Original subtitles

[whirring]

[Chen] Early in the morning on a Friday,

you'd turn on the TV or the news there...

[reporter] The biggest bank collapse since the 2008 financial crisis,

and it shut down today.

[woman] This is clearly an example of something breaking.

We can assume that there's serious contagion here.

[Chen] Over the weekend, negative sentiment spread all over.

[reporter] What prevents runs on a whole bunch more banks next week? Unclear.

It's never great

when you're having full-on meetings with regulators on a Sunday morning.

What are we doing to prepare? Do we have enough liquidity?

[Krause] We had to make sure our customers trusted us,

and there was a concern it could spread to other banks.

[reporter] The entire banking industry is feeling the impact.

[Ng] There's no way America can do without regional banks.

We have the capital.

We have the earnings that allow us to connect, to interact,

to build relationships.

We specialize to be that financial bridge between East and West.

We help the unbanked immigrants.

You know, help them to reach further.

We have a purpose and we can make a difference to the world.

[narrator] Immigrants have always played a vital role in American history,

but today, many are still considered foreign.

Fifty years ago, Chinese Americans were denied loans.

In response, eight brave individuals from Chinatown took action,

forever changing the trajectory of the community.

You know, we're seeing the hillside behind us.

[car horn honking]

The bicycle has the right of way, dude.

It's always astounding to see the vast distances that people travel

to live a new life,

to take advantage of economic opportunities,

or to just find work.

Chinese started coming to the Americas beginning in the 16th and 17th century.

There were two Chinese who lived in L.A.

Both were house servants for white families who had moved into the area.

Los Angeles itself was really the Wild West.

So in 1870, it's about 5000 people.

That's it.

And of that 5000, there are around 200 Chinese.

In October of 1871, there is some gunfire,

and within minutes this kind of call went out throughout the city of:

"They're killing whites wholesale in Chinatown."

You know, "We all have to go down."

Population of 5000, 10% participated

in the Chinatown massacre and in this riot, targeting Chinese.

[narrator] After the railroad is constructed,

a huge influx of white labor arrives from the East Coast.

And when you add the unemployed Chinese, suddenly there are not enough jobs.

This is what ignites the period called the "Driving Out,"

where Chinese are literally driven out of communities throughout the West.

So all of this is sort of gradually leading up to the Exclusion Act of 1882.

The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 starts to set in motion certain things.

First of all, it really again just takes

what's sort of free-floating racism and discrimination and actually legalizes it.

You know, makes it a national law.

It's really a matter of digging deep and looking and understanding

what the real role of Chinese in our community was,

even though there was still a lack of respect in terms of its long-term future

as a part of America.

And by the '50s, many felt positively about being able to buy their own land.

There had been restrictive covenants that prevented Chinese

from moving into many places, like my own family.

I grew up a block away from skid row in San Diego.

Because of the Chinese Exclusion Act, the Chinese were not able to buy property.

And in order for us to be able to be a cohesive community,

we needed to have home ownership to get out of the ghetto areas.

In those days, money was hard for these families.

Christmas was not filled with gifts.

Children did not get toys in those days.

I think that the average Chinese American just want a roof over their head

and food to eat, and family and friends to love.

Money is just the tool that helps you get there.

Hi, I'm Ben Lee, retired LAPD supervisor detective.

I was in the LAPD from 1976 to 2009.

I spent 12 years working in the Chinese American community

in the city of Los Angeles.

And we're right in the middle of Chinatown right now.

You know, before we had legal banking, back then, there was no banks.

It was very difficult to get and borrow money and use it to help your family.

A lot of the money lenders were not the best people in town.

They were in it for the money and the interest.

Why do we need to go to them when we can just go to the bank?

And that's what made it so nice.

[narrator] Mainstream banks couldn't serve the growing Chinatown community,

so F. Chow Chan and seven others founded East West Federal Savings.

But first, they needed an architect.

[Leong] My father, he was a great collector.

When he passed away, I had boxes and boxes

and boxes of pictures and documents and papers all scrambled up together.

It took me five years to go through it.

My father was Gilbert Lester Leong

and he was the first Chinese American architect

in Southern California,

and he designed many buildings for the Chinese community.

[Yang] So right now, we're looking at papers and documents

concerning the building of the East West Bank branch

in L.A. Chinatown.

So we're here, we're looking at photographs.

We're looking at renderings.

We're looking at promotional flyers that was being created at the time

to promote the opening of East West Federal Bank.

I think that he took that trust very seriously,

to try to build them the best building that he could build them.

The idea of a savings and loan is not new to Chinese people.

[Leong] He built it for his community to grow and prosper.

We have grown and it has been good.

[Yang] I think it's important that we look back at Chinese American history

because we are losing history every single moment.

One of the best ways to keep the memory and the history alive

is for us to keep these precious documents here for long-term preservation,

so that anybody that has any interest to do research work

can come to the Huntington.

[narrator] Long before F. Chow Chan opened a bank,

he was serving cakes at the iconic Phoenix Bakery.

Okay. Basically, this is where everything happens.

All these people like this gentleman here, Edgar,

is basically assembling cakes.

Okay, as you can see...

what makes our products different from everybody else

is they're very, very soft.

It's basically our sponge cake, if you wanna touch it.

Basically, you know, I had to standardize everything.

And then, when I did that, I changed everything into percentages.

I started...

you know, just mixing and things didn't come out the way I wanted it to.

When you turn 12, you ended up here on weekends.

No ifs, ands or buts. [laughs]

I don't worry about the legacy.

I just worry about, you know, like, if I can get the product out

that people are satisfied with, that's mainly my concern.

Legacy doesn't pay the bills.

Gabby. Gabby.

I changed his diapers, are you kidding?

I'm older than he is.

Where did he go?

No respect.

Growing up, he was busy a lot of the time,

and he was so diverse in what he was interested in.

It was just not just the bakery.

It was about what needed to be brought to the community

and how he could better not only himself and his family,

but give opportunities to other people.

So yeah, it's quite a legacy.

[narrator] In 1973, East West opens its headquarters in Los Angeles, Chinatown,

with the sole purpose of providing banking for the unbanked.

