Troubled Times in Little Saigon

* Re “Three Mysterious Fires Erupt in Little Saigon,” Feb. 19:

Each year I read about Tet as it approaches and the problems seem to accelerate regularly. How sad that the Vietnamese “most important cultural and religious holiday” promotes so much bickering and violence. I was born and raised in Santa Ana and moved to Westminster in 1964. What changes I have seen in Westminster in the last 15 years. My daily walks in what is now the Little Saigon area came to a halt. In my housing tract, once green yards are now dead or dirt with cars parked on the yard. Asian gangs have had shootouts on my corner. We welcome refugees to our country--bending over backward to protect their culture. What about our culture?

CLAUDINE ANDERSON

Anaheim

* It may be the “Year of the Mouse,” but the organizers of the competing Vietnamese New Year festivals have been acting more like a bunch of rats, considering all the “dirty tricks” and name-calling involved in this dispute.

Instead of feuding and acting like a bunch of little kids, the cities of Garden Grove and Westminster should compromise and agree to alternate their Vietnamese New Year festivals, with Garden Grove having it one year and Westminster the next.

KENNETH L. ZIMMERMAN

Huntington Beach