星期五, 10月 09, 2015

MAYOR WALSH ANNOUNCES SISTER CITY AGREEMENT WITH PRAIA, CABO VERDE

MAYOR WALSH ANNOUNCES SISTER CITY AGREEMENT WITH PRAIA, CABO VERDE 
BOSTON - Friday, October 9, 2015 - Mayor Martin J. Walsh today joined Mayor Ulisses Correia e Silva of Praia, Cabo Verde to sign a Sister Cities agreement to foster economic, social and cultural development and business ties between the two cities, expand commercial activities, boost the number ofsmall and mid-sized enterprises, increase imports and exports and grow jobs.

"In order to be competitive in an increasingly global economy, we must strengthen our partnerships with cities around the world that share our goals," said Mayor Walsh. "Boston has a strong Cape Verdean community, and our partnership with Praia is a fitting testament to our city's diversity."

"Today we sign a Sister-City agreement to build on and strengthen the existing economic, cultural and educational relationships between the cities of Boston and Praia, while committing to explore new ties and creative ways of improving the quality of life for residents on both sides of the Atlantic," said Mayor Ulisses Correia e Silva.

The Sister City agreement commits both cities to identifying activities that can generate new initiatives to further nurture economic, social, cultural and faith based relationships, as well as:
  • Promote both cities to their respective business and academia sectors as locations for trade and investment;
  • Facilitate trade missions and business-to-business dialogue between the two cities;
  • Explore and encourage cooperation and exchange between local development agencies, Chambers of Commerce and tourism bodies;
  • Help facilitate faith-based exchanges between faith leaders in both cities;
  • Promote mutual leisure and business tourism opportunities;
  • Encourage cultural exchanges; and
  • Explore joint policy development and sharing of best practice in the fields of urban development, regeneration and city financial models.
Boston's Cape Verdean population is estimated at over 40,000 residents. 

The City of Boston and the City of Praia have historically maintained strong academic, cultural and social ties, covering a wide array of sectors including public safety, education, arts and culture, business trade, commerce and tourism, and health. The Sister City Agreement will reinforce and strengthen that partnership over the next several years.

The signing took place in Mayor Walsh's Office at City Hall. This is the second Sister City agreement signed by the City of Boston since 2001.

Praia Mayor Ulisses Correia e Silva is visiting Boston on October 9 - 10.

Boston's Sister City programs operate as non-profit, independent organizations, and are heavily dependent on voluntary support and contributions. During the 1950s, residents and government officials recognized the importance of developing closer international relations, and the search for a Sister City began. The success of this program prompted the development of other goodwill sister relations. To the present date, eight Sister Cityfriendships have been formed: Kyoto, Japan (established in 1959); Strasbourg, France (established in 1960); Barcelona, Spain (established in 1980); Hangzhou, China (established in 1982); Padua, Italy (established in 1983); Mebourne, Australia (established in 1985); Taipei, Taiwan (established in 1996); Sekondi-Takoradi, Ghana (established in 2001).

The Sister Cities Program began as a national concept in 1956, when President Dwight D. Eisenhower called for massive exchanges between Americans and people of other countries to create international understanding and goodwill. A Sister City agreement is formalized when two communities from different nations join together to develop a friendly and meaningful relationship. The two cities exchange people, ideas, culture, education, and technology. Citizens from both communities learn about each other's culture and become directly involved in developing unique solutions to common problems. The Sister Cities Program promotes world peace in an individual level and encourages citizens to better understand community, by contrasting their way of life with another culture.

CABA 2015 BIOMEDICAL INVESTMENT & ENTREPRENEURSHIP SYMPOSIUM

CABA 2015 BIOMEDICAL INVESTMENT & ENTREPRENEURSHIP SYMPOSIUM

October 1, 2015
    Date: Saturday, October 10th, 2015
    Time: 9:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.
    Location: MIT Tang Center, 2 Amherst Street, Cambridge, MA 02142
     
    The annual CABA Investment Symposium is an influential event attracting prominent entrepreneurs, investors, biotech and pharma executives, academic and industry scientists, as well as professionals from the legal, finance, and healthcare fields. Past symposiums were extremely well attended. We expect the number of attendees for this year's event to be around 300.

    Confirmed speakers:
    David-Alexandre "DA" Gros, Chief Business Officer, Alnylam Pharmaceuticals
    Milena Adamian, Founder and Managing Partner, Azimuth Ventures (and LSAN)
    Xiaojun Liu, Founder and CEO, Northlake International LLC
    Norman Eng, Economic Development Specialist/Public Information Officer, US Small Business Administration
    Lixin Xu, Vice President, R&D, Improve Medical Managing Director, ImproveX Chairman, GIMDx, Inc.
    Ellen Zhang, Founder, Partner, CEO, GuanHao Life & Health Incubator Co., Ltd.
    Chen Chen, PhD, Associate, Cooley LLP
    Phil Zhang, PhD, JD, Co-Founder and Co-Managing Principal, Milstein Zhang & Wu LLC

    Confirmed Start-up teams for Biocontest:
    Perfetch: Track and visualize changes to body size to encourage healthy life style
    CamMED: Develop bandage-like patch pump for subcutaneous delivery of one or more medications
    Platelet Light: Develop a light system for platelet regeneration
    and more to join.

