Happy Birthday Garrett Wang!

I could sit around on my butt and wait another fifteen years before somebody writes anything good, so why shouldn't I be the person to write that?

My goal now is to do the best job possible playing Harry Kim and to begin repaying my parents for the unaccountable financial support they have given me throughout the years.

I like Moby, I like Basement Jaxx, Chicane, I also like DJ Taylor, I like a lot of the sounds that come out of Ibiza. But mostly Trance and Hardhouse.

Jenny was responsible for my first breakthrough, she inspired me to go beyond the status quo.

If there is a Hell in this existence that we have that people can go to, he's first on the list.

I believe that I now have a huge responsibility in being one of a very small number of Asian Americans appearing on television regularly.

So I walked up to him and said 'Mr. Shatner, I finally get to meet you.' [Shatner's handshake] it was limp wristed, he gave me this, like he was the Queen of England or something. So he gives me that, then in the middle of the handshake, he looks away, then he pulls his hand away and he wipes it off on his shirt, right in front of me. All I saw was red. You know what? God help me, I want to punch his fat belly right now. I was so mad. I want to tell you guys, I love Captain Kirk, but I fricken' cannot stand William Shatner. I'm gonna say that right now. That is no way to treat someone.

Well, if the next Star Trek series or the following one asked me to cross over, I probably would say no. I would definitely consider doing a guest-starring role, and maybe even a recurring role, as an alien or as Kim, but I would probably prefer doing it as a completely different character.

One positive thing regarding maturation that happened from being on the show was the elimination of the racial chip on my shoulder. Eight years in Memphis, TN, being the target of daily racial epithets, made me overly sensitive to the stares and looks of strangers. In college, I had developed an almost militant attitude in that I would respond to prolonged looks by strangers with a defiant scowl or a combative, "What are you staring at?!" I strived to be the complete opposite of the quiet, non-confrontational Asian. Well, once 'Voyager' started, I quickly realized that the majority of the staring was by strangers who recognized me from the show and not active members of some white supremacist group.

I have a good relationship with the other actors here. It's truly like a family and ... there's always some sort of competition, but everybody loves each other.

Kim was probed, beaten, tortured and held the distinction of being the first Voyager crew member to die and come back to life. What more does a guy have to do to get promoted to Lieutenant for frak's sake? To add further insult to injury, other crew members such as Tuvok and Paris were being promoted, demoted and then re-promoted throughout the seven-year run of Voyager. I'm not trying to be negative here; just saying it like it is. During the fourth season, I called writer/producer Brannon Braga and asked him why my character hadn't received a promotion yet. His response? "Well, somebody's gotta be the ensign." Geez, thanks. Thanks for nothing.

God only knows! This is something that Garret Wang, as an actor, has always been asking? everybody in the office, the producers. I remember one day, it was very funny, I even went up to Kate Mulgrew and asked her the question, "When am I going to get promoted?" As if Kate really has anything to do with that. That's how desperate it has become. Kim has remained an ensign for so long I think that he is going to be an ensign forever. I used to joke at some of the conventions I've gone to and somebody asks me this question, that they shoot an episode where Kim actually wakes up, he's sleepwalking, he's so distraught about not being promoted that in this time of sleepwalking, he sneaks into everybody's quarters and he steals their rank pips from the uniforms and he comes into the bridge the next morning completely delirious, he's wearing his Starfleet uniform with 150 other pips, placed all over his uniform. He comes in a uniform made of pips and that is his message to crew that he needs to be promoted. But on a serious note, I don't know, it would be nice to have a promotion to Lieutenant Junior Grade at some time before the end of the show and if not, then maybe in the season finale, and if not, then maybe in the feature (film), if we ever do one. But right now, I think I'm going to be in the Guinness Book of World Records as the oldest ensign in the galaxy.

I was the first actor in Star Trek history to be denied the chance to direct. The irony of the situation was that, unlike my predecessors, who only wanted to direct for the sake of directing and acquiring their DGA cards, I was the only one who wanted to direct Trek and make it the best it could be, drawing upon my knowledge and experiences as a lifelong fan of science fiction. I truly believe that if I was given the chance, it would have been the best freshman effort by a Trek actor because of my passion for sci-fi. This missed opportunity has haunted me ever since.

Any time you go into something, you have expectations, Some are met and some are not met.

Now that it's all said and done I would say that there are certain things that I would have kept exactly the same and certain things I would have changed.

I think I clicked with acting in my second acting class in college. That's when I realized that this is truly what I want to do. I've always been a person that's entertained people, whether it be friends of my parents, they'd come over to our house, and I would do impersonations and accents and whatnot, just to make them laugh. I've often told people that I'd probably be happy being a lounge singer in Las Vegas, as long as I'm entertaining. And did I convince my parents about my career move? It took a while. It took about five years for them to finally give in to my wishes in terms of a career. They were not supportive of me for five years and finally they gave in, and they still were definitely not into it, they weren't happy about my choice to be an actor, but about a year and a half after they gave in, so to speak, or at least gave in a little bit, I got on Voyager, so at that point they became very happy. And I realized they were more concerned with my succeeding than anything else and acting being such a difficult career to be successful in, that was the reason they weren't into my being an actor. But now they're fine with it. So it's all good.

I asked somebody who was in the United States Navy. I said, "You know, if you're a Ensign, seven years later, what rank are you?" He said, "Well, almost a Lieutenant Commander", which is what Tuvok was at the end, so it is a little annoying that I didn't get.