<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <html><head><title>Chinese Historical Society of Southern California</title> <meta content="text/html; charset=unicode" http-equiv="Content-Type"> <meta name="GENERATOR" content="MSHTML 8.00.6001.18852"></head> <body alink="#ffff66" link="FFFF66" bgcolor="#ffffff" vlink="#ffff66"> <table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="3" align="left"><!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> <html> <head> <style type="text/css"> td {font: 9pt Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: #000000} p {font: 10pt Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: #000000} H2 {font: 24pt Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: #000000; font-weight: bold} H3 {font: 18pt Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: #000000; font-weight: bold} H4 {font: 14pt Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: #FFFFFF; font-weight: bold} a {color: blue} </style> <!---Beginning of Menu Bar---> <title>Menu Bar</title> </head> <body text="#ffff66" link="#ffff66" vlink="#ffff66" alink="#ffff66"> <table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="3" align="left"> <tr valign="top"> <td width="170" height="200" valign="top" rowspan="2" bgcolor="#660099"> <center><h4>CHSSC</h4></center> <b>About Us</b> <br>&nbsp;&nbsp; <a href="http://www.chssc.org"> Home</a> <br>&nbsp;&nbsp; <a href="MissionStatement.shtml"> Mission Statement</a> <br>&nbsp;&nbsp; <a href="chsscpage.shtml"> Chinatown Heritage Center</a> <br>&nbsp;&nbsp; <a href="34years.shtml"> Celebrating 34 Years</a> <br>&nbsp;&nbsp; <a href="join.shtml"> How to Get Involved</a> <br>&nbsp;&nbsp; <a href="tours.shtml"> Guided Tour of Chinatown</a> <br>&nbsp;&nbsp; <a href="NewsNotes/NN_Master.htm"> News 'n Notes</a> <br><br> <b>Around CHSSC</b> <br>&nbsp;&nbsp; <a href="meeting.html"> Monthly Meetings</a> <br>&nbsp;&nbsp; <a href="currentevents.shtml"> Current Events</a> <br>&nbsp;&nbsp; <a href="http://www.chinatownremembered.com" target="_blank"> Chinatown Remembered</a> <br>&nbsp;&nbsp; <a href="http://www.chssc.org/publications/publications.html" target="_blank"> Portraits of Pride Book 2</a> <br>&nbsp;&nbsp; <a href="honorees/honorees.html"> Honorees</a> <br><br> <b>Chinese American History</b> <br>&nbsp;&nbsp; <a href="history/histtimeline.html">Historical Timeline</a> <br>&nbsp;&nbsp; <a href="history/resources.html">Resources</a> <br>&nbsp;&nbsp; <a href="history/ww2photos.html"><font size="1"> WWII Chinese American Veterans</a> <br>&nbsp;&nbsp; <a href="history/shrinefull.html"> 19th Century Shrine Restoration</a></font> <br><br> <b><a href="history/chinatowns/chinatowns.shtml">Chinatowns in USA</a></b> <br><br> <b><a href="publications.html">CHSSC Publications</a></b> <br><br> <b>Miscellaneous</b> <br>&nbsp;&nbsp; <a href="commcalendar.shtml">Community Calendar</a> <br>&nbsp;&nbsp; <a href="Festival/FE_Index.htm">Festivals<font color="#ffff00"> <br>&nbsp;&nbsp; <a href="chinatownmap.gif">Chinatown Map</a> <br><br> <p>LA Chinatown Heritage &amp; Visitors Center <br><br> Open on Sundays, 12 p.m.-4:30 p.m. <br><br>411 Bernard St. <br>Los Angeles, CA 90012 <br><br> mailing address<br>415 Bernard St.<br><br> Feedback <br> <a href="mailto:chssc@hotmail.com"> chssc@hotmail.com</a><br> 323.222.0856<br><br> </p></font> </td></tr></table><!---End of Menu Bar---> </table> <table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" width="600"> <tbody> <tr valign="center"> <td valign="center" align="middle"><img src="CHSSC_callig.gif"><img src="redchineselogo.gif" width="100" height="71"> </td></tr></tbody></table> <table width="600" bgcolor="#f8e787"> <tbody> <tr> <td colspan="3"><center><b><span style="font-size:18px;">Irvin Lai <br>1927-2010</b></center></span> <br> <center><img src="irvinlai_portrait.jpg" align="left" style="margin-right: 5px;"/></center><span style="font-size:12px;">Irvin Lai, community leader and champion of Chinese American culture and civil rights, passed away on July 16, 2010 at the age of 83. Funeral service arrangements have not yet been announced. <br> <br> Mr. Lai's community spirit was strongly influenced by his mother, Effie Lai, who was an unpaid social worker who helped the many women who moved to Locke, Calif. from China navigate the social welfare system. Through his mother's example, he witnessed the importance of helping the community. <br> <br> As an adult, Mr. Laibecame