A strange turn of the event, hinging on a stranger pageant rule, caused a Viet who had been crowned Miss Garden Grove Outstanding Teen just six months ago to lose her title, reports the OC Register here.
Emily Nguyen (center, when she won the pageant), now a senior at Sunny Hills High School, was beauty queen for six months, until a casual lunch conversation with the pageant’s executive director disclosed that she was too old to qualify for the competition.
“Too old” is relative. Emily was 16 at the time she applied for the pageant in the summer of 2008. That was the summer after her junior year in high school. She’s still 16 now.
Nonetheless, “according to the pageant rules, that meant she was already a senior,” the executive director Stacy Margolin said. Margolin called the problem a “technicality.”
As it turns out, a teen-ager’s senior year in high school (the one year where extracurricular activities are least likely to affect her schooling) is actually also the one year where a girl is too old to compete for Miss Teen and too young to compete for the regular Miss title.
“Nguyen was stuck in pageant limbo and didn’t know it. She couldn’t compete for Miss Teen because she was already a senior and couldn’t compete for Miss Garden Grove because she wasn’t yet 17,” wrote the Reg’s Deepa Bharath.
The first runner-up, Bree Morse (at left in picture), was awarded the title in a private ceremony.
Margolin said Nguyen gets to keep her crown and her $500 savings bond. Morse will get to keep the $100 scholarship she won as a runner-up and will be awarded the winning $500 scholarship in addition, she said.
Emily was cool about it all. She told the paper, “It was sad that my reign was cut short, but I had a wonderful experience representing the city and meeting the community.”
Her mom, though, seemed to be totally crushed. Mai Pham was quoted as saying, “The rules don’t make sense. Emily is still a teen. She couldn’t enter in the teen contest or the Miss Garden Grove contest. So where would a talented girl like her fit in?”
Was the casual luncheon an ambush? The entire event looks too contrived and speaks volumes about the small town pettiness. Good going Emily – take the high road and keep moving onward and upward. Just remember that these officials will remain in their pathetic world until the day they retire while you pursue your future.
It sure wasn’t a “total technicality”. Would it happen if Emily a white girl? This shows the real garden grove today to the public.
Stupid rule and stupid decision by the commitee.
Cold-hearted also.
My sympathies to this young Viet beauty.
On a snowy winter’s day in New York city, civil right activist Al Sharpton complained the snow is 95% white…
True but wrong! Oh well…you get the point.
Be real my friends… Call things what they are.
So, what the hell going on here?
The problem with beauty pageants is that they don’t just judge the looks. They throw in a lot of crap about having talent, answering questions, and qualifying criteria.
There is nothing wrong with the flagrant flaunting of beauty for beauty’s sake. Every category in that pageant should be about beauty.
Just because you want to “do the right thing”, you give a kid a trophy for losing and punish the other for having a pretty face and a pointy head.
Whether you call it “a technicality” or “an oversight”, I call it dumb laws and dumb decisions.
Actually. the damsel I secretly have a crush on is much more charming. Lol, it is but my subjective opinion, beauty is in the eyes of the beholder
By the way, can you tell me how tall she is ?
Pageant rule should be changed and corrected. …… not Emily.
Emily, just do well with your education and become a good leader.
Good job!
We need a Viet version of Al Sharpton. Can Van Tran or Janet step up, or any Viet politician? Where are their voices? It seems like we only hear them when there’s an election.
Who gives a crap about this stupid beauty pageant. That’s what she gets for competing in this lame pageant for a crappy community.
I agree but still somethings can be fixed today to prevent future confusion.
Emily had six months of fun and now she can move on to become a greater person in college.
We don’t need any help from our viet politicians on this trivial matter.
xyz2, you do have a viet al sharpton his name is ky ngo. sharpton actually makes money to where ky ngo is a filthy communist panhandler. and by the way, she lost her title because she didnt follow the rules thats pretty simple. no need for people to get their panties in a twist over this. it’s not a racial thing, no need for protests ok? i must admit both girls on either side are way beautiful. hey jung kim, maybe miss emily can loan you her pagent dress since she wont be using it?
Best wishes to Emily.
I believe you will achieve much much bigger goal than this pagent.
XYZ2,
Van Taliban is only good looking for the phantom Communists. Besides that, BS’ing around to get Viet votes to help his non-Viet political benefactors. Jung Kim is “stroking” him along the way.
