More News in 2007 Community News
* President Clinton's speech: Hanoi University, Vietnam in English + Tiếng Việt by VAC
* Ðạt Ma Dịch Cân Kinh (Book of Life Renewal) May cure terminal disease beyond expectation by even doctors, Tiếng Việt. Note:English version posted 04/29/01. This excercise was founded by the founding monk at Shao Lin Temple in China centuries ago.
* A lot of free softwares to download go to our Links page

Feb 8, 2010: Vietnamese community's Year of the Tiger celebration will go on despite tough times. Nothing brings people closer together than hard times. That includes San Jose's Vietnamese community, whose members have bickered over signs, politics, sponsors, festivals and parades. Some say that the recent global economic recession has actually revealed a silver lining on the road to organizing the 2010 Tet Festival at the Santa Clara County fairgrounds next weekend to celebrate the Lunar New Year. More SJMN.

Jan 30, 2010: San Jose police chief chooses Vietnamese-American as new deputy chief. At a time when relations between his department and the Vietnamese community are seriously strained, San Jose police Chief Rob Davis announced Friday that he has chosen a Vietnamese-American as one of his four deputy chiefs.

The appointment of Capt. Phan S. Ngo, who as a child was airlifted out of Saigon during the last days of the Vietnam War, is historic. He is not only the first Vietnamese American to serve as a deputy chief in San Jose, but he is believed to be the highest-ranking Vietnamese-American officer on any major U.S. police department. More SJMN.

Jan 12, 2010: Citing cyber attacks, Google threatens to pull out of China. Responding to a highly sophisticated cyberattack on opponents of the Chinese government, Google said Tuesday that it is no longer willing to operate a government-censored search engine in China — and may shut down its Chinese operations altogether.

Google's stunning announcement could cost the company billions of dollars in lost future revenues, since experts said it's unlikely the Chinese government — which broadly filters Web content and blocks access to social networking sites such as Facebook — will back down and open up what has been dubbed "the Great Firewall." More SJMN. The Washington Post. The New York Times.

Nov 11, 2009: Unique homecoming to Vietnam for US commander. DANANG, Vietnam -- On the day his side lost the Vietnam War, Hung Ba Le fled his homeland at the age of 5 in a fishing trawler crammed with 400 refugees. Thirty-four years later, he made an unlikely homecoming - as the commander of a U.S. Navy destroyer.

Le returned on the Lassen, an $800 million, 509-foot destroyer equipped with Tomahawk missiles and a crew of 300. The ship and the USS Blue Ridge, the command vessel for the U.S. Navy's 7th Fleet, are making the latest in a series of goodwill visits to Vietnam, which began in 2003 when the USS Vandergriff paid a port call to Ho Chi Minh City, the former Saigon. "I thought that one day I would return but I really didn't expect to be returning as the commander of a Navy warship," Le said after stepping ashore Saturday. "It's an incredible personal honor." More Washington Post. U.S. Officer Revisits His Past in Vietnam, The New York Times.

Oct 27, 2009: Cops' attorneys: Officers in video did nothing wrong. Speaking through his attorney, the officer who was captured on a cell phone video last month hitting an unarmed college student with a baton insisted Monday that the student was "responsible" for the violent confrontation because he combatively resisted the officer's orders.

"Mr. Ho is responsible for his conduct, and he is responsible for not taking lawful directives from a police officer," said Bowman. "He is being combative and noncompliant, and he raises the stakes of the game." The grainy video depicts the event as Siegel struck Ho, a math major from Vietnam, more than 10 times with a baton in the hallway of the house. Payne shocked Ho with a Taser gun. Ho does not appear to be combative in the video, although it does not record the entire interaction between Ho and the officers. More SJMN.

Oct 26, 2009: San Jose police officers caught on video using baton, Taser gun on suspect. A cell phone video shows San Jose police officers repeatedly using batons and a Taser gun on an unarmed San Jose State student, including at least one baton strike that appears to come after the man is handcuffed, as they took him into custody inside his home last month.

The confrontation arose as Phuong Ho, a 20-year-old math major from Ho Chi Minh City, was arrested on suspicion of assaulting another of his roommates. The video shows police standing over Ho in a hallway of his house for more than two minutes. During that time, one officer strikes Ho with a metal baton more than 10 times — at times swinging it with both hands — while another officer leans in and uses his Taser gun.

The Mercury News was unable to reach either officer seen using force during the incident, despite written requests sent both through department officials and their union. More SJMN.

Sep 12, 2008: Where newspapers thrive: Orange County's Little Saigon. The enclave is home to five papers catering to Vietnamese Americans' interests - and one of them just started up this summer. Despite the economy, all are doing well. In a dimly lighted warehouse at the end of an alleyway in Orange County's Little Saigon, five reporters sat side by side on mismatched chairs, talking on telephones and typing away on their keyboards. There was no air conditioning, and two large fans provided little relief from the muggy air.

This was the temporary home of Viet Herald Daily News, the newest paper to hit the stands in this ethnic enclave. At a time when most U.S. newspapers are struggling to survive, Vietnamese-language news media here are flourishing.

There are four other dailies and numerous weeklies and magazines to serve the county's roughly 150,000 Vietnamese Americans. There are also several Vietnamese television broadcasting substations, as well as Little Saigon Radio (KVNR-AM 1480) and Radio Bolsa and VNCR, which share time on KALI-FM (106.3). More LA. Times.

