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May 30, 2024

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Welcome to another edition of AHN awaken*! Apart from our guest, I’m excited to introduce a new member of our team, Han Yue Yin! Han Yue is a current Stanford GSB student and was my fellow jazz bandmate in college. Although this article was written by me (Edwin), Han Yue co-interviewed with me and will be taking the lead on writing some great articles in the future. Everyone, please welcome Han Yue!

Our guest for this edition is Larry Liu, co-founder and CEO of Weee! (exclamation mark included). Weee! is the leading online Asian supermarket in America, think Amazon but for Asian groceries. Larry is an exceptional founder, and his journey of immigrating to America without any connections into founding a company worth $4.1 billion truly exemplifies the American dream. As an aside, Han Yue and I were especially excited about this interview as avid users of Weee! ourselves. Without further ado:

The Origins of Weee!

Our first question for Larry was how the idea for Weee! first came about:

Originally, we started as a WeChat (Chinese messaging app popular with the American diaspora) group-buying company. I believe it was really an opportunity we observed around the 2014-2015 time frame. This was when WeChat became extremely popular among Chinese immigrants and many people formed WeChat groups to buy food together, among other things. We found this to be a very interesting business model. As you may know, I was an eBay seller for more than 10 years and was familiar with the traditional e-commerce model, which is search-based. So, when I saw the group buys, I thought it was a completely new model, not search-based, but recommendation-based. I believed it was very promising. That’s when we decided to quit our jobs and start the business. However, it turned out not to be the right model. We pivoted in 2017 because social buying was not what we thought it was. It was not the ultimate solution to solve the lack of service experienced by Asian Americans for their food needs. The delivery-to-home model is a much better model. So, we pivoted in 2017. I believe it’s one of the greatest pivots in history.

The reason we pivoted was because we couldn’t grow the original group buy model. We couldn’t raise money because we didn’t grow. This forced us to think very hard about the fundamentals. That’s when we realized that the reason most people used group buys was actually because they didn’t have easy, affordable access to the food they love. It wasn’t apparent in the beginning because people were group buying all kinds of things. But those were only distractions. When we thought deeper, it was about the food. That’s why we had to pivot. 

Following up, we asked Larry what lessons they were able to port over from their group-buying stage into their current business model:

We learned a lot during the group buying stage. We had already built some warehousing and delivery capability during the group buy era. Many vendors didn’t want to sell to the group leaders directly, so we had to build a warehouse to buy a lot of products from the vendors. We acted as the supplier to many of the group leaders. This already made us into the warehousing and delivery side of things. We also learned that people were willing to wait for great products that were hard to find. This gave us the confidence to not do same-day delivery or on-demand.

Obviously, we had to ask what were these products that people were willing to wait for:

It’s usually the products that are hard to find even at Asian supermarkets. For example, super fresh fish, very fresh produce, and fruits. In the early days of group buying, the Pacific Black Cod was very popular. People were buying pork bellies together because they were not easy to find in mainstream supermarkets. During winter time, a lot of Chinese immigrants make sausages themselves, so they buy a lot of pork bellies. 

One of our most popular items was Kyoho grapes. Kyoho grapes are not always available in Asian supermarkets. Additionally, Asian supermarkets have issues with consistent quality, the range of products, and the fact that a lot of people live far away from those supermarkets. That’s why those kinds of products were very attractive. During the group buy days, we would never do tofu, soy sauce, or green onions. Those kinds of products were not considered exciting for group buys. So we only would do, like I said, super fresh seafood or produce or restaurant food or things not so readily available.

The Business of Weee!

One of the big ongoing initiatives at Weee! is adding storefronts for more ethnicities, complete with their own goods. We asked Larry what opportunities and challenges they’ve experienced expanding into more ethnicities:

All of them are very underserved, which makes our business very attractive to all these ethnicities. If you look at U.S. history, there was a very important piece of legislation passed by Congress called the Immigration Act of 1965. It really started this whole demographic shift in this country. It’s a once-in-a-century shift. That’s when the Asian and Latino populations started to grow in the U.S. Right now, if you look at the Chinese population, five to six million people in the U.S., this group is still quite small, less than two percent of the U.S. population, so it’s very hard for mainstream supermarkets to try to serve the specific needs of Chinese Americans. It doesn’t make sense for them to focus on this two percent of the population and try to bring in thousands of products to serve them. That gave opportunities for offline Chinese supermarkets, but the offline model is not the ideal model to serve low-density populations. That’s why there aren’t that many such stores. 

