Henry Quindara’s parents usually only call him to check in, so when the New Yorker got an unexpected call from his mom, he knew something was wrong.
As first reported by KTNV Channel 13 in Las Vegas, Quindara’s 75-year-old father, Amadeo Quindara, was violently assaulted while relaxing in his garage one afternoon in late May, leaving him with physical and emotional injuries.
The attack on Quindara, who is Filipino American, is believed to be racially motivated, which prompted community leaders to come together in solidarity Thursday for a rally with banners in front of the Las Vegas Justice Court in downtown Las Vegas, where the alleged perpetrator is scheduled to appear July 3.
“There’s no room for hate in our Las Vegas community … We come together because an injury to one is [an] injury to all,” said Jacque De Joya, president of the Nevada chapter of the National Federation of Filipino American Associations (NaFFAA), during the rally.
The group called for justice for Quindara and other victims of hate crimes — working toward ending such intolerance for all minorities — while also calling on the community to speak up.
“We are always told to be quiet, and just do your own thing. But we can't no longer. We have to be loud, loud in the right sense,” Gloria Caoile, founding vice chair of NaFFAA Nevada, told The Nevada Independent. “And we need to be proud of raising our voices because we raised it for the good of all, not just us.”
The attack comes after three years of elevated rates of hate crimes against Asians as a result of anti-Asian rhetoric during the COVID-19 pandemic. According to updated national FBI data, there was a 167 percent increase in anti-Asian hate crimes during the first year of the pandemic — with 746 instances of crimes against Asians in 2021 versus 279 in 2020.
“This is just about basic human rights. We're not treated like people; we’re treated like second-class citizens. And that's something that no one should feel,” said Assemblyman Duy Nguyen (D-Las Vegas), a Vietnamese immigrant and freshman state lawmaker whose district is one of the most Asian, Asian American and Pacific Islander dense and is adjacent to District 35, where Amadeo Quindara’s home is located.
“We're taught to blend in and we blend in so well. We need to stop being invisible. We need to be visible … The power we have is the ability to come together,” Nguyen added.
The Clark County District Attorney’s Office announced that the alleged perpetrator is facing charges of elder abuse and residential burglary perpetrated as hate crimes.
The suspect was released from custody on bail earlier this month with the condition to stay away from the Quindaras’ home, according to court records. If convicted, the suspect could receive a sentence of one to 10 years for residential burglary as a hate crime and one to five years for elder abuse as a hate crime.
For Henry Quindara, justice would be the suspect being prosecuted to “the fullest extent,” especially as he can see how the attack traumatized his dad. His parents bought their home and moved to Las Vegas to retire in 2007; Henry Quindara said they have roots now and a fixed income so they can’t just pick up and go.
Henry Quindara said his parents have not had any negative interactions with the suspect, who lives on the same street. According to KTNV’s report, the suspect approached Amadeo Quindara yelling racial slurs and threatened him about a half-hour before coming back to attack him with punches and slamming him against the concrete — all caught on a home surveillance camera.
Caoile explained that this hate crime hit particularly close to home because of the cultural significance of family and respecting elders.
“It was really very painful. It was a very sad feeling. And it was really a dark day that loomed over our community as well … It could have been my father, it could have been my brother,” she said. “It doesn’t just happen to us; it happens to others. And it shouldn't happen at all, to anyone.”
Caoile added that she hopes multicultural and diversity education and resources to increase tolerance and empathy “across racial lines” can come out of these situations.
“We need to stand together and we need to demand justice, and to work toward building a better society that values diversity … The richness of having a diverse community is overlooked,” Caoile said. “Sometimes it's looked at as a threat to other communities. But honestly, if we all stand together, we are stronger. We've got to really shout that there should not be any hate crime.”
Henry Quindara agrees with the sentiment.
“You just have to speak up. You have to speak up and advocate for our own well-being. As Asians we don't typically do that. We just let the work speak for itself and keep our heads down,” he said. “It's become very apparent that we have to be able to advocate for ourselves … I'm not sure [my dad] knows how to do that. And I just learned that at 38; I’m 44 now.”
[unable to retrieve full-text content]
Asian restaurant from New York serves Long Island shoppers. Now it’s open in Aventura Miami Herald/cloudfront-us-east-2.images.arcpublishing.com/reuters/RA5KYAQAKZMQ3AKDMLRGNJSFDU.jpg)
June 29 (Reuters) - Investors increased bearish bets on most Asian currencies, as a stuttering post-pandemic recovery in China, the world's second-largest economy, weighed on sentiment, a Reuters poll showed on Thursday.
Bearish bets on Thailand's baht and the Malaysian ringgit rose to their highest since early November, while investors raised their short positions on the yuan , according to the fortnightly poll of 12 analysts.
The ringgit has been among the worst performing currencies in the region this year, shedding about 5.8% so far.
The Malaysian currency remains tightly bound to the Chinese yuan, reflecting the country's strong trade links with China, analysts at ING said in a note.