Sep 03, 2009: Westminster city councilman pleads guilty to DUI. Andy Quach sentenced to three years of informal probation, nine months of alcohol education and community service. Councilman Andy Quach this morning pleaded guilty to misdemeanor drunk driving charges stemming from an Aug. 2 traffic accident when he crashed his Mercedes S550 into a pole knocking out power to about 300 homes. Quach did not attend the hearing, but his attorney Bart Kasperowicz entered the guilty plea on the councilman's behalf. Commissioner Thomas Rees sentenced Quach to three years of informal probation, a nine-month alcohol education program, 10 days of Caltrans community service to be completed by Feb. 2, a $390 fine and various other fees and penalties. Quach did not return phone calls Wednesday. More OC Register.

Jul 18, 2009: Budget cuts raise concerns for future of Southeast Asian archive. UC Irvine's extensive collection preserves the stories of refugees, but researchers worry that cuts will hinder documentation of the evolving immigrant community. Researchers and academics from across the country, even from as far as Japan and Germany, have come to dig through UC Irvine's Southeast Asian Archive -- the only collection in the world that continues to document the transitions of refugees and immigrants from Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos to life in the United States. "This is part of a larger picture of public universities facing severe cutbacks," said Linda Vo, head of UC Irvine's Asian American Studies Department, who is also a member of the archive advisory board. "We are facing drastic cuts that are going to impact our libraries and collections in various ways."More LA Times.

Jun 30, 2009: Vietnamese American returns to homeland to help disabled. At age 15 in 1968, Do Van Du lost a leg and part of an arm while serving as a combat interpreter for the U.S. Special Forces near the Cambodian border. He moved to the United States in 1971 and became a successful software engineer and systems analyst. Then, seven years ago, Du returned to his homeland to help found a college-level program run by Catholic Relief Services to train disabled young people to be software engineers and tech workers — a first for Vietnam. More SJMN.

May 22, 2009: Tech-reliant Vietnam hit hard by downturn. HO CHI MINH CITY, Vietnam — It's hard to see hints of an economic downturn on the horn-blaring streets of this commercial hub. High-end restaurants are overflowing, fashionably dressed young women fill chic stores, and everyone seems to be talking on cell phones while plowing motorbikes through roundabouts swarming with Honda scooters and SUV taxis. Vietnam's main stock market, after losing 66 percent last year, has been riding a seven-month high, up more than 20 percent this year. More SJMN.

May 20, 2009: Despite their success, Asians not rising to heights of Silicon Valley's corporate world. In Silicon Valley, "Asian" and "success" often seem synonymous. Asians lead all racial groups in levels of education and income, and they are a quarter or more of undergraduates at elite universities like Stanford and the University of California-Berkeley. Last week, the Census Bureau said Santa Clara County had the largest annual Asian population growth in the United States — for the third successive year.

But an eye-opening first-of-its-kind "census" of local executives shows that while Asians make up more than a third of the work force at some of Silicon Valley's biggest tech companies, they are far less prominent in the boardroom or the highest executive offices: Asians represent about 6 percent of board members and about 10 percent of corporate officers of the Bay Area's 25 largest companies. More SJMN.

May 1, 2009: Orange County's Vietnamese immigrants reflect on historic moment. Every April, as the anniversary of the communist takeover of their homeland approaches, they look back -- and try to make sure their descendants know and appreciate their history. Thirty-four years after tanks smashed through the gates of Saigon's Presidential Palace, marking a symbolic end to the Vietnam War, the bitter memories still burn among many of the refugees who live in Orange County's Little Saigon. LA Times.

Apr 20, 2009: Vietnamese man wins defamation case. OLYMPIA, Wash. A former South Vietnamese army lieutenant who fled after the communist takeover has been awarded $225,000 for defamation after being called a communist sympathizer. Turning aside defense warnings of damage to freedom of expression, a Thurston County Superior Court jury on Thursday found in favor of Duc Tan, 65.

It also awarded $85,000 to the Vietnamese Community of Thurston County, which he founded to help Vietnamese refugees and promote Vietnamese culture and traditions among immigrants. To find against defendants Norman Le, Phiet Nguyen, Dat Ho, Nga Pham and Nhan Tran, jurors had to find that they acted in "reckless disregard for the truth." The defendants made no immediate comment after the verdict. Testimony indicated about 60,000 Vietnamese-Americans live in Washington. Seattle Time.

Apr 15, 2009: Multinationals take a longer view of Vietnam. Vietnam's motivated workforce, stability and young population attracted investors. But companies found that many university graduates lacked the practical and technical training needed for careers with them.

By other measures, Vietnam's economy is faring better than most in the region. Thanks to a rise in trade of consumer goods, government spending on infrastructure and numerous plant openings in the past, the country's gross domestic product, or total economic output, is likely to grow by 5.5% this year. That would be the second highest in East Asia after China, according to the World Bank.

Businesses complain that, even after several years, workers still haven't finished the highway from Ho Chi Minh City's airport to downtown. Unlike China, relocation of families is painstakingly slow.

Nor does Vietnam have the depth of skilled labor that some thought. While young Vietnamese show a penchant for learning, universities tend to be heavily theoretical. Many of their graduates lack the practical and technical training needed for careers at multinational companies. More LA Times.