Ranch 99 is the biggest Chinese supermarket chain. The biggest Korean chain is H Mart. It took them more than 40 years to build less than 100 stores. The reason is that the population density is not high enough for them to build thousands of stores. All the mainstream supermarkets have thousands of stores. But these ethnic ones can never achieve that, which means they will always be more inconvenient to access. And that’s physics. You just can’t have that many stores when the population is so low. The good thing for our business is that our model is a better model. You don’t have to drive to us, we deliver to you. We have very large warehouses and we can cover a very wide range. Another big advantage for us is that we can be authentic to multiple ethnicities. An offline Chinese supermarket can never be an Indian supermarket at the same time. An offline Korean supermarket can never be a Filipino supermarket at the same time. No matter how you design this, it’s impossible. But online, you go to us, the first thing we ask you to do is choose the store. You choose the Filipino store, it’s all Filipino. You choose the Vietnamese store, it’s all Vietnamese. We can really be authentic to multiple ethnicities, and that can only be done online.

One thing that caught our attention was Larry’s point about how sparse populations inhibit additional stores which inhibit accessible stores, which would make more people turn to online stores such as Weee! We were curious if the converse was true, whether or not customers use Weee! less in Asian-dense areas where there are accessible in-person stores, like in cities such as Cupertino, CA:

That’s actually not the case. We actually have a lot of customers in Cupertino. Here’s the reason: our assortment is not the same as offline Asian supermarkets. A lot of things we carry, they don’t carry, and a lot of things we carry consistently, they don’t carry consistently. The assortment of items is differentiated. We also have a third-party marketplace. Right now, we have more than 50,000 third-party marketplace products on Weee!, these are all products that brick-and-mortar stores don’t carry. We have sellers in Japan, Korea, and China. Some other sellers are local restaurants and local bakeries. For example, on Weee! you can buy a local bakery product at the same price you would pay in the local bakery, and that is just not available in other apps. You can go to DoorDash, you buy the same product, you pay 40 percent more, 50 percent more depending on what’s your total order value. We have a lot of products that actually aren’t available from Asian supermarkets. In fact, we have slightly better prices than Asian supermarkets because our supply chain is more efficient. Even if you live in Cupertino, we have a better selection and prices. Plus, you don’t have to go out. You don’t have to spend your entire Saturday afternoon grocery shopping. You have better things to do. I’m not saying offline supermarkets shouldn’t exist. That’s not what I mean. We actually don’t see them as competitors. I think that they will exist for a long time and a lot of people like shopping offline. That’s totally fine. We just try to serve underserved communities and we believe we have better products and services than anyone in the marketplace.

A common customer behavior in Asia that hasn’t quite made it to the US is browsing online stores. For instance, most people who go on Amazon already know what they want to buy and only search for that, you generally don’t wander a disparate tab and scroll through those listings. Given that Weee! targets people from Asia, we asked if Larry has noticed such behavior on Weee!

Our customers tend to browse more. With our design, we actually want people to browse more. There’s a common belief that grocery shopping is boring and repetitive. Almost every single website prominently features a ‘buy again’ option. Amazon does that because it makes sense. If you think of shopping as a chore, then it’s logical. However, we see grocery shopping, especially for immigrants, as an opportunity to discover exciting new things that they may not even know exist in the U.S. We always try to create that excitement. That’s why we want people to browse. These exciting products are also important for our user acquisition strategy. People tend to tell their friends about the exciting things they find on our site. If you buy things from Amazon or Safeway, you probably won’t tell your friends about it because it’s the same old thing. But our customers actually tell their friends a lot after they buy something from us because we offer a lot of exciting products.

For our readers (and ourselves!), we asked Larry for examples of some of these exciting products on Weee!:

Nowadays, we’re really strong at seasonal fruits. We really care about flavor because our customers do too. We carry things like the Ori Mandarin from Israel, which is very tasty. Our dragon fruits and coconuts are super popular. In fact, we’re America’s largest retailer of fresh coconuts.

It’s fascinating because this ties in with our multi-ethnicity strategy. We have a lot of customers from different ethnicities. People from Vietnam, China, the Philippines, Southeast Asia, and India all consume coconuts. We are the only place that aggregates so much demand for coconuts and our price is unbeatable. For instance, if you go to Whole Foods, a coconut costs $4.99 each. If you buy on Weee!, it’s $14 for nine. It’s the best price on the market and our volume is really big. We’re also strong in fruits, vegetables, and hot pot-related products. We have all kinds of sliced meat, lamb, beef, pork, and different sauces and vegetables.

