Executives

Crystal Tai, President

Crystal Tai tends to enjoy the finer things in life. A caffeine enthusiast, she can usually be found at one of the better coffee bars on campus. She has a vintage bike that she named Germaine, after the famous Aussie of course. Crystal is a fan of Asian Cinema, and enjoys saving screen captures for making desktop backgrounds later. She is nearing the end of a degree in Political Science, and hopes to travel the rest of Asia once graduated. Crystal comes from the ever-growing city of Hong Kong, a place which has inspired her in countless arenas of her studies. She has felt a lot of frustration coming from the turmoil of growing up on foreign soil. Though Canadian, she feels that Canada still has much to address regarding its multicultural status in the global community. At ACCO, she plans to focus more upon Asian issues within post-colonial life, feminism, generation/immigrant parent-child gaps, neo-Confucian societies and of course the age-old dilemma of ethnic and cultural identity. She hopes that we can celebrate and let our differences all hang out at the coming Un-Conference of 2010.

Kristina Chang, Vice-President

Kristina is a third year Asian Studies major at UBC. She has been with ACCO since 2008, when she organized the first ever A.JAM Fundraiser featuring performances by talented local Asian Canadian youth, attended by over 150 people in the UBC community. Her interests include  immigration,  Asian pop culture,  and multiculturalism. In her spare time, Kristina likes to read, write, watch movies and sing karaoke. She is excited to serve as VP this year and hopes to see you at all the ACCO events!

Anais Pang, Treasurer

Anais came to Vancouver from Hong Kong in Jan 2008. She is graduating from Langara College in April and she will be entering UBC in May as a third year student majoring in Political Science. She is enthusiastic in community services, especially issues relating to social justice. She has organized a fundraising event for 5.12 Sichuan Earthquake on behalf of Red Cross in May 2008. She was the co-founder of Oxfam Langara, one of the organizers of aWear Fashion Show, which is a fundraising fashion showcasing clothing designed by 10 local and international well-known designers. She is currently the Chinese Editor of UBC English-Chinese newspaper Perspectives and she is excited to be the treasurer of ACCO this year.

Teresa Tang, Vice-President, Promotions

Teresa Tang was born in Shanghai, and raised in Canada, which makes her a CBC (Chinese Born Canadian). Other than relentlessly downing cups of coffee to stay awake, she can be seen on campus engaging in dubious political discussions/rants. Teresa can be labelled as a “true UBC enthusiast”. Having completed a UBC undergraduate degree and worked 2 years at UBC serving students, she is yet still here, pursuing a second (final?) degree. Her graduate work focuses on China’s regional power and Sino-Canada trade relations. Academics aside, Teresa’s activities involve playing the piano, obsessing with food, surfing YouTube, debating-over-what-constitutes-of-good-music, and of course, exploring Asian-Canadianness. Through ACCO, Teresa hopes to discuss intra-Asian racism and “nice-guys-finish-last” syndrome, among many other salient topics

Jason Yi, Vice President, Community

Jason was born and raised in Toronto and is now in his second year at UBC, leaning towards a degree in English Lit and Philosophy. Although he didn’t grow up in a particularly traditional Chinese family, throughout his childhood he was signed up for things like extra math lessons, piano, Shaolin kung-fu and competitive table tennis, which he still enjoys. Even so, until around the age of 14, he always considered himself a banana – yellow on the outside, white on the inside. Since then, however, he’s been wondering whether he really wants this identity and whether perhaps he wants to be more like a bruised banana, mixed on the inside (except then he’d be white and brown instead of white and yellow…), and this is where ACCO comes in. Jason is excited to hopefully contribute as much as he wishes to learn. His strongest hope is that we Asian-North Americans, as well as the entire Asian diaspora, not only continue to savour, appreciate and explore our lush fusions of cultures, but just as importantly, if not more, we remember, understand and honour our roots.

Brian Kuo, Vice-President, Recruitment

Brian is a first year engineer at UBC. Although he was born in the United States, he has been moving between Taiwan and the States since kindergarten. The experience grants him an open mind to different cultures. He moved up the coast from California for university in 2009. To Brian, everything in Canada is new and exciting. Poutine is now his new favorite food here. Brian loves hanging out with friends and playing guitar and piano. Badminton is also another pastime he enjoys. Being a first year executive, he is looking forward to organizing the events ACCO is holding in the near future and is zealous in celebrating the Asian culture with everyone.

Jung Ah Won, Executive Planner

Jung Ah is a second year Commerce student whose prime goal is to try everything and anything throughout four years of UBC. Born in England, having lived in Korea for 12 years and in Canada for 8 years, she really is stuck between the two cultures. First year being involved in ACCO, she is very excited to start organizing for the Indie Music Festival because she loves Asian pop and rock. She always goes karaoke to celebrate end of exams and sings to the extent that her voice is gone the next day. Jung Ah cannot wait to meet others who share the same interest of promoting awareness of Asian Canadian issues and share her own experiences.

Lola Young, Executive Planner

Lola Young is a first year arts student at UBC and was born and raised in Vancouver B.C. She enjoys working with children and plans to become an elementary teacher in the future. This is her first year being involved with ACCO, and she is more than excited to step up to the plate to see what she can offer to the group. She wishes to spread “Asian love” through people of all cultures, so that everyone can celebrate their differences rather than stereotype them. Her optimistic and somewhat naïve nature makes her an easy person to talk to, so she will be happy to hear/discuss any input anyone may have. Outside of school, Lola enjoys being outdoors and trying new things. She has a big dream of one day traveling the world.

Narith Heng, Our Go-To Guy

Narith Heng was born in Bangkok, Thailand and is a mix of Khmer, Vietnamese, Chinese, Laos, and Thai ethnicity – a real Asian mutt. Perhaps this is why he feels no significant affiliation to any country besides the country he loves and grew up in—Canada. True to the nature of a Sagittarius, his curiosity and carefree nature is a blessing and a curse for it has allowed him to effectively interact with people without being too shy nor care too much about what other people think. Yet, he regards these attributes as a curse because people might mistake him as being egotistical, though that is not true. Narith’s curiosity and love for all Asian cultures has led him to travel all over Asia and gain many new experiences and insights.

Rainie Tian, Fundraiser Coordinator

Rainie Tian is an undergraduate student in UBC’s Faculty of Arts. She would like to major in either Environmental Design or English. Through her volunteer work, Raine gained experience working with children, artists and etc., which definitely makes her a people person. Moreover, she has a creative side as she enjoys drawing and working on art projects. And being the well-rounded person she is, Rainie also enjoys swimming and playing volleyball.

Mark Lee, Co-Founder

Mark Lee is a professional Student currently studying Communications. A reformed “angry Asian man”, while no longer so dogmatic about it he’s still down with the cause. Mark wants to see the movement move forward by bringing awareness to the masses so future generations don’t have to deal with so many identity issues. His priorities include finding a solution to bridge the gap between the genders and helping frustrated guys find fulfillment. He is proud to see how far ACCO has come and is grateful to have been involved with this year’s UnConference and most likely, next year’s UnConference.

Angela Wong, Co-Founder, Webmaster

Angela Wong is a recent graduate from UBC’s History Honours Programme. Her field of study dealt primarily with the history Asian migration to the Americas, the Sino-Vietnamese, as well as transnational theory. She will be switching her focus to Policy Studies in the Asia Pacific Area and will begin her Master’s at UBC in September 2009. Eventually, she hopes to work in policy-making regarding international refugee crises. Angela has a keen interest in photography, literature, and spending quality time with her friends and family. She has been with ACCO since the beginning and is proud to continue working with ACCO.