Gesellschaft - Kultur / Society - Culture (2017)

17.10.2017 Rachel Cooke (The Guardian) - Marcelino Truong’s complex, finely judged and utterly riveting memoir is a sequel to his 2016 book, Such a Lovely Little War, in which he told the story, as seen through his boyhood eyes, of Saigon at the beginning of the 60s, when his diplomat father, Khanh, was the personal interpreter of the prime minister, Ngo Dinh Diem. This volume, however, is set not in Saigon, but in London, where Khanh has been appointed to a high-ranking job at the Vietnamese embassy – though the grim news from home is, of course, never any further away than the next BBC bulletin. In South Vietnam, General Khanh, widely seen as an American puppet, has taken over as the country’s leader following the assassination of President Diem. In the communist north, the Viet Cong are growing ever stronger and more vicious, with the result that President Johnson is shortly to put US troops on the ground. [read more]

Hochwasser in Vietnam - Weitere Überschwemmungen befürchtet

17.10.2017 (Südtirol Online) - In Vietnam haben Einsatzkräfte die Leichen weiterer Überschwemmungsopfer geborgen. Damit stieg die Zahl der Toten durch das Hochwasser im Zentrum und Norden des Landes auf 83, wie die Behörden des südostasiatischen Landes am Dienstag mitteilten. 21 Menschen werden noch vermisst. 33 Opfer stammen aus der Provinz Hoa Binh.

Für Dienstag befürchten die Meteorologen erneut schwere Regenfälle, da sich das tropische Tiefdruckgebiet „Khanun” auf die Region zubewegt. [Weiterlesen]

Hochwasser in Vietnam: Zahl der Toten auf 72 gestiegen

16.10.2017 (derStandard) - Hanoi – Nach den verheerenden Unwettern in Vietnam ist die Zahl der Toten auf 72 gestiegen. Während sich das südostasiatische Land bereits auf den nächsten Sturm vorbereitete, ging am Montag die Suche nach mindestens 30 Vermissten weiter, wie der Katastrophenschutz mitteilte. Zahlreiche Straßen waren weiter unpassierbar.

Starke Regenfälle hatten in der vergangenen Woche zu Überschwemmungen und Erdrutschen in großen Teilen von Nord- und Zentralvietnam geführt. Bei einer der schlimmsten Naturkatastrophen in dem Land seit Jahren wurden mehr als 50.000 Häuser zerstört und rund 300.000 Nutztiere getötet. Große Flächen Ackerland wurden nach Angaben der Behörden überflutet. [Weiterlesen]

Bundespolizei deckt erneut Schleusung auf

05.10.2017 (Focus) - Am frühen Donnerstagmorgen beendeten Bundespolizisten die Einschleusung von vier Vietnamesen auf der Bundesautobahn 12. Den polnischen Schleuser nahmen die Beamten vorläufig fest.

Eine Bundespolizeistreife kontrollierte am Donnerstag gegen 3:55 Uhr einen in Polen zugelassenen Ford Mondeo auf der BAB 12, Anschlussstelle Frankfurt (Oder) - Mitte. Im dem Ford saßen der 52-jährige polnische Fahrer, sowie eine Frau und drei Männer aus Vietnam. [Weiterlesen]

Heimat für Fortgeschrittene - Vom Mekong in die Mitte Deutschlands

27.09.2017 (FVN21) - Claudius Verlag: Migration ist das Thema der Zeit. Umso wichtiger werden Geschichten, die von geglückter Integration erzählen. Chi Dung Ngo flieht 1978 mit dem Einmarsch der Kommunisten in Südvietnam nach Deutschland. Als vietnamesischer Bootsflüchtling fängt er im Alter von nur 16 Jahren in Deutschland ein neues Leben an. Seine Geschichte ist die eines Aufbruchs ohne Ziel. Sie ist aber nicht nur eine Fahrt über das Meer aus der Heimat in ein fremdes Land. Sie ist vor allem eine Fahrt durch das Leben selbst mit all seinen Unwägbarkeiten, Sehnsüchten und der Hoffnung, die wir alle teilen: Im Leben anzukommen. Vor dem Hintergrund der aktuellen Flüchtlingsdebatte ein ebenso dringender wie eindringlicher Appell an die Menschlichkeit. ISBN 978-3-532-62800-3, Hardcover mit Schutzumschlag, 1. Auflage März 2017, 160 Seiten [Blick ins Buch]

Heroic virtues of Venerable Van Thuan celebrated in Rome

15.09.2017 (Vatican Radio) - The recognition of the heroic virtues of Cardinal François-Xavier Nguyen Van Thuan of Vietnam was celebrated with a solemn Mass in the Church of Santa Maria della Scala in Rome on Friday, the eve of the 15th death anniversary of the saintly prelate. With the recognition of heroic virtues a candidate to sainthood is conferred the title ‘Venerable Servant of God’, or simply Venerable. This is a step just before Beatification and final Canonization or sainthood. [read more]Typhoon Doksuri Batters Central Vietnam, Killing 4

15.09.2017 (AP) - HANOI, Vietnam -- Typhoon Doksuri slammed into central Vietnam on Friday, killing four people and injuring 10 others as heavy rains and strong winds ripped off roofs and knocked over many electricity poles.

Blackouts were widespread and technicians tried to restore power. Flooding was reported in some villages.

Packing maximum sustained winds of 135 kilometers (84 miles) per hour, the typhoon made landfall in Ha Tinh province, pounding six coastal districts and destroying the roofs of 62,500 houses, disaster official Ngo Duc Hoi said. [read more]

Taifun "Doksuri" wütete über Vietnam

15.09.2017 (Die Presse) - 80.000 Menschen wurden in Sicherheit gebracht, Fischerboote mussten an Land bleiben. "Doksuri" war zuvor über die Philippinen gezogen.

Mit Windgeschwindigkeiten bis 135 Stundenkilometer ist am Freitag der Taifun "Doksuri" über Vietnam hereingebrochen. Aus Sicherheitsgründen mussten nach Angaben des nationalen Katastrophenschutzzentrums annähernd 80.000 Menschen ihre Wohnungen verlassen. Betroffen war auch die Hauptstadt Hanoi.

Zugleich verfügten die Behörden, dass wegen des Wirbelsturms mehr als 70.000 Fischerboote an Land bleiben müssen. [Weiterlesen]

Vietnamese pay thousands for ‘new life’ in UK

12.09.2017 (Yorkshire Post) - People smugglers are charging Vietnamese nationals more than £30,000 to reach the UK - where they are told they will live like royalty, a new report reveals.

It describes a two-tier pricing system, including a “premium” service costing up to £33,000 which promises as direct a route as possible to Britain with minimal risk. Research suggests smugglers also offer “economy” options which range in price from £10,000 to £20,000. [read more]

UK: New Report Calls for Crackdown on Modern Slavery of Vietnamese Migrants

12.09.2017 (OCCRP) - Britain’s anti-slavery commissioner called on Monday for stronger measures in combating modern slavery of Vietnamese migrants who are increasingly exploited in nail bars, cannabis farms or as sexual workers.

In a report that was published on Monday, the Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner called on UK authorities to regulate nail bars, start prosecuting and disrupting individuals and groups responsible for modern slavery and work on prevention.

British authorities recorded between 2009 and 2016, nearly 1,750 Vietnamese migrants of whom half were children, according to the report. [read more]

Greater UK nail bar regulation needed to stop exploitation of Vietnamese trafficking victims

12.09.2017 Sally Hayden (Independent) - Vietnam is one of the top three source countries for modern slaves coming to Britain, new report finds.

Britain's anti-slavery commissioner has called for more regulation on nail bars, in a bid to stop them exploiting Vietnamese trafficking victims.

Between 2009 and 2016, 1,747 Vietnamese nationals were reported as suspected trafficking victims - with the numbers increasing every year. [read more]

As a teenage refugee, he was the family cook. Now, he’s a lauded chef

11.09.2017 By Alex Witchel (Washington Post) - BERKELEY, Calif. — When chef Charles Phan was 16, he made Thanksgiving dinner for 10: his parents, aunt, uncle and five younger siblings. The family had recently arrived in San Francisco, having escaped South Vietnam in 1975 after the fall of Saigon and landing in Guam. With recipes from Gourmet magazine, he cooked turkey, stuffing, sweet potatoes, green beans, gravy, cranberry sauce and apple pie. The meal bombed. “I was trying to get them to embrace the culture,” Phan recalled last month. “My mom made some curry in case I botched the dinner, and I made rice to go with the gravy. So we had that, instead.”

