Transcripts For KNTV Asian Pacific America With Robert Handa 20240713

Happening in our world today. And finally, we will highlight some other big events coming up, including the big indian festival diwali, all on our show today. Well, ive had the pleasure of attending the Silicon Valley Asian Pacific Film Festival. I have hosted some q a sessions with filmmakers. The event is a project of cats, contemporary asian theater scene, and is still growing and evolving. Joining me now is an old friend, he is cofounder of cats and the cochair of the Silicon Valley Asian Pacific Film Festival, steve yamaguma. And also with us, i have the privilege of welcoming filmmaker andrea yuchieh chung. Born in taipei, she is a trained classical musician who found she had a passion for documentary filmmaking and on a global scale. She is presenting her latest work, finding nasseebi, a film where she turns the camera on herself and her journey to understand islam. Welcome to the show. Andrea yuchieh chung thank you for having us. Robert good to see you again. Steve yamaguma good to see you. Robert give me an idea here, its the fifth year. How has it evolved from like what it started out to do and how big has it gotten . cause every year it seems to get bigger. Steve well, it started out as a community function. And we had films at local community venues, like the church and the community center. And weve slowly grown the Film Festival, now were 3 days and we have about 21 films were showing. And its at the cinearts theatre in santana row, and were really excited to bring all this talent to Silicon Valley. Robert give people an idea here in terms of the wide range of films that you have. And people might think that maybe they all have maybe a consistent theme, and yet from what ive seen, theyre asianamerican filmmakers trying to explore all sorts of different stories, huh . Steve well, yeah. As you know, the asianamerican community is very diverse. And we have from dramas a really exciting film called happy cleaners, two koreanamerican filmmakers from new york, they are coming out. And we have shorts with, like for example, finding the cb. We have documentaries, were bringing the mayor ed lee story to san jose, alternative facts. And for the young people, we have dating after college by wong fu productions. Robert oh, got to have the young people involved there, huh . In fact, it was almost all young people when i was there, a lot of young people. Steve something for everybody. Robert yes, exactly. Andrea, give me an idea in terms of your film. Well, first of all, as a filmmaker, how important, how crucial are these kind of festivals for you . Andrea i think Film Festivals are a very important place for connections, not just connecting filmmakers with fellow filmmakers, but also connecting audience to films that they might otherwise not be able to see. So, and as a filmmaker, its also an importance place to kind of meet collaborators and just get your work seen. Robert yeah. I was a documentary filmmaker for pbs for three years, and so i know getting documentaries made is difficult. How did you get yours, First Inspiration for your story, and then how did you go about getting it done . Andrea so, i was a student at New York University in abu dhabi, and i read an article on the guardian about this call center in abu dhabi that basically anyone can call, its a government service, its free. You can call and theyllyou can ask any questions about islam and theyll tell you whats the right thing to do and teach you about islam. And so, after reading this article, i basically went to the call center and kind of got in touch with them. Robert what was the selfexploring journey you wanted to do, and how difficult was it to capture it on film . Andrea so, that actually came halfway through the process. So, initially it was going to be a filma documentary just about the call center and the people who work there. And halfway through the process, i realize that because it is governmental, it is religious, there are certain restrictions on how the people can represent the organization. So, i think to get to what i wanted, the story that i really wanted to take tell, i have to kind of put myself out there. Robert what was the story that you wanted to tell . Andrea i wanted to tell a story basically showcasing a side of islam thats not usually portrayed on mass media. I wanted to focus on how there are women working in this call center, empowering women, and also talk about how islam is a very tolerant religion, which is my experience when i was living in abu dhabi. Robert yeah, this is what kind of the kind of stories that you want to tell, huh steve . Steve oh, absolutely. Were looking for young up and coming filmmakers to tell new stories. Thats really important. Robert all right. Andrea, congratulations on getting that done. I know its not an easy thing to do. All right, looking forward to seeing you guys at the festival. Steve oh, absolutely. Robert all right. Well, the Silicon Valley Asian Pacific Film Festival will go from november 1 through the 3rd at the cinearts theater at santana row on 3088 olsen drive in san jose. For tickets and more details on the lineup, go to nbcbayarea. Com. And stay with us, a man whose life would make a good film will join us. Assemblyman ash kalra will join me and we are going to talk unfiltered. Actually, thats the only way he talks. Take a listen, next. Robert well, here on Asian Pacific america, we are proud to try to help you get to know our leading public figures in a more indepth way. Ash kalra is, and i can say this objectively, straightforward, honest, and outspoken, and has broken barriers as he has grown and evolved in his public