Tran Truong page
Associated Press
WESTMINSTER, Calif. - With its sweet-smelling bakeries and pungent fish markets, the neighborhood known as Little Saigon is normally a peaceful gathering place for the Vietnamese refugees who make this sunny Southern California city home.
But in recent weeks, Little Saigon has attracted police in riot gear and thousands of raucous demonstrators enraged by a shopkeeper's display of the Vietnamese flag and a poster of the late Communist leader Ho Chi Minh.
"This Communist flag we call the blood flag. This is like the swastika," said Ky Ngo of the Vietnamese-American Community of Southern California. "What they feel is hurt, anger."
The symbols, protesters say, are as offensive to the 200,000 ethnic Vietnamese who live in Westminster as a swastika and a picture of Adolf Hitler would be to Jews who suffered during the Holocaust. Many who survived atrocities under Ho's regime say this has reopened wounds they have struggled to heal since the fall of South Vietnam in 1975.
The emblems hung on the wall of Truong Van Tran's video store for months without much trouble. Then someone knocked down the Ho picture in mid-January, prompting him to fax a taunt to local anti-Communist activists: "Here, I dare all of you . . . if you all think you are great, then go ahead, come over to clear me out."
They responded with round-the-clock demonstrations and thousands of screaming protesters. Mr. Tran, 37, has been assaulted at least twice; dozens of demonstrators have been cited.
Among those who view Mr. Tran's plight as a fight for freedom of speech is the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California. The group is giving the shopkeeper free legal representation.
But protesters see a bigger picture: Mr. Tran as a pawn of Vietnamese government officials intent on wreaking havoc among those who fled their homeland. How the community reacts is a test of whether Vietnamese-Americans can stand up to their former rulers, they say.
"If we lose today, we have no hope for the Vietnamese people," said Thamh Nguyen, a 40-year-old salesman who was among about 10,000 people who protested outside Mr. Tran's store Saturday. "This is a very important event."
At least 12 people were arrested.
Mr. Tran denies having any connection to the Vietnamese government.
He said he began displaying the Communist emblems after visiting Vietnam in November, his first trip back since he fled the country in 1980.
He concluded that Vietnam under Communist rule is better than most Vietnamese-Americans believe, and he said he wanted to persuade others in the community to establish better relations with their homeland.
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<tntp@access1.net> Received: from argolink.net ([209.144.1.128]) by lich-mc.com ; Wed, 29 Dec 1999 05:43:41 -0600 Received: from amd [216.88.88.137] by argolink.net (SMTPD32-5.05) id A3BEEF8012A; Wed, 29 Dec 1999 05:42:54 -0600 Message-ID: <000801bf51f1$f69e4940$895858d8@amd> From: "Thuc Nguyen Tu" <tntp@access1.net> To: <lich-mc@lich-mc.com> Subject: Date: Wed, 29 Dec 1999 05:43:43 -0600 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: multipart/alternative; boundary="----=_NextPart_000_0005_01BF51BF.AAD5B980" X-Priority: 3 X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook Express 5.00.2919.6600 X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V5.00.2919.6600 X-Rcpt-To: <lich-mc@lich-mc.com> X-DPOP: DPOP Version 2.4a X-UIDL: 946468759.011 Status: U This is a multi-part message in MIME format. ------=_NextPart_000_0005_01BF51BF.AAD5B980 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="Windows-1252" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Tai sao CHUNG TA phai dung cau noi cua Tran Truong ngay trang tin tuc? Chung ta khong co cau noi bat hu cua mot vi tien nhan nao de co the dung hay sao? Xin dong gop rat ngan gon. Thuc Nguyen +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ REPLIED Reply-To: <tmp81bcnd@netzero.com> Mot loai tuoi tre hon lao ma cu tuong la minh hom hinh,
thong minh, hieu rong. Mot loai nguoi thich khieu khich nguoi khac thay vi tu hoi chinh
ban than minh, thich de y den nguoi khac thay vi de y den chinh ban than minh.
************************* 02-22-2000 Boi vi mot so ban van khong hieu tai sao "Toi theo dung luat, nguoi khac vi pham luat, ma toi van bi trung phat?". Toi danh lay mot thi du rat nho vay: "Di nguoc chieu la vi pham luat luu thong. Ban di dung chieu. Nguoi khac di nguoc chieu va ho da vi pham luat. Neu ban khong thay ho vi pham va vo y dung phai xe ho. Ra toa ban se thang. Nhung neu ban thay ho, va co y dung vao xe ho de day ho mot bai hoc ve luu thong. Ra toa ban cung se bi trung phat cung voi ke vi pham luat. Tai sao vay? Vi luat luu thong duoc dat ra de bao dam an toan trat tu tren duong pho, de tranh nhung tai nan dung xe, tranh gay ton thuong cho con nguoi. Nay ban theo luat de gay tai nan, de lam ton thuong den nguoi khac, nhu vay ban cung vi pham luat luu thong. (Do la ly do tai sao mot so nguoi Viet hieu biet rat ky ve luat luu thong nhung khong hieu muc dich cua luat, cu cai voi quan toa ve dieu khoan nay, dieu khoan no. Ket qua phai tra tien phat, phai di hoc xoa ticket, va dong them mot mon tien "NGU") Tro lai cau chuyen cua Tran Truong, han ta co quyen phat bieu va treo co. Nhung muc dich tiem an trong nhung loi phat bieu va viec treo co cua han la khieu khich Cong Dong, de chung to la han luon luon dung mac du han biet la viec lam cua han khoi day noi dau don cua nhung nguoi ti nan, nhung nguoi muon quen di nhung mat mat, tui hon, va thong kho trong qua khu. Quan toa cua Quan Cam da xu sai. Nhung den Toa khang an moi viec co the se khac. Va neu thi du nhu, Viet Cong dieu khien sau lung Tran Truong, tiep tuc thua kien mac du phai ton vai trieu dollars da cuop boc tu nhan dan, thi cuoi cung den Toa An Toi Cao cua nuoc My, Tran Truong cung phai bi trung tri ma thoi. Chung toi dang cho xem, Viet Cong va Tran Truong tiep tuc thua kien nhung nguoi bieu tinh nhu the nao. Toi tin rang trinh do ve luat cua Tran Truong va Viet Cong chi o vao trinh do so cap ma thoi (o trinh do phai cho di hoc them, va dong them mot it tien "NGU")
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