In those very early days, Chinatown was still so small.

And again, you have this kind of altruistic group of people.

Yes, it's a bank, but people have this kind of vision of:

How are we gonna help the community?

It's very much about those personal relationships,

family relationships, that idea of:

These are people you see on the street every day,

and now people can finally start to buy homes.

And that's why this is so unique,

this phenomenon of opening these Chinese American banks

and what it does for the community.

[Ceppi] Kellogg, my older big brother...

took leadership of his generation.

That's what he did.

[Wang] Kellogg was part-time president until 1983.

His interest was working with the brokers,

start branching.

So one by one, it grows so fast.

At that time, most of the directors,

they are all 80 years old.

So they all wanted to sell the bank.

[narrator] As the needs of Chinatown evolved,

East West was primed for a new direction.

[Ng] My mom was a tailor and my dad started driving a school bus.

For a person like my mom who worked all day,

and meantime have to cook for six kids,

and somehow she found a way to manage it.

Someone said, "Oh, Dominic, you work too hard."

I said, "Wait till you see my mom." It's a completely different level.

If anything I learned from her is more like obligation and responsibility.

You know, when people hire you to do the job,

you do the best you can.

My parents felt very strongly that America,

land of the free, land of the opportunities.

"Dominic, you should go to where your brother was."

I didn't particularly want to go to Texas. I didn't know anything about Houston.

However, I just thought that that was the right thing to do.

[Ellen Ng] He came over to Houston, Texas to go to college.

That's when I met Dominic.

I was a freshman and he was a senior.

He called me up and asked me to hear him sing in the church choir

at the Neiman Center on campus.

I underestimated the challenges of adapting to a new environment

and a new culture.

Very quickly, I realized that the only way for me to bridge

and to connect myself was my music.

When I start playing Jimmy Buffett, they all can relate to it.

John Denver, Jim Croce, you know, Cat Stevens,

and suddenly, everybody starts talking to me.

The first six, nine months living in America for the first time

was quite difficult.

It was six to nine months of watching Johnny Carson.

I didn't find anything funny while everybody's laughing at it.

Between watching Mary Tyler Moore or Archie Bunker in All in the Family

or reading the Houston Chronicle,

one day, suddenly, lightning struck and I could relate

to people's conversation in the cafeteria, in the dorm,

and I felt a lot of confidence in engaging.

For me to actually get hired by Deloitte & Touche,

it was almost like a miracle.

They hardly hired any Asian Americans.

On top of that,

that was the job to secure my residency in the United States.

So it was a big deal.

And that's why the job became...

such a pressure cooker.

Because for me, I couldn't fail.

[narrator] There is rich and then there's crazy rich.

Being the latter,

The Nursalims changed the life of a 30-year-old Deloitte & Touche auditor.

They basically wanted to buy a small bank

in L.A. called United Pacific Bank.

Through my introduction, the husband and wife,

Mr. and Mrs. Nursalim, offered me a job.

I was actually only like 31, 32 years old.

And I'd never really worked in a bank before,

even though I knew a lot about banking through accounting firms.

Why did you at that time think that I could do the job

when I personally didn't think that I could?

[laughs] Yeah, I think, Dominic, you know, at that time

when we were doing the acquisition of the banks,

we asked Deloitte to be our consultants.

We felt that you were a highly passionate and professional person.

So we think that you are really the right person, you know.

So we have belief in you.

So you are dedicated, you are trustworthy.

Everything is in you.

It just happened that you were the person

appointed by the auditor to help us for the acquisition of UPB.

And an opportunity came at that time,

and I think we made the right choice anyway.

[all laugh]

It's proven, I think, what's happening today. It's proven it's the right choice.

Right timing and right person.

[narrator] Under Dominic's leadership, the next era for East West

begins new goals and challenges.

[Ng] I never worked inside a bank.

I thought I would work maybe anywhere from two to four years.

That never happened. You know, the rest is history.

I love what the founders have done for East West

because they had such a great mission:

helping Asian immigrants

who had no access of banking or financial service.

But I thought I could add some more to it as something that I was good at.

At Deloitte & Touche, 90% of my clients were mainstream clients.

My name is Elise Buik, and I'm the president and CEO

of United Way of Greater Los Angeles.

Dominic Ng has played a huge role in our transformation

as we celebrate our centennial of a hundred years.

[Ng] It was a very interesting dialogue that I had with one of the board members.

He shared with me, said, "We have no representation from Asian Americans."

[narrator] Dominic joined the board in 1996,

beginning a lifetime of service to the United Way of Greater Los Angeles.

Dominic questioned everything. You know, a fresh young leader.

The status quo, it needs to be examined.

It needs to be held up.

What are the trends? What does the community need?

How can we have a greater impact?

Dominic as a leader said, "You know, we can do better.

We have to focus on the building blocks

of how we help to get people out of poverty."

[Ng] I thought I was doing the right thing,

and if I wanted to demonstrate that an Asian American can actually...

have a seat at the table,

in something important and can be a good advocate,

why not now?

[narrator] Just a few miles from the East West headquarters

lies another Chinese American success story

that has found a seat at the table.

[Ng] We just got your signature dish. Mandarin Orange Chicken.

So tell me about this.

Is this an American dish, or is this really a Chinese dish?

- This is a Chinese dish. - Chinese?

It is. Well, you know, it's an American favorite.

Everybody like orange chicken.

[Ng] You know, I always think that East West Bank,

you know, we're the bridge between East and West.

But I look at your orange chicken,

that's really the bridge between East and West too,

because it's really one of the most favorite dish in America.

East West Bank and Panda both started in 1973.

Can you reflect on it?

Well, it's been a wonderful ride for me.

Everything we did, going from Panda Inn and to Panda Express.

Opening stores...

I was just really focused on,

first of all, surviving.

You'd never really think about how many stores.

This is like an American dream.

You know, my dad's...

- My dad was the chef, right, you know? - Mm-hmm.

And he was trained in Shanghai, so that's all he knows.

- And it's really a lot of hard work. - I know.

And I really appreciated my experience working with him.

It wasn't easy and many sleepless nights.

But one customer at a time. One customer at a time.

