Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

05/25/2022 | News release | Distributed by Public on 05/25/2022 03:47

St. Louis Fed Employees Reflect on their Asian Heritage

May is Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. To celebrate, we asked four Asian Employee Resource Group members to share a little about their culture and what AAPI Heritage Month means to them.

Bum Yong Kim, senior analyst in Treasury Operations | Family's heritage: Korean

Kim was born in Korea but moved with his family to the United States when he was a baby. He has worked at the St. Louis Fed for four years. In addition to his role on Treasury's Do Not Pay Analytics team, he is a co-chair of the Bank's Asian ERG.

Why is AAPI Heritage Month important to you?

Bum Yong Kim

Since Asian Americans are the fastest growing minority group in the U.S., I think it is important for the general population to become more aware of Asian culture. Pew Research [Center] predicts Asians to become the largest immigrant group in the U.S. by 2055.

What does it mean to you to be Asian American?

As a second-generation Asian American, I feel the call to try and be a bridge builder between disparate cultures, not just ethnically but between genders, generations and economic backgrounds.

What Korean tradition are you fondest of?

Chuseok, otherwise known as Korean Thanksgiving here. I enjoy the food but also paying respects to my ancestors at the family grave with a bowing ceremony.

What do you enjoy most about working at the St. Louis Fed?

I love that every single one of my managers have been women and mostly women of color. I have never had this experience before. I feel that the Fed really does take DEI [diversity, equity and inclusion] seriously and is committed to having managers and leaders in the organization reflect this.

Asian Employee Resource Group members and supporters show signs they created in
several languages about working at the St. Louis Fed. They are standing on the plaza in
front of the Bank.

Wendy Tang, data engineer in Information Technology | Family's heritage: Chinese

Wendy Tang

The daughter of Chinese immigrants, Tang was born and raised in New York City before her family moved to St. Louis. She's worked in IT for nearly four years at the St. Louis Fed.

Why is AAPI Heritage Month important to you?

As someone who's grown up in America, spoken primarily English most of my life and has moved out of my childhood home, I'm starting to maybe lose a bit of touch with my culture, the things my mom taught me and how we lived our lives before. It's nice to reconnect.

What Chinese tradition are you fondest of?

Chinese New Year. It's my favorite holiday from Chinese culture. It's my favorite because it involves lots of food. It involves family. And it involves a red envelope, which contains money. The older generation people give them to the younger generation. I'm still considered part of that younger generation.

Is there a person of Chinese heritage whom you admire? Why?

It might sound a bit cheesy, but it would definitely be my mom. She moved here to support her family. She did not know the language and a lot of people. She mails back part of her income every month even though she does not have a lot to live off of. And she made it here. She's almost to retirement age. She raised me and my sister. I would say we're successful people.

Sundeep Thandal, analyst in Research | Family's heritage: Indian

Sundeep Thandal

Thandal is from Amritsar in the Indian state of Punjab. Marriage brought her to the United States in 2009, when she moved here to be with her husband. She has worked at the St. Louis Fed since 2019.

What do you enjoy most about working at the St. Louis Fed?

You can be yourself. And the Fed appreciates work-life balance. Not just on paper, but in reality. They understand that when we come to work, we still have a life at home. The Fed appreciates that, and they work with you. It's flexible.

What's one thing you wish people knew about Indian culture that they might not know?

There's a lot to India beyond snakes, elephant gods, naan and tandoori chicken. We have 28 states in India. We have 122 [major] languages. Every state has a different culture, cuisine and dress code. Pick one state, any state, and it'll have its own culture to explore. But they're all India. We all come together as one during Independence Day and other cultural celebrations. That's actual unity in diversity.

Why is AAPI Heritage Month important to you?

In my family, we are very loud people. If you come to my house, you'd be like, "Why are you yelling?" We have been raised that way. I'm Punjabi. We are loud talkers. We are great huggers. That's my culture. Months like this are very important because we get to know other cultures. Cultural unawareness is a barrier. If that barrier exists, I'm sitting on an island, assuming everyone behaves and dresses as I do.

Fahd Alikhan, systems engineer in SASTeC | Family's heritage: Filipino and Indian

Fahd Alikhan

Alikhan and his four siblings were born and raised in the suburbs of St. Louis. His mother is from the northern part of Luzon, the Philippines largest island. His father is from Hyderabad in central India. Alikhan has worked for nearly four years in SASTeC, which is responsible for the evaluation, implementation and operations of enterprise technology solutions throughout the Federal Reserve System.

What is one thing you wish people knew about the Filipino culture that they may not know? What about Indian culture?

In both Filipino and Indian cultures, as with most Asian cultures, I believe, food is incredibly important in showing a guest they are welcome. So, if you are ever a guest in either an Indian or Filipino home, eat whatever is offered even if only a little bit!

What does it mean to you to be Asian American?

To me, being Asian American means remembering and passing along all the parts of my heritage. It also means honoring those that paved the way for me and my children, especially those Americans who fought and struggled to create progress towards inclusion and equity for us all.

Why is AAPI Heritage Month important to you?

It is important to me that we remember and celebrate Asian and Pacific Islander Americans as belonging to this nation as much as anyone else, that we have been and are part of this great tapestry of the American people. I think times like now, when some Asian American communities have recently been the target of hate crimes, it is especially important to celebrate AAPI heritage as truly American heritage.