The yuan has weakened 4.8% so far this year as weak consumer and private sector demand has sapped momentum from the post-pandemic recovery in China.
"China is in need of a credible economic recovery plan to boost the confidence of consumers and investors, and it is likely that the government will communicate that soon to revive animal spirits before the labour market conditions deteriorate further," said Fiona Lim, a senior FX strategist at Maybank.
"That is a key risk for investors, who are too bearish on Asian currencies."
Most of the responses to the poll were received after Chinese Premier Li Qiang said Beijing would take steps to boost demand and invigorate markets.
China's economic growth in the second quarter will be higher than the first and is expected to reach the annual economic growth target of around 5%, Li said.
Meanwhile, the baht's depreciation came as investors waited to see if the leading prime ministerial candidate has enough support to become the country's next premier.
Short positions were also increased on South Korea's won , the Singapore dollar and Indonesia's rupiah .
Bearish bets on the Philippine peso eased to a more than two-month low, while analysts stayed bullish on the Indian rupee , the sole outlier in the pack.
"As we anticipate funds to flow back into EM (emerging) markets when the U.S. Fed no longer requires raising rates, we maintain our expectations that EM currencies will appreciate in the latter part of the year," analysts at MIDF Research said in a note.
Futures see a near 80% chance that the U.S. Federal Reserve will hike rates by 25 basis points in July, before holding rates steady for the remainder of the year. FEDWATCH
The Asian currency positioning poll is focused on what analysts and fund managers believe are the current market positions in nine Asian emerging market currencies: the Chinese yuan, South Korean won, Singapore dollar, Indonesian rupiah, Taiwan dollar, Indian rupee, Philippine peso, Malaysian ringgit and the Thai baht.
The poll uses estimates of net long or short positions on a scale of minus 3 to plus 3. A score of plus 3 indicates the market is significantly long on U.S. dollars.
The figures include positions held through non-deliverable forwards (NDFs).
The survey findings are provided below (positions in U.S. dollar versus each currency):
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
June 29 (Reuters) - Investors increased bearish bets on most Asian currencies, as a stuttering post-pandemic recovery in China, the world's second-largest economy, weighed on sentiment, a Reuters poll showed on Thursday.
Bearish bets on Thailand's baht and the Malaysian ringgit rose to their highest since early November, while investors raised their short positions on the yuan , according to the fortnightly poll of 12 analysts.
The ringgit has been among the worst performing currencies in the region this year, shedding about 5.8% so far.
The Malaysian currency remains tightly bound to the Chinese yuan, reflecting the country's strong trade links with China, analysts at ING said in a note.
The yuan has weakened 4.8% so far this year as weak consumer and private sector demand has sapped momentum from the post-pandemic recovery in China.
"China is in need of a credible economic recovery plan to boost the confidence of consumers and investors, and it is likely that the government will communicate that soon to revive animal spirits before the labour market conditions deteriorate further," said Fiona Lim, a senior FX strategist at Maybank.
"That is a key risk for investors, who are too bearish on Asian currencies."
Most of the responses to the poll were received after Chinese Premier Li Qiang said Beijing would take steps to boost demand and invigorate markets.
China's economic growth in the second quarter will be higher than the first and is expected to reach the annual economic growth target of around 5%, Li said.
Meanwhile, the baht's depreciation came as investors waited to see if the leading prime ministerial candidate has enough support to become the country's next premier.
Short positions were also increased on South Korea's won , the Singapore dollar and Indonesia's rupiah .
Bearish bets on the Philippine peso eased to a more than two-month low, while analysts stayed bullish on the Indian rupee , the sole outlier in the pack.
"As we anticipate funds to flow back into EM (emerging) markets when the U.S. Fed no longer requires raising rates, we maintain our expectations that EM currencies will appreciate in the latter part of the year," analysts at MIDF Research said in a note.
Futures see a near 80% chance that the U.S. Federal Reserve will hike rates by 25 basis points in July, before holding rates steady for the remainder of the year. FEDWATCH
The Asian currency positioning poll is focused on what analysts and fund managers believe are the current market positions in nine Asian emerging market currencies: the Chinese yuan, South Korean won, Singapore dollar, Indonesian rupiah, Taiwan dollar, Indian rupee, Philippine peso, Malaysian ringgit and the Thai baht.
The poll uses estimates of net long or short positions on a scale of minus 3 to plus 3. A score of plus 3 indicates the market is significantly long on U.S. dollars.
The figures include positions held through non-deliverable forwards (NDFs).
The survey findings are provided below (positions in U.S. dollar versus each currency):
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
By Kane Wu
HONG KONG, June 27 (Reuters) - Asian stocks shook off earlier losses on Tuesday, helped by assurances that Beijing would support flagging growth in the world's second-largest economy, which helped investors shift their focus away from risks around interest rates and Russia.