Larry’s Personal Growth

Although Weee! is not Larry’s first venture (he did some dropshipping previously), it is the first business he has scaled. As such, we asked him about his process of learning how to be a leader:

It was not very natural. It was a very steep learning curve for me. I managed like two people before I started Weee! at my previous company where I worked in finance. So I had very limited management experience, but as a founder CEO, you just have to learn everything on the fly. Not just managing people, but also how to raise money, how to come up with business strategies, and how to communicate the strategies to your team. 

I read a lot of books. I like to read. So I guess I had some knowledge on paper. This was my opportunity to apply that knowledge to the real world. I also reflect a lot. I’m a huge believer in deliberate practice. So I think I approached the job as something I need to really break down into different areas. For each area, I try to have some mechanism to get feedback and to check whether I did well or not so well. One of the reasons I was really attracted to retail is because retail gives you a very fast feedback loop. If you do a B2B business or pharmaceutical, it can take years for you to get the feedback. But in retail, if you do something right, you can literally see the results in minutes.

Also, I later realized that my finance background gave me an unusual habit. I try to forecast everything. For a lot of people, if you ask them about their strategy, they can’t tell you the impact of that strategy. I think forecasting is important because it requires understanding the mechanism between the input and the output. It also gives you the chance to constantly compare your expectations to the actuals, allowing you to fine-tune your understanding of the business. That feedback is very beneficial for improvement. 

I also hired really good people and learned from them. Our COO is very experienced. When she joined us, she managed teams with hundreds of people. I learned a lot from her. A lot of our management practice is what she brought to us. It’s really a combination of learning from experienced leaders and your own curiosity to constantly get better, to seek feedback, and just a lot of hard work.

We followed up by asking Larry if wished that he had done anything differently in his journey:

I think everything that happened was necessary. If I went back and told myself 10 years ago the things I know today, I still wouldn’t learn from my own advice. There are so many management books, and so many wise people out there. They give talks. Can you really learn from that? Even this conversation, can you really learn from this? I don’t think so. I think it’s just one piece of information. When I read a book now, I see it as one data point, one piece of information. I have to actually do it or be in the process of doing it, then revisit the concept I learned on paper and try to connect that concept to my real experience to make it part of my own. But without the doing part, the information is just a piece of information, nothing more. I could go back and tell myself a lot of things, but it wouldn’t help me 10 years before.

I have the habit of reading certain books over and over again at different stages of my life. For example, one of my favorite books is Sam Walton’s autobiography, “Made in America”. It’s very interesting. Throughout my journey, every time I read it, I pick up different things. The book didn’t change, I changed. A lot of things I didn’t understand before, but now I can understand because my experience grew. Sam Walton, I think when he wrote the book, he was diagnosed with cancer already. He probably gave everything he knew and put it in the book, but unfortunately, most people don’t understand all those things. They have to experience it and then they can relate to that. That’s why I think reading a really good book over and over again is a good idea.

I had heard Larry talk about Sam Walton in other interviews before so I figured that Walton must be one of Larry’s favorite entrepreneurs. We asked Larry what draws him to Sam Walton:

There are a few things I really admire about him. Firstly, in his whole life, he only did this one thing. He started Walmart and then he just stuck to it. He spent his whole life working on that. I’m attracted to that kind of entrepreneur. I’m not attracted to so-called serial entrepreneurs. I admire people who just try to do one thing super well, the best in the world. Also, he’s kind of an underdog. He was in Arkansas, a Midwest town. For a long time, Walmart only served towns with less than 5,000 people. It’s like how we at Weee! focus on serving minorities.  But he, as an underdog, built a business against all the odds. He started in the late 40s, and early 50s. His company went public around 1980. It took him 30 years to bring the company public. But even going public was just the beginning. In the next 20 years, I think Walmart’s stock price grew like a thousand times. Now, I think it has the most revenue out of any U.S. company. He was the richest man in America, but he lived a very simple life. His values very much match my values. So, I do see the parallels with us. If you read his book, you will love him. He’s very simple. I like a simple life. I don’t want things to be so complicated. Just figure out one thing you want to do, and then go for it and spend the rest of your life pursuing it. 

