It was the many friends and families who attended the Vietnamese cultural night in the EMU Ballroom on Sunday that made it an intimate event. Nearly 60 guests were treated to a variety of Vietnamese foods and several performances.
All dishes were prepared by last year’s Vietnamese Student Association president, Phuc Nguyen. About 30 members started planning the event at the beginning of winter term. The theme for this year’s event was “Coastal Breakdown,” with a focus on bringing forth the message that although one can acquire all the money and success, he or she will ultimately feel empty and hollow at the end of the day.
“Culture is very important to an individual,” VSA President Ricky Ho said. “Without it, one loses everything.”
The event featured a play with scenes of a rich but confused Vietnamese man seeking help from a janitor-turned-psychiatric-doctor to identify the source of his dissatisfaction in life.
“I really liked the decoration for this event. It was very elegant,” senior Siska Thjin said. “The food was really good, and I was really impressed with the actors’ performances.”
One goal the association wanted to achieve through the event was to establish the organization and promote Vietnamese culture, Ho said. He added that VSA is underrated, and cultural events like these will help make the organization known.
“Some people have the misconception that Vietnamese people are not very open people and that they are not friendly,” Ho said. “But this is not true, and we are trying to show people this fact through this cultural event.”
Ho said he expected more people to attend the event.
“With last-minute advertising and planning, this year’s cultural night did not quite reach the expectation,” he said.
Ho said he plans to help future leadership committee members organize next year’s event to more successfully promote Vietnamese culture.
“The scheduling and coordination for this event went very well because people always showed up, and everyone worked together well,” VSA Assistant Director Christina Dang said.