Cost of Iraq war will surpass Vietnam's by year's end. If Congress approves the latest funding request, as expected, the Iraq war will have cost about $694 billion, making it the second most expensive conflict in U.S. history behind World War II. Added to the amount spent through 2008, it would mean the Iraq war will have cost taxpayers a total of about $694 billion. By comparison, the Vietnam War cost $686 billion in inflation-adjusted dollars and World War II cost $4.1 trillion, according to a Congressional Research Service study completed last year. LA Times.

Vietnamese Americans take action against redbaiting. Some in Orange County's Little Saigon who have been labeled as communists, including a former school superintendent and the owner of a newspaper, are suing their accusers for slander and harassment. Being called a communist sympathizer is enough to ruin a reputation in Little Saigon.

In this staunchly anti-communist Vietnamese enclave in central Orange County, where the flag of fallen South Vietnam continues to wave, business owners, politicians and even pop singers know the label can spark street protests and damaging reports in the Vietnamese press. And in the past, those targeted have generally endured the attacks, knowing it would be futile to counter the accusations.

But now, some Vietnamese Americans -- including a former superintendent and the owner of the nation's oldest Vietnamese-language newspaper -- are pushing back by taking their accusers to court, suing for slander and harassment. More LA Times.

Mar 28, 2009: New UC admissions policy gives white students a better chance, angers Asian-American community. A new University of California admissions policy, adopted to increase campus diversity, could actually increase the number of white students on campuses while driving down the Asian population.

Now angry Asian-American community leaders and educators are attacking the policy as ill-conceived, poorly publicized and discriminatory."It's affirmative action for whites," said UC-Berkeley professor Ling-chi Wang. "I'm really outraged "... and profoundly disappointed with the institution." More SJMN.

Mar 5, 2009: Recall message failed to resonate beyond Nguyen's foes. A host of factors helped San Jose City Councilwoman Madison Nguyen handily fend off Tuesday's recall attempt — more money, support from the city's political institutions and division within the city's Vietnamese-American community, to name a few.

But when Tuesday's votes were tallied, the 5,696 who backed the recall barely surpassed the number who signed the petition. Nguyen garnered 7,083 votes to keep her in office, about as many as the 7,179 who backed her unopposed 2006 re-election."This did not go beyond the boundaries of a small group of people who were quite vocal but nonetheless small in numbers," said San Jose State University political science Professor Larry Gerston.

Ballot returns suggest turnout was highest among the district's Vietnamese, who comprise about a third of its residents. Of the 5,698 ballots issued in Vietnamese, 4,067 were returned, said Elma Rosas, spokeswoman for the Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters. But that number was dwarfed by the 6,061 English-language ballots returned — about half of the 12,553 issued. Of the 1,591 ballots issued in Spanish, Chinese or Tagalog, fewer than half were returned. More SJMN.

Mar 4, 2009: San Jose Councilwoman Madison Nguyen survives bitter recall attempt. In a hard-fought display of political tenacity, San Jose Councilwoman Madison Nguyen on Tuesday triumphed against a fervent recall effort — born from outrage over a shopping district's name — that pitted her against many in the Vietnamese community who first elected her three years ago.

The stunning result was all but certain soon after the polls closed at 8 p.m., when the results of more than 9,500 votes cast in the weeks before Election Day were released. With all precincts counted a few hours later, and fewer than 1,200 late and provisional ballots left to tally today, voters had favored Nguyen by a wide 55 percent to 45 percent. More SJMN.

Mar 3, 2009: Polls are open for Nguyen recall. Polls opened on time at 7 a.m. and voters began casting ballots in the recall election of San Jose Councilwoman Madison Nguyen this morning. Elma Rosas, spokeswoman for the Santa Clara County registrar of voters, said as of noon she had no reports of irregular activity in the voting for the District 7 seat. "There's just not a lot going on,'' she said. But she said it was to early to assess if voting is heavy or light. It has been raining most of the day.

Nguyen would be just the second council member recalled in the past 50 years — and the first since Kathy Cole was bounced in 1994 after making racially insensitive comments. More SJMN.

Mar 2, 2009: Recall of San Jose Councilwoman Madison Nguyen hurtles into last days. Residents of San Jose's District 7 on Tuesday will decide a question asked just a handful of times in the city's long history: Should a sitting council member — Madison Nguyen, in this case — be removed from office?

Only once have voters said yes. For four other council members, the answer was a resounding "no." Now, with Election Day fast approaching— and as Nguyen's friends and foes brave wet, gray skies in their exhausting final push to turn out as many voters as possible — whether history winds up on Nguyen's side is very much an open question. But one thing is utterly certain:

Once the flurry of door-knocking and phone-banking subsides, the result — no matter which side prevails — will mark an end to one of the most contentious chapters in San Jose's recent political past. More SJMN.

Feb 24, 2009: 7,100 ballots already cast in race to recall San Jose councilwoman Nguyen. More than 7,100 absentee ballots had been turned in as of Monday, officials with the Santa Clara County registrar's office reported — a total approaching all the votes cast in each of the 2005 races that catapulted the city's first Vietnamese leader into office.With about 12,300 absentee ballots yet to be returned, that number will climb by Election Day. Turnout could reach as high as 40 percent of the district's 30,777 registered voters, the registrar's office said, an unusually high portion in a district where turnout typically has been low. More SJMN.