life. But we will also talk about his life before he came into the public eye. Welcome to the show, its good to have you here. Ash kalra really appreciate it. Robert give me an idea for people, you know, a lot of us who end up in sort of nontraditional kind of roles, people always asked me and im sure they ask you too, when you were a child and when you were growing up, do you kind of see, look back and see the markers that maybe led you here . Or was it kind of a surprise where you ended up . Ash well, i think being an elected official is a surprise. Being in Public Service wasnt a surprise. And growing up, being indianamerican and the pressure to become a doctor and what have you, just like any other asianamerican, was there. But i was always drawn to Public Service, even from a young age. I never expected to run for public office, but this is absolutely in line with my drive to serve and to try to improve the quality of life of the community in which i live and to reduce suffering. Robert what was it that you saw around you in your community that kind of inspired you that way . Ash actually, when i was little, maybe eight years old or so, i went to india and i remember seeing poverty. And having little kids, little boys that look just like me coming up to me asking me for money, at that point i used to think, well, if i need something, i go to my parents. And so, it was the first realization i had that there was Something Different about my life compared to so many others in the world. And so, it wasnt so much a feeling of feeling lucky, it was more of a sense of obligation. And so, even from that young age, i knew there was always Something Different from that point forward. And over the years, it developed into a life of service in a way that, you know, im very grateful for it because ive gotten so much out of it. Robert when you were younger, you mentioned that you felt lucky in kind of the life that you had. Did you feel discrimination . Did you feel racism though growing up . Ash well, absolutely. You know, i grew up in south san jose. We moved here in the late 70s. Although now it may seem strange, back then there werent a lot of indian families around here in san jose. And so, yeah, there was a lot of bullying and name calling and what have you, things that kids unfortunately do. And theres also, and i think this is not uncommon with a lot of immigrants, a sense of, you know, being ashamed of who you are or of your background only because you dont know how to deal with a sense of isolation. But over the years, you know, you become stronger and more confident, and you start to meet other api, folks in the api community, and certainly other indianamericans. And you start to build a community and recognize that what you felt made you different actually was always your strength. Robert right, exactly. I mean, i think a lot of people who end up going to like a profession that where you feel like you can help people hadtheres a part of you that knows, you know, you know what people are going through. And without that kind of perspective, i dont know if you would havebe able to kind of dedicate yourself to a life like that. So, you became a public defender, you went into law. What was the idea in terms of going into law . What washow are you planning to apply that . Ash you know, its interesting, but i didnt even think about law school until i was at Oak Grove High School and i participated in the legal eagles club, it was a Mock Trial Club my junior and senior year. I had never thought about law school. It was that combined with the fact that as i was becoming more of a student of history, i realized that gandhi was a lawyer, i looked at the Civil Rights Movement and the role that lawyers played in it, and realized, you know, being a lawyer is actually, as opposed to maybe the common sensibility, is actually a very noble profession that can push for social change. And so, it drew me towards the legal profession. Even though i didnt quite know what i was going to do with it, i knew that i could do something impactful. Robert right, and i think it was maybe relatively recently cause some friends of mine, i have a friend named pat alvarez who went to law school, and i know a number of other people who actually thought of the law as something that they could apply in other ways as opposed to becoming perry mason. They knew that they could become and i know a lot of journalists who have a law background. Ash thats right. Robert but you ended up in the Public Defenders Office. Was that deliberate as well . It doesit is helping people. Ash well, it was absolutely deliberate. I remembertalking about perry mason, well, you know, growing up in the 80s, la law and all that, you get drawn to be in a courtroom. And as i evolved through law school, i determined, especially being in the late 90s, that our criminal Justice System had really turned into a system that was incarcerating far too many people. In fact, california during that time period had become and remains the incarceration capital of the country and wascertainly has been labeled the incarceration capital of the world. That didnt happen by accident. And when i was coming out of law school, i recognized that there were people being caught up in the system that needed a voice and needed an advocate. And thats why i turned to the Public Defenders Office as a way to be that voice and also to have an exciting career. Its exciting to be in a courtroom, to have the opportunity to stand up for the constitution cause thats what public defenders do on behalf of their clients. And you learn so much about your community when youre representing folks that are coming from neighborhoods that have really fallen