Maine state bureaucrats are paying tribute to Asian Americans as part of “Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) Heritage Month.”
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Kirsten Figueroa, the commissioner of Maine’s Department of Administrative and Financial Services (DAFS), sent out a department wide memo on Thursday complaining about people mispronouncing her name, in an attempt to honor Asian Americans.
“Has anyone ever mispronounced your name? With my last name, I’m no stranger to mumbled introductions and the long pause at the doctor’s office before the nurse attempts to call out “Figueroa”—all part of the price we pay for a unique name! One of our fellow DAFS employees told me that she is a descendant of a man many believe to have been the first Chinese American in Maine. The story goes like this. When he settled in Mt. Desert Isle in 1857, at the age of 16, the locals couldn’t quite catch the nuance of his surname. In the process his last name changed from Kao Fu to Cough. Ahem,” said Figueroa.
Figueroa celebrated the increasing number of Asians immigrating to Maine, claiming that the “AANHPI Community” is one of the fastest growing demographics in Maine.
She particularly highlighted Maine’s new Center for Disease Control (CDC) commissioner Dr. Puthiery Va who was born in a Thai refugee camp, and previously worked in health services for Native Americans.
The statement concluded with Figueroa giving DAFS employees tips on how to pronounce names correctly.
“In memory of Mr. Cough, I’ll leave you with this tip for pronouncing tricky names: You don’t have to guess it correctly on the first try; just actively listen to how the person says it and repeat the name back slowly,” said Figueroa.
According to the DAFS website, Figueroa’s job includes financial planning, developing the state’s budget, and advising the legislature on financial statutes.
She has apparently decided to add to her list of tasks the responsibility to tell people how not to mispronounce her name, or the names of Asians.
In most cases, when companies have promoted the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) based monthly celebration, they have called it only Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month, but Figueroa apparently thought it necessary to include Native Hawaiians in the acronym, despite Hawaii being comprised of Pacific Islands, and thus already included in the standard acronym.
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Figueroa’s specific inclusion of Hawaii in the acronym suggests that she may be unaware that Hawaii is, in fact, a group of islands in the Pacific Ocean.
This conehead Figueroa ought to get over herself. What a turd. The head of another useless gov’t agency declaring another useless monthly celebration. What a waste of your tax dollars.
“Let’s celebrate the great accomplishments of Asian Americans by making it all about me and the inane invented slights I must endure.”
So how would she like it pronounced? Anyone familiar with LA County in CA knows of Figueroa and how to pronounce it.
Ok then all Asians need to pronounce the letters R and L correctly.
She sounds just plain DAFfy to me.
Whine, Whine, Whine! Get over yourself. I am surprised she didn’t list her pronoun, which no one care about either..