NCVA REPORTER - June 15, 2004

In this NCVA Reporter:

Events

• Meeting with A.G. Kawamura, Secretary of California Food & Agriculture – June 25, 2004
• White House Conference on Faith-Based and Community Initiatives – July 8, 2004

Funding Opportunities

• Grants for Mentoring At-Risk Children
• Proposals Sought for 2005 Soros Justice Fellowships
• John Glenn Scholars in Service-Learning Seeks Applicants
• Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Announces Call for Applications for Health & Society Scholars Program
• JCPenney Funds After-School Care and Employee Volunteerism
• Funding to Integrate Communities of Color into Philanthropy

Jobs/Internships

• Vietnamese American Xposure (VAX) Casting Call
• Paid Summer Internship Available: H Street Community Development Corporation and State Farm Insurance Companies
• LEAP Community Development Program Coordinator

Legislation

• U.S. Senate Bill Limits In-Kind Donations Deductions

News

• Japan lays out new aid policy for Vietnam (Agence France Presse)
• Hard work rewarded with a polish (Charleston Daily Mail)
• Program Nurtures Minority Firms’ Growth (Washington Post)
• Vietnamese Get New Chance to Settle in U.S. (Mercury News)
• Md. GOP Reaches Out To Asian Americans (Washington Post)
• To Fans, O.C.'s Little Saigon Is Too Little Known (Los Angeles Times)
• Trafficking in Persons Report 2004 (Department of State)
• Vietnam Bride: I Was Tortured (AsiaOne)

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EVENTS

MEETING WITH A.G. KAWAMURA, SECRETARY OF CALIFORNIA FOOD & AGRICULTURE

Orange County Asian and Pacific Islander Community Alliance SELANOCO JACL Asian and Pacific Islander Heritage Council and the Asian and Pacific Islanders' California Action Network

Invite you to a reception to meet with

A.G. Kawamura
Secretary of California Food and Agriculture

Friday, June 25, 2004
5:30PM – 7:30 PM

Dragon Palace Restaurant
9848 Garden Grove Blvd.
Garden Grove, CA  92844
(714) 530-7878

Secretary Kawamura is one of the few Asian Americans ever appointed as a California cabinet member.  Secretary Kawamura is widely known for his passion for education and for his commitment to the issues of hunger and nutrition. As president of Orange County Harvest, a  non-profit promoting agricultural partnerships with organizations combating hunger, he arranged for thousands of volunteers to harvest  and glean over a million pounds of produce for area food banks. His nationally recognized urban projects, such as the 7-acre Common Ground project in San Juan Capistrano and 4-acre Incredible Edible Park in Irvine, are agricultural paradigms linking nutritional education and interaction with local schools and food banks.

The Department of Food and Agriculture oversees programs to assist and promote California's agriculture industry. The department operates as an advocate for the industry. Approximately 1,800 employees work for the department with a budget of $270 million.

Please to come to this wonderful event to get to know and understand more about the role of Secretary Kawamura.  A complimentary light dinner buffet will be served.

Please RSVP or for more info please contact OCAPICA at (714) 636- 9095 or abae@ocapica.org

www.ocapica.org

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WHITE HOUSE CONFERENCE ON FAITH-BASED AND COMMUNITY INITIATIVES

Thursday, July 8, 2004
8:00 AM - 5:00 PM

Sheraton Boston Hotel
Prudential Center
39 Dalton Street
Boston, MA 02199

On Thursday, July 8, the White House and the Departments of Justice, Agriculture, Labor, Health & Human Services, Housing & Urban Development, and Education and the Agency for International Development will host a conference in Boston to help faith-based and community organizations learn more about President Bush's Faith-Based and Community Initiative.  The Federal government is working to make sure that faith-based and community groups can compete on an equal footing for Federal dollars, receive greater private support, and face fewer bureaucratic barriers.

The conference is free, but pre-registration is required. Registration is on a first-come, first-serve basis. Visit www.fbci.gov to register online. We strongly encourage you to register online. Please register by Thursday, July 1. If you must cancel your registration, please send an email to fbci@dtihq.com so we may accommodate as many people as possible.

The conference is part of a series of regional conferences that are being held around the country. These conferences will provide participants with information about Federal programs that are suited to their needs, the Federal funding process, and the legal requirements that may apply to recipients of Federal funds.  They will also offer practical information on the grant-writing process, share successful practices from other organizations, and facilitate opportunities to network with government officials.

The conference will offer two workshop tracks: Government Resources and Successful Partnerships. Both tracks have six sessions. Conference attendees can participate in both tracks, but must choose their first and second session choice because the workshops fill up. Visit the conference section of www.fbci.gov to learn more about the conference workshops.

For more information, please call 202-456-6718, send an email to fbci@dtihq.com, or visit www.fbci.gov.

We very much hope you will be able to join us in Boston.

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FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES

GRANTS FOR MENTORING AT-RISK CHILDREN

The Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities National Programs announced a grants initiative to promote mentoring programs for children.

A total of $29.37 million is available, with each award no more than $200,000. The grants can be used for mentoring programs that assist at-risk children in receiving support and guidance from a mentor; improve the academic performance of children; improve interpersonal relationships between children and their peers, teachers, other adults and family members; reduce the dropout rate; and reduce juvenile delinquency and involvement in gangs.

Eligible applicants include county governments; city or township governments; special district governments; independent school districts; local educational agencies; and nonprofit, community-based organizations.

Applications are due July 7. Applications and guidelines are available online. If you have difficulty accessing the full announcement electronically, contact Julius Cotton at 202-245-6140; fax: 202-245-6288; e-mail: julius.cotton@ed.gov.

(http://www.fedgrants.gov/Applicants/ED/HRO/DCMGC/ED-GRANTS-052704-001/Grant.html)

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PROPOSALS SOUGHT FOR 2005 SOROS JUSTICE FELLOWSHIPS

Deadline: September 22, 2004

(http://soros.org/initiatives/justice/focus_areas/justice_fellows/guidelines)

The Soros Justice Fellowships support outstanding individuals who will advance the criminal justice priorities of the Open Society Institute's U.S. Justice Fund (http://soros.org/initiatives/justice/). These priorities include reducing the nation's over-reliance on policies of punishment and incarceration, restoring judicial discretion and eliminating race and class  disparities in the U.S. criminal justice system, and  encouraging the successful resettlement of people  returning from prison.

Through three programs, the Soros Justice Fellowships seed innovation in criminal justice activism, lawyering, policy analysis, research, scholarship, and media coverage.

Soros Justice Advocacy Fellowships: Two-year fellowships to fund innovative projects designed by individuals working in law, organizing, public health, public policy, and other disciplines that will have a measurable impact on issues underlying the fund's criminal-justice priorities.