into disrepair or dont get the same attention as other parts of the community. Robert right, it was quite an experience going through that im sure. Any cynicism about maybe the clients or the system that kind of grew through being so close in that system . Ash well, certainly the system. You know, one of the questions you get at cocktail parties when youre a public defender is, well, how can you represent someone thats guilty . But the reality is that you are standing up for an ideal that this nation was founded on. When you talk about representing someone, its a special thing that we have here that not all nations have. But what happens far more often than having a client that may be guilty and you have kind of conflicts internally about it is clients that are not guilty that are being charged with things they didnt do, or pleading guilty to things they didnt do in order to avoid a stiffer penalty. Or in some cases, you know, because theyre in jail, they may lose their job, and they may plead to a couple misdemeanors they didnt do, which may not seem like a big deal, but it forever changes their lives. And they do it because they have to pay rent and they have to get back to work. Robert well, we can certainly see where it sort of lead you into the political life. Well talk about that right after this, okay . All right. Well, stay with us, well have more in our talk with ash kalra, including his thoughts on the state of our state and our county, so dont miss it. What do you personally try to do to kind of connect with the indianamerican community with whatever youre doing . Ash well, i do a lot of different things, including trying to be in as many places as possible, whether its going to the diwali festivals. By the way, happy diwali, everyone. Robert happy diwali. Ash or, you know, doing things in the legislature or in city hall, given the fact that on the first and there is responsibility. Obviously, i represent everyone in my community equally and passionately, but i think there is an obligation to help educate both my colleagues in the legislature as well as the Greater Community about the indianamerican community, being the first one. And so, i try to do that in numerous ways, whether its through resolutions such as recognizing, you know, India Independence Day or hinduamerican awareness, or sikhamerican awareness, yoga day, diwali festival. These are all different resolutions, vaisakhi, another one thats in the sikh community, but these are all different resolutions that were putting forth that hadnt been done before, certainly not in the way theyre being done now, in order to really educate the Greater Community about the indianamerican community, which has been here in this state since the 1800s and has contributed mightily to the state. But clearly with thewith the influx of more and more folks coming from india, i think its important for us to really join together and unite as a community, and really to show that indianamericans are patriotic americans, but also we bring something unique to this community as well. Robert yeah, when we started this show, that was our goal was to kind of get coverage to groups and communities that didnt get coverage. And we were almost shocked sometimes how long organizations had been around and had never had any coverage or anything. So, it is a very rewarding thing to do. You talked about something earlier though that was interesting, which is the actual decision to run for public office. How big a deal was that for you . What were you thinking in terms of the pros and cons of that . Ash it was a big deal when i ran for city council because i loveloved my job as a public defender. To this day, the best job ive ever had in terms of just how satisfying it was. Now, the job i have now is incredibly rewarding because of the impact i can make and its certainly satisfying in its own ways, but it was a difficult decision at the time. But what made it really the only choice for me is that i had the opportunity both in terms of going into the neighborhoods and meeting with clients families, what have you, but also i was teaching at the time, i started a Neighborhood Association in the neighborhood in which i grew up. I was on the planning commission, had been on the human rights commission. It was a collection of those experiences which really showed me that, look, theres Something Else that i can do to improve the quality of life in the neighborhoods from where my clients come from and the neighborhoods which i grew up in, so many friends grew up in. I thought i could bring a voice that was unique to the city council to advocate for working families, to advocate for those that didnt always have a voice for them. Robert right. And to a certain extent, campaigning is really just about connecting with people, and so you do have to do an awful lot of, you know, rubber chicken things. But you doif you are not a person that connects with people, the campaigning can be tough, but i dont know if you can be a good public official if you dont have that quality. Whats the big difference for you going to the state level versus the city council . Do you feelyou do have a bigger impact, but its such a bigger area now to cover. Ash it is. There is no doubt the scale is much larger. But look, you know, ive had 27 bills signed into law that impact 40 million californians. And its not just californians, were the fifth largest economy in the world. So, for example, i have a bill that phases out the use of single use shampoo and conditioner bottles. Well, when california does it, guess what . The hotel chains are going to do it nationwide. So, we dont even necessarily need other states or the federal government to pass a