In this heart-breaking report about the Baby Box, follow a man who’s dedicated his life to saving South Korea’s unwanted babies. With hundreds of them being abandoned every year, why has the government ordered him to stop?
Up to 18 babies a month end up in pastor Lee Jong Rak’s Baby Box, a box attached to his house for women to leave their unwanted children in. “The babies that come here are the ones who’d otherwise die,” he says. The shame of having a baby out of wedlock leaves many women feeling desperate. But some say the Baby Box encourages mothers to abandon babies without registration, slowing down the adoption process. Pastor Lee’s been ordered to shut down his facility, but remains defiant: “There is nothing illegal about saving someone’s life.”
This is a touching video from Mike as he prepares to give his mother a special gift.
For years, one of the goals of mine was always to provide my mother with something she worked so hard for and lost. Las Vegas was one of the hardest hit city in the economic downturn, and my mother ended up losing her home. This is the first house I ever purchased and I wanted to give my mother a home before myself because she deserves it the most. It’s been a long time coming and I just wanted to share this special moment with you.
Thank you for watching.
This was in honor of all the mothers out there that work their hearts out. Your children see that and will reward you dearly for everything you have done.
In episode 5 of the webseries They’re All So Beautiful, they attempt to answer the question “What about marriage and Yellow Fever?” Looking beyond personal ad profiles and first dates, how do cross-cultural relationships with or without the “tarnish of ‘yellow fever'” work in the long term? Interviews with interracial couples, as well as experts and those on the hunt for love reflect on what it takes for initial attraction to evolve into real and lasting commitment. One couple — an Asian American husband with a Caucasian wife — agree that “race has never been significant” in their relationship, but “culture gets in the way”. A Thai immigrant says she can “tune to the same channel” with her white American husband, yet also confesses their marriage is still a secret to her potentially disapproving parents. Owner of a dating site and Chinese Yenta, Julia Ma, reflects on the difficulties of finding marriage (with Asian women) in a high-speed Silicon-valley life where people don’t have time to get to know each other. Communication in a cross-cultural relationship is key, she states, but does anyone penetrate their stereotyped expectations before experiencing an actual relationship? Circling back to our original interviews, various men with “yellow fever” declare how much they dream of marrying an Asian woman. At the end of this sequence, we meet Steven (the main character of Seeking Asian Female and) one of the many men with “yellow fever”, who stumbles over his Freudian slip: “I’m looking for a mate and looking at Asian women to be that mate — one mate. I only want one mate.”
Talking head commentary from experts and everyday Asian/Americans, as well as interviews with patrons of Asian fetish forums spell out the implications of race-based romantic preferences with honesty and humor, making They’re All So Beautiful provocative while politically agnostic. It promises to surprise viewers with its thoughtful look at modern love and relationships, just as with Lum’s award-winning documentary, Seeking Asian Female, which provides the thematic basis of They’re All So Beautiful.
Weekly webisodes will air online leading up to the national broadcast of Seeking Asian Female on Independent Lens on Monday, May 6, 2013 at 10:00 p.m. ET on PBS (check local listings).
They’re All So Beautiful Episode 5
More about They’re All So Beautiful
They’re All So Beautiful is a six-part web series directed by Debbie Lum and co-produced by Maikiko James. The short online documentary episodes are designed to stimulate discussion on yellow fever – a unique but in many ways ubiquitous predilection Western men have for women of Asian descent. Each video starts with a question:
Episode 1: What is Yellow Fever?
Episode 2: Do you have to be white to have Yellow Fever?
Episode 3: What do Asian men think of it?
Episode 4: What about White Fever-Asian women who seek out white men?
Episode 5: What about marriage?
With a plummeting birth rate and a rapidly aging population, Japan is facing an unprecedented population collapse with vast economic, social and political implications. We explore the dangers facing the nation.
In bustling Tokyo, there’s little sense of an impending crisis, but Japan is facing a demographic time bomb. “Nobody is having babies. The men aren’t as hungry for success or for relationships as they were before”, says Kaoru Arai. She epitomizes the country’s new breed of successful and financially independent women that are putting their career first. “I’m picky, yes. I want it all”, she smiles. In a desperate move to pull the birth rate back from the brink, the government is offering cash incentives to encourage singles to partner up and procreate. Meanwhile, the elderly are being left behind, with no one to look after them. Japan’s seemingly xenophobic reluctance to admit foreign workers means that major companies are now racing to develop robots to help fill the void and support its ageing population. Somewhat desperate measures, which reveal how difficult the problem has become for the government to handle. “This situation cannot continue, we know this very well, but it is still not something that is easily solved.”
In episode 4 of the webseries They’re All So Beautiful, they attempt to answer the question “Do Asian Women Have “White Fever”? Flipping the Yellow Fever the other way around, the short explores White Fever among Asian women. Do Asian women prefer white male over Asian males? Professor Elaine Kim look at both sides of Yellow & White Fever and the perceptions of Asian women to both. Why do some Asian women prefer white males over Asian men? Is it about confidence and conservatism? Do stereotypes creep into these type of relationships?
Talking head commentary from experts and everyday Asian/Americans, as well as interviews with patrons of Asian fetish forums spell out the implications of race-based romantic preferences with honesty and humor, making They’re All So Beautiful provocative while politically agnostic. It promises to surprise viewers with its thoughtful look at modern love and relationships, just as with Lum’s award-winning documentary, Seeking Asian Female, which provides the thematic basis of They’re All So Beautiful.
Weekly webisodes will air online leading up to the national broadcast of Seeking Asian Female on Independent Lens on Monday, May 6, 2013 at 10:00 p.m. ET on PBS (check local listings).
They’re All So Beautiful Episode 4
More about They’re All So Beautiful
They’re All So Beautiful is a six-part web series directed by Debbie Lum and co-produced by Maikiko James. The short online documentary episodes are designed to stimulate discussion on yellow fever – a unique but in many ways ubiquitous predilection Western men have for women of Asian descent. Each video starts with a question:
Episode 1: What is Yellow Fever?
Episode 2: Do you have to be white to have Yellow Fever?
Episode 3: What do Asian men think of it?
Episode 4: What about White Fever-Asian women who seek out white men?
Episode 5: What about marriage?