[Ng] When I took you guys to that United Way gala dinner,

and I remember, Peggy, you were sitting behind me.

I was driving, and you tapped on my shoulder and said:

"That million dollars you asked for, we're gonna do it."

Tell me about exactly how you guys decided

that this is the right thing to do.

We want to support the community in any way we can...

especially, Dominic, you asked.

[laughing]

[Ng] I was so pleased that you would step up,

and then really helped my campaign in a big way,

because with your contribution,

the L.A. Times immediately wrote an article

about Asian Americans supporting everybody.

In many ways, you are always ahead. A step or two ahead.

One of our values is about giving.

And whenever you're given an opportunity to step up,

I think that to a certain extent, particularly Asian Americans,

and have not been as engaged and active in the past, it's important.

[reporter] U.S. banks at one point

have lost over $100 billion in stock market value in just two days,

and there are fears now that this could spread beyond banking

to other parts of the economy.

[Ng] How do we alleviate fear among our customers?

Because the customers can only react to the newspaper articles.

They can only react to the stock market.

If our stock's coming down,

they say, "There must be something wrong." Right?

Give it back! Give me back my money!

[Krause] Mary Poppins brought the little kid she was taking care of to the bank.

He was so proud he was gonna put in his 2 cents.

He changed his mind at the last minute,

and the teller was trying to talk him out of it.

There's something wrong. The bank won't give someone their money.

[Krause] And that started a run.

And give me mine too.

[Krause] That's really what happened at Silicon Valley Bank.

They had this risk that they were so concentrated with a few customers,

they had that perception of risk.

So when people got nervous, it was all over.

[Oh] It was an open secret that everybody knew about,

but just no one cared until that day.

Right? And then all of a sudden, everybody cared.

We need to have the meeting because this is a very unprecedented situation.

There's no policy or procedure that we can be able to follow.

It is very hard to react when there's no sign or no indication.

So this is the challenge.

[Ng] Over 20 years ago,

East West Bank was established to serve the Chinese community.

Back then, we put our confidence and trust in people who could not obtain credit

from the mainstream banks.

In turn, these customers put their confidence in us

to expand our services as their financial needs changed.

[narrator] Keeping up meant expanding beyond the Asian community

and building new relationships with mainstream clients.

[McMorrow] You know, I learned in that business

that everything is about the relationships

and the trust you build with people,

and it didn't really matter as much

what your balance sheet or your income statement looked like.

It really mattered whether you could trust that person

with the bank's money.

We need a bank where the top management of the bank

is really involved in the decision-making process,

because our deals are complicated and they move very quickly,

and we have a comfort level

that East West Bank is that kind of bank.

Dominic, right away, we just struck up a friendship

and a trust in each other that,

you know, went beyond what we were doing at our companies at the time.

[Ng] Kennedy Wilson,

it is very, very important to actually bring in a client

that's definitely recognized as one of the significant businesses from the West.

And I think it really helped solidify our, you know, mission

of being that bridge between East and West.

This is Pokey. And he's a cute, loving dog.

This is Barney, and he lives the longest.

He is very timid compared to the other dogs,

so everyone has a different personality.

So I moved to L.A. and have been living here since 1981.

And my first job is Texaco as a staff accountant.

And then I went to work for KPMG, the accounting firm.

When I joined the bank, you know, it's a very small bank.

You know, the bank had very high growth potential.

And that's the reason why I liked the bank and the business model.

Good afternoon, everyone. It's great to see you all here.

When Dominic joined,

because his vision is to convert to a commercial bank

and to really take the bank to the next level...

His vision is to be the financial bridge between East and West,

and to really capture, at the time, the tremendous growth

of the Asian American population in California,

as well as the growth in China.

[narrator] Despite Asia's growing economy, trouble was looming.

[Ng] In 1997, suddenly, the Asian market just crashed.

Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia,

Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia...

all took a big beating.

[narrator] Like everyone else,

the Nursalims faced challenges during the Asian financial crisis.

[Gouw] Sometimes, you know, when a crisis happens,

we tend to think of a way, you know, how to overcome the crisis.

And if there's an opportunity, you know, it's even better.

So our shareholders at the time says that,

"Okay, we need to sell East West Bank for $238 million,

and you've got one month to do it."

[Ng] We looked into different options.

Finally, I came up with a solution.

If I were selling East West Bank

to institutional investors down on Wall Street,

and if none of them invest more than 9.9%,

then, in fact, there was no change of ownership.

And then we can just have the same name, same organization,

same employees doing the same work,

and move forward to a new chapter.

It took us two weeks to raise $238 million

while we have the ownership change,

but we're running the bank exactly like we were doing before,

and it's just now, it's owned by many investors.

The next year, we took it public.

Listed on Nasdaq, and then the rest is history.

[opening bell ringing]

[narrator] One of East West's early initiatives

was to showcase Chinese contemporary art

using creativity to bridge culture.

[Ng] The Nursalim families

have always been big promoters of contemporary Asian arts,

and they felt that, being so successful,

they have an obligation to give back.

[in Mandarin]

[Ng in English] A painting looks like Chinese calligraphy, but in fact,

it was as Western as you can get.

Put it all together,

it's something that... I call it a masterpiece.

[narrator] Xu Bing was just one of many Chinese contemporary artists

capturing the attention of the West.

China has possibly the oldest continuous tradition of art

in the entire world.

But, as we know, things were isolated,

- artists were shut off. - [indistinct chatter]

[Deitch] Starting in the '80s,

a small group of very ambitious Chinese contemporary artists

began exploring the international art discourse.

And these artists really shaped the contemporary Chinese art dialogue,

and the first in a long time

to be Chinese artists but also international artists.

I'm a big believer in art as an international language.

I would consider Dominic

the most important patron of Chinese contemporary art in America by far.

[narrator] With East West diversifying its cultural portfolio,

the bank found a partner in its own backyard.

[Kwan] Mommy. Uh-huh.

Is everything okay with Kalista? Yeah. [laughs]

[in Cantonese]

[in English] Yeah. She's very hungry.

Then she's... She needs a little nap.

I'm at the rink right now. I've got a quick interview.

I should be back in about an hour. Okay? Thank you.

