Special Report

INTRODUCTION

The Vietnamese Community of Houston & Vicinities (VNCHV) has undertaken quite a few initiatives, in the last 2 years, to expand requisite contacts and essential networkings to actively, and aggressively, expose our community to the general public, proving that VNCHV, and its constituents, should be duly recognized, not just for its sheer number as the largest Asian-American ethic group, but also as a vital component of the city landscape.

From City Hall to corporate boardrooms, from mom-and-pop corner’s stores to multi-million-dollar shopping malls, from ESL classrooms to universities’ auditoriums, from small machine shops to NASA’s outer space programs – everywhere one looks, one would undoubtedly sees that Vietnamese refugees, and Vietnamese immigrants alike, have made significantly substantial contributions, across the spectrum, to enhance and magnify the international image and prestige of the city of Houston.

Utilizing meager and limited resources, representatives from our Community Center have spent considerable amount of time to broaden numerous contacts with a wide variety of entities – from the private to public sector – to not only expose VNCHV, but also to solicit assistance for a host of social services to bring tangible, yet measurable, benefits to the Vietnamese people.

The guiding principles behind this beehive of activities are to stimulate collective efforts from every segment of our community to engage into the mainstream of American society.

When mentioning mainstream, a lot of people only envision and understand its scope in a political sense. Pragmatically, and more realistically, it should encompass a wide variety of activities such as: media exposure, public relations campaigns, education, culture, social benefits, disaster relief, crime prevention, awareness of basic financial services, etc…

With such an amplifying understanding of mainstream concept, multiple level of participation among Vietnamese people could come into effect to elicit the maximum efficiency in all activities.

Now, more than ever, this community needs to entice and galvanize the most active engagement possible of the younger Vietnamese-American generations; if we want to build a strong and unified Vietnamese community abroad to provide much-needed support to unshackle the inhumane communist regime in Vietnam; and rebuild our beloved country in freedom, liberty, democracy and prosperity.

Therefore, this special report will focus exclusively on the activities that stem from the guiding principles aforementioned.

SUMMARY

ARTS & CULTURE

-         In February 2010, VNCHV has become a major partner with TUTS (Theatre Under The Stars to promote the world-famous and enduring musical “Miss Saigon”. It was a second production in Houston for the last 10 years.

The week-long presentation at Hobby Center has garnered glowing reviews and enthusiastic responses from the audience.

Former president of VNCHV and newly-elected Houston City Councilman, Mr. Al Hoang of District F has delivered an official Proclamation on behalf of Houston’s Mayor, Ms. Anisse Parker.

-         In late April 2010, representative from VNCHV, Mr. Philip Nguyen has been invited to become a member in a panel discussion moderated by Patricia Gras from KUHT-Channel 8, the oldest Public Television station in the USA.

That special occasion was the free screening of the award-winning documentary “A Village Called Versailles” at Rice University Cinema

The panel’s members consisted of Vietnamese-American that spanned generations.

·        Father Vien Nguyen, Pastor of St. Mary, Queen of Peace, Catholic Church in East New Orleans who was instrumental in the communal effort to rebuild and repopulate the Vietnamese Village of Versailles that has been established since the onset of the refugees’ arrival  after April 1975.

It was an uphill battle, from the devastating destruction of the area – post-Katrina, to fight City Hall, and its mayor, all the way to the Louisiana State Supreme Court, to defend the rights of Vietnamese-Americans to relocate back to their so-called beloved Village of Versailles

Father Nguyen was definitely skillful in his spirited, yet emotional debate and argument at City Hall.

Equally crucial was the fact that numerous demonstrations have been staged peacefully, with the meaningful participation of area’s residents of different ethnic backgrounds.

·        Mr. Doan Trung, a young Vietnamese-American architect, Fulbright scholar, and former resident of Louisiana.

·        Ms. Cassidy Le, a young Vietnamese-American TV & Radio personality.

·        Mr. Philip Nguyen, a community activist and a proud former soldier of the South Vietnam’s Armed Forces who fought for his country’s existence and survival.

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