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Providing Community & Educational Services Since 1952
www.wasung.org
P.O. BOX 1561 Oakland, CA 94604
Wa Sung Community Service
Club Newsletter
January 2017
2017 PRESIDENTIAL MESSAGE
Karen Dea
Happy New Year! I’m really humble and thrilled with
excitement in having the opportunity to serve the fourth
time as Wa Sung’s President! This is the best community
service organization all due to the membership giving
unconditionally in serving the community.
We concluded 2016 with success in balancing the budget,
and introduced several new successful approaches in
fundraising (Directory, Golf Sponsorship, and promoting
the rebates generated from ShopwithScrip). December
showcased volunteerism: the AYSC youths (30+ youth
volunteers came out) along with Wa Sung members and
friends (Sandy W., Cheryl, Adrienne, Loretta, Rich and
Oakland Police Officer Ouseng Saeparn - Chinatown
Laison Officer ) and our JL ( Junior League) members
with their sisters ( Alice, Fanny, Jamie, and Judy) all
wrapped the many Christmas presents for the Oakland
Firefighter’s Random Acts. Six AYSC youths were
interested in being JL members’ and submitted their
applications! Meanwhile the North pole volunteerism was
filled with seasoned Santas ( Richard and Wayne) and
elves ( Ron, Cyndee, Alex, Oakland Police Officer
Ouseng Saeparn, Adrienne , Cheryl, Clayton, Peggy,
Doreen, Marion and Becky) as toys, oranges & pencils
were given to the many children with their thankful smiles
and some sang Christmas songs with their angelic voices !
In 2017, while maintaining the club’s many worthy events
for the community, it is important to be in tune with the
community’s ongoing and ever changing needs, spend time
in promoting new interested membership and building a
quality JL job shadowing program! Please plan in
attending our upcoming January Inauguration at the
Oakland Yacht Club and our deliciously prepared Crab
Feed in February!
Inside this issue:
2017 Calendar of
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Events
1/22 Wa Sung
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Inaugural
1/27 Chinese New
Year’s Eve
1/28 Year of the
Rooster - 4714
2/11 Crab Feed!
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12/3 X’mas Party
pictures
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Shop Scrip
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Membership
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Corner
12/10 Random
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Acts of Kindness
12/15 Santa Visit
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Eileen’s Corner
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Trophies given out at our
August 8th, 2016 10th annual
Golf Tournament.
Oakland A's Account Executive Lyle
Greene with Karen Dea at 9/23/16
WSCC fundraiser.
2017 Officers and Board:
President:
Vice President:
Secretary:
Treasurer:
Social Director:
Newsletter Editor:
Karen Dea
Audrey Huie
Peggy Woon
Arnold Mew
Garrienne Nakano
Deborah Pan
DIRECTORS (2017-2018)
Jeff Quon
Cyndy Quon
Peter Chu
Nancy Chang
Genie Young
DIRECTORS (2016-2017)
Donna Chan Chu
Yvan Fung
John Lew
Melanie Lew
Annis Skousen
Cimberly Eng-Tamura
Karen Dea
Howard Lee
Cindy Quon
Edgar Woo
Past President:
Advisor to the Board:
WSCC Director:
Jr. League Rep:
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Wa Sung Community Service Club Newsletter
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Cancelled
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Wa Sung Community Service Club Newsletter
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WHAT A HOLIDAY PARTY!!!!!!