Soros Justice Senior Fellowships: One-year fellowships to enable experienced individuals, including academics, activists, lawyers, and community leaders, to raise the level of national discussion and scholarship on issues that are key to the fund's criminal justice priorities.

Soros Justice Media Fellowships: One-year fellowships to support journalists and documentarians in print, radio, photography, and film and video to improve the quality of media coverage of issues at the core of the fund's criminal justice priorities.

Detailed program guidelines and application forms are available on the U.S. Justice Fund Web site.

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JOHN GLENN SCHOLARS IN SERVICE-LEARNING SEEKS APPLICANTS

Deadline: June 18, 2004

(http://www.glenninstitute.org/glenn/scholars_index.asp)

The John Glenn Institute for Public Service and Public Policy (http://www.glenninstitute.org/glenn/index.asp) at Ohio State University has established the John Glenn Scholars in Service-Learning to recognize scholars whose work helps advance service-learning.

During 2004-05, the institute will recognize ten scholars whose scholarship efforts contribute to advancing the understanding or adoption of service-learning, with specific emphasis on K-12 education. The institute seeks contributions from scholars whose work addresses gaps in service-learning research as well as in insulated pockets not currently part of the service-learning mainstream.

Areas of emphasis for 2004-05 include curriculum connections, social justice issues and education, school and community partnerships, student development, critical issues and priorities, math/science, learning theory, and educational policy and reform. Selection as a scholar carries an honorarium of $1,000; recipients are also recognized as a John Glenn Scholar in Service-Learning.  Scholar selections are featured on the institute's Web site and publicized on a national level, with specific attention focused on papers submitted as part of the selection process.

For the June 18, 2004, deadline, the areas of emphasis are: 1) curriculum connections, and 2) social justice issues and education.

Complete information regarding the 2004-05 call for scholars is available at the John Glenn Institute Web site.

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ROBERT WOOD JOHNSON FOUNDATION ANNOUNCES CALL FOR APPLICATIONS FOR HEALTH & SOCIETY SCHOLARS PROGRAM

Deadline: October 15, 2004

(http://healthandsocietyscholars.org/)

The Robert Wood Johnson Health & Society Scholars Program (http://healthandsocietyscholars.org/), a national program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, is designed to  build the field of population health, which takes a broad approach to understanding why some groups of people are healthy and others are not.

The goal of this interdisciplinary program is to improve health by training scholars to investigate rigorously the connections among biological, behavioral, environmental,  economic and social determinants of health; and to develop, evaluate, and disseminate knowledge and interventions based upon integration of these determinants. The program intends to produce leaders who will change the questions asked, the methods employed to analyze problems, and the range of solutions offered to improve the health of all Americans.

Outstanding individuals who have completed doctoral training in one of a variety of disciplines, ranging from the behavioral and social sciences to the biological and natural sciences and health professions, are eligible to apply.  Applicants are expected to have significant research experience. Past training in health-related areas is not a requirement, but applicants must clearly connect their research interests to substantive population health concerns.  The program is looking for open-minded yet critical thinkers with demonstrated leadership skills and an active interest in interdisciplinary collaboration.

Up to eighteen scholars will be selected for the two-year appointments that will begin in the fall semester of 2005.  Grants have been made to six participating universities (Columbia; Harvard; the University of California, San Francisco and Berkeley; the University of Michigan; the University of Pennsylvania; and the University of Wisconsin) in accordance with RWJF's regular funding guidelines.  Scholars will have access to a full range of university resources and will receive annual stipend support of $74,000 for year one and $77,000 for year two, plus health insurance from their university site. In addition, the selected scholars will have access to financial support for research-related expenses, training workshops, and travel to professional meetings.

Individuals must apply through an online system that will be available through the program's Web site beginning July 1, 2004.

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JCPENNY FUNDS AFTER-SCHOOL CARE AND EMPLOYEE VOLUNTEERISM

JCPenney Corporate Giving Program/JCPenney Company Fund

(http://www.jcpenney.net/company/commrel/contributions.htm)

JCPenney supports targeted issues of concern to the company, its employees and its customers, including improvement of K-12 education through curriculum-based after-school care, support of employee volunteerism, and support for United Way in communities with a company presence. Support is provided to national and local nonprofit organizations, with priority given to organizations and programs that are located in communities where JCPenney has a business presence. Nonprofit organizations and state government agencies are eligible to apply. Applications are accepted year-round. Visit the above website for more information.

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FUNDING TO INTEGRATE COMMUNITIES OF COLOR INTO PHILANTHROPY

W. K. Kellogg Foundation: Expanding the Boundaries: Leadership in Philanthropy Project

(http://www.wkkf.org/Pubs/PhilVol/ExpandingtheBoundaries_RFP_00251_03780.pdf)

The W.K. Kellogg Foundation’s Expanding the Boundaries: Leadership in Philanthropy Project was established as a means of broadly integrating communities of color into the world of philanthropy at large. The project’s principal objectives are to enhance the work of emerging leaders and donors of color, and to promote the creation and sharing of knowledge that supports these leaders and donors. Proposals will be accepted for innovative ideas that cut across the three dimensions of engaging new leaders and donors, generating new knowledge, and creating new tools related to integration of communities of color in mainstream philanthropy. Proposals may be local or national in scope. Proposals to enhance existing innovative programs on a national level will also be accepted. Nonprofit organizations throughout the United States are eligible to apply. The next deadline is August 30, 2004. Visit the website above for more information.

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JOBS/INTERNSHIPS

CASTING CALL – VIETNAMESE AMERICAN XPOSURE (VAX)

RARE TELEVISION OPPORTUNITY! DON'T MISS OUT!

DO YOU HAVE WHAT IT TAKES TO BE ONE OF THE FAMOUS FACES OF VAX?

IF YOU ENJOY HAVING FUN, MEETING PEOPLE, AND BEING ON CAMERA, READ ON...

VAX (Vietnamese American Xposure) is a fresh, young and edgy weekly half hour magazine style television show dedicated to "xposing" who we, as 2nd Generation Asian Americans, truly are. VAX focuses on Vietnamese American culture, fashions, celebrities, lifestyles, music, sports, hotspots, and the "on-goings" of contemporary Asian American culture.  Visit our website at www.vaxtvshow.com for more information.

Produced by VABC Television and Multimedia, VAX is scheduled to launch in September of 2004 on local and national television networks.

We are having an open casting call for field reporters and field correspondents. As part of the field team, you will be regularly covering events, interviews, and segment bits for the VAX TV Show.

Your face, your voice, and your personality will be on TV, on printed media, and on the Internet!

BE A PART OF A REVOLUTIONARY WAVE OF TELEVISION PERSONALITIES!

What: Casting Call for VAX Field Talents

Who: Anyone of any race and ethnic background. Vietnamese American a plus! No experience necessary.

Age: 18-30. Young, fashionable and outgoing!

