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Formosan Association for Public Affairs Young Professionals Group

http://fapaypg.org
A Quarterly Newsletter Chapter Report: DC In early February, we held a brunch to celebrate Lunar New Year and to discuss upcoming events... Page 2 Chapter Report: San Francisco In the Bay weve been focused on strengthening our membership... Page 3 Volume 2, Issue 1 -- Jan 2012 Chapter Report: Seattle Some members of the Seattle group are involved in American Citizens for Taiwan... Page 3

Chapter Report: Boston In January 2012, a few YPG members ew to Taiwan to observe and participate in the election...Page 2

Chapter Report: Gainesville, FL We had two meetings/ parties at Dr. Steve Lin's house... Page 3

Chapter Report: NY/NJ Our monthly networking mixers have immensely enlarged the participation and visibility of YPG... Page 4

Coordinators Corner
by Eileen Lin
It has been a dramatic winter, and I am not referring to the weather. I witnessed the dichotomy of a zealous presidential campaign and the disappointing sentiment that followed Taiwans election results. A group of YPG members initiated a Vote Taiwan Project and created a youtube video to encourage Taiwanese young voters to get out and vote. The social media campaign had the following three goals:

Many YPG members went back to Taiwan to help with the campaign. Those who were unable to make the trip, stayed up and watched the vote count. The disappointing result saddened many of us as we celebrated this Lunar New Year. However, Dr. Tsai Ing-wens eloquent concession speech reminded us that we need to pick ourselves up and continue to fight for Taiwan.

I recently hosted a 2-28 commemoration event in DC with the aim to educate those who do not know much about Taiwan's history. Many gave me positive feedback and told me that they were thankful for (1) To engage and build political power the opportunity to learn about Taiwan. I for young people in Taiwan believe that we, as FAPA members, carry (2) To influence young voter turnout in the responsibility to advance the interest Taiwans 2012 Presidential Election social media can measure demography of the Taiwanese American community, (3) To engage Taiwanese Americans in and frequency of viewers, but cannot tell as well as to inform and reinforce to the Taiwans election and to contribute you how effective it is in terms of international community that 23 million their skills and creativity in the measuring behavioral change or voting people in Taiwan deserve the right to selfElection trends. It was our first attempt to create a determination. We cannot stop fighting video project with limited resources and I know from the bottom of my heart that Although the video received 7000+ views we will continue to explore potential my fellow YPG members and I will -- with most of the viewers from Taiwan opportunities through social media. The continue to advocate for Taiwans -- we realized that we are well-connected video can be found here: international recognition. in the Taiwanese American community, <http://tinyurl.com/votetaiwan> but not enough in Taiwan. In addition,
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Chapter Report: DC
by Eileen Lin
In late October, the DC chapter hosted a brunch to examine the significance of ROC Centennial to Taiwans history with a goal to provide a forum where people with diverse points of view can feel safe sharing their thoughts on an important and timely topic. We want participants to think more carefully about how best to present the Taiwan and ROC dichotomy in our advocacy efforts internationally. Participants shared personal stories on how they perceive the dichotomy - some knew the difference, some did not know the difference, and some believed they are the same. It was interesting to hear from various viewpoints, but everyone agrees that Taiwan is a country with an urgent need to gain more international participation and support. On January 14, 2012 those who were unable to go back to Taiwan to vote gathered to watch the vote count for the presidential and legislative elections. We discussed issues that have been brought up during the campaign season while waiting for the voting result. Unfortunately the result was disappointing, but we felt lucky to have each other there for emotional support. In early February, we held another brunch to celebrate Lunar New Year and to discuss ideas for upcoming events such as the Valentines Day protest against Chinese VP Xi Jinping and 2-28 commemoration. DC Chapter was first formed spring of last year, and we hope to grow in size and continue to provide quality educational information on Taiwan to young intellectuals in the DC community.

the aide about Taiwans history and the challenges it faces on the international stage. We are glad to have many rst-time advocates, and will denitely continue the YPGs participation in local advocacy efforts this year. In January 2012, a few YPG members, along with many FAPA members, ew to Taiwan to observe and participate in the election. Thanks to efforts by our local members, we got in touch with a journalist from Massachusetts who ew to Taiwan to cover the election. We were able help in bringing exposure to Taiwan and its aspirations the local MA readers through the media coverage.

