Andrew Q Lam's Writings
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Article
Nov.26.2008
FEATURE STORYA letter to my young selfBY ANDREW LAMThirty years after fleeing Vietnam, the author rediscovers old family letters and tries to recognize the childhood innocence he left behind.
I have forgotten you — you who sang the Vietnamese national anthem with tears in your eyes and who believed that borders, like the Great Wall of China, were real...
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Article
Nov.26.2008
California Magazine
FEATURE
The body politicBY ANDREW LAMChina’s body image shifts from cultural revolution to sexual revolution.
There came a startling moment when everything shifted. A man carrying two plastic bags, one in each hand, stood directly in the path of a column of armored tanks, effectively preventing them from proceeding down the avenue toward Tiananmen Square in...
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Article
Nov.26.2008
The Nation
Let It Be Some Other 'Asian'by ANDREW LAM
April 17, 2007
EDITOR'S NOTE: This article originally appeared in New American Media.
All across America, no doubt, non-Korean Asian-Americans are now heaving a sigh of relief. "Asian," after all, was the four-alarm-fire word we saw throughout the day after the shootings that took the lives of 33...
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Article
Nov.26.2008
The Nation
US Silence Muzzles Vietnam's Dissidentsby ANDREW LAM
April 13, 2007
EDITOR'S NOTE: This article originally appeared in New American Media.
A picture paints a thousand words, but an image taken from the state-controlled television in Vietnam and circulated widely on the Internet can convey the struggle of an entire people. Flanked by two angry-...
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Article
Nov.26.2008
The Nation
Body Languageby ANDREW LAM
March 30, 2007
Three decades ago, fresh from the refugee camp of Vietnam, I was first made acutely aware of my own Asian looks by a schoolyard bully in my junior high. He pulled the sides of his eyes back to make them look slanted and sang the ditty now made famous by Rosie O'Donnell recently on The View--"Ching Chong...
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Article
Nov.26.2008
The Nation
American Dream, Downsizedby ANDREW LAM
February 6, 2007
San Francisco
In my apartment building people of various income levels are stacked on top of each other. The architect and the teacher occupy one-bedroom apartments on the floor above me. They are considered middle-class and, for that matter, so am I. An affluent, well-traveled couple...
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Article
Nov.26.2008
The Nation
More Like It Hotby ANDREW LAM
May 29, 2007
My sister and I were strolling down Larkin Street in San Francisco recently when there wafted a pungent, salty aroma from an open window above. I was about to name the dish, but the couple walking ahead of us beat me to it. "Hmm, I smell fish sauce," said a blond woman who looked to be in her mid...
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Article
Nov.26.2008
When Monks Get Madby ANDREW LAM
September 27, 2007
If you think that Buddhist monks in Myanmar currently waging protests against the military powers are passive and peace loving, think again. After a monthlong protest, hundreds have been arrested while dozens of others have died or sustained serious injuries since the Burmese junta began its...
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Article
Nov.26.2008
New America Media
Hot for Teacher
Scandals and low pay lead to the decline of the American teaching profession
Editor's Note: After a rash of scandals involving American teachers, the reputation of the profession has gone from bad to worse. New America Media editor Andrew Lam laments the state of teacher-hood, especially when compared to the ingrained respect for teachers that he...
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Article
Nov.26.2008
Alternet.org
The email message came with the word "HELP" in caps in the subject line. "Dear Mr. Lam," it says, "My name is Dao and I am having difficulties with my essay in my English class. I am reading one of your short stories for class assignment called 'Grandma's Tales'‚ It is a really good story but I can't seem to find the REAL theme of the...
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About Andrew
Andrew is a syndicated writer and an editor with the Pacific News Service, a short story writer, and a commentator on National Public Radio's "All Things Considered." He co-founded New America Media, an association of over 2000 ethnic media in...
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