Where:
VABC Studio Office.
17150 Newhope St. Building #907
Fountain Valley, CA 92708

When:
Tuesday, June 15th | 5pm - 9pm
Thursday, June 17th | 11am - 3pm
Saturday, June 19th | 10 am - 2pm

Please send an email to jobs@vaxtvshow.com to schedule an audition time with our casting director.  Priority scheduling will be given to applicants who mail or email in their a resume and picture. (please provide resumes in word document.)

Visit our website at www.vaxtvshow.com for more information.

Forward this email to all your friends!

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PAID SUMMER INTERNSHIP AVAILABLE

H STREET COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION AND STATE FARM INSURANCE COMPANIES

Duration: 8 weeks, anytime from June to August 2004

Stipend: $2,500

Qualifications: You have to be a college student graduating in summer 2004, winter 2004 or summer 2005. This internship is designed to provide you with valuable experience in the non-profit and for-profit sectors in preparation for a job placement. Preference will be given to those who are majoring in Business, English, Communications, or other non-technical degree. Those interested in a permanent job placement at State Farm Insurance Companies are strongly encouraged to apply.

You will be required to take a pre-qualification test with State Farm Insurance Companies prior to the interview process if you are selected for an interview.

Responsibilities: 2 days at the H Street Community Development Corporation (HSCDC) working with Francey Youngberg, Project Manager of the Diversity Project to provide educational outreach to Asian Pacific American small businesses and improve relations between African American residents and Asian American businesses.  Duties will include door-to-door visits to merchants, attending community meetings, creating a merchant database and assisting with the High School Summer Internship program at HSCDC.  Korean language skills are preferred but not required.

3 days at a State Farm Insurance Fairfax branch office. The State Farm branch office location is not metro-accessible so applicant should have access to a car.

To Apply:  Please send a cover letter and resume to Francey L. Youngberg at Francey.youngberg@verizon.net or fax it to 215-895-9853.

The League of Korean Americans, USA (LOKA-USA), Inc. is a national, nonprofit, nonpartisan, educational and charitable organization under IRS Code 501 (c) (3).  LOKA-USA is dedicated to provide the community with relevant information and services affecting our society.  LOKA-USA also helps to bridge the gap between Korean Americans and the American mainstream by providing educational seminars, symposiums and training.  Founded in 1980, LOKA-USA in pursuit of its mission has carried out numerous activities and events.  For more information, please visit: www.LOKA-USA.org.

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LEAP COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM COORDINATOR

JOB DESCRIPTION

Leadership Education for Asian Pacifics, Inc. (LEAP) is a national, non-profit organization founded in 1982 to achieve full participation and equality for Asian Pacific Americans (APAs).  Unmatched in vision and scope, LEAP offers leadership training, publishes original policy research, and conducts community education to advance a comprehensive strategy of Asian Pacific American empowerment.

For the past twenty-two years, LEAP has been intent on “growing leaders.”  LEAP programs encourage individuals to assume leadership positions at work and in the community, to be informed and vocal about policy issues relevant to APAs, and ultimately, to become role models for future leaders. 

LEAP is now searching for an employee to coordinate the delivery of our community programs.  These include, but are not limited to, the following:

Leadership in Action (LIA) internship program, Community Workshop Series (CWS), Community Forums, and other community leadership development programs. 

PROGRAM COORDINATOR

RESPONSIBILITIES
* Project manage, coordinate, produce, promote, and market LEAP’s community projects, which include training programs, internship programs, and community forums.
* Work with Vice President of Leadership, Director of Training and other trainers in development and evaluation of training curriculum
* Participate in community activities and serve as a community liaison.
* Establish, maintain, and build relationships with community members and organizations.

* Work with Director of External Relations and Director of Communications to market various programs, including coordinating the creation and distribution of brochures, flyers, and press releases.  Some public speaking will also be required.
* Cross train with Leadership Management Programs coordinator

General
* Report to Vice President of Leadership.
* Work collaboratively with other program coordinators and administrative staff in a team environment.

QUALIFICATIONS
General
* Familiarity with the Asian Pacific American community and its issues and needs at the local and national levels.
* Excellent written/oral communication and editing skills required.
* Must be detail-oriented with excellent organizational skills.
* Must be a self-starter, able to enthusiastically work both independently and as part of a team.
* Well-developed interpersonal skills, professional appearance and manner.
* Ability to work under pressure while managing multiple projects/tasks and deadlines.
* Familiarity with community based organizations in the Greater Los Angeles and Orange County areas preferred.
* Must be Macintosh-literate with working knowledge of MSWord, Excel, Filemaker Pro, and the internet.
* Experience with desktop publishing (PageMaker, QuarkXpress, PowerPoint) preferred.

Miscellaneous
* Willingness to work evenings and weekends as needed.
* Occasional required traveling, locally and nationally.
* Valid California Driver's license, auto insurance and access to a car.

COMPENSATION
Commensurate with qualifications and related experience.  Excellent benefits package, including 403(b), medical, vision, and dental.

APPLICATION PROCEDURE
Send resumé with cover letter.
Fax: (213) 485-0050

or mail to:

Grace Toy
Vice President of Administration and Finance
LEAP
327 East 2nd Street, Suite #226
Los Angeles, CA 90012

Cover letter must address the following:
1) provide specific reasons for applying for the position of Program Coordinator; and 2) indicate how your experiences and qualifications align with the job requirements.

NO PHONE CALLS PLEASE!

For more information about LEAP, please visit our website at
http://www.leap.org

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LEGISLATION

U.S. SENATE BILL LIMITS IN-KIND DONATIONS DEDUCTIONS

A bill passed by the U.S. Senate would place a limit on the tax deductions individuals and corporations can take for non-cash contributions, the Washington Post reported May 12.

The provision is part of an amendment to the Jumpstart Our Business Strength Act and is designed to control charitable-deduction abuses.

Under the provision, charities would be required to furnish donors with receipts showing how much a donated item sold for, and would limit the donor's deduction to that amount. In addition, the measure would limit deductions for donated cars and intellectual property.

The U.S. House of Representatives is expected to pass the bill.

(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A18980-2004May11.html)

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NEWS

June 3, 2004

JAPAN LAYS OUT NEW AID POLICY FOR VIETNAM

HANOI, (AFP) - Japan, Vietnam's biggest aid donor, will link future aid for the communist nation to a series of benchmarks that include respect for human rights and its investment climate.

Mitsuru Kitano, minister at the Japanese embassy in Hanoi, said that under Tokyo's new official development assistance (ODA) charter, the size of its annual aid pledge to Vietnam would depend on five elements.

One of these, he said, includes the "principles" of respect for human rights and the environment, as well as progress made by the Vietnamese government towards democracy and a market economy.

The new aid programme would also take into consideration the overall bilateral relationship and Vietnam's "policy and institutional environment".