On February 14, 2012, YPG and FAPA members gathered in Harvard Square in the evening to protest Vice President Xi Jinpings Washington , D.C. visit. Although our group was not as large as the one in D.C., with the help of our signs, yers, and megaphone, our voices were denitely heard by pedestrians passing by. This gathering on Valentines Day was a spirited showing of our love for democracy!

Chapter Report: Boston

by Chia-Chun Chung
On December 14, 2011, a team of Boston based young professionals visited Rep. Olvers ofce. The team informed
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discussing its implications on democracy and Taiwan today. Stay tuned our fellow YPGers because the future is full of events as were planning to host the Why Taiwan Matters series in March and April reviewing the aptly named Congressional hearings. To continue the social/ cultural aspects well be organizing viewings of Nightmarket Hero and Seediq Bale when they come to theaters. Until next timeGood Night and Good Luck!

We made new friends and caught up with old ones. We also discussed the date and venue for a new event which will be co-host by TWSA at UF and YPG in Gainesville. The new event will be a panel answering questions regarding how Taiwanese students nd jobs in the US. The date will be on March 17.

Chapter Report: San Francisco

by Jonathan Lee
In the Bay weve been focused on strengthening our membership. We held our rst Thanksgiving Potluck in November featuring home-made dishes such as Jap Chae, Congee, Taiwanese Fried Noodles (), and Taiwanese Meatball Soup () with a special appearance by FAPA-YPG NJ member Albert Tseng. In December, we were lucky to have Chia-chun Chung and Herbert Chang visit as part of the Dear Taiwan ( ) tour. FAPA-YPG teamed up with TAP-SF to screen the lm in the South Bay at the San Jose Taiwanese American Center to more than 100 people and in San Francisco to 40 people. As Im sure most of you know, Taiwan just completed its 2012 elections in January. The day after, YPG members gathered over hotpot to discuss the results and implications for the future of Taiwan. To lighten the mood, we again teamed up with TAP-SF for a closed screening of You are the Apple of My Eye ( ) in February. And of course to commemorate 228, we worked with ACT to host a panel
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Chapter Report: Gainesville, FL

by Wenya Wang
We had two meetings/parties at Dr. Steve Lin's house -- Sincere thanks to Dr. and Mrs. Lin for kindly inviting YPG members and new students!

Chapter Report: Seattle

by Alan Luo
Some members of the Seattle group are involved in American Citizens for Taiwan, which continues to improve the content and user experience of the ACT online campaign website, as well as producing action alert emails. ACT will soon launch amobile version of our ACT website.

The rst one was a potluck party on Nov. 6, 2011. We shared the experience of attending the YPG advocacy conference with members and friends. Later we watched the lm Dear Taiwan. Starting from this year ACT has produced
two action alert emails, one on supporting a fair presidential election in Taiwan, and the current one supporting Taiwanese high-rankingofcials to visit the U.S. ACT also produced an article about the 228 Massacre asking U.S. citizens to help prevent such an event in the future. We ask you to make sure you sign up for the ACT mailing list at http:// americancitizensfortaiwan.org, and tell your friends and family as well. Together we can make a difference in inuencing members of Congress via the ACT tool.

The second one was a BBQ party on Jan 29 Sun to celebrate Lunar New Year. More than 20 people showed up.

