UN Chief

New York, NY–United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon announced last month he would seek a second five-year term, according to an AP report, which noted Ban’s re-election was virtually assured.

1st Japan Fellow

Washington, D.C–Kumi Yokoe, a well-known Japanese expert on American Politics, has been named the first Japan Fellow in the newly-created Japan Fellows Program at the Heritage Foundation.

1st APA Director

L.A., California–Korean American Jennifer Yuh Nelson has just broken down the walls of Hollywood, as the director of “Kung Fu Panda 2” of DreamWorks Animation. In 1998, Nelson joined DreamWorks Animation as an assistant. She eventually worked on artistic elements of the first “Kung Fu Panda” movie, overseeing the opening sequence and some of the fight scenes.

‘Touch’ Wins

L.A., California –“Touch,” written and directed by Minh Duc Nguyen, premiered June 14 at the Boston International Film Festival, where it won the award for Best Cinematography. Partner/Artist Stephen Hens of Chop House Post handled the color correction for the indie drama, which focuses on the lives and friendships of Vietnamese-American stylists at a nail salon.

VVA Advocacy

Fairfax, VA–Voice of Vietnamese Americans (VVA) is planning a Community Advocacy Day here on August 6 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Genie Nguyen of VVA Americans urged organizations which would like to hold a workshop, or be a sponsor, to contact VVA. Among the topics: Finding funding, scholarships, fellowships, internship to attain your higher education goals, and “Hepatitis B,” hosted by Bistro-Myers Squibb in collaboration with the National Council of Asian & Pacific Islander Physicians.

Meet the Author

Houston, TX–OCA-Greater Houston Chapter (OCA-GH), the Chinese American Citizens Alliance (CACA) and the Youth Leadership Council (YLC), welcomed Asian Pacific American author Henry Chang here on June 25. Chang talked about “Red Jade: A Detective Jack Yu Investigation,” his third book in a Chinatown-based trilogy.

CAPAL

Washington, D.C.–The Conference on Asian Pacific American Leadership (CAPAL) has announced this summer’s Washington Leadership Program (WLP) for interns and young professionals. For details, visit www.capal.org. For 23 years, WLP has been the only educational and leadership development working series that focuses specifically on the Asian Pacific American (APA) community and its role in public policy.

MVMA Awards

Gaithersburg, Maryland–The Maryland Vietnamese Mutual Association (MVMA, www.mdvietmutual.org) recently held its 23rd Annual Academic Awards Picnic. This year, it awarded 2 college scholarships, and recognized 114 exceptional students and one Montgomery County Public School staff member.

Culture Diplomacy

Washington, D.C.–Professor Yuan Xikun, a famous sculptor of the China Arts Research Institute, held a presentation at the Asia Society last June 24. His talk centered on cultural exchange and culture diplomacy. His works have been collected by governments, organizations and museums in Japan, Greece, Russia, the U.S., Poland, Slovakia, Italy, He also presented his latest project, a statue of Confucius.

CSIS Fellow

Washington, D.C.–CSIS announced that Murray Hiebert is joining its Asia team as Deputy Director and Senior Fellow in the Southeast Asia Program. Hiebert was a senior journalist with both the Far Eastern Economic Review (FEER) and the Wall Street Journal. He will be working with CSIS Senior Adviser & Program Director Ernie Bower. The program also covers Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands.

Wellness Center

San Francisco, CA–The San Francisco Department of Public Health is awarding $6.6 million in funding for HIV prevention services. But efforts targeting Asians and Pacific Islanders (A&PIs) are being completely overlooked, says Lance Toma, executive director of Asian & Pacific Islander Wellness Center. In the past ten years, nearly half of all A&PI-serving HIV organizations have closed their doors due to funding cuts at local and national levels.

Water Partnership

Baltimore, Maryland–The Maryland-Asia Environmental Partnership (MD-AEP) is signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Singapore’s national water agency, the Public Utilities Board, (PUB) on July 7 in Singapore. The agreement aims to build collaborative water-related partnerships between Maryland-based government, science and business groups with their counterparts in Singapore.