Although Japan is the third largest investor in the country, investment ties were strained in 2002 when Hanoi slashed import quotas on motorcycle parts, forcing Japanese manufacturers Honda and Yamaha to temporarily suspend production at their Vietnamese factories.

Alarm bells were set off again in Tokyo last year after Hanoi announced a series of tax hikes on foreign-invested vehicle manufacturers.

Kitano said the other factors that will be taken into account when determining assistance for Vietnam are its development needs and its "absorption capacity of development aid".

Japan has repeatedly expressed its frustration at the slow disbursement of aid and warned last December at the annual meeting of donors to Vietnam that it could cut future donations unless Hanoi picks up the pace.

Kitano said that although Japan had taken into account such issues in the past, for the first time the size of Tokyo's annual aid pledge will be directly linked to these five "ODA elements".

"Although our old ODA charter has always addressed these issues, the linkage of these five elements to the actual size of our ODA is new," he told AFP in a telephone interview.

"We will make a systematic examination of our ODA to Vietnam in relation to these principles."

His comments came as Vietnamese Prime Minister Phan Van Khai, speaking in Tokyo, called for stronger regional cooperation to help poorer nations develop.

In December, Japan announced that it would maintain its 2003 level of funding for this year, pledging 91.74 billion yen (846 million dollars).

This came despite cuts in Tokyo's overseas aid budget over the past few years and amounted to nearly 30 percent of the total amount pledged by donors to help poverty reduction and economic growth efforts in Vietnam.

Japan has traditionally been reticent about linking human rights concerns to its vast international aid programme but last May it cut off new aid to military-ruled Myanmar after it detained democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi.

The ban was partially lifted in August to provide emergency and humanitarian aid but Tokyo has said it will not resume large-scale assistance to the country unless it sees an improvement in the situation there.

Kitano was not able to comment on whether Japan's ODA to Vietnam for 2005 could be cut as a result of continuing international concerns over its human rights record but he said that the issue would be taken into account.

"Are we going to pay attention to human rights (in Vietnam)? Yes we will," he said.

At the donors meeting in December, the European Union (news - web sites) stressed the "promotion and protection of human rights should go hand-in-hand with the sustainable development of a country," while the United States urged "greater tolerance of dissent".

(http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/afp/20040603/wl_asia_afp/vietnam_japan_donors_040603072721)

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June 3, 2004

HARD WORK REWARDED WITH A POLISH

Opening a salon is pleasant surprise for former refugees

Brad McElhinny
Charleston Daily Mail staff

Business is still a little slow at the new manicure and pedicure shop in downtown Charleston, but that's no problem at all compared to the challenges the owners have faced before.

Khoi Le; his sister, Dhuong Thongdara; and her son, Canh Dang, migrated as refugees from a farming community in South Vietnam, grappled with English and spent a decade earning a living off two daily shifts at Wal-Mart.

Now they've wound up owning their own business. They opened their manicure salon, Le Nails, on Summers Street a couple of weeks ago. For the family, opening their own business was a pleasant surprise.

"I never thought of doing nails," said Dang, who is 20 years old. "I like it. It's OK. It's artistic. It makes people happy."

In Vietnam, they had lived in a farming community called Tay Ninh. They grew rice, and they said it was difficult.

"I worked very hard over there," Le said.

His sister agreed.

"It was like a man job," she said. "It was hard work for me. This is a big difference."

In 1993, they came to the United States. They said the process took four years, requiring mountains of paperwork and interviews.

They first came to Charleston, receiving sponsorship from migration and refugee services, an agency that checks in on them.

The family had trouble adjusting to the language and to cultural differences. They spent much of their time translating with an English-to-Vietnamese dictionary.

"It's not easy," Thongdara said. "We had to look back and forth in the dictionary, and it was very slow."

Within a year, they moved to Arkansas. They said they ran a Wal-Mart nail shop in the morning, took a break for a couple of hours and then worked an evening shift on the Wal-Mart floor.

"We got very tired," Le said.

"Not enough time to sleep," Thongdara added.

This year, they decided to return to Charleston to open their own business. They had fond memories of their year here a decade ago.

Dang, who was just a boy the last time he was here, said he is enjoying his return.

"It's different," he said. "More people, and people are nicer. Everywhere we go people are helpful."

Their success story is a common one among Vietnamese immigrants, said Sophy Pich, project associate for the Southeast Asia Resource Action Center in Washington, D.C.

"For farmers, it's a struggle to learn English," Pich said. "They work hard to save for their children and to sacrifice for their children, so their children will be successful."

He said Vietnamese immigrants who already have settled in a community try to help those who are getting established. The owners of Le Nails said they have received help from the managers of other Vietnamese nail shops in the area.

"There's a social consciousness that permeates through the community," Pich said. "If you see someone making it, you want to pursue that as well."

Vietnamese immigrants often wind up in the nail salon business for a couple of reasons, said Hung Nguyen, president of the National Congress of Vietnamese Americans, also based in Washington, D.C.

First, it's not hard to get into the trade, compared to trying to become a doctor, a lawyer or even a plumber. Secondly, immigrants can enter the trade as a family, with those who have the best English and entrepreneurial skills leading the way and the rest offering support.

"Part of the difficulty of getting into it is the language barrier," said Nguyen, who grew up in a family of nail salon owners.

The most successful often set up shops in communities where there are no nail salons already, Nguyen said. They ease their social isolation by bringing along the entire family.

"They are willing to move to a place where there's nothing there yet," he said. "You go as a cluster. You can do a very, very decent living. They're able to send their children through school."

Business still isn't easy for the family that opened Le Nail on Summers Street. They're not accustomed yet to running their own salon.

"It's hard to set up a business, to set up telephone service, to get customers -- everything," Thongdara said.

Her son, Dang, added, "At first we had to worry about getting the best deal on everything."

Now they just need a few more people to come through the door. They've been trying to increase walk-in traffic by advertising grand opening specials, including a pedicure for $25.

"Good for your feet," Dang said, trying his best to pitch the service.

Writer Brad McElhinny can be reached at 348-4872.

(http://www.dailymail.com/news/Money/2004060332/)

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June 7, 2004

A Government Assist
PROGRAM NURTURES MINORITY FIRMS’ GROWTH

The Washington area has the highest concentration of government contractors in the country. One important reason for this thriving local contracting industry is the presence of government programs to nurture small and minority-owned businesses.

The Small Business Administration administers the 8(a) program. Participating companies can benefit from quotas that require federal agencies to give a certain percentage of their contract dollars to small businesses. For some contracts, firms in the program do not have to participate in a competitive bidding process. Companies are expected to eventually wean themselves off these advantages and win jobs from private firms.

Joseph Loddo, the district director of the Small Business Administration, recently spoke to Washington Post staff writer Anitha Reddy about how the program works and a proposed change to measure the size of businesses by the number of employees rather than annual sales.

Q Who is eligible for the 8(a) program?