The Chinese yuan also perked up significantly as central bank guidance sent a clear warning to traders that authorities were becoming less tolerant of the currency's recent weakness.
The shift in mood helped MSCI's gauge of Asia Pacific stocks outside Japan widen gains to 0.66%, with Hang Seng Index and China's benchmark CSI300 Index up 1.56% and 0.54%, respectively, by midday.
Europe and Wall Street were set to open higher with FTSE futures up 0.3% at 0422 GMT and E-mini futures for the S&P 500 index climbing 0.21%.
In China, Premier Li Qiang said economic growth in the second quarter would be higher than the first and that Beijing would roll out more effective policies to expand domestic demand and open markets.
"Good news is the rebound on the renminbi. It's stabilising, and also the sentiment in the A-share market is improving," said Steven Leung, executive director of institutional sales at broker UOB Kay Hian in Hong Kong.
"I think people still expect there will be more policy coming out in July - more specific policies, how they will stabilise the economy and boost it in the third quarter," Leung said.
Li's assurances come a day after S&P Global cut its forecast for China's economic growth to 5.2% in 2023, down from an earlier estimate of 5.5%.
It was the first time a global credit ratings agency has cut China's forecast this year and follows lowered predictions by major investment banks including Goldman Sachs.
The People's Bank of China set the midpoint rate for the yuan at 7.2098 per U.S. dollar prior to market open, weaker than the previous fix 7.2056, but nearly 100 pips stronger than Reuters' consensus estimates.
State banks were also seen selling dollars on Monday, traders said, just ahead of the onshore domestic close to shore up the yuan's closing price.
All of that helped the spot yuan trade firmer, alleviating more pressing concerns about the risks of capital flight from the mainland after weeks of sharp declines.
"Further gradual (yuan) weakness, I think is one of the policy levers the PBOC will be quite content to see providing some support to the economy, if it can be done in that constrained and orderly fashion where there's not a big outflow of capital," said Rob Carnell, ING's regional head of research, Asia-Pacific.
In Hong Kong, NWS Holdings saw its shares rise 10% on Tuesday to hit a two-year high after it said a unit of conglomerate Chow Tai Fook had offered to buy about 97% of the construction firm's stock for $4.53 billion.
Geopolitical turmoil has in recent days dampened risk appetite following an aborted mutiny in Russia on the weekend, which appeared to reveal cracks in President Vladimir Putin's grip on power.
All three major U.S. stock indexes ended in the red on Monday, with megacap momentum stocks pulling the tech-heavy Nasdaq down the most.
"Although the situation has subsided, any subsequent insurrection against Russia remains a potential cause for concern, potentially triggering a defensive reaction in safe-haven assets," said Anderson Alves, a global macro analyst at ActivTrades.
In energy markets, U.S. crude went up 0.52% to $69.73 a barrel at 0421GMT while Brent gained 0.51% to $74.56 a barrel.
Spot gold added 0.3% to $1,928.5 an ounce.
In currency markets, the dollar index was down 0.136%.
Ten-year U.S. Treasury yields were steady in early Asia trade at 3.7154%. Two year yields fell 7 basis points to 4.671%.
(Reporting by Kane Wu; Additional reporting by Ankur Banerjee and Tom Westbrook in Singapore; Editing by Sam Holmes)
A general view showing the Hong Kong Skyline on October 13, 2022 in Hong Kong, China.
Nurphoto | Nurphoto | Getty Images
Asia-Pacific markets started the final week of June mixed, even as U.S. markets snapped a multi-week winning streak Friday.
In an early Monday note, CMC Markets analyst Tina Teng, wrote that "economic concerns took central stage again as recession fears mounted, with spiking rates in both Europe and the US rattling global markets."
Over the weekend, Europe also saw a brief rebellion by the Wagner private military group in Russia, pushing oil prices up on Monday.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng index extended last week's losses to fall 0.4%. Mainland Chinese stocks also fell on its return from a two-day holiday, with the Shanghai Composite closing down 1.48% at 3,150.62 in a fourth-straight daily loss.
The Shenzhen Component recorded the biggest loss among Asia-Pacific indexes on Monday, ending 1.69% lower at 10,872.3.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 reversed earlier gains to close down 0.25% at 32,698.81 in a third-straight daily loss, while the Topix ended down 0.20% at 2,260.
In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.29% and ended at 7,078.7, dragged by energy stocks and marking its fourth straight day of losses.
South Korea's Kospi bucked the wider sell off, climbing 0.47% to close at 2,582.2, while the Kosdaq finished up 0.53% at 879.5.
All three major U.S. indexes slid in Friday's trading session, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average falling 0.65%, while the S&P 500 dropped 0.77% and the Nasdaq Composite closed lower by 1.01%.
— CNBC's Sarah Min and Samantha Subin contributed to this report
[unable to retrieve full-text content]
A Breakdown Of The Rina Sawayama And Matty Healy Glastonbury Drama BuzzFeed News
TOKYO (AP) — Asian shares are mixed after a short-lived armed rebellion in Russia added to uncertainties over the war in Ukraine.
