Representing your home country in a major sport is one of the many important responsibilities athletes hold. It is unfortunate that most cannot represent their country because of the potential risk of injury before a sport season starts. It is also rare to see an Asian athlete, let alone a Filipino, in baseball, football, basketball and hockey, which are the four major sports in the U.S. However, there is one individual that truly stands out as one of the best to represent th

The 21 percent increase in a range of administrative fees for citizenship applications is adding to the challenges Vietnamese immigrants fac

On December 30, 2016 China announced it vows to ban all commerce in ivory by the end of 2017. China’s illegal poaching and wildlife trade ranks the highest in the world, according to Daan P. van Uhm', author of The Illegal Wildlife Trade (Springer 2016). Vietnam’s own poaching and wildlife black market, however, is not far behind. The World Wildlife Fund, one of the world’s largest conservation organizations, reported Vietnam as the worst country in its last Wildlife Crime Sc

For the second generation Vietnamese-Americans, the remnants of the Vietnam War can be seen through documented pictures, ones that were capt

It’s not just a black people problem, a white people problem, or even a police problem. It’s an American problem. And that means it’s a Vietnamese American problem. It’s something that affects us all. Police violence against black communities occurs so frequently that it feels normal. People think it’s normal, and that’s just how the system (and its goal to protect the peace and reduce crime) works. For many Americans, police brutality—unjustifiable police violence—is a myth

Vietnam’s police force imposes tight media censorship and have a zero tolerance approach to criticisms directed at their government, cracking down on those who criticize the country’s Communist rulers. As a result, bloggers have been arrested in a recent wave of enforcement. Prison term for violators can be up to 20 years. According to a statement by Ho Chi Minh City police, blogger Ho Van Hai was arrested and accused of “spreading information and documents on the internet th

OPINION: If we care about our good police officers, we must carve out the space to hold bad ones accountable

Until recently, Vietnamese Americans have long been considered one of the more conservative bases of the Asian American groups. There has been a shift in which Vietnamese Americans are leaning more towards the Democratic Party than the Republican Party. ​ According to the recent National Asian American Survey, Vietnamese Americans in 2016 identified themselves as 29% Republicans and 45% Democrats. In comparison, Vietnamese Americans in 2012 identified themselves as 36% and 32

The month of October 2016 unleashed torrential flood waters in the central region of Vietnam. Tens of thousands of homes are underwater, and rescue efforts were launched to rescue villagers stranded on rooftops. Relief efforts have been slow as they were complicated by the politics of allocating charity funds. Countless Vietnamese Americans organizations are hosting fundraisers to help the cause. In the Trung Thon village, reports of relief funds distributed by a local chari

The UC Berkeley Asian Pacific American Student Development (APASD) Office serves the diverse and changing needs of the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) communities on campus. APASD is an important campus resource center on AAPI issues and events, and provide student development opportunities through collaborations with faculty, staff, students, and student groups. For the 2016 to 2017 school year, APASD faced unprecedented budget cuts that resulted in the eliminatio

A game-changing affordable housing measure on the ballot this November is led by a Vietnamese-American and San Jose native, Betty Duong. If you are involved in community organizing in the San Francisco Bay Area at large, Betty Duong is a household name. An alumna of UC Davis Law, UC Berkeley, and De Anza College, Duong has strong roots in the community. As the campaign manager for “Yes on A for Affordable Housing,” her role is to ensure a carefully crafted awareness campaign

As an Asian American, where is the box to identify oneself as Vietnamese, Hmong, or other groups? Currently, there are only two categories to choose from: Asian American and Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander. AB 1726, or the Accounting for Health and Education in API Demographics Act (AHEAD), would include these other groups under “Asian American” and require the collection of data on more groups by higher education and public health institutions. The bill sparked controve

While the media goes into a frenzy around the circular marks resembling bruises on swimmers’ backs during the Olympic games, the Vietnamese community is all too familiar with the cupping method simply shrugs. This cupping technique is widely practiced in Vietnamese households for centuries as part of traditional Eastern medicine to rid of ailments, aches, and pains. The curiosity created by the media surrounding athletes such as Michael Phelps who adorned cupping marks on his

It has been a long time coming, but the City of San Jose, a city with one of the largest Vietnamese population in nation, will finally open its first Vietnamese American Community Center at the Shirakawa Community Center. The center demonstrates a need in the community for a place that celebrates the Vietnamese culture and provide services for the growing demographics. The City of San Jose’s Parks, Recreation, and Neighborhood Services (PRNS) collaborated with the Office of E

According to a UCLA study, Vietnamese-Americans are reported to have one of the highest flu shot rates at 47 percent; while Whites, Chinese, Latinos are at 40 percent, and Blacks are at 29 percent. Ask anyone who has ever been to a clinic independently run by Vietnamese doctors and they will tell you the lines are long and wait times can be up to an hour even with appointments. During the flu season, such clinics can be filled to capacity or even run out of flu vaccines, with

As Vietnam's pressure to stand up against China’s aggression continues to grow, the ruling in favor of the Philippines rather than China in an international tribunal was also a sweet victory for Vietnam. On July 12th, the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague concluded that China has no legal basis to claim historic rights to the bulk of the South China Sea, an area of contention with the Philippines as it is for Vietnam. Within the South China Sea, large areas are disp

Finding Asian-Americans delegates, specifically Vietnamese-Americans, at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Ohio, was like finding Waldo in a sea of whiteness. In contrast, the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia took pride in having a diversity of delegates from a much wider range of backgrounds. According to Pew Research, there were 713 superdelegates at the Democratic Party; superdelegates include members on the Democratic National Committee, senat

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The Supreme Court on affirmative action would have impacted the University of California’s admission policies and changed the story of application rates for minorities. The hashtag #StayMadAbby was trending following the ruling of Fisher vs. University of Texas at Austin. Abby, short for Abigail Fisher, is a white applicant that claimed the University of Texas at Austin denied her admissions on the grounds of race in 2008. This case was a test for affirmative action, a policy

The image of Vietnamese elders collecting cans and bottles to recycle to make extra cash is not an unfamiliar one. However in California, it will become harder for some Vietnamese communities to recycle in exchange for extra income this year. Hundreds of recycling centers have closed around the state. California’s largest recycler, rePlanet, closed more than one-third of its recycling centers. There are now 191 less beverage container redemption and recycling centers. “Rural