AGenerally the business must be a small business that is unconditionally owned and controlled by one or more socially and economically disadvantaged individuals who are of good character and citizens of the United States. The business must be at least two years old and demonstrate the potential for success.

That means we would look carefully at overdue taxes or criminal records. We would also examine the experience of the management team and the products and services that they're offering. Clearly we're looking to ensure that the business has the capacity as well as the capability to perform on a contract on time.

Certain groups, such as African Americans, Hispanic Americans, Native Americans and others are automatically considered socially disadvantaged, but other individuals who can prove they have been socially disadvantaged are accepted. Economic disadvantage means that the individual has less than $250,000 in net worth, exclusive of their business and primary residence.

Could you describe the application process?

An SBA representative will answer general questions and direct the individual to the Internet Web site www.sba.gov, where he or she can access the application package. Most district offices have workshops to provide additional information. A decision will be made within 90 days of receipt of a complete application.

Once they finish the application process and they're approved for the program, they come to the district office for an orientation program and meet their business opportunity specialist. That's the beginning of a nine-year relationship.

What kind of guidance do 8(a) companies receive?

Firms are certified for a nine-year term, which consists of the developmental stage and the transitional stage. The developmental stage is the first four years and is designed to help firms overcome their economic disadvantage by providing business development assistance.

We offer workshops on how to sell to the federal government. We also send letters on behalf of the firms to contracting and purchasing officials at different agencies indicating that the firms have the capacity to perform a contract.

We also have matchmaking events. We bring in not only the federal government but large private-sector organizations. What we're doing is creating the environment for small businesses to be able to talk to users, whether it's large businesses or prime contractors of the federal government or the federal government itself.

There's an annual review process in the sense that we're monitoring the work that they're receiving. We're looking in the last five years for them to have fewer federal contracts and more private-sector contracts.

What kinds of difficulties do companies commonly experience after graduating? What kinds of companies tend to successfully overcome these obstacles?

Companies that have not adequately prepared for transitioning out of the program and have become overly reliant on 8(a) contracts will experience a decline in revenue. The firms that have developed effective exit strategies and have maintained or exceeded the required mix of 8(a) and non-8(a) contracts do not experience these problems.

This is something our advisers work on with participants, and this year we are instituting a new series of training sessions that are designed to help participants successfully manage their transition.

Is there one industry or type of company that is predominant in the program?

For the Washington area, information technology firms tend to predominate in the program. The district has some 1,300 firms [in the 8(a) program], of which 55 percent are IT firms. Other district offices have a larger representation of other industries such as construction contractors. In the Washington district, 14 percent of the businesses in the program are Hispanic-owned.

What kinds of changes are being contemplated to the size standards for qualification?

On March 18, SBA proposed revisions to our current size standards in order to reduce the confusion over what qualifies as a small business. The revisions would reduce the number of size standards from 37 to 10. The proposed size standards, if adopted, change standards now based on average annual receipts [sales] to number of employees. Most businesses are not affected by the proposed size standards; they are small under the current average annual receipts standard and are small under the proposed number of employees standard.

However, all small businesses should read the proposed rule, which can be found at www.regulations.gov/AGCY_SMALLBUSINESSADMINISTRATION.cfm, to see if it affects them. Likewise, all small businesses are encouraged to submit comments on the proposed regulation any time before July 2.

(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A20909-2004Jun6.html)

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June 9, 2004

Hope for refugees
VIETNAMESE GET NEW CHANCE TO SETTLE IN U.S.

By Ben Stocking
Mercury News Vietnam Bureau

MANILA, Philippines - This isn't what freedom was supposed to look like.

Tran Tung is trapped in one of Manila's toughest slums, selling sandals for pennies a day. He's living in legal limbo -- forbidden from doing most jobs, buying property or casting a vote.

Tung has been waiting 15 years to taste the freedom he imagined when he fled Vietnam in 1989. He may finally get his chance.

More than a decade after the last wave of Vietnamese refugees swept ashore in California, up to 1,800 will begin arriving in the United States later this year in one final ripple.

They are the world's last unsettled Vietnamese refugees. Most will be reunited with long-lost family members -- many already in the Bay Area -- and finish a seemingly endless journey set in motion by the Vietnam War.

``I can't wait to see my brother,'' said 61-year-old Tung, whose brother, Tum, fled Vietnam by boat in 1984 to a Hong Kong refugee camp and later resettled in San Jose. ``I haven't seen him for 20 years. But I never gave up hoping.''

Prodded by a young Vietnamese-Australian attorney, Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-San Jose, and a host of other advocates for the refugees, the U.S. State Department announced April 15 that it would reconsider their cases.

The department has agreed to interview nearly all the remaining refugees and to apply a liberal standard when deciding whether to let them emigrate. Most are expected to make it through this time.

``This will close a final chapter in the Vietnam War and in the lives of Vietnam's refugees, who have contributed so much to our country,'' Lofgren said.

Like many Vietnamese who fled their homeland after the communist victory in 1975, Tung and Tum were members of the South Vietnamese army who fought alongside the defeated Americans. When the war ended, they were sent to ``re-education camps,'' enduring physical abuse and lectures about the glories of Ho Chi Minh.

Rather than face possible retribution, many became ``boat people,'' risking their lives in rickety vessels to cross the South China Sea. After being processed at refugee camps around Southeast Asia, hundreds of thousands were sent to the United States, Australia or France.

Other asylum-seekers weren't so lucky.

Those who remained in the camps in 1996 were forced back to Vietnam -- except for one feisty group at the United Nations camp on Palawan, an island in the southwestern Philippines. While their counterparts at other camps quietly climbed aboard flights back home, hundreds of Palawan refugees blocked the runway and clashed violently with police.

Some refugees were forced aboard the flight, but eventually authorities gave up and let the others stay after Catholic Church officials said they would help resettle them. The Philippines was the only nation that didn't force all its refugees to leave.

As it turned out, many of the refugees forced to return to Vietnam were eventually resettled in the United States. And those who gambled on freedom in the Philippines faced a much harder life than they envisioned.

``I left Vietnam in search of freedom,'' said Tung, who gets up to sell sandals every morning at 4. ``I still haven't found it.''

Tung and his fellow Vietnamese are officially ``stateless'' -- living in the Philippines but not of the Philippines.

``We don't have any papers,'' said Tung, whose 59-year-old brother has become a U.S. citizen. ``We don't have anything.''

Unable to apply for legitimate jobs, they are forced to scratch out a living as street peddlers. Many sell ``Miss Saigon'' perfume, which comes in a bottle shaped like a woman dressed in a conical hat and ao dai, the traditional Vietnamese dress.

Tung and his son Phuoc, 23, go from market to market carrying 50-pound sacks of shoes and other knickknacks on their shoulders. They earn 150 pesos a day -- about $3. It's not always enough to put food on the table.