Asian Representation and Identity

Given that Weee! is the largest platform selling ethnic foods, we asked Larry how he sees Weee!’s role in enhancing the representation of ethnic food in the broader American landscape: 

We actually have a lot of mainstream users, and they’re growing very rapidly. We are the top seller on TikTok Shop in the U.S. in the food and beverage category. Almost all our customers on TikTok are mainstream Americans. I think it’s a less intimidating way to shop for products from another ethnicity if you do it online. Let’s say it’s a Middle Eastern store. You just want this one thing, you really like the lamb, what do you have to do? You have to drive to the store, go in, and it’s very unfamiliar. The barrier for mainstream Americans to try Asian supermarkets is a lot higher if they try to do it offline. It’s a lot lower if they do it online.

Personally, I found this extremely insightful as I had never thought of that. When you go to ethnic grocers such as Ranch 99, the store employees sometimes don’t speak very much English. I never thought much of it since I can speak the language, but I can see how the experience could be a lot more intimidating than buying online. For our next question, we asked Larry how being an Asian immigrant has impacted your founder journey:

I’m a first-generation immigrant. I came to the U.S. 20 years ago. My experience really put me in the position to do this business. That’s why I want to be like Sam Walton. I think this is almost a perfect business for me, and I want to keep doing it for as long as I can. There are so many smart people in the world, but what you can accomplish has a lot to do with what position you are in to see and recognize a great opportunity. I just felt like I was at the right place at the right time and I had the right experience and I met the right people. I owe everything to my background as an Asian immigrant to do this business. There were a lot of challenges in the early days. It was very difficult to raise money because people in the VC industry, the mainstream investors, didn’t really understand this opportunity. They couldn’t relate to it. But we were lucky enough to find Asian partners from those investment firms in every round of financing. I think I counted eight or nine rounds. In every single round, there was at least one Asian partner in the deal. They understood what we were trying to do.

Shoutouts

If you ever find yourself looking for Asian groceries, please consider joining millions of other users and trying out Weee! You can order on the web at https://www.sayweee.com/en or through the app, which you can download from all major app stores.

Weee! is also looking to grow their exceptional team across all functions. If you would like to work at the fastest-growing ethnic e-grocer, please check out their available job openings at https://www.sayweee.com/company/careers.

Thank you Larry for joining us!

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Stories

Cheryl Mainland on Making Chinese Cool and Empowering the Next Generation

“Over time, I realized that speaking and understanding Chinese wasn’t just a ‘useful skill’—it is my superpower and key to belonging,” says Cheryl Mainland, Founder & CEO of Dragon Academy. Her fluency in Chinese has been a source of identity and has played a key role in her journey—from understanding her cultural heritage to excelling at Harvard in East Asia Studies and negotiating successful global business deals.

Recognizing the power of language to bridge cultures and connect with 1.3 billion native Chinese speakers, Cheryl is now committed to creating an engaging and interactive multi-media platform for children and adults worldwide to learn Chinese through Dragon Academy.

At its core, Dragon Academy is an epic tale of nine multicultural teens journeying through six mystical realms brimming with ancient legends, mythical beasts, and dragons – all united in a quest to bridge worlds. This story is told across multiple media formats and channels, including a book series, social media content, an AI animation series, and other cultural initiatives. Complementing their adventure is a highly gamified app that transforms Chinese language learning into an exciting, immersive, (and even addictive) experience.

A mother of three, serial entrepreneur, lifelong adventurer, and avid surfer, Cheryl has become an inspiration to many. She has been featured in top media outlets such as The Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, Vogue, Tatler, WWD, and numerous other prestigious publications.

Cheryl Mainland, Founder & CEO, Dragon Academy (Image Source: Samanta Katz)

The Struggle of Language and Identity

Cheryl embodies the essence of a third-culture kid. Born in Taiwan, she is half-Chinese, half-American, and raised across Asia, she navigated the complexities of identity, language, and belonging from an early age.

Cheryl with her maternal and paternal grandmothers Taipei, Taiwan, 1983 (Image Source: Cheryl Mainland)

“Like many of us, I grew up straddling two worlds. The ultimate translator of languages, cultures, generations.  I carry with me the collective memory of (boring) Saturday Chinese school, the struggle of keeping up with my Chinese lessons, and the challenge of celebrating my heritage while forging my own path,” Cheryl says. “After having kids, I witnessed their similar struggles – nothing has changed.” She recognized that the traditional methods of learning Chinese – endless hours of copying hanzi characters on square grid paper (田字格) – have experienced minimal change over the centuries, relying on rote memorization rather than engagement.