Benchmarks rose in Hong Kong, Tokyo and Seoul and fell in Shanghai and Sydney. U.S. futures rose and oil prices were little changed.
The rebellion by mercenary soldiers who briefly took over a Russian military headquarters on an ominous march toward Moscow was over. But the brief weakened President Vladimir Putin just as his forces were facing a fierce counteroffensive in Ukraine.
Yevgeny Prigozhin and his Wagner troops were some of Russia’s most effective fighters in Ukraine. Their aborted takeover of the capital also left their fate uncertain.
Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 recouped early losses, gaining 0.2% to 32,846.24. South Korea's Kospi rose 0.5% to 2,581.83. Hong Kong's Hang Seng was up 0.1% to 18,898.51, while the Shanghai Composite, reopening after a holiday, dropped 0.7% to 3,173.37.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 lost 0.4% to 7,070.30
Wall Street marked its first losing week in the last six Friday. The S&P 500 fell 0.8% to 4,348.33, pulling back further from last week when it reached its highest level in more than a year. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 0.6% to 33,727.43 and the Nasdaq composite sank 1% to 13,492.52.
“We have a slowing U.S. economy, a slowing global economy, all with on-going extreme inflation and high and going higher interest rate levels. There is no bullish stock market scenario here,” said Clifford Bennett, chief economist at ACY Securities.
High interest rates in the United States have already dragged manufacturing and other industries into contraction, while also helping to cause several failures in the banking system that rattled confidence. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said last week that even though his central bank didn’t raise rates last week, it could still push through a couple more hikes by the end of this year.
A preliminary report last week indicated the overall U.S. economy continues to grow, even though manufacturing is shrinking and its output fell to a five-month low.
In energy trading, benchmark U.S. crude gained 2 cents to $69.18 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It fell 35 cents to $69.16 Friday. Brent crude, the international standard, added 33 cents to $74.18 a barrel.
In currency trading, the U.S. dollar fell to 143.40 Japanese yen from 143.58 yen. The euro cost $1.0909, inching up from $1.0903.
In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury fell Friday to 3.73% from 3.79% late Thursday.
___
Yuri Kageyama is on Twitter https://twitter.com/yurikageyama
Here are the top 10 stocks that could be in focus in today's trade:
Reliance Industries: Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) is testing a consumer durables financing programme under the Jio brand at select Reliance Digital outlets before a full-fledged launch of Jio Financial Services later this year, people aware of the development said. Mint visited two stores in Mumbai and adjoining Thane and spoke to executives at four other stores about the availability of financing under what they called Jio Finance. According to the executives, customers would be offered the option of Jio Finance alongside schemes from other banks and non-bank lenders.
IndusInd Bank: The Hinduja Group is in talks to invest ₹10,000 crore to hike its stake in IndusInd Bank, according to a media report. Hinduja Group is likely to increase its stake from 17 per cent to 26 per cent, reported Economic Times. The deal is likely to be completed by the second half of FY24. Earlier this year, RBI gave in-principle and conditional approval to IndusInd International Holdings, a Hinduja Group entity, to raise its stake in IndusInd Bank to 26 per cent. IndusInd International Holdings has 12.58 per cent and IndusInd Ltd had 3.92 per cent as of the March quarter in IndusInd Bank.
Asian Paints: Asian Paints Ltd announced on Friday that it had acquired an additional 11% stake in White Teak, a home decor company for ₹54 crore. As part of their agreement, the paint company paid White Teak ₹59.5 crore as an earn-out based on the achievement of financial milestones. This brings Asian Paints' total stake in White Teak to 60%. The remaining 40% of the equity share capital would be acquired during the FY 2025 – 2026, for a maximum consideration of ₹360 crores. The consideration would be based on the achievement of defined financial milestones for the business.
Infosys: IT services company Infosys said on Friday that it was cooperating with an Australian government investigation into ‘tainted contracts’. The software major has also reportedly cut off ties with lobbying firm Synergy 360 - which was reportedly paid $16 million over 5 years to help Infosys grow its business in Australia. An investigation was launched last year amid claims that former MP Stuart Robert had helped the lobbying firm and its client win government contracts.
Yes Bank: India's private lender Yes Bank on 23 June said that it will raise ₹25 billion (about $305 million) through debt securities, it said in a regulatory filing. Adding more, the bank said that it may raise the funds in Indian or foreign currency and the instruments may be done through non-convertible debentures, bonds, and medium-term notes. The proposal will be voted on by shareholders at the bank’s annual general meeting on 18 August, the firm added.
HDFC Life: HDFC Life on Friday said that it had received a notice from tax authorities related to a demand for ₹942 crore towards Goods and Services Tax (GST) dues between July 2017 to FY22. The notice relates to the claiming of an input tax credit against the supply of services, which the tax authorities believe are ineligible for such claims. HDFC Life has been advised by its legal and tax counsel that it has a good contestable case. The company will be taking appropriate steps in due course to reply to the show cause notice and contest the matter, it said in a regulatory filing.