[in Cantonese]

[in English] Okay. Bye-bye.

[announcer] Representing the USA,

- Michelle Kwan. - [audience cheering, clapping]

[car lock chirps]

- Hey! Good. You too. - Michelle, how are you? Good to see you.

[Kwan] Hi! Wait. Ice is ready. Let's go.

- [audience cheering] - [commentator] It's not just a legacy,

but an example that she has provided so many of the young skaters.

- Dominic. How are you? - Hey. Good to see you.

- Good to see you too. - Hey, look at all these.

- [laughs] - It brings back great memories for me.

You know, my family, my parents, my brother, sisters,

my nephew and nieces, my kids,

we all watched every one of your competitions.

"Here comes the new superstar of America."

[audience cheering]

[commentator] Well, in basketball, there is MJ.

In figure skating, there's MK.

Michelle Kwan.

- [Kwan] My father, you can see... - [Ng] Of course.

His credential right there.

It says "coach and choreographer." He was not a choreographer.

But at certain parts of my career, my parents couldn't afford a coach.

- It's really an immigrant story. - Yep.

My parents immigrated in their early 20s with nothing,

worked his way up from a busboy, to owning a Chinese restaurant,

to giving us opportunities to skate and dream.

[commercial narrator] Michelle Kwan appreciates that, as good as she is,

she can always be better.

At East West Bank,

we share that same philosophy,

pursuing excellence in everything we do.

East West Bank, one of the nation's best performing banks,

and Michelle Kwan's bank.

Wouldn't it be nice to have Michelle Kwan to be our spokesperson?

Because we looked at it and said,

"You're the most decorated ice skater in the history of the world.

And on top of that,

Asian American, immigrant story of your parents,

and who knows better about East and West

than you, who personify, you know,

this East and West in pursuit of your excellence?"

[Kwan] Winning or losing, it wasn't about that.

It was about the journey of getting on the ice every day and doing what I love.

All I had to do was look at a little skater

with the excitement to get back on the ice,

and it reminded me,

"Okay, that's how I started and that's how I'm gonna continue."

[commentator] Seven-time U.S. champion, Michelle Kwan.

[audience cheering]

[narrator] Shortly after this interview, Michelle Kwan was confirmed

as the United States Ambassador to Belize.

[rock music playing]

Sometimes, bridges are built over ice.

Other times, bridges are composed with a rock star.

I have to thank you, because you are the sole person

that is completely responsible for me having a solo career.

Oh, my gosh. Thank you.

As you will recall, you called me up one day right after Katrina had happened,

and you said, "We have to do something to help these people."

I said, "What do you wanna do?"

He said, "Well, I know the mayor of Cerritos,

and I'm certain I could get

the Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts.

If you can get the talent,

- we can do a benefit show." - Mm-hmm.

[Felder] All the money that comes in from this event tonight,

every dollar from every ticket sale will go to the American Red Cross

and will go directly to the victims of Katrina.

[playing rock music]

I had to put together my first solo band

- and rehearse to play that show. - [Ng] Uh-huh.

And I was a little nervous, to tell you the truth.

I mean, I've walked out and played on stages

for 120,000 people with the Eagles,

but this was just me, you know, and it was just a wonderful experience.

And after that, we've become great friends for all these years.

- When was that? 2005, I think? - [Ng] Yep, yep.

[Felder] So that was almost 20 years ago

- that that was happening. - [Ng] Yes.

I represented the United States to an ABAC meeting

that Biden appointed me to do.

And so I was in Vietnam. We had four days of meetings.

It started 8:00 in the morning till about 5:00 to 6:00.

After that, they always put out this incredible gala dinner.

First night,

traditional Vietnamese and Chinese music.

And then they transitioned and start playing these pop tunes from Taiwan.

- [Felder] Wow. - Suddenly,

"Hotel California"...

- [laughing] Is that right? - In Chinese classical music.

- That's what they did. - I would've loved to have heard that.

- How exciting! - I was just like, "Are you kidding me?"

I mean, here in Vietnam.

I'm gonna need to make sure to find a way

to get you involved with ABAC and then to play "Hotel California",

because I know all of those 20 countries' representatives, they all...

Whenever "Hotel California" is being played, they love it.

[laughing] I would love to do that.

[reporter] There was a big change today in the banking industry.

First Citizens Bank purchased much of Silicon Valley Bank,

which collapsed earlier this month and rattled banks around the world.

[Elam] Minority banks are important

because of the role that they play in communities.

These are banks that were born out of racism.

Now, a question that I commonly get asked is, "Do they still matter today?"

[reporter] Something was gonna break in the economy.

Right? And this is what broke.

[Ng] At a good time, you think, "This is great,"

In a bad time, "This is terrible."

One decides to make a run and take their deposit out,

everybody else follows.

[Elam] People started asking the question, "Is my money safe?

And is my money safe at a small bank, a regional bank, a community bank?"

[Oh] The thought was, "Okay, larger banks

are the only ones that are gonna be saved."

That kind of knee-jerk reaction or fear-driven reaction,

you know, certainly a hit to the overall faith in the system.

I think the negative outcome from that was something that was very concerning.

[James] The National Bankers Association is also celebrating its 95th year,

and we were so thrilled to have East West Bank join our association.

The NBA is dedicated to eliminating the racial wealth gap,

so it was so meaningful and symbolic for East West Bank to join.

[Kiyota] East West Bank started nearly 50 years ago right here in Los Angeles.

And the reason why our founders put the charter together

was because Asian Americans could not get bank accounts

from mainstream banks, because of racism and discrimination.

But the irony is that the founders, the Asian American founders,

needed friends in the Italian community, their neighbors,

to get the federal government's authorization for a charter.

Banking is so powerful.

When you really understand how America works,

a banking relationship is critical to every important decision

- that you make in your life. - [inaudible dialogue]

[James] Whether you buy a home, buy a car, start a business,

banking is so key to all of that.

And to make sure that people of color and disadvantaged people

have access to credit and capital

is really to give them access to the American Dream.

But I couldn't do it without a partner like you, without a friend like you,

and without a friend like East West Bank.