    Admission:
    CABA members: FREE; Non-members: $30. On-site membership registration to CABA is available. ($30 annual membership fee due for professional, and $15 for student)
    *MIT students are free to attend.
    (Please do the online registration to reserve your lunch ticket. We need a head-counts to order the lunch! Thanks.)
    Lunch and coffee will be provided.


    Question? Please contact conference chair Mr. Jian Shao (MBA): shaojiancn@gmail.com

    Online Registration Instruction
    Please fill out the following form to register for the symposium. If you are currently a member, please use the same email address as used for your membership registration. If you use a different email address and the system can not recognize it, please come to the event front desk for help or send an email to member@cabaweb.org. If you are not a member, you can elect to become a member or Not at this time. You can always change your membership status at the event front desk. Please send an email to event@cabaweb.org if you have any question. Please use a phone number with format xxx-xxx-xxxx. Thanks.

    牛頓中文學校助中國貧童就醫辦書畫義賣

    美國青年領袖基金會(American Youth Leadership Foundation)波士頓分會和新生命基金會(A Life A Time ) ,波士頓北京群合作,將於1025日(週日)下午1點半至5點,在牛頓中文學校舉辦書畫義賣,濟助中國貧困殘疾兒童到波士頓就醫。
                活動協辦者之一的李會銘表示,這一義賣活動由牛頓中文學校高年級學生策劃組織,家長們密切配合,所得善款將全部捐給新生命基金會,用於救助來波士頓就醫的中國貧困殘疾兒童。
    義賣品除學生們的藝術創作外,還有大約40幅書畫作品,捐贈者包括一生愛好書法,曾出書辦展覽的顧昌保,多幅作品被中國美術館和軍事博物館收藏的著名軍旅畫家殷培華,以及擅長多種字體,多次在國家級書法大賽中獲得金獎的書法家周九卿等。
    活動主辦方籲請有意共襄盛舉者,繼續捐贈藝術品供拍賣,並廣邀各界參加活動,購買藝品。查詢可洽5086545380
    新生命基金會將出具捐款減收據,捐款人可隨時上網(http:://alifeatime.org詢資金用途

    書畫義賣地點在牛頓中文學校餐廳,FA Day Middle School 21 Minot Place Newtonville, MA 02460。

    昆市不分區市議員競選 梁秀婷一點紅

    (實習記者劉羽晨昆市綜合報導)五昆士亞裔機構和昆市愛國者報合作,107日在北昆士高中舉辦候選人論壇。不分區市議員候選人中的梁秀婷,儼然“萬綠叢中一點紅”,最受矚目。
                首次由亞裔社團主辦的這場昆市候選人論壇,不分區市議員部分有五名候選人,包括昆市現任市議員方安(Joseph Finn)、麥法蘭(Michael Mcfarland),昆士學校委員會委員狄邦納(Noel DiBona)、麥卡西(David McCarthy),以及政壇新人,JP富士集團高層梁秀婷(Nina Liang)。
                五名候選人各有一分鐘介紹自己。年僅26歲的梁秀婷,不但最年輕,也是本次選舉中唯一的亞裔,女性候選人,備受亞裔社區矚目。
    在發言中,方安(Joseph Finn)表示自己做市議員14年,一直為爭取所有市民享有平等待遇、公平的工作機會而努力。
    做了10年市議員的
    麥法蘭(Michael Mcfarland)已擔任市議員10年。他承諾會致力幫助商業團體、振興經濟,減輕納稅人負擔。
    狄邦納(Noel DiBona)表示自己從小在昆士長大,父親是義大利人、媽媽是泰國人。這樣的出生背景讓他更解多元化、多樣性對昆市這城市有多重要。
    梁秀婷(Nina Liang)表示,在參與經營家族企業時,她了解到政府與企業,民眾之間的關係有多密切。由於她本人在昆士市出生,長大,過去幾年來又代表家族企業管理包括座落於昆士市內的幾家餐館,與昆市的感情更加濃厚,期盼藉著參選,回饋社區,承擔起市民與政府堅強量的功能,為市民創造更多就業機會,改善所有人的生活。
    昆士市首度由亞裔主辦的候選人論壇,由華人醫務中心、亞協服務中心(QARI)主辦,愛國者報、華人前進會贊助,亞美社區發展協會(ACDC和波士頓華社區中心(BCNC)共同贊助。
    亞協服務中心行政主任約翰波達(John Brothers)表示,地方政治對一般人的影響,其實遠比州及聯邦政府重要,人們其實也應該更重視地方選舉。這次的候選人論壇是針對昆市亞裔舉民舉辦,希望藉此為亞裔居民提供更實在的參與地方政治感覺。

