by Annie Han Nguyen

”To be different is to be able to stand alone even when no one sees the same thing you see and believes in the same [things] as you. It is crucial to find the confidence in yourself and believe that what you are doing is right and has a purpose.”
—Tuan Kien Nguyen

”FOB!”

While some Asian Americans have heard the culturally offensive acronym meaning “fresh off the boat” used negatively, Tuan Kien Nguyen, 29, makes fun of the word “FOB,” turning it into the positive “FOBulous” for the online summer campaign promoting his Vietnamese themed t-shirts. The brand of his online t-shirt enterprise has been a success this past year and is known to loyal fans as “Anh Oi.”

Performers like Bao Han, Andy Quach and Cat Tien wear Nguyen’s t-shirts, which are adorned with catchy phrases such as “I Love Vietnam,” “What the Heo!” and “Free Vietnam.” Even longtime household names like Cao Ky Duyen, hostess of Thuy Nga’s Paris By Night, has asked friends where she can get one.

When Nguyen was younger, classmates used to tease him and call him offensive terms such as “chink” or “Uncle Ho’s son.” Although he may have been subjected to childish and racist teasing like so many others, his positive attitude has helped him realize that it is acceptable to be Vietnamese.

Nguyen’s t-shirts try to celebrate this enthusiastic outlook about being proud of the Vietnamese heritage.

For comedic effect, Nguyen makes fun of a common American expression usually describing bewilderment and adds the Vietnamese accent to the phrase “What the Heo!” The word “heo,” when translated, denotes a “pig.” Just below the three-word catchphrase, there is an image of a pig standing on its hind legs and arms flailing in the air, appearing befuddled.

Another shirt is decorated by a clever phrase drawn out from the word “Vietnamese” in army green. The letters in “Vietnamese” are in a darker green while the letters “I” and the word “am” are printed in white to create the phrase, “I am Vietnamese” (VIetnAMese). While a couple of his shirts contain Tuan’s flair and sense of humor, other shirts subtly reflect Tuan’s political message as well as his pride in his Vietnamese identity.

“There’s tons of t-shirts but there’s nothing out there with this type of design or quality that say more about the Vietnamese community,” Nguyen said. “’What the Pho?’ opened the doors for me, but my t-shirts aren’t about pho. My t-shirts are about political issues and being Vietnamese. It makes the person who wears the t-shirts proud of wearing them because they have a message.”

For $20 a shirt, fans can order his latest creations at www.anhoi.com. Upon ordering, customers receive a personalized message written by Nguyen himself who prefers to use a black Sharpie pen on the back of one of the postcards showcasing one of the witty phrases seen on the t-shirts.

Nguyen recently received fan mail from a teacher in Seattle, Wash. who ordered his shirts from the website. The email reads, “It is so hard for me to find things for my classroom that represent Asians in a positive light,” the teacher writes. “The school I work at has a large population of Vietnamese students and I want to surround them with as much of our culture as possible.”

The t-shirt creator primarily reaches out to his online Vietnamese fan base abroad and advertises his new online business from his MySpace profile at www.myspace.com/anhoi. On MySpace, when one scrolls down to the comments left by over 150 online friends, Tuan is addressed after the name of his t-shirt company as “Anh Oi,” an endearing expression in the Vietnamese language intended to call out for an elder brother, male friend or lover.

Accidental Success
Nguyen’s accidental success of Anh Oi was inspired by the April 2005 Freedom March in Washington, D.C. commemorating the 30th anniversary of the Fall of Saigon. Nguyen’s first creation for Anh Oi was meant for participants and supporters of the Freedom March. One week prior, Nguyen had purchased the domain name of www.anhoi.com online and designed his first big hit, “Free Vietnam.”

“It started as a response from April 30 when I saw the t-shirt design for the event,” Nguyen said. “It was a big bright fluorescent yellow with some red text and I felt I could create a better design. I created ‘Free Vietnam.’ I wasn’t planning to design more t-shirts. I wanted to create a t-shirt for Vietnamese people. It was sort of an accident that my next design, ‘What the Heo!’ came about.”