia.... these gamesare part of a trend towards emerging markets hosting global sporting events. >>more and more interesting developing countries have got that kind of money now but i think also the tv audiences are up for a bit of variety. i think they're interested in seeing new places, new landscapes, new cultures. >>and why embracing sport is good for the health of the population and the economy. >>hello and welcome. i'm eckart sager and this is world business, your weekly insight into the global business trends shaping our lives. this week we are coming to you from kazakhstan... where the asian winter games

i am lisa ahng, the liaison of mayor li's to the asian-american community. i want to preface this part by siam only 1/8 chinese, so there is only a 12.5% chance this will go as it should. [speaking chinese] to start up the night, we have the chair of the treasure island board of directors and chairman of the asian american pacific celebration committee c laudine chang. [applause] >> good evening, everyone. thank you so much for celebrating -- joining us on this joyous occasion. welcoming and celebrating lunar new year. i am delighted to be your mistress of ceremonies this evening. this year, the chinese new year started on thursday, february 3. lunar new year, 4709, symbolized by the year of the hare. we all know it as a chinese new year but lunar new year was actually celebrated by many ethnic groups within the asian american pacific families, including vietnamese-americans, caribbean-americans, and others. in san francisco, we celebrated with our parade. -- korean-americans, and others. we celebrated the whole month to welcome everybody. it is supposed to

the misunderstanding americans have about asian men or asian people in general is they're just inscrutable we can't understand them. charlie chan is the asian humor in disguise, that is when you understand. so on the one hand you have the pension for -- with just leave, bruce lee and jackie chan, and two together i am hoping that finally we can't have this kind of good image. >> question from someone who just returned from oxford university. >> have a confession to make that i have never heard of charlie chan before. i am not a literary person. i take a lot of interest in that. talk about racism, i have been in this country for 25 years and i find a lot of chinese find they are dominating the field. going back 30 years ago from sunny. do you think the kind of racism you are talking about only exists in media or does it sort of spill over to other areas of life? >> i can't really answer your question directly because we have to cover all the fields. that is why it is great we can begin to talk about racism, to ask these questions whether in this field or mathematics. a china man dominating

time we have seen four asian american sitting on the board of supervisors. it is certainly an honor and privilege for me to be here today. i want to recognize the history not only of our communities, but of many communities that have fought for us to be here today. again, happy new year. thank you for being here and joining in on the celebration. [applause] >> thank you, supervisors. assessor phil ting plays a crucial role in our city. his office is responsible for calling on all of us to pay our property taxes. maybe not so popular, but we like him. [laughter] his office makes sure that the revenue is here for the city budget. without further ado, please welcome city assessor phil ting. >> thank you. i am usually not popular with everyone else, but with other city officials, i am very popular. come budget time, they come calling. welcome to city hall. happy new year, everybody. it is an honor to see all of you here. it is a reminder for all of us as public servants that we are here to serve you. the day we opened city hall to all of you -- it is quite an ho

right now, the asian art museum has its separate investment committee. in accordance with the settlement, we are going to have as a nonvoting member on the investment community but in reality no direct jurisdiction of what they do with that capital. our exposure would go from 19.9 million to 50 million. >> the unrestricted assets of the foundation which the board of supervisors is not have control over which is 70.5 million. because of the stock market or any other reason those assets went down, that would mean that the city's exposure would go up. the city's total exposure would be 98.4 million that the foundation would 0 jpmorgan under the settlement agreement. theoretically, it could go up to 98.4 million. >> fundamentally, what you're pointing out is correct. we are standing behind the asian art museum foundation and in essence cosigning the loan so we are exposed to risk that the capital campaign requirements needed to make these numbers work and at are not matt. in working with the city attorney's office, we needed to waive those risks that are lar

every single year to create an asian art museum offering. i think that is something that is not to be looked at lightly. i also think that with the insurance agreement in the ability for the board of supervisors and future mayor to be able to weigh in on whether there is a default that occurs is also an important one. when we think about the risk to the city, we know the risk is potentially $11 million in increased operating costs to fulfil our charter obligations. but should things go south, should there be a default on the loan, the only obligation the city currently has is for the controller to submit a supplemental for us to consider and potentially put money in the budget to make sure repay that loan. there will be many conversations to make sure we never get to that point. but we appreciate all the work that has been put into this. i think this is a very solid deal. >> do we have a motion? supervisor mirkarimi: motion to approve the agreement with recommendation. chairperson chu: without objection. item five, please. >> item 5, hearing

and we're seeing the asians are out in enormous force. the biggest ever chinese delegation, a 130 indians. a huge indonesian delegation. and the western business men are going for contracts and no longer fearing asian they are now going for business. 2nd the euro zone crisis is dominating talk. they got it wrong last year everybody. it isn't just greece it's ireland. it's on watch now for portugal, spain, belgium. so the euro zone crisis and what to do about that is unclear. and 3rdly the post tunisian revolt, egyptian situation is casting a long shadow over this otherwise nice weather. and people are nervous about what is going in the arab world. >>sager: let's stick with the emerging economies; alright this is a key theme here. as you heard in our previous report 2/3 of world growth is coming from the developing world. do you see a shift from the atlantic to the indian pacific region, from the north to the south? >>friedman: absolutely eckart, i've said in the past we are looking at the asian century. i think this is the year where that

