New York City Comptroller William C. Thompson, Jr. with honorees and co-sponsors at his Asian Pacific Island Heritage celebration at Surrogate’s Court on May 15, 2008. Pictured (back, l to r) are: Margaret Fung, Executive Director, Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund; Thompson; Laura Lam, Executive Chef, Safran; Frank Oh, Chairman, Korean American League for Civic Action; (front, l to r) Semok Lee, President, Korean American Association of Greater New York; David Chen, Executive Director, Chinese American Planning Council; Azucena (Nena) Lozada Kaufman, President and Founder, Philippine Hearts & Hope Society, Inc.; Michael Lee, Chairman and CEO, F&T Group; and, Cao K. O, Executive Director, Asian American Federation of New York.
Photo Credit: Marla S. Maritzer

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New York City Comptroller William C. Thompson, Jr. honored six city leaders at his annual Asian Pacific Island Heritage celebration at Surrogate’s Courthouse in downtown Manhattan on Thursday, May 15, 2007.

As he addressed attendees, Comptroller Thompson first paused to reflect on the massive losses suffered overseas in the Sichuan province earthquake and the cyclone-ravaged Myanmar.

“We come together just days after terrible natural disasters have devastated two regions of Asia,” Thompson said. “We mourn the loss of life associated with these two tragedies, as we offer both our prayers for those who continue to suffer and our condolences to those who lost loved ones.”

Thompson’s event was co-sponsored by Asian Americans for Equality, the Asian American Federation of New York, the Chinese American Planning Council and the Korean American League for Civic Action. The New York Chinese School performed at the event.

“Since the city’s earliest days, New Yorkers with roots in China, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Korea, Japan, the Philippines and many more Asian and Pacific Island nations have come to New York, seeking opportunity and success, a safe haven, or simply a better life for themselves and their children,” Thompson said.

“Those whose families have been here for generations continue to give newer meanings to the ideas of success, rising to great heights in all professions and pursuits, playing an increasingly prominent role in all aspects of city life, flourishing and redefining the American Dream.”

Thompson presented the first award to Margaret Fung, co-founder and Executive Director of the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund, a 34-year-old nonprofit organization that protects and promotes the civil rights of Asian Americans.

Thompson called Fung “a dogged champion of voting rights” and praised her role in organizing New York City’s first exit poll of Asian American voters and creating the first fully translated Chinese-language ballots.

Community leader Azucena Lozada Kaufman received the second award.

“For close to a decade, Ms. Kaufman has been engaged in charity work and developing community-based organization that have promoted the culture and identity of the Philippines,” Thompson said. Ms. Kaufman founded and still chairs the Philippine-based ECL Foundation, a non-profit providing healthcare, parenting and education assistance, and is the President and Owner of the Asian Workforce, a homecare company for the elderly.

The third honoree was Michael Lee, Chairman and CEO of the F&T Group, an umbrella organization of integrated real-estate companies in Flushing, Queens. The Comptroller pointed out Mr. Lee’s dedicated service to the Queens business community, and his more than 35 years of work in the real-estate field.

Chef Laura Lam, owner of Safran restaurant in Manhattan, received the next award. Lam began cooking when she was eight years old and after years of culinary schooling opened her own cooking school in Vietnam.

“Ms. Lam’s experiences have led her to the philosophy that great cooking comes from the heart and for her, 12 hours of hard work are nothing compared to even 12 seconds of watching a customer enjoy the results of her hard work,” Thompson noted. Lam previously owned the wildly popular Monsoon restaurant.

Semok Lee, President of the Korean American Association of Greater New York, received the fifth award.

As president of the Korean American Association of Greater New York, Mr. Lee is “dedicated to serving the needs and protecting the rights of the half-million Americans living in our region and connecting them with close to 500 Korean-American organizations involved in everything from education to culture to community affairs,” Thompson said.

The final honoree was United States Magistrate Kiyo Matsumoto, who has been nominated to serve as Federal District Court Judge for the Eastern District of New York. If confirmed, Judge Matsumoto would become the second-ever Asian Pacific woman to serve as a Federal district court judge and only the third Asian Pacific American federal district court judge outside of California and Hawaii, Thompson said.

“Judge Matsumoto has long committed herself to serving others,” Thompson said. “It is my pleasure to present this award to Judge Kiyo Matsumoto, with hopes that your confirmation proceeds quickly.”

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