Meet Yue-Sai Kan, the creator of Yue-Sai WaWa

Dear Friends,

A few years ago, my New York neighbour asked me to bring back for her daughter a Chinese doll from China. I said, of course no problem at all, feeling confident that I would find many. I went to all the department stores in major cities, I was shocked that in spite of the well-worn phrase "China Doll", there were none - not even in China! Instead what I found was all blonde hair dolls, mostly with blue eyes! What is even more puzzling is that even Japanese play dolls on the market have blonde hair!

I am very concerned that the standard of beauty set for children is a singularly blonde one. Could this be one of the reasons why so many Asians I know think of themselves not beautiful? (But I think they are!) Why so many products and covers of magazines in Asia feature only blonde models? How can we allow our standard of beauty be only blonde, while half of the human race has black hair, black eyes and yellow-based skin tone? As someone whose work is intimately involved in defining the terms "Asian beauty" and "image", I am particularly concerned by this sociological phenomenon. 

You know, today, the real world that we live in is truly culturally diverse. And in this new millennium, everywhere in the world, more and more different races live together, work and interact with each other every day. Take the United States for example: the census of 2001 shows that Asians are the fastest growing minority in the country. In New York City alone, one out of ten is Asian! I believe that the more we understand each other, the better it would be for our society. 

This is a long way of telling you why I started thinking about creating an Asian doll that would educate children all over the world about all things Asian while being absolutely beautiful. I think of her as a little ambassador connecting East and West. She must have that famous shiny Asian black hair, black eyes and porcelain color skin tone. She must be an intelligent, creative, loving and cultured little role model that will inspire and teach. She also must have a wardrobe as fashionable as anyone in the world yet she will have more -- she will have that special style and taste reflecting her time-honored heritage. I want her to be the best reflection of ourselves. In short, I want her to embody all the virtues of an ideal Asian beauty.

From having the initial desire to finally launching it in China early 2001 and now worldwide this month, has been a long and bumpy road. I learned that it is easy to create an ugly doll, but hard to make one which can be compared to the best in the business. A doll is really more complicated than I could ever have imagined. My admiration for the professionals in the toy industry is boundless. Thanks to a lot of very talented people and a lot of very hard work, I believe we have succeeded in creating a doll, the Yue-Sai Wa Wa (wawa in Chinese means both doll and child) of which we can all be proud. I thank my colleagues from the bottom of my heart.

It is my most sincere wish that you will love Yue-Sai Wa Wa as much as we do, and may she bring you much inspiration, happiness and beauty.

Affectionately, 

Yue-Sai Kan

(You can find Yue-Sai at Addicted to Dolls, 8803 Gravois Ave., St. Louis, MO  63123. (314) 351-4883. Please use the ad in this paper to receive 10% off.)