Arnold Mew , Social Director 2016
This holiday party was very fantastic. We had 17 members from Alameda Chinese Club and about 5 of
us who are dual members of both clubs. 60 other members and friends
attended. 44 prime ribs, and 24 lamb shanks and 10 salmon and 2 chickens filled our bellies. The
food was delicious and the dessert was outstanding. President Karen Dea swore in
new members Bruce Quan Jr, and Judy Li. Bruce is a retired attorney who just ran for council man at
large in Oakland. He did pretty good according to the election results. Edgar Woo, son
of Audrey Huie and Sum Woo played some great music for us. , then while
we sang Christmas carols different tables went up to pick up their choice of
Christmas cookies. There was a gift exchange for those who brought
gifts. And the 50/50 winners were Sandi Wong and Peggy Woon. Please
come to the Inaugural on January 22nd, Sunday. And, the Crab feed on
February 11th. 2017
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Membership Corner:
Adrienne Fong
Membership Chair
At the December Wa Sung Board meeting, the Wa Sung Membership committee presented two
application request forms for Wa Sung Life Membership. The Wa Sung By-Laws specify when
reviewing an application, ‘ the Board shall consider that Life Membership is the highest honor the
Club can give to one of its Members and is not based solely on length of Membership and age, but
on said Member's contributions to the Club. Life Members shall hold all rights and privileges of the
Active Membership without payment of annual membership dues to the Club.’
The Board and Membership committee proudly announce that Esther Fong-Maynard and Jeff
Quon have the honor of receiving Life Membership as of December 2016. Congratulations
Esther and Jeff ! Both Esther and Jeff have been actively involved with many of Wa Sung events.
If you come to the General Meetings, special dinners and the many fund-raising events during the
last 10 years, you know that Esther and Jeff both attend regularly. They will continue to serve,
participate and share their knowledge of Wa Sung’s community service goals to all, and especially
be mentors to our newer members.
In December we also swore in 3 new members. At the Holiday Party, Bruce Quan and Judy Li
became members and at the Jr League Lunch Get-together, Jamie Li became a member. Judy
and Jamie are sisters and both are now Jr. League members.
Bruce Quan is a retired international business lawyer and law professor. He proudly tells us of his
Oakland roots that began when his family relocated to Oakland after the 1906 San Francisco
Earthquake. He attended Oakland schools, UC Berkeley, and Boalt Law School.
To show his commitment to being involved with Oakland, he ran for the at large-city council
position in November. Although he didn’t win, he will continue to be involved with the issues of
social justice, public safety, and economic development in Oakland.
Judy just finished her Master’s Degree. She now works at the Center for Social Dynamics with
children who are on the Autism spectrum. She also is getting her supervision hours in order to
take the BCBA exam. During her free time, she enjoys TV dramas, cooks, travels and trying new
restaurants.
Jamie is a freshman at UC Riverside. She loves Korean BBQ and Hotpot! She enjoys listening to
Chinese music. Her favorite artists are GEM, Jj Lin, and Jay Chou.
Please welcome Bruce, Judy and Jamie when you see them at any of our events.
The Year of the Rooster 2017 starts on January 28. It’s also time to pay for 2017 Wa Sung
membership dues. Just a reminder that dues are payable starting in January 2017. It’s $50 or
$75 (includes your spouse). You can either bring in your check (or cash) to the Inaugural Dinner
on January 22, the upcoming General Meetings, send your check to Wa Sung (P.O. Box 1561,
Oakland, CA 94604), or go to our website, wasung.org to pay on-line.
Next Event on January 22
64th Annual Inaugural Dinner at the Oakland Yacht Club
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New Life Members:
(L) Esther Fong-Maynard and
(Top) Jeff Quon
President Karen Dea and Membership Chair Adrienne Fong swearing
in new members Bruce Quan and Judy Li (Above) at our X’mas Party
and Junior League member Jamie Li (below) during Jr. League
Luncheon at Sakura Bistro Tapas & Sake Bar on December 10th, 2016
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December 10th, 2016 OACC Gift Wrapping and Jr. League Get Together
This was Wa Sung’ Fourth Year
helping with this project. The
Oakland Firefighter’s Random Act
Organiation is known to create a
positive difference in so many lives of
diverse situations.
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President Karen Dea with
OPD Ouseng Saeparn, and
Members Richard Fong
and Adrienne Fong
(L) After Party:
Chowing down at
Sakura Bistro Tapas
and Sake Bar(Oakland)
Volunteer Wrappers: (top L to
R) Adrienne Fong, Karen Dea,
Cheryl Yukumoto, Sandy
Wong and our beloved Loretta
Siu. Along with 40+ AYSC and
Jr. League Volunteers.