Zydus Lifesciences: Zydus Lifesciences announced on June 23 that it will acquire a 6.5 per cent equity stake in Mylab Discovery Solutions Limited for ₹106 crore. The deal is a share purchase agreement of Zydus Animal Health and Investments, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Zydus Lifesciences with Rising Sun Holdings and Mylab Discovery Solutions. The indicative time period for the completion of the acquisition will be two months from the date of signing the share purchase agreement for acquiring 65,06,500 equity shares of Mylab from the existing shareholder.
NTPC: NTPC's board of directors on Saturday approved the issuance of secured, redeemable, non-convertible debentures up to ₹12,000 crore in one or more tranches not exceeding twelve months through private placement in the domestic market. NTPC announced in a statement that its Board of Directors, during a meeting on Saturday, June 24th, 2023, has approved the issuance of Bonds/NCDs. The debentures can be taxable or tax-free, cumulative or non-cumulative, and non-convertible. The total amount to be issued is up to ₹12,000 Crore, which can be done in one or more tranches/series not exceeding 12.
RVNL: The Maharashtra Metro Rail Corporation (MMRCL) selected Rail Vikas Nigam (RVNL) as the lowest bidder (L1) for a project valued ₹394.89 crore. The first order calls for the provision of new 11 KV lines, low tension lines on AB cable, testing, commissioning, and other services in MPPKVVCL's Chhatarpur circle. The order is worth 126.8 crore rupees. Similar in nature, the second order must be carried out in the Seoni and Narsinghpur circle. The cost of this order is Rs. 154.23 crore.
RattanIndia Power: RattanIndia Power Limited has raised a loan of ₹1,114 crore in a transaction led by Kotak Mahindra Bank, said the leading thermal power company in a regulatory filing to the stock exchanges on June 25. In its statement, the company said that in December 2019, it had reached a resolution with its previous lenders regarding the 1,350 MW Amravati Thermal Power Plant. The loans from Indian banks and financial institutions were taken over by international financial institutions, including Goldman Sachs and Varde Partners, through Aditya Birla ARC.
Know your inner investor Do you have the nerves of steel or do you get insomniac over your investments? Let’s define your investment approach.
Take the testRelated Premium Stories
Updated: 26 Jun 2023, 07:19 AM IST
Earlier this week, Abab Sangdo sealed his spot for the Asian Games. That, for the karateka, was the easier part. Now begins his anxious wait to see if he can actually travel to China.
For, the last time karatekas from Arunachal Pradesh were to travel to China, they were sent back from the Delhi airport itself.
The reason? China, which claims territorial rights over Arunachal Pradesh, has consistently denied visas to people from the state, or issued stapled visas, despite Indian objections.
So, it isn’t surprising that more than qualifying for the Asiad, Sangdo was more preoccupied with the thought of getting to Hangzhou, the Chinese tech capital that will host the Games from September 23 to October 8.
“It’s a concern, yes. I know this is an issue because our Master (Sensei Likha Tara) could not travel to China as a player as he didn’t get a visa. I don’t know whether I will get it, but that’s beyond my control. My focus was on qualifying for the Asian Games and now I will give my all to prepare for it. I am sure the relevant authorities will take care of the rest,” Sangdo told The Indian Express.
Sangdo is one of three karatekas from Arunachal Pradesh (the others being Mesom Singhi, kata, female; Johny Magnkhaiya, kumite, female, +68 category) who have qualified for the Asian Games following the selection trials held in New Delhi by the Indian Olympic Association and the Sports Authority of India.
Another athlete from the state – taekwondo player Rupa Bayor – too has made the cut for the Hangzhou Games while Rikpy Nyodu has been kept on standby.
Advertisement
By the time the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) sends the Indian contingent’s entries to the Asian Games organisers, on July 15, there could be more athletes from Arunachal on the list. “Having worked so hard, we hope to be on the plane,” Sangdo says.
For decades, people from Arunachal – be it government officials, bureaucrats or sportspersons – have faced trouble securing valid visas for China due to the border dispute.
In 2011, a 45-member Indian karate team was to travel to Quangzhou for an Asian Championship. Most of them got their visas days in advance except five members – three players and two officials – from Arunachal, who were stopped at the IGI Airport in New Delhi. The reason? The Chinese Embassy, after much delay, issued them stapled visas.
Advertisement
“We were told that the Chinese Embassy would not give us visas because we are from Arunachal Pradesh,” Tara, who heads the Arunachal Pradesh Karate Association, says. “At the airport, one immigration officer showed us a home ministry directive which said Indian citizens from Arunachal must not be allowed to travel to other countries with stapled visas.”
Tara says he pleaded with the government officials, who subsequently held talks with their Chinese counterparts, but in vain.