[narrator] The last major bank crisis occurred over 15 years ago,

imposed similar problems for regional banks.

During 2008, and also the early part of 2009,

I had a lot of sleepless nights.

[reporter 1] We're down over 16%.

[reporter 2] The Dow, at the same time, has fallen about 18%.

The financial crisis in 2008, I never saw it coming with that kind of velocity.

[reporter 3] It was the worst day on Wall Street since the crash of 1987.

I knew something bad was gonna happen, but I had no idea it would get so bad.

[reporter 4] This could be the most serious recession in decades.

[Krause] It was the most scariest time.

You know, every bank, if they're honest with themselves, they were scared.

If you're a bank, you're like a store. Your inventory is cash.

But banks can run out of cash.

[reporter 5] They started lining up before dawn here

to get into IndyMac Bank as soon as the doors open,

so they could get their money out.

[Oh] I think, before that point in time, I think there was a lot of discussion

that the credit crisis was really only subprime mortgages.

It wouldn't impact other banks, banks such as ourselves.

We spent a lot of time really focusing on the liquidity

and making people comfortable.

We had plenty of equity. We had plenty of capital.

When there first were kind of signs that things weren't going so good

and before bank stocks collapsed,

Dominic said, "We're gonna raise a bunch of money,

so whatever happens, it's okay."

I felt pretty confident that I could get through this challenging time.

Trust is a big factor.

Had our customers not trusted in East West management,

not trusted in our branch staff,

they would all pull their money out.

[Krause] We were fortunate to actually come out of the Great Recession

stronger than we went into it.

Our largest rival at the time failed.

They did run out of cash.

The FDIC shut them down.

The FDIC would always sell the banks, too, usually to a very large bank.

In this case, they let us buy it.

We knew that this would be something

that is such a major transformative event

by, you know, like, combining

two out of the three largest Chinese American banks, you know,

that combination will dominate the market by far.

[Ng] East West did not have branches

in New York, Georgia, Massachusetts.

And we are now picking up those branches.

In addition to that,

United Commercial Bank had a subsidiary bank in China,

and we end up taking over.

[Oh] The U.S. is a country with many, many banks.

There's thousands of banks out there.

You know, the scale and the size does matter as far as the reach.

So we actually benefit enormously from the global financial crisis.

[narrator] Seizing on the moment,

East West would almost double their assets,

allowing the bank to explore new opportunities.

Those new industries included clean energy,

professional sports, and entertainment.

[Ng] Studios from China were coming to Hollywood

looking into co-production, collaboration.

[Pozil] One of my specialized areas is entertainment.

It's an area that he wanted to be into,

and even though he didn't have,

you know, a team already doing this, per se, he already knew it.

Two years later, we really started to make strong headway

lending to TV and film companies in China,

financing their TV shows, financing their movies.

And things just really, really took off for us at that point.

[Ng] I told Bennett, we need to really focus into using our knowledge,

expertise, and connection with the Chinese studios.

I think it worked out very well.

Our unique value proposition was valued by most of the studios in Hollywood.

On the TV side, you know, like Tyler Perry,

Orange Is the New Black.

I remember when we first got into the film business,

there were Oscar-nominated films such as Silver Linings Playbook,

Django Unchained,

Crazy Rich Asians,

and also A24's movie Everything Everywhere All at Once.

That business had been growing very nicely for us.

[narrator] Another initiative on East West's expansion

was clean energy and a partnership with a forward-thinking factory.

[Girardot] BYD is actually a multifaceted company.

We call ourselves the global leader in electrification.

BYD stands for "Build Your Dreams,"

and we believe that that's really what our company is about,

is building dreams.

So we're the largest manufacturer of electric vehicles in the world.

- [Alvarez] Hey, sir. - [Lin] How are you, sir?

- Good, good. Everything good? - [man] Everything's good.

- [Alvarez] Good job. - [Lin] Thank you. Appreciate it.

Happy Friday.

[Girardot] People talk about, like, cultural bridges and financial bridges

between the East and the West.

Where the rubber meets the road is, you know, in a factory like this,

where you see African American and the Latino and the Chinese workers

all together on the same project,

and with a single orientation to get it done.

That's the real bridge, is the bridge between our cultures,

and this company embodies that spirit

more than any place else you'll find on Earth.

- [Lin] Yousef. - [Alvarez] How are you?

[Lin] Happy Friday.

[Alvarez] When I started here, I didn't have any kind of experience

with manufacturing or anything.

Based on kind of being a second-chance company,

and I think that they just went out on a limb

and gave me an opportunity here.

So I started doing, just as a technician, doing the bond on the floors, you know,

and just regular installation on the bus.

- After about six months, I became a lead. - [indistinct chatter]

[Alvarez] And then very shortly after that,

they had told me that they wanted me to be a supervisor.

Very shortly after that, they offered me the manager position.

So it's been very good here. They've been very good to me.

[Girardot] It's interesting to me that in the 1840s,

when they were building this railroad across the country,

that the bulk of the workers were Chinese.

And now here we are, you know, 150, almost 200 years later,

and we have this Chinese company

that's building the future of, you know, transit in the United States.

[Lin]

There's so many different people, so many different backgrounds here, right?

We have Chinese, Mexican, Black, white, everything.

We have a slogan here, right? "One team BYD," and we all are one.

[Lin]

[narrator] Furthering its presence in mainstream America,

East West signed one of the most famous brands in Los Angeles.

[announcer] Tonight's tip-off is brought to you by East West Bank.

[Ng] I think sport transcends race.

Everybody gets along.

Everybody gets excited.

And they don't care whether they're Black or white,

as long as you win,

everybody cheers.

[Buss] What I love about sports is that it brings everybody together.

We've just seen this massive growth since the advent of social media.

And of the over 300 million Laker fans on social media,

70% are from the Asia-Pacific region.

Kobe Bryant was, you know, a visionary.

He could see things.

[crowd chanting] Kobe! Kobe! Kobe!

[Buss] And he knew that by visiting overseas

and going particularly to the Asia-Pacific region

and connecting with the fans there,

that really laid a groundwork for people to become Kobe Bryant fans,

which then translated to them becoming Laker fans.