Not wanting her children to face the same language learning struggles she faced (and hundreds of thousands of other Chinese learners), Cheryl is embracing this as an opportunity to spark a cultural movement that breathes new life into the Chinese language and culture. Dragon Academy’s strategy ignites a passion for learning through an epic narrative delivered via a highly gamified app, an AI mini-series, a book series, social media content, and a future film adaptation. Each of the multimedia platform components captures the story-based enthusiasm, teaching Chinese through nine proprietary building block methods that make learning Chinese fun, engaging, and truly relevant.

Dragon Academy Universe: the foundation of a highly gamified Chinese language learning app, book series, cartoons, feature films, documentaries, merchandise, and console games. (Image Source: Cheryl Mainland)

Cheryl’s Entrepreneurial Journey: Empowering the Masses

Throughout Cheryl’s entrepreneurial ventures, a constant theme has been empowering communities by identifying unmet needs and transforming the “uncool” into “cool” through innovative solutions. From dressing corporate women in clothes that boosted their self-confidence in the boardroom (The Fold London), to inspiring tweens and teens “to wear their invisible crown” on all special occasions (PromGirl.com), to reimagining sun-protective fashion—proving that staying safe in the sun doesn’t mean sacrificing style (Mott50)—her work consistently uplifts and inspires.


Most recently, to celebrate the launch of Dragon Academy Book 1 during Lunar New Year 2025, Cheryl partnered with artist Archie Geotina to honor the 46 million-strong Chinese diaspora through Pearls, an art series. Chinese Pearls features three generations of female surfers from diverse Chinese heritage – Indonesian Chinese, Singaporean Chinese, mixed-Chinese families, adoptees, and expats – riding Bali’s iconic waves in modern QiPao, empowering the community and highlighting its resilience, heritage, and unity.

A Future for the Community

“As an Asian American entrepreneur, Asian American mom, and a lifelong advocate for bridging cultures, I resonate deeply with AHN’s mission to uplift and empower the global Asian diaspora,” Cheryl affirms.  

She draws a parallel between Dragon Academy’s goal to reignite the next generation’s connection to their heritage and AHN’s commitment to rewriting narratives and celebrating Asian excellence. When asked about her future plans, Cheryl confidently states, “We are on an ambitious mission to increase the percentage of the world that speaks Chinese by 5% over the next five years.”

An estimated 5 million people started learning Japanese because of Manga, 15 million took up Korean because of K-pop, Dragon Academy is set to start a Chinese language movement. By juxtaposing storytelling and technology, Dragon Academy is approaching Chinese language learning from an “obsess, learn, master” order. 

“Imagine a world where kids want to learn Chinese because they see it as their ultimate superpower and key to belonging. That’s the future we’re building,” exclaims Cheryl.

And the journey is just beginning. Dragon Academy Book 1 launched at the beginning of this year. The highly gamified learning app, immersive AI mini-series, and a host of exciting cultural initiatives are currently in development. The first round of external investment has commenced – seeking visionary, like-minded investors to join this transformative movement.  Dragon Academy is poised to redefine the landscape of Chinese language learning and cultural exploration.

DRAGON ACADEMY “Traditional Scene.” The OG Dragon Keepers, ancestors of the 9 multicultural teenage protagonists of the Dragon Academy Universe. (Artist: Andrew Archer)

Learn More about Dragon Academy

Website: https://dragonacademy.com/

Instagram: @dragonacademy_official

Book 1: www.amazon.com/dp/B0DM4YDLL3

Connect With Cheryl Mainland

Instagram: @cherylmainland

LinkedIn: Cheryl Mainland

Email: Cheryl@dragonacademy.com

  • 5 min read
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Stories

The Power of Representation: Ami Desai’s Impact on Media and Beauty

The path to success in content creation is never paved with roses, and no one understands this quite like Ami Desai. From her beginnings in broadcast journalism to becoming a well-known beauty and lifestyle influencer, Ami has shaped her career through authenticity, adaptability, and a strong dedication to representation.