Feb 6, 2009: Recall backers demand appointment, not election, if San Jose councilwoman is ousted. Backers of the push to recall San Jose Councilwoman Madison Nguyen have begun looking past the controversial March 3 election, gathering outside City Hall on Thursday to demand the City Council appoint her replacement if she is ousted rather than hold a special election.

It's a move designed to take away one of the chief arguments offered by Nguyen's supporters: An election in July, plus a likely runoff this fall, will cost taxpayers $1 million amid a tight economy. It's also a bid to keep Nguyen from running again for her seat if she loses the recall, something she has vowed to do if necessary. More SJMN.

Jan 21, 2009: Obama retakes oath of office after flub. President stumbled after Chief Justice John Roberts blundered. After the flub heard around the world, President Barack Obama has taken the oath of office.

Again. Chief Justice John Roberts delivered the oath to Obama on Wednesday night at the White House — a rare do-over. The surprise moment came in response to Tuesday's much-noticed stumble, when Roberts got the words of the oath a little off, which prompted Obama to do so, too.

Don't worry, the White House says: Obama has still been president since noon on Inauguration Day. Article 2, Section 1, Clause 8 of the Constitution states:

"Before he enter on the Execution of his Office, he shall take the following Oath or Affirmation:

"I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States." More MSNBC.

Dec. 8, 2008: First Vietnamese-American elected to Congress. Unofficial returns show Republican Anh ‘Joseph’ Cao has won seat. NEW ORLEANS - The first Vietnamese-American elected to Congress took advantage of dissatisfaction with a longtime incumbent dogged by corruption allegations and reflects the changing nature of New Orleans politics since Hurricane Katrina. The victory for a 41-year-old child of Vietnam War refugees was greeted with amazement and drew parallels to last year's election of Gov. Bobby Jindal, an Indian-American Republican. More MSNBC.

Nov 7, 2008: Vietnamese-American candidates take loss in most local races. Tensions and divisions within community may have led to dismal showing. Negative campaigning and a fractured community may have led to a lackluster showing by Vietnamese American candidates in Orange County on Election Day, according to candidates and community observers.

In Orange County, 13 Vietnamese Americans vied for different offices from state assembly to sanitary district. Only two incumbents – Rep. Van Tran (R-Garden Grove) and Garden Grove Unified School District Trustee Kim-Oanh Nguyen-Lam won their respective elections. And both won by narrow margins. More OC Register.

Nov 5, 2008: Weathering the post-election emotional storm. How to cope with raw emotions and be cheerful, even if you loved McCain. It’s the day after the election, and as usual, America’s come down with the world’s largest case of manic-depressive disorder. Half of the country is crying, calling in sick, or threatening, like conservative actor Stephen Baldwin, to move out of the country. The other half is dancing on their desks, buying drinks for strangers in bars, and gloating shamelessly every time a Republican walks by. More MsNBC.

Oct 9, 2008: Recall of San Jose Councilwoman Nguyen qualifies for ballot. Madison Nguyen, the embattled San Jose City Councilwoman who enraged thousands of the city's Vietnamese-American residents over her refusal to name a retail area "Little Saigon," will face a recall attempt in a March special election, city officials said.

The Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters on Thursday certified a petition Nguyen's opponents submitted in August. Officials said at least 4,775 of the 5,180 signatures submitted were valid. Recall proponents only needed to submit 3,162 valid signatures in support of the recall. Deputy City Clerk Dennis Hawkins said the council is scheduled to certify the petition on Oct. 21 and then take a formal vote Nov. 4 to place the recall on the ballot in March. More SJMN.

Sep 23, 2008: Majority of Santa Clara County families speak foreign language at home. After decades of immigration from Asia and Latin America, Silicon Valley has hit a linguistic milestone that is rare in America: For the first time, a majority of Santa Clara County residents speak a language other than English at home. In 2007, Santa Clara was one of just 10 counties in the United States where more than 50 percent of residents speak a foreign language at home, according to new U.S. Census Bureau data being released today. more SJMN.

Aug 14, 2008: White Americans no longer a majority by 2042. Immigration, higher birth rates among minorities to speed up diversity.White people will no longer make up a majority of Americans by 2042, according to new government projections. That's eight years sooner than previous estimates, made in 2004. The nation has been growing more diverse for decades, but the process has sped up through immigration and higher birth rates among minority residents, especially Hispanics. It is also growing older. More MSNBC.

Aug 7, 2008: Data shows nearly even racial mix in Silicon Valley. Marty Loo, a white 54-year-old legal secretary who works in San Jose, doesn't mind being a racial minority in Silicon Valley. The population currents shaping the Bay Area this decade mean that everybody, increasingly, has become a minority.

"You kind of work together," Loo said of the mix, "or you don't work here." Over the course of this decade, the South Bay had one of the biggest population drops among whites in California, according to census data released today. That trend, combined with a continued surge in Asian population, has given Santa Clara County an uncommon racial mix: Whites, Asians and Hispanics are more evenly balanced here than anywhere else in America. More SJMN.

