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Stories by Andrew Lam

Robert McNamara Was Never Really in Touch with His Role in Causing Atrocity in Vietnam

"When a man confesses yet cannot connect the horror he helped unleash with his own humanity, he is not to be trusted."
Posted on Jul 9, 2009, Source: New America Media

It Takes a Village to Buy a Condo

I am a first time home buyer. And I just bought a condo in downtown San Francisco. But not without a lot of help from my family and friends.
Posted on Jun 3, 2009, Source: New America Media

Is Thailand on the Brink of Civil War?

As conflicts between two political groups threaten to tear Thailand apart, its ailing king may not be able to keep the country together.
Posted on Apr 15, 2009, Source: New America Media

Debunking the 'Ethnic Angle' to Mass Murders like Binghampton and Virginia Tech

Enough about Asia's "shame-based" culture, it is the gun culture in America that is most conspicuous.
Posted on Apr 9, 2009, Source: New America Media

We Need Obama to Help Heal the American Soul

The economy may revive in a few years, but our spirit will falter without a big picture for what we want our country to look like.
Posted on Feb 26, 2009, Source: New America Media

Letter From Athens: Greek Riots and the News Media in the Age of Twitter

The protests and riots in Greece were organized by young people, who text-messaged each other and used social networks such as Facebook and Twitter.
Posted on Dec 17, 2008, Source: New America Media

A Vietnamese Journey Toward the American Dream

A cliché to native-borns, the American dream nevertheless seduces the traditionally sedentary Vietnamese to travel halfway around the world.
Posted on Nov 24, 2008, Source: New America Media

The Racist Double-Standards of Election '08

To be a person of color is to have one's patriotism, motives, and beliefs scrutinized and put on trial, again and again.
Posted on Nov 4, 2008, Source: New America Media

The Tragedy of John McCain

John McCain's desire to win at any cost has turned this election into a reenactment of MacBeth.
Posted on Oct 14, 2008, Source: New America Media

Living Without a Car: My New American Responsibility

Giving up a car isn't easy -- even amid the gas crisis. But the covetous American way of life has become unsustainable.
Posted on Jul 24, 2008, Source: New America Media

Disaster, Not Olympics Fuels Patriotism in China

The Chinese government hoped the Olympics would unify China. But instead, the devastating earthquake has brought the country together.
Posted on May 28, 2008, Source: New America Media

Myanmar's Junta Gets a Pass from Powerful Neighbors

Many wealthy Asian countries are more concerned with appeasing Myanmar's junta than helping victims of the cyclone.
Posted on May 17, 2008, Source: deleted

Is Your Daily Life Enslaved by the Electronic World?

Our modern obsession with technology is changing the way we relate to others -- and the way we view ourselves.
Posted on Apr 23, 2008, Source: New America Media

From Prude to Lewd: China's New Sexual Revolution

The real 'Cultural Revolution', the one stoked by individual desires and ambition, is happening now.
Posted on Mar 13, 2008, Source: deleted

Too Much Self-Esteem Can Be Bad for Your Child

American schools stress self-esteem as the stepping stone to academic achievement. But students from Asian cultures, which place little stock in self-esteem, seem to do better than their American counterparts in school.
Posted on Jul 10, 2007, Source: New America Media

In Aftermath of Va. Shooting, Ethnic Groups Prayed, 'Let It Be Some Other Asian'

As the country waited to learn the identity of the killer at Virginia Tech, Asian Americans held their breath, waiting to see if they would shoulder the spillover of blame for the acts of an individual.
Posted on Apr 18, 2007, Source: New America Media

Are Asians Increasingly Undergoing Plastic Surgery to Look White?

