What Do You Expect?

I was reading about the deportation of an American pro-democracy activist and all I could really think of was simply "What the hell did you expect was going to happen?".

What do you expect?

I know this plays into the hands of the "Asian people work really hard" stereotype - and you don't need to look any further than myself to break that stereotype (because I'm kind of a lazy S.O.B) - but in all reality, after you fled your ass from Vietnam, get stranded for six months, and then get imprisoned for another four, creating a company that's a top 10 finalist among the 50 Fastest-Growing Asian American Businesses should really be just like dusting some dirt off you shoulder (sorry, I couldn't resist - I was having a Black Album flashback):

As a teenager in the late ‘70s, Tran and his sister Thu-Hong fled Vietnam on a commercial ship from Panama that took 2,500 refugees to Hong Kong. Stranded in a Hong Kong port for six months and imprisoned for another four, the brother and sister finally got to the U.S. with the help of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and lived in Fort Collins with a foster family.

They spoke no English and had few possessions, mostly the clothes on their backs. In 1981, Tran's sisters, Thu-Van and Thu-Nga, also made it to Fort Collins. In 1992, Tran sponsored his parents, Be Tran and Ngo Vo, his older sister Thu and brother, Mai-Quang, so they also could come to the United States.

Since then, Tran, his family and co-founder Bruce Hottman, have worked 70, 80-hour weeks to build ITX, a successful software and network support company that continues to grow.

Read the full article at The Coloradoan.

Vietnamese Americans: Black April

Some of these have already passed, but here's a list of Black April events that you can still attend:

The local Vietnamese American community commemorates this month as Black April to mark the events of April 30, 1975 when the communist regime took over in Vietnam.

A majority of Little Saigon residents are refugees, who fled Vietnam by boat after the fall of Saigon. Here are some of the local events being organized to mark the occasion:

— Youth Conference about Black April from 1 to 4 p.m. Saturday, April 26 at the Westminster Community Center, 8200 Westminster Blvd.

— Official Black April Ceremony at 6 p.m. Saturday, April 26 at the Westminster Vietnam War Memorial, 14180 All American Way.

— Protest in front of the Chinese Consulate in Los Angeles from noon to 2 p.m. Monday, April 28. Bus will leave the parking lot of Little Saigon Radio at 15781 Brookhurst St. at 10 a.m.

— UC Irvine's Vietnamese American Coalition will host its 2nd annual Black April Commemoration at Doheny Beach A in the UCI Student Center at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 29.

— Prayer ceremony for those who lost their lives on Wednesday, April 30 at noon in the grassy area in front of A Dong Market Mall, 9221 Bolsa Ave.

For more information check out the Vietnamese Community of Southern California at 714-539-1607 or visit their Web site at www.cdvnnamcali.com.