If he had been told as a teenager that in 2004 he would win the James Beard Foundation Award for Best Chef in California, and that in 2014 the Slanted Door would win the national Beard award for Outstanding Restaurant, he would have laughed. [read more]

Inside Vietnam City, the French holding camp for vulnerable UK-bound migrants

10.09.2017 by Amelia Gentleman (The Guardian) - Detailed accounts of a holding camp in Northern France, where hundreds of vulnerable Vietnamese young people are housed every year before being smuggled into exploitation in the UK, have prompted anti-trafficking charities to call on the British and French governments to disrupt the criminal networks running the site.

Hidden in woodland, on the site of an old coalmine, the well-organised camp known as Vietnam City is usually home to between 40 and 100 Vietnamese migrants, some of them minors, who are on their way to the UK to work illegally in cannabis farms, nail bars and restaurants, according to charity workers who recently visited. [read more]

A Vietnam Story Told Through the Eyes of Refugee Parents

01.09.2017 By Irene Noguchi (KQED Arts) - At first glance, Thi Bui’s illustrated memoir tells the story of her family fleeing Vietnam in the 1970s to start life anew in California. But on a deeper level, the book transcends the stereotypical refugee plot line. The Best We Could Do is the story of parents and children: the sacrifices that Bui’s parents make, and the struggles their children don’t fully understand until much, much later.

At first glance, Thi Bui’s illustrated memoir tells the story of her family fleeing Vietnam in the 1970s to start life anew in California. But on a deeper level, the book transcends the stereotypical refugee plot line. The Best We Could Do is the story of parents and children: the sacrifices that Bui’s parents make, and the struggles their children don’t fully understand until much, much later. [read more]

Vietnamese artist’s painting breaks domestic auction record

31.08.2017 (The Nation) - Hanoi - A painting by Vietnamese artist Nguyễn Sáng has been sold for over $100,000, breaking domestic auction record.

Meo von nhau (Two cats), a 1979 lacquer painting by Vietnamese artist Nguyen Sang, has fetched US$101,000 at the 6th session of Chon’s Auction House in the capital city. It is the first time an artwork has been sold for over $100,000 at a domestic auction event.The 60x72cm painting belonged to art collector Pham Van Thong, who purchased it at Christie’s Asia. Its initial auction price was $41,000, also a record for a domestic auction event. [read more]

The band plays on for one-time Vietnamese political prisoner

29.08.2017 By Bennett Murray (Gulf Times) - Nguyen Van Loc, singer and former political prisoner, sings at his small Hanoi cafe to a crowd of mostly elderly Vietnamese.

In a smoke-filled cafe near Hanoi’s West Lake, the elderly Nguyen Van Loc sings old love songs to a well-dressed crowd.

The lyrics – whose English translations would not be out of place in a Frank Sinatra song – once earned him nearly a decade of hard labour during the Vietnam War on charges of subversion.

While Vietnam’s single-party communist state has since come to accept what it once pejoratively called “yellow music,” the traditional love songs from the pre-war era previously were banned for decades.  [read more]

Trafficking and exploitation in focus - 'I hope you’re ready to get married': in search of Vietnam's kidnapped bride

26.08.2017 by Kate Hodal (The Guardian) - Early one morning last April, Phượng woke to find over 100 missed calls on her mobile phone, all of them from her eldest daughter, Lý. “Mum!” Lý screamed, when she called back. “Where have you been? Cẩm is missing!” Lý’s voice cracked with panic over her little sister’s disappearance. “She called me from the border and said she’d been tricked! She’s been sold!”

Phượng knew immediately what had happened. They were living in Sapa, an impoverished rural district in Vietnam’s mountainous north-west, and many girls there had disappeared just like this: victims of bride trafficking, destined for China and a life of domestic servitude and sexual slavery. [read more]

Warum sich Vietnamesen im Westen so gut zurechtfinden und als Integrationswunder gelten

18.08.2017 von Martin Beglinger (NZZ) - Wohin es sie auch verschlägt, Vietnamesen schaffen den Aufstieg in westliche Gesellschaften besser als andere Migranten. Ihr Beispiel zeigt: Kultur spielt eine zentrale Rolle bei der Integration.

Man hört selten von ihnen, sie geraten kaum in die Schlagzeilen, fast könnte man meinen, sie lebten unsichtbar. Doch wer genauer hinschaut, der erkennt, dass viele der rund vier Millionen Vietnamesen, die seit Mitte der siebziger Jahre mehrheitlich in der westlichen Welt leben, verblüffend erfolgreich sind. [Weiterlesen]

Eine Vietnamesin im «Paradies der Arbeit»

18.08.2017 von Martin Beglinger (NZZ) - Nhung Agustoni-Phan lebt seit 51 Jahren in der Schweiz. Das Land ist ihre Wahlheimat geworden, aber nicht ihr Vaterland.

Die «Pension Bienvenue» in Lausanne war im Jahr 1966 ihre erste Adresse in der Schweiz. Doch als junge Vietnamesin fühlte sich Mademoiselle Phan dort mehr geduldet als willkommen. Sie zählte, wie die «Neger» auch, zu den «fremden Fötzeln».  [Weiterlesen]

To help flood victims, Caritas Vietnam avoids government involvement

18.08.2017 (Catholic Culture) - Catholic relief workers in Vietnam are avoiding involvement with the government in order to deliver supplies to flood victims in the remote Yen Bai province.

Bishop Joseph Nguyen Van Yen led a Caritas Vietnam team to help families in the northern region. [read more]

De réfugié à Pulitzer

15.08.2017 Danielle Laurin (L’actualité) - Arrivé aux États-Unis parmi les boat people, Viet Thanh Nguyen a remporté le prix Pulitzer pour un roman qui raconte la guerre du Viêt Nam du point de vue des Vietnamiens. Les Américains en prennent pour leur rhume…

Pour la première fois depuis la création de cette prestigieuse distinction littéraire aux États-Unis, il y a près d’un siècle, un Américain d’origine vietnamienne est le lauréat du Pulitzer de fiction. Avec ce premier roman, Le sympathisant, tout juste traduit en français (Belfond), Viet Thanh Nguyen vient rejoindre le panthéon des Steinbeck, Hemingway, Faulkner, Tartt… [en savoir plus]

Neuerscheinung: Was man nie vergessen kann: Erinnerungen vietnamesischer Bootsflüchtlinge

14.08.2017 (Peter Hammer Verlag) - Was man nie vergessen kann - Erinnerungen vietnamesischer Bootsflüchtlinge von Rupert Neudeck (Herausgeber), Christel Neudeck (Herausgeber). 40 Jahre ist es her, dass 1,6 Millionen Vietnamesen über das Chinesische Meer aus ihrer Heimat flohen. Über die Hälfte von ihnen erreichte nie ein rettendes Ufer. Mehr als zehntausend der „Boat People" aber konnten von der Cap Anamur, einem privaten deutschen Rettungsschiff, in Sicherheit gebracht werden. Zum ersten Mal erzählen sie jetzt öffentlich von ihren dramatischen Erlebnissen. Von Verfolgung, Not und Hoffnungslosigkeit nach der Machtübernahme des Vietcong-Regimes am Ende des Vietnamkrieges 1975 und von ihrer Entscheidung, ihr Leben zu riskieren, um in Freiheit zu leben. Sie berichten von zerrissenen Familien in überfüllten Booten, von Stürmen, Hunger und Durst, von Überfällen und Vergewaltigungen durch Piraten. Und schließlich von dem unvergesslichen Moment der Rettung, nicht selten im Moment höchster Not.

Rupert Neudeck, der mit seiner Frau Christiel die „Cap Anamur - Deutsche Not-Ärzte e.V." gründete, initiierte dieses Buch, bevor er 2016 unerwartet starb. Christel Neudeck hat sein Projekt zu Ende geführt.

1. Auflage, broschiert, mit Karte, 184 Seiten, ISBN: 978-3-7795-0578-5

"Der Vietnamkrieg prägt bis heute das Agieren der USA"

14.08.2017 Rodion Ebbighausen (DW) - Viet Thanh Nguyen hat einen ungewöhnlichen Roman zum Vietnamkrieg vorgelegt. Er bricht mit sämtlichen westlichen Erwartungen. Die Deutsche Welle traf den Pulitzer-Preisträger zum Gespräch in Berlin.

