October 2, 2023 OPINION / WILDFIRES MY TURN Black Pearl Acupuncture n Wayne Chan Acupuncture and Herbal Medicine are great for: And on the fifth day, there was DWS O n the sixth day of my amazing stay in Italy’s famed Amalfi Coast, the sights were amazing, the people were friendly, and the food was out of this world. Pizza and pasta — what more could I ask for? Who doesn’t like pizza? Who doesn’t love pasta? It was like I was in a pizza and pasta heaven. Don’t even get me started on the variety offered — hoo-wee! Every type of pizza imaginable — margherita, tomato with mushroom, salami, all cheese — you name it, they had it. And the pasta! Holy cow! Fettuccini, spaghetti, rigatoni, pici — every shape and size possible. It was a pizza and pasta wonderland. Yup — that’s right. I could eat pizza, or have pasta. Ahhh … OK, if I’m being perfectly honest, while I do love pizza and pasta, after five days of only pizza and pasta, something happened to me. There was an ache, not just in my stomach — it was more palpable than that. It was a longing, a sudden urging, but I couldn’t quite put my finger on it. So, I turned to the internet, hoping to figure out what ailed me. I entered all my symptoms and it popped up right away. I double checked with ChatGPT and it immediately came up with the same answer. It was so simple and it was right in front of me. I was suffering from … I believe the condition is called … DWS. The clinical term is “Dumpling Withdrawal Syndrome.” Here’s the definition: DWS: Medical diagnosis — Malady in which a patient develops the inability to digest non-Asian foods. Onset of symptoms typically occur on the fifth or sixth day of Asian food deprivation. Common symptoms include night sweats, severe irritability, and an irrational aversion to restaurants with names ending in “ini” or “oro,” coupled with an unreasonable disdain for any food that would be awkward to eat with chopsticks. Diagnostic tests often show DWS patients suffer from low levels of MSG and hot chili oil. Now knowing what was wrong with me, my mission was to find a cure. The problem was, we had taken a ferry to the Italian island of Capri, where pizza and pasta were the only food in sight. But then, Yelp came to the rescue. Yelp and its ready list of available restaurants immediately found what I was looking for — a Japanese sushi fusion restaurant. It didn’t matter that we had to find an elevator to take us to the top of Capri (and pay for the elevator ride, too). It didn’t matter that we had to walk by 50 pizza and pasta places on our way. It didn’t matter that it was a warm, summer day and we also passed by about 30 or 40 enticing gelato places. The bottom line is that my DWS condition was about to be addressed. We walked into the fusion place and were handed menus. My lovely wife Maya ordered a plate of sashimi and a sushi roll. I decided to address my medical condition directly and ordered shrimp egg rolls and, most importantly, shrimp and vegetable dumplings. Doctor — heal thyself. As I anxiously awaited my food/prescription, I wondered what would happen if I hadn’t discovered this restaurant and my DWS amplified. Would I have run into the next ini-ending restaurant and demanded that the owner add egg, sausage, green onion, and soy sauce to spaghetti? I don’t even want to think about the ramifications. The food arrived, and there was, predictably, a sigh of relief. As I bit into the first egg roll, Maya asked me how it was. I said the filling tasted like mashed potatoes. As for the shrimp dumplings — shrimp flavored mashed potatoes. But it didn’t matter. I dipped each one in soy sauce and swallowed each shrimp-flavored mashed potato dumpling with glee. We went to Switzerland next — fondue and rösti — bring it on! Humor writer Wayne Chan lives in the San Diego area; cartoonist Wayne Chan is based in the Bay Area. Hawai‘i economists say Lahaina locals could be priced out of rebuilt town without zoning changes By Andrew Selsky and Jennifer Sinco Kelleher The Associate Press H ONOLULU — Residents who survived the wildfire that levelled the Hawai‘i town of Lahaina might not be able to afford to live there after it is rebuilt unless officials alter the zoning laws and make other changes, economists warned last month. “The risk is very real,” Carl Bonham, executive director of the University of