Chapter Report: NY/NJ

by Wen-Li Chiu
For our chapter, monthly networking mixers have immensely enlarged the participation and visibility of YPG, successfully creating a big name for us in New York area. The rst Friday of every month, members from different Taiwanese organizations (FAPA-YPG, TAP-NY, TJCC, Oriented, NYTFA, etc.) have been meeting to network and have a great time with like-minded professionals representing a variety of cultural backgrounds and industries.

also bought T-shirts from us.

screening. We had more than 80 attendees -- representing a variety of generations -with some guests coming from as far as Philadelphia.

November 18th, we co-sponsored the second annual Hello Taiwan Rocks concert at Flushing. The concert featured an impressive line-up of 4 exceptional Taiwanese rock bands along with delicious Taiwanese snacks and drinks. Most importantly, we sold an impressive amount of our Keep Taiwan Free Tshirts from the FAPA-YPG booth and had a great opportunity to introduce people to FAPA-YPG!

November 16th, FAPA YPG members went to Columbia University to listen to the speech delivered by Bi-Khim Hsiao, the Spokesperson of the Tsai Ing-Wen Presidential Campaign 2012. The speech was hosted by Weatherhead East Asian October 10th, YPG members went to Institute, with the main purpose of giving watch the documentary Almost Home: Taiwan which was directed by our friend us a broad picture of the core policy Victoria Linchong. Almost Home: Taiwan guidelines of DDP in the 2012 Presidential Election. We showed our is a feature-length documentary that support and presented Bi-Khim two examines the legacy of political Keep Taiwan Free T-shirts as gifts for repression and the emergence of her and Dr. Tsai. Taiwanese identity and independence, through the reunion of a Taiwanese family after 22 years.

December 17th, We hosted our second Taiwanese Conversation Group along with the celebration for this prosperous year for FAPA YPG. We had 25+ people for our second Taiwanese conversation group led by two seniors teaching us the basic survival phrase in Taiwanese and 70+ attendees for our end of year celebration. The restaurant provided us with delicious authentic Taiwanese delicacies at a decent price and attracted a lot of people who were craving for Taste of Taiwan. We did a rafe of Dear Taiwan DVDs, Keep Taiwan Free Tees, and Hand in Hand Premier movie tickets.

Dec 10th, we joined with NYU TSA to October 15th, we went to Union Square co-sponsor the NYC screening of Dear to get UN for Taiwan petition signatures and distribute UN for TW bookmarks. We Taiwan at New York University. We were all wore Keep Taiwan Free T-shirts and very lucky to have both Chia-Chun and Hubert from the Boston chapter to help us denitely caught peoples attention. Not only did people ask us about Taiwan, they host the Q&A discussion after the
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December 19-21, we teamed up with Passport to Taiwan (http://p2tw.org/ HandinHand.aspx) to present the USA premier for Hand in Hand, a very signicant documentary about Taiwan's development of democracy woven with a romantic story. We had more than 200+
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Chapter Report: NY/NJ (cont)

attendees and more than ve reporters from major press in the NY area. We were really touched to see people come all the way from New Jersey, DC, Philadelphia, Minnesota, and other major cities in the East Coast to watch this meaningful documentary. We got 3-day full house and a lot of positive reections.

Contact Us
Please direct general comments and inquiries to the FAPA YPG Steering Committee at: Formosan Association for Public Affairs Young Professionals Group 552 7th Street SE Washington, DC 20003 Tel: (202) 547-3686 Fax: (202) 543-7891

In commemoration of friends and families impacted by 228, we did a special screening of A City of Sadness, a Taiwanese historical drama that tells the story of a family embroiled in the tragic "White Terror" that was wrought on the Taiwanese people by the Kuomintang government (KMT) after their arrival from mainland China in the late 1940s. The lm was the rst to deal openly with the KMT's authoritarian misdeeds after its 1945 turnover of Taiwan from Japan, and the rst to depict the 228 Incident of 1947, in which thousands of people were massacred. We were honored to have Vitoria Lichong, the director of Almost Home: Taiwan, and also few friends from lm industry to join us for the screening. joining us for the screening. We also had friends come all the way from the Rutgers Taiwanese Study Association to show their support.
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