Striving in Chinatown and Beyond: The Journey of Yeni Wong 

Paperback

September 2, 2016 

by Kent Wang (Author)

Contents

Prologue

Part One: A Woman on Her Own

 1 Introduction: An Awe-Inspiring Rags-to-Riches Story
2  Where It All Started - A Great Success Story

 3  Starting From the Bottom

4 The Great Obsession with Books

 5  A Washingtonian with Gumption
6. An Oenophile's Obsession and Aspiration

Part Two: Everything Yields to Diligence
  7  Born to be a Champion
8  Struggling for Solidarity
  9  Action to Help the Environment  
10  Taxation Without Representation 

11  Portrait of a Visionary Reformer

12  A Symbol of Strength for Asian Americans

Part Three: It Never Gets Easier - You Just Get Stronger
13  An Award-Winning Overseas Female Entrepreneur

14  An Enthusiast's Story

15  Battle for an Inconvenient Truth

16  A Crusader to Save America's Treasures

17  An Asian American Activist Gets Busy

18  An Effective Communicator

Part Four: Success Breeds Confidence
19  Leading Change, Paving the Way for Many
20 Creativity Takes Courage
21  Stumbling Blocks to Stepping-Stones

22  Transformational Restaurateur turned Philanthropist
23 Revealing the Beauty of Taiwan

24  America's Best Citizen Diplomatic Entrepreneur

Part Five: Strive for Excellence in Life

25  Insight into Asian Pacific Security

26  Interpreting U.S.-Taiwan-China Trilateral Equation

27  A Proud and Loyal Democrat 
28  Immensely Advantageous for Taiwan 
29  A Force to Be Reckoned With 

Photos Gallery

Epilogue

About the Author

Prologue

Some people have called her a visionary. In a time when changes in our world challenge us to improve the places where we live and work, no one has confronted this challenge more fearlessly than Yeni Wong, chairperson of the board of the Institute for Taiwan-America Studies, president and CEO of Riverdale International, and sole chair of Gallery Court LLC. Standing at the helm of these companies, she has played a vital role in reviving the spirit and life of downtown Washington, DC, by developing these instrumental properties located in the heart of Chinatown. 

(01) Introduction: An Awe-Inspiring Rags To Riches Story

In 1967, when Yeni Wong climbed the boarding stairs and found a window seat close to the front of Pan Am’s Boeing 707 headed for the United States, she was nervous, anxious, and lacking in the confidence that would later define her. The engines started, and the plane began to taxi. A short time later, as the plane lifted off the tarmac and launched into the blustery sky, a cheer erupted throughout the cabin. She closed her eyes and tried to visualize the new life awaiting her on a strange college campus, but all she could think about was that the flight seemed to take forever. 

(02) Where It All Started - A Great Success Story

Yeni Wong’s own story is an inspiration because she overcame almost every obstacle that a person might face. She is an icon to the people of Chinatown in Washington, DC, because of her commitment to help those who have faced similar obstacles. I, therefore, salute a friend and a role model.

(03) Starting From the Bottom

What qualities make an effective leader? What traits must a person possess to become a successful leader? What are the key qualities of great community leaders? If you are interested in finding out the traits and qualities that make men and women great, then read on. You’ll find them here. In this chapter, I describe what makes Yeni Wong, the dynamic owner of the Chinatown Garden, an effective leader.  

(04) The Great Obsession with Books

Yeni Wong is a successful entrepreneur, philanthropist, and community leader who spent most of her life helping newly arrived Asian women immigrants learn, grow, share, and evolve. Yeni is known as a bookworm. She loves books, but she can’t seem to pick just one. Ahead of celebrating the start of this year’s Asian Heritage Month, we sat down to talk about her favorite books and any inspirational books she would like to recommend to young Asian women. The interview was edited for length and clarity.

(05) A Washingtonian with Gumption

Yeni Wong is an enthusiastic Washingtonian with gumption. She has lived in Washington for thirty-plus years—and something she has learned in all that time is that this is one great city to visit.

(06) An Oenophile's Obsession and Aspiration

Yeni Wong is best known as a restaurateur and business tycoon in Chinatown. She’s a tireless philanthropist, and she is also incredibly passionate about wine.