Das Buch hat in den USA einen Nerv getroffen und wurde 2016 mit dem Pulitzer-Preis ausgezeichnet.

"Der Sympathisant" gleicht einem reinigenden Gewitter. Sicher geglaubte Überzeugungen und Gewissheiten werden weggespült. Ein aufklärerisches Buch, das zur richtigen Zeit kommt angesichts eines US-amerikanische Präsidenten der Nordkorea mit "Feuer und Wut" droht. [Weiterlesen]

Vietnamese Art Has Never Been More Popular. But the Market Is Full of Fakes

11.08.2017 By Richard C. Paddock (NYT) - HO CHI MINH CITY, Vietnam — The exhibition at the Fine Arts Museum in Ho Chi Minh City was billed as a triumphant homecoming for works by some of Vietnam’s most influential artists.

But Nguyen Thanh Chuong, a prominent artist himself, was stunned by what he saw.

Hanging on the wall was a painting he recognized as his own, a Cubist-inspired portrait he did in the early 1970s.

But instead of his name, the canvas bore the signature of one of Vietnam’s best-known artists, Ta Ty, and the date 1952. “I could not believe my eyes,” he said. “It made my hair stand on end.” [read more]

Trinh T. Minh-ha: Gedanken aus dem Zwischenraum

16.07.2017 Interview Julia Grillmayr (derStandard) - "Grenzen sind leider ein extrem wichtiges Thema geworden": die Kulturwissenschafterin über ihre Arbeitsweise zwischen Kunst und Wissenschaft und die politischen Verwerfungen in den Vereinigten Staaten.

Trinh T. Minh-has poetisch-politische Schriften und Filme beschäftigen sich mit Grenzereignissen aller Art und loten gleichzeitig die Grenzen von wissenschaftlichem Arbeiten und künstlerischem Nachdenken aus. Elsewhere, Within Here, ein Essayband über Identität, Sprache und Ursprung in Zeiten von Immigration und Flucht, ist soeben in deutscher Übersetzung erschienen. [Weiterlesen]

Vietnamese-Canadian family's refugee story inspires new Heritage Minute

20.06.2017 By Carolyn Dunn (CBC) - For Sam and Rebecca Trinh, 1979 was the year they ran out of choices.

After the fall of Saigon at the end of the Vietnam War, Sam, a soldier, was slated for re-education at a labour camp in the Vietnamese countryside.

The Trinhs' story of escaping Vietnam is told in a Heritage Minute being released today by Historica Canada. Daughter Judy Trinh's essay about the experience inspired the idea. [read more]

Législatives 2017 : qui est Stéphanie Do, REM, la nouvelle députée de Seine-et-Marne ?

19.06.2017 Par Martine Bréson (France Bleu) - Stéphanie Do, La République en Marche, a été élue dimanche députée de la 10e circonscription de Seine-et-Marne avec 56,31% au second tour des élections législatives.

Stéphanie Do, 37 ans, est d'origine vietnamienne. Elle vit en Seine-et-Marne. Elle est mariée. Elle est arrivée en France à l'âge de 10 ans avec sa famille.

Elle est diplômée d’un Master II en gestion publique à l’Ecole Nationale d’Administration (ENA) [en savoir plus]

The new Heritage Minute tells my story as one of Vietnam’s boat people

18.06.2017 By Judy Trinh (The Star) - They fled bombs and death in Syria and have found safety here, but what will the future hold for them in Canada?

Their escape reminds me of my family’s journey four decades earlier. I was one of the hundreds of thousands of boat people who fled the Communist government after the fall of Saigon.

The latest Heritage Minute from the charitable organization Historica Canada encapsulates Canada’s remarkable humanitarian response to that desperate moment in time. When asked by Historica if I wanted to help create the Minute, I didn’t hesitate. [read more]

Vietnamese cope with EET, face health insurance problem

16.06.2017 (Prague Monitor) - Prague, June 15 (CTK) - The introduction of e-registration of sales (EET) caused no big problems to Vietnamese in the Czech Republic last year, but the minority faced problems with insufficient health insurance of its members, according to an annual report the cabinet approved on Wednesday.

Hanoi's effort to control Vietnamese groups in the Czech Republic intensified in 2016, says the report completed by the government Council for Ethnic Minorities, which cites a representative of the Vietnamese community. A total of 58,080 of them lived in the 10.5-million Czech Republic as of the end of 2016, including 48,571 with a permanent residence permit.

An Association of Vietnamese in Europe was established last autumn and officially registered in the Czech Republic where it has headquarters, the report says.

According to it, the association is a result of the Vietnamese government's plan to integrate Czech Vietnamese groups "in its structures" within its effort to control Vietnamese communities abroad. In this respect, Hanoi has chosen the Czech Republic as a centre for Europe, the report says.

Huu Uyen Pham said "psychological repression" against those who want to remain independent has been rising. [read more]

Dieser Mann verwaltet das Glück eines ganzen Landes

11.06.2017 (SZ) - Ha Vinh Tho hat jahrelang Unglück in aller Welt erlebt, bevor er zum Programmverantwortlichen des Zentrums für Bruttonationalglück in Bhutan wurde: Als Mitarbeiter des Internationalen Roten Kreuzes war er in vielen Regionen unterwegs, die von Krieg oder Naturkatastrophen gebeutelt waren.

Mit Blick auf das jüngste Rüstungsgeschäft der USA mit Saudi-Arabien weist Tho auf den seiner Meinung nach fatalen Zusammenhang zwischen Wachstum, Waffenproduktion und Kriegen hin und kritisiert, dass alle entwickelten Länder große Waffenindustrien hätten, einschließlich Deutschlands. Und die Wohlstandsgewinne durch Wachstum würden dann auch noch sehr ungerecht verteilt. [Weiterlesen]

A Hanoï, la vieille usine ferroviaire se meurt

08.06.2017 (L'Express) - Hanoï - L'usine ferroviaire raconte le Vietnam des 100 dernières années: construite par les Français pendant la colonisation, elle sert à fabriquer d'armes pendant la guerre et résistent aux bombardements américains. Mais aujourd'hui, elle est en bout de course.

Fierté nationale, l'établissement souffre du désamour de plus en plus grand au Vietnam, comme dans d'autres pays d'Asie du Sud-Est, des habitants pour les chemins de fer. Aujourd'hui, les immenses hangars sont encombrés de vieux wagons rouillés à l'abandon et de pièces en tout genres recouvertes de poussière. [en savoir plus]

Mythos "Saigon" verschwindet

07.06.2017 (DW) - Was wäre das frühere Saigon ohne seine französische Kolonialarchitektur? Die heutige Ho-Chi-Minh-Stadt würde zu einer asiatischen Metropole wie jede andere. Genau dieses Schicksal droht der Stadt in Vietnam.

Viele befürchten, dass es nicht mehr lange dauert, und Ho-Chi-Minh-Stadt unterscheidet sich kaum noch von irgendeiner anderen asiatischen Megastadt. "> Am deutlichsten wird die Zerstörung im Stadtzentrum sichtbar. Immer mehr junge Menschen zieht es hierher, sie wollen ein modernes Umfeld, Wohnraum und Platz zum Arbeiten. Ein legitimes Bedürfnis. Aber Nguyen verweist auf einen weiteren Aspekt:  "Es geht um viel Geld und um die Interessen der Investoren."

Architekt Ngo Viet Nam Son geht davon aus, dass Ho-Chi-Minh-Stadt Millionen Touristen verloren gehen werden, wenn das französische Flair in den Straßen von "Saigon" verschwindet. Es sei, sagt er, als säge man den Ast ab, auf dem man sitzt. [Weiterlesen]

Ho Chi Minh City's vanishing architecture

07.06.2017 (DW) - ... Any visitor to Ho Chi Minh City, as Saigon is now known, cannot help but notice the construction cranes dotting an increasingly crowded skyline. They are the most visible symbols of one of Asia's fastest growing economies. But like many locals, office worker Tran Trong Vu is dismayed the city's gleaming new look is so often at the expense of its colonial-era architecture. "They have cultural value, so we should preserve them, not replace them with high-rise buildings," he told.

