The Southeast Asian cultures are quite different than East Asian cultures. Luck, wealth, and chance are common elements in Chinese, Japanese, and Korean cultures. Not so much for Southeast Asians. That's why it's surprising to hear about the gambling problem among Southeast Asians in the article below. In many ways, the social economic status of Southeast Asians resemble more of Hispanics and African Americans than they do with Chinese or Japanese.
I'm thinking it could be a situation where a majority populace stereotypes all Asians as part of a group, and so Southeast Asians kind of self-fulfills the prophecy because of the social acceptance... It's a stretch, but maybe.
SACRAMENTO, CA - Duoa Yang said he'll never forget the call he received at work last October.
"You've got to come over here and look for your mom. I don't know if she died or not. I can't find her," Yang remembered.
The call was from Yang's father, who was on board a bus bound for a Colusa casino with Yang's mother.
"It was around 8 o'clock. I just went back to the office and cried," Yang said.
His parents never reached the casino that night because the bus flipped over and landed in a swamp, killing 10 passengers. Most were older members of Sacramento's Hmong and Mien communities.
Yang thought the crash would stop his mother and father's trips to the casino. But the parents who escaped communism in Laos and came to the U.S. for a better life face another enemy -- compulsive gambling.
"They still go three to four times a week," Yang said. "I've seen my dad spend almost all of his social security money. He gives me $200 for rent and the rest he spends at the casino."
The gambling has sparked a lot of arguments between Yang and his parents.
"I tell them to stop, but I can't stop them," Yang said.
Kao Saetern of Sacramento Area Congregations Together (ACT) said church and community leaders have formed a committee to come up with solutions to the compulsive gambling issue.
"A lot of seniors I talk to consider the casino as their senior center," Saetern said.
Saetern has helped organize a forum to discuss the gambling issue with Southeast Asian families, Sacramento County Supervisor Jimmie Yee, and the California Office of Compulsive Gambling.
Saetern said the casinos aren't helping.
"They cater to our parents with games like Pai Gow and having little Asian looking characters on the slot machines," Saetern said. "We'd like to have some alternatives, perhaps a community hub or center. So instead of going to the casino, they can go to the center and have fun not spending any money."
Yang looked at his parents and said the center won't come a moment too soon.
"They get frustrated taking care of my children and feeling like they have nothing else to do. At the center, they can have fun with their friends and talk to their relatives and still come home with their money," Yang said. "That's what I'm looking for in the future."
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