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| Issue:
806 Date: 02/02/2006 |
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Goodbye to the Rooster, Hello to the Year of the Dog |
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Goodbye to the Rooster, Hello to the Year of the Dog
By Naomi Silver and Jason Tang
The Chinese Community in St. Louis kicked off the year
of the Dog a week early this year. The official Chinese
New Year began January 29, 2006, but the Organization of
Chinese-Americans (OCA) welcomed the New Year on January
21, with the organization𠏋 annual banquet held at the
Doubletree hotel in Chesterfield.
After the reception and cash bar, Master of Ceremony
Matthew Yu - President of 2003 and 2004 OCA St. Louis
welcomed the guests and the dinner banquet started with
a variety of entertainment including a traditional Lion
Dance, Waist Drum Dance, Splash Water Dance and modern
Little Sparrow Dance performed by talented students from
the St. Louis Modern Chinese language school.
There are three Chinese Schools in St. Louis that hold
classes every Sunday afternoon. In addition to learning
Mandarin Chinese for two hours, they also offer classes
for students and parents to learn Chinese painting,
calligraphy, art crafts, singing, dancing, Tai Chi and
martial arts. In addition to the year-end school talent
show, they are frequently invited to perform at the
Chinese Culture Days and other events within the
international and Asian American community.
The keynote speech was given by Missouri Secretary of
State Robin Carnahan. Ms. Carnahan mentioned the first
Chinese merchant in St. Louis, Ala Lee. She also talked
about her trips to China within a span of only a few
years and how amazed she was at the changes that had
transpired within that short period of time. Being a
small business owner herself (She manages the family
cattle farm), Robin talked about the services that her
office provides to small businesses. She is promoting
business registration every two years, online
registration and will continue to improve and modernize
the process to help small businesses to grow and
prosper.
In addition, her office is in charge of election and
record retention. Robin also brought the Missouri
Constitution and Policy as one of the door prizes for
the banquet.
It was wonderful for OCA members and guests to have an
opportunity to see and hear a future leader of Missouri
and learn a bit about the Office of the Secretary of
State. In conclusion, Robin also encouraged OCA and the
Chinese community to continue to promote Mandarin
Chinese as an option for foreign language studies in
Missouri public schools.
After her speech, Robin Carnahan presented the
Outstanding Community Service Award to Mr. & Mrs. George
and Sandy Tsai - the owner of Baily International and
St. Louis Chinese American News. Maria Chapelle-Nadal,
State Representative for the 72nd district, also
presented a proclamation to recognize their contribution
to the community.
Dr. & Mrs. William and Anne Tao presented the Youth
Leadership Award to Mr. James Lee and Mr. James Louis
Pan. During their four years in high school, in addition
to outstanding academic achievement, both youngsters
have been leaders in school, the community and
extra-curriculum activities. Jimmy Pan has led the
Parkway West High cross-country team as a captain. He is
the current president of YOCA (Youth Organization of
Chinese Americas) and the Co-captain for the St. Louis
Chinese School Lion Dance team.
James Lee is the first violin member of the St. Louis
Symphony Youth Orchestra and has worked with the Tzu Chi
Charity foundation to help out with community service.
James is also the Principal Consultant and Technician
for PC Max, a locally owned computer consulting
company.)
Following the awards, current OCA President Jason Tang
introduced the 2005 officers and reviewed the
accomplishment of OCA St. Louis during his two-year
term. The 2005 OCA officers and board members include
high level achievers such as an IT manager, a computer
system developer, an accountant, a corporate strategic
planner, two college professors, a research scientist
and a successful business owner.
Following are the highlights of the 2005 review:
1. 2005 officers - The dream team of community services
2. The annual Chinese Culture Days at the Botanical
Garden
3. National OCA Convention at Las Vegas
4. The National OCA home building
5. Cross Culture Communication seminar at Anheuser Busch
Company
6. Entrepreneur Workshop with the support of Regional
Enterprise Center, Department of Commerce and S.B.A.
7. 3rd Annual Joint Picnic with F.C.C. and Y.O.C.A.
OCA St. Louis will continue the annual voter
registration drive and encourage the community to vote
and get involved in the local and national elections. -
V.I.P. - Voting is Power.
The 2006 officers were then sworn in by Dr. Bill Tao -
the founder of OCA St. Louis and National OCA.
The new OCA officers for 2006 are: President Dr.
Hung-gay Fung,
Executive Vice President Helena Hseu, Vice President -
Finance Grace Lee,
Vice President - Education Dr. Cody Ding, Vice President
- Membership Lenny
Wang, Vice President - Administration Arthur Yuan, Vice
President -
Communications Eling Lam, Vice President - Culture Dr.
Li Lin and Vice
President - Public Relations Zack Fang.
In his inauguration address, Dr. Fung emphasized that
OCA is a powerful civil rights advocacy organization
that promotes democracy, equality and human rights for
Chinese and Asian Americans. As a professor of
International Business, Dr. Fung will continue to
promote Sino-U.S. trade.
Other focuses for OCA St. Louis in the new year will be
the Chinese Culture Days in May, continued close
cooperation with F.C.C. and petitioning for Mandarin
Chinese to be the optional foreign language in regional
high schools and grade schools.
The banquet concluded with a raffle drawing with many
door prizes.
Over 200 people attended the banquet. In attendance at
the banquet were representatives from the FBI, the
International Institute, the Red Cross, the
Anti-Defamation League,
Japanese-American Citizens League (JACL), the Korean
American Association of
St. Louis (KASS), The Coalition of Asian Pacific
Americans Association
(CAPA), the Filipino community, Gitana Production,
Families with Children from China (FCC), the three
Chinese Language Schools, the St. Louis Chinese Journal,
the St. Louis Chinese-American News (SCAN) and the World
Journal.
Also present were Maria Chapelle-Nadal, State
Representative for the 72nd
district, Eugene Leung, St. Louis County Director of
Revenue, and Dr. Ching-Ling Tai,
of the County Library Board.
Sponsors of the event included: Southwest Bank,
Anheuser-Busch Companies,
Liberty Mutual Insurance, Merrill-Lynch, National City
Bank, the Center of
International Studies at The University of Missouri- St.
Louis, Mr. & Mrs.
Victor and Helena Hseu, Mr. & Mrs. George and Sandy
Tsai, Dr. & Mrs. William
and Anne Tao, and Non-Stop Creativity Corporation. Gift
donations for the
raffle were provided by: Anheuser-Busch Companies, Bally
Total Fitness, E.
Excel International, Lu Lu Restaurant, Mandarin House
Restaurant, Hot Wok
Caf? and Yn Trading Co. |
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