Developers with deep pockets have scooped up swathes of land in the city center, with privately-owned old villas or historic municipal buildings replaced by sprawling construction zones. The most recent demolition to spark ire from conservationists is the Ba Son shipyard, Saigon's oldest and most important maritime heritage site, on the banks of the Saigon River. [read more]

The Rich Men Who Drink Rhino Horns

07.06.2017 Sandy Ong (The Atlantic) - The Vietnamese government is now facing fierce international pressure to put an end to the crisis, before rhino populations are devastated beyond repair. But weeding out rhino-horn consumers is a challenge. A piece of horn used to be sought after by older Vietnamese folk, who would visit traditional medicine shops in Lãn Ông street and elsewhere for that special ingredient to add to herbal tonics. But these days, it’s wealthy young businessmen driving the demand—and their interest in horns lies beyond its purported medicinal benefits.

A more recent report, published by the International Trade Center in April, whittles down these observations even further. Following interviews with 249 users, ITC concluded that “the main rhino horn buyers were rich people who bought rhino horn for use in family or to give to other people as gifts.” [read more]

Perfider Asylbetrug? Hunderte deutsche Männer geben sich als Väter von Flüchtlingskindern aus

06.06.2017 (Huffington Post) - Polizei und Staatsanwälte der Region Berlin-Brandenburg vermuten einen groß angelegten, bundesweiten Betrug bei der Asylvergabe.

Wie der Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg (RBB) berichtet, beantragen immer mehr schwangere Frauen aus Vietnam, Afrika und Osteuropa Asyl in Deutschland. Sie reisen meist mit einem Touristenvisum ein und erhalten zunächst für die Dauer des Mutterschutzes ein Bleiberecht.

Um das dauerhafte Asyl zu bekommen, zahlen viele schwangere Schutzsuchende bis zu 5000 Euro an sogenannte Scheinväter.

Ein besonders kurioser Fall: Ein 28-jähriger NPD-Anhänger, der schon wiederholt wegen des Tragens verfassungsfeindlicher Symbole verurteilt worden sei, soll die Vaterschaft für ein vietnamesisches Kind übernommen haben. [Weiterlesen]

Kim Thúy - Die vielen Namen der Liebe

04.06.2017 Von Christine Westermann (WDR) - Acht Jahre ist Vi, als sie mit der Mutter und den Brüdern aus Vietnam flieht und schließlich in Kanada neu beginnt, der Vater bleibt zurück. Eine kleine, leise Geschichte über Liebe, Sehnsucht und ein Leben zwischen den Kulturen.

Das Wunderbare an diesem Roman ist die Stille, die ihn umgibt. Es passiert Dramatisches, aber genau das eben kommt nicht laut daher. Die Autorin beschreibt ruhig, fast gelassen das ausschweifende Leben des Vaters, die Flucht auf dem Boot, die schweren Anfangsjahre in Kanada. All das formuliert sie mit großer Zurückhaltung. [Weiterlesen]

Vietnam: Sieben Dialyse-Patienten in Krankenhaus gestorben

01.06.2017 (derStandard) - Hanoi – Vietnam wird von einem schweren Skandal im Gesundheitswesen erschüttert: In einem staatlichen Krankenhaus in Hoa Binh im Norden des Landes starben sieben Dialyse-Patienten. Die Behörden sagten den Hinterbliebenen eine Entschädigung von umgerechnet jeweils 590 Euro zu. - derstandard.at/2000058577498/Sieben-Dialyse-Patienten-in-Krankenhaus-in-Vietnam-gestorben.

Wegen ähnlicher Beschwerden wie bei den Todesopfern wurden elf weitere Dialyse-Patienten im Krankenhaus behandelt. Zehn der Patienten wurden in ein Krankenhaus der rund 80 Kilometer entfernten Hauptstadt Hanoi verlegt. [Weiterlesen]

Knappe Mehrheit für Rupert-Neudeck-Schule

31.05.2017 (Die Glocke) - Langenberg (lani) -  Bonn hat eine, Köln ebenfalls und die Gemeinde Langenberg demnächst womöglich auch: eine Rupert-Neudeck-Schule. Mit knapper Mehrheit hat sich am Dienstag der Schulausschuss für die Benennung der Gemeinschaftsschule (GML) nach dem 2016 verstorbenen Humanisten ausgesprochen.

Hinter dem aus einem „langen und intensiven Findungsprozess“ hervorgekommenen Namen Rupert Neudeck als Zusatz der reinen Funktionsbezeichnung stehe die gesamte Schulgemeinschaft, sagte Drescher. [Weiterlesen]

Eine großartige Unterstützung für die Arbeit der Grünhelme

Gedenkfeier der „vietnamesischen Kinder von Rupert Neudeck in Deutschland

27.05.2017 (Grünhelme) - Am 21. Mai trafen sich in Bad Homburg 300 Deutsche vietnamesischer Abstammung, um an Rupert Neudeck, den viele wie ihren Vater ehren, zu denken und die Grünhelme zu unterstützen. Neben Franz Alt, der in einem Beitrag an den Beginn des Komitees Cap Anamur erinnerte, sprach Tilman Zülch über seine Verbindung zu Rupert Neudeck.

Christel Neudeck sagte ihnen, dass sie Rupert das schönste Geschenk schon gemacht haben, denn sie haben sich vorbildlich hier in Deutschland integriert. Sie sind inzwischen keine Belastung sondern eine Bereicherung für Deutschland. [Weiterlesen]

At 97, this Vietnamese grandma has mastered the Internet

27.05.2017 By Ray Yeh (Channel NewsAsia) - She Skypes, uses Facebook, and has spent her life fighting stereotypes with her hunger for learning new things.

At first glance, it's easy to dismiss Le Thi as just another raddled old woman. At 97, she has lost almost all her teeth and a severe hunchback impedes her movement. She spends most of her time lying in bed on her side, slowly chewing betel nuts.

But the almost-centenarian perks up the moment she is asked about her passion for writing, painting and, above all, learning.

She swiftly rocks herself upright, a glint in her eyes and a grin that stretches from ear to ear, to talk about life in French-colonised Vietnam over half a century ago; Skyping with her grandson who lives in Moscow; and writing a book at the age of 87. [read more]

Männer in Vietnam wollten Tiger schlachten und zu Arzneimittel verarbeiten

25.05.2017 (Focus) - In Vietnam hat die Polizei fünf Männer festgenommen, die einen Tiger schlachten wollten, um daraus Arzneimittel zu machen. Die Männer wurden nach einem Bericht der Zeitung "Tuoi Tre" vom Donnerstag in Hanoi erwischt, als sie das 200 Kilogramm schwere Tier gerade in einem viel zu kleinen Käfig transportierten.

Dem Zeitungsbericht zufolge sollte aus den Knochen des Tigers eine Paste gemacht werden, die gegen allerlei Krankheiten helfen soll. Wissenschaftlich gibt es dafür keine Beweise. Den Männer drohen nun bis zu sieben Jahre Haft. [Weiterlesen]

Vietnam chain eateries give visitors a taste of authenticity

24.05.2017 Atsushi Tomiyama (Nikkei Asian Review) - HANOI -- Restaurant chains serving traditional food are flourishing in Vietnam. Classic dishes such as pho and banh cuon have until recently mostly been served at small restaurants and food stalls, which many foreign visitors shun due to concerns about poor hygiene, language problems and complicated pricing.

But more than 10 million foreign visitors traveled to Vietnam last year, a record. And the Vietnamese are themselves becoming increasingly concerned about food safety. That has given chain restaurants that offer tasty food served from spotless kitchens an opening. [read more]

Zu Gast in Zülpich Leben ohne Langeweile – Christel Neudeck koordinierte Hilfseinsätze

23.05.2017 (Kölnische Rundschau) - Zülpich - „Ich wollte immer einen Mann, mit dem mir nicht langweilig wird. Das habe ich geschafft“, sagt Christel Neudeck. Sie ist bei „Schwade im Jade“ in Zülpich zu Gast und berichtet den etwa 20 Zuhörern aus ihrem spannenden Leben. Ein Leben, an dem ihr verstorbener Mann Rupert großen Anteil hatte.

