Twenty years of East Meets West

HO CHI MINH CITY:  It was suitably, a hot, sultry evening this past 16^th of October as the ‘Glitteri’ of Saigon Society paraded towards the ballroom of the Park Hyatt Saigon Hotel here in Ho Chi Minh City.  The nights’ event was the 20^th Anniversary Gala of the East Meets West Foundation (EMWF). 

Mark Conroy, the former dairy farmer from Beekmantown, NY is the Country Director of EMWF, the largest NGO (non governmental organization) operating in Viet Nam. He is in his 15^th year on the job ‘in country’.

The real purpose of the evening festivities was to raise funds from the very large resident international business community, along with the growing numbers of higher income, native Vietnamese who may not have formerly been familiar with EMWF.

 

EMWF Country Director Mark Conroy with  US Consul General
Kenneth Fairfax at the EMWF Saigon Gala.

 EMWF Country Director Mark Conroy with US Consul General Kenneth Fairfax at the EMWF event referenced above.

The main event this evening is a concert by the Vietnamese diva Y Lan, who left the country by boat in 1980 and now lives in Orange County, California.  Her CDs have circulated among Vietnamese communities worldwide for many years. 

“Y Lan is the most famous singer on the planet for the older generation of Vietnamese,” said Rad Kivitt, Director of Development for EMWF and the man in charge of the evenings’ festivities.  “We sold out the event when it was announced that she would be performing”, he said.

Mark Conroy and his wife Tam Hoang, along with Dr. Peter Singer, EMWF Board Chairman and John Anner, the EMWF national director were guests at the event, and mingled with the crowd introducing many attendees to the foundations work in Viet Nam.

Le Ly Hayslip, the founder of EMWF was not in attendance; however US Consul General to Viet Nam Kenneth Fairfax was; and he made this comment regarding Ms. Hayslip during his speech.

“From humble beginnings and a life full of hardships and tragedy, Le Ly Hayslip launched a movement that has improved the lives of countless Vietnamese people and has had a profound impact on the development of U.S.-Vietnam understanding and relations.”

After the dinner and speeches, Y Lan preformed into the early morning hours, absolutely captivating those in the packed ballroom.

 The Park Hyatt Saigon Hotel is located at 2 Lam Son Square in the heart of the old city, just north of the Continental Hotel that Graham Greene used as the setting of his great novel, “The Quiet American”.

*A version of this article appeared in the Press Republican on November 3, 2008.