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Navy Region Singapore Embraces End of Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month

Photo By Petty Officer 2nd Class Christopher Veloicaza | The Navy Region Singapore community celebrated the end of Asian American Pacific...... read more read more

SINGAPORE

05.25.2017

Story by Christopher Veloicaza

Singapore Area Coordinator

The Navy Region Singapore community celebrated the end of Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month with much fervor, May 25, at its Terror Club dining and sports complex.

The two-hour event, which began at 11:30 a.m., featured an Asian-inspired buffet, opening remarks from the Navy Region Center Singapore Commanding Officer, a fashion show segment with participants discussing cultural facts and information and a Filipino cultural dance presentation.

“With more than 24,000 Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders filling the U.S. Navy’s ranks, today’s celebration illustrates the dedication and pride of service to our nation,” said U.S. Navy Capt. Jeffrey D. Hutchinson, NRCS Commanding Officer. "This event highlights those cultures that help encompass the tapestry of our Navy."

For guest speaker U.S. Navy Capt. Loren K. Masuoka, Medical Officer for Commander, Logistics Group Western Pacific, factual events from his Japanese-American heritage made an indelible impact on him. Masuoka spoke about the experiences his relatives had during World War II as many of his family members were forced into Japanese internment camps during the war as per Executive Order 9066, signed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on Feb. 19, 1942. The order allowed the Secretary of War to remove any or all people from military areas, as deemed appropriate. Thus, the Western portion of the United States was defined as a military area and approximately 110,000 Japanese Americans were allocated and moved to secluded internment camps.

“They were the main ones that were singled out,” Masuoka said. “It was due to the war’s hysteria in which Japanese-Americans couldn’t be trusted.”

After Masuoka’s speech, a cultural fashion show took place with models wearing clothing from their ethnic origin. Each model described the clothing worn and also contributed factual information of their home country such as tips in their indigenous food preparation and symbolic figurines that are widely seen throughout their country. The countries represented during the fashion show included: Vietnam, Philippines, South Korea, China, mainland Japan and Okinawa, Japan.

The highlight of the celebration featured a special Filipino cultural dance called, Tinikling in which dancers negotiate their foot movement between and over two moving bamboo poles on the ground. The dancers performed two sets of routines before asking audience members to also participate in the dance.

For LS1 (SW) Jocelyn Robinson, Naval Supply Systems Command Fleet Logistics Center (NAVSUP FLC) Yokosuka, Site Singapore, having assisted in the coordination of the event was special to her in terms of having shared her Filipino culture.

“The opportunity to showcase Tinikling to the audience was a delight because the attendees witnessed a Filipino celebratory dance that is a mainstay of our heritage,” Robinson said.

As Navy Region Singapore wraps up Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month, its Sailors and DoD civilians and their families continue to participate and honor other cultures and their heritage celebrations throughout the year.