SK activists fight NK’s poop balloons with K-pop

Hello and good morning! It’s Friday, June 7. Here’s some of what you need to know in our community today:

Mmm … donuts

Today marks 86th National Donut Day. Visit your local independent donut shop before the week is over to grab some sweet, pillowy fried deliciousness to share with your loved ones. Your support makes a difference for immigrant small business owners! 

Sports

NFL’s 1st Vietnamese player looks back

Dat Nguyen, the son of refugees, kicked down doors by becoming the first Vietnamese American to play in the NFL after being drafted by the Dallas Cowboys in 1999. Nguyen, now 48, started his football career in junior high when the school’s coach, looking to recruit new players, noticed him as an eighth-grader standing at nearly 5-foot-10, he told The Athletic.

• While his parents initially wanted him to focus solely on academics, Nguyen recalled they eventually embraced his love of football when he received a scholarship to Texas A&M University. He became one of the greatest defensive players in A&M Aggies history, achieving 513 career tackles and 30 double-digit tackle games.

• Nguyen played for the Cowboys until his retirement in 2005 due to the accumulating injuries he sustained later in his career. “I thought when you broke the barrier back then when I was playing, I was hoping that it was open to people. … And then (many kids wave) off the option, but it’s like, man, you never know how you develop your body. It might be small stature, but man, a lot of times, football teaches you so much,” he was quoted saying. 

Politics

India’s Muslims find hope with election results

A total of 24 Muslim candidates won seats in the 543-member Lok Sabha — the lower house of India’s parliament — in this year’s general elections. While down from 26 in 2019, their victories mark a notable achievement after a heavy anti-Muslim rhetoric by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was also elected for a third term.

• The results have restored faith among many Indian Muslims in democracy and their ability to influence political outcomes. Modi and his ruling Hindu nationalist party, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), had campaigned heavily against Muslims, with the prime minister referring to them as “infiltrators” and implementing an immigration law that excludes them.

• Despite winning 240 seats in the Lok Sabha, Modi's BJP fell short of the 272-majority mark, necessitating reliance on regional parties for governance. “This election might give Modi a third term, but now his wings have been clipped,” Ali Javed, who leads a small policy think tank called Nous Network, told the Washington Post.

Crime

“Otaku” says anime hero inspired him to stop mass stabber

A Taiwanese man who identifies as an “otaku,” a Japanese term that has come to connote an “obsessive enthusiast” often of anime or manga, helped subdue a 20-year-old knife-wielding man with a history of mental health issues on a train in Taichung on May 21. He credited the inspiration for his heroic act to Himmel, a character from the anime “Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End.”

• The Taichung incident, which injured three people, occurred on the 10th anniversary of a deadly knife rampage on Taipei’s metro that killed four people. Otakus were more heavily stigmatized after the deadly 2014 attack, whose perpetrator, Cheng Chieh, proclaimed to love the games “League of Legends” and “Tower of Saviors.

• Ruixian Xu, dubbed “Long Hair Bro,” accepted his award for bravery while wearing a “Monster Hunter” haori on Tuesday. “If Himmel was there, he would’ve done the same thing,” he said at the event. He hopes that his heroic act will dispel the negative stereotypes often associated with otakus, stating, “Otakus are not as bad as people think.”

Crime

Tulsi Gabbard mourns murder of poet aunt

Former Hawaii Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard spoke out on Tuesday about the violent murder of her 78-year-old aunt and prominent poet Caroline Sinavaiana-Gabbard, who was allegedly killed by her 57-year-old protege Papalii Sia Figiel following an argument on May 25. Figiel, charged with murder, will appear in court next month.

• The death of Sinavaiana-Gabbard, who became the first Samoan to become a full professor in the U.S.​, “sent shockwaves” through the Gabbard family, Tulsi wrote on Instagram. “I spent a lot of time with her as a kid at her cottage in the back of Manoa valley where she often shared her poetry with me, and encouraged me to pursue my own writing… We miss her, cherish the happy memories we shared, and are keeping her in our prayers.”  

• Hawaii State Sen. Mike Gabbard, Tulsi’s father and brother of Sinavaiana-Gabbard, also mourned her death. “Caroline was my best friend as a teenager. She helped me considerably during my rebellious stage of adolescence… While I sincerely forgive the murderer of this horrific crime, I’m hoping justice will be served, and that person will be punished to the full extent of the law,” he told Spectrum News.

