Thousands of Asian Texans targeted by Chinese crime group in driver’s license breach - Yahoo News

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An organized security exploit duped Texas’ Department of Public Safety into sending at least 3,000 driver’s licenses to a Chinese criminal group in New York that targeted Asians in the Lone Star State, officials announced on Monday.

The unidentified group did not hack any Texas government websites, the DPS said. Instead, they exploited existing security vulnerabilities in the state’s main portal, Texas.gov.

The agency said it became aware of the problem in December 2022 but did not notify affected Texans as they carried out investigations and arrests.

“We’re not happy at all, I can tell you that, one bit,” DPS Chief Steve McCraw told lawmakers on Monday, as per the Texas Tribune. “They should have had — controls should have been in place, and they never should have happened.”

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McCraw described the culprit as “a Chinese organized crime group based in New York working in a number of different states.”

Their scheme allegedly involved pulling the personal data of Asian targets from the dark web, harnessing the data to answer password security questions on Texas.gov and then using stolen credit cards to order copies of active licenses, such as those that were reported missing or stolen.

While licenses are issued by DPS, they are ordered through a portal run by the Department of Information Resources. At least 4,000 fake accounts were created, while some 2,400 licenses were shipped to “third-party addresses,” the Dallas Morning News reported.

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McCraw said the crime group targeted Asians from various backgrounds with the goal of finding similar names and “look-alikes,” supposedly to aid Chinese nationals who are living in the U.S. illegally.

More potential cases are under investigation. State Rep. Mary González (D-El Paso) criticized DPS officials for allowing so much time to pass while Texans were unaware that their identities had been stolen.

“Somebody could be going around as Mary González right now for two months, and nobody’s been notified, I [wouldn’t have been] notified,” she said.

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Meanwhile, Rep. Mano DeAyala (R-Houston) noted that Texas licenses could be used to get IDs from other states, saying, “We don’t want to be that weak link.”

The security loophole has reportedly been addressed, and federal agencies have also been tapped to join the investigation, which is now being run in at least four states.

Affected Texans are reportedly set to receive a letter explaining that their cases will be given priority status if they suspect their ID is being used fraudulently. Others who believe they were targeted are asked to call local police or file a report using the state’s iWatch system.

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Thousands of Asian Texans targeted in driver's license breach - The Dallas Morning News

AUSTIN — The state shipped thousands of Texas driver’s licenses to an international organized crime group in a security lapse that is still under investigation, Department of Public Safety Chief Steve McCraw said Monday.

The Department of Public Safety has identified at least 3,000 Texans who have been affected and is investigating more potential cases, department officials told House budget writers during a hearing Monday. Texans of Asian descent were targeted by what McCraw described as “a Chinese organized crime group based in New York working in a number of different states.”

“We’re not happy at all,” he told the lawmakers. “Controls should have been in place and this should have never happened.”

The agency is working with federal agencies, McCraw said, and the investigation spans at least four states, as other states have also been similarly targeted. It’s not clear when the investigation will be completed.

No state systems were hacked, officials said. Instead, the criminal actors were able to fraudulently obtain the licenses in a scheme McCraw described this way: personal data about Texans of Asian descent was obtained on the dark web, including credit card and personal information, and then used to request replacement driver’s licenses from the state. The group specifically targeted Asians of various backgrounds with the hopes of finding “look-alikes” to match with Chinese nationals here in the country illegally, he said.

McCraw did not identify the alleged criminal organization by name.

Related:Texas DPS doesn’t provide your data anymore — except to 2,400 entities

While DPS issues licenses, they are ordered through a portal operated by a separate agency, the Texas Department of Information Resources. At least four thousand fraudulent accounts were created and 2,400 licenses were shipped to “third-party addresses,” according to a letter from DPS notifying legislators of the problem.

DPS first learned about the problem at the end of last year, but has not yet notified affected Texans because they have been working on the criminal investigation and apprehending those responsible, McCraw said, some of whom he said have been arrested.

The decision drew criticism from Rep. Mary González, who pointed out that thousands of Texans could have been impersonated for months without their knowledge.

“The number one thing we have as a government agency, as government folks, is trust. And when we lose that trust by not thinking through, it’s difficult to rebuild that trust with the people,” the El Paso Democrat said, adding that the agency needed to be shepherding affected Texans through ensuring their identities are protected.