Er war einer der Mitbegründer des deutschen Komitees „Ein Schiff für Vietnam“, das mehr als 11 000 „Boatpeople“ – vietnamesische Flüchtlinge – im Chinesischen Meer rettete. Aus dem Komitee ging 1982 der Verein „Komitee Cap Anamur/Deutsche Notärzte“ hervor. [Weiterlesen]

Chinese tourists in Thailand, Vietnam ‘dumped’ if they shun forced shopping trips, state media reports

23.05.2017 Mandy Zuo (SCMP) - Chinese tourists taking part in tour groups in Thailand and Vietnam are often abandoned by the roadside if they refuse to shop for overpriced goods in designated stores, a major way for guides to earn cash, according to an investigation conducted by Chinese state media.

Most guides for Chinese tour groups in Vietnam and Thailand are Chinese because of the lack of local guides who speak Putonghua, industry insiders told Xinhua. [read more]

Kaffee in Vietnam - Aus dem Katzendarm in die Kaffeetasse

21.05.2017 von Felix Lill (NZZ) - Vergessen Sie Wien und Paris und deren Kaffeehäuser: Als Kaffeeliebhaber geht man nach Vietnam. Nirgends ist die Bohnen-Kultur ausgereifter, vielfältiger und gesellschaftlich unabdingbarer.

Kaffeebohnen, die einem Wiesel ähnelnde Katze gegessen, verdaut und wieder ausgeschieden hat. Es ist ein Verfeinerungsprozess, durch den der beste Kaffee Vietnams entstehen soll. [Weiterlesen]

Vietnam: Entdeckung einer fremden Kultur

21.05.2017 (Der Tagesspiegel) - Die Vorfahren der Vietnamesen müssen sehr musikalisch gewesen sein, zumindest in den Bergregionen Mittelvietnams. Dort entwickelten die Bewohner 2000 vor Christus eine wahre „Klangstein-Mode“. Die 2008 gefundenen 23 Klangsteine, die zwischen 19 und 89 Zentimeter lang sind, gehören zu einem Lithophon, das genau wie ein Xylophon aussieht. Jeder Besucher kann es in der Ausstellung „Schätze der Archäologie Vietnams“ im Staatlichen Museum für Archäologie Chemnitz (SMAC) ausprobieren. Einmal die Tonleiter rauf und runter – den plumpen Steinen lassen sich erstaunlich hell klingende Töne entlocken. Mitmachen und ausprobieren ist im SMAC erwünscht. [Weiterlesen]

Herpetologists describe an elf frog from the elfin forests in southern Vietnam

21.05.2017 (ScienceBlog) - Deep in the foggy, moss-covered forests of Southern Vietnam, herpetologists uncovered one of the smallest species of horned mountain toads.

The name of the new amphibian (Ophryophryne elfina) derives from European mythology and translates to “elfish eyebrow toad”. Despite being recently discovered, the new species is already considered to be endangered. Having remained hidden in the highlands of Langbian Plateau, it is now described in the open access journal ZooKeys. [read more]

Türkische Hilfsorganisation IHH eröffnet bisher größte Moschee in Vietnam

20.05.2017 Anadolu Agentur (Daily Sabah) - Die Türkische Hilfsorganisation IHH eröffnete am Donnerstag die bisher größte Moschee in Vietnam. Sie wurde in „Chau Doc" in der Provinz „An Giang" erbaut.

Der Bau der „Kahramanlar Rahmet Moschee", wo sich 1.200 Menschen gleichzeitig aufhalten können, wurde durch die Spende des türkischen Geschäftsmanns Talip Kahraman ermöglicht. Der Bau hat, laut dem Vizepräsident der IHH Hasan Aynacı, ungefähr ein Jahr gedauert. [Weiterlesen]

Vietnamese city kids taking playtime inside

20.05.2017 Atsushi Tomiyama (Nikkei Asian Review) - HANOI -- Vietnam is going through a period of rapid housing and infrastructure development in urban areas -- a trend that is robbing kids of places to play.

So the private sector has come up with a solution -- indoor play centers.

The facilities can be found inside shopping malls, which are sprouting up all over the place, or along major roads. They are becoming popular not only among children but also among their young parents.

To get in, kids have to be younger than 13 and have a spare 100,000 dong ($4.4) or so. Some attractions charge an extra 20,000 dong.

There are other trends encroaching on kids' outdoor activities -- urban areas have few parks, and the growing popularity of smartphones and computers is keeping children at home. Obesity is on the rise. According to Vietnam's National Institute of Nutrition, some 40% of elementary school students in metropolitan areas are considered obese. [read more]

Hundert Prozent - JU-Kreisvorsitzende Thuy Tran einstimmig wiedergewählt

15.05.2017 Von Karl-Wilhelm Götte (SZ) - Kai Görgens brachte das Lob für Thuy Tran auf den Punkt, als er der wiedergewählten Kreisvorsitzenden der Jungen Union einen Blumenstrauß überreichte: "Du machst das nicht wegen der Karriere, du machst das mit Begeisterung, das merkt man." Thuy Tran hatte zuvor im Emmeringer Bürgerhaus in geheimer Wahl alle 27 Stimmen der anwesenden Delegierten erhalten. Großer Beifall prasselte auf die mit hundert Prozent erneut gewählte JU-Vorsitzende nieder. Wahlleiter, Landtagsvizepräsident Reinhold Bocklet, war der erste Gratulant. [Weiterlesen]

Pho no! Hunting in Hanoi for the best wanton noodles

13.05.2017 By Tung Ngo (Channel NewsAsia) - HANOI: For many first-time visitors to Hanoi, their food excursion in this fast-changing city usually includes pho (beef or chicken noodle) and bun cha (vermicelli and grilled chopped meat).

But as many local and long-time residents know, this 1,000-year-old-city has many other culinary delights to offer other than these two popular dishes.

With a base in Ho Chi Minh City, the noodle stall first opened in Hanoi back in 2001. Duong Thanh Tung, 35, took over the food shop three years ago. [read more]

Out with the old: 'Saigon's' disappearing colonial architecture

12.05.2017 (The Nation) - HO CHI MINH CITY - They formed the charming backdrop to Graham Greene's sin-filled Saigon in "The Quiet American", but the colonial-era buildings of Vietnam's biggest city are fast disappearing -- sparking fears it is losing its unique charm.

Any visitor to Ho Chi Ming City, as Saigon is now known, cannot help but notice the construction cranes dotting an increasingly crowded skyline.

"In the 1960s and 1970s it was very much French, but now it's very Americanised, McDonald's on every corner," said Hiep Nguyen, born in Ho City Minh City and author of several books on its architectural history. "A streetscape without a story has no value," he added.

"The key is money, the key is interest groups," he told AFP from Sydney, where he now lives. There is no comprehensive survey of how many buildings have been demolished.

The city risks losing the millions of tourists that stop into the city every year to soak in its colonial charm, said architect Ngo Viet Nam Son. [read more]

Zigarettenmafia in den Neunzigern - Berlins Vietnamkrieg

04.05.2017 Von Philipp Wurm (Spiegel Online) - Es war die wohl blutigste Mafiafehde in Deutschland: 39 Gangster starben bei Kämpfen vietnamesischer Banden um die Macht im Zigarettenschmuggel - bis vor gut 20 Jahren eine Sondereinheit eingriff.

Die fast paramilitärische Aktion war nur eine in einem langen Krieg, ausgefochten im Berlin der frühen und mittleren Neunzigerjahre. Vietnamesische Mafiagruppen kämpften um Einflusszonen in einer Schattenwirtschaft, die jährlich Millionen umsetzte. Das Geschäftsfeld der Gangster: nicht Rotlicht, nicht weißes Pulver. Sondern blauer Dunst. [Weiterlesen]

How they became us: Orange County changed forever in the 40 years since the fall of Saigon

01.05.2017 By Chris Haire, Roxana Kopetman and Tom Berg (OCR) - The lucky ones carried bread bags holding all their worldly possessions.

The others had nothing – no extra clothes, no money, not even a homeland after Saigon fell 40 years ago this week.

More than 125,000 refugees managed to flee. And 50,000 of them came through Camp Pendleton Marine Corps Base bound for new lives in Southern California. [read more]

An-My Lê's first exhibition in France on view at Marian Goodman Gallery

23.04.2017 (artdaily) - PARIS.- Marian Goodman Gallery Paris is presenting the first exhibition of An-My Lê’s work in France. Born in Saigon in 1960, as a child, An-My Lê spent several years in Paris, a city where her parents had lived and were married in the late 1950s. In 1975, in the wake of the war, her family left Vietnam permanently and emigrated to the United States. In the mid-1980s, she worked in France as a photographer for the Compagnons du Devoir. Over the course of four years, she documented architectural restorations and inventoried historical monuments, just as Eugène Atget had done in his time.