Viet councilman Andrew Do and councilwoman Dina Nguyen of Garden Grove city need to investigate into this matter. They are Vietnamese so they can’t let this racist pageant organization in their city destroy the reputation of an innocent Viet girl. If they let her down, they don’t deserve the Vietnamese American votes, which is the major of their voting base. Think for yourself how that poor girl can talk with her friends from now on? Loosing face is the worst thing for Vietnamese, especially for a girl at her age. If anything bad might happen with her, that pageant organization has to be responsible. Bolsa Man, I have to disagree with you about blaming on her for this mistake. How could she knows about the trick in their rules. The pageant organization is the one who qualifies her for the competition in the first place, then they are the same one who disqualifies her AFTER she won the title. Like they can do whatever they want to a Viet girl? Where is the FAIRNESS here? Absolutely Viet officials in the Garden Grove city council have to take action on this. Andrew and Dina, whoever takes action on this matter first will deserve the Viet votes on the next elections. Absolutely Vietnamese American in this city have to bring this issue up to the city council meetings.
Where’s Andrew Do and Janet Nguyen? Don’t they live and work in Garden Grove? Deal with this crap wil you. Don’t you want to pander to the beauty queen votes? You pander to everybody else.
Good point! This issue needs full attention from the concerned Viet officials, and the loud mouth pot belly Viet head honcho is doing squat, providing no leadership as usual. However, when it comes to nonsense, that guy is quick to run his mouth over nothing or sends one of his lackeys.
What we have here is a leader-less organization composed of silent followers!
Jung Kim,
You call this a trivial matter? What if that young girl was your daughter? Do you have kids? How do you feel if your kid was treated like that? Even you kinda contradict yourself here: “…but still somethings can be fixed today to prevent future confusion.” So it’s not really that trivial then huh?!
Exizee2nd, it is “trivial matter” in a larger picture pertaining to the success of Emily’s future life.
Yeah, I also believe this dumb rule thing can be fixed easily if Lee’s Sandwichman Andrew Do Do or Janet shake their lazy booties once in awhile………. for our community concerns. Huh??!
Billy Goat Jack Ass needs to be BBQ’ed soon. His mental capacity is declining with old soy sauce stained stretced out, over sized flimsy tongue still vibrating with 6 amp old battery. This jack ass always complains but do nothing to help our viet community. Lip service is all you get from this Billy Ass.!
andrew,dina,janet? what the hell will these communist filths do to solve a problem like this that isnt even a problem? get real.
Good news, the city mayor Bill Dalton has decided to take action on the matter. This issue will be discussed in the council meeting next Monday at 7PM. Those who concerned please come and support Emily’s family. Looks like those Viet officials Dina and Andrew are not really good choices for Vietnamese American voters after all.
Jung Kim, I don’t go around parading my contribution to the Viet Community. Yes, I have participated and assisted in community events. I even had to put out my own money, but do I walk around with a chip on my shoulder like you? No, I move onward and forward.
Am I wealthy or rich? No, another regular Joe Viet, working with my hands.
I am proud of the fact like most Viets in the Community that I and many others have not destroyed another Viet’s reputation with false accusation of being a communist like you and your leader. Nor have I encouraged another Viet to go around destroying another human being’s reputation.
For the both of you to walk around without any embarrassment is downright psychopathic. I think words cannot affect the both of you in any capacity, so morality cannot be imparted to either one of you. And that is scary!
Rather than fill this blog with your nonsense, how about putting your commitment where your mouth is? To me, the most basic contribution to the Viet Community is to leave a fair tip for the hard working Viets at the local restaurants and service oriented businesses. It is not a hard and fast rule, but how about treating another Viet fairly and doing the right thing – 15% to 20% before tax?
Billy Jack Ass, working with your hands? Give me a break!
Does your tongue resemble your dirty five fingers?
Your reputation has been canned due to your negativeness and low intelligence with “everyone owe me” mentality”…….. and now you want people to tip you?
You are a typical “NUT”case and keep wiping the table before you get fired!
Billy Jack Ass, seeking for 15-20% tip from dining customers?
Stop complaining now and work hard/do extra things for your customers to earn it! ……..unless you are a clumsy and lazy jack ass.
Jung Kim, I see your humbleness is shining through. Your leader has taught you well. Yes, you both are much above the common folk. Funny how when you both need votes, you come running and begging the common people. When you both are in office, you denigrate the very people who put you there.
I hope all the voting dishwashers, restaurant servers, and the other service workers remember Jung Kim and his group well when they get on the radio and television stating their need for your votes.
I am surprise that someone would pay you write such ugly statements to a regular Viet food server like myself.
it looks like jung kim just got bitch slapped………….again!
@jose s.:
they can do a lot. at the very least, those officials can make a big stink about this and at least put pressure on these officials.
honestly, they **can** do it… but i’m not sure if this is the issue they want to expend their political capital on….. its relatively trivial.
small time gov’t officials (like andrew, dina and janet….. they are all very, very small fish) have almost by definition very little political capital.
this isn’t exactly the most important issue they want to take a stand on (and possibly risk their political careers).
lets face it, andrew, dina and janet aren’t really leaders…… they’re aspiring career politicians (keyword: career). a lot of times in a democratic society, the two are mutally exclusive.