In 2016, Bamang Tago, who was a manager for the Indian badminton team, was denied a Chinese visa reportedly ‘on the grounds of Arunachal domiciles’.
Hopeful
Tara is optimistic that the three karatekas who have qualified for the 2023 Asian Games will not face the same fate because of the nature of the event. “It’s a major event, a proper ‘Games’. So I don’t foresee any visa troubles this time,” he says.
An Indian Olympic Association official, too, downplayed the concerns. “At an event like this, athletes do not have to apply separately for visas and their official accreditation is usually enough as a travel document.”
Advertisement
But Sangdo has his fingers crossed, like many of his teammates.
Arunachal has a history of producing top martial arts athletes, which Tara says is down to an entrenched culture and a scouting system that ensures talent at the village level is spotted early.
Advertisement
“We hold district- and village-level tournaments routinely to keep an eye on upcoming players. The cream of the talent is selected from these tournaments and brought to the academy run by the association in Itanagar,” Tara says.
Sangdo, who began practising the sport in 2010, is a product of this talent hunt system. The son of a farmer, the athlete from Arunachal’s East Kameng district says he took to karate because “everyone around him did”. Just like Johny, a two-time national champion and Commonwealth gold medallist, and Singhi – the third karateka from Arunachal to have qualified – who is also a national and Commonwealth medallist.
Advertisement
“This (karate) is all we have; it’s in our blood,” Sangdo says. “For us, the Asian Games could be life-changing.”
The wrestlers have been protesting against Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh.
Wrestler Vinesh Phogat on Sunday made public a letter that some of the protesting wrestlers had written to the sports ministry, requesting the extension of the dates for trials for the Asian Games as well as the World Championships later this year.
Vinesh shared a picture of the letter - which mentions no date - on social media on Sunday which mentions six wrestlers requesting for some extra time for training ahead of the trials.
The wrestlers have been protesting against the outgoing president of the Wrestling Federation of India, Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh over allegations of sexual harassment since the start of the year.
The ad-hoc panel of the Indian Olympic Association's (IOA) had earlier exempted the protesting wrestlers from taking part in the trials, which was heavily criticised by coaches and parents of the other wrestlers including Yogeshwar Dutt.
The ad-hoc panel had also requested the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) to extend the date of submission for entries by one month, from its last date of July 15.
The undated letter, addressed to sports minister Anurag Thakur, reads, "It is requested to you that due to their participation in the wrestlers' protest, the below-mentioned wrestlers need some additional time to prepare for the trials for the Asian Games and the World Championships."
à€čà€ź à€ंà€Šोà€Čिà€€ à€Șà€čà€Čà€”ाà€šों à€šे à€्à€°ाà€Żà€Č्à€ž à€ो à€žिà€°्à€«़ à€à€े à€Źà€ą़ाà€šे à€े à€Čिà€ à€िà€्à€ ी à€Čिà€ी à€„ी, à€्à€Żोंà€ि à€Șिà€à€Čे 6 à€źà€čीà€šे à€žे à€ंà€Šोà€Čà€š à€źें à€¶ाà€źिà€Č à€čोà€šे à€े à€ाà€°à€Ł à€čà€ź à€Ș्à€°ैà€्à€िà€ž à€šà€čीं à€à€° à€Șाà€.
à€à€ž à€źाà€źà€Čे à€ी à€ंà€ीà€°à€€ा à€ो à€čà€ź à€žà€źà€à€€े à€čैं à€à€žà€Čिà€ à€Żà€č à€िà€्à€ ी à€à€Șà€žे à€žाà€ा à€à€° à€°à€čे. à€Šुà€¶्à€źà€š à€Șà€čà€Čà€”ाà€šों à€ी à€à€à€€ा à€źें à€žेंà€§ à€Čà€ाà€šा à€ाà€čà€€ा à€čै.… pic.twitter.com/Otvhhu1Z75
— Vinesh Phogat (@Phogat_Vinesh) June 25, 2023
The request to be awarded time to train for the trials was made for protesting wrestlers Bajrang Punia (65kg), Sakshi Malik (62kg), her husband Satyawart Kadian (97kg), Sangeeta Phogat (57kg), Jitender Kumar (86kg) and Vinesh (53kg) herself.
"Hence it is a request to you that trials must be held for these wrestlers after August 10, 2023," the letter, signed by all six wrestlers mentioned, added.
Along with sharing the letter, Vinesh wrote on her Twitter page, "The protesting wrestlers had only requested to postpone the date of the trials, since due to our participation in the protests for the last six months, we did not get enough time for practice.
"We understand that this is a serious matter, which is why we are sharing this letter with you. The enemy is trying to break the unity among the wrestlers, we cannot let them have success," Vinesh added.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
Across the U.S., Asian beer makers are putting their mark on an industry that is still predominantly white.
In 1994, Leah Wong Ashburn’s father, Oscar, did something very few, if any, Chinese Americans had tried before: He opened a craft brewery.