Hawaii Economic Research Organization, told a virtual news conference ahead of the group’s release of its quarterly state economic forecast. Soaring housing prices have already forced many Native Hawaiians and other longtime Hawai‘i residents to leave the islands and move to the U.S. mainland. The wildfire that claimed at least 97 lives and destroyed 2,200 buildings in the West Maui community of Lahaina — 86% of which were residential — amplifies that problem for the survivors. Nearly 8,000 of them have been placed at 40 hotels or other accommodations around the island of Maui. “Market prices for this new housing are likely to far exceed the already high prices that existed in Lahaina before the fire. For renters, the old housing stock that was destroyed provided opportunities for reasonable rents,” the economic report said. A spike in housing costs would be a further burden for people — including retirees and those who worked in restaurants, hotels, and shops — who lost their homes and jobs when their places of employment burned to the ground on August 8, or when West Maui temporarily closed to tourism after the disaster. West Maui, where the verdant coastline is studded with resort hotels, will reopen on October 8. “You’ll see that that will speed our recovery for those who have suffered so much,” governor Josh Green said. At a recent news conference at the state capitol, Green stressed that the displaced survivors won’t be forced out of hotels to make room for tourists, with October typically being a slow month for tourism. But it is much less clear when people displaced by the THE ASIAN REPORTER n Page 7 fire will be able to move back to Lahaina and whether they’ll be able to afford to do so. Bonham said he doubts that rebuilding will start before 2025. The warning about locals being priced out of a rebuilt Lahaina, which was once the capital of the former Hawaiian kingdom in the 1800s, comes despite Green’s assurances that he won’t let it get too expensive for locals. Green previously indicated that he was considering having the state acquire land for workforce housing, but he later said that wouldn’t happen unless the community requested it. On August 19, Green banned unsolicited offers for property in Lahaina to prevent land from being snapped up by deep-pocketed outsiders. He said his administration has opened several investigations into alleged violations of that emergency proclamation. Some Lahaina residents have said that Green should have imposed an outright ban on purchasing property. “Outsiders should not have the opportunity to grab land or properties because emotions are running high, so everyone is vulnerable,” Melody Lukela-Singh, whose home on Lahaina’s renowned Front Street burned, said recently. Bonham said policy changes and a concerted effort are needed to prevent a rebuilt Lahaina from becoming a haven exclusively for the wealthy, for example by changing zoning to allow smaller and more affordable housing units like duplexes and apartments. “We need to be seriously focusing on multifamily housing,” he said. “That’s the way you get housing that isn’t million dollar-plus homes: You’ve got to have more density.” Currently, only about 1% of the land in Lahaina’s burn area is zoned for multifamily housing, Bonham said. The new economic report said the post-disaster plunge in tourism to Maui has hit the island’s economy and people hard. Officials initially told prospective tourists to stay away from Maui. Visitor arrivals dropped by nearly three- Continued on page 14 - Acute/Chronic Pain (i.e. neck, back, sciatica & shoulder) - Treating & Preventing the flu and colds - Stress Relief - Headaches/Migraines www.blackpearlacupuncture.com Sita Symonette Licensed Acupuncturist seasymonettea@gmail.com Call to schedule an appointment: (503) 308-9363 505 N.W. Ninth Ave., Portland, OR 97209 GRASS-FED BEEF FOR SALE Call (503) 980-5900 for details GRASS-FED & GRASS-FINISHED BEEF Farm-raised in Newberg, Oregon Beef available as: q Quarter cow q Half cow q Whole cow Beef is processed by a Portland butcher. Pickup available in November at N.E. Sandy location. -&/54 I.4%2.!4)/.!, I &!2-%23 M!2+%4 35.$!93 -Ua!&da BYk`cWUh]cb 4&OE"WF 3FFEXBZ3E 'BSN'SFTI1SPEVDF -PDBM'PPE ,JETg"DUJWJUJFT 8ciV`YmcifGB5DXc``Ufg idhc&$YUW\kYY_" :Ufa8]fYWhJciW\YfgUWWYdhYX" QPSUMBOEGBSNFSTNBSLFUPSH