As an Indian-American raised in Los Angeles, Ami grew up as a first-generation South Asian immigrant, a generation that deeply felt the need for greater South Asian representation in the media. After earning her degree from UC Berkeley and a master’s from Boston University, she built a solid media foundation through roles at CNN and Inside Edition. During this time behind the scenes, she discovered her passion for on-camera hosting, eventually landing her dream role as the host of the first digital show for Oprah.com. In 2011, Ami made a pivotal move by hosting a luxury travel show in India, which allowed her to reconnect with her roots and gain international exposure.

Simultaneously, Ami began building her own beauty business with her family. She went on to become one of the first South Asian content creators to collaborate with major brands like Toyota and Pampers on large campaigns, while also highlighting important Indian traditions and holidays such as Diwali. Recognizing the lack of representation for her ethnicity in the media and beauty industries, Ami founded her life’s mission, merging her experiences as a host, makeup artist, and mom to help other women advocate for themselves while balancing various roles. This gap in representation became her motivation to amplify underrepresented voices and promote diversity.

In 2016, Ami took a leap of faith, leaving traditional media behind to forge her own path in the influencer space. Despite pitching herself as a contributor or expert to various outlets, she faced rejection, which drove her to create her own content on social media platforms. Through this experience, she realized that content creation involved more than just posting visually appealing images—it required strategic planning, engagement tracking, and brand pitching. Even as the industry pushed her to narrow her niche, Ami confidently embraced her multifaceted identity, sharing content that reflected her life as a mother, beauty expert, and entrepreneur. This authenticity deeply resonated with her audience, ultimately helping her build a loyal fanbase connecting creators and audiences.

In the latest episode of the Creators Podcast, presented by Asian Hustle Network in collaboration with Meta Prosper, Ami shares a story of resilience, adaptability, and a deep dedication to her community. Whether you’re an aspiring content creator, a beauty lover, or someone who enjoys learning about authentic journeys, this episode is filled with valuable insights and inspiration.

Connect with Ami Desai:

Instagram: @amidesai

  • 3 min read
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News

Is the Model Minority Myth an Obstacle to Real Representation?

The Trap of Positive Stereotypes

The original “Charlie’s Angels” was a successful hit, not only because it made $93 million and grossed more than $264 million at global offices, but it also created exposure for Asian American representation.

Lucy Liu plays Alex Munday, a strategist, expert martial artist, and agent. Munday’s parents were Havard professors of economics and philosophy, and she, at an early age, was a child prodigy excelling at chess, equestrianism, fencing, archery, and gymnastics. Besides that, she holds a medical degree, spent her teenage years learning with a Tibetan guru, danced with the Stuttgart Ballet, and was a part-time aerospace engineer and on-call consultant for NASA. 

Lucy Liu as Alex Munday in 'Charlie's Angels' (Image source: 'Charlie's Angels' - 2000)

Lucy Liu as Alex Munday in ‘Charlie’s Angels’ (Image source: ‘Charlie’s Angels’ – 2000)

Does the entire introduction sound familiar? Swap out the name Alex Munday for your overachieving Asian cousin, sibling, or the “top Asian kid” your parents always compare you to, and you’d likely end up with a strikingly similar description.

It is undeniable that contemporary films, comedies, memes, and other forms of content have taken extensive lengths to represent Asian culture. Yet, they have also perpetuated a troubling stereotype. To complicate matters, many within the Asian community unknowingly reinforce these portrayals, cementing these narratives even further.

The article’s purpose is not to mock or diminish the accomplishments of any individual, community, or effort in striving for representation and equality. On the contrary, it is essential to celebrate the contributions of the many talents and media that have significantly advanced global awareness and appreciation of Asian culture and heritage. Hence, the article wishes to provide a nuanced perspective on contemporary topics while providing debate on the norms, beliefs, and habits created in our society.

What is the Model Minority Myth?

According to the University of Michigan, Densho, and other sources, after World War II, the United States underwent significant changes in its laws and policies to address mounting international criticism of racial prejudice and ongoing protests from ethnic communities within the country. 

“Success Story, Japanese American Style” by William Petersen (Image source: Smithsonian APA)

“Success Story, Japanese American Style” by William Petersen (Image source: Smithsonian APA)

As PBS illustrates, new regulations like the Chinese Exclusion Act shifted toward dismantling exclusionary measures and advocating for Asian communities and immigrants, particularly skilled and educated migrants. The University of Michigan further exemplifies, articles like “Success Story, Japanese American Style” by William Petersen began to appear  – praising how despite years of racial prejudice and discrimination, Japanese Americans were still able to achieve great socioeconomic status thanks to hard work and other cultural values of discipline and compliance to social hierarchy. 