Jul 28, 2008: Deal reached on number, location for 'Little Saigon' signs in San Jose. After a chaotic meeting last week that ended prematurely, San Jose officials and Little Saigon activists have hammered out a compromise on the number and location of banners that will go up on Story Road. The city will hang 18 "Little Saigon" banners at three locations. Initially, activists had wanted to strip 20 banners across several blocks on Story Road, but officials said the "community identification signs" should be clustered at two locations. More SJMN.

Jun 17, 2008: EBay signs deal with Vietnam start-up. WILL SHARE REVENUE WITH LOCAL PARTNER PEACESOFT SOLUTIONS. In a move to expand its global reach, eBay is inking a partnership with a Vietnamese start-up to cash in on the growing millions of Internet users in the Southeast Asian country.As a result of the deal, scheduled to be announced today at the Caravelle Hotel in Ho Chi Minh City, users of 1-year-old eBay.vn will be redirected to www.ChoDienTu.vn. The Web site will be operated by PeaceSoft Solutions, a 3-year-old start-up backed by IDG Ventures. More SJMN.

Little Saigon protesters to end 11-month demonstration outside Viet Weekly. The protests began in July when community members objected to some of the Weekly's pro-communist opinion pieces and demanded that publisher Le Vu change his coverage and writing style. When Vu refused, the protests began and have continued for 11 months. More OC Register

Jun 6, 2008: Mudslinging in Orange County's Vietnamese political community leaves mark. For weeks, rumors swirled in the coffeehouses of Little Saigon that Supervisor Janet Nguyen had accepted campaign money from an alleged communist sympathizer -- an incendiary accusation in Orange County's Vietnamese community and one that could damage her reelection bid.

When the allegations hit Vietnamese-language newspapers, Nguyen's political enemies such as Assemblyman Van Tran joined the chorus. Nguyen fought back by turning the tables and -- only three days before the election -- lobbed accusations of communist sympathizing against Tran. For years, Tran has been seen as the kingmaker in Vietnamese American politics. More LA. Times.

Jun 5, 2008: Study: Vietnamese, Mexicans – O.C.'s largest immigrant groups – assimilate in different ways. Today's immigrants, study finds, are assimilating faster than earlier groups, despite larger numbers. mmigrants are assimilating faster today than in generations past, and whether they speak English may not be the key to how well they integrate into the U.S. economy and civic life, according to a study published today. More OC. Register.

May 30, 2008: Silicon Valley investors join in Vietnam's real estate frenzy. LAND PRICES SOAR AS INTEL, OTHERS POUR MONEY INTO A GROWING ECONOMY. A half a world away from Silicon Valley's anemic real estate market, agent Cindy Nguyen has little time for sleep while she sniffs out deals in one of the world's hottest property markets. Last year, the president of San Jose's Lakami Professional Realty returned to Vietnam for the first time in 23 years. She was stunned by what she saw: instant wealth being created by land prices that have tripled, even quadrupled, in recent years. More SJMN.

May 19, 2008: 'Little San Jose': Vietnamese take Silicon Valley tech culture to Vietnam. Vietnam - Call it "Little San Jose." Longtime Silicon Valley residents bump into each other along fashionable Dong Khoi Street. They meet to swap business cards and network at Highlands Coffee, the Starbucks of Vietnam. Valley real estate agents are here to cut real estate deals.

Even San Jose's iconic Lee's Sandwiches, which is branching out across Asia, plans to set up franchises of its Vietnamese fast-food chain in what was formerly known as Saigon. "Everywhere I go, I see someone from the valley," Henry Liem, a lawyer and instructor at San Jose City College, said while sitting at the upscale Mojo cafe. More SJMN.

'Little San Jose': Culture shock in Vietnam. Former Bay Area resident Mark Tran, founder of business processing company Transcend People Limited near the Tan Son Nhat International Airport, was downright terrified when confronted with crossing a Ho Chi Minh City street for the first time.

Esther Nguyen said her Vietnamese language skills aren't always up to snuff when it comes to leading business meetings. "It's great when I want to talk with my parents," she said. "But my Vietnamese isn't good enough to actually convey all my thoughts and feelings. So sometimes we have to be animated, draw things or speak half Vietnamese, half English." More SJMN.

2,000 celebrate 'Little Saigon' victory at San Jose City Hall. Billed as a celebration of their "Little Saigon" victory, about 2,000 Vietnamese emigres rallied outside San Jose City Hall on Sunday in an event that also doubled as an informal kickoff to the attempted recall of embattled Councilwoman Madison Nguyen. In near-90-degree heat and shielded by umbrellas, activists pumped their fists and cheered as dozens took the stage during the five-hour. More SJMN.

May 4, 2008: Da Nang's transformation into Vietnam's 'next place'.City leaders lay the groundwork to make a former war zone into a new hub hub of capitalism. - From their new office, former Silicon Valley executives Le H. Hung and Steve Cook can look out on what American soldiers used to call Red Beach, where in 1965 Marines launched a massive buildup in this coastal city. More SJMN.

Apr 17, 2008: Intel reshaping Vietnam with billion-dollar chip-assembly plant. HO CHI MINH CITY, Vietnam - Intel's billion-dollar Vietnam bet along the Hanoi Highway - its biggest semiconductor manufacturing plant ever - is rising up from the flatlands of former rice fields, More SJMN.

