Life Connected

In Little Saigon, Connections to Vietnam Run Deep

In Little Saigon, the connections to Vietnam run deep, from faith to folklore.

The first Vietnamese Americans settled there in 1975, fleeing a country in chaos. To start over, they reached back to what they knew.

"When mom and dad came here with only the shirts on their back, they were looking for a connection with the Vietnamese, the only culture they've know all their life," businessman Tam Nguyen said.

Nguyen says he's part of the "1.5" generation; he was born in Vietnam, but raised in the United States. He became a doctor to honor his parents, but he was an American entrepreneur at heart.

"Looking back, it was my connection of being a good, obedient Vietnamese son and carrying out what mom and dad want in terms of getting the MD," he said.

Now, two generations run the Advance Beauty Academy. The Nguyens say it is the largest nail program in the country.

But he worries his three young children cannot comprehend his family's humble beginnings. They didn't live through it.

They are, as artist James Dinh says, "of two lineages."

"It's more important now that people are always trying to find connections that tie them to a sense of place and where they came from," Dinh said.

Dinh was inspired by an ancestral folktale. A dragon king from the lowlands marries a princess from the highlands, the land of forests and clouds. When they part, 100 offspring are geographically divided. This was the start, as the story goes, of Vietnam.

Dinh's sculpture interprets that myth as part of a public art project called "The Courage to Rebuild."

Bent pieces of white steel reach 18 feet towards the sky. One hundred segments are lit from behind by colored light.

The permanent exhibit sits outside the Asian Garden mall. It is bordered by 100 faces of people considered local legacies.

Organizers hope it's a bridge to other communities.

"It's only natural and it's I think, the only way to keep Little Saigon viable. It's to bring other cultures in and expose them to the richness of the Vietnamese American culture," Dinh said.

After 40 years, Dinh says it's time to honor the resiliency of those who came here to rebuild.

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