    圖片說明:

                不分區市議員候選人,左起狄邦納(Noel DiBona)、方安(Joseph Finn)、梁秀婷(Nina Liang)、麥卡西(David MaCarthy)、麥法蘭(Michael MaFarland)。(劉羽晨攝)


    亞裔社區昆市首辦政見發表會 兩市長候選人針鋒相對

    (實習記者劉羽晨昆士市綜合報導)107日晚,昆士市首次由亞裔組織出面主辦雙語候選人論壇,二名市長候選人,五名不分區市議員候選人全員出席,既彰顯亞裔社區開始關注地方,漸有政治影響力,也傳遞出美國主流社會漸重視亞裔訊息。
    昆市候選人論壇在亞裔學生最多的北昆士高中禮堂舉行,由愛國者報編輯Chazy Dowaliby主持,共約200人出席。
    柯奇(Tom Koch),費林(William Phelan)這二名晉級十一月大選的市長候選人,以及昆市現任市議員方安(Joseph Finn)、麥法蘭(Michael Mcfarland),昆士學校委員會委員狄邦納(Noel DiBona)、麥卡西(David McCarthy),以及政壇新人梁秀婷(Nina Liang)等五名不分區市議員候選人,各就房屋,學前兒童教育,振興經濟,協助亞裔創業,以及交通等問題,分兩場發言。
    市長候選人辯論部分,過去7年來已是第3度對壘的柯奇和費林,起初都開玩笑,讓氣氛輕鬆,然後就開始互相指控起來。費林指柯奇把昆市發展的控制權交給了私營展商;柯奇指費林是草率花錢的海報小孩(poster child)。
    柯奇表示,費林擔任市長時和能源節約承包商康寧維爾(Honeywell)簽的約,讓昆市揹了巨債,直到2013年麻州總檢察官辦公室發現該承包商高估了市政府的預期節餘,市府才和康寧維爾達成解決協議。
    柯奇還指費林搞吹了從州政府取得90%補償款機會,要不然那筆錢可資助昆市的三所新學校樓宇計畫,包括昆市高中和中央級史特林(Sterling)中學。其中的建昆市高中,約讓昆市損失了4600萬元。
    費林則表示,柯奇有著8年市長政績不說,卻盡談915年前舊事,那是哀兵策略。他說,由於柯奇和街道有效(Street-works)公司的合作失敗,市中心改建工程因此沒有進展。他也指則柯奇容許發展商不服可以用來造可負擔住宅,舒緩交通的紓解款,就施工蓋房子,有如讓發展商來控制了昆市的命運。
    在醫療方面,費林指責柯奇在史都華醫療護理公司( Steward Health Care)去年12關閉昆士醫療中心(Quincy Medical Center)時,沒有展現領導力。他完全沒有看到,聽到,爭取保持該中心開張的聲音或行動。
    柯奇反駁道,他爭取保留了保留衛星急診室,也正在和史都華公司談判,要把醫院原址留作健康照護用途。
    談到多元化議題,尤其是亞裔人口湧入時,費林吹捧自己聘用會說普通話,廣東話警察的紀錄,還說一旦當選市長,考慮建一個新的文化中心。他說有些市民排斥,抗拒亞裔居民遷入,都是因為無知。
    柯奇則說,在他任內,所有的學校,圖書館,康娛部門都增聘了更多亞裔。他說昆市不但歡迎新移民,還學校美麗,交通方便,公園很棒,犯罪率低,所以亞裔都選擇進昆市住。
    他們兩人對用昆士市有土地,座落在北昆士海華街(Hayward)上的原波士頓齒輪廠大樓,來建中國超市這計畫,有不同意見。昆市議會在2009年及2013年,以交通理由,二度拒絕了該一申請案。
    中國超市董事長方妙昆因此控告昆市政府。此案目前仍在土地法庭審理中。
    費林支持中國超市開在海華街上,柯奇說他反對建在那條街上,但如果是搬到其他地點,他就支持。
    昆市市府書記Joseph Shea表示,截至上週為止,昆士市共有登記選民6,972人,和2009年的5,942人,以及1996年的1,519人相比,有大幅增加。昆市內的亞裔人口也已佔全市人口24%左右。

     圖片說明:


    昆士市長候選人,柯奇(Tom Koch)(左)和費林(William Phelan)聯袂面對亞裔選民。(劉羽晨攝)