Rep. Mano DeAyala, R- Houston, raised concerns about how the driver’s licenses from Texas could be used to get IDs from other states.

“We don’t want to be that weak link,” he said.

Hailong Jin, board member of the DFW Chinese Alliance, said he, along with many in the Chinese American community in North Texas learned about stolen data through news reports. He said the state should have notified potential victims earlier and stressed the importance of language-appropriate material for victims who are not English-proficient.

”They should have immediately notified any victims, because even within a few days they could have caused further damage,” Jin said.

Jeoff Williams, DPS Deputy Director of Law Enforcement Services, told lawmakers the bad actors did not breach the state’s system, but rather exploited existing security vulnerabilities in the online portal.

Texans looking to log into the license system had to provide an audit number on their driver’s license or answer a series of questions about themselves, such as previous addresses or their mother’s maiden name. The bad actors were able to find those personal details on the dark web to gain access to Texans’ accounts, Williams said.

In order to pay for the replacement, the system only required a credit card number, but not the billing zip code or the three-digit code on the back on the card, known as a CVV, he added. Williams said the department asked the Department of Information Resources and the agency’s vendor to address those issues.

“We’ve eliminated some of those vulnerabilities by doing those things,” Williams said.

In a statement, DIR reiterated no state systems were hacked and this was a “case of fraudulent criminal activity based on factors unrelated to state systems, not a cybersecurity incident.”

DIR oversees the state’s online infrastructure, but state agencies set the security features on their individual applications hosted by Texas.gov, spokesperson Brittney Booth Paylor said in a written statement.

After this incident, Paylor said DIR now requires credit card features like CVV or zip code authentication for all transactions.

Texans who believe they were targeted in the scam and fell victim to identify theft or fraud are being asked to contact local law enforcement or file a report with the state’s iWatch system, according to the Department of Public Safety.

Related:After 27 million driver’s license records are stolen, Texans get angry with the seller: the government

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Duo wanted for assaulting, yelling racial slurs at Asian woman in Massachusetts - Yahoo News

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Massachusetts transit police are searching for two individuals accused of a racially motivated attack on an Asian woman in the city of Somerville last week.

The incident, which saw the yelling of “racial epithets” at the woman, reportedly occurred at the Davis Square Station at around 5:39 p.m. on Feb. 20.

“The victim, a female of Asian descent, was assaulted and verbally harassed with racial epithets,” MBTA police said in a news release.

Surveillance images show two men wearing dark clothing and light-colored footwear and walking in the same direction.

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The victim, who has not been identified, did not sustain any physical injuries.

Asian Americans have been the targets of multiple attacks on or near MBTA premises in the past two years.

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Some incidents include the kidnapping and rape of a 64-year-old woman, the unprovoked shoving of a 92-year-old man, the assault of a 69-year-old man and the robbery of a 55-year-old woman’s shoulder bag.

Community leader Tina Lu, who started the Somerville Asian and Asian-American Family Network amid the COVID-19 pandemic, said the matter of anti-Asian hate should remain a priority.

“These incidences still happen and so I think it's important to keep on raising the awareness and elevating the importance of Asian-American issues mental health, safety,” Lu told WCVB.

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Anyone with information about the individuals of interest is asked to contact the MBTA Criminal Investigations Unit at 617-222-1050.

More from NextShark: 92-year-old Asian man required 9 staples to his head after unprovoked attack at MBTA station

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Possible victim of ID scam targeting Asian Americans speaks out - The Dallas Morning News

Allen resident Ping Du says he was in Mexico in late December when his family vacation was ruined by an alert from his bank that his personal information on record had been updated without his knowledge.

A bank representative told Du that someone had walked into a bank branch in New York and provided a physical driver license under his name. Fortunately, Du said, he was able to put a freeze on his bank account before the fraudster tried to withdraw money the following day.

But that wasn’t the last time that Du was put on notice about potential fraud related to his identity — a different bank notified him that credit cards were being sent out to an address he didn’t know, and a mobile phone service provider told him about a new account that he did not make.

“I have to be on constant alert,” Du said. “I literally have to get up at night just to make sure that I don’t have any alerts coming in. Then you have to worry about if they got into my other accounts.”