Asia

SK activists fight NK’s poop balloons with K-pop

On Thursday, Fighters for a Free North Korea (FFNK) retaliated against North Korea's recent balloon-borne litter campaign by launching their own balloons. The group's balloons contained 5,000 USB sticks filled with K-pop and K-dramas, along with 200,000 leaflets critical of the North Korean government.

• South Korean activists have been sending such balloons northward for years despite a government ban. North Korea, which called the balloons filled with trash and feces it sent to its southern neighbor “gifts of sincerity” for those “crying for freedom of expression,” has condemned the activists' actions as "despicable psychological warfare."

• FFNK says their balloons are "letters of truth and freedom" that offer a glimpse into the outside world for North Koreans. Park Sang-hak, a North Korean defector who leads FFNK, says he himself learned about the outside world through balloons as a young man.

Japan

Japan’s birth rate woes hit a new bottom

 Japan's birth rate has plunged to a new record low for the eighth consecutive year, with an average fertility rate of 1.2 and 727,277 recorded births in 2023, the lowest since data collection began in 1899. The number of marriages also dropped by 6% to 474,717 last year. This ongoing trend highlights Japan's aging and shrinking population, which poses economic and security challenges, particularly given China's growing regional influence. 

• The trend is attributed to declining marriage rates, economic instability and work-life balance challenges. In response, the government has revised laws to support child-rearing families and improve access to childcare services, allocating substantial funds to these initiatives.

• However, experts contend that these measures fall short of addressing underlying issues like traditional gender roles and a conservative corporate culture. Surveys indicate that younger Japanese are deterred from marriage and parenthood due to job prospects, high living costs and gender biases. Japan's population is projected to have declined by about 30% by 2070, with a significant portion being elderly.

Entertainment

Bowen Yang comments on Dave Chappelle, Shane Gillis

 In a recent interview with Variety, “Saturday Night Live” star Bowen Yang gave his take on the recent “SNL” guest appearances by Dave Chappelle, who critics have accused of performing transphobic jokes, and Shane Gillis, who was fired in 2019 before his debut as cast member for his past use of racist and homophobic language.

• Yang addressed reports that he appeared to distance himself from Chappelle during a January 2024 episode in which Chappelle surprised viewers and cast members by joining the closing goodnights, clarifying that his reaction was not deliberate. “I stand where I always stand on good nights. It was not a physical distance that anyone was creating. It had to do with so many things that were completely internal,” he explained.

• Meanwhile, Yang feels Gillis' return as a host was a chance to "move past" the controversy surrounding their initial hiring together: “I think he and I have done enough things in our careers now to really not [have] that be the definitive beginning or the thing that casts a pall over everything else that we do going forward.”

More News

• A Jackie Chan-Martin Lawrence “Rush Hour”?: During the “True Confessions” segment on Tuesday’s “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon,” Martin Lawrence shared that he nearly co-starred alongside Jackie Chan in “Rush Hour.” The “Bad Boys” star said he was offered the role Chris Tucker eventually played in the first “Rush Hour” film (1998) but negotiations fell through due to what he called "not enough money."

  

• Legacy admissions could end in NY: New York legislators are pushing for the Fair College Admissions Act to ban legacy admissions in both public and private colleges. The bill aims to address inequities perpetuated by favoring applicants with familial ties to alumni — disproportionately benefiting wealthy, predominantly white applicants — and level the playing field for all students, especially immigrants and first-generation college applicants. Schools continuing the practice would face penalties, with 10% of their tuition revenue redirected to the state’s Tuition Assistance Program for low-income students.

• Suspension lifted for Filipino UPenn student after protest: Eliana Atienza, the daughter of Filipino TV host Kim Atienza, is back at the University of Pennsylvania after being suspended and banned for participating in an anti-Israel protest encampment with fellow students. She will, however, remain on disciplinary probation until May 2025. "Defend pro-Palestinian scholarship and students who protest," Atienza told ABS-CBN News. "We've seen hundreds and hundreds of students being put in disciplinary trouble by their universities for protesting against what's going on."

• Last surviving member of “Lupin III” main voice cast dies: Eiko Masuyama, the original Japanese voice actor of Fujiko Mine in the “Lupin III” franchise, died from pneumonia on May 20 at 88, her agency, Aoni Production, announced on Monday. Born in Tokyo on April 22, 1936, Masuyama first voiced Fujiko in “Lupin the Third: Pilot Film” in 1969, with the 2010 film “Lupin III: The Last Job” serving as her final project before retiring from the role. 

  

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Until Tomorrow,

Alan Van