Need Taiwanese American College Students for BRIEF Survey

Jieun Lee is a doctoral student in the Clinical Psychology program at University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) conducting dissertation research on acculturation, Asian values, coping styles, and psychological distress among Taiwanese American college students (and other East Asian American college students). Participation involves completing a brief on-line survey. The on-line survey will take approximately 15-20 minutes of your time. At the end of the survey, you can enter your email into a drawing for ten $50 cash prizes. If you are interested in participating in this study, please click HERE. If you have any questions concerning this research study, please do not hesitate to contact me Jieun Lee via e-mail: jieun1@umbc.edu

Early Registration for APA | FIVE Leadership Conference

Take part in one of the largest APA Leadership Conferences in the Nation! INSPIRE | 07 is a three-day conference that brings together more than 1,000 Asian Pacific American young professionals, leaders, businessmen actors, entertainers, athletes, and politicians for one of the largest leadership conferences in the country. By connecting with APA leaders and mentors from different professions, backgrounds and social circles, you will join a unified community of APA trailblazers and enjoy numerous opportunities to get involved with private start-ups, independent arts projects, leadership programs, nonprofit organizations and other important community causes! Registration Early Bird Registration ends Fri 07.27.07, so please register soon! To register, click HERE.

FAPA-YPG Newsletter

FAPA-YPG's latest July newsletter is now available online. Click HERE to read! Or browse older newsletters HERE. Check out their website, and learn more about the next generation of FAPA leaders. Keep up to date with current issues and topics of discussion by joining the FAPA-YPG listserve. Click HERE to view the YahooGroups.

2007 World Youth HAKKA Culture Camp

If you are of Hakka heritage, this may be a great opportunity to meet others like yourself and explore the culture and history of the Hakka people in Taiwan! Objectives: To enhance the youth of overseas’ recognition of Hakka culture, learn about Taiwanese Hakka culture, enhance the knowledge of Hakka culture worldwide, develop interest in the Hakka language, customs, music, opera, food and beliefs etc, and to enrich global views on Hakka by experiencing it for themselves and learning from each other. Hosts: Council for Hakka Affairs, Overseas Compatriot Affairs Commission Dates and number of people: The 2007 World Youth HAKKA Culture Camp will be divided into two stages. The first stage is from July 19 to July 30 with 35 participants. The second stage is from December 2 to December 22 with 35 participants. Due Dates for Applications: Stage 1: from today till May 20. Stage 2: from August 15 to October 15, 2007 For more information, and instructions for application, see the www.hakka.gov.tw website.

Applications due for Miss Taiwan USA 2007 Pageant

The Miss Taiwan Foundation is accepting applications for the Miss Taiwan pageant of 2007. The event will be held in the Los Angeles area. Seven finalists will be chosen based on their talent, poise and overall presentation. Each title holder will receive a scholarship and prizes. Applications must be received by July 15, 2007 and can be sent to: Director, Miss Taiwan Pageant, 904 Silver Spur Rd., Suite 411, Rolling Hills Estates, CA 90274 The basic qualifications are that each applicant be: a) ages 17-30 b) at least 25% Taiwanese For more information, check out the website at www.misstaiwan.org.