The Texas Department of Public Safety on Monday announced that “a Chinese organized crime group based in New York” had used data culled from the dark web to order thousands of driver licenses in Texans’ names. The scam specifically targeted Texans of Asian descent, according to state officials, who publicly revealed the breach on Monday. An investigation is ongoing.

Texas DPS Chief Steve McCraw has said that authorities first identified the problem late last year but that they did not notify affected Texans because of the criminal investigation.

After months of stressing over how his information had been compromised, Du said news of the scam made him suspect that he could be a victim.

Du, who is of Chinese descent, said he reached out to DPS and tried to find out if they could confirm whether or not he was affected by the scam and tried to provide them the New York address associated with one of the fraudulent attempts to use his identity. A representative from the agency referred him to his local law enforcement and the state’s iWatch tip line, Du said.

“To be honest, I couldn’t tell you whether I am truly one of the people that had their information stolen,” he said. “If it is related to this particular incident, then I feel like they have an obligation to at least notify the people whose data has been breached, just like any other private organization.”

Lawmakers and organizations with ties to the Asian American and Pacific Islander communities in Texas also reacted to news of the scam and expressed their frustration over how communication about the incident was handled.

In a written statement Monday, Lily Trieu, executive director of Austin-based Asian Texans for Justice said the lack of communication about the scam is “another example of the state’s gross negligence, which continues to erode the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community’s trust in government,” and added that she thinks Gov. Greg Abbott should ensure new protocols to avoid future “communication failures.”

She said it’s also important for state officials to consider language access when communicating important information to constituents.

“According to AAPI Data, more than one-third of AAPIs in Texas are limited English proficient — the state needs to provide timely, in-language information regarding this incident,” Trieu wrote. “In addition to notifications to each victim, the state should provide credit monitoring tools to protect their identities from being misused.”

Rep. Gene Wu, D-Houston, said he is “deeply disappointed” with the situation, and said DPS should make themselves available to offer resources to victims.

“If this happened under a private company and it was their mishap that caused this, they would be liable for it,” Wu added. “They need to own up to this and start helping people fix the problems.”

Hailong Jin, board member of the DFW Chinese Alliance, said he, along with many in the Chinese American community in North Texas learned about the scam through news reports and said state officials should have notified potential victims earlier. He also stressed the importance of language-appropriate material for victims who are not English-proficient.

“They should have immediately notified any victims, because even within a few days they could have caused further damage,” Jin said.

Du still doesn’t know if his case is related to the scam that Texas DPS announced Monday and has yet to hear back from authorities, which he said adds to his frustration. He said he hopes that state law enforcement officials will act urgently to identify and arrest those who were responsible so that no one else has to share his experience.

“If I knew this back in December when it first happened, I would be even more diligent and I would have shut down more of my accounts, and honestly that’s what I did in the last week. I still don’t know what was going on and I was scared that they would get their hands on more of my information.”

Austin bureau reporters Lauren McGaughy and Allie Morris contributed to this report.

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Michelle Yeoh Becomes First Asian Best Actress Film Winner at SAG Awards for ‘Everything Everywhere All at Once’ - Variety

“Everything Everywhere All at Once” star Michelle Yeoh has made history with her win for best performance by a female actor in a leading role at the Screen Actors Guild Awards, becoming the first Asian woman to win a leading film acting award.

“I think if I speak my heart will explode,” an emotional Yeoh said on stage while accepting her award. “SAG- AFTRA, to get this from you who understand what it is to get here… everyone of you know the journey, the roller coaster ride, the ups and downs. But most importantly we never give up. I thank you… This is not just for me, this is for every little girl who looks like me.”

The actress then paused, turning away from the podium to compose herself but eventually relenting with an excited litany of curses screaming “shit” and “fuck” to an elated crowd. “Thank you for giving me seat at the table and tonight you’ve shown us that it is possible,” she said. “I’m grateful and my mom will be eternally grateful to all of you.”

Only the second Asian woman nominated as best actress after Ziyi Zhang for “Memoirs of a Geisha” (2005), Yeoh is also the second Asian woman ever to win a film acting prize after following Yuh Jung Youn’s supporting actress triumph for “Minari” (2020). Other Asian winners have come from the television categories, including two-time winner Sandra Oh (“Grey’s Anatomy” and “Killing Eve”) and “Squid Game” stars Lee Jung-jae and Hoyeon Jung at last year’s ceremony.

