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Manny Wong Founding Publisher Asian American Times Chinese-English Newspaper 668 N. 44th St., Suite 343, Phoenix, Arizona 85008 Phone (602) 685-1138 Fax (602) 685-1137 Email Manny Wong Chinese News - Online Magazines and Literature Asian American Times Homepage Asian American Times Page 2 Books Culture Music Art Quotations Reading Quotations Wine Quotations Proverbial Quips Asian Music Asian Views Dennie Wong Radio Interview Dennie Wong, wife of Asian American Times Publisher Manny Wong, was a guest on One-On-One, an online program created by Quips World, featuring music and conversation with singers, musicians and entertainers. To hear the interview, go to Dennie Wong
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Asian Publisher Lives the American Dream By Joseph A. Reaves - The Arizona Republic Sept. 10, 2003 - Phoenix, Arizona .. Twice a month, Manny Wong peddles the American dream. .. Actually, he's always doing it, but every other week Wong packages his best sales pitches onto the pages of the Asian American Times, and unabashedly touts the blessings of living in the United States. .. "My main goal is helping readers know how they can become better American citizens," says Wong, 65, founder and publisher of Arizona's first Asian bilingual newspaper. .. "I like stories that deal with the rules and laws of this country, immigration, politics, updates on what's happening in Asia: things that make our readers better educated." .. Wong is the living personification of his paper. He is part Chinese, part Filipino, part Phoenix resident and all-American. .. Born New Year's Day 1938 in Manila, Wong spent the first years of life in Malacaņan Palace, the Philippines White House. His father was personal steward to then-Filipino President Manuel L. Quezon. .. "Quezon was my godfather," says Wong, flashing an eye-squinching grin. "That's why I'm named Manny." Wong was 4 when the Japanese occupied Manila and 7 when U.S. soldiers drove them out. His godfather spent those years in exile in the United States, but Wong stayed in the Philippines and remembers once watching palace workers hid a downed U.S. P-38 pilot in a storage shed just a grenade's throw from Japanese Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto's office. .. In 1959, at age 21, Wong left the Philippines for good. He spent much of the '60s working at the Imperial Hotel in Hong Kong, catering to U.S. soldiers on leave from Vietnam. .. His quick smile and can-do ways made Wong an army of friends, who predicted he was destined for success because he was such a "people person." .. "That's me," he says. "I love people. I love meeting them, talking to them, helping them." .. Wong moved to the United States in 1967 and ran a series of restaurants and nightclubs across southern California for years before one of his regular customers told him he thought Wong "could make a million" selling insurance. .. The suggestion led Wong to Chicago and the happiest decision of his life. He went to work for renowned billionaire and motivator W. Clement Stone, whose employees at Combined Insurance Co. were required to start their days chanting the mantra: "I feel happy. I feel healthy. I feel ter-r-r-rific!" .. In a company crowded with go-getters, Wong was the goingest of them all. He still has the plaques he won as top sales representative each of his first three years with the firm. .. "Mr. Stone personally gave me those awards," said Wong, beaming. "He told everyone: 'Come on. Here's an immigrant guy from China who's outselling everyone. Let's go!" .. Wong, of course, wasn't an immigrant from china. But, like many Filipinos, he is of strong Chinese extraction. And he drew on those ethnic roots when he moved to Phone to sell insurance and decided to launch a newspaper. .. The Arizona Chinese Times, founded in April 1990, was published solely in Chinese. But Wong quickly realized he was cutting himself off from lucrative English-language advertisers and relaunched the paper a year later as the Asian American Times. .. "I have one message I want to get across," said Wong. "It's simple: Dreams do come true in this great country." |