Apr 1, 2008: Vietnamese Shoemakers Walk Out On Nike. More Than 20,000 Strike Demanding Higher Pay From Sports Apparel Giant. More than 20,000 Vietnamese workers have walked off the job at a Taiwanese-owned plant that makes shoes for Nike Inc., demanding higher pay to keep pace with skyrocketing prices, officials said Tuesday.

The workers at Ching Luh plant, in southern Long An province, went on strike Monday. They want a 20 percent bump to their $59 average monthly salaries along with better lunches at the company cafeteria, said Nguyen Van Thua, an official with the province's trade union. More CBS.

Mar 28, 2008: Brazen purse snatchers preying on Vietnamese women. Watch out for The Rippers. The Rippers are watching for you. The Rippers are what San Jose police are dubbing packs of purse snatchers who have been targeting Asian women - in particular Vietnamese women - in recent months as they stroll through parking lots.

Why Asian women? They tend to carry lots of cash, police say. The dangerous and unprecedented epidemic includes 21 recent robberies, according to San Jose detective John McElvy, many of them carried out brazenly in crowded and well-lit lots. More SJMN.

Mar 27, 2008: 'Little Saigon' banners allowed. After months of protests, rallies, even a hunger strike, the San Jose City Council on Tuesday voted to allow "Welcome to Little Saigon" banners to informally recognize a Vietnamese retail area on Story Road.

The 10-0 vote brought an end to the unprecedented uproar over the past several months after the council voted to call the area "Saigon Business District," enraging thousands in the community who wanted "Little Saigon." The original vote was recently rescinded after the wave of protest, MoreSJMN.

Mar 14, 2008: Deal reached on 'Little Saigon' CITY, VIETNAMESE LEADERS SIGN OFF ON COMPROMISE. Signaling the end of a drama that galvanized San Jose's Vietnamese community and dominated City Hall politics for months, city leaders struck a tentative deal Thursday with a die-hard group of protesters that will allow a strip of Story Road to be known as "Little Saigon."

The decision by the city to approve a privately funded sign also spelled the end of activist Ly Tong's monthlong hunger strike. Tong's strike, waged in a tent outside City Hall since Feb. 15, had brought new urgency to the "Little Saigon" debate in recent weeks - even beyond the daily protests that pitted ardent supporters of the name against a city council that resisted. More SJMN. Herhold: 'Saigon' mess finally behind us: about time. It was a day when cooler heads prevailed, a day when the fog machines outside City Hall could have stopped for a moment of tribute. It was a day when three glasses of lemonade and a bit of meat broth signaled victory. It was, just maybe, the end of San Jose's long nightmare. ... Misplaced signatures

You may remember that when the council last week adopted Liccardo's motion to begin again with a process for naming the area, he held up a petition allegedly signed by 92 businesses opposing "Little Saigon."

Over the weekend, it became clear that not all those 92 signatures really represented the views of the signers. Liccardo said the document appeared to be at least a "blatant misrepresentation." The "Little Saigon" people called it a fraud.

Mar 13, 2008: Ly Tong ends hunger strike after deal reached over 'Little Saigon'. Activist Ly Tong, who has not eaten since Feb. 15, ended his hunger strike this morning after San Jose officials tentatively agreed to allow at least one privately funded sign along Story Road reading, "Welcome to Little Saigon."

Tong, a hero to many Vietnamese Americans because of his anti-Communist activities, began his fast to protest the city's decision not to name a business district in that area "Little Saigon." He reportedly lost more than 30 pounds during his hunger strike, and last week he stopped drinking water. More SJMN. 'Saigon' hunger striker fading. HE'S 'STILL WILLING TO DIE' OVER S.J. DISTRICT'S NAME. Ly Tong's speech has become slurred. His hands and feet are numb. And the remnants of saliva in his mouth feel like "glue."

Resting in his wheelchair in front of San Jose City Hall, with the sense of death now growing palpably, he raises a hand to his mouth to muffle a gag. According to one medical expert, Tong may be able to last only a few more days without food and water. She said most people cannot last two weeks.

"He is going to have a hard time maintaining body temperature," said Marjorie Freedman, an assistant professor of nutrition at San Jose State University. "He is going to have changes in heart rate and definitely decreased kidney function. It is really a basic shutting down of all the body systems." More SJMN.

Mar 11, 2008: Forgery suspected in petition against 'Little Saigon' name. NAMES HAD SWAYED 'SAIGON' VOTE. Just when it seemed San Jose's long, strange "Little Saigon" saga couldn't get any stranger, accusations have emerged that a prominent Vietnamese-American businessman and philanthropist may have forged a petition that was presented to the city council last week. The city council used the petition, which bore the signatures of 92 business owners near Story Road, as a partial justification for voting against naming the busy Vietnamese retail area "Little Saigon." More SJMN.

Mor 10, 2008: Little Saigon bus cements community ties. A regular schedule of round trips between Westminster and San Jose keeps Vietnamese Americans close to their families. It's close to 9 a.m. and there's a small crowd near a bus parked outside ABC Supermarket in Westminster's Little Saigon. For Nguyen, it started out pretty small in 1999 with a few vans. But today, he operates two buses daily to and from San Jose. For $35 one way, passengers get a bottle of water, a large baguette sandwich and a jelly dessert. And they get to San Jose in about six hours. More OC Register.