By focusing on the facets of income, education level, and low crime rates as the definition of success instead of underlining economic and social factors, Asian Americans are often portrayed as hardworking, disciplined, and intelligent—a concept scholars refer to as the model minority. 

Model Minority Myth in Silencing Activism

While this stereotype may appear beneficial on the surface, Ted-Ed, in collaboration with Densho, emphasizes that there are no “good” stereotypes. As cited by PBS, cultural historian Robert G. Lee argues that such inclusion does not promote equity but instead undermines activism and disregards the struggles of other marginalized groups.

This is significant because the model minority myth obscures disparities within the diverse Asian American community, perpetuating the misconception that Asian identity is monolithic, often reduced to just China, Korea, and Japan. Furthermore, the stereotype marginalizes individuals who fail to meet its expectations, silencing those who speak out against it.

Societal pressure on Asian individuals (Image source: Kamanaoleeward)

Societal pressure on Asian individuals (Image source: Kamanaoleeward)

For instance, an Asian student with subpar grades might be labeled as lazy rather than being understood in the context of contributing factors like economic hardship or family struggles. The danger of accepting “positive” stereotypes lies in their ability to perpetuate harmful narratives and create unrealistic standards, fostering a cycle of self-framing that damages both individuals and the broader Asian community.

When Representation Unintentionally Reinforces Stereotypes

Let’s use another example to understand this dichotomy. 

Ke Huy Quan, the American actor of Vietnamese descent, is well known in the notorious “Indiana Jones and The Temple of Doom”, “Everything Everywhere All At Once”, and “Loki” Season 2. His selection as an exemplar highlights how his journey encapsulates the model minority stereotype and demonstrates how Asian communities may unconsciously perpetuate such narratives.

In “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom”, Quan portrays Short Round, a clever Japanese sidekick aiding Dr. Jones on his adventures. Ironically, this character aligns with the early stages of the model minority stereotype. Short Round comes from a disadvantaged background, surviving through pickpocketing, but his association with Dr. Jones transforms him into a more thoughtful and capable individual, elevating his social status by the film’s conclusion.

In “Everything Everywhere All At Once”, Quan embraces the archetype of the modern Bruce Lee or Jackie Chan—a martial arts expert and mentor to the protagonist, reminiscent of Mr. Miyagi in “The Karate Kid”. Finally in Loki Quan plays Ouroboros, a lovable and intelligent technician who once was a writer and a teacher of theoretical physics at Cal Tech. 

Ke Huy Quan (Image source: The Independent)

Ke Huy Quan (Image source: The Independent)

In a meta and somewhat ironic twist, both Ke Huy Quan’s career and the roles he portrays reflect how Asians may unknowingly perpetuate the stereotypes they are often subject to. While Quan’s rise to fame is a testament to his dedication and perseverance, his portrayal of characters like the “witty young sidekick” learning from a Caucasian hero, the martial arts mentor, and the intellectual expert, inadvertently reinforces the very tropes that have shaped the Asian image in media. Despite his immense talent and the love he has earned within the Asian community, these roles contribute to the ongoing cycle of cultural expectations and representation.

Breaking the Myth of the Model Asian

It is entirely debatable that it is not the fault of the actors. We admire Ke Huy Quan for his remarkable journey and his representation of the Asian community. Nevertheless, through observing content produced by modern media, one will recognize certain tropes from the Asian community. 

Steven He satirizes Asian parents, Jimmy O. Yang joking about Asian habits, Lily in “Pitch Perfect”, Rajesh Koothrappali in “The Big Bang Theory”, Louis and Jessia Huang in “Fresh Off The Boat”, and the list goes on. Even the news you see about an “Asian underdog politician” rising to power or the “overlooked Asian business owner” continues to reinforce these themes. While these portrayals are well-intended, they still fall into a pattern of representation that, ironically, reflects the very stereotypes they aim to challenge.

These stereotypes create an environment of competition and segregation in the Asian community, where individuals feel pressured to conform to a specific image. To maintain an idealized representation, certain behaviors become expected, specific careers are favored, and everyone feels compelled to excel in particular areas.

A ramification of this mindset would be far-reaching. For example, economic struggles may be ignored, as the stereotype dictates that all Asians should be successful. Mental health issues among children are dismissed because it is assumed that the Asian parenting and education system naturally fosters resilience. Furthermore, social problems like drug use or teenage pregnancy are seen as impossible within this community because Asians are stereotypically perceived as disciplined and morally upright. These misconceptions, while seemingly small, perpetuate harmful beliefs and ultimately hinder inclusivity, reinforcing negative stereotypes that shape the broader perception of the Asian community.

