Minh T. Nguyen

My stories from the campaign trail against Proposition 8

Minh T. Nguyen — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 23:51:00 GMT

Yesterday, voters in California have chosen to eliminate a civil right of an entire category of citizens. This is the first time in the history of the California constitution that a right that has already been granted to people has been taken away again. I am deeply disappointed by the fact that the protection of a minority group has been eliminated by a simple majority vote.

In the past months, I have engaged myself in the fight against Proposition 8, feel proud to have been part of this campaign, but wished that I could have done more. However, I don’t regret the path that I have taken, for I have learned a lot more about the LGBT community, made friends and were very inspired by some of the events.

In the past months, I was phone banking for the No on Prop 8 campaign, donated large amounts to the campaign, and talked to people about the issue. My fiancée and I were holding “No on Prop 8” signs at the Halloween parade in Hollywood (fully dressed in our costumes, too), and we got a lot of cheers and support from people (no surprise in Hollywood of course). I went to the No on Prop 8 rally in San Jose a couple weeks ago, and also put up yard-signs at busy traffic intersections in my pre-dominantly Yes-On-8-neighborhood (though the signs were removed the next day). I stood at the San Jose Caltrain station with our No-on-Prop-8 signs only to be ridiculed by bystanders. One of them making sexually-explicit motions with his hip, and laughs as he says he doesn’t support gay sex (as if proposition 8 is about that).

On the campaign trail, I met Scott who is a Vietnamese American homosexual who hasn’t come out of the closet with his family yet. I wonder how difficult it must be for him to do so. When Scott prompted me if I have came out yet, I told him to his surprise that I am heterosexual, and he appreciated my support. The stories continue, as I went with him to the LGBT center in downtown San Jose, where I meet a support group, who in the midst of taking turns sharing stories of this fight for equality. Among them, I meet a straight woman, whose ex-husband was gay and married her in the background of societal expectations. Her marriage ended in a divorce, but she understood her ex-husband's dilemma and since then has been an activist for LGBT rights.

On the day before the election, I went to a training to be a poll captain to take a group of volunteers to the polls to talk to voters, pass out leaflets and work on election day. The training room was overflowing with supporters of all ages, genders, race, and sexual orientation. It didn’t matter whether you were gay or straight, because people in the room understood that this was a civil rights battle, and the speaker there told us how touched he was how many supporters turned out. I feel how energized this group of volunteers were, and how everyone in the room understood the enormous significance of a defeat or victory of Proposition 8 will have for the rest of the country. We were trained in working and negotiating with poll workers, learned about the legal rights of campaigning at a poll site, learned how to deal with the opposition and other incidents. It reminded me of the bold African Americans who underwent training for non-violent struggles in the days of the civil rights movement.

On election day, I woke up at 4:30am and called the headquarters to get the list of numbers of the volunteers to make wake-up calls. By the time I arrive at the headquarters, volunteers were already lined up and signing up for shifts. Assigned to my team was Scott again (who was happy to see my dedication), this Caucasian guy who was a walk-in volunteer and another Vietnamese girl from Hanoi, who was here in the US on a study abroad program. She woke up at 4am to take the 1-hour bus and light rail ride to the headquarters, since she didn’t even had a car. Scott and I were very impressed by her progressive thinking and commitment to this cause and thought that many Vietnamese Americans have a lot to learn from her.

As we hold signs near our designated poll in the culturally-diverse Rivermark area in Santa Clara, voters were very receptive of our cause. Sure, there were those who would give us the thumbs down and even the middle finger, but a lot of people honked in support. In contrast to that, in the evening, when I was taking another team to another poll site in the very “hostile” area of Campbell, people physically pulled their kids away from us, as if we would turn them gay by the forces of eye sights. People were very upset and asked whether we were even allowed to be here at the poll site.

Yet, in the midst of all the negativity, there was car that turned into the parking lot. A little kid maybe in the age of 6 or 7 stepped out of the car with two women. The kid made some sign with his hand and pointed at us, and at first I thought it was yet another graphic slur, but then I realized he was giving me a thumbs up. As the three of them came closer to us, I realize that this was the lesbian couple with their adopted kid. They thanked us for being here and never thought that they would see No on Prop 8 supporters come out to this rather hostile area. I was touched to see this happy family go to the polls and wonder how they can explain to their child that their marriage is nullified should Prop 8 pass.

As the polls close at 8pm, I returned to headquarters to return the material, gave a report, and then rushed to the Silicon Valley Obama Election Night Celebration up in Mountain View. Right at the moment Obama was giving his speech, my fiancée text-messaged me the disturbing early exit-polls of Proposition 8: it was leading by almost a 10% margin. Ouch, how bittersweet the moment was for me feeling goosebumps as I watch the African American president-elect giving his speech, and fearing that prop 8 is bound to pass at the same time. I decided not to tell my friends who came with me to the party about the bad news and allowed them to enjoy grasping this historic moment for the civil rights movement.

Later in the evening, Scott called me who was having his own election party with his partner at home, and I tell him about the disturbing exit polls. I feel bad for the LGBT community and wonder how they are taking the news.

By 11pm or so, as I leave the Obama party, I drove back to the California Democratic Party headquarters in San Jose. People were still around celebrating Obama’s victory there too, but only a few volunteers from No on Prop 8 were around, huddling over a computer screen to check the election results as more precinct results come in. The room was unusually quiet. This was the place that was so noisy during the phone banking campaign, where it was difficult for me to even hear what the other person on the line was evening saying, but now the laptops and cell phones were just lying around like weapons void of their ammunition the day after a battle.

I head home by 1 or 2am and doze off in front of the TV rewatching the Obama speech. Today, as I follow the results of Proposition 8, it seems clear to me that it’s unlikely to be defeated. By now, while the margin of Proposition 8 has narrowed to a 5% difference, I realize it will take a miracle for the majority of all absentee and provisional ballots to be voting No to be necessary to defeat this discriminatory proposition.

It has been a hard and long-fought battle. I wonder how those who voted Yes on Prop 8 can be happy and cheerful at this time at the expense of ruining and devastating the lives of so many others. I find it ironic that Californians managed to vote on the same day to grant chickens “human” rights but decided to take away fundamental rights from people.

Yet in the end, good things came out of this for me. For one, I made new friends. I look forward to introduce my fiancée (another LGBT activist) to Scott and meet his partner some day. I have found a new hero in Kate Kandell, who I thought was the best spokeswoman the No on Prop 8 campaign can ask for (her interview appearances on NPR were absolutely great). At last, this campaign made me a truly proud heterosexual gay activist, and I am certain that I will continue this fight, when it comes around again…. and for certain it will.

Proposition 8 passes this year by a razor-thin margin, but if I may remind everyone that Proposition 22 (that prevented California from recognizing same-sex marriages) back in 2000 won by a 22% margin, I hope people realize that this is a significant trend of progression. I really foresee that it be a matter of another three decades until same-sex marriage will be recognized not only in California, but also on a federal level. It will be a time when people look back at 2008 with a contempt for how we have voted, the same way we now look back to half a century ago when everyone was opposing interracial marriage.

