Teeing off on anti-Asian hatred, helping rural schools

Adora Liu already has played in many golf tournaments, at home and abroad. Ranked 162nd globally on the Junior Golf Scoreboard, the 17-year-old rising star called the fundraising event she participated in Sunday as "unique".

Liu and 127 other players competed in the Taishan-Shinshin Cup Charity Tournament in the Bay Area, an event with dual missions — to raise public awareness of Asian hate crimes and to raise funds for school-age children in impoverished areas of China.

Cady Yu, one of the tournament's organizers, said she and her team of volunteers reached out to different ethnic groups, hoping to unite Asian communities and beyond to denounce racial profiling, discrimination and hate crimes against Asians.

"We received strong support from local organizations of Korean, Filipino, Vietnamese and Latinos," Yu said.

The rampant incidents of hatred against Asians since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic "have affected me and my family", Liu said. "My grandparents, who are from China, can't go out for a walk because they are scared."

On Jan 25, the San Francisco Police Department released a preliminary report that indicated hate crimes against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in the city in 2021 had risen 567 percent from the previous year.

That inspired Liu, a high school senior who will attend UC Berkeley in the fall, to swing her golf clubs and help influence her peers with a loud message: "We need to bring awareness to this issue and do whatever it might take. Events of this kind will be beneficial to many."

Tito Amasol is a longtime California resident of Philippine descent and a frequent patron of the Bay View Golf Club in Milpitas. The club, owned by Cady Yu, hosted the event Sunday.

"This golf course is owned by an Asian woman. Isn't it deserving of prestige?" Amasol said.

Yu said she has invested millions of dollars since she purchased the golf club four years ago — to upgrade its landscaping, irrigation system and hire a more diversified workforce.

"I myself want to play an exemplary role as an Asian — hardworking, accommodating and embracing differences," she added.

Amasol has been partnering with many players of Asian heritage at the club. "I stand straight and tall with my Asian fellows to fight against the Asian hate," he said.

In the fundraising portion of the event, Steve Ting, with the Shin Shin Educational Foundation said all financial proceeds will be used to assist children in designated rural poor areas, for example, "either to facelift school facilities and buy much-needed school supplies, or provide professional training for teachers and staff", Ting said.

On average, a new school costs $50,000, in addition to policy perks and discounts from the local government in China.

"We hope to raise $100,000 so we can build two schools this year," said Ting.