an active promoter of culture, history and civil rights of Chinese Americans in Los Angeles, as well as on the state and national level. Mr. Lai began his civil rights activism when he joined the Los Angeles Lodge of the Chinese American Citizens Alliance in 1960. During his years at this civil rights organization, he rose to become the national Grand President in 1985. One of his most prominent plights while at CACA was on behalf of Vincent Chin who was murdered. Mr. Lai and CACA's Grand Board convinced the federal government that this murderous act was a violation of Vincent Chin's civil rights. <br> <br> Mr. Lai is also very engaged in the local community. The Chinatown Public Safety Association and the Asian American Education Commission of LAUSD were created through his efforts. Mr. Lai and Dr. Diana Lee prevented the sale of the French Hospital (now Pacific Alliance Medical Center) to developers. Mr. Lai also helped revitalize the Chinese Chamber of Commerce by expanding its scope to Southern California and establishing an office in Chinatown. As a leader in the Chinese Historical Society of Southern California, Mr. Lai worked on the acquisition and fundraising for our property at 411-415 Bernard Street, as well as for the historic 1888 Chinese cemetery shrine. <br> <br> Mr. Lai is probably best known for being responsible for saving the Peking duck in America in 1980. He spearheaded the Chinese community's drive to change the law on the proper way to handle meat and food items. As a direct result of Mr. Lai's testimony at the State Congressional hearings in Sacramento, the committee unanimously agreed on a roast duck exemption to the health code. <br> <br> Four years ago, Mr. Lai became the primary voice for the Chinese community when over 170 gravesites were disturbed during an MTA Goldline expansion project in East L.A. March 8, 2010 his years of work culminated in the dedication ceremony of the memorial wall at Evergreen Cemetery. In addition, Mr. Lai is very active at his church, Alhambra True Light Presbyterian Church. He is on several church committees, along with being chairman of the church Chinese school he reactivated.</td> <tr valign="top"> <td width="49%"> <p><b><font color="#660099" face="Arial"><span style="font-size:22px;"><center>Join us for...</span></center></font></b> <center><img src="chinatownlogo.jpg"></center> <br><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:12px;">Come to Chinatown Summer Nights every Saturday of August. Starting at 5 p.m., Chinatown will come alive with music, good food and fun activities for all ages. <br><br> The evening festivals are a collboration between Community Arts Resources, CRA/LA, KCRW-FM and local arts and Chinatown organizations. <br> <br>Visitors, particularly families, can participate in Chinese cultural workshops, like calligraphy or knot making. Chefs will also be giving live Chinese cooking demonstrations too. There will also be salsa and hip hop dance classes in Central Plaza. Live DJs will start spinning at 8 p.m. to get the party started. <br><br>There will also be temporary art installations throughout Chinatown to see and a night market featuring local artists and merchants. <br><br>Many of Chinatown's restaurants will be open through the evening. Also, several of Los Angeles's popular food trucks will be dishing up their wares for fesitval attendees. Local bars will have outdoor patio areas set up so you won't have to leave your drink at the door to get back to the outdoor party. <br><br>For more information, go to <a href="http://chinatownsummernights.com/"><font color="blue">Chinatown Summer Nights website</font></a>. Also, keep checking this website for updates. </center> <center> <hr> </center><center><b><font color="#660099" size="6" face="Arial">Community Calendar</font></b></center> <p><font color="black" size="3" face="Arial"><b>Far East Cafe Program</b> <br> Sunday, July 18, 2010, 1:30 p.m.<br> <br>Far East Chop Suey Cafe <br> 347 East First Street <br>Los Angeles, CA 90012 <br> <br> <i>The proud legacy of Far East Cafe in Little Tokyo. An epic saga of Jeong Clan from Hoyping (Kaiping to Gum Saan (Gold Mountain). A journey in discovery on cultural influence of En to Low.</i> <br><br> <b>Hong Acting Workshop</b> <br> Saturday, July 31, 11 a.m.