He created a worldwide fanbase

that continues on with the Lakers.

I wanna congratulate everybody here

- on a very good turnout. - [woman] I want your baby!

- [laughter] - Um, we couldn't have asked for more.

You know, we just continue to grow

and raise awareness for eradicating homelessness.

[Buss] When we started working together with East West Bank,

our goals were so similar

and our styles were very similar

in terms of what our priorities are with our business,

and through things like sports or the arts, you break down barriers.

[narrator] While East West was breaking down cultural barriers,

the Asian American community would suffer a setback in 2016.

- [audience clapping, laughing] - Yeah.

It's okay. It's okay.

Thanks, guys. Thanks a lot.

If anybody's upset about that joke, just tweet about it on your phone

that was also made by these kids, okay?

[audience laughing]

[Janet Yang] I was part of this protest

against the jokes made about Asians by Chris Rock

when he was the host of the Oscars.

That year was 2016.

It was the year when the meme "Oscars so white" came into being.

So it struck us as being even more devastating

when those Asian jokes appeared.

How come there's no Oscar for them

very hard-working, little yellow people

- with tiny dongs? - [audience laughing]

And it just was like a stab to our stomachs, you know?

And I started calling everybody I knew

who was potentially an Academy member that was Asian,

and we started collecting names, and names, and more names.

And we found, indeed, there were over a hundred Asian Academy members.

And that alone was surprising to me.

So that was literally the spontaneous beginning

of a feeling of we should be a community unto ourselves.

I think understanding racism,

understanding stereotypes, understanding unconscious bias,

that's a long process, and the Academy took it on,

but it doesn't mean we, overnight, you know, learned our lessons.

Right after that,

Janet Yang organized a group of our Asian and Asian American members

and came to meet with the Academy leadership.

We were in the Academy board room. I remember it well.

People bared their souls.

They said, "We've lived with these kinds of caricatures and stereotypes

our whole lives.

We want to be in dialogue with the leadership of the Academy,

and we want you to understand

what you represent to our world and to our community,

and we wanna help you do it better."

And so that began a fantastic collaboration.

Now East West Bank sponsors

what I think is the most popular gallery in the entire museum,

which is the Oscars Experience.

And then he became a trustee of the Academy Museum

and a very active member.

And, to me, finding these win-win situations

is just the best in the world.

[narrator] Shortly after this interview,

Janet Yang was elected president of the Academy,

making this a first for Asian Americans.

As Asian Americans gained visibility,

now was the time to gain prominence in the mainstream.

[Bing Chen] We started with media because we can't be what we can't see.

In 2018, it had been 25 years

since there was an all-Asian lead cast of a major studio film.

But luckily, one of our founding members, director Jon M. Chu,

had this crazy film called Crazy Rich Asians.

We ended up buying out theaters,

mass mobilizing tens of thousands of Asian and non-Asian moviegoers

to the point where it became

the highest-rated rom-com in more than a decade.

Since then, Gold House's marketing arm

has supported more than a hundred Asian-Pacific films

to mass cultural prominence.

I am paying attention.

[Bing Chen] When you actually look at history,

we don't just deserve to be seen.

We have been essential in leading so much of the creative industry.

All this work can't just be about how we're struggling

and where society has done us poorly.

It has to be about where we're strong and how we build that strength together.

[audience cheering, clapping]

[Yeoh] I've been fortunate to be in this industry for over 40 years,

and blessed to have seen this, first hand, how movies bring cultures together.

Not only do they provide us

with valuable insight into each other's lives,

but representation in entertainment shapes the global cultural landscape of today.

And the Oscar goes to...

Michelle Yeoh. Everything Everywhere All at Once.

[Yeoh] This is a time for empowerment. Things are changing.

We must continue to be relentless for our fight for our place

through excellence in our work and the support of our community.

[reporter] Why do you keep calling this "the Chinese virus"?

There are reports of dozens of incidents of bias

against Chinese Americans in this country. Why do you keep using this?

- A lot of people say it's racist. - Because it comes from China.

It's not racist at all. No, not at all.

It comes from China.

Go back to whatever [bleep] Asian country you belong in!

I would say that from 2017 to today,

we are without a doubt a bridge over troubled water.

We are talking about navigating in rough seas, you know,

with the tariff, and later on, pandemic,

and with the Trump administration

constantly talking about "the China virus."

and then there was anti-Asian hate that was going on throughout the country.

[reporter 1] As reports of coronavirus have spread across the U.S.,

so have incidents of anti-Asian violence.

[reporter 2] The FBI recently issued a warning

about a potential spike in hate crimes.

You know, I'd love to think that AAPI hate was just something new

or that came out of racism from leaders during a pandemic,

but I can't say that two blocks away

from where the largest lynching in American history took place.

I think if we don't learn history, we're doomed to repeat it.

[trolley bell rings]

[trolley rattling]

[Julian Ng] When I first landed at Central Station,

it was really the middle of the pandemic.

- It was 2021, early 2021. - [indistinct chatter]

[Julian Ng] We had a lot of issues with AAPI hate.

As a police department, we started looking at our seniors

and how our seniors were victimized in crime.

One of the things that we saw were crimes just not in the streets,

but crime... financial crimes, as well.

Why are Asians such easy targets?

You know, is it the stigma of Asians always having money?

They always carry money on them?

Why? Because you don't trust banks, maybe.

Maybe it's a cultural thing.

How can we build that trust between banks and our seniors?

[Chung] Self-Help is a 56-year-old community-based organization

started right here in San Francisco's Chinatown.

Seniors are sometimes not used to the Western banking system.

You know, many of them keep their cash

in their little rooms where they live, or in their homes.

Very unsafe, right?

But when Social Security

and the Supplemental Security Income system change

and force them to have direct deposit,

then every one of them will have a bank account.

[Julian Ng] SROs and other landlords that are around,

they only accept cashier's checks as payments.

So, what they have to do is take that money out

and get a cashier's check so they can pay their rent.

So, what we found out that was happening was

they wouldn't get the cashier's check from the bank

because it costs $10,

whereas they can just take their money out

and then walk over and get into another line at the post office

and wait there to get a cashier's check for $5.

I think it's a big cultural thing.