They live in the rough-and-tumble Baclaran neighborhood, with little to remind them of home except for a convenience store selling specialty items like fish sauce and Vietnamese movies. Only a handful of Vietnamese are sprinkled through the neighborhood. Tung's older daughter, Hanh, 27, lives in a nearby province with her own family.

Tung, his wife, Dong, daughter Lien, and son Phuoc live in a cramped apartment they've tried to make a home. Incense burns at their small family altar, and the wall calendars display pictures of Vietnamese pop stars. Vietnamese music videos play constantly on the television -- except when Lien insists on listening to Britney Spears.

Life in the Philippines has required one particularly difficult sacrifice for Tung, who comes from a culture that treasures learning: Two of his children have had to give up their education to help put food on the table. ``They couldn't go to school because we didn't have enough money.''

Lien recently graduated from a Manila high school and hopes to go to college. But if she stays in the Philippines, she'll have to work as a street peddler even if she gets a college degree.

It took Tung and his family two tries to flee their homeland. In 1987, the police nabbed him before he could launch his boat. Two years later, Tung made it out with his wife and three youngest children. He left the oldest two sons in Vietnam to make sure at least part of the family remained free if their escape attempt landed them in jail.

They arrived in the Palawan camp May 10, 1989, and stayed for nearly seven years. Palawan had a reputation as being more pleasant than most of the other U.N. camps around the region. But the refugees say it was sometimes a difficult life.

Supplies were scarce and bullies were abundant. People lined up each day for a four-liter allotment of water, only to lose it to roving gangs. Letters containing cash from relatives overseas often were ``lost'' in the camp mail.

But the next eight years were even harder. Tung, who speaks only Vietnamese, was left to fend for himself in a strange country.

If his family had arrived at Palawan just three months earlier, they probably would have been resettled in the United States years ago. But their timing couldn't have been worse.

Any Vietnamese who arrived at the U.N. refugee camps scattered around Southeast Asia before March 21, 1989, was automatically declared a refugee and resettled in a third country. But all who arrived after that date had to prove that they had fled Vietnam for political rather than economic reasons.

Some refugees were rejected by U.S. screeners for not meeting that standard, but many were assessed by Filipino interviewers notorious for taking bribes. Those who didn't make it through say they were victimized by a corrupt system.

This time, Tung and his family have been assured they have a good chance of being in San Jose by Christmas.

``I suppose it will be the happiest moment of my life when we meet again,'' said his brother Tum.

Contact Ben Stocking at bstocking@mercurynews.com.

(http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/8877405.htm)

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June 9, 2004

MD. GOP REACHES OUT TO ASIAN AMERICANS

By Phuong Ly
Washington Post Staff Writer

In a red-and-gold-draped banquet hall often reserved for Chinese wedding parties, Maryland's most prominent Republicans arrived yesterday to court a group that some analysts view as the state's emerging political darlings: Asian American voters.

"You can't build a party on white men alone," Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. told the crowd gathered at a fundraiser for the GOP's 8th Congressional District candidate, Chuck Floyd.

Ehrlich said the state Republican Party had already broken barriers by tapping Michael S. Steele to be Maryland's first African American lieutenant governor and now hopes to broaden its appeal to other ethnic groups.

About 500 tickets were sold for the event at a Gaithersburg Chinese restaurant, billed by organizers as the first major Republican fundraiser in Maryland to focus on Asian American voters.

Unlike African Americans and Latinos, who tend to vote heavily Democratic in Maryland, Asian Americans haven't skewed toward -- or been cultivated by -- one political party. That could make them key swing voters, leaders in both parties say.

Their numbers make them hard to ignore: In Montgomery County, Asian Americans make up 11 percent of the population and are concentrated in affluent areas such as Potomac and Bethesda. African Americans compose 15 percent of the population and Latinos 11.5 percent, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

In the 8th District alone, Floyd's consultants tell him, there are nearly 70,000 Asian voters -- with roots in India, Korea, China, Vietnam and Japan. The district includes most of Montgomery and a corner of Prince George's County.

In the same banquet hall six months ago, Montgomery County Executive Douglas M. Duncan (D) took in about $35,000 for future campaigns, including a possible run for governor in 2006. Floyd expected to raise as much last night. And his opponent, Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D), has made several appearances at events at the New Fortune restaurant.

"Asian Americans are a force to be reckoned with in Montgomery County and certainly for any candidate running for governor," said Keith Haller, a Montgomery pollster. " . . . They've shown a propensity to stay informed in local issues and politics. They've proven to be less knee-jerk in support of the Democrats compared to, say, African Americans and Hispanics."

Although Ehrlich's recent remarks about multiculturalism being "bunk" have drawn vocal criticism from several black and Latino political groups, some Asian American leaders at last night's event said the controversy has been blown out of proportion.

Sam Malhotra, chairman of the Indian American Republican Council, which was formed last year, said he agreed with Ehrlich that although people can retain their culture at home, everyone should learn to speak English.

"We say we can be Vietnamese Americans, Indian Americans, but we're Americans first. We gave up our homeland and came here for a brighter future," said Malhotra, a Potomac resident who owns an engineering consulting firm and helped organize last night's event.

Malhotra said the Republican Party has appealed to him and other Asian American entrepreneurs because of its emphasis on family, education, lower taxes and self-reliance. He noted, however, that the "extreme right doesn't resonate with us."

Ehrlich reiterated last night his belief that most Maryland residents understood that his remarks about multiculturalism to a radio show host last month should not be construed as anti-immigrant.

"We have a Hispanic council; we go to ethnic festivals," he said after his speech. "We welcome people from all over the world."

Floyd, posing for pictures with guests at the fundraiser, said he did not agree with Ehrlich's radio comment. "I think he meant it in a positive light. He just didn't use the right words," said Floyd, a small-business owner from Kensington.

"Multiculturalism is very, very important," he added.

In Virginia, Asian Americans also have been wooed by both parties. Candidates in Fairfax County -- where Asians are 13 percent of the population -- regularly make stops at Asian-owned businesses and buy ads in ethnic newspapers. Republicans in the General Assembly redrew a legislative district to afford Asians and Latinos more representation.

The Latino community has also been courted by both political parties, and Maryland GOP chief John Kane says Republicans can capitalize on conservative social issues to attract many of those voters. The party leadership recently established the Maryland Hispanic Republican Caucus.

But the Latino candidates elected to office in 2002 -- two state delegates and a Montgomery County Council member -- were all Democrats. And some Maryland political scientists think that Latino voters will stay solidly in the Democratic column.

It is the Asian vote that is up for grabs, said James Gimpel, a professor at the University of Maryland who has recently studied voting patterns in the state.

"There's all this ridiculous furor over Latinos," he said. "What's very interesting are the Asians. There's tremendous value in their unpredictability. . . . They are in play."

