Ma takes pride in her culture and heritage by submersing herself in Asian-American programs, committees, controversial issues and authoring bills that closely affect her on both a personal and social level. The two current bills she is working on prove just this.
Controversy surrounding the highly profitable traveling body shows display dissected human bodies in various poses for educational purposes. Ma became suspicious of these shows when she found out that the bodies used in the exhibition were of Chinese descent, and could possibly be unclaimed corpses from prisons and mental institutions.
“Chinese people are very superstitious about death. If someone dies in a house, they won’t buy the house. They believe in full-body burials. They don’t believe in organ donations, and some don’t even believe in giving blood. So, automatically, I thought that something was wrong with the show,” Ma told the Los Angeles Times.
Ma took action by authoring Assembly Bill (AB) 1519, a bill that will require documentation of the willing donation of the body for exhibition purposes.
“Bodies Revealed”, one of the body exhibitions, is currently in Sacramento until March 16 and has attracted thousands.
“I thought it (the exhibit) was very interesting, but was weird to see in person. I don’t think they should be shut down, but if they are getting the bodies they use illegally, then something should be done, and Fiona Ma is doing the right thing,” said Dana Thomas a woman who locally partook in the exhibit and has been following the media’s coverage on Ma’s bill.
The bill sends a message to exhibitors that California appreciates learning about the human body but does not accept the commercial exploitation of unwilled bodies, according to a press release issued by Nick Hardenma, Fiona Ma’s principal assistant. AB 1519 passed legislation and has been sent to the Senate for approval.
Bills such as AB 1519 spawn from Ma’s passion and roots within the Chinese Culture. Ma’s grandparents moved to San Francisco from China in 1980. Ma was born in New York where her mother worked as a school teacher and her father was an engineer. They Moved to San Francisco because her mother wanted to live close to Ma's Grandparents and loved the diversity of the city.
Ma knew at a young age that her selection for an adult profession was very limited. Her Chinese parents would only be satisfied with Ma becoming a lawyer, engineer, accountant or doctor. Ma chose to become an accountant and is currently a certified public accountant (CPA).
“I’ve always been good with numbers, and I never thought I would be in public office. Being an accountant is an honorable profession to Chinese parents, while being a politician is completely foreign to them,” she said in a publication by the California CPA.
In her free time she likes playing sports like tennis and golf, she also coaches volleyball. One might occasionally find her hitting the slopes for a ski weekend or singing karaoke at a local pub, and after a long day of fighting to improve the community in areas such as Universal health care, ensuring civil rights, enhancing public safety and working for the working family, she might unwind by watching a scary movie.
Elected into office November 2006, Ma has made health care one of her main priorities, focusing on Hepatitis B. The leading cause of cancer deaths among Asian-American men living in California is Hepatitis B-related liver cancer.
"Without treatment on the front end of the disease, thousands of Asian-Americans with chronic hepatitis B are at risk of liver cancer and liver disease. AB 158 will prevent liver cancer and liver disease, save the state money, and allow those infected with chronic hepatitis B to take control of the disease," said Ma in a press release issued by Hardeman.
“My family is proud to say that their representative is Asian-American, and I’m happy to hear that she is bringing to light health issues related to Asian-American deaths,” said Brian Fong, 23, Sacramento State University student who grew up in San Francisco.
AB 158 is waiting to be approved by the senate.
Ma has had some recent controversy of her own, having been associated with two convicted felons, long-time fugitive Norman Hsu and former gang member Raymond Kwok Chow. According to the Examiner Online, both gave her large donations in 2007. It is not known if she will keep the donations but this issue has sparked talk from many.
"San Francisco has a long-time history with Asian gangs, and thanks to Fiona Ma those same gangsters are now getting honored," blogger, Jeff, wrote on his blog titled Captain's Quarters.
Despite this, Ma’s political future looks bright. She supports Hillary Clinton in the upcoming election. In recent elections the term limit proposition, prop 93, failed to pass, terming out the current Speaker of the California Assembly Fabian Nunez. Ma proves to be a qualified contender by getting seven of the eight bills she authored signed by the Governor in her first year.
In a California Progress Report by Frank D. Russo, Ma states why she is running for Speaker.
“I think Democrats have core principal values. As a Democratic caucus, we need to come together to advance those principals and causes that are most important to us. Over the past year, it’s been an interesting time with our Republican Governor- who sometimes acted as a right leading Republican and sometimes acted as a moderate- like when signing my toxic toy bill,” Ma told Russo.
After repeated attempts to contact Ma and her staff, they denied all interviews and refused to comment or contact us about any of the issues discussed.