Shaping Our Own Story in Media and Beyond

“There are more Asians than any kind of race on the planet. That means we are the majority, we dictate normal behavior,” Ronny Cheng states in his comedy skit.

Asia comprises 59% of the world’s population, hence we are the majority. However, this work is not a manifesto calling for the unification of an ideal but serves as a reflection of the society we live in. The media plays a pivotal role in shaping our perception. The argument is not to elicit a conspiracy theory but to help readers ponder the question, how do we want to be represented? Thanks to pioneers like Lucy Liu and Ke Huy Quan, the Asian community has gradually won more exposure from media outlets. Now, it is the turn of the new generation to represent the Asian community in all its diversity and complexity.

Sources:

The Conversation, Pew Research Center, Adoptive Families, 2 Sao, Vietcetera, TruTV, USA Today, Tien Phong, Screen Rant, Marvel, Mary Sue, Indiana Jones Wiki Fandom, Charlie Angels Wiki Fandom, Vanity Fair, Washington Post, Ted Ed, Densho, PBS, University of Michigan.

  • 8 min read
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News

The American Dream: A Promise, a Paradox, and the Asian Experience

The Immigrant Struggle

“We dream of going to America, to change our lives, we believed. But my life changed so much. I felt sad about life, didn’t know the language, and didn’t know the roads. I had no friends, so I felt very sad.” – Phong, a Vietnamese American expat interviewed by the Pew Research Center.

“I sometimes, just a little, wish that I would disappear so that my parents and my sister could be better off.” – Nolan, an Asian American interviewed by the Pew Research Center.

Dreams vs. Reality

The American Dream is often celebrated as a path to success, yet its reality is far more nuanced. Tales of rags to riches from Asian peers suggest its promise, but the Pew Research Center reports that one in ten Asian Americans still live in poverty as of 2024. The issue lies not solely in the Dream itself but in how it is constructed and understood.

For many Asians, the American Dream is synonymous with upward mobility achieved through hard work and resilience—a belief that effort alone can overcome systemic barriers. But resilience, by its nature, demands enduring hardship and accepting foreignness, perpetuating a narrative that reinforces isolation and discrepancy.

The American Dream is synonymous with upward mobility achieved through hard work and resilience (Image Source: Roberto Parada)

The American Dream is synonymous with upward mobility achieved through hard work and resilience (Image Source: Roberto Parada)

The Illusion of Gold

The idolization of a Western nation paved in gold is an illusion that perpetuates xenophobia and the model minority myth. This ideological flaw is alluring and dangerous. We have all heard heartbreaking stories of illegal labor exports and stowaway immigrants. Yet we tend to remember the rags-to-riches stories because it is comforting to view ourselves as the ones who might make it. All while labeling these immigrants as illegal, the other, the individual Asian Americans who will live in poverty. But by doing so, we have fallen trapped in the American Dream, clawing our way to the top for the sake of others. 

After the pandemic, anti-Asian and hate crimes have increased. The encounter paints a reflection of our society, there is no line between the one and the other nine, we are Asians and that is our identity. Then is the American Dream a lie? Not necessarily—but it is far from universal.

Community as the Key

Like all dreams, it is what we make of it.  Whether in America, Asia, or any part of the world, opportunities coexist with difficulties. Moving to another country means tackling obstacles such as language and cultural barriers alongside the burden you once had at home. Statistics show that 61% of Asian adults seek family and friends when facing financial burdens. This can become challenging when migrating to a new country. 

The key lies in recognizing that success is not achieved alone. Building networks and fostering solidarity within communities can challenge the isolating demands of resilience and redefine the Dream as a collective effort toward meaningful progress.

The American Dream is both a beacon of hope and a paradox. For many Asian Americans, the pursuit of upward mobility comes with sacrifices that are often overlooked. Yet, success doesn’t need to be a solitary journey. By embracing shared struggles and fostering a supportive community, one can find hope by redefining what the American Dream truly means.

Sources: Pew Research Center – 1 in 10: Redefining the Asian American Dream (Short Film), Pew Research Center – The Hardships and Dreams of Asian Americans Living in Poverty, Edelman, C&EN, Reappropriate.

  • 3 min read