If I look at my parents,

I know my mom would walk ten blocks to save one penny.

So now people know that they're gonna get, like, $1000 or more in their pocket

when they get the cash out,

and then they have to walk several blocks, right, to the post office,

and people watch them.

And then the anti-Asian hate started too.

Unprovoked attacks were happening to our most vulnerable seniors.

[in Chinese]

[Chung] Our captain of our central police station asked me,

"What could the community do?"

So I took Julian and introduced him to Travis at the East West Bank,

and really requested Travis

to see if the bank could lower the money order fees

in order to save one step for the elderly.

So if they come into the East West Bank and get their money,

they buy one money order and pay the landlord

without bringing out all the cash and walk several blocks.

[in Chinese]

You know, East West Bank really was our savior during the pandemic.

[Julian Ng] East West really took to the idea and really ran with it.

You know, about two months after that conversation,

they came back to me and said, "Guess what.

We lowered our fees. Our fees are $1.75 now for all seniors."

But not just locally. Across the nation.

And now they're looking at all the other banks,

and I'm looking at all the other banks and saying,

"Okay, it's time to follow their lead."

[narrator] Just an hour north of San Francisco,

another leader in the Asian American community

continues to fight for inclusion.

[Low] I'm a fourth-generation Californian,

speaking more Spanish than I do Chinese, and yet I feel like a perpetual foreigner.

And as I learned more about civic engagement,

about the history

of Asian Pacific Islanders in California and the United States,

I quickly began to realize the obligation that I had to the community.

And then one thing leads to another, and then all of a sudden,

people are asking you to run for office, and you never think of such a thing.

Here I am.

I understand the experiences that many of us face,

not feeling like we are truly American, and trying to find that sense of identity,

which then gets us back to some of the cultural norms.

Keeping quiet, don't stand out too much.

But again, in this era, in this time that we're living in,

we need to help get outside of our comfort zones

and realize that we are interconnected in our shared success.

East West has a long history of being involved

in uplifting the Asian Pacific Islander community,

but being part of the community at large.

Understanding the impact to small, minority-owned businesses is critical,

and the lifeline for so many of us in the community.

And that's where the partnership and the realization

that there's an obligation beyond just the bottom business line

and the model is to that of being interconnected in the community.

[narrator] During the pandemic, we learned a lot about ourselves and the world,

how we are similar and how we are different.

Shanghai shut down.

Tonight, there's growing outrage over the Chinese government's

increasingly harsh COVID restrictions in the biggest city in China.

[Ng] During the pandemic...

every one of my branch staff had to show up to work every single day.

So when the quarantine requirement was mandated in Shanghai,

everybody had to stay home.

But there's got to be a few people staying in the office 24/7.

So I have three young men who volunteered.

[Yuan in Mandarin]

["In the Joy" by JJ Lin playing]

♪ Be they non-believer We still keep the faith ♪

♪ We hold back tears Smiles on our face... ♪

[Ng in English] They said, "We can tough it out."

So they went to the office, volunteered for four days.

But four days later, the Shanghai government

decided to extend the quarantine time.

And next thing happened,

seven days and then 14 days,

- and then one month. - Good night.

[Yang in Mandarin]

♪ Raise a noise... ♪

[all laughing]

♪ In the joy, in the joy ♪

[Ng in English] Staying in office without their family members

and not knowing when they could come out.

[in Mandarin]

Hmm...

[Ng in English] It's one thing about, "I know, 67 days.

I can count the days. I'm down to the last ten."

It's another one, is that, "Hmm. Would I ever get out?" Right?

[Yang in Mandarin]

[Yang laughs]

♪ You and I... ♪

[in English]

- Okay. I will give you... - I love you.

Love you. I love you.

- I love you. - You. I love you too.

I love you too.

I have a very good perspective in terms of the difference

between American culture and Chinese.

They're very different.

America:

individual rights first.

Democracy, freedom of speech.

And then I look at China,

society first, individual second.

[printer whirring]

I'm not making judgment here and there.

There's no right or wrong, who's better than the other.

I just look at it as a different culture.

It's a different philosophy.

[all in Mandarin]

[narrator] East West will always serve the Asian American communities.

But as Chinatown diversified, so did the bank.

East West Bank started 50 years ago for the purpose of helping the unbanked.

Helping them to survive.

Helping them to hopefully transition from poverty to middle class.

For the last almost three decades now,

I decided that we could do better.

Instead of just keep helping,

just to pull, to transition to middle class,

I feel a bit more ambitious.

Why should East West Bank be pigeonholed only to serve the Asian immigrants?

Why can't we be also serving the mainstream?

Why can't we be supportive of the African American community

and the Latino community?

By East West stepping up,

acting like we are part of the community and we belong,

I do feel that it makes a big difference.

[classical music playing on speaker]

[woman on speaker] Welcome to the East West Bancorp's

first quarter 2023 earnings conference call.

[analyst]

You know, we have always had a very strict principle

in terms of we gotta run our balance sheet

in a very prudent, conservative way.

So if you can see, despite the turmoil, well, we're down 2%.

When you looked at the anxiety going on, you know, in the market,

news about, you know, "Regional banks, are they all in trouble and whatnot?"

You know, we do need to make sure that we demonstrate to our customers

that East West is the last thing they need to worry about.

We've done it. And so far, so good.

[Irving] My first experience with East West was all the way back in 1980,

and spent my time representing banks

and savings institutions, typically community institutions.

Of all of the institutions,

East West has been the one that emerged and thrived and succeeded and grew

in ways that would have been hard to imagine.

[Ng] There's no way America can do without regional banks.

Many of us have that big bank's capability,

but do it in a much more intimate way with their customers.

The difference is that we're much smaller,

so we have a substantially better ability to connect, to interact,

and also to build trust, to build relationships.

[Irving] So what distinguishes a bank? It's really two things.

One is: Does it have special characteristics?

A special niche?

And two is execution.

It's the quality of management and leadership,

the dedication of employees,

the commitment to customer and client and client service.

East West has just done an extraordinary job

over many, many, many years.

