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

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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