In 2003, I was a recent graduate from UC Berkeley’s computer science program, unsure about which battles I wanted to fight outside of my professional career path. At that time, some friends shared stories of their experiences traveling to Melbourne, Australia and Paris, France to attend a global gathering of Vietnamese youth who had aspirations of making a difference. I heard story after story about how much they learned at the conferences and the friendships they forged.

Inspired, I decided to make my way to San Diego, California to attend the 3rd biennial conference, which drew 600 youths from more than 16 countries. The experience transformed me, and shaped me into the community activist I am today. I now volunteer with Vietnamese Alliance to Combat Trafficking and the Len Duong International Vietnamese Youth Network. I also work to promote Vietnamese arts and culture, and chaired the last Vietnamese Professionals Society North American Conference all while having a full-time job in the software industry.

As an organizer for Len Duong International Vietnamese Youth Network, I now work to bring youths from around the world to attend these global youth gatherings.

In January, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia will host the Fifth International Vietnamese Youth Conference, which has the theme “Building Civil Society in Vietnam: Grassroots Efforts for Democracy.” Again, we plan to unite Vietnamese youths from around the world -- this time also many from Vietnam – to share ideas on how to rebuild and develop the country in peacetime.

As I attended workshops at the previous conferences covering topics including AIDS, child labor, charity, lobbying and philanthropy, I was struck by the progressive mindset of the youth. I’m not used to seeing this outlook among Vietnamese elders. Let’s face it, demonstrating on the streets of Little Saigon and chanting political slogans just does not work for us. Our generation has another approach, so I welcomed the workshop on improving information sharing between Vietnamese exchange students and the Vietnamese diaspora, bridging the divide between two groups too often separated by mistrust ingrained in us by the elder generation.

It was at the 2003 summit that conference co-chair Tammy Tran spoke passionately about the need for grassroots organizing to combat human trafficking of Vietnamese women and children (a topic that at that time still had very little media attention). Today, the Vietnamese Alliance to Combat Trafficking (VietACT), the seed for which was planted during Tran’s presentation, works with the U.S. government to bring global awareness to this issue. The group sends volunteers to a shelter in Taiwan to assist victims of trafficking and develop awareness and lobbying programs.

Conference attendees also discussed the need to create a national Vietnamese student association for networking and collaborative purposes. Within a year’s time the Union of North American Vietnamese Student Associations (uNAVSA) was formed, and currently works with local groups across the country to raise money for humanitarian projects. Last year, uNAVSA was able to fundraise $47,000 for Catalyst Foundation, a non-profit group that seeks to improve the lives of orphaned and homeless children in Vietnam.

The Fifth International Vietnamese Youth Conference will take place from January 4-6 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia with the conference theme “Building Civil Society in Vietnam: Grassroot Efforts for Democracy.” Civil society, which encompasses the voluntary social organizations outside of the state, is critical to the health of a democratic society.

Conference participants will have the opportunity to meet representatives from many non-governmental organizations that operate in Southeast Asia, such as the Asian NGO Coalition for Agrarian Reform and Rural Development, VietACT, the Southeast Asian Press Alliance, Vietnam Voice, and the Solidarity Center. Youths will have the chance to apply their skills and knowledge from doing work at the community level to an international scale. Planned events also include a workshop led by students from Vietnam, and highly anticipated film screenings of Journey from the Fall and The Rebel. The 2008 conference registration is capped at 250, so I strongly encourage early registration through the website (www.malaysia2008.net).

Looking back on past conferences, one of my fondest memories occured during the closing ceremony of the 2003 conference when hundreds of youth crammed into a tiny space and sang the conference theme song Bai Ca Tuoi Tre (“Vietnamese Youth Song”) by Phan Van Hung: “Tu khap nhung phuong troi, va muon loi di trong doi gap nhau trong tam hon Viet Nam sang ngoi” - From all corners of the world, from all paths of life, we meet in the bright Vietnamese spirit.