Studies show that Asian immigrants are becoming U.S. citizens at a faster rate than Latinos. Yet as a group, Asian Americans haven't historically favored a particular party, Gimpel said. Nor do they tend to vote for a candidate simply because the person is Asian. But they do turn out to vote in great numbers, particularly in local races, he said.

Nationally, Asian Americans are the wealthiest and most highly educated ethnic group, with a median income of $53,600 and 47 percent of those older than 25 holding a bachelor's degree or higher, according to census figures.

Because many Asian Americans are newer residents and voters, the GOP's Kane said, they may be more open to his party's message.

"They come to America looking for government as less of a solution and opportunities as the answer," he said, adding that many African American voters have "become ensconced in the Democratic programs of the 'new era' society that have failed."

At last night's fundraiser, many of the guests were not Asian, and one sign, taped over a Chinese screen, boasted: "Irish American Republican Club." Some of the Asian Americans there had also attended Democratic events.

George Dang, a financial adviser who lives in Silver Spring, attended Duncan's fundraiser in December and helped organize yesterday's event for Floyd, a friend.

"I'm an independent. I have friends on both sides," said Dang, who has both a Vietnamese and a Chinese heritage.

Dang said he looks for politicians who appreciate "globalism" and are culturally sensitive. He said Ehrlich's remarks about multiculturalism gave him pause.

"I think he meant that immigrants need to learn English. I agree with that," Dang said. "But I want to make sure that he realizes that new languages take time to learn."

Dang has not yet decided whom he will support for governor. "I'll see how they perform," he said, "and see how they express their views on Asian Americans."

(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A26188-2004Jun8.html)

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June 14, 2004

TO FANS, O.C.'S LITTLE SAIGON IS TOO LITTLE KNOWN
People familiar with it marvel at what it has to offer -- and at how few visitors come to explore.

By Joel Rubin, Times Staff Writer

Sure, people know about Little Saigon — home to the world's largest Vietnamese population outside Vietnam. They've heard about it, read about it and probably have driven past freeway signs announcing the area.

But they don't usually stop.

Few outsiders do.

"It's intimidating to people," said Kathy Buchoz, a former Westminster mayor who now works for the realty firm responsible for developing much of Little Saigon. "They don't understand the place. I hear it all the time…. But this place is amazing! You can go to another country without ever getting on a plane."

The district began in the mid-1970s as a scattering of businesses on Bolsa Avenue in Westminster as the first wave of South Vietnamese exiles arrived in search of new lives after the Vietnam War.

"I remember the first little restaurant that opened," Buchoz said. "Friends were asking me, 'What language is that? Korean? Japanese?' We were all so ignorant of the Vietnamese culture."

Nearly 30 years later, Little Saigon has become a self-contained world inside Orange County. U.S. Census data from 2000 show that nearly 40% of Westminster's 90,000 people are of Vietnamese ancestry, a figure Buchoz thinks is low.

Although once restricted to Bolsa Avenue, businesses have expanded into more than 1,500 Vietnamese-owned enterprises in Westminster and Garden Grove, and to a lesser extent in Fountain Valley and Santa Ana.

"Little Saigon isn't so little anymore," Buchoz said as she waited at a crosswalk for two elderly Vietnamese women in traditional conical hats to pass. "It's Big Saigon now."

Yet few from outside Little Saigon's expanding borders ever come to explore what it has to offer.

Even as the area grows, Bolsa Avenue remains its heart. Locals call the main thoroughfare "the Dragon," which rears its head at the intersection of Bolsa and Magnolia Street and uncoils east to Ward Street. For the Vietnamese, the mile and a half in between is filled with life-as-normal sights, sounds and smells. For the stranger, it's a tour through the extraordinary.

A gentle, monotone recording in Vietnamese of religious chanting fills the small sanctuary of Phap Quang — considered one of Little Saigon's best shops for all things Buddhist. Shelves brim with hundreds of statues of Compassionate Buddha, Reclining Buddha and Happy Buddha. Don Huynh is quick to explain that the rotated swastikas on the chest of many Buddhas are, in fact, an ancient, holy birthmark signifying completeness, and that the Nazis perverted the symbol.

One wall is stacked with religious texts — predominantly in Vietnamese, but some in English — while another is filled with tapes of Buddhist sermons and lectures with such titles as "A Path to True Happiness." In keeping with the Buddhist tenets of selflessness, Huynh said, the tapes are free to those who cannot afford them.

Most of Huynh's customers are monks and nuns from area temples and homeowners with private shrines. Occasionally, however, a tourist walks in, often looking to buy a tubby, Happy Buddha statue.

For those who lean toward Confucius' philosophical teachings, a visit to the back of the Asian Village parking lot, behind the A Dong Supermarket, might be in order. There, in the shadow of the market's loading dock, is a towering statue of the ancient Chinese thinker surrounded by his 72 disciples.

Across Bolsa Avenue, in the modern Asian Garden Mall, Hai Trieu's herbal medicine store is nestled next to the bright lights of a music store selling the latest in Vietnamese pop.

Jars full of dried seahorses are prescribed for bad backs, chrysanthemums for weakened lungs, ginseng for low energy and cinnamon bark for stomach problems.

In the back of the narrow store, a doctor licensed in Eastern medicine and acupuncture takes the pulse of a customer.

The second floor of the mall is dedicated entirely to what Buchoz says is one of the largest jewelry markets in the country. Scores of vendors stand behind display cases gleaming with 24-carat gold, jade, diamonds and pearls. In workrooms in the back, jewelers fire up small blowtorches as they work on delicate, custom designs through magnifying glasses.

Jewels, herbs and inner peace aside, Little Saigon is best known for its scores of restaurants and markets.

At the bustling A Dong Supermarket, old women in search of that night's dinner inspect the enormous catfish flown in from Louisiana and the bubbling tanks filled with crabs.

Down the street, in the backroom at Hao Vi BBQ, a stern-looking man armed with an electric saw prepares whole pigs for cooking. Out front, sides of meat hang in the oven next to steaming trays of chicken feet and something labeled "pork variety."

If there is a Vietnamese equivalent to the popularity of the hamburger, it is pho — rare beef and noodle soup. Each day as lunch approaches, restaurants fill with hungry businesspeople in search of the hot, delicious broth.

Buchoz says she dreams of a visitors center and the day when people will visit the streets, on which she is now often the only non-Vietnamese walking.

"I can't tell you how many times I have brought someone here and they've said, 'I drive by every day and had no idea this was here.' "

(http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-peeled14jun14,1,2974416.story)

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June 14, 2004

[Note: In 2004, Congress added the Tier 2 Watch List category. Countries categorized as Tier 2 – Watch List are in danger of falling to Tier 3 in the coming year. Tier 3 brings with it the possibility of losses of certain kinds of U.S. aid.]

TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS REPORT -Report Home Page
Released by the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons

IV. Country Narratives: East Asia and Pacific

VIETNAM (TIER 2 - WATCH LIST)
Vietnam is a source country for persons trafficked for forced labor and sexual exploitation. Vietnamese women and girls are trafficked to Cambodia, the People's Republic of China (PRC), Taiwan, Malaysia, Hong Kong, and Macau for sexual exploitation and forced marriages. Labor export companies recruit and send workers abroad; some of these laborers have been known to suffer trafficking abuses. There is also internal trafficking from rural to urban areas.

The Government of Vietnam does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so. Vietnam’s placement on Tier 2 Watch List is due to the government’s failure to provide evidence of increasing efforts to combat severe forms of trafficking, particularly its inadequate control of two state-controlled labor companies that sent workers to American Samoa from 1999-2001. Additionally, Vietnam’s weak labor export regulations are vulnerable to abuse by unscrupulous employers to facilitate the trafficking of Vietnamese workers. Vietnam lacks adequate protection for victims of labor trafficking. The government does not yet have a separate national plan of action to address trafficking, but trafficking in women and children is an explicit component of the 2004-2010 National Plan of Action on Protection for Children in Special Circumstances and is also addressed in the 2000-2005 National Anti-Criminal Plan of Action. The Government has also engaged neighboring governments to combat trafficking in persons. Vietnam has made increasing efforts to prosecute trafficking crimes. It is cooperating with Cambodia and other neighboring countries on the repatriation of victims and other cross-border issues.

Prosecution
Vietnam's anti-trafficking law enforcement efforts in 2003 were uneven. Vietnam has a statute that prohibits sexual exploitation and the trafficking of women and children, with penalties ranging up to twenty years in prison. It does not, however, have a law against other forms of trafficking, including forced labor. The government actively investigates trafficking cases and prosecutes and convicts traffickers. In 2003, the government opened a crime statistics office to track arrests, prosecutions, and convictions. Officials have reported 296 arrests, 224 prosecutions, and 204 convictions specifically related to trafficking in women and children in 2003. Through cross-border cooperation, the Vietnamese and Cambodian governments were able to crack down on several transnational trafficking rings and convict several kingpins. Government corruption impedes law enforcement efforts; in 2003 the government prosecuted three police officers who facilitated labor trafficking.

Protection
The Vietnamese government does not provide adequate protection to victims, although in 2003 it improved cooperation with NGOs and international organizations. Vietnam's labor export regulations allow labor companies to largely monitor themselves, creating opportunities for unscrupulous employers to abuse Vietnamese workers abroad. The American Samoa case prosecuted by the U.S. Department of Justice in Hawaii indicates that some Vietnamese police may have facilitated this trafficking by investigating Vietnamese workers labeled as "troublemakers" by the employers. Victims are usually not detained, arrested or otherwise punished, but the government routinely sends women who engage in prostitution within the country to “rehabilitation centers.” The centers provide medical treatment, vocational training, and counseling and seek to deter the women’s return to prostitution. The government’s rehabilitation efforts include “re-education” and limit freedom of movement. Moreover, rehabilitation that takes place at provincial and local levels lacks adequate financial resources.

Prevention
The Vietnamese government does not implement specific anti-trafficking programs, although the Ministry of Public Security in 2003 did establish a separate office dedicated to trafficking concerns and held a high-level inter-agency meeting on improving performance on trafficking issues, chaired by a Deputy Prime Minister. The government, moreover, cooperated with several international organizations on anti-trafficking studies in 2003 and sponsored public awareness campaigns using television and newspapers.

What do the tiers of the Trafficking in Persons Report mean?

• Tier 1: Countries that fully comply with the act’s minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking.
• Tier 2: Countries that do not fully comply with the minimum standards but are making significant efforts to bring themselves into compliance.
• Tier 2 Watch List: Countries on Tier 2 requiring special scrutiny because of a high or significantly increasing number of victims; failure to provide evidence of increasing efforts to combat trafficking in persons; or an assessment as Tier 2 based on commitments to take action over the next year.
• Tier 3: Countries that neither satisfy the minimum standards nor demonstrate a significant effort to come into compliance. Countries in this tier are subject to potential non-humanitarian and non-trade sanctions.

(http://www.state.gov/g/tip/rls/tiprpt/2004/33191.htm)

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June 15, 2004

VIETNAM BRIDE: I WAS TORTURED
STARVED, PIERCED WITH NEEDLES, CUT WITH KNIFE

IT is a shocking tale of abuse.

The Taiwanese man allegedly pierced his Vietnamese bride's fingers with needles and soaked her hands in salt water.

He also allegedly shot rubber bands at her eyelids and used a wooden pole and knife to hit and cut her back.

After less than a year of abuse, Liu Cheng-chi, 39, allegedly abandoned Ms Tuan Jih-ling, now 20, at the side of a road.

Ms Tuan was allegedly confined to the house and given one meal a day, reported Apple Daily Taiwan.

In a year, she shrank from a slim 40kg to just 20kg.

Liu apparently inflicted all this pain on his bride because he believed she had given him a sexually-transmitted disease (STD).

This tale of revenge was revealed in a Taiwanese court recently, as Liu and his ex-wife Lin Li-ju, 34, who allegedly helped him in the abuse, were put on trial.

They are charged with enslaving and abusing Ms Tuan, who has since recovered from her injuries.

It all began when Liu and Lin, who have a daughter together, were desperate for a son.

Lin apparently decided Liu should take another wife. The couple divorced and Liu went on a matchmaking trip to Vietnam, where he met Ms Tuan.

Upon his return to Taiwan, he felt unwell. A doctor told him that he had a bacterial infection but Liu reportedly suspected that Ms Tuan, who had been a hostess in a hotel previously, had given him an STD.

Ms Tuan moved to Taiwan in April 2002.

It was only then she realised that Liu and Lin were already divorced but were still living together with their daughter.

Just three months after she arrived, Liu and Lin reportedly started torturing Ms Tuan.

The torture came to an end only in February 2003, when Liu and Lin are said to have become worried that they might kill Ms Tuan with their abuse.

That was when they allegedly abandoned her at the side of a road.

Ms Tuan stumbled into a restaurant and begged for a meal.

A police report was made and she was sent to hospital.

Liu appeared in court wearing a monk's robes and reciting Buddhist chants.

He claimed to be mentally ill.

However, after investigation, the authorities concluded that neither Liu nor Lim were mentally ill when they inflicted the torture.

If found guilty, they could be jailed for up to seven years.

(http://newpaper.asia1.com.sg/top/story/0,4136,64643,00.html?)

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About NCVA
Founded in 1986, the National Congress of Vietnamese Americans is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit community advocacy organization working to advance the cause of Vietnamese Americans in a plural but united America – e pluribus unum – by participating actively and fully as civic minded citizens engaged in the areas of education, culture and civil liberties.