News Release
October 13, 2011 

Assemblywoman Fiona Ma
California Speaker Pro Tempore 
12th Assembly District 

California Assembly Bill 199 will help ensure that the contributions of Filipino veterans who fought side by side American troops are properly recognized and remembered by future generations.

Assemblywoman Fiona Ma (D-San Francisco and San Mateo Counties), announces the signing of Assembly Bill 199 this Friday October 14, 2011 at Bessie Carmichael Middle School in San Francisco. Bessie Carmichael, whose school population is 50% Filipino, sits in the SOMA district of San Francisco, home to many Filipino WWII Veterans. When this bill was originally introduced in 2004, 98 Filipino WWII veterans were still alive to tell their stories. Today, there are only 17 veterans still alive. Two previous versions of this bill were vetoed by Governor Schwarzenegger.

AB 199, the Filipinos in WWII Social Studies Curriculum Act, is the first step toward ensuring that social science instruction in grades 7-12 includes the significant role of Filipinos in World War II. This bill helps ensure that our children and future generations learn of the contributions and sacrifice of these brave Filipino soldiers before we lose them in history. During World War II, the Philippines was a commonwealth of the United States. Filipino soldiers in the US Armed Forces were in effect US nationals, who fought side by side with American Troops.

Breathe Love Repeat: a near-life experience will be presented in February and March at Under St. Marks as a part of the 2012 Frigid New York Festival. In Breathe Love Repeat: a near-life experience, a “Samurai Super Daughter” struggles with her mother’s love at the crossroads between East and West, struggling to affirm life between this world and the next.

Produced by Mustique Projects, the production is written by and will star Broadway’s Suzen Murakoshi (A Chorus Line and The King & I) and will feature direction from Obie-Award Winner Ching Valdes-Aran (who performed in The Wild Party on Broadway).

With warmth and humor, “Breathe Love Repeat, a near-life experience” tells the story of the last days in the life of a mother and daughter. This uplifting and life-affirming show takes audiences from the mountains of Japan to the islands of Hawaii as Murakoshi brings the clarity of life into focus by bringing us closer to the end.

Suzen Murakoshi is a veteran of Broadway, off-Broadway and regional theatres. Her favorite roles include “Juliet” in Romeo and Julietat the Cleveland Playhouse and “Connie” in A Chorus Line on Broadway. Together with Obie award winner, Ching Valdes-Aran, Ms. Murakoshi has performed her own past work at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival where she was short-listed for Best Actor for her role as “Helen” in Slippery When Wet (SWW).

Have you heard this before? “Love or Business, you have to choose.” The message is direct - you have to decide what you value more, something/one you love or your work/business. Actually, there is a more factual statement – Love is Good Business.

February is the month of love. A great deal of thought and energy will be spent on expressions of love, usually for a romantic partner. The truth in the old axiom, Love makes the World Go Round, applies to all aspects of life, not only to romantic love. When you are doing what you love, you are going to be more successful in it, and you will also be happier and at peace. It’s only natural.

“I don’t think I have ever worked in my life, because work to me means that you are really doing something you don’t like.”