Mr. Wong, who immigrated to the United States from Jamaica in the 1960s, had retired to Asheville, N.C., after a long and successful career running an engineering firm. Beer wasn’t on his mind until a friend and local brewer proposed starting their own operation — the city’s first since Prohibition. They called it Highland Brewing.
“When my dad opened the brewery, he was easy to find because he was the only Chinese guy selling beer in the South,” said Ms. Wong Ashburn, who took over as chief executive after her father retired (for a second time) in 2015. “There weren’t very many of us around back then.”
Though demographics in the craft beer industry have slowly shifted since Highland opened its doors nearly 30 years ago, it is still a world dominated by white owners. According to data from the Brewers Association, only 2 percent of breweries in the United States are owned by Asian Americans like the Wongs.
But a new wave of brewers are following in Mr. Wong’s footsteps and making beers that reflect their heritage.
Raymond Kwan and Barry Chan, the owners of Lucky Envelope Brewing in Seattle and both children of Chinese immigrants, see the lack of Asian American-owned breweries as a product of cultural pressures. The two had corporate careers until their late 30s, when Mr. Chan, a home brewer, and Mr. Kwan had the simultaneous realization that their professional paths were unfulfilling.
“We were talking about what to do over some beers one night,” Mr. Kwan said, “and six hours later we were cold-emailing manufacturers to get brewing equipment prices.”
It wasn’t what either of them had planned for their lives. “A lot of Asian Americans have parents who wanted us to put our heads down and work hard, something that’s been reinforced by the model minority complex,” said Mr. Chan. “We ended up falling into that stereotype. It took a while to gather the confidence that we could do this.”
The term “model minority” originated in the 1960s, when Asian Americans and newly arrived immigrants were increasingly looking to blend in as a means of survival.
Lester Koga, a Japanese American and a founder of Barebottle Brewing Company in San Francisco, said the weight of that cultural expectation was with him from childhood. “You learn to assimilate as best as possible, but knowing the identity of who you are never escapes you,” he said.
Even so, he began to draw on his background, using Asian ingredients in his beers like the Oolong Saison and Half Samurai Sake Wheat Ale.
Youngwon Lee, the Korean American founder of Dokkaebier, in Oakland, Calif., did the same.
“My head brewer, who is white, makes kimchi at home, so we pulled out the culture from his kimchi and used it to make a kettle sour,” Mr. Lee said. “The sourness of the culture was the inspiration, and then we added chile and ginger to round it out.”
Mr. Chan of Lucky Envelope said he was more focused at first on making the best beer possible, rather than incorporating ingredients and tastes from his childhood. “In the back of our minds, we knew we were going to be viewed differently as one of the few Asian-owned breweries,” Mr. Chan said. “We wanted the beer itself to be received well, and didn’t want to be tokenized.”
Lucky Envelope’s beer spoke for itself; its Helles Lager won a bronze medal at the 2015 Great American Beer Festival competition, and the company has continued to rack up awards.
It wasn’t until after receiving this recognition that Mr. Chan and Mr. Kwan felt they could start bringing their heritage into the brewery. They redesigned their logo in November 2016 to emphasize the hong bao, a money-filled red envelope traditionally exchanged during special events in China. They began brewing beer to commemorate the animals of the Chinese zodiac, using flavors like flaked rice and Buddha’s hand, the tentacled citrus fruit widely used in East Asian cuisine.
Mr. Chan and Mr. Kwan also more deeply considered what it means to be people of color in a predominantly white field, especially amid the recent rise in hate crimes against Asian Americans. They’ve joined diversification efforts in the craft brewing business, and are hopeful for the future of beer three decades after Mr. Wong first opened Highland Brewery.
“The impact Oscar Wong has had in the craft beer industry is immeasurable,” said Mr. Kwan. “He opened doors for a new wave of Asian American-owned breweries like ours.”
On a recent visit to Asheville, the Lucky Envelope partners spent time with the Wong family — celebrating their shared heritage and taste for hops.
Follow New York Times Cooking on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, TikTok and Pinterest. Get regular updates from New York Times Cooking, with recipe suggestions, cooking tips and shopping advice.
We are honoring the Top 11 winners of our Student Editorial Contest by publishing their essays. This one is by Megha Khemka, age 17.
This essay, by Megha Khemka, age 17, from Walter Payton College Preparatory High School in Chicago, is one of the Top 11 winners of The Learning Network’s 10th Annual Student Editorial Contest, for which we received 12,592 entries.
We are publishing the work of all the winners and runners-up over the next week, and you can find them here as they post.
It’s Time to Move Beyond “Asian American”
What do a Cambodian refugee with PTSD, the United States surgeon general, a Vietnamese Trump supporter, and I have in common? Little except at least one relative who, at some point, came to America from the landmass of Asia; and membership, consequently, in the demographic group “Asian American.”
