A North Hempstead council member has started a new tradition of recognizing leaders and accomplishments in the town’s Asian American and Pacific Islander, known as the AAPI.
Council Member Christine Liu held the town’s first Annual AAPI Trailblazer Awards ceremony May 13.
“We didn’t have any kind of AAPI ceremony in the town,” Liu said, explaining what motivated her to organize the ceremony. “I feel like the Asian community is growing very quickly on Long Island, especially in the Town of North Hempstead. I thought it’d be wonderful to recognize and highlight individuals who achieved great accomplishments in our community.”
The event honored 12 individuals and groups, including Alex Au, the first Asian American trustee in the Village of Great Neck Plaza; Angel Walia, the state girls’ tennis champion; Briana Wong, who won the title of National American Miss New York Jr. Teen; Jeff Shi, the first Asian American trustee on the Great Neck Board of Education; and the Ohana Paddling Association for launching the inaugural Dragon Boat Festival.
Liu said she identified the honorees through her community engagement and by communicating with local schools.
“I feel like we need to recognize students for athletic and academic achievements as much as possible. I’m all about supporting our students here and highlighting their achievements. So, when the school notifies us of something amazing, I make sure to put it on the list for this ceremony,” Liu said. “In terms of the adults, that was more like me getting to know the community more, and saying, ‘Oh, wow, these Asian leaders have done so much for the Asian community.’”
She said she worked to get to know the community deeply, visit senior groups and businesses and find out who the leaders are to prepare for the event.
Liu spoke about all the honorees at length. She said she began with the adult award winners first and the student winners second to ensure the younger members of the community learned about the accomplishments of elders in their community.
“I had the adults get honored first, so that the students could hear about all the work that these leaders are doing in the community and can be inspired even further,” Liu said. “A lot of the parents of these students came up and were just wowed. It was wonderful for our kids to hear about these leaders and be inspired by them to do more.”
“There was inspiration in the room,” she added. “I felt it was very satisfying and very rewarding for these students as well.”
Other honorees included Emma Lee Wen, a top 40 finalist in the Regeneron Science Talent Search; Ethan Yip, a silver medalist in the World Junior Wushu Championship; Larry Hung, the founder of a special needs training and employment program; and the Ng brothers, the first Asian American family of three brothers to serve in the NYPD.
Liu said she looks forward to hosting the festival annually and seeing how it grows and evolves in the years to come.
“I think this is just the beginning,” she said. “These individuals are only from my district. There are many Asian Americans with wonderful accomplishments throughout the entire town. I’m looking forward to possibly expanding in the future and highlighting more achievements throughout the town. It’s my honor to represent this community of people and to highlight their achievements.”