Yeoh isn’t the only Asian nominee (or winner) from this year’s ceremony. Her “Everything Everywhere” co-star Ke Huy Quan became the first Asian male to win an individual film acting award, and Stephanie Hsu was also nominated in supporting actress. Nominated alongside Hsu was Hong Chau from “The Whale,” marking the first time in SAG history two Asians were nominated in the same category.

This year’s SAG best actress roster is the most ethnically diverse lineup in the 29-year history of the guild, marking the first time women of color were the majority, including Ana de Armas (“Blonde”), Viola Davis (“The Woman King”) and Danielle Deadwyler (“Till”). However, only de Armas and Yeoh translated to the Oscar lineup, which added Andrea Riseborough (“To Leslie”) and Michelle Williams (“The Fabelmans”). The major precursors have embraced Cate Blanchett (“Tár”), who won the Golden Globe for lead actress drama, Critics Choice and BAFTA prizes thus far.

Yeoh’s turn as laundromat owner Evelyn is among her film’s leading 11 Oscar nominations. She’s only the second Asian nominated for the best actress Oscar since Merle Oberon for “The Dark Angel” (1935). In 95 years of the Academy Awards, only five actors of Asian descent have won Oscars: Ben Kingsley (“Gandhi”) and F. Murray Abraham (“Amadeus”) for best actor, Haing S. Ngor (“The Killing Fields”) for supporting actor, and Miyoshi Umeki (“Sayonara”) and the aforementioned Youn in supporting actress.

Final Oscar voting takes place from March 2-7.

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Elon Musk says US media 'racist against Whites and Asians' in defense of 'Dilbert' creator - New York Post

Elon Musk accused US media outlets of racism on Sunday while defending “Dilbert” cartoonist Scott Adams from backlash over remarks in which he urged white people to avoid black people.

“The media is racist,” the billionaire Twitter owner tweeted.

“For a *very* long time, US media was racist against non-white people, now they’re racist against whites & Asians,” Musk added in a second tweet. “Same thing happened with elite colleges & high schools in America. Maybe they can try not being racist.”

Adams’ strip was pulled by the Washington Post, USA Today and several other major newspapers in response to racist remarks he made on his YouTube channel last week. At one point in the rant, Adams said White people should “get the hell away from Black people.”

The “Dilbert” creator was discussing a recent Rasmussen poll which found that 47% of Black Americans either disagreed with or were unsure about the phrase “It’s okay to be White.” 53% of Black Americans said they agreed with the phrase.

The phrase sometimes surfaces in racist memes, most notably in a 2017 trolling campaign by 4chan users, according the Anti-Defamation League.

Musk slammed the media in response to a post from the Twitter account @monitoringbias, which claimed that “Adams was horrified” by the Rasmussen poll’s results.

“If nearly half of all Blacks are not okay with White people … that’s a hate group,” Adams said on YouTube, according to the Washington Post. “I don’t want to have anything to do with them. And I would say, based on the current way things are going, the best advice I would give to White people is to get the hell away from Black people … because there is no fixing this.”

Adams was horrified that a poll of black people showed only half believe "it's OK to be white."

He called this hate and recommended white people live far away from blacks.

MSM verdict: Adams is a racist, but not the 20 million black people who think it's not OK to be white. https://t.co/LC8zIGvoqx

— Monitoring Bias (@monitoringbias) February 25, 2023

For a *very* long time, US media was racist against non-white people, now they’re racist against whites & Asians.

Same thing happened with elite colleges & high schools in America.

Maybe they can try not being racist.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 26, 2023

Musk also appeared to defend Adams in another tweet posted in response to Washington Post columnist Josh Rogin, who said it was “good” that newspapers were dropping the cartoon.

“What exactly are they complaining about?” Musk wrote in the now-deleted post.

“Dilbert” is a long-running comic strip that was first published in 1989. The cartoon spoofs corporate office culture.

“Dilbert” creator Scott Adams sparked outrage with racist remarks last week.

REUTERS

The Washington Post and other newspapers have dropped “Dilbert.”

AP

Adams faced widespread condemnation over his remarks. The Washington Post said it had pulled the “Dilbert” cartoon in response to Adams’ “recent statements promoting segregation,” while USA Today said it has dropped the comic “due to recent discriminatory comments” by its creator.

Adams told the Washington Post he expected “around zero” newspapers to still carry his cartoon by Monday.

