Andrew Q Lam's Blog
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May.16.2013
Self-immolation isn't what it used to be.
This ultimate form of protest became global news in 1963 when the venerable monk Thich Quang Duc set himself ablaze in the middle of Saigon, Vietnam, protesting religious oppression. Doused in gasoline, the monk sat serenely in lotus position and lit a...
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May.11.2013
Note: I wrote the essay below a decade ago and it was collected in "East Eats West: Writing in Two Hemispheres." On the occasion of Mother's Day, it is reposted here. My mother suffers from dementia and forgetfulness now, and is growing frail, but her ways remain forever devoted to traditions, to...
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May.09.2013
Note: I wrote the essay below almost two decades ago, at the beginning of my life as a writer. It is collected in my first book Perfume Dreams: Reflections on the Vietnamese Diaspora which won a Pen Award in 2006, and is anthologized widely over the years. A popular assignment...
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Apr.28.2013
Mẹ Việt Nam ơi, Chúng Con Vẫn Còn đây (Oh Mother Vietnam, We Are Still Here)
The lyrics from this sentimental song come back to me once in a while, especially when I think of the Vietnamese Diaspora and its complicated relationship with its homeland. One bitter evening on April 30, 1976, in...
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Apr.25.2013
SAN FRANCISCO -- As the story of the Tsarnaev brothers unfolds -- from asylum, to attempts at assimilation and finally to terrorism -- I hear echoes of another set of brothers from my own country, Vietnam.
On April 4, 1991 three Vietnamese brothers and a friend -- all teenagers -- took over an...
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Apr.16.2013
Vân, Cúc, Trúc, and Trang; Dũng, Dai, Khôi and Phát. In my mother tongue these names carry music, cadence, poetry. They evoke for the listener images of clouds, peonies, bamboo, jade; acts of bravery or wishes for prosperity. In English, alas, they lose all meaning as the inflexible American...
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Apr.14.2013
Dropping the 'i' Word -- History, Humanity and Martians Story tools
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New America Media, Commentary, Andrew Lam, Posted: Apr 14, 2013
Ed. Note: In early April the Associated Press announced that it would no longer use the word “...
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Apr.02.2013
A Traveler’s Notebook: ‘Chinese Dreams’ Covered in Smog There’s an ongoing joke in China that both captures the long standing competitive nature between Beijing and Shanghai while tying it neatly with the country’s number one preoccupation: pollution. “In Beijing you just need to open your...
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Mar.05.2013
EDITOR'S NOTE: New America Media editor Andrew Lam has made his name as a journalist, but in his newest book, his past as a Vietnamese refugee reverberates through short stories about characters who fled Vietnam and made new lives in the Bay Area. NAM reporter Anna Challet spoke with him...
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Feb.17.2013
A meteor estimated to be 10 tons by NASA exploded Friday morning over Russia’s Ural region and its shockwave caused injuries to over 1,000 people. It took out windows and walls in the city of Chelyabinsk. And it temporarily shifted the conversation here on earth to talks of the heavens.
“We...
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Feb.12.2013
by Andrew Lam
Mr. K. brought in the new kid near the end of the semester during what he called oral presentations and everybody else called eighth grade Show and Tell. This is Cao Long Nguyen, he said, and he's from Vietnam and immediately mean old Billy said cool!
What's...
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Feb.06.2013
SAN FRANCISCO--"Dear Mr. Lam. I loved your essay, 'The Palmist,' but I can't figure out what the main theme is. Is it dying and being all alone? My teacher suggests I read more of your writing... I'm glad I found you online.... Thank you very much for your help."
The e-mail from, let's call him, "...
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Feb.01.2013
One of the fastest growing immigrant communities in the US are Asians.
While Asian Americans voted for President Obama this past election in record numbers, when it comes to the immigration reform it seems that the Latino vote dominates the conversation.
Andrew Lam, a Vietnamese-American writer...
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Jan.31.2013
Bird of Paradise Lost Book tour - - with dates and specific hours and more events to be filled in ...by Andrew Lam on Sunday, December 30, 2012 at 11:11am · PublicFriendsFriends except AcquaintancesOnly MeCustomClose FriendsLowell HighSee all lists...New America...
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Jan.15.2013
Author's note: Growing old in America can mean growing more isolated, and that's particularly tough on immigrants whose home cultures stress strong family and clan ties. My mother, Ngoc B. Lam, came to America in 1975 as a refugee from Vietnam and worked as an accountant for more than 20 years....
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About Andrew
Andrew is a syndicated writer and an editor with the Pacific News Service, a short story writer, and a commentator on National Public Radio's "All Things Considered." He co-founded New America Media, an association of over 2000 ethnic media in...
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