(07) Born to be a Champion

Yeni Wong has always displayed extraordinary resilience and intelligence when addressing the toughest of issues. Her governance style is an unusual combination of humanity and solid leadership. She is gentle and accessible, yet also strong and determined. As she has said, she is “just another Taiwanese woman who works, cares for her house, and goes to the supermarket.” But she is also “a woman with a calling for social struggle and public service.”

(08) Struggling for Solidarity

Recently, I caught up with Yeni Wong, in between her meeting with the Committee for Economic Development of Washington, DC, and a courtesy call on Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz,. I wanted to get her thoughts on the latest as an advocate for Asian American immigrants and to see what areas she’s workeding on lately. Here is my interview with Yeni.

(09) Action to Help the Environment

Clean air and clean water, healthy communities, and a prosperous, clean- energy economy—those are the goals Yeni Wong has been fighting for every day for so many years. Wanting to make the world a better place, she joined the Interstate Commission on the Potomac River Basin (ICPRB) in 2000.

(10) Taxation Without Representation

Yeni Wong, a most influential leader and a longtime resident of Washington, DC, called for a citywide vote in November 2016 on making the nation’s capital the fifty-first state, resurrecting a decades-old plan to thrust the issue before Congress and raise awareness across the country about District residents’ lack of full citizenship.

(11) Portrait of a Visionary Reformer

The most appropriate way to describe Yeni Wong, chair of the board and president of Riverdale International Inc., is “world-class leader.” Her sharp, strategic mind, tremendous market insight, and humanitarian contributions all combine to make her a rare executive among the American community giants.

(12) A symbol of strength for Asian Americans

Yeni Wong is a symbol of strength for Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders across Chinatown, in Washington, DC, and also across the United States. It was she who came up with the slogan, “Electing Our Leaders, Empowering Our Community.” Yeni not only spoke those words but also dedicated her life to empowering Asian women beyond the national capital region through politics and philanthropy.

(13) An Awarded Oversea Women Entrepreneur

In 2000, the Taiwanese government awarded Yeni Wong the most prestigious trophy for being an outstanding overseas female entrepreneur. Her unusual clout, though, derives from the breadth of her command and her guts in staking new ground.

(14) An Enthusiast's Story

Yeni is determined, disciplined, and enormously curious. I’ve seen her abilities manifested in the boardroom at the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association (CCBA), where she served as the first female chairperson. She’s always very direct. You do not have to wonder what Yeni’s opinion is. She also has a deep commitment to improving financial literacy among moderate- and low-income Chinese Americans.  

(15) Battle for an Inconvenient Truth

Yeni Wong understands the science of global warming better than anyone else in DC’s Chinatown. Her interest was sparked when she was a graduate student at the University of Illinois, studying chemistry with the legendary faculty there, who realized that humanity’s pell-mell burning of fossil fuels could make the earth a vastly different—and warmer—place.   

(16) A Crusader to Save America's Treasures

There is a famous quote at the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor: “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.” And there is a less famous inscription on a stone at the immigration station on Angel Island in San Francisco Bay. It describes the legacy of the facility there. It says, “Angel Island came to symbolize discrimination and exclusion instead of welcome.”

(17) An Asian American Activist Gets Busy

The Organization of Chinese American Women’s (OCAW) twentieth anniversary national conference and gala banquet was held in May 1997 at the Rayburn House Office Building. Speakers and workshops addressed the topics of financial independence through entrepreneurship, managing career success, business and government, and legal rights of women/domestic violence. Women’s leadership awards went to Dr. Yeni Wong.

(18) An Effective Communicator

Yeni Wong’s life story is one of achievement. She rose through the community ranks from humble, minority beginnings to become Chinatown’s first female mayor in 1998. She has been acknowledged by friend and foe as a quintessential American success story and has often used her success as a symbol of the American Dream. She was characterized as a neo-liberal, a “new Democrat” community leader, and she experienced mixed success in Chinatown.

(19) Leading Change, Paving the Way for Many

Yeni Wong leads other Chinese American women in pursuing their dreams by demonstrating what is possible. Bursting through the barriers of the male-dominated community of competitive business, Yeni Wong is the first Chinese American woman to become a successful entrepreneur in Washington, DC. She is the owner of a four-story building in the heart of Chinatown and is seeking a sharply higher rent as developers and business owners transform the neighborhood. With strong support of her family and a handful of others who wanted to witness the first Chinese American woman of her background succeed, she withstood criticism on many fronts and achieved personal success.