Until that day comes, I will be there fighting for it.

Sat, 10/25: Vietnamese Americans for Barack Obama Rally in San Jose

Minh T. Nguyen — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 23:48:00 GMT

Xin Chao!

This Saturday, October 25th, 2008, there will be a Vietnamese Americans for Barack Obama (VA4BO) rally in San Jose, CA! We already have signs, posters and banners ready, so all you need is to come out, rally for Obama. Following the rally, you can turn your enthusiasm into action, as we invite you to join us at the San Jose BO headquarters for some phone-banking. No worries, training provided! We've done it before, and it's hella fun!

When: Saturday, October 25th, 2008, 11am – 2pm

Where: 1111 Story Road, San Jose, CA 95122 (near Grand Century Mall)

What: Vietnamese Americans for Barack Obama Rally + Phone Banking

Please help advertise this event, tell all your Vietnamese friends and come out in numbers. Feel free to use these links to promote the event:

Facebook Event: http://tinyurl.com/VA4BOSJFB

myBO Event: http://tinyurl.com/VA4BOSJ

AA4BO Event: http://tinyurl.com/VA4BOSJAA

As we are approaching the last week in this campaign, reaching out to independent voters continues to be the most important and effective action we can take at this point. Even with Barack Obama leading in polls, we absolutely can't afford to take a step back. Please join us for the rally, the phone-banking, and if you're hip, join us even for a “Drive for Change” from San Jose to Nevada to do some precinct-walking over the Halloween weekend (we're serious, email ailien_tran@yahoo.com if you want to join her).

The last VA4BO rally in Southern California made some good news. Here are all the news articles and pictures:

http://totalbuzz.freedomblogging.com/2008/10/18/obama-gains-a-foothold-in-little-saigon/6367/

http://viendongdaily.com/Contents.aspx?item=94&contentid=5081

http://www.vietbao.com/?ppid=45&pid=14&nid=135958

http://www.nguoi-viet.com/absolutenm/anmviewer.asp?a=85727&z=157

http://www.eliteiii.com/demrally

http://bolsavik.com/?p=401

YES WE CAN!

San Jose, CA

Minh T. Nguyen

nguyentriminh@yahoo.com

Arguments Against Proposition 8

Minh T. Nguyen — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 01:58:00 GMT

Excerpt from a heated discussion in an online forum of Vietnamese UC Berkeley students about legalizing same-sex marriages in California:

---------------------------- cut here ------------------------

I really didn’t intend to reply to all this, but some of the statements made on this forum are misleading, offensive, and ungrounded, and I can’t help but to reply with a follow-up.

Discriminatory: everyone in the state of California has the fundamental right to marry anyone they love. It doesn’t harm anyone else, helps families, and strengthen relationships. Eliminating that right for an entire category of citizens is discriminatory as it treats different people differently under the law. This is a fundamental, civil right that is now threatened to be eliminated by a vote, and it bothers me a great deal that we would put discriminatory language into our laws. This is a huge step backwards for California and the United States. Countries like Belgium, Netherlands, Norway, South Africa, Spain and even our neighbor Canada have gotten rid of this bigotry years ago!

On Education: First all off, nothing in Proposition 8 talks about education. The California Teachers Association and educators across the state agree that there’s not a single word in Proposition 8 that talks about education. It is true that school education talks about marriage in the curriculum at one point or another, and when that point comes they will simply teach exactly what will happen when Prop 8 fails: that marriage is between two people who love each other, that most marriages are between opposite-sex couples, but that same-sex marriages also exist and are perfectly legal. If you so disagree with this education, you are welcome to have your child opt out of that particular class (the same way you can have your child opt out of biology classes on evolution if you are a creationist). No parent is going to lose their right to teach their children what they believe is morally right, but I frankly want my children to be taught that we live in a non-discriminatory world where we tolerate those who have different opinion and be inclusive and respectful of others. I would want my children to be taught that discrimination against a group of people based on their gender, race, sexual orientation is something immoral and wrong.

On Children: how in the world does the passing/not passing of Proposition 8 affect our children’s sexual orientation? Does anyone in here seriously believe that telling children that same-sex marriage is recognized equally by the law changes their sexual orientation? Study after study confirm that teaching children about same-sex marriage (which, btw is what Prop 8 isn’t about) has no effect on their sexual preference. It doesn’t turn them into homosexuals! The same way gay people can’t be taught to be heterosexual, you can’t teach children to be homosexuals either. Children are born with sexual orientation that are unchangeable, so we have to respect their orientation. It’s nature, not nurture. In addition, research has shown that adopted children brought up by two mothers or two fathers do not grow up with mental problems or confusion. In fact, they have shown that marriages in general (both same-sex or opposite sex) strengthens families and the children.

On Legal Rights: It is not true that same-sex couples enjoy the same rights under domestic partnership as heterosexual couples in marriages. There are differences, the right to visit your spouse in the hospital is one. In fact, “domestic partnerships” have different legal implications in different states of our country! Having your relationship to be called “domestic partnership” is not the same as being married. “Domestic partnerships” and “civil unions” are terms that family members of gays don’t even understand. However, it’s really more than just legal rights. Studies repeatedly show that couples tend to be better off financially, emotionally, and psychologically in marriages. We should extend this right to everyone in California.

Churches and Tax-Exemption: The claim that churches will lose their tax-exemption if Prop 8 doesn’t pass is utterly false. I can’t believe they are saying this on their ads on TV. This is an absolute flat lie. Period.

Animals/Polygamy/Etc: We will never ever go this far. This is a scare tactic that is used over and over again by the proponents of Prop 8. The laws of the country concerning family and marriage are only about two people. The notion that same-sex marriage leads to the legality of polygamy/bestiality/incest/fill-in-other-end-of-the-world-scenario-here is absurd. This is the same scare tactic that was raised almost a century ago when it was used against interracial marriages. What at stake here is whether we are choosing to allow same-sex marriage of two people or not.

The bottom line is that it’s entirely up to you what you believe in. However, regardless of how you feel about marriage, please don’t impose your opinion on others. How would you feel if someone tells you that you can’t marry your desired spouse, and that you should enter a “domestic partnership” instead? Same-sex marriage does not do any harm to you and your life. Prop 8 was originally trailing in polls in double-digits, but with the sudden influx of donations by religious groups across the country (40% by the Mormon Church) to air misleading ads on TV, the lead has fallen dramatically. I find it troubling and hypocritical that various religions claim to be tolerant and advocate human rights, when they support such a discriminatory act that has such a severe impact on tons of families. Major newspapers and many expert institutions (like the California Teachers’ Association), are all pointing out that Prop 8 would have devastating effect on the communities.

