Santa Clara County Approves Vietnamese-American Service Center

Supervisor Cindy Chavez addressing the community at the final session of stakeholder meetings two weeks before the approval vote at Board of Supervisors Meeting on Feb. 23, 2016

After 6 months of outreach through meetings and surveys in order to better understand the needs of the community,  the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved the construction of Vietnamese-American Service Center.   This is a historic moment for the Vietnamese-American community.  The effort was initiated by Supervisor Cindy Chavez.  The whole process was led by both offices of Supervisors Dave Cortese and Cindy Chavez.

The original plan is for a 30,000 sf building to build at the junction of Senter and Tully Road.  However, it was revised to  50,000 sf to accommodate other county services.  The construction is planned for the summer of 2016


The San Jose City is currently considering the building of the Vietnamese-American Community Center in Kelley Park.  The effort is being led by Mayor Sam Liccardo.

County of Santa Clara Approves Site for Vietnamese American Service Center

Santa Clara County, CA – In a historic decision, today the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved the designation of the County-owned parcel located at Senter Road near Tully Road as the future site of the Vietnamese American Service Center. The 50,000 square foot building will house the Vietnamese American Service Center as well as other County services. The other County services will be moved from leased space, saving the County millions of dollars in lease costs.

The future Vietnamese American Service Center will serve as a one-stop hub for the County’s health and human services to be provided to the Vietnamese American community in a culturally-competent and language-accessible manner. In 2012, the Santa Clara County Public Health Department completed the Vietnamese American Health Assessment, originally proposed by Supervisor Dave Cortese, which revealed significant health disparities within the community as well as cultural and language barriers preventing access to vital services.

The Health Assessment gave rise to the Vietnamese American Service Center Stakeholder Assessment, led by Supervisors Dave Cortese and Cindy Chavez, to further identify disparities and barriers relating to the County’s health and human services. The findings of the Stakeholder Assessment resulted in a recommendation by the Office of the County Executive to construct the Vietnamese American Service Center which was unanimously approved today.

The details of the Vietnamese American Service Center will be introduced during the budget process this coming May.

I Fly Vietnam Airlines

With flight attendants look like Victoria's Secret's models  and an all female flying crew heading by pilots with look that can kill,  Vietnam Airlines and Vietjet Air have to be the airlines to travel in when visiting Asia.

Let the pictures speak for themselves -

According to the story on VNExpress - On Feb.16, 2016,  two female pilots, Huynh Ly Dong Phuong and Nguyen Thi Ngoc Bich, flew an Airbus 321 on two round trips from Saigon to Quy Nhon and Da Nang, accompanied by a crew of four female flight attendants. 

Phuong and Bich are among Vietnam Airlines’ 10 female pilots, and Phuong is the only female captain in Vietnam qualified to fly an Airbus 321.   The flights were accidentally scheduled to have an all female crew but it should be  permanent  considering the attention they are getting all over the world.

Film Screening: Nuoc - 2030 (Vietnam)

Film Screening: Nuoc - 2030 (Vietnam)

Photo credit: Nghiêm-Minh Nguyen-Võ

Film screening and conversation with the Director, Nghiêm-Minh Nguyen-Võ.

Wednesday, February 24, 2016
7:00 PM - 9:30 PM
James Bridges Theater
Melnitz Hall, UCLA Campus
Los Angeles, CA 90095

"Nuoc (2030)" is a futuristic feature film set in 2030 Vietnam from the critically acclaimed director of "Buffalo Boy," Nghiêm-Minh Nguyen-Võ. In a near future Vietnam where global warming and rising seawater levels have forced cultivation to be done on floating farms, a strong-willed woman has to make a critical decision about her ex-lover, a suspect in her husband's murder.

It is the year 2030. Catastrophic climate change as a result of global warming means that most of the arable land in southern Vietnam is now below sea level. Most of the population has already been evacuated, but Sao and her husband Thi refuse to leave their land. They are living in a stilt house and subsisting on the dwindling fish population. On floating farms along the coast, major multinational corporations are working on a secret project to create vegetables, now a rare commodity. When her husband is murdered Sao gets a job at the floating farm where she suspects she may find his murderer. She discovers that the concern is making use of genetic engineering in its production and that the processes used pose a huge health risk. Does the chief scientist, who was once her lover, have anything to do with her husband’s death? Her quest for the truth sucks her into a whirlpool of events that eventually see her faced with a dramatic decision. Nuoc is a masterful, atmospheric weave of elements from different genres: part end-of-the-world film, part science fiction, part thriller and part romance.

Awards:
- 2013 Tribeca Sloan Filmmaker Award
- Opening Night Selection of Panorama (2014 Berlinale - Berlin International Film Festival)
- Best Feature Film at the San Pedro International Film Festival
- Best Actress by the Cinema Association of Ho Chi Minh City

• Starring Quynh Hoa, Quý Bình, Thach Kim Long, Hoàng Tran Minh Duc, Hoàng Phi
• Written and Directed By Nghiêm-Minh Nguyen-Võ 

Official trailer at http://vimeo.com/m/85136816

Cost : Free and open to the public.

Barbara Gaerlan
310-206-9163
cseas@international.ucla.edu

www.international.ucla.edu/cseas/

Sponsor(s): Center for Southeast Asian Studies, Geography, Environmental Humanities at UCLA and the UCLA Geographers for Social and Environmental Justice (GSEJ)