What happened in February 2014: news and events relating to Vietnamese at home and in the diaspora.
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Viet Kieu in the news
•From speaking no English to becoming a broadcaster, Thuy Vu says she “was one of the lucky ones.”[NYT]
• Vietnamese people trafficked into the UK are “treated like slaves” by the criminal gangs transporting them.
• Kim Phuc and the photo that affected her life and the lives of many others.
• Director Ham Tran’s new film, How to Fight in Six Inch Heels, presents a “younger and more modern portrait of Vietnam.” [Trailer]
News about Vietnam
• Hanoi’s low-rise Old Quarter is among Asia’s best-preserved urban hubs of traditional commerce but planned construction will relocate 6,200 households.
• Composer/Singer Le Cat Trong Ly talks music.
• Phu Quoc island has a prison memorial with depictments of (American) mannequins torturing (Vietnamese) mannequins.
• Hanoi hospitals refuse medical treatment to an ailing Hmong Christian leader.
• A group of hired gun-toting thugs fire shot at unarmed farmers trying to reclaim rice fields.
• Nguyen Bac Truyen, a prominent Vietnamese dissident, and his wife were attacked by police agents while traveling to meet with an Australian diplomat.
• Rotterdam is advising Ho Chi Minh City on flood management.
Other News
• China’s strategy works best against weak states.
• Hackers hijacked 300,000 home routers, including many equipment in Vietnam.
• Like Asian Americans, Asian Canadians face discrimination in the most common places in their daily lives.
• Forty percent of Vietnamese have the surname Nguyen.
Special thanks to Viet Thanh Nguyen for providing many of the news items.
Peace!
RP