Elon Musk is CEO and owner of Twitter.

REUTERS

“Most of my income will be gone by next week,” Adams said in a separate live-stream on his YouTube channel on Saturday. “My reputation for the rest of my life is destroyed. You can’t come back from this, am I right? There’s no way you can come back from this.”

Last year, critics of Musk’s Twitter takeover expressed concern that his plans to roll back content moderation practices on the social media platform would embolden extremist voices.

The concerns prompted a mass exodus of Twitter’s corporate advertisers – a key source of revenue for the embattled social media firm.

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Elon Musk calls US media and schools 'racist against whites & Asians' - CNBC

Tesla Chief Executive Office Elon Musk speaks at his company's factory in Fremont, California.

Noah Berger | Reuters

Elon Musk, the CEO of SpaceX, Tesla and Twitter, has accused "the media," and "elite colleges and high schools" of being "racist" against white and Asian people, espousing his views without providing evidence on Sunday.

Musk posted his comments on Twitter, where he boasts nearly 130 million followers, in response to news that media organizations around the country decided to cut the comic strip "Dilbert" from syndication after its creator, Scott Adams, delivered a racist tirade in a video on his YouTube channel last week.

In the video, Adams discussed a poll conducted by right-leaning Rasmussen Reports that said 26% of Black respondents disagreed with the statement "It's OK to be white." The phrase referenced in their poll has been labeled a "hate slogan" by the Anti-Defamation League. In his video, Adams called Black people who rejected that phrase as a "hate group."

Adams also said that he personally chose to live in a community where few or no Black people lived, and then advised his white viewers to "get the hell away from Black people," saying he didn't "want to have anything to do with them."

Adams' video was published during Black History month in the US, which was established in 1976 by President Gerald Ford as a period during which to honor the struggles and contributions of Black Americans.

Among the news outlets that dropped "Dilbert" were The Los Angeles Times, The Oregonian, The Cleveland Plain Dealer, the Washington Post and USA Today.

Musk's track record

Brian Levin, a civil rights attorney and director of the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University said, in response to Musk's tweets:

"Systemic racism requires not only widespread bigotry to be held within a group but also a structural component that allows discrimination and oppression to be imposed on a minority because of an advantage of access and power. A white billionaire from South Africa who recently lost a high profile racial discrimination case may not be in the best position to offer counsel."

As CNBC previously reported, a San Francisco federal court ruled that Tesla must pay a former worker, Owen Diaz, for damages after he endured a hostile work environment and racist abuse at the company's factory where he previously worked as an elevator operator.

Additionally, the EEOC, a federal agency responsible for enforcing civil rights laws against workplace discrimination, has issued a cause finding against Tesla according to a financial filing from the company last year.

Prior to the EEOC finding, the California Civil Rights Department (formerly known as the Department of Fair Employment and Housing) sued Tesla after a three year investigation, alleging widespread racist discrimination at Tesla factories and facilities across the state.

The CRD alleged that Tesla has kept Black workers in lower-level roles at the company even when they have the skills and experience to be promoted to more senior roles; assigned Black workers more demanding, dangerous and dirty work in their facilities; and retaliated against Black workers who complained formally about what they endured, including racist slurs used by managers.

Tesla called the CRD's lawsuit "misguided," and later counter-sued the agency.

The data on racism

Musk made his claims about "the media" and some higher educational institutions and high schools in the US without presenting any evidence.

Specifically, he wrote, "The media is racist." He then added, "For a *very* long time, US media was racist against non-white people, now they're racist against whites & Asians. Same thing happened with elite colleges & high schools in America. Maybe they can try not being racist." 

According to Pew Research, newsroom employees are much more likely to be white (and male) than U.S. workers overall. In film and TV, according to McKinsey research, "Black talent is underrepresented across the industry, particularly off-screen." Less than 6% of the writers, directors, and producers of US-produced films are Black, McKinsey found.

According to the most recent available US Census Bureau data, about 29% of non-Hispanic white people in the US have attained a bachelor's degree or higher levels of education, about 18.4% of Black people in the US have attained that level of education, and about 51.3% of Asian people have attained that level of education.

Despite Asian American educational attainment, Asians are underrepresented in leadership roles in U.S. academic libraries and higher education, according to research by Mihoko Hosoi, published in the Journal of Library Administration in 2022.

