Aristotle Garcia Crowned Mr. Hyphen 2008

October 6, 2008

Six outstanding candidates competed for the crown:

Scott Chan, Leadership Education for Asian Pacifics
Aristotle Garcia, Filipino-American Arts & Exposition
Mike Liu, Spring Buds / California Dragon Boat Association
Maurice Seaty, Southeast Asian Student Coalition
Eric Tam, Asian American Donor Program
Rockson Yan, API Legal Outreach Youth Program

It was an adrenaline-driven evening, requiring each of the contestants to display every facet of his creativity and intelligence. At times, the cheering from enthusiastic fans was deafening, and it is certainly evident now, three years from the inception of the event: Mr. Hyphen is a title that is highly coveted and valued by the community.

Emcee Samantha Chanse elevated the electrifying event with her witty delivery and charm. The event was judged by Vincent Pan (representing the CAA - Chinese for Affirmative Action), Robin Sukhadia (representing Project Ahimsa), and Louisa Liu, Miss Asian America 2008.

The primary criteria for winning the entire contest hinged upon each contestant's ability to connect his inspiring activism and talent to his personality. Each candidate proved that Asian American men today are making a huge difference in the community, and elevating the stature of Asian American men in the eyes of the mainstream in the process.

In the end, Aristotle's performance in the talent segment, his poise during the fashion and sleepwear segments, and his eloquence answering questions earned him the crown. Runner-up Maurice Seaty was a close second. Both candidates were highly effective in conveying their commitment to the causes they represent. Check out the pictures below; and more available here!

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Photos by Kaiser Hwang

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Robin Sukhadia
Mr. Hyphen 2006/2007

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Comments

Comments

I had never seen such an amazing crowd! Props most definitely goes out to Maurice's supporters. Not only were they supporting Maurice, but they showed love towards all the contestants. Personally, Maurice had the best answers to the judges questions. He's right about how Southeast Asians are portrayed in Asian American media and we need to shift that ideology. Much love to Hyphen Magazine!
i had no idea that october is the filipino american heritage month (http://www.angryasianman.com/2008/10/october-is-filipino-american-herita...)!what a coincidence. congratulations aristotle! the competition sure was tough so props to you for coming up on top.
Aristotle is on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Mr-Hyphen-2008/8330673809 let him know how he did! on the discussion board, post up what you personally really enjoyed during the competition.if you took pictures that night, please also add them to that page! we want to know what's in YOUR camera. as the year progresses, aristotle will be blogging right here on hyphen's blog and also updating his very own mr. hyphen page with goodies from what he'll be up to.cheers for mr. hyphen 2008!
Congrats...Your charm and intelligence surely won the judges!
Pinoy pride and all, I'm stoked Aristotle won. I gotta say though Eric Tam rocked and he had my vote. The dance routine was hard to beat. Still, the word got out about the donor program which is something my own family and I know first-hand about and value greatly. This is what the Mr. Hyphen competition is all about - community support, even saving lives. And I hope folks in the crowd do find the time to register.Good show, Hyphen magazine! Looking forward to next year's!
Congats to Aristotle, although I agree w/ Anthem that Eric Tam was robbed! He is HOT, was representing an awesome cause, and he ROCKED the stage hard. Eric Tam for Mr. Hyphen 2009!!!
Yes, Anthem i completely agree that the need to raise awareness about Bone Marrow registration is more crucial now to the ASA community than ever...Eric Tam did a very creative job in conveying that, and he did raise the awareness. One my closest uncles died last year because he couldnt find a match. It is tragic, and more of us need to step up!
Just wanted to remind everyone that registering is easy and quick. All they need to do is swab the inside of your mouth with a qtip.Also, if you cannot get to a drive, you can do it through the mail for free. Find out more about drives and the mail kit here:http://www.aadp.org/pages/page.php?pageid=16