June 2013 news and events relating to Vietnamese at home and in the diaspora.
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Viet Kieu in the news
• Johnny Nguyen’s film Cho Lon (original title: Bụi đời Chợ Lớn) has been banned from showing by the Vietnam Film Department.
• Orange County’s Little Saigon has seen tremendous growth as it enters its 25th year. [Photo: Elson Trinidad]
• A painting by a Vietnamese artist, Nguyen Phan Chanh, sold for $390,000, setting a record for a Vietnamese artist’s work. [Image: Christie’s]
• An extremely interesting interview with chef-owner Diep Tran about her Good Girl Dinette reveals wonderful insights.
• Researchers estimate the surname “Nguyen” will overtake the current name of “Smith” to become the most commonly used in Australia within 10 years. [Photo: Teaukura Moetaua/AFP/Getty Images]
• In Fresno, California, community gardens provide psychological comfort for Hmong affected by mental illness. [Photo: Jim Wilson/NYT]
• There’s more interesting details concerning the visa scam in Vietnam, which involved Vietnamese Americans. [GP]
• This story recounts one family’s work in a nail salon. [Photo: Douglas McCulloh]
On a somewhat related subject, in case you haven’t seen it, Hulu is showing Minh Duc Nguyen’s 2011 film, “Touch,” about a Vietnamese-American manicurist.
• Eight Vietnamese stowaways are arrested after being rescued at sea.
• A lawyer and part-time law professor, Khanh Vu Duc, suggests some strategies for the U.S. and Vietnam to move towards bilateral ties. Washington, however, is determined to hold its position of maintaining sanctions on exporting weapons to Vietnam.
• The Mississippi Coalition for Vietnamese-American Fisher Folks and Families receives Second Place Gulf Guardian Award in the Environmental Justice/Cultural Diversity Category.
News about Vietnam
• Pandemic rise of diabetics in Vietnam due to “Westernization and urbanization.” [Photo: Justin Mott]
• Recent cases of vaccine frauds related to child vaccines cause concerns for millions of parents. [Photo: Ngo Thu Phuong]
• Some dedicated young people are trying to protect and to promote the traditional arts to a new generation.
• Vietnamese officials deny basic human rights to Montagnard villagers. [Photo: Hoang Dinh/AFP]
• An anti-China march in Hanoi is suppressed by government officials who branded the protesters as “thieves and prostitutes” and brutally beat them. [NWAW][Photo: RFA]
• Hundreds of thousands in Cambodia, Vietnam and Thailand have been displaced from their lands.
• Cu Huy Ha Vu, a prominent dissident jailed in Vietnam, began a hunger strike as a means of complaining about the “unsuitable” prison conditions. [Photo: AFP/HO/VNA]
• In solidarity with Cu Huy Ha Vu, three activists have also begun hunger strikes. [Photo: RFA]
• Vintage homes are moved to HCMC and rented out. [Photo: Mike Ives]
• PM Nguyen Tan Dung received 160 (of 498) votes of “low confidence” in a three-ratings ballot. [RFA]
• Tuong Lai (Nguyen Phuoc Tuong), a sociologist, opines that by allowing Chinese expansionism in Vietnam, Vietnamese leaders are betraying their peoples’ sense of “patriotism and spirit of nationalism.” Vietnam may have kept the Chinese at bay for a thousand years but this time, given their military and economic superiority, they may finally succeed at wiping out the Vietnamese culture.
• Vietnam’s bonds completed their best week since March.
• Japanese firm Hitachi is set to start building Vietnam’s first urban railway in 2018. However, some observers believed it will be a challenge to convince millions of motorbike and car owners to switch to the train system.
Other News
• Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) families call on Congress to pass immigration reform legislation.
• A group of leading authors is backing a global study that suggests badly malnourished children are 20% more likely to have reading and writing problems.
Special thanks to Viet Thanh Nguyen for providing many of the news items.
Peace!
RP
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