Roy was born and raised in Hawaii. His father worked for the city’s sewer department.His mother worked as a school custodian. A product of the public schools, Roy worked since he was 15 starting off bagging groceries at $1.25 an hour.
After graduating from McKinley High School, he joined the Hawaii Air National Guard and finished technical school at the top of his class. He went to Leeward Community College while working full-time as a laborer at Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard. A life-long learner, he eventually received his master’s degree when he was 40.
At 24, he moved to Japan to work as an organizer in the Korean community in Osaka.During his six years abroad, he traveled extensively throughout the region—Philippines, Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and Hong Kong—working with community-based development projects. This experience taught him that people everywhere share the same hopes and dreams for their families. He came to the belief that decisions that affect people’s lives must be made at the community level, not from the top down.
For the past 18 years, Roy has put these lessons to work for our community. He has fought to open the legislative process and to make it more accountable to the people. He has gained a reputation as an independent thinker who is not afraid to challenge the “old boy” network. He has been in the forefront on a range of issues such as stopping an anti-consumer auto insurance bill, promoting education reform, lowering the cost of prescription drugs, and advocating for campaign spending reform.
Over the years Roy has been recognized for his efforts. He was the first legislator from Hawaii to be awarded the prestigious Flemming Fellowship given to emerging political leaders in the country. In 2001, he received the Eleanor Roosevelt Fellowship for his work in connecting local and global issues. He was the first Legislator in Residence at the University of Hawaii.
After graduating from McKinley High School, he joined the Hawaii Air National Guard and finished technical school at the top of his class. He went to Leeward Community College while working full-time as a laborer at Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard. A life-long learner, he eventually received his master’s degree when he was 40.
At 24, he moved to Japan to work as an organizer in the Korean community in Osaka.During his six years abroad, he traveled extensively throughout the region—Philippines, Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and Hong Kong—working with community-based development projects. This experience taught him that people everywhere share the same hopes and dreams for their families. He came to the belief that decisions that affect people’s lives must be made at the community level, not from the top down.
For the past 18 years, Roy has put these lessons to work for our community. He has fought to open the legislative process and to make it more accountable to the people. He has gained a reputation as an independent thinker who is not afraid to challenge the “old boy” network. He has been in the forefront on a range of issues such as stopping an anti-consumer auto insurance bill, promoting education reform, lowering the cost of prescription drugs, and advocating for campaign spending reform.
Over the years Roy has been recognized for his efforts. He was the first legislator from Hawaii to be awarded the prestigious Flemming Fellowship given to emerging political leaders in the country. In 2001, he received the Eleanor Roosevelt Fellowship for his work in connecting local and global issues. He was the first Legislator in Residence at the University of Hawaii.