For her first solo exhibition in Paris, An-My Lê presents The Silent General, a collection of new color photographs, first unveiled a few weeks ago at the Whitney Biennale in New York (on view until June 11, 2017). She is also showing black-and-white images from earlier series, including Viêt Nam, Small Wars, and 29 Palms. [read more]

12 Stunden arbeiten, 7 Tage die Woche – Realität in Vietnam

22.04.2017 Jan Bueltermann (Orange by Handelsblatt) - Ich gehe Frühstücken in Vietnam und der Kellner ist etwa so alt wie ich. Seine Schicht dauert zehn, oft zwölf Stunden. Eine 80-Stunden-Woche ist hier normal. Trotzdem reicht sein Geld kaum.

Sein Lohn reicht nicht, um aus dem Haus seiner Großeltern auszuziehen und eine eigene Familie zu gründen.

In Vietnam zieht es immer mehr Menschen vom Land in die Stadt. Die Grundstückspreise steigen rasant. Wohlhabende Vietnamesen leisten sich Ferienhäuser und verdrängen andere, die weniger verdienen.

Das Land hat einen enormen wirtschaftlichen Aufschwung hinter sich. Mit Wachstumsraten von sechs Prozent und mehr wurden Armut und Hunger erfolgreich reduziert. Die Familienplanung ist für junge Vietnamesen wegen der niedrigen Löhne bei hohen Preisen dennoch sehr schwer. Hier zahlt die junge Generation einen Preis. [Weiterlesen]

Catholics outraged by bad-mannered Chinese visitors in Nha Trang cathedral

22.04.2017 Nguyen Hung (AsiaNews) – Nha Trang - The local Communist Party section told the parish to keep the church open to visitors. Parishioners are opposed to this because Chinese tourists are aggressive towards worshippers, cause degradation and undermine local cultural traditions. For Catholics, protecting the building’s sacredness is a duty.

The diocese of Nha Trang and the town council are at loggerheads over the growing number of Chinese tourists who visit the cathedral and the surrounding area showing as little respect for the site as they are tight with their wallet.

In early April, the local section of the Communist Party wrote to the parish council asking them to keep the area open for foreign tourists. A copy of the letter was also sent to the local police and the Fatherland Front. However, the local clergy and parishioners complain that tourists by their behaviour desecrate the place of worship. [read more]

San Jose: Nguyen Ngoc Hanh, legendary Vietnam War photographer, dies

16.04.2017 By Tatiana Sanchez (The Mercury News) - SAN JOSE — One of Nguyen Ngoc Hanh’s most iconic images depicts a young war widow clutching her late husband’s dog tags — a photograph recognized by almost every South Vietnamese.

Hanh, who died April 11 at age 90 in a San Jose nursing home, documented the war in his homeland for the South Vietnamese government and became an internationally renowned Vietnam War photographer by capturing battle victories and GI grit in portraits aimed at lifting the morale of the troops and their families on the home front. [read more]

From Sea to Shining Sea - An immigrant’s journey

06.04.2017 (Eugene Weekly) - It’s morning at Y’i Shen Market and the restaurant’s kitchen is waking up.

Owner Phung Tu and I are sitting at a table in the restaurant section of the cheery shop. Nearby shelves are lined with Vietnamese staples: chili sauce, curry paste, rice vinegar, coconut milk and dried noodles.

“I was born in 1960 in Đà Lạt, a small city in Vietnam,” Tu says.

“But when I was a child, my parents owned a hardware store in another small city, Buôn Ma Thuột,” Tu says.

Though war raged in the country surrounding them, Tu’s parents — Nam Tu and My Thai — maintained their small business in the central highlands of Vietnam.

“They ran that store forever,” Tu says.

That is, until the family was forced to flee. [read more]

For Philly’s Vietnamese and Cambodian refugees, Trump policies spark memories and mixed reactions

05.04.2017 By Jake Blumgart & Katie Colaneri (PlanPhilly) - Decades ago thousands of Southeast Asian refugees fled violent conflict and many resettled in Philadelphia, finding home in rowhouses and rebuilding old commercial strips. Then, as now, the American public was not especially welcoming of refugees - the difference today is that the political winds have changed. President Donald Trump’s stricter stance on refugees has this earlier generation of Philadelphia’s refugees reflecting on their experiences coming to America and today’s  [read more]controversial refugee policies. [read more]

Seven Vietnamese arrested for shoplifting cosmetics to sell back home

05.04.2017 (The Japan Times) - OSAKA – Seven Vietnamese nationals have been arrested for an alleged shoplifting spree in which they stole cosmetic products from drug and discount stores in Himeji, Hyogo Prefecture, police said on Wednesday.

The Osaka police said they arrested the suspected leader Dao The Quang, 23, and six other Vietnamese. [read more]

Vietnamese gangs use teenagers as slaves in UK ‘cannabis farms’

22.03.2017 By Daniel Maxwell (Asian Correspondent) - VIETNAMESE gangs, who have long controlled the UK’s market in cannabis production, are using teenage slaves from Vietnam to tend their illegal crops.

Human rights and anti-trafficking organisations are calling on authorities to tackle these illegal operations and crack down on drug gangs believed to be committing human rights abuses and profiting from slave labour.

In the UK, “cannabis farms” are usually relatively small operations, often located in inner city houses, which have been stripped and fitted with ventilation, lighting and watering systems. [read more]

Vergiftungsgefahr - Warnung vor Red Snapper aus Vietnam

22.03.2017 (SZ) - Nach mehreren Erkrankungen warnt das Verbraucherschutzministerium vor dem Verzehr eines Tiefkühl-Fisches. Red-Snapper-Fischfilet aus Vietnam mit Fanggebiet Westpazifik FAO 71 sowie den Losnummern Lot: VN/385/III/122 und -124 stünden im Verdacht, mit Algentoxinen belastet zu sein. Diese könnten zu Vergiftungen führen, teilte das Ministerium mit. Die betroffenen Chargen sind bis Juli beziehungsweise Dezember 2018 haltbar. Die genauen Vertriebswege werden derzeit ermittelt. "Nach aktuellem Kenntnisstand sind in verschiedenen Teilen Bayerns elf Erkrankungsfälle nach dem Verzehr (...) aufgetreten", berichtete das Ministerium.  [Weiterlesen]

Vietnam suspends air controller who slept on duty as planes tried to contact tower for 33 minutes

22.03.2017 (SCMP) - The aviation authority was reviewing operations at Cat Bi air traffic control and said officials would implement measures to prevent a repeat of the incident

Vietnam’s aviation authority has suspended three air traffic controllers, including one who fell asleep while on duty, for causing delays for two flights.

The Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam said in a statement on its website late Tuesday that it had recommended that the sleeping controller and one other controller also be fined.

The newspaper said one controller was absent while the main air traffic controller was sleeping. A technician was also suspended. [read more]

Ivres, ils ouvrent les vannes d'un réservoir et inondent deux villages

21.03.2017 (Le Parisien) - Dans le sud du Viet Nam, trois hommes en état d'ébriété ont ouvert les vannes d'un réservoir. Deux villages ont été inondés. Les dégâts sont estimés àplus de 13 000 dollars...

La semaine dernière, les villages de Nguyen et Suoi Bac, au sud du Vietnam, se sont retrouvés inondés. Lundi, la police locale a interpellé trois hommes suspectés d'avoir, en état d'ébriété, ouvert la vanne du réservoir Suoi Vuc. En quelques minutes, près de 2 millions de mètres cubes d'eau se sont ainsi déversés dans ces deux localités. [en savoir plus]

In Vietnam: Betrunkene öffnen Staudamm und fluten zwei Dörfer

20.03.2017 (Focus) - Aus einer Schnapslaune heraus haben drei Männer in Vietnam zwei Dörfer unter Wasser gesetzt. Die betrunkenen Männer drangen nach Angaben der Polizei morgens um 2 Uhr in den Kontrollraum eines Staudamms ein und öffneten dort ein Ventil.