I actually would have not expected VietCal to be the place for me to argue against Prop 8, as I would have thought that our diverse and progressive education at Cal would have taught us about tolerance and an appreciation for equality and civil rights. I find it frightening that many of you are so passionate about eliminating and ruining happy and loving families, when it has no effect on you. I know that CalVSA has a lot of Vietnamese American homosexuals as well (I know some of them), and I find some of the statements made on this forum quite disrespectful and offensive to them.

For those who want to learn more about this debate, I welcome you to read this research paper on the History of Gay Rights that I’ve written a while back in college, as well as listen to this absolutely insightful debate on Prop 8 on NPR’s Forum on KQED!

GO BEARS,
Minh T. Nguyen

------------------------------ end of excerpt --------------------

I urge those who oppose Proposition 8, to make a financial donation, no matter how small, so that we can put on much-needed advertisement on TV to counter the misleading ads.

No on Prop 8: Equality for All - The second-most important political decision this year

Minh T. Nguyen — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 09:39:00 GMT

America touts herself as the country of freedom where every citizen has the same fundamental rights, and equality for all, but I suppose some people are more equal than others.

Currently, here in the United States, same-sex marriages have just been recently legalized only in Massachusetts, California and Connecticut. However, this November 4th 2008, Californians are given the abusive power with Proposition 8 to break-up 10,000 families and eliminate the fundamental right of same-sex couples to marry and take away their dignity.

I find it incomprehensible that people would pour money, resources, and time into taking away a complete stranger’s right to marry someone they love. Why would you go out of your way to take away the dignity of same-sex couples that love each other, when you wouldn’t do it to an opposite-sex couple? It’s unfair and completely unnecessary.

I often compare the battle for gay marriage with that of interracial marriage. No one in their right mind these days would argue that we should prohibit two people from marrying each other because they don’t share the same race. They would call you a racist. So with the same argument, I’d say that if you seek to discriminate against people because of their gender, you are a gendist! And to all you gendist out there, I’d say “If you don’t like same-sex marriages, well… then don’t you get married to a same-sex person!”

In the early years of this century, interracial marriage was unthinkable, frowned upon and declared “morally wrong”. In 1967, in Loving v. Virginia, interracial marriage in the US was finally legalized, and in its decision, the court wrote:

“Marriage is one of the basic civil rights of man, fundamental to our very existence and survival.... To deny this fundamental freedom on so unsupportable a basis as the racial classifications embodied in these statutes […] is surely to deprive all the State's citizens of liberty without due process of law. […]. Under our Constitution, the freedom to marry, or not marry, a person of another race resides with the individual and cannot be infringed by the State.”

Well, there you got it. Now just replace each occurrence of the word “race” with “gender” and you see that same-sex marriage is as much of a civil right as any other right that everyone is enjoying under the law (of course they should have also said “civil rights of a person“ instead of “civil rights of man“, but that's another battle).

My friends often ask me why I am such a proponent for gay rights, and why I care about these issues as much when it doesn’t affect me.

First, I just see a ban on same-sex marriage as fundamentally wrong. Same-sex marriage doesn’t hurt society or anyone in particular. PT and I are getting married next year. I am dearly in love with her, and can’t wait to take our vows. We’ll be able to enjoy a ceremony and lifetime together as a married couple, and I wouldn’t want anyone to be deprived of this lifetime experience (to get married that is, not to get married to PT, mind you).

Secondly, the same way Caucasians with courage made an impact in the 60s by walking with their African American friends during the Civil Rights Movement, I hope that many heterosexual people will join this fight to bring equality to everyone. Not fighting for these rights makes us as guilty as the bystanders who turned a blind eye during the Civil Rights Movement. Denmark has legalized gay marriage since 1989, and I think it’s just a matter of time until we as a country will have progressed enough to recognize how “gendist” we were back in early 21st century.

With that, I ask all of you to not just be bystanders and take a stand for equality for all. Originally trailing in polls, proposition 8 has received major donations from religious organization across the nation, and current polls show that this proposition will pass, unless the No On Proposition 8 campaign can find the funds to put on new ads on TV. I strongly urge you to make the much-needed donation to No On Proposition 8, to educate your family and friends and vote for equality for all.

I Voted by Michael Matsuda

Minh T. Nguyen — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 21:02:00 GMT

(reprinted with permission by my friend Michael Matsuda)

I voted yesterday with my son, Ethan, sitting beside me at the kitchen table. My wife, who is a naturalized Vietnamese American insists on the ritual of going to the polls on election day. Looking at our son, she said, "Our community fought so hard for this right that I'd rather vote on election day." Ethan read the directions aloud and could hardly wait for me to fill in the "president" box. I hesitated. "Well, dad, what are you waiting for?" I thought to myself, I've waited a whole lifetime for this, the chance to vote for a man, whose parents were a social worker from Kansas and an Afrrican from Kenya; a man, who is supremely intelligent and blessed with a strong moral compass; a man who many hope will become the next FDR. I hesitated because I was about to vote for a man who could become America's first black president. Many people, including probably the candidate himself would say that this election is not about race. It's about issues and who is best qualified to lead.

If that were the case, then the contest would be over. As the late great Chick Hearn often said, "It's in the refrigerator." But it's not. It's not because there are still too many people who judge others by their skin color, gender, religion, sexual orientation, age, size or beliefs. Let's face it, voting is a complex process and when it comes down to two candidates who are perceived as "equally" matched in qualifications, most people will choose the person most like themselves. And race is probably the biggest factor. If Senator Obama were the one who graduated in the bottom 1% of his class, if he were known for public temper outbursts, if he were the one who met his second wife in a bar and had an affair while still married, if his wife had once been addicted to pain killers and acquired them illegally, if he were involved in the "Keating 5," and if he was the one who selected a vice president who attended five third tier universities and had violated state ethics laws, there is no doubt that John McCain would be our next president.

I hesitated because I thought of my own family, my parents who were interned during World War II because of their Japanese ancestry. I thought of their struggles to overcome way too many barriers. I thought of my wife's journey, escaping from Vietnam, alone, without knowing a word of English and now earning her doctorate. I remembered all the hard working people I grew up with in Garden Grove, a blue collar town, chock full of working families trying to scrape a life together. I thought of my transgender nephew struggling throughout his life for affirmation, and I thought of my cousins' sons, two fine young men serving in Iraq whom we all pray will make it home.

And in that instant I thought of Barack's words, "If there's a child on the south side of Chicago who can't read, that matters to me, even if it's not my child. If there's a senior citizen somewhere who can't pay for her prescription and has to choose between medicine and the rent, that makes my life poorer, even if it's not my grandmother. If there's an Arab American family being rounded up without benefit of an attorney or due process, that threatens my civil liberties. It's that fundamental belief -- I am my brother's keeper, I am my sister's keeper -- that makes this country work. It's what allows us to pursue our individual dreams, yet still come together as a single American family. "E pluribus unum." Out of many, one."