No term encompassing people of over 50 ethnicities can be culturally meaningful. Instead, proponents frame “Asian Americans” as a politically convenient coalition. This sentiment is what originally inspired the term, when graduate students in 1968 used it to organize against the Vietnam War. Today, though, Asians in this country are far more numerous and diverse than they were decades ago. Continuing to describe them as a single demographic means that the statistics of certain populations overshadow the pressing needs of millions.
You may have heard, for example, that Asian Americans are better-off than the average American. In reality, 12 out of 19 Asian ethnic populations surveyed by Pew Research Center in 2022 had poverty rates at or above the American average. But those individuals are consistently underserved because they get lumped with Indian Americans, who make six figures on average, into an Asian demographic that is increasingly described as “white-adjacent,” a group that has “made it” and does not need additional support.
This trend extends to nearly every policy field. Take immigration. The recent flood of highly-skilled Asian workers obscures the thousands of Hmong and Cambodian Americans who sought asylum in the face of genocide, as well as the more than 1.5 million Asians who are undocumented. These groups need interventions regarding refugee resettlement, mental health care, rehabilitation and family reunification, but they are hidden by the “Asian American” umbrella. Political talking points about Asian immigration continue to focus on work visas, leaving other needs unacknowledged, unaddressed.
Ironically, the term’s limitations hinder progress just as much as its breadth. Western and Southwestern Asians are not, according to the federal government, “Asian American,” they are Middle Eastern whites. This classification ignores that many South Asians have significantly stronger cultural ties to those “Middle Eastern” communities than East Asian ones, and that they face similar challenges in America, such as Islamophobia. Some groups have self-created “Brown Asian” organizations in response, capitalizing on this solidarity in a way that can actually translate to political change.
Labels have power, so let’s let communities define their own, along the lines of ethnicity, culture, and religion that make sense to them. “Asian Americans” are the fastest growing, least homogeneous demographic in America, which means the term is only going to become less useful. So if we are serious about representation, we need to make the effort to have a more nuanced conversation, using language not externally imposed for convenience, but defined by the people themselves.
Works Cited
Budiman, Abby, and Neil G. Ruiz. “Key Facts about Asian Americans, a Diverse and Growing Population.” Pew Research Center, 10 Oct. 2022.
Gebeloff, Robert, Lu, Denise and Jordan, Miriam. “Inside the Diverse and Growing Asian Population in the U.S.” The New York Times, 21 Aug. 2021.
Jensen, Eric, et al. “Measuring Racial and Ethnic Diversity for the 2020 Census.” United States Census Bureau, 4 Aug. 2021.
Kaur, Harmeet. “The Term ‘Asian American’ Has a Radical History.” CNN, 4 May 2022.
Kochhar, Rakesh and Cilluffo, Anthony. “Income Inequality in the U.S. Is Rising Most Rapidly among Asians.” Pew Research Center, 21 Aug. 2020.
Lee, Jennifer. “Are Asian Americans People of Color or the Next in Line to Become White?” The Brookings Institution, 11 Oct. 2022.
Montagne, Renee. “U.S. Is Home to 1.5 Million Undocumented Asian Immigrants.” Morning Edition, NPR, 28 Nov. 2014.
Samari, Goleen, et al. “Islamophobia, Health, and Public Health: A Systematic Literature Review.” American Journal of Public Health, U.S. National Library of Medicine, June 2018.
[unable to retrieve full-text content]
A new Asian grocery store is open, and a popular Fresno-area bread baker is behind it Fresno BeeDuring your trial you will have complete digital access to FT.com with everything in both of our Standard Digital and Premium Digital packages.
Standard Digital includes access to a wealth of global news, analysis and expert opinion. Premium Digital includes access to our premier business column, Lex, as well as 15 curated newsletters covering key business themes with original, in-depth reporting. For a full comparison of Standard and Premium Digital, click here.
Change the plan you will roll onto at any time during your trial by visiting the “Settings & Account” section.
If you do nothing, you will be auto-enrolled in our premium digital monthly subscription plan and retain complete access for 65 € per month.
For cost savings, you can change your plan at any time online in the “Settings & Account” section. If you’d like to retain your premium access and save 20%, you can opt to pay annually at the end of the trial.
You may also opt to downgrade to Standard Digital, a robust journalistic offering that fulfils many user’s needs. Compare Standard and Premium Digital here.
Any changes made can be done at any time and will become effective at the end of the trial period, allowing you to retain full access for 4 weeks, even if you downgrade or cancel.
You may change or cancel your subscription or trial at any time online. Simply log into Settings & Account and select "Cancel" on the right-hand side.
You can still enjoy your subscription until the end of your current billing period.
We support credit card, debit card and PayPal payments.
[unable to retrieve full-text content]
White, Asian population grew in U.S. last year thanks to immigration KTLA Los AngelesIt is the first major art museum in New York to close within recent memory. The museum had financial challenges and has faced accusations o...
