Thang Nguyen 555
Cultures on Collision Course
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Author: Thang Nguyen 555
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It’s my turn at “the year of magical thinking”: managing grief and loss of loved ones. A sudden turn to the left, my recently deceased sister’s TIMEX alarm clock urges me to hurry and live. Another new-arrival item: her photo w/ new-born baby, in Black and White. Her smile could have been for teeth-whitening ad…
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I refuse to use the app that counts how many words this piece runs. Quantity would cheapen what I am about to write. Reason? I have just walked my only and older sister to final resting place. Do I count how many paces from the hearse to the grave? How many police escorts ( checking…
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Summer of 1982, she came with my Mom to my graduation. My father had been without a trace for 7 years. But I was happy as I had ever been. And it was not the first time she filled in a parental role. Fall of 1960, she dropped me off on my first day at…
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East and West the twain shall never meet. As the saying goes. From war to peace, it’s a asymmetrical competition for supremacy and survival. Only time can tell. From Nixon’s China card to Mexico import (to the US) that outweighs China’s; East and West are still at odds (TikTok open to US bidders) and arm’s…
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It’s here. Year of the Dragon. Known for swirling around, playfully. But like anything else, it has to stop, for a rest or reward (li xi). All sensory perceptions come into play: the Dragon dance, the li-xi in mini red envelope, New Year wishes, traditional food and drink, and mostly, the added age: older, but…
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At Apple, per Jobs’ biography, a director reported a problem perhaps with Foxconn or one of their contractors in China. The meeting moved on to next item…when Steve Jobs suddenly turned around, “Why are you still here”. That Director of the Far East bounced out of his chair, went to the airport and took the…
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It rains in the forecast. Another day with poor sunlight translates into a less colorful day. We are practically prisms that soak up light. Sunlight to moonlight (if it’s too dark out, just show them your teeth). Sparks of divinity and specters of humanity. All conjoined in bi-pedalists, heralders and destroyers of the truth. Ambassadors…
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While hurrying out of Saigon on its last day, I got new wings. Let me explain. As soon as we stepped foot on an aircraft carrier (after an all-night ordeal, more on this in My Sliding Door) an unhinged chopper blade flew toward us. All faces flat on deck. Cold and wet floor . Back…
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In an exile song …there is a line “Hanoi, whose dream reaches out higher than Heavenly high” (Mong voi tay cao hon Troi). Every generation of refugees, whether it’s Jews from Germany, or Polish from Poland, Cuban from Cuba or Vietnamese from Vietnam, find new ways of expression. Most settled for cuisine, nostalgia and ethnic…
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We had 7 Billion just about a decade ago. Last week it’s 8 Billion. Quake, Covid and “surgical” drones only took out a few millions. That leaves us survivors until the next cycle of election. Democratic election, “peaceful” transition of powers, an US diplomatic selling point. Long ago, it’s the Wild West, where matters were…
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