An error in the newspaper that ran yesterday caused Bob Wu, a member of the Chamber of Commerce, and Robin Hu, the former president elect of the Rosemead Chamber of Commerce, quite a lot of grief. The caption under Bob Wu’s photo on page 6 in the San Gabriel Valley Tribune said that Wu resigned, but that’s not true. It was Robin Hu who resigned. Oh man.

Other than that, the story has drawn several comments. While some people weren’t happy with the story because they felt that it makes Asians appear ungrateful for the opportunities given to them by this country, others felt that the story brought up an issue that other communities have dealt with, too.

Here are a couple of the comments I received via email:

This is not only happening in Rosemead but in San Gabriel. Having lived in the San Gabriel from 1990 to 2005 I have seen a city transform and I don’t think for the better. The city with a mission has no direction or focus. Alhambra has done a great job on bringing a multitude of restaurants and businesses. I really enjoy going down main street in Alhambra but I felt disconnected and a lack of belonging in San Gabriel. There is noting more frustration then going to a business or restaurant only to have the feeling that you don’t belong. A lot of the asian businesses have a lot of signs that are only in Chinese. How am I suppose to know what the lunch special for $2.99 is if I can’t read chinese. Don’t get me wrong I love all cultures, foods and people but it’s this feeling of belonging that made me decide to sell my home in San Gabriel and relocate to Pasadena. It here that I really feel a sense of belonging and I think this is what the problem is with the San Gabriel Valley. If the city of Rosemead and San Gabriel would have only learned from Alhambras revitalization I think this article you wrote would be very different

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The Rosemead Chambers problem is not unique. It is always difficult for any establishment to reach out to new immigrants. People from Asia has never had any say in politics and mistrust is popular. Its problem may not be racial motives, but it may be the result of much frustration after trying with no success. The only thing anyone can do is to try and try again. If a chamber choose to be isolated, there will not be much future for its membership. City subsidy will help for a small part and for a short time. Without community support, any chamber will dwindle into oblivion.

Polly Low and John Tran are both Asian at the City Council and they are signs that Asians are slowing merging in. There will always be members of the community who prefer things to remain the same forever, but they will become more and more a minority.

I was a past president of the Alhambra Chamber of Commerce (year 2005) and I was the 5th Asian to hold the post in its 105 years history. I deem my presidency as a strong signal that the City of Alhambra wants more Asian community involvement. BTW: ACC has just surpassed Pasadena Chamber of Commerce to be the 10th in budget among all chambers in S. Calif., and its success in reaching out to all sector is one of many reasons.