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About The Asian reporter. (Portland, Or.) 1991-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 7, 2023)
ASIA / PACIFIC Page 4 n THE ASIAN REPORTER August 7, 2023 Fans pay tribute to Coco Lee, Hong Kong singer who had international success By Kanis Leung The Associated Press ONG KONG — Fans of singer and songwriter Coco Lee, who was known for her powerful voice and live performances, gathered with flowers and paid their respects to their idol at her funeral in Hong Kong late last month. The memorial service was attended by her family and friends, including singers Elva Hsiao and Jenny Tseng, as well as other supporters. Lee died July 5 at age 48. She was born in Hong Kong and attended school in San Francisco before releasing her first album in 1994 at age 19. She began her career as a Mandopop singer but branched out to release albums in Cantonese and English. She was the first Chinese singer to break into the American market, and her English song “Do You Want My Love” climbed to #4 on Billboard’s Hot Dance Breakouts chart in December 1999. In 2001, she sang “A Love Before Time” from Ang Lee’s movie Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon at the Academy Awards, becoming the first Chinese American to perform at the Oscars. Lee was also the voice of heroine Fa Mulan in the Mandarin version of Disney’s Mulan, and sang the Mandarin version of the movie’s theme song “Reflection.” Lee was married to Bruce Rockowitz, former CEO of Hong Kong supply chain company Li & Fung. She had two stepdaughters. Her death shocked fans. Her siblings posted on Facebook that she had depression for years and had attempted suicide at home on July 2. She died a few days later. More than 100 fans dressed in black waited outside the funeral home. Lin Jing, a fan from Fujian province in the southeast, said she admired Lee’s smile and appearance, adding: “She was really talented. She always tried to improve and she inspired women to feel independent.” Inside the funeral hall, three pink hearts made of flowers and other floral decorations were displayed below Lee’s photo. Her close friend, Hsiao, said during the ceremony that she remembered watching Lee’s performances as a student and thinking of her as a perfect idol. After they became friends in the entertainment industry, Lee encouraged Hsiao when she was lost and treated her as “a H Young Chinese opt out of the rat race and pressures at home to pursue global nomad lifestyle Continued from page 3 because of one of those things.” Zhang said she faces pressure to get married. Liang wants his parents to move to Bali with him. “It’s a big problem,” Liang said. “They worry they will be lonely after moving out of China and worry about medical resources here.” Huang Wanxiong, 32, was stranded on Bohol Island in the Philippines for seven months in 2020 when air travel halted during the pandemic, and he spent his time learning free diving, which involves diving to great depths without oxygen tanks. He eventually flew home to the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou, but lost his job at a private tutoring company after the government cracked down on the industry in 2021. His next gig was driving more than 16 hours a day for a ride-hailing business. “I felt like a machine during those days,” Huang said. “I can accept a stable and unchanging life, but I cannot accept not having any hope, not trying to improve the situation, and surrendering to fate.” Huang returned to the Philippines in February, escaping family pressures to get a better job and find a girlfriend in China. He renewed his Bohol Island friendships and qualified as a dive instructor. But without Chinese tourists to teach and no income, he flew home again in June. He still hopes to make a living as a diver, possibly back in Southeast Asia, though he also may agree to his parents’ proposal to emigrate to Peru to work in a family-run supermarket. Huang recalled he once surfaced too quickly from a 131-foot dive and his hands trembled from a dangerous lack of oxygen, known as hypoxia. The lesson he took was to avoid rushing and maintain a steady climb. Until his next move, he plans to use that free diver discipline to counter the anxieties of living in China. “I will apply the calm I learned from the sea surrounding that island to my real life,” Huang said. “I will maintain my own pace.” Fans of martial arts legend Bruce Lee fondly remember his life philosophy Continued from page 2 came to learn the martial arts style because of Lee. Teacher Ricky Fong said adaptability is important in Jeet Kune Do and life and pointed to one of Lee’s most famous sayings: “Be water, my friend.” The phrase was frequently used by protesters in Hong Kong’s 2019 pro-democracy movement to describe their guerrilla strategy of moving fluidly across the city. One of Fong’s students, Adrian Li, said he admired Lee’s martial arts skills and philosophy. He added that Lee’s eagerness to keep learning has influenced him deeply. “Not be bounded by anything. One can learn a lot,” he said. Associated Press video journalist Alice Fung and news assistant Annie Cheung contributed to this report. Japan records steepest population decline while number of foreign residents hits new high By Mari Yamaguchi The Associated Press T OKYO — Japan’s population declined in all of its 47 prefectures for the first time in a record drop, while its number of foreign residents hit a new high, reaching