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Santa Visits by Wayne Fong
December 15th, 2016 to
Lincoln Elementary, Yuk Yau and Cleveland Elementary
It was a cold, wet and rainy day, that even Rudolph would have had a hard
time navigating. But remembering: neither snow nor rain nor heat nor
gloom of night… Our brave Wa Sung Santas Richard Fong and Wayne
Fong with the help of their courageous elves gave out toys to over 700 good
boys and girls at Lincoln and Cleveland elementary School and Yuk Yau
preschool. Santa elves this rainy day were: Ron Hing, Marion Fong,
Cheryl and Clayton Yukumoto, Cyndee and Tony Lim, Peggy Woon,
Adrienne Fong, Doreen Lew, Alex Locke, Becky Wong and OPD Officer
Ouseng Saeparn, Chinatown liaison Officer. Without them we would not
have been able to put smiles on all of those little faces. We hope you can
join us next year and bring Cheer and Joy to so many good little boys and
girls.
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History of Chinese Banks in the US
By Eileen Leung
[email protected]
The early Chinese immigrants were diligent in sending money home to support their families in Sam Yup and Sze
Yup districts of Guangdong Province. Distrustful of American banks, these immigrants used clan associations and
traveling merchants to transport the funds. Professional transfer agents were also available in Hong Kong to
handle transactions. Early pioneers pooled their resources to open small groceries or laundries; there were no
SBA loans in the foothill towns of California. Most immigrants operated in a cash economy and carried their
money on their bodies or stashed in coffee cans.
In 1937, the Bank of Canton was operated by Republic of China as a government bank in San Francisco. Nothing
else happened until the 1960’s when the Chinese community decided their banking needs were not met by
mainstream US banks. Racial discrimination in jobs, schools and mainstream society led to the Chinese
segregating themselves in Chinatowns. Chinese banks were established in US as a response to discrimination
Chinese merchants faced when seeking loans to buy homes and finance business.
In the 1950’s a group of Chinese Americans saw the need for senior housing in Chinatown Los Angeles but were
repeatedly denied construction loans due to persistent discrimination against minorities. Cathay Bank
(國泰銀行)(was started in 1962 as the first Chinse American commercial bank in California and US. Betty Chu,
a Chinese American attorney, was the legal brains behind the successful charter approval; she remained out of
the limelight in an era when a woman’s role outside the home was challenged. In 1979, a second branch opened in
Monterey Park. By 2002, it expanded its network into Sacramento. Now it has 34 branches in California, 12 in
New York, and branches in Massachusetts, Illinois, Washington, New Jersey and Texas.
According to Kellogg Chan, retired president of East West Federal Bank, “We were at the mercy of Bank of
America and Security Pacific; it was very difficult for Chinese Americans to get loans; home ownership was a
luxury. We were turned down again and again for a bank charter.” A key ally was Preston Martin who was named
by President Nixon to the Federal Home Loan Bank; he was instrumental in approving East West Federal Bank
(華美銀行)as the first federally-chartered savings institution in 1973. It subsequently became a state-
chartered commercial bank in 1995. In general, “mainstream banks are not comfortable or familiar with firstgeneration immigrants,” Chan said. “The only ones who dared to do that were Chinese American banks. We (EW
Bank) felt comfortable giving loans to waiters, busboys and grocery store owners who’ve been in the Chinese
community for many years.”
Irwin Lai, born Locke, and businessman in Los Angeles, said, “I started my business to repair refrigerators and
air conditioners. While other Chinese small businessmen had family clans to provide working capital, I did not
have a family association in LA. I wanted to borrow a couple of thousand dollars to buy equipment; I applied for
bank loans without success. I finally got help from Cathay Bank.”