In that moment, I realized that if Obama were to win, the barometer would not be about how far blacks have come. An Obama victory would be a measure of how far America has come in living up to the promise of its great founders.

I smiled and looked my son in the eye and said, "Let's fill in the box."

Michael Matsuda
10/12/08

Saturday, October 18th, 2008: Vietnamese-Americans for Barack Obama Rally in Little Saigon/Orange County

Minh T. Nguyen — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 22:53:00 GMT

Vietnamese-Americans for Barack Obama Rally

Planned in Little Saigon, CA

What: Vietnamese Americans for Barack Obama will hold a rally expecting to draw local Obama supporters in Little Saigon, CA in the final days leading to the presidential election. The rally will be the first ever organized in the Vietnamese community for the Democratic presidential nominee.

When: Saturday, October 18, 2008, 9am – 11am,

Where: 9211 Bolsa Ave, Westminster, CA 92683

Who: This event is open to the public and all Barack Obama supporters in Orange County are encouraged to join Vietnamese-Americans in supporting Barack Obama for President.

Why: According to event organizer, Phong Ly, "The Little Saigon area represents the heart of so-called McCain country in Orange County. It is time we change the perception that Vietnamese Americans are lock-step McCain supporters. Our community is very diverse and Senator Obama has great appeal with many Vietnamese-Americans who want a leader who can be trusted with our economy, our foreign policy, our education, our health care, and our standing in the world."

Organizer Van Le adds, "We also expect to get people tapped into Barack Obama's campaign phone banking problem and remind people that this is the final weekend to register to vote in California. I had the opportunity to hear firsthand from Senator Obama when he accepted the Democratic nomination for president in Denver. I came away inspired to do something that will make a difference for our community."

Organizer Tammy Tran, an activist against human trafficking adds, "Senator McCain was a honorable Vietnam War hero but that alone should not qualify him to become president today. People should know that Barack Obama has taken a strong position on fighting for human rights and freedom in Vietnam.”

In a June 2008 statement, Senator Obama stated, "It is past time for the government of Vietnam to do far more to protect human rights and to advance the freedom of all of its people."

Ms. Le states, "We hope to draw people from all communities to show our support and unity for the next president of the United States. Please come with your Obama gear and signs. Come at 9 for sign and banner-making."

####
Obama Statement on Human Rights in Vietnam

Chicago, IL - Barack Obama released the following statement about human rights in Vietnam:

"I strongly believe that the human rights record of the government of Vietnam remains unsatisfactory. Political opposition movements are prohibited, independent human rights organizations are banned, and the government continues to crack down on dissent by arresting political activists and disrupting opposition organizations. It is past time for the government of Vietnam to do far more to protect human rights and to advance the freedom of all of its people."

###

For Immediate Release
Thursday, June 5, 2008
Contact: Obama Press Office: 312-819-2423

Tập Hợp Người Mỹ Góc Việt Ủng Hộ Obama

Sẽ Diễn Ra tại Little Saigon

Người Mỹ góc Việt Ủng Hộ Barack Obama sẽ tổ chức cuộc tập hợp của những người ủng hộ Thượng Nghị Sĩ Obama tại Little Sài Gòn. Cuộc tập hợp này sẽ là lần đầu tiên được tổ chức trong cộng đồng Việt Nam nhầm ủng hộ ứng cử viên Dân Chủ cho cuộc bầu cử tổng thống Hoa Kỳ.

Thời gian: 9:00 giờ sáng - 11 giờ trưa thứ bảy, ngày 18 tháng 11 năm 2008.

Địa điểm: 9211 Bolsa Ave., Westminster, CA 92683

Cuộc tập hợp được mỡ rộng cho tất cả mọi người ủng hộ Thượng Nghị Sĩ Barack Obama tại Quận Cam và đồng thời khuyến khích tất cả mọi người cùng đứng chung với người Mỹ góc Việt bỏ phiếu cho TNS Barack Obama vào chức vụ Tổng Thống.

Một người trẻ trong ban tổ chức, anh Lý Phong nói: “Little Sài Gòn đại diện cho trung tâm của cái được gọi là "xứ sở McCain" tại Quận Cam. Chúng ta cần phải thay đổi cái nhìn đó vì không phải là cộng đồng Việt Nam hoàn toàn ủng hộ ông McCain. Cộng đồng người Việt rất đa dạng về mặt tư tưởng và quan điểm về chính trị Hoa Kỳ và Thượng Nghị Sĩ Obama có sức lôi cuốn rất mạnh đối với nhiều người, đặt biệt là người Mỹ góc Việt muốn có được một người lãnh đạo mà họ có thể tin tưởng trong những vấn đề quốc gia như kinh tế, ngoại giao, giáo dục, và y tế.”

Cô Lê Vân, một người trẻ khác trong ban tổ chức chia sẽ, “Chúng tôi sẽ gọi điện thoại cho những người cử tri Việt Nam để nhắc nhở họ rằng cuối tuần này sẽ là ngày chót để ghi danh đi bầu. Chúng tôi đã có mặt tại hiện trường của Đại hội đảng Dân Chủ khi Thượng Nghị Sĩ Barack Obama đọc bài diễn văn chấp nhận sự đề cử thành ứng cử viên Đảng Dân Chủ trong không khí rất là sôi động tại Denver. Bài diễn văn của TNS Barack Obama đã cho tôi rất nhiều cảm hứng vì thế tôi muốn làm một cái gì đó tốt cho cộng đồng của mình.”

Theo Cô Trần Tammy thuộc ban tổ chức và cũng là một người hoạt động trong lãnh vực chấm dứt tệ nạn buôn người: “TNS McCain là một anh hùng trong cuộc chiến Việt Nam, nhưng chỉ riêng điều đó không thì không đủ để làm tổng thống. Cử tri người Việt nên biết rằng ông TNS Barack Obama nắm vững tư thế đấu tranh cho nhân quyền và tự do cho Việt Nam."

Tháng 6 năm 2008, Ông Obama đã tuyên bố rằng, “Đã quá lúc nhà cầm quyền Việt Nam phải có nhiều hành động hơn để bảo vệ cho nhân quyền và gia tăng quyền tự do cho tất cả người dân Việt Nam.”

Cô Vân nói, “Chúng tôi mong rằng mọi người từ nhiều cộng đồng khác nhau sẽ đến tham dự để bày tỏ sự ủng hộ và đoàn kết của chúng ta đối với người Tổng Thống kế tiếp của Hoa Kỳ. Xin quý vị đến đem theo những biểu ngữ hoặc áo của mình có mang tên Obama. Xin quý vị đến vào lúc 9 giờ sáng đễ chúng ta có thể cùng nhau làm các biểu ngữ ửng hộ Obama.”