this is also an historic day for the asian-american community. for a community that has been here in san francisco for over 160 years, i am a product of that community. i know that ed and all of us who are of asian-american descent feel the legacy. and i want to thank all of you who have been part of this historic moment to make this happen. and say that this is obviously not just about a chinese american community or an asian-american community. this is about the american dream. the idea that anyone from any background of any color from any part of the globe can come here and someday be at the very top of what our community is about. [applause] in closing, i also want to just say that this is an historic moment because we have overseen the orderly transition of leadership. what we have done at the board here at city hall is what separates a democratic society from less democratic ones. free communities from less free ones. we have overseen a truly orderly and wonderful transition of leadership from our lieutenant governor, gavin newsom, to our n

i'm struck by the fact of the people of asian heritage on this panel. the pride is not just that patients are receiving the kind of representation that we have sought for so long, this is the fact that the asian community is able to contribute to the city just as this lease is contributing. >> thank you. are there any other matters -- members of the public that wish to speak on this item? item number9. >> i am the executive director of the chinese newcomers' center. i want to think you for all the members who support this as an active member in the community. this is really a win when proposal for the city and for the community. chinese newcomer is a 40-year- old nonprofit. we have to then and longtime partner in serving the community. besides an active partner, they are also one of the best and they run an efficient and effective nonprofit that ic see. what i would like to look for is the next four years, there would be a lot more vibrant partnership between the community and serving the community in a platform that is across the city. thank you. >> th

[applause] ed, for many of us in the asian- american community, has been a longtime role model. he has always been my role model, mentor, and he gives the example of fighting for everybody every day and making sure that the city is not just there for some people, but that it is therefore all of us. it is something that i aspire to. thank you and congratulations. [applause] and, mr. speaker, my good friend, john arresperez. we do go back 20 years. susan did say just that, that there was no way that you would come down here. thank you for being here in these times. i do go back to our days at cal. in the late 1980's and early 1990's, we were also facing budget cuts. this threat of contract that the people have given to families and students, that you were going to get a high quality of moral education starting in kindergarten, all the way through college, if you could stay the course. we saought start to the road bak then. that is something that we continue to fight for. i want to thank you for your leadership. i cannot imagine someone who is more capable, strong, a willing leader

poetry and fiction by south asian american writers. encounter people of asian decent in the americas her novel, braided tongue was published in 2003. i introduce rashne. >> i'm reading from a selection from a longer narrative. memory is no longer confused. it has a home land. from a farm by the late ali. sometimes the circle breaks and the woman meets the child. face-to-face. each one seeing for the first time her strength in the other. a poem by jenny. [inaudible]. after more than a year of e mails and phone conversations, amy,ling and i met at the university of wisconsin in madison. it was sometime during the mid 1980. calcutta was very hot, said amy. i wondered how our conversation about asian american literature veered to calcutta? calcutta was very hot but i got my first doll there. we spent some time in calcutta when we fled to the united states. the doll didn't look like me blond hair and blue ice bought from calcutta. she comforted me when i remember the sounds of the japanese bombs that forced us to leave our home. did you hav

we also celebrate what we call the asian-pacific islanders as well, in terms of culture, experience, and multidisciplinary arts. >> the festival is actually very wide-ranging. you have 16 venues, and how many different performing arts centers? >> we have over 85 artists participating, 16 venues, 21 events. there are over 15 groups that are performing. >> there recently kicked off at the beginning of may and will continue through june 13? correct? >> that is correct. unlike in the past years, we have had to expand the festival because there has been so much activity and so many people want to be part of the celebration. we're very honored and pleased to have the festival going all the way into june. >> we're kind of coming in on one of the groups. >> francis is one of the pioneers of the asian american jazz movement and is also one of san francisco's very own. we're very honored at the cultural center that we can be part of the program. >> an addition to him, what are some of the other highlights of the festival? >> we have three gallery openings in the festival. one is called reclaim

it can continue above and beyond that needed to make the financing work and leave the asian art museum and foundation of the end of this with a true endowment that is there to spin off entrance -- interest earnings and support the is in going forward. that is our hope at the end of all of this. this is still a comparatively young museum, in the larger municipal or geological cents. we are talking about a museum that, for many years, until they relocated to this facility, was in essence a part of the young and golden gate park sharing space. there are still growing as a stand-alone museum. part of that will be growing and endowment overtime beyond what is needed to make this work. supervisor mirkarimi: i am also hearing other museums that are struggling, yet we are not stepping up to cosign for them or to provide that kind of a backstop. >> that is very true, and i think this is a very unique circumstance, where the collection was gifted to the city in a perpetual trust. it is a requirement in our charter that we persuaded -- that we displayed it. there are very few cases out there wher

>> unfortunately, many of the asian governments suppress human rights and fundamental freedoms. of its people. there's widespread grievances of people. so in china, even according to china's own security services, there are already tens of thousands of incidents of public unrest throughout the country each year. china is determined to suppress any peaceful gatherings and is illegally detaining prominent lawyers, activists, and even their family members, including the wife of detained nobel peace prize winner liuxiabo. beijing must know these protests are so numerous and widespread that it is only a matter of time before they begin feeding each other and sparking into a larger uprising. >> what do you think should be done to improve the situation in asia? >> there is only one solution to prevent such a scenario, which is reform. so this is a time for china and other asian governments to start reform by allowing independent, judiciary, and free media. as a democracy in asia, japan needs to press the chinese and other asian governments to start reform, to expect -- i'm sorry to exp