SAN DIEGO – (U.S. ASIAN WIRE – June 18, 2010) – Japanese pop star Masumi will headline this year’s entertainment lineup for the Seventh Annual Asian Heritage Awards to be held Saturday, July 10, aboard the USS Midway in downtown San Diego.
An accomplished dancer trained in classical music, Masumi has captured the pop music world with her crossover hit single “Slow Down,” from her album “Baby You,” which soared to No. 8 on Billboard’s Hot R&B Singles Sales. Masumi has entertained fans throughout Japan and now the US, particularly California, where she continues to excite American audiences with her up-tempo electric sound.
The One Dream Children’s Choir, under the direction of Darleen Herriman, will open the awards ceremony with its rendition of “One World, One Dream,” written by Wang Lee Hom for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. The Asian Heritage Awards, which honors achievement in the Asian Pacific Islander community, will also feature the Silk Road Dancers and the Royal Thai Cultural Ballet.
Each year, The Asian Heritage Society and newspaper ASIA collect nominations from the community for recognition at the awards. This year, the 14 categories include the names of 72 individuals and organizations nominated by the community. Those names were placed on an email ballot mailed to 24,000 subscribers and added to www.asianheritageawards.com and www.asianheritagesociety.org for voting. The top vote getters will be announced during the ceremony, emceed by KFMB Channel 8’s Marcella Lee and KGTV Channel 10’s Robert Santos. Last year, there were over 46,000 votes.
The highlight of the ceremony will be a special tribute to San Diego icon Tom Hom, the first Asian American elected to the San Diego City Council and only third person of Asian descent elected to the California Assembly. After a distinguished political career, which included paving the way for a new sports stadium in Mission Valley that would become home to professional baseball’s San Diego Padres and football’s San Diego Chargers, Hom went on to lead a revival of downtown’s Gaslamp Quarter District, as well as San Diego’s Chinatown.
In addition to the Asian Heritage Society, sponsors include the Avery Tsui Foundation, Ford Motor Fund, the U.S. Navy, Phamatech, Barona Resort and Casino, Cox Communications, The Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association, DDH Enterprise Inc., United Parcel Service, Julia Cheng Pinnacle Financial, Gingi, Tabe, Thai Spice Restaurants and Best Western, along with media partners US Asian Wire and New America Media, which reaches more than 1,000 ethnic media outlets across America.
To reserve tickets or a table, or for sponsorship information, please call 619-408-9928. All proceeds benefit the Asian Heritage Society, a nonprofit organization dedicated to preserve the legacy of Asian Americans in Southern California. For more details or information, visit www.asianheritageawards.com or www.asiamediainc.com.
Arts and Literature
Wendy Maruyama
Whilce Portacio
Giovanna Pang Garcia
Cecilia M.DeCastro
Dr. Virginia S. Loh
Panney Wei
Business Enterprise
Stephen Chin improves the health of our communities as Project Manager at Sharp HealthCare, a not-for-profit regional health care system in San Diego.
David Du, Chief Secretary of the Global Unified Chinese from Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos and founder of DDH Enterprises, Dutek Corp, and a partner of Hendan Ltd.
The Asian Business Association of Orange County seeks to provide a forum for members to develop business
Valerie Chandler is the Vice President of Human Resources for the San Diego Division of Time Warner Cable
The Asian Business Association (ABA) of Los Angeles,
Community Service
David Seid, San Diego Zoo
Dennis Huang, Executive Director of the Asian Business Association
Grace Pei-Chun Liu, Taiwanese American Community Center
Maragaret Iwanaga-Penrose,
Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association
Cultural Preservation
The Confucius Institute (CI) at SDSU
Heali’i’s Polynesian Revue
Akiko Bourland
The Vietnamese Culture and Science Association
Indonesian Arts Center (IAC)
Education
Michelle Lopez – As part of the SDSU Division of Undergraduate Studies
Jonathan Ton – The principal of Montgomery Middle School in Linda Vista
The San Diego Japanese School
Filipino American Salvador B. Flor has served the San Diego Community as a Counselor for EOP at SDSU
San Diego Sun Yet Sen Chinese School (SDSYSCS)
Entrepreneurship
Julia Cheng, CFP, MBA, CMFC, CLTC, Principal of Wealth Management and Estate Planning Inc.
Pida Kongphouthone entrepreneur.
Kathy David is the CEO and President of IT TechPros, Inc.
Joseph Wong Design Associates
Government
Arlie Ricasa, president of the Sweetwater Union High School District (SUHSD) Board of Trustees, is the only Filipina American elected official in San Diego County.
Ted Lieu, California Assemblyman and candidate for Attorney General
Lani Lutar – In her leadership role as President & CEO of the San Diego County Taxpayers Association (SDCTA)
Elected to the Board of Equalization in 2006, Michelle Steel serves as the country’s highest ranking Korean-American officeholder and California’s highest ranking Republican woman.
Health and Medicine
Tzu Chi Foundation
Dr. San Hsieh, nuclear medicine
Flossie Wong-Staal, virologist and molecular biologist
Dr. Charles Liu, private clinic in Pacific Beach
Christina Cao, pharmacist director at San Gorgonio Memorial Hospital in Banning, California,
Humanitarian Outreach
Robin J. Tarr, founder Jonathan Tarr Foundation to provide post-secondary scholarships for students
Dr. Lilly Cheng – SDSU professor, cultural activist and linguist, co-founder of the Asian Pacific Speech and Hearing Sciences Foundation
Citizen Diplomacy Council of San Diego
Lotus Outreach International
Innovation and Technology
Sue Wong, fashion designer
Cecil Magpuri, architect
Gary Wang, a member of the Senior Executive Service, is chief information officer for the Space and Naval Warfare S y s t e m s C o m m a n d ( S PAWA R ) ,
Todd Ichinaga, chef
Dr. Thi Pham, Physicist, software developer at Salk Institute for Biological Studies in La Jolla, CA,
Legal Affairs
Holly J. Fujie, a litigation Shareholder in the Los Angeles -based law firm of Buchalter Nemer, served as the 84th
President of the State Bar of California
Sanjeev Dhand, senior counsel with Foley & Lardner LLP
Kim-Thoa Hoang, a prosecutor with the San Diego County District Attorney’s Office since 1991.
Michelle Nguyen
chairwoman of the social security section of the Orange County Bar Association, vice president of the Orange County Asian American Bar Association and president of the Vietnamese American Bar Association in Southern California.
Media
Cathlyn Choi-Michelson – CEO of CNE Management, Inc. (www.cnemanagement.com), a cross cultural marketing, media and event management firm, and co-owner of Carma Media & Entertainment,
Rekha Muddaraj is an Emmy award-winning reporter for CBS 8. Since her arrival to San Diego
Michael Chen – From crime and business to minority issues, Michael Chen has covered a wide range of stories as a reporter with 10News San Diego
Martin Yan, Master Chef TV
Aurora Soriano Cudal, Filipino Tulungan (Help) Center, information, referral
Jenny Hamel is a reporter for San Diego 6 News a
Vannasone J. Keodara, filmmaker and Lao broadcaster for Voice of America
Military
Navy Lt. Cmdr. “JB” Baluyot,
Army Lt. Col. Somport Jongwatana,
Navy Cmdr. Tony Gamboa
Performing Arts
Nam Chi Vu is musician,writer and actress.
Felix Fan – cellist
Timothy Dang artistic director, Asian American theatre company, East West Players, Los Angeles
Robert A. Shroder, conductor/director, Filipino American Symphony Orchestra
Kenny Eng, singer/songwriter