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Lời Tuyên Bố về Tình Trạng Nhân Quyền tại Việt Nam của Ông Obama

Thành Phố Chicago, Tiểu Bang IL - Ứng cử viên Tổng Thống Hoa Kỳ thuộc đảng Dân Chủ là Thượng Nghị Sĩ Barrack Obama đã gởi ra lời tuyên bố liên quan đến tình trạng Nhân Quyền tại Việt Nam hiện nay:

Qua bản tuyên bố, ông Obama nói “Tôi tin tưởng mạnh mẽ rằng hồ sơ nhân quyền của chính quyền Việt Nam vẫn còn chưa có thể chấp nhận được. Các phong trào đối lập chính trị bị nghiêm cấm; các tổ chức nhân quyền độc lập bị ngăn chặn hoạt động; và chính cầm quyền tiếp tục đàn áp các nhà bất đồng chính kiến bằng cách bắt giữ các nhà hoạt động chính trị và làm gián đoạn sinh hoạt của các tổ chức đối lập. Đã quá lúc mà nhà nước Việt Nam cần phải nỗ lực nhiều hơn nữa để bảo vệ nhân quyền và gia tăng các quyền tự do của tất cả công dân Việt Nam.”

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Xin Phát Hành Gấp

Thứ năm, ngày 5 tháng 6 năm 2008

Liên lạc: Văn Phòng Phát Ngôn của ông Obama: 312-819-2423 _

My Case for Barack Obama and Against Sarah Palin

Minh T. Nguyen — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 10:29:00 GMT

It’s the time of the year again, where I need to go political with my blog and attempt to educate my friends and family members about important choices in an upcoming election. About four years ago, I argued against the reelection of George W. ~~Idiot~~ Bush, citing his arrogant foreign policies, riding us into a war that we should not have gone into, and massive failure in leading the United States post-9/11. It’s a shame that our country managed to reelect Bush for his second term. The Bush doctrine continues to destroy America’s standing and image in the world, I hope that those who voted for him (or didn’t vote at all) are thoroughly regretting this.

Well, this year, we are given a similar choice, and I am not letting the opportunity pass to make my case and help with the campaign so that we don’t make the same grave mistake we did four years ago. The choice between Obama-Biden and McCain-Palin is clear and obvious for me. I will vote for Barack Obama and urge independent voters to educate themselves about the issues and competencies that this candidate stands for.

The Case for Barack Obama

Unlike the 2004 election, where I was just anyone-but-Bush, we are now actually having a very competent candidate that is poised to reenergize and lead America the way we haven’t seen since JFK. I am passionate about Barack Obama as my president for multiple reasons:

Economy: If you follow the rhetoric of both candidates, you'll always hear that both will cut taxes and that his opponent increases them. In a campaign like this, it's probably best to consult experts and non-partisan groups, and those state over and over again that Obama's tax plan will indeed cut taxes for the vast majority of Americans: The distortions by the McCain campaign over Obama's tax plan has been repeatedly reputiated by non-partisan groups. The fact of the matter is that Obama plans to decrease taxes for 95% of Americans. If you earn less than $250,000, you will not see your taxes increase.
Iraq: Obama voiced his opposition against the war in Iraq during a time when it was very unpopular and risky to do so. It shows character to be in the extreme minority to oppose the war. McCain always argues that if Obama had it his way the successful surge in Iraq would have not happened. Well, frankly, if Obama had it his way from the beginning, some 4,000 US soldiers and 100,000 Iraqi civilians would still be alive today. Why is the press not highlighting the fact that Bush’s decision to invade Iraq has cost us more American lives than Osama Bin Laden’s terrible work on 9/11?
Community: After graduating from Columbia University and Harvard Law School, instead of working for some big law firm, he decided to go back to his community and work as a community organizer on civil rights issues. Hey, that’s just like all my friends I work with in the community in Orange County! :)A lot of us took it very personal when Palin belittles the work of a community organizer. I’ve met and revere some of the most amazing, and altruistic people in my community work. These are the people that change the world because of their passion and not because of power.
Energy & Environment: Whether we can actually achieve independence from oil in ten years or not, as Obama envisions, might be questionable, but it is leader with visions and demands like these that our country and our world so desperately need. Obama doesn’t need to be told an inconvenient truth—he already gets it. We are consuming almost a quarter of the world’s oil and are producing the most greenhouse gases in the world – yet, thanks to Bush we are the only developed country to refuse to sign the Kyoto agreement.
Foreign Policy: Obama understands that the United States can’t continue the Bush doctrine of arrogantly going it alone in the world. There have been almost-irreparable damages that Bush has done to America’s image in the world. Obama will use diplomacy first and use military action only as a last resort. Yes, I agree wholeheartedly with Obama that we should sit down and talk with our enemies even without precondition. What kind of diplomacy is it to say “I am not going to even talk to you unless you do this and this for me?” Such alienation will only encourage the isolation and squash any hope of diplomatic and peaceful resolution.
Healthcare: I had the luxury to grow up in Germany where universal health care to everyone (yes, E-V-E-R-Y-O-N-E) is mandatory since 1883. It’s a luxury that actually most wealthy, developed and industrialized nation have except for the United States. While Obama’s healthcare plan is still far from universal healthcare, it’s bringing us closer in that direction by making it mandatory to require coverage of prevent services and accept patients regardless of pre-existing conditions. Obama had to struggle with this when his mother was still fighting insurance companies while being on the verge of dying in the hospital. This is a person that comes from the same community and background as real Americans.
Education: Education is very important to me, because I still can’t fathom that we have one of the best universities, but the worst high school system in the world. I am still planning to leave my career in the lucrative software industry some day to teach computer science at high schools or colleges, and sure it would help if we pay these teachers that are making real differences in children’s lives a better salary. If Obama does follow up with his Teacher Service Scholarships that covers 4-year undergraduate and 2-year post-graduate educations for those who want to get a degree in teaching, then I am hooked. I will definitely make use of it to get my next degree in teaching. In addition, with rising costs to attend college, his American Opportunity Tax Credit ensures that the first $4,000 of college education is free.
Human Rights: In June 2008, Barack Obama released this statement: "I strongly believe that the human rights record of the government of Vietnam remains unsatisfactory. Political opposition movements are prohibited, independent human rights organizations are banned, and the government continues to crack down on dissent by arresting political activists and disrupting opposition organizations. It is past time for the government of Vietnam to do far more to protect human rights and to advance the freedom of all of its people." Do I need to say more? Ah wait, I do: next Saturday, October 18, 2008 there will be a Vietnamese-Americans for Barack Obama rally in Orange County. Stay tuned for press release.

I cannot wait to cast my vote for Barack Obama and Joe Biden this November. Coming from a multicultural background living around the world, having family members of different ethnicities, and growing up in poor neighborhoods with rough upbringing makes Barack Obama one of us. His rise from poor neighborhood, to attending the best schools in the United States, returning as a community organizer, and become a Senator and now three weeks away to the oval office is truly an American Dream come true.

