Transpacific articles from April 1 1995

Transpacific archives from April 1 1995

The domination. (Asian Americans in the forefront of the revolution in the computer/software industry)(Industry Overview)
April 1, 1995... Asian Americans have helped shape the current personal computer industry and are playing a big role in the outcome of the war to control standards. For 50 years the auto was our big toy. For the next 50 years the personal computer--now in...

Microsoft's hero: Scott Oki earned a $100-million early retirement by turning Microsoft into the global software leader.(Microsoft Corp.)
April 1, 1995... Scott Oki earned a $100-million early retirement by turning Microsoft into the global software leader. The man who created Microsoft and its winning culture had the genius to hire highly effective people and turn them loose. The most...

The big fix. (Robert Lee was able to turnaround software maker Insignia Solutions, developers of Softwindows emulation software)(Interview)
April 1, 1995... Robert Lee stakes his reputation as a corporate turnaround specialist at the helm of promising but troubled Insignia Solutions. If Lee succeeds, Insignia could help bring about a convergence of operating systems. In perhaps 6 to 8 years, the...

Saving Mac OS: Stephen Kahng's genius for building reliable, low-priced clones will help save the MAC operating system from possible extinction.(Apple MacIntosh clones)
April 1, 1995... Only one thing can save those user-friendly Macs from Microsoft's savage Windows onslaught--a doubling of market share in the next five years to 20%. That's Apple's current mission. At the moment the one man pitching in is Corean American...

Spreading the gospel: Chinese-born program manager Jing Chen readies Windows 95 for the East Asian market.(Microsoft Corp.)
April 1, 1995... Few of its 17,000 employees are more important to Microsoft's future bottom line than those working push Windows in Asia, the world's fastest growing and, ultimately, the most lucrative, software market. Since the early 80s, when Kazuhiko Nishi...

The Internet promise: the Internet doesn't yet live up to the hype but it's well on its way to becoming the next century's medium of choice.
April 1, 1995... A lot of hype about the internet has filled the media in recent months. It's been painted as an amazing medium through which we can instantly send mail anywhere in the world for virtually nothing, book airline and hotel reservations, get...

Corea Inc. in America. (new spelling of Korea to mark South Korea's aggressive stance as a global marketing force: includes interviews with Kia Motors America head H.R. Park, and Daewoo America CEO Kim Suk-Hwan)(Interview)
April 1, 1995... Here's a pop quiz: Your company needs a major infusion of capital. You are wooing Asian companies looking to invest in the U.S. Your best bet is to acquire a taste for: (a) filet mignon, lobster tails and cabernet sauvignon; (b) sushi,...

Mr Multimedia. (LGE America's CEO Woo Nam-Kyum)(Interview)
April 1, 1995... The first and decisive battleground of the coming multimedia war is the U.S. and the man on the front line is LGE America's CEO Woo Nam-Kyun. On his shoulders falls the job of leveraging LGE's leadership in consumer electronics to build the...

Straight shooter. (Jeanette Lee, Women's World Pocket Billiards champion)
April 1, 1995... She just turned 24, but Korean American Jeanette Lee is consistently the top-ranked player on the professional women's pool circuit. Her success and beauty are attracting the envy and resentment of peers, but also, big bucks from companies that...

The next action hero: 'Mortal Kombat' shoots Robin Shou into the action-hero stratosphere.(includes an interview with 'Mortal Kombat' film producer Larry Kasanoff)(Cover Story)
April 1, 1995... It's been brewing since last spring, this summer's slugfest between Batman and Robin. The Robin in question isn't the caped crusader's red-breasted sidekick but Chinese American Robin Shou. He's the star of Mortal Kombat, the one movie that can...

Fantasy face. (Japanese-born Eiko Nijo, model and aspiring movie star)
April 1, 1995... For decades white and Asian American models and actors have gone to Japan for lucrative modeling and endorsement jobs for Japanese companies in search of just the right shade of fun, freshness and sex appeal. Few Japanese faces have tried the...

Wet & wild. (Alfie Kayo, successful Asian American model in Asia and the U.S.)
April 1, 1995... At best a handful of Asian men excite Hollywood enough to earn a living purely on the strength of their sex appeal. Alfie Kayo, 22, has just joined that select group. Kayo was born in Australia to a Chinese mother who later admitted that he...