Mar 6, 2008: San Jose's Viet community comes of age through 'Saigon' ordeal. The first sentence of the Web story said "Little Saigon" lost. In a strict toting up of accounts, that was true. By a 7-4 vote, the San Jose City Council implicitly rejected a last-ditch attempt to name a mile-long stretch of Story Road "Little Saigon." Instead, the council members voted to call it nothing at all for now, setting up a process - oh, what a leaden word - that might end in stalemate. More SJMN.

Mar 5, 2008: San Jose council again shoots down 'Saigon' name. Little Saigon loses again. After a six-and-a-half hour meeting, the San Jose City Council early this morning rescinded its controversial decision to call a Vietnamese retail area "Saigon Business District." But council members stopped short of renaming it "Little Saigon," as hundreds of speakers had implored.

The vote, which came at 1:30 a.m., was 7-4 to set up a process for naming business districts in the future and give business owners and other stakeholders the right to ultimately determine the name of this district. Councilmen Dave Cortese, Pete Constant, Kansen Chu and Pierluigi Oliverio opposed the motion, instead favoring to call the one-mile strip along Story Road "Little Saigon." More SJMN.

Mar 4, 2008: Little Saigon' fight hamstrings mayor HIS HANDLING OF CONTROVERSY RAISES QUESTIONS ABOUT LEADERSHIP.Struggling to salvage credibility on a bungled decision to designate a Vietnamese retail area, San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed finds himself in a political mess that has fueled more questions about his leadership.

While Councilwoman Madison Nguyen has taken the brunt of the criticism - because she is Vietnamese and the project is in her district - the stain has rubbed off onto Reed, the titular political leader of the council, who some believe should have put an end to the community anguish a long time ago. More SJMN.

Mar 3, 2008: 'Little Saigon' protest draws 2,500 in advance of Tuesday's vote. More than 2,500 people converged at San Jose City Hall on Sunday to demand that the city name a Vietnamese retail area on Story Road "Little Saigon, as new allegations emerged that Councilwoman Madison Nguyen had a "private deal" with a developer to pick a different name.

The rally - the largest ever at City Hall - set the stage for a climactic vote Tuesday night. The spirited crowd waved the red and yellow flag of South Vietnam before the 1975 communist takeover, shouting "Little Saigon" in unison. Young families with babies in strollers and seniors seemed united in their rage against the city.

The huge turnout was the latest - and most vivid example - that the city council has let the Little Saigon controversy spin wildly out of control. Last November, by an 8-3 vote, the council approved "Saigon Business District" as the name - a move that led to the extraordinary backlash. More SJMN.

Feb 22, 2008: Reed, Nguyen drop call for vote on 'Little Saigon'. With the "Little Saigon" furor showing no sign of abating, San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed and Councilwoman Madison Nguyen today abandoned their call for a citywide vote on naming a Vietnamese business district. Reed and Nguyen instead will urge the city council on March 4 to take no action naming the Vietnamese retail area on Story Road and instead to call for developing a community-based process for building consensus around such designations. More SJMN.

Feb 14, 2008: San Jose council to vote on how to handle 'Saigon' controversy. With alliances among San Jose City Council members shifting daily, the city's powerful labor interests plunged into the "Little Saigon" controversy Wednesday, hoping to bring an end to the turmoil that has roiled San Jose for three months.

The development was just one twist during a dramatic meeting of the council's normally staid Rules and Open Government Committee. A prominent attorney was hustled out of the room by security guards, police patrolled the halls and five separate council members released three memos - all with different ideas on how to end the turmoil that has followed the council's November vote to designate a "Saigon Business District." More SJMN.

Vietnamese Americans protest published photo. For eight days, Protesters paraded in front of one of Little Saigon's leading newspapers. They carried an effigy of Ho Chi Minh and called the editors "traitors" for running a photo they said was so offensive that it had to be the work of communist sympathizers. Two top editors at the newspaper were replaced several days later. The offending photo was of a piece of art by a UC Davis graduate student and Vietnamese immigrant who saw the creation -- a yellow and red foot-spa tub -- as a salute to Vietnamese refugees like her mother-in-law who toiled in a nail salon after the family came to America. But the protesters saw something far more menacing. More LA Times.

Feb 12, 2008: Vote urged on 'Little Saigon'. MAYOR REED, NGUYEN REVERSE STANCE ON VIETNAMESE DISTRICT. Monday's developments appeared to do little to ease the turmoil. Nguyen's foes continued to demand she step down. And Vice Mayor Dave Cortese - who originally backed Nguyen's Saigon Business District proposal but on Monday implied she had misled him - called for the council to vote again on the matter rather than put it on the ballot, where it might face a more uncertain outcome. It would cost the city $214,000 to place the issue on the ballot, part of which would be paid for with money the city had set aside to erect signs in the business district. More SJMN.

Feb 11, 2008: Dispute colors Tet celebration. LITTLE SAIGON' ADVOCATES MARCH IN TET CELEBRATION. The 11th annual Vietnamese Spring Festival and Parade downtown featured traditional participants - marching bands, dancing dragons, scout troops. But the loudest group was a band of immigrants pushing the idea of calling a stretch of Vietnamese stores on Story Road Little Saigon. A crowd stretching nearly two blocks followed a float named Little Saigon, waving signs and chanting. Many on the sidelines joined in. More SJMN.