If you are still unsure about him, I urge you to visit barackobama.com and educate yourself about the issues that he stands for. It’s laid out there very clearly and extremely thoroughly. If you are already an Obama supporter, I encourage you to join me in his campaign. Donate money, make campaign phone calls, walk precincts, educate your family members and friends and vote for change!

The Case against Sarah Palin

For me (and probably many others) this election isn’t much about Obama vs. McCain. It’s a about Obama vs. Palin. I can’t stop talking about how utterly unqualified Palin is for the position of the VP. Her extreme right-wing stance on issues, play on fear, lack of foreign policy experience and simply BS-ing her way through interviews makes her George W. Bush’s third term. No, let me take this back. It makes her even scarier than Bush.

Now, I wouldn’t generally put so much emphasis on the position of the VP, but it’s probably unnecessary to state what everyone has already repeated so many times: Palin is literally a heartbeat away from being the most powerful person in this nation (if not the world), and we can’t afford to have a dumb beauty pageant in that position. Matt Damon says it so very well, when he describes this situation as just a really bad Disney movie. Some of the following points have already been repeated so many times in the media, but I can’t help but to reiterate why I’d rather vote for a mannequin than Palin for the White House:

Lack of foreign policy: You would be living behind the moon if you haven’t heard about her claim that she has foreign policy experience because “she can see Russia from Alaska”. It was just a dumb statement to say, but when CBS Katie Couric pressed her on that statement in a later interview, she actually defended it with utterly nonsense about Putin, Russia and Alaska. Palin is just dumb and dumber. This woman hasn’t even applied for a passport until 2006! Gez, to my latest count I’ve visited 20 different countries in the world, and actually lived in four for long periods of time. This woman has barely spent any time outside of Alaska and the world, and expects to occupy the West Wing? Puh-lease.
The ‘Terrorist’ claim: Her recent comment about Obama “palling around with terrorist” really ticked me off. Never mind that Obama was 8 years old at the time of Bill Ayers radical time. Never mind that Obama denounces Bill Ayers’ past activities. Never mind that Obama and Bill were on the same board working on a school reform for the Annenberg Foundation when Bill Ayers was a distinguished professor at the University of Chicago. Never mind that media after media are denouncing this association of Obama with terrorist as just absolute groundless. If Palin is using scare tactics like this to get to the White House, what is she going to do once she gets there with this kind of tactic? We really can’t afford a third Bush term where the reason-du-jour for everything you do is because of the terrorists and the use of hate.
Free Sarah Palin: CNN Campbell Brown said it so well in her comment The Sexism treatment of Sarah Palin must end. It has now been five weeks since Sarah Palin was announced as the VP, and we are only three weeks away from the general election, but up until this point Sarah Palin has yet to have her real press conference, where reporters are allowed to ask her questions. She has only appeared on 4-5 network interviews so far and miserably failed there with her attempt for attempted-scripted answers that are just incomprehensible and just don’t make any sense. Did Miss South Carolina prepped her for the interviews?
Anti-Gay: Gay rights are civil rights that I have long fought for and am passionate about. I’ll blog about Proposition 8 in my next blog post, but her strong stance against gay marriage does not resonate at all for me (she supported the 1998 measure in Alaska to amend the state constitution to ban gay marriage).
Environment: Palin did not believe that greenhouse effect is man-made. In a state as beautiful as Alaska, how can one be so ignorant about environmental issues? Every scientist in the world agrees that global warming is happening because of the human race and it is a problem that we need to drastically tackle, and she still refuses to accept that we are the cause of this global problem? And, drilling in Alaska is neither a long-term, nor short-term solution to our energy crises. You don’t see the effects of renewed off-shore drilling until ten years from now, and you’re your solution to independence from oil is to drill? Think, baby, think.
Anti-Choice: Look, I understand the reasons on both sides of the debate about abortion, but Palin opposes abortion even in the case of rape and incest, yet she calls herself a feminist. As for sex education, she would fund abstinence-only education programs. Abstinence-only education programs do not work. I grew up in Germany, where proper sex education started in elementary school. It’s not a taboo topic. If we only had proper sex education in US schools, we wouldn’t have the high pregnancy rates that we have here (it’s almost five times that of Germany). This could prevent the need for considering an abortion to begin with.

I cannot understand why people don’t see through Sarah Palin and sees that she’s utterly underqualified for the job of VP (or God forbid, for the job of the President). It’s not so much McCain who is pushing me away from the Republican ticket, but by choosing Sarah Palin as his veep, he ain’t really putting country first.

Good night, and good luck.
Minh T. Nguyen

Speaking at UC Berkeley on September 30th on the computer science major

Minh T. Nguyen — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 23:13:00 GMT

What: Minh T. Nguyen, a Cal Alumnus and Senior Software Design Engineer with Microsoft Mediaroom, will speak at the alumni panel at the Letters & Science 1 class about his experience choosing his major, getting his BS degree in computer science at Cal, how this experience has affected his career and provide some retrospective advice.

When: Tuesday, September 30th, 2008, 3:30pm

Where: 2040 Valley Life Sciences Building, UC Berkeley, Berkeley, CA

Why: Letters and Science 1 is a course for entering students, particularly those who are excited to be here but uncertain of where to start their explorations. It provides an introduction to the intellectual landscape of the College of Letters & Science, the campus's liberal arts college. There will be several alumni speaking briefly about their respective majors in L&S and provide tips and advice to first-year students.

Photosynth of Osaka Castle in Osaka, Japan and interior of Saint Peter’s Basilica in Rome, Italy

Minh T. Nguyen — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 14:43:00 GMT

About two years ago, Microsoft showed a preview of Photosynth at the internal company meeting event, and wowed us all, but we weren’t allowed to talk about it. Then, almost a year later, the beta software was made available to employees, allowing us to play with it, but we could discuss or even show this outside of Microsoft. Well, last month, Microsoft finally released Photosynth to the world as a Microsoft Live Labs project, so I can finally blog about what a kick-ass awesome product this is, and publish two of my really synthy photosynths.

For those who don’t know, Photosynth is a software application that takes a set of digital photographs, and builds a three-dimensional cloud out of these pictures just through pure computational analysis. Without the user having to prepare or do anything at all, the software analyzes and determines how each photo relates to one another, provided that there is some overlap. The resulting mesh is then presented in a 3D world that allows you to navigate and zoom in and out with no limit on resolution or zoom factor. It’s hella cool, and absolutely stunning!

So, let me present to you to Photosynth that I painstakingly did on my last two vacations.

This is the interior of Saint Peter’s Basilica in Rome, Italy. While PT had a headache and was resting on a bench, I wandered around in there for two hours to take tons of pictures. From those, 291 pictures were reconstructed in this Photosynth that is 97% synthy.

