Fry Apologizes in Person at a Warm Little Saigon Summit Meal

Around tables filled with succulent shrimp, noodles and beef, they sat and discussed common ground Wednesday.

Westminster City Councilman Frank Fry Jr. was in one chair, proudly using a fork as he munched his way through the best of Little Saigon’s Cantonese delicacies.

Flanking him was Chuyen V. Nguyen, Phong Tran and about 10 other representatives of the county’s Vietnamese community. They had accepted Fry’s invitation to have lunch at what some jokingly called “Little Saigon’s Camp David Summit.”

Two weeks before, Fry angered many Vietnamese with remarks at a televised council meeting. After joining a majority of the council in denying a parade permit to a Vietnamese military group seeking to honor war dead, Fry urged them to recognize U.S. holidays. “If you want to be South Vietnamese,” the councilman said, “go back to South Vietnam.”

Fry apologized in writing last week. On Wednesday, he did it in person.

“I’m sorry,” Fry told the luncheon guests seated inside Dynasty Restaurant in the Asian Garden Mall. “I attempted to bring the community together, and it boomeranged.”

The meeting had been arranged by Kathy Buchoz, a former Westminster mayor with business ties to Little Saigon. Although Fry had invited the leaders, the tab was picked up by a Vietnamese developer who did not wish to be identified.

After his introductory remark--”Hi, I’m Frank Fry, the culprit”--the tone quickly warmed.

At first, they talked about the rainy weather at the Tet Festival in February. Then they talked about cultural clashes, such as the one between Vietnamese-Americans and other Westminster residents, who see Little Saigon’s booming growth and foreign-language signs as indications that the city is becoming “too Asian.”

“That’s another thing too,” Fry said. “Those signs. Well, Americans just don’t understand those signs. You’ve got to learn to welcome people who come to shop in your stores, be they Japanese, American or any other group.

“If you’re in business, it’s incumbent to learn English, especially if they come up to you and ask, ‘How much is this?’ ” he said. “If they want the American to come in and buy, they have to learn English.”

As for the Vietnamese culture, Fry said: “Well, you really don’t have to forget your language and culture, but learn the (English) language.”

Phong Tran, a Cypress businessman, told Fry that most Vietnamese have only been in the United States 14 years, since Saigon fell to the Communists in 1975.

“Many us came here depressed because of the war and the fact that we lost our country,” Tran said. “Please, give us time.”

He continued: “But I must explain that many of us need to remind ourselves of where we’re from. Some people travel 40 miles from Los Angeles just to see a sign in Vietnamese, because it reminds them of home.”

Fry suggested that they all participate in Memorial Day activities. He told them that the American Legion is planning to extend an invitation to Vietnamese-American groups to commemorate their war dead on May 29 at a Westminster cemetery.

Fry also invited Vietnamese to Flag Day activities in Westminster June 14. Both invitations were quickly accepted by Nguyen on behalf of the group.

At one point, Tran suggested that Americans take more time “to understand” the Vietnamese.

Fry smiled and said, “We have a world of time.”

And with that, they drank a toast.