In many ways, the growth and success of East West,

you know, follows the growth and success

- of Chinese Americans, Asian Americans. - [inaudible dialogue]

[Oh] The success that we've had,

and, you know, watching the bank continue to grow

is something that has been very valuable for me.

[Irving] When we ultimately have succession in Dominic's role,

the person or people who succeed won't be Dominic.

They'll be different.

But we fully expect that when that happens,

they'll be people of great talent and great care and commitment.

[inaudible dialogue]

[Irving] And again, Dominic is not going anywhere.

He'll be watching very closely, I'm very sure.

[anchor] In 2022, President Biden appointed East West Bank's CEO, Dominic Ng

to chair the Asia-focused Business Advisory Council.

But last week, a group of House Republicans

decided to take it upon themselves to write a letter to the FBI

demanding that Mr. Ng be investigated

for potentially violating the Espionage Act.

Their allegation is that this prominent Chinese American businessman,

whose bank is all about connecting the East and the West,

was secretly connected to China.

[Ng] I was initially kind of shocked, and it was so ridiculous.

This is something completely brand-new and kind of hits you in the core,

because it's not like I know exactly how to deal with it.

[Dreier] I've known Dominic Ng for nearly 30 years.

One of the things that brought us together is our shared, passionate commitment

about enhancing the relationship

between China and the United States of America.

We can't forget the critically important tool of diplomacy,

which Dominic believes in, and it's what he's doing

as the head of the Business Advisory Council for APEC.

[Buik] It was just shocking to me that that could happen

to the embodiment of the American dream.

That's how I think of Dominic.

And a business leader who has built up such a track record of success

and commitment to the community and the nation.

If he can be attacked this way, anybody can.

[anchor] Democratic Congresswoman Judy Chu and several other members

of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus

responded by publishing their own statement.

[Chu] It was important for us to speak out.

One of those Congress members

that was on that letter accused me of being a spy for China.

It made the stereotype that no matter how long we've been here,

we Asian Americans are foreigners in our own land.

This is just more BS from the right wing.

I mean, they have no clue what they're talking about.

The far right was looking to attack the president,

and so they picked on Dominic.

[narrator] One community that knows all too well

about having your loyalty questioned

is the Japanese Americans.

[Fujioka] At the Japanese American National Museum,

our mission is to preserve the stories of the Japanese community,

but more importantly, to share those stories

to hopefully ensure that what happened in 1942

never happens to another community.

East West Bank spent years helping the unbanked.

In fact, the whole purpose of why East West Bank was founded

was to tackle against racism against Asian Americans and immigrants.

It's kind of ironic.

Fifty years later, we ended up having me dealing with the same old thing

that's why the bank started to begin with.

We're in 2023 and this nonsense continues.

To attack a man of his honor and integrity is both sad and outrageous.

It's incumbent on all of us,

regardless of race, color, creed, politics, to stand up.

Asian Americans in the past and even today, we're not being treated equal.

I know it's not fair, but we do the best we can

to prove ourselves that we belong to this country.

[insects trilling]

[narrator] Over the last 50 years, East West has connected businesses

and people from around the world,

but its roots will always be in America.

And on a farm in New Jersey, there is an artist on a similar path.

[Deitch] Cai Guo-Qiang is a very profound artist.

There are many aspects to his work.

First, I would say I admire his entrepreneurial spirit

and he does remarkable things.

He's like a builder, someone who conceives

of a giant real estate development where there was nothing and makes it happen,

or an inventor who has an idea

and creates an extraordinary innovation.

And seeing that someone like Dominic Ng can relate a lot to Cai Guo-Qiang.

There's something in common with their ambition

and their ability to achieve big things.

[Guo-Qiang in Mandarin]

[woman in English] He will do it like this...

[in Mandarin]

[in English] Okay?

- [woman] Everyone ready? - [man] Yeah.

[Guo-Qiang in Mandarin]

[in English] Money to me, originally, was to help my community get the respect

so that we would not be discriminated against.

[Garcetti] Money is about the level of freedom we have.

And when people don't have money, it's their lack of freedom.

Money means opportunity to be able to do what I want to do in my life.

The ice skating dream.

[Guo-Qiang in Mandarin]

[Ng in English] Money is a tool.

It can help people advance self-interest or pursue public good.

Our founders at East West Bank used money to help immigrants overcome prejudice.

I want to empower everyone to reach further,

to walk across that bridge that connects us all.

["In the Joy" by JJ Lin playing]

♪ Be they non-believer We still keep the faith ♪

♪ We hold back tears Smiles on our face ♪

♪ I can clearly see it We are all the same ♪

♪ We all need love When we're healing pain ♪

♪ Differences keep us distanced though We really oughta let 'em go ♪

♪ We can multiply If we become united ♪

♪ Love's in full supply So let's just reach some ♪

♪ Satisfaction has arrived ♪

♪ Come together, you and I ♪

♪ Feel connection, raise a noise ♪

♪ All enamored in the joy ♪

♪ In the joy ♪

♪ You and I ♪

♪ You and I, yeah ♪

♪ You and I ♪

♪ Yeah ♪

♪ We become achievers When we keep the pace ♪

♪ We weather storms And make 'em brighter days ♪

♪ I can clearly see it We are all the same ♪

♪ We can't hold grudges Toward a single aim ♪

♪ When you're down and out I'm with you though ♪

♪ A pick me up when things are low ♪

♪ If we multiply each side ♪

♪ We can simply be going together now ♪

♪ Let's just fly through blue skies And feel some ♪

♪ Satisfaction has arrived ♪

♪ Come together, you and I ♪

♪ Feel connection, raise a noise ♪

♪ All enamored in the joy ♪

♪ In the joy ♪

♪ You and I ♪

♪ You and I, yeah ♪

♪ You and I ♪

♪ You ready? ♪

♪ When we do it May we do it for the joy, joy? ♪

♪ When we do it Can we do it for the joy? ♪

♪ When we do it May we do it for the joy, joy? ♪

♪ Can we do it for the joy? ♪

♪ Satisfaction has arrived ♪

♪ Come together, you and I ♪

♪ Feel connection, raise a noise ♪

♪ Raise a noise ♪

♪ All enamored in the joy ♪

♪ In the joy ♪