––Myra Sung (’01) in her performance, "In the Public Eye", from Mabuhay

"I go you apartment, you make me very nice dinner, and then how you say, okay, we can Get it on! Get it on!"

––Contestant #3 as portrayed by Joseph Hong (’02) in "The Dating Game" from Mabuhay 

On Saturday night, Mabuhay: Cultural Explosion and Talent Showcase went on at Crowell Concert Hall after a two-year hiatus. Mabuhay is an allegedly annual event meant to display the performative skills of Wesleyan’s Asian/Asian Americans, somewhat analogous to Jubilee or Expressiones within the black and Latino communities, respectively. This year’s went off successfully, except for a few hitches: some technical difficulties, some audience participation that we didn’t expect.

Towards the end of the show, an audience member got on stage, took the mic from the emcee, expressed that he was dismayed and offended by what he saw as the divisive nature of the show, that it was "pulling people apart" when its purpose was to "bring people together." As a performer, it was nice to think that the show had some emotional impact and provoked someone enough to get onstage and say some words. Apparently, these extravaganza shows for specific ethnic communities on Wesleyan campus ARE political events. Organizers who don’t sleep for two weeks before the event because they’re running around having dress rehearsals, printing tickets, leaving emails with MANY SENTENCES ALL IN CAPS, advertising, confirming Crowell, finding somebody to do sound, lighting, making fliers, getting them copied, getting them folded etc. etc. etc., are more concerned with mundane concerns like whether the show will happen and whether anyone will actually attend, than the larger political and philosophical content of the show. 

The point of this Wespeak is to elucidate some of the issues that were raised during the show for the people who couldn’t make it on Saturday (which was most people on campus), and also to encourage the Asian/Asian American community to take on these points of conflict brought up during the course of the evening and to work through them. I have to say that as a performer, I was backstage for much of the show so you’re getting some information secondhand. 

The general point of Asian Awareness Month, as it is every other year, is that Asian Americans are invisible in American culture. Either that, or they’re terribly mis-perceived and mis-represented. Mabuhay was to give Asian/Asian Americans creative control, something they don’t often get in popular media. This resulted in a range of expression from Kevin Shihoten’s nuanced performance of Beethoven’s "Apassionata Sonata" for the piano, Nakyun Im dropping Korean rhymes, "bringing in da new shit," to the Thai Student group doing a group dance piece using old and modern music and movements. The more overtly political elements of the evening were evidenced in Silvia Chan’s hilarious satire of Asian male stereotypes in "The Dating Game," Natika Nedgar’s poem "Full Clip," an angry protest against the exoticization of Indian culture, and Myra Sung’s very personal multimedia dance performance critiquing the influence of mainstream media on her identity as an Asian American, among many others. 

There was no over-riding message because this was an event made up of individual acts; the organizers accepted anyone who emailed that they were interested. Certainly, some
performers expressed discontent with mainstream white culture, but at Wesleyan, who doesn’t? The evening’s emcee, Paul Kim, did perhaps say some inflammatory things, like at one point saying, "Kill whitey," and then profusely apologizing about it, attributing the motivation for the comment as, "I promised someone I’d say something offensive and that was it." A white friend later noted to me that "that was the only point during the show where I felt I wasn’t welcome." I’ll be perfectly frank, I thought it was funny, and not analogous to someone saying "Kill the blacks" which my friend (who is a great person despite our difference of opinion) also mentioned as a parallel. Paul was reaffirming the notion of Asian America as a community apart, and often at odds with, white America. And people of color usually don’t get to go "kill whitey" and then not get off scot free, which is what often happens when white people kill people of color. Of course, it’s a much more complicated issue than I can discuss here, and of course, if white people felt unwelcome by that statement, I sincerely apologize on behalf of Paul and everyone involved with Mabuhay. 

Did Mabuhay achieve its goals? Two responses. Yes, absolutely, in the sense that Mabuhay actually took place, because it hasn’t in years past. People got to speak their minds, define the community creatively, and that was a coup. 

However, Asian Americans, even after Mabuhay, are still invisible insofar as the poor attendance prevented it from reaching as many people as it could have. We didn’t fill Crowell to capacity; we weren’t really even close. It’s not really a fair comparison, but it does strike me the way that other communities supported Jubilee, or Expressiones, or even Shades of Expression in a way that was lacking for Mabuhay. I’m not taking attendance for granted. I appreciate every single person who took time out of their day to come see Mabuhay, and I’m not condemning people for not coming. I’m just saying, Asian/Asian Americans have still got some way to go before "visibility," as opposed to their current invisibility, can even be approached. The guy who said the show was terrible may have acted a little inappropriately, but at least he came. I can’t say that about a lot of others within the community. So, in that sense, no, Mabuhay wasn’t entirely successful. 

I will be at the panel discussion this Wednesday, along with other concerned members of the Asian/Asian American community, to work through any issues that came up on Saturday or throughout the month.

Specifically, we’ll be investigating the ways in which the community itself is "divisive" and whether it can "come together." I hope the upset guy comes. Will you? PAC 002 Wednesday 7pm. Come and be a part of the community.