The Asian Pacific American Heritage Month began Tuesday with the event "Lights, Camera, Asian," featuring a variety of speakers, followed by music and dinner. Sophy Yem '04 opened the event with a few remarks highlighting prominent Asian figures.The first speaker was Bryan Jung '04, president of the Asian-American Student Association, and finalist for the senior speaker competition. He spoke eloquently about his identity, and reflected on definitions of Asian-Pacific American character. Jung urged the audience to "always learn," especially outside of the classroom, and he highlighted how he learned about his heritage during his search for his own identity. "Mentoring" was another activity he deemed important, and he believed Asian Americans should "empower the community" and make their "underrepresented" voices heard.

Lalitha Chandrasekher '06 spoke after Jung. Her honest, emotional speech explained how she found her identity when she came to Brandeis. Initially she tried to assimilate into Brandeis, so she would not seem culturally different from anyone else. She felt confused and lost,until she participated in Mela, the Indian-American cultural festival. This reminded her of her own culture, and it helped her understand the importance of her family and background. The audience was advised to maintain awareness of their own cultural traditions and learn as much as possible from family.

The final speaker at this opening ceremony was Loung Ung, the award-winning author of the book, First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers. Ung was born in Cambodia, and had "a nice, warm, loving home." She gave an amusingly loving account of her early family life, until she was forced to leave her home when the Americans started bombing. "Cambodia became a prison," she said, and the war began to profoundly change her life.

Ung recounted how, as a child, she did not understand the politics or agenda of the Khmer Rouge, who claimed they wanted equality. Two million Cambodians, out of a population of seven million, died of disease, exhaustion or executions. Ung explained how she lost her parents, two of her sisters - a total of 21 relatives. Five of her brothers and sisters survived, but she had to leave three siblings behind when she left the refugee camp for Vermont in 1980.

Ung went on to describe the culture shock and loneliness she felt upon moving to Vermont. In the beginning, she didn't speak any English, and originally believed Vermont would be like Los Angeles; an impression gained from all the movies she had watched in the camp. Ung couldn't understand how or why Americans thought Uncle Ben's Rice was good; she described her first impression of the American staple as "cardboard-tasting."

Ung learned many Americans perpetuated shocking stereotypes concerning Asian women. When the film Full Metal Jacket was released, she was personally teased and told she looked like a prostitute. She rose above the immature comments, reminding herself the ignorant instigators "didn't know what Asians could be." Ung proved an Asian woman can be whatever she wants by attaining the position of National Spokesperson for Vietnam War Veterans Foundation. She campaigns against the use of land mines (she calls them the "true" weapons of mass destruction), bombs the size of hockey pucks, that take the lives and limbs of innocent civilians, even when war has ended.

Throughout her work, Ung has persevered and "refused to be the victim." She is strong, and certainly admirable, forced to define herself on her own terms. Her visits to Cambodia helped her learn a great deal about her identity and herself. Ung's closing words encouraged the audience members to follow their dreams, and refuse to let anyone tell them who to be or how to live.

"Be the author in your life," she urged, "write your own stories because you're the best one to do it."

The evening was rounded off with a performance from Odaiko New England. This group is based in Brookline, and was founded in 1995. Odaiko "takes traditional Japanese rhythms and infuses them with a modern spirit." The audience was treated to three pieces, "Crashing Waves," "Hachijo" and "Matsuri." Odaiko had a great energy, and presented a resounding sample of their work.