Abstract Billy and Duyen Chang are originally immigrants from Hong Kong and Vietnam respectively who grew up in the U.S. and now live in the D.C. Metro area. They both faced challenges while assimilating to American life and culture, most notably in learning English, but they were both able to fully adjust to life in the U.S. after their initial transition periods. When their families immigrated to the U.S. (Duyen’s family moved to the suburbs of Chicago, while Billy’s originally moved to Miami) they...

Abstract Dr Ee Tay sits down with MOCA to discuss her childhood, upbringing, and influences in her personal life that made her decide to choose a career in medicine. She remembers her time spent in hospitals and nursing homes with her mother that influenced her to choose a career in medicine, specifically as a pediatrician. She has helped the underserved and underprivileged elders in her community through her various projects. She helped her hospitals overcome barriers of communication and distance...

Abstract Frank Liu, former Director of Technology at MOCA, sits down with Tomie Arai to conduct an oral history recounting his experience growing up in Chinatown during the ‘90s and early 2000s. Liu discusses his family’s history and their experience immigrating to the U.S. from Fuzhou, Fujian when he was seventeen years old, in 1998. He discusses how his uncle was able to sponsor his family to come to the U.S. and how his family moved to Chinatown initially upon their arrival. He discusses how even...

Abstract Dr. Ivan Small is a professor of sociocultural anthropology at Central Connecticut State University. Professor Small is a bi-racial Vietnamese American and first became interested in his Asian heritage after visiting his relatives in Vietnam during his college years. His research weaves together cultural anthropology with Asian studies, economic anthropology and research about migration and transnationalism. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Professor Small published an article in the...

Abstract Jenny Ye is a college student at Harvard University and spent her childhood in Chinatown. In this oral history Ye focuses on her childhood and experiences attending public schools in the New York City Chinatown area. She recounts spending time with her family and her cousins and growing up in Chinatown. Ye attended PS 124 and shares her autograph book as she recounts fond memories during elementary school. She also discusses her time in middle and high school with her involvement in CCAV and...

Abstract An Asian Americans studies professor from the San Francisco State University and a fifth generation Asian American, Russel Jeung speaks about his integral role in the Stop AAPI Hate task force, a hate crime and incident reporting initiative which started during the onset of COVID-19 pandemic in the U.S.. Since then, Professor Jeung has been intensely devoted to this project, whether it be engaging with the other directors in daily meetings or receiving dozens of requests for speaking. One...

Abstract Wing Ma (Ma Wing Guo) was born in China to a poor farming family who moved to Hong Kong as refugees when he was age two. Wing talks about his life growing up in Hong Kong with his mother working in the garment industry and his father working as a chef in Manila. He studied until post-secondary school before moving to the United States to train and work as an engineer. Wing would eventually join the garment industry as a factory owner, and describes the industry’s decline over time due to...

Abstract Wan Yinmei is a social science researcher. She discusses her personal experience during the pandemic and talks about how as a Chinese person she has been dealing with the ramifications of the virus since December. She talks more about how the pandemic is affecting her social science research and how she has had to adapt. As a researcher who focuses on education, she talks about some issues that students face due to remote learning. She concludes the oral history by sharing what she sees as...