Feb 8, 2008: San Jose council members may have broken law with 'Little Saigon' vote. In a startling revelation that could force the San Jose City Council to throw out a controversial vote that enraged the Vietnamese community, Councilman Forrest Williams has admitted he promised his support to Councilwoman Madison Nguyen prior to the council's Nov. 20 decision to name a business district. Privately lining up support with a majority of council members before a vote is a violation of the state's open meeting law. More SJMN.

Feb 6, 2008: Asking hard questions during Tet. The Lunar New Year, or Tet, is the most important and popular holiday in Vietnam, a festival traditionally celebrated for up to three weeks. It is a time when families come together, far-flung relatives reunite, good wishes are offered all around and old grievances are forgiven.

For many Vietnamese living outside the country, it also means a reverse exodus, when more than 100,000 return home for a visit back to Vietnam. Many of the visitors are from the United States. There was a time when the trip was not as easy to make as it is now. The ocean was vast, homesickness was an incurable malady and a Vietnamese in America had little more than nostalgic memories to keep cultural ties alive. More SJMN. The Tet table On Lunar New Year, a restaurant family reflects on its tough path to success.

Feby 5, 2008: 'Little Saigon' controversy: Politics in, Tet parade out. COUNCILWOMAN UNINVITED; MAYOR WON'T SHOW IN WAKE OF 'LITTLE SAIGON' DISPUTE. Thousands of people are expected to crowd downtown Sunday for San Jose's largest Vietnamese event, but two of the city's most high-profile leaders won't be there. The organizers behind the 11th annual Vietnamese Spring Festival and Parade have snubbed Councilwoman Madison Nguyen - refusing amid a raging controversy over a Vietnamese business district to invite her to the celebration of the Lunar New Year. More SJMN. Editorial: 'Little Saigon' fight harmful for San Jose, Viet community.

Jan 30, 2008: Peace sought in 'Saigon' dispute. MONTHS AFTER VOTE, COUNCILMEN LAUNCH A 'LISTENING CAMPAIGN'. The controversy over whether to designate a "Little Saigon" in San Jose is showing signs of fracturing the city council. Two months after the council voted to call the area "Saigon Business District" at the suggestion of Councilwoman Madison Nguyen - and over the protests of hundreds who packed the council chambers - councilmen Dave Cortese and Sam Liccardo have begun what they call a "listening campaign" to seek input from local Vietnamese leaders about a possible compromise. More SJMN.

Jan 28, 2008: Vietnam, US sign pact to repatriate deportees. Immigrant rights activists question the agreement, which could affect 1,500 Vietnamese who have been fighting deportation. According to ICE, about 8,000 Vietnamese have court orders to leave the United States or are fighting deportation in U.S. immigration courts. Of these immigrants, about 1,500 could be subject to the pact, Keegan said.

Rep. Zoe Lofgren, who chairs the House immigration subcommittee, said the pact took her by surprise since administration officials told her last year they had no plan to repatriate Vietnamese. More OC Register.

Jan 22, 2008: Vietnamese business district signs spell out more controversy. BANNER COULD FURTHER INFLAME 'LITTLE SAIGON' SUPPORTERS. More than two months have gone by since the San Jose City Council voted to call a one-mile stretch of Vietnamese-owned shops "Saigon Business District." But the city's in no rush to spend the $100,000 set aside for banners and signs to make it official. It's not about saving money. With hundreds of outraged Vietnamese-Americans picketing City Hall every week to demand the name be changed to "Little Saigon," the city's redevelopment agency isn't eager to fan the flames. More SJMN.

Jan 13, 2008: For San Jose's 'Little Saigon' backers, anger runs deep. MANY FEEL BETRAYED BY ONE OF THEIR OWN: S.J. COUNCIL'S NGUYEN. Thomas Nguyen believes in the promised democracy of his adopted homeland. He votes, volunteers on civic campaigns and encourages his fellow Vietnamese-Americans to do the same. So he was stunned when the San Jose City Council in November rejected "Little Saigon" as the name for an ethnic business district. It was the name many in the expatriate community had rallied behind. In city advisory surveys, online polls and public meetings, it consistently won the most votes. More SJMN.

Jan 12, 2008: Native languages in valley fade as immigrants' children embrace U.S. culture. IMMIGRANTS SEEKING TO PROTECT CULTURES. It's Sunday morning at Gunderson High in San Jose, and hundreds of Asian children and teenagers throng into language classes that even spill into the hallways. They're learning English, right? In fact, they're American kids who speak English with a Northern California accent who have come to the Van Lang Vietnamese Language & Culture School because their immigrant parents want them to learn Vietnamese.

While some Americans fear the country is becoming a collection of ethnic tribes lacking a common language because immigrants aren't learning English, immigrants have a different perspective, looking at their own children. Many believe their kids are adopting English at such a rapid rate that American culture is erasing all foreign languages imported to its shores. More SJMN.

Jan 9, 2008: An ultimatum for Madison Nguyen. QUIT OR BE FORCED OUT, BIG VIETNAMESE CROWD WARNS COUNCILWOMAN. As hundreds of angry Vietnamese-Americans screamed Tuesday for embattled San Jose Councilwoman Madison Nguyen to resign, one man in a yellow and red jacket stood quietly in front of City Hall. More SJMN.

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