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Saturday November 7, 2009

Migrant makes history

State Side
By LIM AI LEE


While elections in a few US states this week saw mostly narrow margin fights, a Taiwanese migrant scored a landslide victory in New York to become city comptroller.

NEW York City has a new money manager, and he is Asian-American.

John Liu, who migrated from Taiwan with his parents when he was five, made history by becoming the first Asian-American to be elected City Comptroller or chief financial officer of the city on Tuesday.

Proud migrant: File picture showing Liu, the first Asian-American elected to public office in New York.

The popular 42-year-old Democrat received an astounding 76% of the total 1.1 million votes, trouncing Republican candidate Joseph Mendola who obtained 19% and three other opponents.

Liu, whose naturally smiling face is said to be a plus factor for a politician reaching out to the working class, was humbled by the support given by New Yorkers.

“The significance of my victory is not lost on me … indeed, this is a historic night for New York City and a milestone for Asian-Americans across the nation,” Liu announced in his victory speech.

During his campaign, Liu talked about eliminating waste and fraud from the city’s budget, safeguarding the city’s pension fund and making sure the stimulus funds would be used properly as his top priorities when he enters office.

Liu is in for an uphill task as the city faces a US$5bil (RM17bil) budget deficit, but he has pledged to do his best.

“I am extremely optimistic about the opportunity to bring change to the city and the economic outlook for our future,” said Liu, who has a degree in mathematical physics and once worked as a manager for auditing giant Price WaterhouseCoopers.

For the past eight years, Liu has been a city council member, representing Flushing, which has the largest immigrant population among the city’s five boroughs.

His political inspiration is said to have come from his father, a great admirer of America’s famous political family, the Kennedys.

He changed Liu’s Chinese name Chunyi to John after migrating to the US in honor of John F. Kennedy.

Liu’s brothers were given the names Robert and Edward, while the elder Liu became Joseph.

There is now even talk of Liu running for mayor when the next race comes up in four years, although he has indicated wanting to continue another term as comptroller.

A lot, of course, would depend on how he fares over the next few years.

Lei Yoong, an elderly grocer in Flushing Chinatown, flashed a broad grin when asked about Liu’s victory. “Ho hoi sum (Very happy),” she replied in Cantonese.

University researcher Sara Chien, a Taiwanese living in New York for the last 12 years, described Liu’s election as an inspiration for other Asian-Americans to seek public office.

Liu is one of the leaders of the Asian Political Leadership Fund, whose purpose is to promote political leadership from within the Asian-American community.

Chien added that Asians are more prudent with their spending, and she expected Liu to tighten the belt on unnecessary spending as the city’s fiscal manager.

She also believed Liu’s support did not just come from Asian-Americans but other communities as well, given that seven out of 10 people had voted for him.

In comparison, New York’s richest man Michael Bloomberg, who spent more than US$90mil (RM306mil) to seek a third term as mayor, only managed to scrape through with 51% of the votes against his Democrat opponent Bill Thompson’s 46%.

Bloomberg’s aides have reportedly said the large number of Asian-Americans who voted in Liu had an impact on the mayoral race. Liu had campaigned with Thompson, the city’s former comptroller whom the mainstream media had dismissed as a non-credible candidate.

This week’s elections in several states mostly saw an anti-incumbent backlash sweeping the United States.

In New Jersey and Virginia, challengers unseated incumbents in the race for governor.

In New Jersey, Christopher J. Christie became the first Republi-can to win statewide in 12 years, after promising in his campaign to tackle the state’s fiscal problems.

The elections marked the first major elections since the US plunged into its worst recession in decades, and the message from voters is clear.

Politicans are reminded not to take things for granted as the people struggle to pull through the economic crisis.

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