2007 Pan America Taiwanese Hakka Conference

Sponsored by the Taiwanese Hakka Association of USA and Taiwanese Hakka Association of Northern California The Conference Committee is offering the 2nd generation community (friends of TaiwaneseAmerican.org and TACL) to attend the luncheon at a discounted $10.00 instead of $25.00 for regular guests. It's going to be a great event where you will be able to meet many young professional Taiwanese Americans. Date: Saturday, July 14, 2007 Place: The Fairmont Hotel, 2nd Floor Regency Ballroom, 170 S. Market St., San Jose, CA 95113 Day Time Morning Programs (Free Admission without Meal served): - Opening Ceremony at 9:00 a.m. - Keynote Speaker: Chairman Therese Shaheen, Former US Ambassador to Taiwan. Topic: US Taiwan Relations. - Guest Speakers: Ms. Chu-lan Yeh, former Vice-Premier of Taiwan, Dr. Joseph Wu, Taiwan Ambassador to USA, Mr. Yung-te Lee, Minister of Council for Hakka Affairs Day Time Afternoon Programs (Free Admission without Meal served): - Expert Panel Discussions on Science & Technology, Medicine, - Business, Investment and Culture & Education Evening Programs, 6 pm: - Admission: $50 / Person Including Program and Dinner at the Fairmont Hotel (Check: Payable to THANC). One Free World Famous Hakka Musical CD with each Dinner Ticket - Keynote Speakers, 7:30 pm: Ms. Chu-lan Yeh, former Vice-Premier of Taiwan: About Recent Political, Social and Industry Developments in Taiwan, Dr. Joseph Wu, Taiwan Ambassador to USA: About Recent Taiwan and USA Interactions in Washington - Entertainment, 9:00 pm: World-Class Hakka Musical Program To purchase a ticket, please contact any of the following: Martin Chen (陳俊仲): (408) 656-0111 or (408) 358-7450 John Pang Yu (余金榜): (408) 773-1920 Tim Lin (林鼎雄, NATEA-HQ): (510) 366-3679 or (510) 793-9689 Cannon Hwu (胡宗民): (650) 948-4595 Charles Chung (鐘振乾): (925) 787-0112 Nina Teng (鄧瓊如): (510) 299-5168 George Chao (2nd Generation contact): (510) 323-5814

Drawing for FREE 1 year subscription to Hyphen Magazine!

TaiwaneseAmerican.org is a proud supporter of the general Asian American community! We are proud to sponsor a drawing for year-long subscriptions to Hyphen Magazine, one of the few Asian American magazines available on newsstands today! Five lucky winners will be chosen, and TaiwaneseAmerican.org will pay for your subscription for four quarterly issues, an $18 value! Send an email to admin@taiwaneseamerican.org with the subject heading HYPHEN and I'll randomly select 5 submissions on July 12! What is Hyphen? Hyphen is a magazine about Asian America for the culturally and politically savvy. Built around a clarity of image, word and social awareness, Hyphen takes form from the artists, thinkers and creators who are shaping a new multiethnic generation. Hyphen is not a formula but a sensibility—not a collection of recycled fare with an Asian flavor, but original reporting on stories that move beneath the mainstream. Curious and questioning, Hyphen looks into the hard issues, but also the Asian American by accident, by tangent or by happenstance. Visually arresting, it strikes the gut with clean design, sharp photography and original illustration. Like its readers, Hyphen is many things—cool librarian, shy musician, dorky hipster, cute techie. Like Asian America, its interests are varied—politics, art, health, music. Much like the hyphen connects words and concepts, Hyphen magazine connects readers with Asian America as it happens. For more information about Hyphen Magazine and their events, please see their website at www.hyphenmagazine.com! *EDIT* Congratulations to Helen L. of San Francisco, CA, Justin Y. of Sylvania, OH, Christopher W. of Orange, CA, Karen S. of Ann Arbor, MI, and Judy S. of Hudson, OH for winning the one year subscriptions to Hyphen Magazine!

