CELEBRATING

The Life & Legacy of
MINH TÂM NGUYÊN

MINH TÂM NGUYÊN

SYMBOLS OF FAITH

Images of Buddha

The most universal and easily recognized Buddhist symbol is the imageof the Buddha seated in meditation. For many, the image represents their greatest aspirations, ideals and potential. For others, it exemplifies the deep inner peace and contentment they find in Buddhism.

Incense: Hung or Nhang

In Vietnamese, incense isknown as"hong" or "nhang." For centuries, Vietnamese people have burnedincense - when a family member dies,to offer respects to the departed, when a baby is born or as a way to prayfor and commemorate ancestors. The incense mustb e lit in odd numbers (one, three, etc.) becausein Vietnamese culture, odd numbers represent positive energy and good fortune.

The Noble Eightfold Path of Buddhism

1. Right intention
2. Right resolve
3. Right speech
4. Right conduct
5. Right livelihood
6. Right effort
7. Right mindfulness
8. Right concentration

The Lotus

In Vietnamese culture,"hoa sen" is the symbol of beauty overtaking darkness.It's thesymbol of Buddha's awakening. Chosen as the altar of Buddha, the lotus plant'sgrowing period represents five essential phases: purity, cleansing,humility, beauty and perseverance.

The Mala (Recitation beads)

As individuals, we may think we are separate, but we're not.We are connected to each other, to our family and to the world.We are all living beings together. One cannot exist without the other.

MINH TÂM NGUYÊN
1933-2023

Funeral Services
Vinh Nghiêm Pagoda
Saigon, Vietnam
Aug. 25 - Aug. 26, 2023

Celebration of Life & Legacy
Bão Quang Temple
Santa Ana, California
Sept. 24, 2023

Program

After the program, a special video will play called, "A Legacy of Love and Beauty", by Ivan and Mariana Polic, about Advance Beauty College and the Nguyen family.

Former South Vietnamese Navy Officer Minh Tam Nguyen rebuilt his new life in California with the help of Americans - notably Hollywood legend Tippi Hedren, pictured below, who taught Vietnamese refugees manicuring skills. The star of "The Birds" was hailed as the godmother of the Vietnamese-dominated nail industry. Earlier this year, the BBC named Minh the "Godfather of the Nail Industry" for building a beauty school empire to help others thrive in their new homeland.

After graduating from beauty school, Minh was determined to open a beauty college ni the heartof the rapidly emerging Vietnamese refugeecommunity in Orange County,Calif. that would later transform into Little Saigon.
"But the only way of funding a new beauty school was to take equity from our home, a house we could barely afford," Kiën recalled. "We started with nothing but the shirts on our back. But Minh, as nervous as he w a s inside, he was incredible. He gave everything to make his dream come true. He was the school's janitor. He was the teacher. He was admissions. There was no job beneath him.This was a man who was a South Vietnamese Navy officer. He did not know what tired was. Complaining was not ni his vocabulary."

Family Legacy Continues With Community Confronting Crisis With Kindness and Love

Advance Beauty College becomes a"hub of love" during the COVID-19 pandemic and the spate of anti-Asian hate where theNguyen family with the Little Saigon community fought hate with kindness.

Minh's vision to help his fellow refugees with a beauty school has now been realized with Advance Beauty College becoming the nation's premier institution f o rthe nail-care industry. It has graduated more than 50,000 professionals working globally with many becoming successful entrepreneurs and small-business owners.
Personally, Minh was so proud to see his oldest granddaughter, Cara, take the manicuring course, representingthe thirdgenerationembracinghis legacy to continue the family business and the nailindustry.
"Today,the nail salon industry is worth over $8 billion and is dominated by Vietnamese Americans," the BBC story highlighted. "In California, 80% of nail salons are Vietnamese owned - and one military man's decision to re-train has played a large part in that."
Tâm and Linh point to their father's example of giving back as their North Star. A poignant time for the Nguyên family was during the global pandemic when Minh was stuck in Vietnam during the strict multiple-year lockdown.
Meanwhile in the U.S. when healthcare workers were experiencing widespread shortages of personal
protective equipment (PPEs) to combat COVID-19, Minh's beauty school became a "hub of love" with a "Tsunami of Kindness" as headlined by the Los Angeles Times on April 30, 2020.
It was a nationwide campaign called "Nailing It For America" launched by son Tam with several of his Vietnamese American colleagues. Their volunteer work delivered $30 million worth of PPEs and 90,000 restaurant meals for the nation's healthcare professionals, frontline workers and other vulnerable people.
And during the spate of anti-Asian hate sweeping across America, it was Kiên and Linh who spoke up and took action to protect each other and their fellow Americans.
Kiên organized a community picnic at the site of a park where she was a victim herself of anti-Asian hate speech.
The community - represented by victims of anti-Asian, anti-Black, anti-Latino and anti-LGBTQ+ speech and violence- gathered in unity and in love.When the KKK and neo-Nazis planned a rally in neighboring Huntington Beach, Kiën, 79, took to the skies by hiring a skywriter with her savings to inscribe "NO HATE" above Orange County's coastline.
And when the Asian American community was rattled by shootings in the Atlanta area that claimed the lives of eight people, Linh and Tam organized a massive vigil to honor the victims' lives and to make pleas to the news media to help end the senseless violence, while Kiên organized a news conference at Advance Beauty College earlier that same day with martial arts instructors sharing self-defense skills with community members.
They also joined thousands of people and secured a live CNN interview in L.A.'s Korea town where Kiên and Tâm channeled Minh's dogged determination by telling a global TV audience that they "have had enough of the vile anti-Asian hate," urging policymakers and influencers to take desperately needed action to stop Asian hate.
And Minh witnessed his family in America spring into action to protect the community with every news article, TV news report and web story he read and viewed from his quarantined home in Saigon.
Ever the more poignant reminder of Minh's legacy was the BBC interview that happened to be recorded on Minh's 92nd birthday earlier this year when his
entire family gathered near and far to hear how a former Navy officer built a beauty school empire that would go on to become a legacy of kindness and a hub of love.
Minh's heart and soul live on in his children, Tâm and Linh - and their continual efforts with the community to give back to the country that embraced them as refugees.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Ted Nguyên - Bão Quang Temple - Oanh Thi DuöngTrân Duy Xuân và gia dinh - anh Duöng &chi Quinh v gia dinhDerrick Nguyën Hoäng Düng - Vinh NguyënAdvance Beauty College faculty & staffBele Nguyën State Farm Insurance - Viêt PhamGia Long High School alumni - Kiëu My Duyên & Nhu HãoNavy of the Republic of Vietnam - Little Saigon TV