Auf die beiden Dörfer Son Nguyen und Suoi Bac im Süden des südostasiatischen Landes ergossen sich daraufhin insgesamt zwei Millionen Kubikmeter Wasser. Durch die Fluten wurden unter anderem 15 Tonnen Zuckerrohr vernichtet, wie die vietnamesische Nachrichtenagentur VNA am Montag berichtete. [Weiterlesen]

Tres borrachos inundan dos pueblos al manipular una presa en Vietnam

20.03.2017 (Diario de Navarra) - Tres hombres borrachos consiguieron entrar en la sala de control de una presa, abrieron una válvula e inundaron dos pueblos en el sur de Vietnam, informó este lunes la policía. Los hombres entraron a las 2:00 de la madrugada del pasado miércoles en la sala de control y accionaron la válvula que dejó pasar dos millones de metros cúbicos de agua, inundando los pueblos de Suoi Bac y Sơn Nguyên.

Más de 15 toneladas de cosecha de caña de azúcar quedaron destruidas, mientras se registraron daños en 18 bombas de agua y 20 hectáreas de cultivos de cereales, informó la agencia de noticias vietnamita VNA. [seguir leyendo]

Bis zu 125 Euro drohen: Hier geht es Wildpinklern jetzt an den Kragen

09.03.2017 (CHIP) - Wegen der vielen Wildpinkler in den Straßen von Hanoi bekommt Vietnams Hauptstadt zum ersten Mal seit Jahrzehnten wieder neue öffentliche Toiletten. Bis zum Ende des laufenden Jahres sollen 250 zusätzliche Häuschen aufgestellt werden, kündigte das Baureferat am Donnerstag an. Aktuell gibt es in der 7,6-Millionen-Einwohner-Stadt 371 Toiletten, von denen viele jedoch in einem erbärmlichen Zustand sind. Bis 2020 sollen es mehr als 1300 sein.

Im vergangenen Monat hatte die Regierung des südostasiatischen Landes bereits die Geldstrafen fürs Urinieren auf der Straße drastisch heraugesetzt. Wer als Wildpinkler - fast ausschließlich Männer - erwischt wird, muss jetzt umgerechnet bis zu 125 Euro Euro zahlen. Bisher waren es umgerechnet zwischen 8,50 und 12,35 Euro. [Weiterlesen]

A Vietnamese Refugee Draws Her Family’s Story

08.03.2017 (Hyperallergic) - Thi Bui was three years old when her parents and siblings stowed away in a rickety fishing boat bound for coastal Malaysia in 1978.

After visiting her native country in 2001 to see relatives she thought were long dead, Vietnamese American artist Thi Bui jettisoned her grad school assignments and instead began recording her family history. A lush black, white, and rust-toned graphic autobiography called The Best We Could Do: An Illustrated Memoir would follow a decade and a half later, the product of countless hours of interviews, transcription, drawing, and a crucial exploration of the refugee experience in this era of expressly unconstitutional efforts to halt immigration into the United States. [read more]

Google Translate starts using neural machine translation for Hindi, Russian, Vietnamese

06.03.2017 Jordan Novet (VentureBeat) - Google today is announcing that it’s switching to a modern approach called neural machine translation for translations of text in Hindi, Russian, and Vietnamese in its Google Translate app. The shift away from Google’s phrase-based machine translation system will result in more natural, higher-quality translations.

Google adopted this method to translate from English into Chinese in September, and brought it to English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, German, Turkish, Chinese, Japanese, and Korean translations in November.  [read more]

Vietnam's architectural gems are disappearing

04.03.2017 Zanna K. McKay (USA Today) - Once an architectural gem emblematic of Vietnam’s era as a French colony, the Tax Trade Center with its iconic Art Deco facade is now mostly rubble.

Despite a petition drive spearheaded by a growing historic preservation movement, the building was demolished in recent months. In its place, developers plan a 43-story complex with a connection to the first subway line in the city.

Preservationists say developers and government officials are intent on making this city modern and care little for the vestiges of its colonial past. But destroying so many historic buildings, they warn, makes the city less livable and less attractive to tourists — which could undercut economic growth the government hopes to foster. [read more]

Prozess um illegale Bankgeschäfte

02.03.2017 (MDR Sachsen) - Vor dem Landgericht Leipzig hat am Donnerstag ein neuer Prozess gegen einen Mann begonnen, der unerlaubte Bankgeschäfte betrieben haben soll. Dem Chef eines Leipziger Reisebüros wird vorgeworfen, rund 14 Millionen Euro an Landsleute in Vietnam transferiert zu haben. Das Geld soll von in Deutschland lebenden Vietnamesen stammen. Dem Angeklagten werden 800 Fälle zur Last gelegt.

Das Verfahren gegen den jetzt 46-Jährigen zieht sich bereits seit Jahren hin. Ende 2014 wurde er vom Landgericht Leipzig zu zweieinhalb Jahren Haft verurteilt. Doch der Bundesgerichtshof kassierte das Urteil, mit der Begründung, das Landgericht habe nicht klargestellt, ob der Angeklagte mit seiner GmbH oder als Privatmann die Geldgeschäfte getätigt hatte. Sollte er im Namen der GmbH gehandelt haben, könnte das Strafmaß höher ausfallen, denn der Mann führte weder Steuern noch Abgaben ab. Auch der Verdacht der Geldwäsche steht im Raum. [Weiterlesen]

San Jose flood: Vietnamese billionaire donated $5 million to help victims

01.03.2017 By Ramona Giwargis (The Mercury News) - SAN JOSE — In one of the largest private donations in San Jose history, a Vietnamese-American billionaire Wednesday donated $5 million to San Jose flood victims — the biggest gift for them since the disastrous flood engulfed three neighborhoods last week.

Kieu Hoang, a Vietnamese refugee and Los Angeles County businessman who owns Shanghai RAAS Blood Products, handed Mayor Sam Liccardo a $5 million check at an announcement with city officials. Liccardo said all of the money will go to flood victims. [read more]

Voice of a refugee's pain

21.02.2017 Olivia Ho (The Straitstimes) - Pulitzer-winning author Viet Thanh Nguyen draws on his early years as a refugee in the US to write his short story collection.

Growing up as a Vietnamese refugee in California, author Viet Thanh Nguyen saw a sign in a shop window opposite the grocery store his parents set up. It read: "Another American driven out of business by the Vietnamese".

Nguyen, 45, says: "That sign meant to say we were alien, unwanted and unhealthy competition for Americans. And that sentiment was completely false."

His earliest memories are of being forced to flee Vietnam in 1975, after the fall of Saigon at the end of the Vietnam War. He draws on the trauma of the refugee experience for his books - both his debut novel, The Sympathizer, which won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction last year, and his latest short-story collection, The Refugees. [read more]

Haunting tales of heartbreak

21.02.2017 Olivia Ho (The Straitstimes) - Within the opening pages of its first story Black-Eyed Women, Vietnamese-American author Viet Thanh Nguyen's new short story collection hits like a punch in the gut. In a remarkable meditation on what it is to be haunted by the past - in more than one sense - he demonstrates his gift of giving voice to that which has been forced to remain unsaid.

Like his Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Sympathizer, The Refugees is about the Vietnamese experience of forced migration. The Sympathizer is a hard act to follow, but The Refugees' eight stories are pared so thin of superfluity that their elegant brevity more than stands up against their brilliant - if at times convoluted - predecessor. [read more]

Vietnam-born priest offers to swap US citizenship to allow refugee in

20.02.2017 (Catholic Herald) - A Vietnamese-born Salesian priest has offered to President Donald Trump that he would trade his own US citizenship with a refugee to allow into the United States someone from one of the countries Trump listed in his January 27 travel ban.

Fr Chuong Hoai Nguyen, a Salesian of Don Bosco, who is serving in California, is a refugee-turned-US citizen.

“Becoming a refugee is a choice one makes when there are no other options,” said Fr Nguyen in his open letter, adding that when he heard of the executive order, “my heart and my soul were frozen.” [read more]

Why urban revolution is coming to Vietnam

20.02.2017 Adrian Bishop (OPP.Today) - A major change is happening in Vietnam residential city developments with the creation of green spaces.

It is important to understand that many Vietnamese consider their doorsteps and streets a natural extension of their own home, says Greg Ohan, Director, Business Development for JLL, in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

As Vietnam begins to experience traffic congestion, pollution and over-population, the government and city dwellers are beginning to stand up and take a greater interest in the development and enhancement of urban public spaces. But much more is needed if Vietnam is build truly global cities. [read more]

What a Refugee Chef Wants You to Know About the 'Day Without Immigrants'

16.02.2017 Jessica Leigh Hester (Citylab) - Ryan McCaskey, the chef and proprietor at Chicago’s Michelin-starred Acadia restaurant, was evacuated from Vietnam as a toddler. Here’s why he shut down his restaurant in support of immigrant workers.