USA Tour: Unlimited ChthoniC, Unlimited Taiwan

ChthoniC's North American tour takes them throughout the US and Canada as the first ever Asian Heavy Metal group to participate in Ozzfest. Click HERE to see their tour schedule and if they'll be in a city near you! TAIWANESE METAL MONSTERS CHTHONIC PREPARES FOR OZZFEST AND RELEASE REISSUES IN FANTASTIC PACKAGING! Next week, two albums by Taiwan’s premier metal act ChthoniC – dubbed the “Black Sabbath of Asia” by their home country’s largest newspaper, and soon to be the first-ever Asian act to take part in Ozzfest – will finally be released in North America. Relentless Recurrence, initially released in 2002, and last year’s A Decade On the Throne live double album/DVD will continue the momentum started by the acclaimed Seediq Bale, the group’s first American release. The music of ChthoniC (pronounced THON-ick) focuses in part on the history of the Taiwanese people. The band has even christened its upcoming international tour – which will commence in suburban Seattle when the group kicks off the summer’s first Ozzfest – "UNlimited," in part to protest how the United Nations (UN) limits Taiwan's full participation as an independent country. (Visit www.myspace.com/ChthoniCtw for more on "UNlimited ChthoniC, UNlimited Taiwan.") Set to a riveting soundtrack of symphonic black metal, Relentless Recurrence relays a Taiwanese folk tale about a demonic ghost hell-bent on revenge. Like the group’s other recordings, the album sees ChthoniC use a Hena, a traditional Asian instrument comparable to a violin, to emphasize the legend’s sorrow and grief. Meanwhile, A Decade On the Throne is an engrossing live double album/DVD set recorded before a sold-out crowd in the band’s home country, and features guest performances by the so-called Oriental Orchestra as well as the Taipei Ladies’ Choir. It will be released in a lavish digibook with special artwork and a velvet covering. Though the band’s image is reminiscent of the black metal legends of Scandinavia, ChthoniC’s use of corpse paint is inspired by the history of their own culture. In Taiwanese folklore, deities known as the “Eight Generals” wear corpse paint to become empowered with Taoist spirits that give them the power to judge good and evil. It is this spirit that the band conveys on stage. ChthoniC has been pushing boundaries throughout their career, and having singlehandedly launched an extreme metal scene in their home country, the group now sets their sights squarely on the rest of the world. The band will continue taking its music abroad in August when it performs at Wacken Open Air, Germany's largest annual metal festival, and it will embark on its first full European tour this fall. And though ChthoniC -- like all rotating second-stage Ozzfest bands -- will have just 20 minutes to make its case on tour this summer, the group hopes its message reverberates long after their final notes are played. - reprinted from Ozzfest Blog News

Contact Congress with FAPA's Interactive Web Form

Asking your elected officials to support Taiwan related issues has never been easier... Check out FAPA's interactive webpage that lets you track the latest development on Taiwan related resolutions in the Congress. You can enter your zip code, your name and address, and with a click of a button, send off a quick email to your representative! Click HERE! It really is that easy! And it takes less than a minute.

Congratulations to Authors Justina Chen Headley and Grace Lin!

The Asian/Pacific American Librarians Association proudly announced the winner and honor books for the 2007 Asian/Pacific American Awards for Literature that promotes Asian/Pacific American culture and their heritage, based on literary and artistic merit. Youth Literature Award Winner: Justina Chen Headley's Nothing But the Truth. New York. Little, Brown, and Co., 2006. Nothing but the Truth is the story of high school sophomore Patty Ho, who, half-white, half-Asian, doesn't fit comfortably in either high school or at home. Her strict Taiwanese mom dictates everything from her study habits to her social life and sends Patty to math camp at Stanford for the summer. There she meets people who like her and understand her. She spends time with her aunt, who tells her the real story about her parents. The book deals with humor and understanding on important themes: growing up as a mixed race teenager, dealing with both peer and parental pressure, and the importance of close friendships. Honorable Mention for Text in Children and Young Adult Literature: Grace Lin's Year of the Dog. New York: Little, Brown and Co., 2006. This delightful story of school and family life, friendship, cultural heritage, and self-discovery chronicles young Pacy's (Grace's) experience as she grows to understand and appreciate herself and her heritages during the Year of the Dog. Frustrated by not "having a special talent," Grace's wish for the new year is to discover her hidden gift. Would she become a "red-egg" colorist? or an actress? How about a scientist? In the end, her love for words and pictures shine the brightest. Being a daughter of recent immigrants, Pacy is also keenly aware of her sometimes contradicting American and Taiwanese upbringings. Readers can easily see how Grace enriches her life by integrating both traditions. Each light-hearted vignette, often humorously told, is interwoven with the family stories of life back in Taiwan from her parents. The festive red-and-gold cover design and black-and-white childlike illustrations further enhance the appeal of this title. Click HERE to read TaiwaneseAmerican.org's Spotlight on both Justina Chen Headley and Grace Lin! Support their work and purchase a copy of their books today! And look out for their upcoming titles!