This is Osaka Castle in Osaka, Japan. I took this earlier this year on my return trip from Vietnam. This Photosynth comprises of 621 photos and is 99% synthy. That’s a lot of photos! You can see the front, side and back of the Castle (yeah, only 180 degrees, I couldn’t go on the other side of the castle) .

This is just the start of what’s possible and I predict that this is going to make giant leaps in the world of artificial intelligence! Imagine taking a video of an object (say a bicycle). A potential software could decompose the video into pictures, feed it into Photosynth so that 3D cloud could be reconstructed. As a result, recognizing that the video includes a bicycle is then merely the same problem of optical character recognition (OCR)--a problem set that computer science has already solved fairly well (at least in the 2D world). This could also help with automatically tagging videos based on computational recognition. The software could identify all bikes in online videos, making a video search on ‘bikes’ actually work based on the content of the video and not on the honesty of people who provide the keywords.

Carnegie Mellon Silicon Valley

Minh T. Nguyen — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 11:56:00 GMT

This is Silicon Valley. It’s the heart of the software industry, the epitome of American entrepreneurship, the ultimate place to be a Software Engineer. As you drive along highway 101 from San Francisco down to San Jose, you inevitably drive by companies such as Salesforce, Oracle, Lockheed Martin, Microsoft, Yahoo, Sun, Intel, eBay, Network Associates just to name a few. When you get off 101 in the South Bay, don’t be surprised if you find yourself driving by the headquarters of tech companies such as Adobe, HP, AMD, Google, Facebook and the like.

Right at the center of it all, sandwiched between Google, Microsoft, Lockheed Martin and NASA is Carnegie Mellon West, or shall I better say Carnegie Mellon Silicon Valley? We've been told that the school is preparing to be renamed to Carnegie Mellon Silicon Valley, to better reflect the grand opportunities that arise from being situated right at the pulse of Silicon Valley.

And, boy, what a difference it makes to be here in the valley. The good is that you build networks and connections like crazy. For lunch, I sometimes leave the Microsoft campus and hop over to Google or Apple to have lunch there with classmates or former co-workers. The “Lunch 2.0” group is organizing get-to-know-the-company lunch events, where I find myself eating and mingling with employees over at LinkedIn, Meebo and the like. You are being constantly approached (sometimes very aggressively) by recruiters trying to persuade you to leave one high-paying job for another high-paying job. Last time, I was having dinner by myself at this shady Vietnamese Pho restaurant, and was doing my assigned reading in the Ruby on Rails book, only to be approached by the CEO of this RoR shop and been given a business card in case I am interested in doing RoR professionally. There are technology events, conferences, workshops and user group meetings sprinkled throughout the valley—CMU West even hosts many.

As I am doing my practicum with PayPal, our team is working diligently on a very cool ASP.NET/Silverlight-based website that uses PayPal’s service-oriented architecture and last week, our Carnegie Mellon team had lunch on the beautiful eBay/PayPal campus and presented the state of our product to one of the directors and his team there. After the practicum, they gave us a grand tour of the facilities and even joked that we might as well just pick up the job application too.

Silicon Valley is just a vibrant area, full of ideas and innovation and Carnegie Mellon knows how to foster it. Besides the popular innovation and entrepreneurship classes taught by startup veterans, we also have an “entrepreneur-in-residence” at CMU West. He’s a venture capitalist who can give guidance on starting your own company, and heck, he might be interested in investing in it. The valley is just full of people with ideas—it seems like everyone from your co-worker to the janitor has an opinion and idea of the next disruptive technology, and are probably already putting a business plan together.

Now, the flipside of being in the heart and center of Silicon Valley, is that you can’t escape it. In an area, where the ratio of men to women is skewed enough for San Jose to be nicknamed “Man Jose”, it’s really disappointing to go to a social event only to be surrounded by nerdy engineers who just haven’t learned the etiquette of not talking about work outside of work. Most annoyingly are those that practice geek speak in the movie theater/Starbucks line in an intentional loud voice. Have they never learned that the first rule about computer club, is to not talk about computer club? I myself always resist the urge of asking someone I first meet where they work or what they do, because I know that like Pringles, once they pop, they’ll never stop.

Yet, overall, Silicon Valley is definitely a quite interesting place for software engineers. It’s a place where not only can you see history being made by the minute, but also where you have every opportunity to be part of making history.

Score Corner: Minh's 20-minute piano improvisation at 2am

Minh T. Nguyen — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 13:07:00 GMT

So at 2am yesterday night, I decided to play on my (electric) piano, since I have touched that thing for almost a year when I had to cease piano lessons due to school. After being at it for a few minutes, I realized that I was in a good mood to do some improvisations, and played for 20 minutes! I've recorded it as well, so here it is. Please pardon my complete lack of harmony and rhythm through the piece -- I am just trying to come up with random things that sound good at the spur of the moment. Good luck making it through the 20 minutes without falling asleep!

Improvisation: 20 minutes at 2am

Right-click here to download

Chasing the Olympic Torch in San Francisco, USA and Saigon, Vietnam

Minh T. Nguyen — Tue, 06 May 2008 23:31:00 GMT

I was partially involved in this newly-found organization called VietWill that was co-founded by a bunch of Vietnamese UC Berkeley alumni. Its mission is to bring awareness to China’s aggression against Vietnam in plight of the Paracel and Spratly Islands (also known as the Hoang Sa/Truong Sa) controversy. In short, they are a collection of islands in the South China Sea that has been claimed by China, Vietnam, Taiwan as well as the Philippines. The dispute over the islands dates back as far as ancient times with the references to these islands in each countries’ respective history and culture (if you drive around in Saigon, you can even find two streets named Hoang Sa and Truong Sa in district 1). In a battle in 1974, China seized control of the south part of then-owned Paracel Island from Vietnam and did the same 1988 for 6 of the Spratly Island with many casualties on the Vietnamese side.

However, the controversy erupted last year with China making illegal claims on 80% of South China Sea, capturing Vietnamese fishermen, sinking their fishing boats, fining them $15,000 each, or sometimes even injuring or killing Vietnamese fishermen that have been making a living on the sea for their entire lives. These event sparked wide-spread demonstrations within the Vietnamese overseas community, but more importantly also from large groups in the Vietnamese youth community in Vietnam who cry out for the Vietnamese government’s complete lack of intervention in this issue.

So on April 9th, 2008, I find myself joining the VietWill group in front of AT&T park in San Francisco awaiting the torch relay from Beijing, passing out flyers, brochures and T-shirts to bring awareness to this issue and demand for a stop of China’s aggression against Vietnamese fishermen. While some of my Chinese friends disagreed with me on this aspect, I was also there to show my support for the people in Tibet and Burma. However, we were outnumbered by the sea of Chinese supporters that were brought in on buses from as far as Los Angeles. At any rate, the city of San Francisco pulled a prank on us and in a not-so-surprise move, when the torch relay was relocated to the other side of the city, easily avoiding the crowds of demonstrators as well as supporters. Nevertheless, I am glad that I participated in the event in San Francisco, and remind myself that I live in a region of the world where I can voice my opinion without fear of any retribution.

