What happened in February 2015: socio-cultural, literary, and political news and events relating to Viet nam and to the Vietnamese diaspora.
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Events
• The first-ever Vietnamese music and fashion show will be held at the Tempodrom Theatre in Berlin on April 4.
Viet Kieu in the news
• “From nothing,” Viet Luong becomes the first Vietnamese-born general officer in the United States military.
• Vietnamese-American filmmaker Victor Vu keep his films’ “dialogue in Vietnamese.”
• Three female fashionistas have garnered success in Paris, Milan, and New York.
• Andrew Do may be “foreshadowing a possible political shift in California.”
• The younger generation of Vietnamese Americans have taken the lead in organizing this year’s Tet celebration.
• A large number of people attends Tet in San Jose.
• Dustin Nguyen talks to People
• A collection of Vietnamese fairy tales, “Vietnamese Children’s Favorite Stories,” will be released by Tuttle Publishing.
News about Viet Nam
• During Tet celebration, many Vietnamese cut back on spending due to economic concerns.
• Hooters plans to open its first restaurant in Vietnam. Lordy, as if there wasn’t enough problems in HCMC.
• A young Vietnamese rapper studying in the United States dares criticize the Vietnamese government.
• The status of Vietnamese contemporary art is uncertain.
• Veteran carpenters used collected materials from three ancient houses to assemble a traditional Vietnamese house.
• The Viet Nam Puppetry Theatre’s shows “evoked strong and different feelings about the ordinary life of the Vietnamese people.”
• TV Show in Vietnam mocking Government policy may be “informal bellwether of Vietnamese public opinion.”
• While few Asian nations pursue sexual bribery cases, officials in Vietnam is “considering the criminalization of sex bribes.” [TNN]
• An article explains the meaning of New Year’s Eve in Vietnamese belief.
Other News
• Book review: Chris Appy’s American Reckoning: The Vietnam War and Our National Identity
• A photo exposition shows what happened to some of Vietnam’s war children 46 years later.
• An op-ed piece on the “human cost of war.”
Special thanks to Viet Thanh Nguyen for providing many of the news items.
Peace!
RP