SARAH LOHMANN WRITES — How far would you go to protect yourself? What about someone you loved? It’s hypothetical we’ve all been posed at one time or another, and we all like to say we’d do anything, but Furies tells of those who really would do it—anything. Furies is a…
Category: Vietnam
VIETNAM: IS THE NEW BARBIE MOVIE PLAYING POLITICAL GAMES?
NATHANIEL SCHOSSAU WRITES – A scene in Greta Gerwig’s highly anticipated “Barbie” movie, set for release July 21 and starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling, has caused controversy over—of all things!— a territorial dispute in the South China Sea. The reason: Vietnam and China both claim a particular part of…
BOOK REVIEW: SHE IS A HAUNTING (2023) BY TRANG THANH TRAN – A BLEAK HOUSE WITH SPECTRAL VISION
BOOK REVIEW EDITOR-IN-CHIEF ELLA KELLEHER WRITES – There’s nothing quite like finding out your house is very much alive and wants to consume you. Vietnamese American teenager, Jade Nguyen, lands in Vietnam with her younger sister Lily for the heroic purpose of surviving five weeks with her estranged father, with…
YOUNG LIONS ON THE PROWL AND CLIMB: MICHELLE P. NGUYEN, LMU ’20
ASIA MEDIA INTERNATIONAL REPORTS – The LMU and AMI family is proud to pass along the very happy news that Michelle P. Nguyen has accepted Columbia University’s invitation of admissions to its internationally prestigious School of International and Public Affairs. SIPA sits in the very top tier of public policy…
BOOK REVIEW: SIREN QUEEN (2022) BY NGHI VO — IN THE LAND OF STARLETS AND MONSTERS
GABY RUSLI WRITES— Do you have what it takes to become the next big thing? If so, would you do anything to have your shot at stardom? Translated into English, Siren Queen (2022) by Nghi Vo chronicles Luli Wei – a girl born and raised in a stereotypical traditional Chinese laundromat family in the pre-Code…
BOOK REVIEW: TIME IS A MOTHER (2022) BY OCEAN VUONG – LEARNING TO LIVE WITH DEATH AND ONESELF
ANGELINE KEK WRITES — Within Time is a Mother (2022), Ocean Vuong fashions a world so rich with polarities. No stone is left unturned. Vuong explores relationships in all their capacities: a person and their chosen loves, a person and society, and loving oneself. Following the successes of Night Sky with Exit Wounds (2016) and On Earth…
BOOK REVIEW: BUILD YOUR HOUSE AROUND MY BODY (2021) BY VIOLET KUPERSMITH — WHEN GHOSTS CEASE TO HAUNT THE PAST
ANGELINE KEK WRITES — Hauntings, secrets, graveyards — Violet Kupersmith’s debut novel, Build Your House Around My Body (2021) — is an ash-charred sky splattered with these ghastly hues. Winnie is a twenty-two-year-old Vietnamese American (or Việt Kiều in Vietnamese) woman who sets out for Saigon with nothing but “a passport,…
VIETNAM: WILL THE ‘MADE IN VIETNAM’ LABEL IN OUR CLOTHING BECOME A THING OF THE PAST?
SAMANTHA GERBASI WRITES — When choosing production locations, American companies typically consider profitability, labor availability, and taxes. But now, there is a new factor at play: Public health. Consider the case of Vietnam. After a prolonged lockdown due to a surge in coronavirus cases, the country is finally beginning to…
BOOK REVIEW: A THOUSAND TIMES YOU LOSE YOUR TREASURE (2021) BY HOA NGUYEN
ANGELINE KEK WRITES — Motherhood — perhaps the most intimate and universal experience to exist in the universe. Nothing organic can start without it, nothing is left untouched by it. Motherhood transcends all differences. Yet, no singular being’s journey with it is ever quite the same as the next. At…
VIETNAM: WILL FOREIGN INVESTORS SHRINK FROM THE NEW PPP LAW?
LULU AKHALIDI WRITES – Vietnam’s National Assembly passed the Public-Private Partnership Law designed to streamline bureaucracies that have made it difficult for investors to enter the growing Vietnamese economy. The law goes into effect on January 1, 2021 In 2019, Vietnam registered a 7% GDP growth, making it one of Southeast…
ANNOUNCEMENT: APAICS CONGRESSIONAL FELLOWSHIP AWARDED
Asia Media International is proud to announce that its Executive Editor Michelle Nguyen has been awarded one of seven coveted national Congressional Fellowships offered this year by the Asian Pacific American Institute for Congressional Studies (APAICS), the highly praised national non-partisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting Asian Pacific American participation and representation…
BRILLIANT NEW EDITORS FOR ASIA MEDIA
Loyola Marymount University’s critically acclaimed student-driven website – Asia Media International – has a new managing editor: Zhi Jiao Danielle Goh ’20. This recent graduate of the University’s undergraduate college — the Bellarmine College of Liberal Arts (BCLA) – excelled as a double major in Screenwriting and Political Science, and…
SAIGON: WESTERN TOURISTS WELCOME…PLEASE!!
CHARLOTTE TRUONG WRITES — Vietnam in general and Saigon in particular have controlled the pandemic very well, so entertainment services during the day and at night were soon allowed to resume operations. The service sector, though, is facing a period of extreme challenges, which is how to maintain, as well as…
VIETNAM: SPIKE LEE’S MOVIE ‘DA 5 BLOODS’ IS OUT OF SYNC WITH THE COUNTRY IT PORTRAYS
CHARLOTTE TRUONG, WHO HAILS FROM VIETNAM, WRITES — Recently, Netflix has stepped into the Asian movie market through collaborative works such as Kingdom of Korea and The Victim’s Game of Taiwan. Among them, Da 5 Bloods (Vietnamese title: 5 Chien Huu) is a film directed by Spike Lee, filmed in…
VIETNAM: HAPPY LIVING POST-LOCKDOWN
CHARLOTTE TRUONG WRITES – Since the end of December 2019, in the center of Wuhan city (China), the COVID-19 pandemic has caused great damage on a global scale in virtually all areas: economics, politics, society and tourism. Although Vietnam is China’s neighbor, and had early cases of infection, the country…
VIETNAM: HELPING INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS
ANH NU DIEU TRUONG WRITES – In recent days, given the seriousness of COVID-19, the majority of Vietnamese students who had been studying overseas decided to go back home for a sense of safety and family. All must undergo 14 days of isolation before returning to normal life. Some, though,…