CityLab chatted mit Ryan McCaskey, der Chef und Inhaber in Chicagos Michelin- gekennzeichnetes Acadia Gaststätte , über, warum er geschlossenes Geschäft schloß. Hier ist, was er sagte:

“I came to Chicago at 13 months old through Operation Babylift, right when Saigon fell. I pretty much escaped; I was one of the last children to make it out. They were blocking runaways so people couldn’t leave. So, when I was adopted, I became a little bit of celebrity baby: I was in newspapers, I was on The Phil Donahue show.

Acadia has 15 employees right now, and we hire a lot of people on visas—work visas, student visas, you name it. They take a lot of risk, honestly. If they fail, or they don’t do well, they get sent back. They’ve been really hard workers. [read more]

Letter from a Vietnamese Priest to Donald Trump

10.02.2017 Peter Steinfels (Commonweal) - Yesterday, Phuong Nga Hillenbrand, our close friend of many, many years, forwarded to us an extraordinary letter from a Vietnamese priest to President Trump. As a young person, Father Chuong Hoai Nguyen was among the hundreds of thousands of “boat people” risking their lives as refugees and grateful for the asylum to be found in the United States.[read more]

Le Vietnam change tous ses indicatifs téléphoniques

07.02.2017 Pauline Grall (Le Petit Journal)  - Au Vietnam comme en France, l'indicatif téléphonique local permet d'identifier la zone géographique où se situe un abonné détenteur d'un numéro de téléphone fixe. Au Vietnam cependant, chaque province possède un indicatif qui lui est propre et sur un total de 63 provinces, 59 seront concernées par ce changement y compris Ho Chi Minh Ville et Hanoi.

Ainsi, tous les indicatifs téléphoniques commenceront désormais par le chiffre 2.

Cependant, les appels entre fixes de différentes provinces ou les appels depuis un numéro de portable seront affectés et les utilisateurs devront ajouter ce nouvel indicatif pour joindre le numéro désiré. [en savoir plus]

How Is Huy Fong’s Famous Sriracha Sauce Made?

06.02.2017 by Tod Perry (GOOD) - Huy Fong’s Sriracha sauce, known by many as “rooster sauce” because of the bird on its iconic green-capped bottle, has exploded in popularity over the past decade. Created in 1980 by Vietnamese refugee David Tran, the sauce grew from being popular among immigrant communities to mainstream success after Bon Appetit named it 2009’s ingredient of the year. Today, Huy Fong’s Sriracha sauce sells over 20 million bottles a year, raising the obvious question, how do they make the stuff? [read more]

Czech Vietnamese Community Still Largely Isolated

03.02.2017 Chris Johnstone (Radio Praha) - The Czech Republic’s Vietnamese community is still largely closed in spite of integration efforts, according to a study by the Ethnological Academy of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic. One reason for the around 100,000 strong community’s closed nature is the fact that it is largely economically self sufficient with many families running small grocery store, according to ethnologist Stanislav Broučka. Many Vietnamese are also first generation immigrants and changes can be expected when the second generation, born in the Czech Republic, start to predominate. The Vietnamese are the third biggest group of foreigners in the Czech Republic after Ukrainians and Slovaks. [read more]

One year on since Zika emergency, Vietnam faces new infections

31.01.2017 Nyshka Chandran (CNBC) - One year ago today, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the mosquito-borne virus known as Zika an international public health emergency.

Vietnam in particular has faced a high number of outbreaks over the past month. The Southeast Asian nation's very first case was reported in April 2016 but late last year, more people began contracting the disease. The majority are within Ho Chi Minh, home to around 145 cases in total, with health officials warning on Dec. 21 that the city was averaging 10 cases per week, according to local media. [read more]

Vietnamese immigrant to advise president on policy

23.01.2017 (Taipei Times) - Vietnamese immigrant Hu Ching-hsien (胡清嫻) gained recognition for her contributions to the Southeast Asian community in Taiwan after she was asked by the Presidential Office late last month to serve as national immigration policy adviser to President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文).

Hu came to Taiwan 11 years ago through marriage and has since been active in encouraging fellow newcomers to interact with their adopted communities. [read more]

Govt arrests 32 alleged sex workers in Jakarta, mostly from Vietnam

15.01.2017 Moses Ompusunggu (The Jakarta Post) - The Law and Human Rights Ministry announced Friday it had arrested 32 foreigners, allegedly sex workers, violating immigration procedures in numerous entertainment centers in Jakarta proper.

Immigration Office's foreign nationals monitoring and law enforcement director Yurod Saleh said 32 suspected female sex workers, mostly from Vietnam, were arrested during a string of raids on Thursday in three entertainment centers in West Jakarta, North Jakarta and Bogor in West Java. [read more]

Mysterious Stone Instruments Keep Being Discovered in Vietnam

13.01.2017 By Cara Giaimo (Atlas Obscura) - The country has embraced dàn đá', but no one is quite sure of its exact history.

In April of 2015, farmer Pham Dinh Huyen of Quang Binh, Vietnam set to work on his new fishpond. He had barely started digging when his shovel hit a rock. He pried it out and put it aside, but then he hit another, and another. Eventually, he had 20—large, oblong slabs of various sizes, some of them pointed at the ends.

So he did what you do when, in Vietnam, you find a bunch of weird rocks all together—he hit each one with the flat of his shovel, and listened.  [read more]

Vietnamese actress reveals secret husband — and more

09.01.2017 (The China Post) - TAIPEI -- Vietnamese actress Nguyen Thanh Dao (阮菁桃) on Sunday shocked her fans but also elicited sympathy when she admitted to having lied about her marital status, place of birth and academic record.

Nguyen, better known in Taiwan by her stage name Helen Thanh Dao (海倫清桃), called a press conference in Taipei, at which she introduced a Taiwanese man named Tai Fa-kuei (戴發奎) as her husband.

But at Sunday's press conference, Tai told reporters that, in fact, Nguyen was born in Vietnam and had married him 18 years ago when she was 22.

It was at his suggestion, he said, that she claimed his birth place and his late mother as her own.

Tai said he also made up other parts of Nguyen's biography such as the claims that she had graduated from the University of California in Los Angeles and before that had attended a prestigious girls' hig [read more]

After free laser healing, ‘Napalm Girl’ can finally feel her little grandson’s touch

08.01.2017 By Alex Harris (Miami Herald) - Kim Phuc Phan Thi, 53, known by many as the"Napalm Girl" after being photographed at the age of 9, fleeing a napalm attack during the Vietnam War. She was badly burned in the attack and has recently undergone laser treatments in Miami to help remove the scars from her skin. Kim Phuc was all smiles Friday, in Miami on Jan. 9, 2017, where she was preparing for her final laser treatment from Dr. Jill Waibel of the Miami Dermatology and Laser Institute.

The best benefit of the treatment was unexpected.

“Before, sometimes things would touch me and I wouldn’t know what it was,” Phan Thi said. “Now, I can feel it.”

The regeneration process included the sensitive nerves near the surface of her skin, Waibel explained.

“Now she can feel her little grandson’s hand on her arm,” she said. [read more]

How Tippi Hedren Led to the Modern Manicure

05.01.2017 by Caroline Hallemann (Town And Country) - What does Tippi Hedren have to do with the history of nail salons in America? Apparently quite a bit.

As it happens, we have the Birds star (and grandmother of Dakota Johnson) to thank for the modern manicure. Nicknamed the "godmother of the Vietnamese nail industry," Hedren's contribution to the beauty industry started after the fall of Saigon in 1975.

One woman, Thuan Le, recalls being present for Hedren's "A-ha" moment. "A group of us were standing close to her and saw that her nails were so beautiful," she told TakePart. "We talked to each other and said they looked so pretty. I looked in [Hedren's] eyes and knew she was thinking something. She said, 'Ah, maybe you can learn nails.' And we looked at each other and she said, 'Yes, manicures!'"

In 2015, 51 percent of nail technicians in the United States (and approximately 80 percent in California) were of Vietnamese descent, a ripple effect that got its start with the original 20 women Hedren helped. [read more]