San Diego Celebrates Fourth Annual Asian Heritage Awards

May 25, 2007

SAN DIEGO—(U.S. ASIAN WIRE)--More than 300 members and friends of San Diego’s Asian Pacific Islander community turned out Tuesday, May 22, at a luncheon ceremony to honor achievers in 11 categories and give special recognition to Dr. Michael Inoue, honorary consul general for Japan in San Diego, who has been active in San Diego’s Japanese American community for years.

The Fourth Annual Asian Heritage Awards, held at the prestigious Joan B. Kroc Institute for Peace and Justice at the University of San Diego, was hosted by ASIA, The Journal of Culture & Commerce, and title sponsor Prudential Financial.

The following honorees and their respective categories were:

• Capt. Cesar Solis, the highest ranking Filipino in San Diego’s Police Department, for Legal Affairs/Government
• Nam Nguyen, founder of the Lac Viet Cultural Center, for Community Service
• Hong Yu, owner of After School Learning Tree, for Education
• Kenji Ima, author and sociologist, for Art/Philosophy/Literature
• Jung-Ho Pak, music director of the San Diego Chamber Orchestra, for Performing Arts
• Dr. Alexander Chuang, co-founder of the San Diego Chinese Historical Museum, for Cultural Preservation
• Chun. B. Yim, real estate developer, for Entrepreneurship
• Dr. Sheldon Lou, electronic researcher; San Diego Chinese American Science and Engineering Association, for Science/Technology/Research (Tie)
• Henry Cheng, founder of the Tai Chi Wellness Center, for Medicine and Health
• Jessica Chang, Emmy Award-winning journalist for Channel 4 News, for Media
• Japan Society of San Diego and Tijuana, for Business Enterprise.

The ceremony concluded with Dr. Inoue being recognized for his decades-long work building cultural and business bridges among Japanese and Japanese Americans in San Diego, and the cities of San Diego and Tijuana, Mexico.

In addition to Prudential, sponsors included the Chinese Service Center of San Diego, Cox Communications, the University of California at San Diego (UCSD), Ledford Enterprises, Kyocera International, California Center for the Arts, Neighborhood National Bank, Epsilon Systems Solutions, Simon Wong Engineering, Phamatech Inc., Hi-Tech Electronic Manufacturing Inc., and Burkett & Wong Engineers.

In-kind sponsors included Orfila Vineyards and Ellure Salon, which provided wine and flowers for the event. U.S. Asian Wire and New America Media were media sponsors.

The event for the first time included the category of Youth Leadership, chosen by a panel from Asia Media Inc., publishers of ASIA. The winner, Lucy Yu, also received a $1,000 scholarship fro Phamatech. Rosalynn Carmen and Leonard Novarro, owners of Asia Media Inc., also awarded a $500 scholarship to high school student Tracy Han.

About ASIA, The Journal of Culture & Commerce
ASIA, The Journal of Culture & Commerce, debuted in June 2002. Published the first and third Friday of each month, it now serves 90,000 readers.

ASIA also produces San Diego’s annual Asian Heritage Awards honoring the achievements of Asian Americans in 12 different categories, including, health, technology and the performing arts. The awards have become San Diego’s signature event for Asian Heritage Month in May.

Headquarters for the parent company, Asia Media Inc., is 5857B Mission Gorge Rd., San Diego, Ca. 92120. The company can be reached at 619-521-8008 or at www.asiamediainc.com through its website.

Contact:
Leonard Novarro
editorial@asiamediainc.com
619-521-8008