Musk also replied to one Twitter account that said unarmed white people impacted by police violence only get a fraction of the media attention paid to Black people injured or killed by police. Musk claimed that the media coverage is "Very disproportionate to promote a false narrative."

According to research by Brookings Institute, "Black people are 3.5 times more likely than white people to be killed by police when Blacks are not attacking or do not have a weapon," and "Black teenagers are 21 times more likely than white teenagers to be killed by police."

Hate speech on Twitter

Imran Ahmed, the CEO and founder of the Center for Countering Digital Hate said in response to Musk's tweets, "Elon Musk seeks to portray himself as some weird, bizarro champion of anti-racism whereas in reality when he took over Twitter, he made a series of disturbing decisions to change its rules to welcome racist hate back onto the platform and, as our research has shown, to profit from the controversy and attention hate generates."

Ahmed also called on remaining advertisers to re-evaluate whether they want to spend their budgets on Twitter, given Musk's beliefs and changes he has made to the Twitter platform.

Since leading a $44 billion leveraged buyout of Twitter late last year, and appointing himself "Chief Twit" or CEO, Musk has stirred controversy and lost money at the social media business.

Under Musk's watch, Twitter has restored the accounts of some previously banned and divisive figures, including neo-Nazi website founder Andrew Anglin. His moves led to an unprecedented rise in hate speech on the platform, the Center found, and drew an immediate outcry from civil rights leaders.

Hundreds of Twitter's top advertisers have since halted or pulled back on ad spending there. One firm estimated that Twitter's ad revenue declined as much as 70% in December from the previous year, Reuters reported. Musk acknowledged in a November tweet that the company suffered a "massive drop in revenue" after advertisers paused spending on the social media platform.

Musk and representatives at Twitter, SpaceX, and Tesla did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

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Ke Huy Quan Becomes First Asian Male Film Winner at SAG Awards for ‘Everything Everywhere All at Once’ - Variety

Ke Huy Quan, the comeback star of “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” has been the feel-good story of the awards season — and he just made history at the Screen Actors Guild Awards with his win for best performance by a male actor in a supporting role.

While on stage accepting his award, an emotional Quan revealed that he only recently heard the news that he would be the first Asian male film winner. “This moment no longer belongs to just me, it also belongs to everyone who has asked for change,” he said. “When I stepped away from acting it was because there were so few opportunities.” The SAG winner then looked across the crowd calling out the current nominees including co-stars Michelle Yeoh and Stephanie Hsu. “The landscape looks so different now than before. So thank you so much to everyone in this room who contributed to these changes.”

He then turned to address the actors watching from home, “Please keep on going because the spotlight will one day find you.”

Quan is the first Asian male to win a film acting award at the annual guild ceremony since its inception in 1994. He’s also only the second Asian actor to win any individual SAG prize in either film or television, one year after “Squid Game’s” Lee Jung-jae won for male actor in a drama series.

Quan’s performance as Waywond Wang, the meek and goofy husband who sets out on a quest with his wife Evelyn (Michelle Yeoh) to save the multiverse, is the undisputed frontrunner for the Oscar after garnering multiple industry accolades including the Golden Globe and Critics Choice awards.

If the 51-year-old Vietnamese actor wins the Oscar, he would be only the second Asian winner ever in supporting actor, after Haing S. Ngor for “The Killing Fields” (1984). In 95 years of the Academy Awards, only five actors of Asian descent have won Oscars in any of the four categories: Ben Kingsley (“Gandhi”) and F. Murray Abraham (“Amadeus”) for best actor, Miyoshi Umeki (“Sayonara”) and Yuh-Jung Youn (“Minari”) in supporting actress, and the aforementioned Ngor.

Quan isn’t the only Asian nominee from this year’s ceremony. His “Everything Everywhere” co-stars Michelle Yeoh and Stephanie Hsu are among the nominees in lead and supporting actress, respectively. The former is the second Asian woman nominated in lead since Ziyi Zhang for “Memoirs of a Geisha” (2005). In addition, Hong Chau (“The Whale”) is nominated alongside Hsu, marking the first time in SAG history two Asians are nominated in the same category.

“Everything Everywhere All at Once” is nominated for 11 Oscars including best picture. Final Oscar voting begins on March 2.

