What happened in September 2014: news and events relating to Vietnamese at home and in the diaspora. Socio-cultural, literary, and political news and events relating to Viet nam and to the Vietnamese diaspora.
Events
• The Archaeological Institute of America’s Art & Architecture of Vietnam & Cambodia (land tour) starts in November 2014.
Viet Kieu in the news
• Hoang Xuan Nguyen, editor of Viet Tribune and former managing editor of the Viet Mercury, dies at 74 of cancer.
News about Viet Nam
• Vietnamese visual artist Tran Luong along with eight other artists received the Netherlands’ Prince Claus Award.
• Outstripping Hanoi in investment and growth, HCMC is “key to Vietnam’s efforts to revive a national economy.“
• Vatican and Vietnamese officials meet to improve “bilateral relations.”
• Vietnamese under 30 years old prefer foreign branded goods, but this would adversely affect domestic goods production.
• After a six-year ban, Vietnam and the United States will soon resume limited inter-country adoptions of children with “special needs and those over 5 years of age.”
• Twenty-five years after withdrawing from Cambodia, Vietnamese veterans are still haunted by their experiences of the war with Pol Pot’s army.
• Many Vietnamese worry about the trade deficit with China and want to Vietnam to expand trades with other countries.
Other News
• Rory Kennedy’s documentary, “Last Days in Vietnam,” recounts the desperation of Vietnamese fleeing Saigon in 1975.
• The Fall of Saigon: “We Americans want to wake up as fast as possible from our historical nightmares, whatever the cost to other people.” It’s the American nature.
Special thanks to Viet Thanh Nguyen for providing many of the news items.
Peace!
RP
