The show started well- Korean drum, marimba and piano pieces, Indian dances, a poem, and Thai boxing and dance. The show then progressed into Silvia Chan’s poem about being "muthafucked", directed at the non-Asians (whites, in particular) who "muthafuck" her- the poem was read in deliberate ebonics. The poem was followed by "The Dating Game", Silvia’s rendition of the ubiquitous TV  dating show, in which the contestants were three "stereotypical" Asian men: the "successfully integrated" well-dressed Asian man; the "Flushing, Queens gangsta who holds up liquor stores" dressed in black and equipped with a cell phone; and the "mainland Chinese man" who dresses poorly, speaks English with a thick accent, and scratches his butt and picks his nose throughout the show. 

While the performance evoked a lot of laughing and cheering, the derision of the stereotypical "mainland Chinese man" was clear. The show progressed, with a poem, a tae kwon do expo, a Korean pop music performance, and a dance/film presentation criticizing the media’s representation of Asian/Asian Americans. 

This dance/film, the finale, was greatly disturbing to the audience; it directly attacked the "white girl," represented by Silvia wearing a white slip and a platinum blonde wig. Perhaps it was meant to be disturbing. But there were other performances that projected positive messages that night; messages that pointed out problems within mainstream American society without bashing a certain race. And how could one blame the American media for creating stereotypes of Asian people, when Asian people are creating stereotypes of other Asian people, such as in "The Dating Game"? The mockery of the Chinese man was done by a Korean American student. By this point Paul Kim (Master of Ceremonies) had made various useless or embarrassing comments including a "what did the Buddhist say at the hotdog stand?" joke, and screaming "yellow power", a sentiment that very few people in the audience could listen to without blushing. There was much to be desired, to say the least; for a show representing "Asian/Asian American culture," I thought it would be important and interesting to at least mention the breadth of the term- one that encompasses countries as far west as Afghanistan and Pakistan, Indonesia and the Philippines in the south, and China and Japan in the east, representing different languages, religions, and cultures. It should also be noted that the "Asian" cultures differ from the "Asian-American" culture.

My friend Tian Mu, who was as offended as I was by that point, walked up to the stage to take the microphone and talk about how the show should be about bringing people together, not segregating them. He was rudely interrupted within the first half of a minute by Aimee Kim and Paul Kim who made him leave, telling him: "This isn’t your show." The immediate silence was followed by Paul’s uneasy laughter, but "This isn’t your show" was exactly the attitude that the show reflected- it discriminated against "other" Asian/Asian American people, and it discriminated against "other" people, namely the white people who "muthafuck". Despite this being an "Asian/Asian-American cultural showcase," I have never received any message about participation in the show in my four years at Wesleyan, and the scant publicity is reflected in the poor turnout (I myself saw it for the first time this year). All I received was an indirect mass email from Silvia’s friend, asking for "Asian" props. The show was also heavily Korean-American biased.

I want to tell the Wesleyan community that the show was a poor reflection of "Asian" or "Asian American" culture. I also believe that Paul, Silvia, and Aimee owe an apology to a significant portion of the Asian/Asian American community whose voice they have completely ignored and yet managed to "represent" and embarrass throughout the show. I understand that the point of the show was to raise awareness and create a safe place for free expression. 

However, there are other more constructive ways of doing so. They owe an apology to the audience, Asian and non-Asian, whom they offended for no decent reason. I am disgusted by the show and embarrassed to think that others will identify me by what was represented on stage. Mabuhay could have been a place for fun and educational cultural representation. But it was lowered to the most obnoxious, exclusive, discriminatory and derogatory display I’ve seen in all my four years at Wesleyan.