(20) Creativity Takes Courage

Yeni Wong was appointed by President Clinton to the President’s Advisory Committee on the Arts (John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts) and as director of the National Museum of Womean in the Arts in 2000.

(21) Stumbling Blocks to Stepping-Stones

To spend time with Yeni Wong is to see up close what happens when someone with uncommon courage and compassion puts herself on the front lines of the community’s most complex challenges. We will always face challenges, but we’re all better off because there are people like Yeni who are visionary, caring, and determined enough to meet them.

(22) Transformational Restaurateur Turned Philanthropist

Chinatown is one of Washington’s most dynamic and culturally rich neighborhoods. In recent years, Chinatown has become a platform for trends in food, dining, music, and entertainment. Transformational philanthropist-turned-restaurateur Yeni Wong is considered to be a major catalyst for this recent renaissance.

(23) Revealing the Beauty of Taiwan

The lure and magic of the East with the comforts of the West—what could be more tempting? Yeni Wong believes Taiwan has touched the hearts of every one of us, and many foreigners will have something to share about their experience.

(24) America's Best Entrepreneurial Citizen-Diplomat

Tough. Indefatigable. Patient. Smart. Knowledgeable. Superior communication instincts. Loyal team player. Finds opportunities in challenges. Skilled global advocate for US-Taiwanese bilateral interests and American values. That is my job description for a best entrepreneurial citizen-diplomat in Washington, DC. Fortunately, the job has been filled by someone who has all those qualities: Yeni Wong.

(25) Insight into Asian Pacific Security

The following interview with Yeni Wong, chairperson of the Institute for Taiwan-America Studies, was carried out on April 30, 2016, at ITAS headquarters in Washington, DC. The two main topics of the interview were the South China Sea and the relationship of the United States to Asia. Following is a summary of the interview:

(26) Interpreting the United States-Taiwan-China Trilateral Equation

In this interview, Yeni Wong, chairperson of the Institute for Taiwan-America Studies (ITAS), discusses Taiwan’s role in the world and the Asia Pacific and its relations with the United States and China. The interview was carried out on May 24, 2016, at ITAS headquarters in Washington, DC. The following is a transcript of the interview, which has been edited for content, length, and clarity.

(27) A Proud and Loyal Democrat

Yeni Wong has been a Democrat for a very long time. And she has also, as a loyal Democrat, not only worked on behalf of issues and causes that she believes in but supported a lot of Democrats over the years. “I am a proud Democrat, and I support Democrats up and down the ticket. Always have, always will,” she said.

(28) Immensely Advantageous for Taiwan

Taiwan, which has intense economic and business ties with some of the prospective member states of the yet-to-be-formed Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) is very keen to join this group. This was underscored by the fundraising chair and the key player of the “Taiwan for TPP Committee,” Yeni Wong, in an exclusive interview.

(29) A Force to be Reckoned With

From her humble beginning selling groceries to local restaurants, Yeni Wong rose to become the most successful entrepreneur in DC’s Chinatown. Yeni’s journey is a classic rags-to-riches story. She immigrated to the United States in her twenties to study science at the University of Illinois at Chicago, and she had only a couple hundred dollars in her pocket. She now owns several blocks of buildings in Chinatown, including the Gallery Court, the eight-building complex at Seventh and H Streets—the heart of Chinatown—which is a major component of Wong’s parent company, Riverdale International.

Epilogue

This year, I have been especially influenced by people I’ve met in Washington, DC, who have made amazing and enthusiastic contributions to philanthropy. One person in particular is a lady from Taiwan named Yeni Wong. Putting together the articles is easy, but publishing a book to present a comprehensive view of Yeni’s insights and her journey to strive for the best is a fool’s task—one that only a true journalist would attempt.

About the Author

Kent Wang is a diligent writer, and his works have been published in major newspapers such as the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Washington Times, Financial Times, The Diplomat, The Hill, and many others. 

Photo Gallery

22 photos

Yeni Wong, the Mayor of Chinatown (CCBA Chairwoman) for two consecutive terms, is a visionary, helping to inspire a new definition of our nation's capital.