Lunar New Year Banquet
By: Amanda Trang Kieu

Every year in February the Asian Chamber of Commerce puts together their annual Lunar New Year Banquet.  This year’s 15th Annual “Year of the Rat 4706” was no exception.  Many gathered at the Glendale Civic Center on February 23, 2008 for this anticipated affair.

This event focuses on the many cultures that we have here in Arizona and the struggles that being ethnic can present.  Numerous of people from all aspects of life and cultures gathered to share each other’s stories and some even rekindled long lost friendships.
Not only does this event bring the Asian community together it also allow non-Asians to see what our community is all about. 

It is important to keep our presence in the community and the only way to do that is to celebrate good times like the Lunar New Year, said Madeline Ong-Sakata from Asian Chamber of Commerce.

During this event, a special award was given out to the President of Asian Bank, Les Gin.  Gin was presented with the “24K Thank You” award for his hard work in community outreach.  He has always lent a helping hand and opened his facility to many different organizations.
Along with the “Thank You” award, the Wing Ong Memorial Scholarship was also presented to many students from across Arizona.  This annual scholarship is funded by Anheuser-Busch.  It is awarded to juniors and seniors who have earned their certificate from the ASU APA Studies Program and/or have shown an interest in their community and the wellbeing of their fellow classmates.

However the focal point of the banquet was the honorary guest speaker Leezie Kim.  A native of Korea, Kim serves as the Governor’s Asian American Advisory Council before taking on her current position as General Counsel of the Governor’s staff.  Alongside being named General Counsel to the Governor, Kim is a current partner at Quarles & Brady, LLP and is listed as one of the Best Lawyers in American in 2007.  She has wide experience in diverse areas such as health care, mergers and acquisitions, securities law and general corporate counseling.  With everything that she has on her plate, Kim also serves on the Board of Directors for Fresh Start Women’s Foundation and the Maricopa Community Colleges Foundation.

Along with speaker Leezie Kim, guests were presented with a variety of entertainment that lasted throughout the night.  A special “Puhi” chant was given by Lou Ann Tampos with the help of her grandson Edwin Jr. and the main entertainment of the night was by ASU’s Philippine American Students Association.  They performed many traditional dances from their native country of the Philippines.
 
Guests also had the opportunity to participate in the silent auction and all had the chance to win many raffle prizes ranging from gift certificates of all sorts to a television.

I have learned so much as a first time participant of this banquet.  Living in Arizona for most of my life, I never knew that so many cultures are here in this community.  Having the Asian and non-Asian groups together in one room is so heart-warming.  To see everyone interacting as one community, where our differences do not matter is just proof as to how far we’ve gone throughout the years.  I cannot wait to celebrate this event again next year!