Fast forward to April 29th 2008 (last week to be exact). The Olympic torch relay is slated here for Vietnam in its final city before returning to China. A series of bloggers in Vietnam have called for a mass demonstration on this day, so I find myself in the streets of Saigon, Vietnam, roaming around with my camera near the sites of the planned demonstrations. With uniformed and plain-cloths police very well present in district 1, I was bit concerned whether my excuse of “just being a tourist here and happen to take pictures of demonstration” would sell, given my membership to Viet Tan, the detention and interrogation of three other Viet Tan members as well as the deportation out of Vietnam of another Vietnamese American protester who I met up in San Francisco. Unfortunately, after hours of waiting at the planned site in Saigon, the demonstration did not materialize here.

I found out afterwards, that 1000 miles away, some 150 people including democracy activists, aggrieved farmers and families of fishermen from Thanh Hoa province that were killed by the Chinese navy on the Eastern sea, gathered in front of Dong Xuan market in Hanoi protesting against Chinese aggression and invasion of the Spratly and Paracel islands. Only 15 minutes later, more than 300 security police rushed in to snatch slogans; tearing down banners; twisting arms and bashing people in the protest.

In the meantime, I make my way towards the torch relay opening ceremony site near the opera house and like in San Francisco, find myself vastly outnumbered by a sea of Chinese supporters. I tried initiating contacts with several of them, but they neither spoke English nor Vietnamese, making me question again whether these are locals or were flown in from China. I see Chinese organizers do the crowd control, as well as cheerleading. Knowing that I probably won’t find any demonstrations by Vietnamese locals in this area, I quickly drive back to my hotel to upload the pictures and videos captured so far, only to return to the ceremony site to just have missed the torch run by. Ah well, I wasn’t here for the torch itself anyways.

Looking back at these two events, I have several thoughts. To the supporters of the Olympics, I say that I respect your opinion, enthusiasm and support of the Olympics. It’s your right to voice your opinion as much as it is mine to point out that China’s bid to the Olympics a decade ago was made with promises of showing progress towards human rights. The Olympics was already politicized then. In San Francisco I was being yelled at by some extremist as “losers.” Frankly, when China forbids foreign reporters to report freely from Tibet (let alone even enter Tibet), or when anyone provides a militia made of children with weapons and support, we are all losers in this game.

However, what’s more interesting to note is that San Francisco and Saigon differed greatly in how it tolerated the demonstration. In San Francisco, demonstrations were planned in advance and highly-publicized, the freedom to voice your opinion was celebrated, and enthusiasm for the upcoming protests went high among community activists. Yet, in Vietnam, the Vietnamese government itself prohibited all demonstrations, and warned that any protest will be dealt with “harshly.” The demonstrators in Hanoi must have had a lot of courage to speak out—heck, I was concerned about my safety just taking pictures of policemen. A week prior the event, a prominent Vietnamese blogger calling for a protest was already put under house arrest and detained. Now, does the Vietnamese government stand for its people or for the Chinese?

My lasik eye surgery experience

Minh T. Nguyen — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 01:58:00 GMT

Warning – the next paragraphs are a bit graphic, and I don’t recommend reading this if you are about to get Lasik eye surgery—you’ll be better off not reading this prior the operation.

So, I had my Lasik eye surgery done last Friday, and it was scary as hell. The operation itself was actually very short—I think the time between laying down on the operating table, and getting up was maybe like 8 minutes or so, but the fact that you are fully-wake and seeing every move the surgeon is doing to your eyes ain’t a pleasant experience.

For those who don’t know, during Lasik eye surgery the ophthalmologist is cutting into your cornea to create a thin flap, then opens up the flap, and shoots a Laser beam into your eye to evaporate some tissue which results in a reforming corneal stroma. The flap is then repositioned by the surgeon and off you go seeing clearer due to the reformed cornea.

Well, the laser part of this operation isn’t a problem. It’s really just like someone shining a light into your eye, and the process was only 10 seconds per eye anyways. However, it’s the process of cutting your cornea and repositioning the flap that is very uncomfortable and downright scary.

First, the surgeon attaches a clamp to your eye that holds your eye lids to prevent you from closing your eyes. He then puts some eye drops that act as a local anesthetic and numbs the area (though you could still feel everything). Now comes the scary part, when he uses some kind of mechanical device to cut the flap in my eye. That device makes that commonly-known drilling sound you are already accustomed to from your dentist visits. You could then actually see the surgeon move the device over your eye from right to left for your right eye (or left to right for your left eye) like a lawnmower. Seriously! During this process you can actually see the world around you start becoming blurry along the path that the device leaves behind. At some point, you also lose parts of your vision. Next, you are asked to look at the red dot (though it was just a blurry red area for me, and I am like “where’s the red dot?!”). A blue laser shoots into your eye for ten seconds (which neither was painful nor unpleasant). Then, to reposition the flap, the surgeon uses some kind of knife-look-alike and pokes into my eye. He then puts a small fan near my eye to it dry out, and before you realize the operation was already over before it has begun.

As mentioned, the operation itself is pretty quick—maybe like 1-2 minutes . The first eye wasn’t much a problem, because I didn’t really know what to expect and was just surprised along the way. However, as the surgeon moves on to my left eye, I knew exactly what was ahead of me, and I was scared like sh*t!

Nevertheless, I survived the operation. It was painless and quick—just very uncomfortable and something I’d rather not do again. After the operation, I was able to see much clearer already without glasses, but a lot of things were still very blurry. After the operation, I had my friend Bao T. Ngo drive me home, and after taking a sleeping pill, and slept all the way until the next morning.

As I woke up the following day I noticed that things are still a bit blurry, so I start to worry and try to remember if they told me whether that’s normal or not. At any rate, I started the routine of putting inflammatory and anti-biotic eye drops into my eyes every 2-4 hours, and drive myself back to medical center for the post-op check-up, during which they concluded that my flaps look all nice and where they are supposed to be, and that my eyes are still swollen (as expected) and that this correlates with my blurry vision (which was also expected). My eyes still feel a bit itchy, but my weekend just went on as though nothing has happened--did schoolwork and readings, worked on the computer, drove myself to a birthday dinner and played bowling with friends.

It’s has now been 2 ½ days since the operation, and my vision ain’t exactly 20/20 just yet, as my eyes are still swollen, but I am already going around without glasses (well, I did have to buy and use sunglasses though). My vision is improving every day though, and I expect that by the end of the next week, I should be seeing pretty clearly (and probably 20/20). I still have to do eye drops at set intervals for the next two weeks, so that’s a bit of a hassle and have to skip out on my weekly volleyball and racquetball for a while, but come April I’ll be worry free and join the millions of patients who don’t regret having Lasik eye surgery done.