-1 p.m. <br>North Hollywood, CA <br><br><i>Cost:</i> $45 per workshop. <br><br><i>SPECIAL OFFER:</i> Sign up before July 25th and receive a 20% discount. <br><br>If you've got the itch to ACT, join the workout and take your acting skills to the next level with professional actor April Hong. Limited to children ages 8-12. <br><br>To RSVP or to ask questions, please call (323) 246-9379 or send an e-mail to <a href="mailto:hongstudios@yahoo.com">Hong Studios</a>. There is more information about the acting coaches and more <a href="http://www.jameshong.com/acting_class_teachers.html">here</a>. <br> <br>For details on the above programs and other community events go to <a href="http://www.chssc.org/commcalendar.shtml"><font color="blue">Community Calendar</font></a>. </font></font></font></font></font><p></p></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font> <center></center></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></b></td> <td width="2%">&nbsp;</td> <td width="49%"> <center><br><font size="4.5"><b>'Journey of a Paper Son' <br>A film screening and shared stories</b></font> </center> <br><font color="black" size="2" face="Arial"><center><img src="PaperChildren1.JPG"></center> <i><span style="font-size:10px;" align=right>"Paper people," audience members who descended from paper sons and daughters. (Photo by O.C. Lee)</span></i> <br> <br>A man lies dying on a hospital bed. With his children around him, he requests that they change his last name to his real family last name. The children each deal with this truth differently, but all three are shocked to learn that their father came to the U.S. illegally with falsified papers. <br> <br>In the short film <a href="http://www.humanistfilms.com/Humanist-Films-Journey-Paper-Son.php"><font color="blue">"Journey of a Paper Son"</font></a> by Ming Lai of <a href="http://www.humanistfilms.com/"><font color="blue">Humanist Films</font></a>, the siblings come to terms with this truth. Lai was influenced to write, direct and produce this film, because of a desire to write a Chinese American story. He pointed out that there are several movies about Chinese history and Japanese American history -- particularly on the internment -- but very little on Chinese American history. <br> <br>While Lai is not a paper son himself and the movie is a story on a Chinese American family, Lai points out that it is a universal story -- immigrants trying to be part of America. He put a reference to his father in the movie. Jin says, "50 years of cutting meat, and they cut me." Lai's father started as a butcher when he came the U.S. Lai's father eventually became an airplane technician. <br> <br>Jack Ong, who stars as the dying father Jin, said the script resonated with him. His own father had brought three paper sons to the U.S. He remembers his parents constantly warning them not to reveal the truth of the statuses of the various "uncles." Before shooting, Ong said he talked to his father's paper sons to get a better sense of their stories. The last of his father's paper sons passed away just before shooting began. <br> <br> Through the film, Lai hopes that it'll expose more people to the paper sons phenomena and prevent similar events from happening in the future. Another one of the stars on the show, Teddy Chen Culver who plays the son, admitted during the Q&A, "I'm a perfect example of that; I knew very little about paper sons."<br> <br>If you would like to submit your own "paper son" story to News 'N Notes, please e-mail them to <a href="mailto:chssc@hotmail.com"><font color="blue">CHSSC@hotmail.com</font></a> or mail your story to 415 Bernard St., Los Angeles, CA 90012. <br> <br>For more information about the movie, visit <a href="http://www.humanistfilms.com/Humanist-Films-Journey-Paper-Son.php"><font color="blue">www.journeyofapaperson.com</font></a>. </font> <br> <br> <hr> <center><b><font color="#660099" size="3" face="Arial">Friends of the Kaiping Diaolou</font> </b></center> <br><font color="black" size="2" face="Arial">Daiolou are multi-storied structures built to defend villages in Kaiping. They are now a UNESCO World Heritage site. Many early Chinese immigrants are from Kaiping, a city in Guangtong Province adjacent to Hong Kong. There are tours led by English speaking guides and assitance in ancestral home research. For more information, go to <a href="http://www.friendsofdiaolou.org/><font color="blue">www.friendsofdiaolou.org</font></a>.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> </tr></tbody></table></body></html>