Congressman Soto honors Central Florida APIA Community Leaders

Orange County is home to some of Florida’s largest and most robust Asian American communities, with this diversity comes a large spectrum of cultural richness, community development and leadership. For this reason Congressman Darren Soto (FL-09) during Asian Pacific American Heritage Month recognizes Asian American leaders in Central Florida who contribute greatly to the betterment of our communities and serve as an example to all. Honoring this year’s community leaders for Congressional Record certificates he said “In a year where we’ve seen an extremely concerning rise in anti-Asian hate crimes, it is crucial for us to rally around our Asian American and Pacific Islander community and recognize the ways in which they’ve made our Central Florida community better”.

This year the ceremony honoring the award recipients took place virtually due to the COVID19 pandemic just as it did last year, regardless of the modality of the ceremony these community leaders continue to shape and build APIA narratives and progress in Central Florida for the better, and we thank them for all they do and continue to do.

AsiaTrend would like to take this opportunity to highlight the honorees from the past two APAHM’s and appreciate their contributions in the community as a whole.

Adrian Lee, senior undergraduate student at the University of Central Florida. For the full video of Rep. Soto’s floor remarks, click here.

Dr. Francisco Rueda Halili, M.D., F.A.C.S., general surgeon in Kissimmee, FL. For the full video of Rep. Soto’s floor remarks, click here.

Dr. Hefang Lin, founder and president of the Orange County Asian Committee. For the full video of Rep. Soto’s floor remarks, click here.

Newlyn Wing, association manager for Junior Chamber International (JCI) USA, a not-for-profit organization of young active citizens. For the full video of Rep. Soto’s floor remarks, click here.

Onchantho Am, vice president of quality and chief legal officer of IMPOWER, Inc. For the full video of Rep. Soto’s floor remarks, click here.

Sadiqullah Baburi, owner of Kennedy Chicken and Grill in Winter Garden, FL. For the full video of Rep. Soto’s floor remarks, click here.

Shally Wong, special assistant of Mayor Jerry L. Demings of the Orange County Government. For the full video of Rep. Soto’s floor remarks, click here.

2020 Honorees – Virtual Reception

• Amish M. Parikh, M.D., a Central Florida native and University of Miami alumni who currently practices cardiology at Premier Cardiology in Maitland, Florida.  
• Dr. Mehr Rahmatullah, who has served at Internal Medicine at Orlando Health for almost 25 years. 
• Grandmaster Chan Pui, one of the leading pioneers in introducing martial arts to the United States. 
• Dr. Ejaz Ghaffar, the Site Director for Graduate Medical Education at Osceola Regional Medical Center. 
• Gary Ching Ka Lau, a community leader in Central Florida who heads the Dragon Parade in Orlando’s Mills 50 District during the Lunar New Year, the Asian Cultural Festival during May and the Asian Cultural EXPO in October.
• Mital Hall, who has 20 years of experience in sustainable development working with universities, federal, state and local governments and businesses.
• Simon Choy, the Vice President of Human Resources Worldwide at the Tupperware Brands corporate headquarter in Orlando. 
• Pauline Ho, a Certified Public Accountant and founder of Laus Consulting Services LLC.

We thank Congressman Soto for highlighting some of what the Asian American leadership of Central Florida has to offer, and we look forward to the continued growth, health and prosperity of all of our communities.