Deep delight: Christine Lawson's acting/songwriting career picks up speed on both tracks.
April 1, 1995... At the age of 16 Christine Lawson went to Japan to enjoy a successful modeling career. Her musical ability got her signed to a multi-year contract to perform pop songs. Lawson soon tired of being a mouthpiece for other people's music and...

From Moscow, with Jeff. (Chinese American Albert Shen travels on the Trans-Siberian Railroad with American friend Jeff Huentelman)(a winning entry in the TransPacific Travel Photo-Essay Contest)
April 1, 1995... After years of dreaming and discussion, we find ourselves on the Aeroflot out of San Francisco. We will be met in Moscow by my friend Marina. She will take us to Dubna, a major nuclear research city two hours north of Moscow. From there, we...

Real estate bust: mindscapes, not landscapes, will house the boom of the next century.(Foresight)(Column)
April 1, 1995... It's 8:58 a.m. You have an important project conference coming up at 9:00 with Jane and Dick who work way on the other side of town. You've just returned from your morning run and made yourself a cup of coffee. Does it sound like a career...

Making land. (Asia's real estate industry)
April 1, 1995... The vital economies of Asia aren't letting a little thing like land shortages keep them form continuing their frantic growth. Each trip I take to Asia leaves me amazed, inspired and even envious. The United States, racked by recession, has...

Hot Motiveware. (XO Motiveware)
April 1, 1995... You've heard of hardware - boxes full of computer chips to store and process data. You've heard of software, the programs that make hardware do nifty things like accounting, word-processing and image processing. But what about the processor in...

Wake of dreams. (Taiwanese actress Monica Lu)
April 1, 1995... If the woman below doesn't look exactly like the hard-working 100% owner of a small but fast-growing Taipei-based stationery company, your prejudices are showing. Monica Lu personally put up all the capital to start the company in 1993 and...

Sports hound. (sports broadcaster Nobi Kuga)
April 1, 1995... Nobi Kuga has turned his passion for sports into a dream business. It surprises some to learn that in Japan, where baseball and sumo are the biggest-draws, thouands tune in to watch the Superbowl. The Japanese appetite for novelties has...

Possible dream. (enterpreneur Manuel Wong)
April 1, 1995... Manny Wong is the man Chinese immigrants in Phoenix turn to in time of need. The deep, smooth voice weaves with the melody through the air of the crowded Chinese restaurant. "To dream the impossible dream..." The singer is Manuel Wong,...

Done deal. (car dealer Sam Hwang)
April 1, 1995... Sam Hwang sells more Benzes than anyone in the country. Sam Hwang is very, very careful about numbers. Ask him an everyday question involving a sum, like, "How many hours do you work a week?" or "How many cars do you sell in a year?" and he...

Asian south. (Asians in southern states)
April 1, 1995... In search of wide-open opportunity, Asians have become Dixie's fastest-growing population segment. Klan country, the region that assassinated Martin Luther King, Jr. A place where white trash yearn to return to plantations where they whiled...

Mistress murder. (Jim Peng's mistress, Jennifer Ji)
April 1, 1995... Orange County is about to witness a sensational murder trial involving the jealous wife of a successful trans-Pacific businessman named Jim Peng. His wife Lisa is accused of having killed his young mistress and their infant son. Tseng (Jim)...

Essential Japan. (Sumatakyo, Japan)
April 1, 1995... Sumatakyo is that sacred place deep inside the author's Japanese soul. Silence. Silence in a frightening vivid nature. Last winter a long trip from the United States brought me to Sumatakyo, a small village located southwest of Tokyo, a...

Men only: powered up? (XO Motiveware)(includes related articles)
April 1, 1995... Or held down? At large? Or in a rut? On top? Or sucking up? You're the product of social conditioning. By the time you enter manhood, you've been conditioned to disregard your deepest desires and live for social approval. It isn't...

Wheel world. (new car models)
April 1, 1995... Time was, driveable cars came in two flavors - German and the other German. The automotive world is now a richer place. Today you can indulge your patrician aesthetic sensibilities and your need to pass series on uphill stretches of two-lane...

Lords of Sili-wood. (Asians as consumers of interactive entertainment)
April 1, 1995... Hollywood is being replaced by an Asian-driven Sili-wood. At the end of a hard day most professionals plop down on the same sofa and stare at the same screen. Exhaustion and sloth are Hollywood's two best friends. Without them, I suspect,...