The State - News from Sept. 7, 1986

A former Vietnamese boat refugee won $1 million in the California Lottery’s “Big Spin.” Viet Chiem, 32, a communications clerk in San Francisco, said she will use part of the money to buy a new car for herself, a house for one of her four brothers and to “help my nephew.” She said it was her second major win in the lottery; she won $5,000 last year, and buys at least five lottery tickets every week. Chiem said she arrived in the United States in 1980 after her boat, loaded with refugees, was twice attacked by pirates. “I guess I’m just lucky,” she said.