Born and raised in Shanghai, Henry Hwang fled to Taiwan after the communist takeover in 1949 to finish his
degree in political science. In 1950, he attended Linfield College in Oregon where he received his second BA in
international relations. He ended up operating a dry cleaning and laundry in LA while he attended night school
for his MBA from USC. He then operated a CPA practice and made enough friends to back him in applying for a
bank charter. In 1974, he founded Far East National Bank in a rented trailer on the edge of LA Chinatown. He
tried to raise money from Taiwanese investors, but they required him to hire their children. He refused to
comply, so instead raised enough money locally to qualify for a charter. His life story is very interesting: he
was kidnapped in 1976 and released after a ransom was paid. His support of political parties landed him in the
midst of an FBI investigation into transnational campaign-related scandals. In 1997, he sold his bank to Bank
SinoPac of Taiwan.
In 1974, United Federal Savings and Loan was an overseas Chinese bank in San Francisco. It became United
Commercial Bank in 1 998. It was closed by California Department of Financial Institutions in 2008.
Minsheng Bank of China applied unsuccessfully to the Federal Reserve to buy this bank. Subsequently its assets
were acquired by East West Bank.
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In 1981, the same Betty Chu from Cathay formed Trust Savings and Loan of San Gabriel Valley, served as its
chairwoman and became one of the first women in the country to establish a bank and hold its top position. She
worked hard to advance her legal and banking career to reach the brass ring. A working wife and mother, she
served on many local and national committees including Consumer Advisory Council for Federal Reserve Board.
The 1989 recession led Chu to sell the bank to a group of Chinese investors.
The 2010 census showed that among Asians, Chinese constitute the largest group with 4 million. Many immigrants
prefer to bank with Chinese banks because of familiarity with language. These banks also provide localized
products and services that are culturally relevant such as piggy banks, free red envelopes and lunar calendars
during Chinese New Year.
Besides in Chinatowns, Chinese banks have expanded to suburban Chinese shopping malls; teller greet customers
with “Ni Hao”. Tellers can speak English, Cantonese, Mandarin, Toisanese, Taiwanese and Vietnamese. Community
banks that cater to specific immigrant groups are booming at rates higher than rest of banking industry. The
success of these banks can be attributed to:
1.
Population growth: Banks have been attracting deposits from Asian immigrants since 1 965.
Especially after the Chinese takeover of Hong Kong in 1997, foreign account holders have moved their
capital to USA. A major impetus was to provide home loans to immigrants who could not obtain them from
mainstream banks because of discrimination or lack of conventional documentation.
2. New markets: When mainstream banks found it risky to lend to Chinese businessmen with no credit
history, Chinese banks took the risk and jumped in. their vision paid off with loans for high-tech assembly
shops, shopping centers, strip malls and warehouses.
3. Local housing boom: Every immigrant wants to own his own home. Overseas Chinese entrepreneurs bring
substantial equity to buy real estate in US. Current investment in foreclosed homes has created a brisk
business for Asian banks.
While mainstream banks can spread their risk over 50 states and millions of customers, Chinese banks have a
relatively small asset base. Yet the potential for double-digit growth is high. While Bank of America and Wells
Fargo have added bilingual staff and Asian-style motifs in their banks; it takes more than a few Chinese
characters to make Asian customers feel welcome.
One Chinese bank manager says he has to work extra hard in the community by supporting local fundraisers and
social events. He works the telephones, talks to his customers and attends weekly banquets, fundraisers and
community celebrations where local news is shared long before it makes headlines or the evening news.
Competition is keen to attract bank deposits among Chinese communities; many bank managers have quotas to
add new deposits.
Of the wholly Chinese-American owned banks,
East West Bank (based in Pasadena), ranks first in assets and Cathay Bank ( based in Los Angeles) ranks second.
Other overseas banks that operate in Chinatowns include Hong Kong Shanghai Bank (UK) 匯豐銀行)(and Bank of
East Asia (HK) ) (東亞銀行). Two banks from China have branches in San Francisco: Industrial and Commercial
Bank of China (中國工商銀行)and Bank of Communication (交通銀行 ).
The outlook for sustained growth of Chinese banks in USA is strong. Chinese customers have a high propensity
to save; they seek overall bank strength, stability and profitability. Overseas investors want to safeguard their
capital. Many Chinese American banks understand it is not just about money, it is about service.