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‘Let it all go and be sexy’: the Asian aunties exploring their sensuality through Zumba - The Guardian

I remember the first time I saw my mum attempt a body roll. The room was lit with multicoloured fluorescent flashing bulbs, and we weren’t alone – we were in a Zumba dance class with 40 other bodies sweating it out in activewear. And there was my 61-year-old Chinese mum, coiling her torso back and forth like I had never seen.

I had been to Zumba before, but had dismissed it as a novelty exercise featuring a giddy instructor in a wireless headset and clashing prints. But in this unassuming gym in Melbourne’s south-east, it felt different. The odour of sweat was the same, the dance routines were familiar, but in the front rows of the class were a dozen or so Asian “aunties” – middle-aged women – gyrating their hips in time to the music.

Zumba is unapologetically sexy. No dance session is complete without a chest shimmy, an air booty-slap or a “slut drop” – a dance move that involves squatting as low as possible, before quickly popping upright. “You don’t expect to see a 70-year-old Asian lady twerking,” says Mechelle Felipe, a Zumba instructor at Crunch Fitness in Springvale.

For many middle-aged Asian women, the freedom to explore their sensuality has been limited. Sexually conservative attitudes are prevalent in many cultures across the continent, meaning that for some, sexual exploration hasn’t been encouraged, or has been dissuaded altogether.

But it’s a different story in Felipe’s class, where more than half the members come from an Asian background. “Especially in Springvale, a lot of Asian women are not very expressive with [their sexiness],” says Felipe. For one hour, the class is a safe space for the women to “let loose”.

Clad in Zumba’s signature neon tank tops (which come emblazoned with motivational statements like “get up, get down, get happy”) and the odd miniskirt, these women aren’t here to fade into the background.

One of Springvale’s regular Zumba-goers, Thida, 50, says the classes have given her a sense of freedom. “It encourages us to let it all go and be sexy … It is liberating because we don’t do that in any aspects of our personal life – being sexy and dancing sexy. It gives us confidence,” she says. Reflecting on her Cambodian, Chinese and Vietnamese upbringing, she says dancing was rare. “Even if we went to parties or other people’s weddings, [dancing was] very, very formal and non-sexual.”

Another class member, Jenny, 52, agrees. “Way back then, we don’t dance,” she says. She’s been going to Zumba for over a decade, and is undergoing a course to become an instructor. “It motivates me a lot and gives me more energy,” she says, adding she’s “a lot happier” and has made many friends. “It’s my passion.”

Diem, a 66-year-old Vietnamese-Chinese woman, is less focused on how sexy the moves may be, and more focused on nailing the routine. Speaking in a combination of Cantonese and Mandarin she says, with a laugh, she’s often stuck on the first and second steps, while the class has already moved on to the third step. And she’s adamant Zumba is not dirty dancing – rather, all the joyous hip-shaking and twerking is how dancing should be.

Over the past four years, this army of aunties has come together by chance. None of the members had known each other outside of the dancefloor. Now the regulars have become a tight-knit group. Together they celebrate birthdays, mourn deaths and hang out on weekends with their partners – they’ve even been on a girls’ trip to Queensland.

Felipe has been teaching Zumba for nine years, and has noticed the changing face of the dance regime. While it has its roots in Colombia in the early 2000s, Zumba has expanded to include Bollywood, hip-hop, swing and ballroom dance influences. And like its group members, Zumba’s upbeat soundtrack has diversified. Felipe – a Filipina-Australian – sometimes adds Filipino songs to her setlist; she knows another instructor who included Chinese tracks during lunar new year, and K-pop makes regular appearances in some other studios.

But in Springvale, the most apparent change is in the Zumba dancers themselves. “I’ve seen people quite shy in the beginning and now they’re just so confident,” says Connie Krol, group fitness coordinator for Crunch Fitness Springvale. “They’ve lost some of their inhibition. It’s just incredible to watch.”

As for me, I grew up in a household where I never saw my parents kiss on the lips, physical affection didn’t come naturally to them, and the “sex talk” was nonexistent. But after just a handful of classes, Mum and I have taken to practising our krumping in front of the bathroom mirror together. I’ve shown her YouTube tutorials; she compliments the suppleness of my moves. I love seeing Mum excited about trying new things, and I’m proud to be there, chest-popping alongside her. And she’s even thinking about picking up one of those neon tank tops for future Zumba classes.

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