Plastic surgery is on the rise in ethnic communities across the United States, and in Asia it is as routine as having one's wisdom teeth pulled. Are these alterations an attempt to look more "white?"
Posted on Mar 31, 2007, Source: New America Media

Iraq Replaces Vietnam as Metaphor for Tragedy

Many comparisons have been made about the Iraq and Vietnam wars. But what Iraq may have finally done is not so much remind us of Vietnam as ultimately usurp it from our national psyche.
Posted on Feb 27, 2007, Source: New America Media

Living the American Dream ... in a One-Bedroom Apartment

The middle class is clinging to its precious status by contending with far smaller living spaces than those of previous generations.
Posted on Feb 7, 2007, Source: New America Media

Consumerism vs. Frugality

A Vietnamese immigrant reflects on U.S. consumer culture -- how it's shaped not only his family's ideals of 'The American Dream,' but the world's.
Posted on Feb 16, 2006, Source: Pacific News Service

The World of Human Trafficking

Vietnam remains a 'Supply Country' and shows no signs of abating.
Posted on Jul 19, 2005, Source: Pacific News Service

National Defeat Day - National Liberation Day

April 30 became the birth date of an exile's culture, built on defeatism and a sense of tragic ending. But through the years, that date has come to symbolize something entirely different to this Vietnamese American.
Posted on Apr 29, 2005, Source: AlterNet

Hong Kong Film Fade-Out

The Golden Era of Hong Kong film is over. As Hollywood embraces stars like John Woo and Jet Li, and coopts the kung fu flick, the city that spawned the genre takes on a more down-to-earth identity.
Posted on Aug 20, 2004, Source: AlterNet

Thai Cinema Ready to Roll

Overshadowed by Michael Moore's big win at the Cannes film festival, a Thai director is awarded the prestigious Jury Prize shining a spotlight on a new generation of Thai filmmakers.
Posted on Jun 7, 2004, Source: Pacific News Service

Globalization vs. Americanization

While McDonald's golden arches may be proliferating in every major metropolis across the world, so, for that matter, are Thai and Vietnamese restaurants.
Posted on Apr 6, 2004, Source: AlterNet

The Cosmic Age

Globalization? Kid's stuff. Our actions affect not just the globe, but the cosmos.
Posted on Jan 23, 2004, Source: AlterNet

China's Dangerous Wild Tastes

Vast markets in wild animals can lead to environmental destruction and, in an age of newly emerging diseases such as SARS, public health disasters.
Posted on Jan 1, 2004, Source: Pacific News Service

Expression in the Information Age

In a world where we are constantly chatting, very little is actually being said. We email -- but are we really in touch?
Posted on Dec 3, 2003, Source: AlterNet

Mourning the Loss of the Tiger

The tiger's grip on our imagination is precisely the very force that drives it toward extinction.
Posted on Oct 20, 2003, Source: AlterNet

Wen Ho Lee II?

Chinese Americans are worried about similarities to trial-by-media atmosphere surrounding Army chaplain's arrest.
Posted on Sep 29, 2003, Source: Pacific News Service

Can You Help Me with My Homework?

This Asian American writer finds the pleas he gets from students to explain his fiction are an example of how Asian immigrants, even young ones, are having a tough time thinking like Americans.
Posted on Jun 27, 2003, Source: AlterNet

The Fall of Celluloid Hong Kong

The suicide of gender-bending actor Leslie Cheung also symbolizes the demise of a wild, uninhibited era of Hong Kong film that inspired many Hollywood directors.
Posted on Apr 8, 2003, Source: Pacific News Service

For a Vietnamese American, Prayers on the Brink of War

For Vietnamese Americans, many of whom have lived through several wars, the looming U.S. invasion of Iraq brings up haunting memories.
Posted on Mar 19, 2003, Source: Pacific News Service

Quiet American Irony

"The Quiet American" almost didn't make it to U.S. theaters -- but it premiered in Vietnam to great fanfare.
Posted on Feb 20, 2003, Source: Pacific News Service

Is the American Dream Still Alive?

The immigrant's hold on American soil has become increasingly tenuous, if not outright threatened.
Posted on Feb 10, 2003, Source: AlterNet

Homeland Security Changes America

An immigrant finds that the America he remembers as a child no longer exists.
Posted on Dec 20, 2002, Source: Pacific News Service

After Bali, Will Travel Become a Radical Act?

Human movement across borders is greater than ever in history. The world is too interconnected for that trend to be reversed by fear of terrorism.
Posted on Oct 15, 2002, Source: Pacific News Service

Taliban Destroyed Statues, Not Buddhism

Outraged greeted the news that the Taliban in Afghanistan were going to destroy two very large statues of the Buddha. It is important, however, to recognize that Buddhism and its precepts are in no way endangered by this action.
Posted on Mar 13, 2001, Source: AlterNet