Celebrating Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month
May 17, 2023
Every May, Bio-Rad joins countless others in celebrating Asian American and Pacific Islander (APPI) Heritage Month. During this month-long celebration, we are proud to recognize the historical and cultural contributions of individuals and groups of Asian and Pacific Islander descent in the United States.
To celebrate this year, we offered Bio-Rad employees in these communities the opportunity to share a bit about their backgrounds and cultural traditions with us. These are just a few of the amazing Asian and Pacific Islander people who make up our workforce, and we are honored to spotlight them today. Happy AAPI Heritage Month, everyone!
Maria Crisostomo, Sr. Sales Core Lab Product Manager (Hercules, California)
What makes you proud to be Asian or Pacific Islander?
My Dad, along with some close friends and relatives, were one of the first generations to emigrate from the Philippines to the US in the early 1900's to seek a better life and more opportunities. As a first generation Filipino American, I was inspired by their bravery and thirst to improve their lives and wanted to ensure these traits transferred to my children as second-generation Filipino Americans, so they can be positive contributors to our communities.
What is one cultural or family tradition that you value?
The Filipino culture is a very welcoming culture and treats close friends as family. This tradition extends into always ensuring everyone is well fed and is invited to all milestone celebrations (birthdays, Easter/Christmas, academic graduations, weddings, etc.). To complement these celebrations, the Filipino culture loves to include live music, singing, and dancing.
Kevin Darmasaputra, Sr. Engineer, Digital Biology Group (Pleasanton, California)
What makes you proud to be Asian or Pacific Islander?
As a Chinese-Indonesian, I'm most proud of my ancestors' journey. My grandparents immigrated from China to Indonesia. Today I'm here in the US after immigrating from Indonesia, following their footsteps.
What is one cultural or family tradition that you value?
Cheng Beng - visiting the tomb of deceased family members while catching up with other family members that travel from afar. We prepare dishes that the ancestors supposedly like, sweep the tomb, and burn joss papers.
Anie Pelletier, Software QA IV (Boulder, Colorado)
What makes you proud to be Asian American or Pacific Islander?
Having a strong family relationship and social interaction. I also have a hobby that involves culture from Indonesia, the country I come from. My hobby involves a music and dance group that I lead, inline with UNESCO cultural heritage: gamelan (brass xylophone percussion and shadow puppet) from Java, Indonesia. I was surprised when CBS Channel 4 Denver called me to interview me and have my group perform in their studio. This is the link to the video.
What is one cultural or family tradition that you hold dear?
Respect and value to senior people, which involves recognizing their value and importance as human beings and treating them accordingly. Being respectful of other people is an important value, including demonstrating a concern for people we interact with and treating them as equals. Another tradition involves my beliefs and the following values: Forgiveness, gift giving, sharing, and caring, especially during the Ramadhan and Led (End of Ramadhan) Holiday.
Daniel Lee, Strategic Accounts Manager, Bio-Pharma (Singapore)
Bio-Rad Asia Pacific Sales Meeting 2023
What makes you proud to be Asian or Pacific Islander?
I am proud of the feeling of family and community that is emphasized a lot in Asian values. We are always helping each other out for the benefit of the greater community. I have witnessed a lot of resilience, the willingness to endure hardships, and definitely the persevere towards achieving goals. I find these more and more fascinating the more I connect with my Asian heritage.
What is one cultural or family tradition that you value?
One of my family traditions includes fun Chinese New Year get-togethers, where we have dinner banquets of around 100 people for the extended Lee family. It's heartwarming to maintain a relationship with family members of different ages and personalities, and every senior member of the family is addressed as "Uncle" or "Auntie". It's just our way of treating our elders with respect and fondness, regardless of their background.
Vanitha Margan, Global Product Manager, Immunoassays (Hercules, California)
What makes you proud to be Asian or Pacific Islander?
I was born and raised in Malaysia and from a South Indian Tamil heritage. I'm proud to be Asian because the country I came from is very diverse in ethnicity, culture, and language, which enabled me to be multi-lingual, adaptable, tolerant, and respectful of other cultures.
What is one cultural or family tradition that you value?
Even though I was born and raised outside of India and have never been to India, my family and I celebrate the cultural events and speak the Tamil language. I value my Tamil language as it's one of the world's longest surviving classical languages and I've made sure my daughter is fluent in the language to ensure my family preserves it for at least another generation.
Amrrutraj Maannambeth, Product Manager, Life Science Group (India)
What makes you proud to be Asian or Pacific Islander?
I’m proud that India is considered as spiritual capital of the world. In this era of uncertainty, it's essential to have a calm and sound mind to make holistic decisions. One way this could be achieved is through following any one of the numerous mediation techniques which originated here.
What is one cultural or family tradition that you value?
Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam, which means "The World Is One Family” and it also means “all living beings on the earth are a family”. If we believe and walk on this path, the world will be a better place to live, and it can be sustained for our future generations to come.
Patsy Kennedy, Sr. Director, Global Talent Development (Hercules, California)
What makes you proud to be Asian or Pacific Islander?
I am extremely proud to be a Chinese American because this embodies both the pride I have about my Chinese ancestry and the opportunities I have as an American citizen. My parents immigrated to the US, specifically California, with three small children, to a place that was completely foreign to them, in both language and culture. It took tremendous courage and resilience for my mom and dad to leave their family in Hong Kong so that my siblings and I had the chance to have an excellent education and better future prospects. Our accomplishments are attributed to not only what can be achieved in the US and to the sacrifices my parents made to ensure that success. I am forever grateful to my parents and thankful that I am an American.
What is one cultural or family tradition that you value?
The cultural tradition I hold dear is Chinese New Year celebration. This is where the entire family gathers to pay respect to the elders, share delicious food, and red envelopes. It's great fun to hear generational stories by my dad, eat the “seven” lucky dishes, and pass out red envelopes of money to the younger or unmarried family members. I also enjoy all the “dos and don’ts,” such as “do wear something red because it symbolizes good luck and fortune” and “don’t wash your hair on New Year’s Day because you will wash away the good luck that the new year will bring”. It is truly a special tradition that I hope my children will pass on to their children.
Sarika Sikka, Regional Sales Manager, Biopharma West (Washington)
What makes you proud to be Asian or Pacific Islander?
I am proud to be represent my heritage because it connects me to my roots of where my ancestors have come from. It is a great honor!
What is one cultural or family tradition that you value?
While there are many celebrated Indian holidays, one of the holidays that I enjoy celebrating most is Holi. Those who have participated in the famous Color Run may be somewhat familiar with this festival. Holi is a holiday where colors are thrown in the air as part of the celebration of good over evil. Each color represents a means of good and are thrown as part of fun and games.
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