December 20, 2024 | Vol. 53, Issue 24

The only bilingual Chinese-English Newspaper in New England

Society’s Other Covid-19 Symptom, Bigotry, Takes a Toll

Low-income Asian American families have faced disproportionate hardships since the Covid-19 pandemic began, as I reported here in the last issue of Sampan. “Many people are surprised to learn that Asian Americans have the highest poverty rate of any racial-ethnic group in Boston — it’s about 29%, ” Carolyn Wong, a researcher at the Institute of Asian American Studies at UMass Boston, told me. Wong is the co-writer of a recently published report on the struggles faced by Asians in the Boston area from the pandemic. “The lowest paid workers […]

Covid-19: Severe Impact on Lower-Income Households

In Carolyn Wong and Ziting Kuang’s report Asian Americans and the Covid-19 Pandemic, a Multi-Lingual Survey in Greater Boston in 2020-21, the impact of the pandemic on English-limited and low-income Asian families are mainly reflected in financial losses, unemployment, and food and housing difficulties. In their survey, the population is focused on Chinese American, Vietnamese American, and South Asian ethnicities living in the neighborhoods of Chinatown, Dorchester, Malden, and Quincy. The survey also pays attention to the percentage of low-income […]

The Air That We Breathe: Testimonies From the Frontlines of Chinatown’s Air Pollution Battle

Chinatown continues to be one of Boston’s more vibrant communities. However, behind that curtain, the residents, workers, and businesses breathe the dirtiest air in Massachusetts. Joan didn’t know that Chinatown had the dirtiest air in Massachusetts when she moved here eight years ago. But when her two twin girls were diagnosed with asthma two years ago, she was shocked. She couldn’t understand why. No one in her own family had asthma and no one smoked at home. Then her children’s […]

Air Pollution in Chinatown Continues to Alarm Residents

Do you know Boston Chinatown has the worst air quality in the state? If you are a resident of Boston’s Chinatown, your good night’s sleep is being harmed by the car exhaust in the air. If you work in Chinatown, you are probably breathing polluted air for eight or more hours a day. Even if you are a visitor to Chinatown and enjoying a delicious Chinese meal with your friends, you are breathing in polluted air filled with high levels […]

COVID travel rules impacts spring festival festivities

Covid Rules Make Travel Home During Spring Festival Impossible for Many

Travelers from China and the United States were yet again forced to cancel their holiday travel plans during the Chinese New Year, after many flights were suspended between the two countries, leaving families and loved ones separated, workers in jeopardy of losing their jobs, and would-be revelers feeling burned yet again. Spring Festival, known as the Chinese New Year, is one of the most solemn traditional festivals in Chinese culture. It symbolizes beliefs and culture that have been practiced in […]

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