So today is the CCBA election. What is that? This Wikipedia article talks about the CCBA in other cities mostly. And this article talks about the inauguration of Hung Goon. I called up Hung Goon and he said I can go into the room where they open up the ballots at 7pm. And I guess that's when I'll try to find out more about this event.
I heard that the Candidates president this year are Paul Chan and Karen Lee. I know both of them. But I guess I'm closer to Karen because she used to tutor me when I was Shao Bao's age, and I know her through Chinese Dulcimer.
Paul Chan I know through Crime Watch, and he handles a lot of the community stuff for Wah Lum Kung Fu as well.
I can't vote anyway though so it doesn't matter. Who can vote? The Kung Fu Federation Can, The Family Associations can, the Wang YMCA can (see it's pretty much just a community thing now.) But... if Scorsese or Hollywood in general made a movie about this election, they would totally film it in a way to portray mysterious crime bosses at work... that type of thing.
The reality is more boring and mundane (but having had actual triads my morther's apartment to run numbers as a child.... well the real triad work has it's mundane side compared to the movie representation.)
In any case, I'm sure the comparison of Hollywood vs. Reality would be interesting... and just this whole election will probably have some stories.
I'll find out more details tonight or tomorrow. I might have to rely rumor but I do think that this election, and this organization is pretty interesting, especially to people outside of Chinatown.
Basically CCBA is a "gong sau." They call that same type of organization a "Tong" on the west coast. One reason is to distinguish east and west coast. "Tongs are often represented on Cop shows in Chinatown as the great Triad organization. Of course this election and organization is basically a community non-profit. But when you say it like that it's boring. I'm sure once upon a time there was some sort of Triad affiliation and maybe other cities still have it. I don't know. Everything I know about all this is just rumor. So even I want to find out more just for myself.
Chinatown politics can get nasty... but you know what? I'm going to come at this and report it like it's some sort of festival.. a game.. a show. Partly because I'm not involved. But also because to someone reading this who isn't Chinese and only comes to the restaurants a few times a year, that is what it is. In fact, I bet there is a way to spice these elections and things up in a festive way. The president could have a Dragon Stick for one. And what if we had lion dance on voting day like it was a holiday. I mean a lot of feelings and more than feelings have been hurt in the past over this type of stuff.
But that doesn't mean the future of Chinatown elections and politics can't be more like a PBS children's cartoon and less like an R rated movie.
I mean Lion Dance and Kung fu has shifted. And truth be told, so have these elections and organizations. So I'm following a trend.
I heard that the Candidates president this year are Paul Chan and Karen Lee. I know both of them. But I guess I'm closer to Karen because she used to tutor me when I was Shao Bao's age, and I know her through Chinese Dulcimer.
Paul Chan I know through Crime Watch, and he handles a lot of the community stuff for Wah Lum Kung Fu as well.
I can't vote anyway though so it doesn't matter. Who can vote? The Kung Fu Federation Can, The Family Associations can, the Wang YMCA can (see it's pretty much just a community thing now.) But... if Scorsese or Hollywood in general made a movie about this election, they would totally film it in a way to portray mysterious crime bosses at work... that type of thing.
The reality is more boring and mundane (but having had actual triads my morther's apartment to run numbers as a child.... well the real triad work has it's mundane side compared to the movie representation.)
In any case, I'm sure the comparison of Hollywood vs. Reality would be interesting... and just this whole election will probably have some stories.
I'll find out more details tonight or tomorrow. I might have to rely rumor but I do think that this election, and this organization is pretty interesting, especially to people outside of Chinatown.
Basically CCBA is a "gong sau." They call that same type of organization a "Tong" on the west coast. One reason is to distinguish east and west coast. "Tongs are often represented on Cop shows in Chinatown as the great Triad organization. Of course this election and organization is basically a community non-profit. But when you say it like that it's boring. I'm sure once upon a time there was some sort of Triad affiliation and maybe other cities still have it. I don't know. Everything I know about all this is just rumor. So even I want to find out more just for myself.
Chinatown politics can get nasty... but you know what? I'm going to come at this and report it like it's some sort of festival.. a game.. a show. Partly because I'm not involved. But also because to someone reading this who isn't Chinese and only comes to the restaurants a few times a year, that is what it is. In fact, I bet there is a way to spice these elections and things up in a festive way. The president could have a Dragon Stick for one. And what if we had lion dance on voting day like it was a holiday. I mean a lot of feelings and more than feelings have been hurt in the past over this type of stuff.
But that doesn't mean the future of Chinatown elections and politics can't be more like a PBS children's cartoon and less like an R rated movie.
I mean Lion Dance and Kung fu has shifted. And truth be told, so have these elections and organizations. So I'm following a trend.
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