bill. The industrys going to move in that direction with california leading. And so, thats one of many examples where, when california acts, it really starts to create a Ripple Effect beyond our borders. Robert i saw you the other day, you were at an sciu rally. Theyre on strike with the Santa Clara County agencies. For you, how do you make a decision in terms of like stepping out there and getting into that thing, where some people are going to like it, but a lot of people arent . Ash what i look at is, what are my values and what are actions that i can partake in that represent my values and what i believe to be california values and the values of folks here in san jose . It was a nobrainer for me to join the workers at valley medical center, to join the county workers there because we have seen during the time ive lived here, since 78, we have seen productivity has gone up, wages have gone down, and wealth has gone up dramatically. Income inequality is the most extreme here than anywhere else in the nation. And we have to start speaking about it, we have to start standing up for workers of all stripes. And the county workers literally serve our community, thats all they do all year long is in Public Service. And yet they have to claw and scratch for incremental support. And theyre justyou know, theyre just as concerned about their ability to serve the community. And so, it was a nobrainer for me to be there with the county workers and to be there with the hotel workers, to be there with the teachers as theyve gone on strike throughout the state in various districts. What we need to do is, we really need to rethink how we are treating everyone in our community. And while were creating a whole bunch of billionaires, that might hit a lot of headlines for folks. At the end of the day, people are struggling, and we see it every day in our streets with the homeless. We see it every day at kitchen tables, where hardworking families are making really tough choices, whether they can afford prescription drugs, whether they can afford to send their kids to a summer camp, whether they can afford to go out to eat or even, you know buy enough food as it is. And so, we really have to think about how were going to sustain ourselves as a valley and as a state. Robert right, and it makes you feel good to be able to do something about it, huh . Real quickly because were running out of time, whats your thought about the way that president Trumps Administration deals with california right now . Ash look, its so aggressive, unnecessarily so. I mean, california makes a deal privately with four automakers. Youd think republicans like working privately in those arrangements, and yet, he comes after us just because we want our air clean. And the automakers want dont want to go backwards, they want to go forward. Thats one of many examples. The border wall, and you can go on and on, where he just keeps fighting california. Offshore oil drilling and drilling in federal land, these are decisions that we have already decided that were not going to go backwards on, were going to go forward. And look, if the president wants to attack us on it, were not going to stop being us. Our attorney general has already sued the federal administration over 60 times. Weve won most of those suits that have come to fruition or have had judgments. And were going to keep pushing ahead. Robert all right, good. Im sure you enjoy being at the forefront. Its great to have you doing that. Thank you, ash. All right, and thanks for being here. Ash thanks. Robert all right. Well, next, a look at some big events coming up, including the indianamerican celebration of diwali, which we said hello to everybody on that. And the Golden Gate International Film Festival, thats all coming up next. Indianamericans and anyone who likes to party and celebrate. Today, its time for the diwali celebration, indias most significant festival, which we have featured here on this show many times. Its the festival of lights, a fiveday celebration that culminates with the hindu new year. One big celebration is going on from 11 a. M. To 7 p. M. At 1430 california circle in milpitas. If youre watching us on nbc bay area, you can start getting ready to go. If youre seeing us on cozi tv, well, hopefully, you just got back from the celebration. And today, its the final day of the Golden Gate International Film Festival. You can still catch some of the talented filmmakers at the amc saratoga 14 at 700 el paseo de saratoga in san jose. For tickets and the lineup, check it out on nbcbayarea. Com. And you can get more information on all of these events as well as the Silicon Valley asianpacific Film Festival and Assembly Member ash kalra on our website, nbcbayarea. Com. Were also on social media, facebook, and twitter. You can follow me rhandnbc. And thats it for our show today, i want to thank all of our guests for being here today, and to all of you for tuning in. Please go out and enjoy diwali and any other celebration. I want to wish my son mason a happy birthday today, proud of him. Asian Pacific America will be back next week. Well see you then, thanks for watching. The house has acted on a very sad day. I dont feel like im being impeached. Billionaires should not pick the next president. Kids like that, you never think its going to be yours good morning and welcome to sunday today on this december 22nd im willie geist happy holidays to all of you and your families. President trump now just the third president in American History to be impeached, is spending the long break at his florida estate and praising republicans for voting unanimously against impeachment. Well talk to chuck todd in a moment about what happens next