almost 3 million people, according to recent government data, highlighting the increasing role non- Japanese people play in the shrinking and aging country. The population of Japanese nationals fell by about 800,000 people, or 0.65%, to 122.4 million in 2022 from the previous year, falling for a 14th straight year, according to data from the Internal Affairs and Communications Min- istry based on residency registrations as of January 1. Japan’s total population was 125.41 million, down just over half a million people from a year earlier, and there was a 10.7% jump in foreign residents with addresses registered in Japan, the ministry said. The increase in Japan’s foreign population was the First panda born in France says goodbye and heads to China PARIS (AP) — Ensconced in a glass cage lined with bamboo shoots, the first panda ever born in France bid ‘‘adieu’’ to the French zoo where it grew up and set off for its new home in China. Named Yuan Meng, the 264-pound panda peered out of the cage as staff at the Beauval Zoo south of Paris paid an emotional farewell. Its name means ‘‘the realization of a wish” or “accomplishment of a dream.” A crowd of well-wishers waved goodbye as the trailer pulling the cage rolled out of the zoo, the words “Bon Voyage Yuan Meng’’ painted on its sides. Yuan Meng was born in 2017 to parents at Beauval on a 10-year loan from China. The mother later gave birth to twin pandas. All the offspring are meant to eventually be sent to China. Yuan Meng’s departure was initially delayed because of the COVID-19 pandemic. While the trip was long planned, Beauval Zoo director Rodolphe Delord des- cribed the day as “heartbreaking.’’ Giant pandas have difficulty breeding and so the births were particularly welcomed. There are about 1,800 pandas living in the wild in China and a few hundred in captivity worldwide. While China for decades gifted friendly nations with its unofficial mascot as part of a policy of “panda diplomacy,’’ the country now loans pandas to zoos on commercial terms. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, File) EXPLORATION & ESCAPE. Chinese Zhang Chuannan, who is studying Thai in Chiang Mai, went hiking on the Chiang Dao mountain range in northern Thailand in June 2023. Zhang lost her job as an ac- countant at a cosmetic firm in Shanghai and decided to explore the world. (AP Photo/Syvia Wen) REMEMBERING COCO. Singer Coco Lee poses on the red carpet at the 53rd Golden Horse Awards in Taipei, Taiwan, in this November 26, 2016 file photo. Lee, a Hong Kong-born singer who had a highly success- ful career in Asia, died last month. She was 48 years old. (AP Photo/Billy Dai, File) little sister.” “She brightened my life with her happiness and bravery. I will keep preserving her spirit,” Hsiao said in a quavering voice. In a video for the memorial service, actors and singers from Hong Kong, mainland China, and Taiwan recalled their memories with Lee and mourned her death. Action star Jackie Chan said in the video that everyone was proud of her when she sang at the Oscars. “To friends like us, Coco was a passionate and kind friend who showed care to us. She was really a good person. That’s why we are so reluctant to accept she has left us,” he said. Award-winning director Ang Lee recalled his exchanges with the late singer before the Oscars and said it was a pity she died so young. “We miss her very much. Coco, rest in peace,” he said in the video. Coco Lee had sounded notes of positivity in social media posts during the months before her death. In March, she posted about recuperating from surgery for an old leg injury. “Successful surgery. Even though I’m in a lot of pain and I have to re-learn how to walk again, I know I can do it,” she wrote in a Facebook post. “Yes I can and I will!” Associated Press video journalist Alice Fung and news assistant Annie Cheung contributed to this report. POPULATION DECLINE. People walk at a pedestrian crossing in the Ginza shopping district in Tokyo. Japan’s population declined in all of its 47 prefectures for the first time in a record drop, while its number of foreign residents hit a new high, according to government data. biggest year-on-year rise since the ministry started taking statistics in 2013. Foreign residents now account for about 2.4% of Japan’s population, the ministry said. After peaking in 2008, Japan’s population has since shrunk steadily due to a declining birthrate. The country saw a record low of 771,801 births last year. Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has set tackling the declining births as one of his top policy goals and pledged to secure annual funding of about 3.5 trillion yen ($25.2 billion) over the next three years for a new childcare package, which includes child birth and rearing allowances and increased subsidies for higher education. Kishida’s cabinet in June approved a plan to expand the scope of job categories allowed for foreign workers, opening the door for future permanent residency, in a major shift in a country known for its closed-door immigration policy as it struggles with a shrinking population. Experts say the proposed low-birth measures are mostly additional funding for existing ones and don’t address underlying problems. They also say that Japan’s conservative government needs to do more to raise salaries, improve working conditions, and make society more inclusive for minorities and those with non-Japanese roots to attract foreign workers to move to Japan and stay.