Chinese Club Honors San Marino Police and Fire Officials, 9/11

and police officers received a hearty meal and gratitude outside City Hall last Thursday as the honored public safety at an annual breakfast.

“The Chinese Club started this with the purpose of trying to establish better rapport between the city and their staff and the Chinese Club,” San Marino Chinese Club President Oscar Chien told Patch. “And also sometimes there are some cultural differences that need to be understood and that’s another effort. The [Chinese] students bring to the school certain ideas that may not be too traditional in the eyes of the school majority … but once you understand the background—how the story came about—it’s better understood and accepted and you learn something about the culture.”

The Chinese Club began holding the breakfast event about 16 years ago, said Chien, and after Sept. 11, 2001 claimed the lives of police and fire officials in New York, the club decided to hold each year’s breakfast on Sept. 11 in further tribute. This year’s breakfast was held last Thursday since Sept. 11 fell on a Sunday this year and City Hall is closed on Fridays.

Over the years, the breakfast has evolved from serving mostly Chinese foods to a combination of Chinese and American food like pancakes and french toast.

“Police and fire—we are dependent on each other and we are also dependent on the support that we get and this is truly one of the most supportive groups we have here,” said San Marino Police Lieutenant Steve Johnson at the event.

Johnson just spent his last week in San Marino since he is leaving to work for the Hermosa Beach Police Department.

Public Safety Significance

Chien, a doctor, emphasized the importance of public safety in times of crisis.

“If the fire department doesn’t come about when we have a heart attack you can lose lives and that affects the whole family,” said Chien. “In fact, we recently had a doctor who had a heart attack in San Marino and he was taken to hospital [by public safety] and it worked out very well.”

San Marino City Councilman Dennis Kneier told Patch that he has attended about 10 of the Chinese Club breakfast events and thinks, “It’s a great tradition.”

“I fully hope this community realizes the importance of the people here and that we should all vote ‘yes’ for Measure S,” said Kneier. “That is my big message because that will continue the kind of safety and protections that we have in San Marino.”

Measure S, on the November ballot, would continue the public safety tax that funds a third of San Marino’s public safety.

“It’s always a good feeling [to be honored] for police and fire, which I believe are kind of the basics of local government—public safety,” said Johnson. “We don’t ask for much—they pay us well—but I think there’s always that nice little thing to have someone face to face say, ‘I appreciate what you do’ and there is something about face-to-face contact that can’t be beat.”