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| Professionals connecting to other professionals: heard and 'scene' Thursday, October 28, 2004 Story by Anh Do. Photos by Vincent Nguyen 
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The flags of their home country and adopted country flanked the stage inside a hotel ballroom. Minh T. Nguyễn, the event’s chair, said: “We cannot refuse our heritage. So, we have to figure out how to take our knowledge — powerful knowledge that’s based on education and experience — to create new friendships and new bonds.” He hoped participants and organizers would unite to set an action plan to move their immigrant community forward in America, and to help those who are left behind in the place of their birth. Nguyễn, a software engineer from the Washington suburb of Bellevue, said he has devoted countless hours to finalizing details. To host something this size takes teamwork, “and I’m grateful that for the first time, nine chapters of VPS actually came together and gave it their best. We are so excited.” The people: One-fourth of those attending included students, much to the delight of the organizing committee, whose leaders are always looking for fresh talent, fresh ideas. “We ask ourselves: ‘How do we get our young professionals out there, who have access to everything, including money, how do we get them to give back?’ “We want them to have a voice in politics, here and elsewhere,” said Xuân Vũ, a financial and investment analyst and co-chair of the conference along with Nguyễn. Members of chapters from around the United States flew in to attend, coming from as near as San Jose and as far as Europe. Moreover, about 40 attendees made the trek from Texas, 10 from Washington state, 15 from Washington, D.C. Nam Nguyễn, who works in product research and development for a mining company, hails from Toronto. “This is truly about sharing our experiences,” he said, “to bring back to wherever we are from the best practices of how to do something.” “This time around,” added Vũ, who has been planning for six months, “we’re introducing more interesting topics than in the past. We are trying to focus on the latest issues in our community.” The panels: Some in the crowd had trouble choosing. The titles tempted them: from the opening “Political Status and the Development of a Civil Society in Vietnam” to the closing “Lessons of Vietnam’s History,” to talks in between dealing with human trafficking, entertainment, the global economy and reporting across cultures. Other sessions focused on the international criminal court, and developing a school curriculum that would include Vietnamese culture and history. In the science and technology workshop, presenters shared data about the latest research on solar energy and the controversy surrounding Internet fire-walls. With the firewalls — which exist in Vietnam preventing citizens from logging into sites that provide news critical of the Communist party — panelists debated whether it’s censorship or an aid to Web surfers. Nguyễn said he was especially thrilled to hear Paul Baranowski, widely considered an expert on Internet censorship, speak. “These are issues that we are concerned about, because ideally, we want people to have the information they need,” he said. Others who spoke with Baranowski included: Nguyên Nguyễn, a systems engineer at Raytheon; and Mai Thanh Truyết, executive president of the Vietnamese American Science and Technology Society and who has studied global warming and solar energy. In a workshop focusing on “Charity: Vietnam and the Social Ills of Poverty,” three presenters gave their views about what “illnesses” they are working to reduce and the groups collaborating with them. Quỳnh Kiều, a pediatrician and winner of a “Pride in the Profession” award from the American Medical Association, spoke about Project Vietnam, which sends a team of medical volunteers each year to the country to provide health care and train local doctors. Over a 10-day period on her trip in 2003, the workers — 152 people in all — performed 98 surgeries, examined 2,175 patients and led seminars for people from 40 provinces. “Every year I save one summer month so I can go back to Vietnam,” added Thành Nguyễn, another presenter who heads SAP-VN, which stands for Social Assistance Program for Vietnam, a non-profit group founded in 1992. Hundreds of corrective surgeries for desperate children have been provided by his volunteers in villages across the homeland, thanks to the help of donors, fundraising and awareness. The citizens of Vietnam “cannot care for themselves, so how can they help others?” Nguyễn asked the audience, adding that it’s the responsibility of social-services groups to come forward with assistance. “There’s an illness, the illness of fear,” that is rampant in Vietnam, said Hội Trịnh, a volunteer lawyer working to resettle thousands of Vietnamese boat people long stranded in the Philippines. “Because people are so poor, they fear everything. They focus on now, on how to survive right now, not toward the future.” The politics: In one popular panel, Vietnamese American candidates in the upcoming election shared the motivations that led them to run for office as well as the challenges they face. Peter Nguyễn and Kim-Oanh Nguyễn-Lâm, vying for seats on the Westminster and Garden Grove school boards, respectively, “Nobody knows you. You don’t have any connections. No one will fund your campaigns,” Nguyễn-Lâm said she was told when she decided to submit her name for the November ballot. But she wasn’t discouraged. As a university professor, she wants to focus on children, and soon, “people came from all walks of life” to support her, she added, “connecting to something bigger than who I am.” Nguyễn, a real-estate broker and widower raising a daughter, said it’s important to work with parents such as Vietnamese parents, who are trying to help their youngsters retain their heritage. He favors offering Vietnamese-language instruction in the schools, along with teaming with local Hispanics to boost after-school programs for their kids. Từơng Thắng Trần, in a rare appearance at a public forum, said he wants to represent his fellow citizens on the Garden Grove City Council and is willing “to earn” each individual’s vote. “With Vietnamese people, I don’t have any problems convincing them to vote for me, or for any other Vietnamese running,” said the engineer, whose voice is familiar to thousands of refugees who listen to him on the radio in Southern California. His campaign has been marred by an investigation from the District Attorney’s office, looking into whether he actually lives in Garden Grove or neighboring Irvine, since he owns houses in both cities. They “used that as an excuse so that Hispanics and Caucasians will not vote for me,” Trần said, after responding to press inquiries, saying that he knows residency rules and that he qualifies. If elected, he hopes to boost higher education in the city, possibly by developing its Harbor Boulevard corridor while continuing to fight against any casino that wants to open in the area. “My advice to anybody who wants to run is to go home and ask your wife first,” he added, explaining that his spouse was diagnosed with breast cancer, prompting him to leave work and community commitments to stay home for two years to take care of her. “She knows that if there’s something happening, I will be there for her. But now, the timing is right, as her health has improved, for him to get into politics. Trần’s daughter, age 7, often asks him: “Are you going to win this election? If you don’t think you will win, why do you run in the first place?” He responds by explaining to her the importance of service, while encouraging young people in the audience to follow their passions. Trần, Nguyễn and Nguyễn-Lam all have won endorsements from the Vietnamese American Political Action Committee. Behind the scenes: This was a valuable way to network, participants told each other in the hallway in between sessions. VPS members worked closely with their counterparts from the Union of Vietnamese Student Associations of Southern California, gaining sponsorship from top funder Wells Fargo to launch the conference, costing about $33,000, according to co-chair Nguyễn. Past conferences have been held in Hawaii; Anaheim, Calif.; Houston; Washington, D.C., and Dallas. “To me, it’s already a success, as I said in the opening ceremony,” he said. “We have a record 31 speakers and we have everyone working together.” | |||||
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