Xu,
I agree it’s not the most important issue these politicians want to expend their political capital. On the other hand, if you play the issue right, you could gain some additional political capital. It’s just how you play it out.
As I mentioned before, look at Al Sharpton. He’s not a politician but yet he is involved in most if not all issues involving African-American people. He’s basically just an activist. But yet, politicians all over are scared to step on his toes. That’s what leadership is. I have not seen this type of leadership from the Viet community. All the Viet politicians do is red-baiting name-calling each other…
Btw, someone just mentioned the Mayor will bring the issue out for discussion. He will surely gain some political capital from the Viet community, even if this is just a discussion. It just shows he cares and has a compassion for his constituents.
Billy Jack Ass, you need to speak to Lee’s sandwich wrapper Andrew Do to split $5 tip ….. not here.
Who needs votes? This Billy Hole believes “Guru” is somehow an elected position! What a dorko porko!
jose lick solorio butt…..it appears you’ve got whip creamed by mexican this morning again. Smile, idiot!
The city should solve this technical problem in one meeting…not a big deal!
After 10 hours of busing tables at a local VN restaurant, I value the little precious time I have blogging on my favorite site…Bolsavik! The above comments regarding Al Sharpton made think if my logic is correct. Mr. Al Sharpton represents a specific group of individuals, and they are African American and usually poor. Being poor is synonymous with being disenfranchised. In essence, the man is speaking on the behalf of under-represented individuals who happen to be of his own skin color. Being poor usually means the person does not possess an adequate education to find a decent job.
Most Viets in Little Saigon do possess an adequate educational background to secure a stable job with adequate pay, and their job usually requires a level of sophistication because the majority of OC businesses are either service oriented or light to mid-level “hi-tec/bio-tech” manufacturers.
The last thing we local Viets need is another Al Sharpton because we can speak for ourselves, and when we are not heard, we pass on our concerns to our local representatives. If that person does not want to hear it, then you take your issue a higher authority. If nothing gets done, then remember their wonderful names when you fill out the other candidate name on the ballot during voting time. It’s that simple. We are not victims; we want to make government accountable, responsible, and transparent.
With the limited language skills I picked up at the local junior college, I hope to convey my simple idea to the community at large. I wonder where are all that education and formal training the local Viet politicians go. I see little or nothing on their idea of democracy or ideology. What do we get? A moron putting up profanity and stating facts with no analysis. I am not perfect either, but I am from the streets and trying to improve my life. These guys have it good and want to enter the street life. Go figure.
A good example is the pageant. First, they say it is not worth their time, then when the mayor decides to address the issue, they say that it should take one session to address the technicality. The moron stating this does not even spell what the technicality out for us; he’s running his mouth on behalf of his leader. Oh really? We local Viets cannot read English regarding the mayor addressing the technicality? He must think the rest of the local Viets are as stupid as he is.
Dumb Billy, our community works well with giving hearts! The fact that you are busing the tables for tips for survival goes not make you a good citizen automatically……it doesn’t even take good linguistic skills!
You need a total mental reassessment to learn that this life is all about serving “others” in best of your ability( ie. less fortunate people).
When you are screaming about ME, I or My LIFE etc.. you have long miles to walk and suffer in order to understand the meaning of true “adulthood”.
Again, ding dong tofu cluster, I do not work for anyone….I just serve my community!
Billy Ass must be busing for lawyer Andrew Do at Lee’s Sandwich shop.
Billy Jack,
I agree we don’t need another vocal/rowdy personality like Al Sharpton. However, I’m using him for comparison with the current Viet politicians in the context that for Al Sharpton, he is not afraid of any issue while the current Viet politicians are very selective with their involvement with issues.
A politician is supposed to serve his/her constituents regardless of issues, first and foremost. It doesn’t matter how non-trivial the issue is, but you have to address it if it’s in your community. Again, it’s how you handle the issue. You could gain a lot if you do handle it correctly. Look at Hillary Clinton, she had all the political capital but yet she still lost to Obama in the Democratic Primary. Obama knows how to play the game and he gained all the political capital needed to win the Primary, and more.
You don’t gain political capital with red-baiting name-calling people, which is what most if not all current Viet politicians do. It’s sad and disappointing to see that. Likewise on this forum, it’s sad to see all the name-calling put-down messages here. This forum should be used as a mean to have constructive discussions for our community, the Viet community, instead.
Jung Kim,
You said: “…I just serve my community!” You don’t serve the community with that type of language in public. There is a Viet saying: “Khon ngoan doi dap nguoi ngoai, ga cung mot me cho hoai da nhau”. I hope you catch my drift on that.
XYz2nd, the constructive discussion is always welcomed here but not a negative opinion loaded with worthless garbage.
xu, i will ask you as ive asked many times in here: NAME ME ONE VIET ELECTED OFFICIAL WHO IS A REAL LEADER IN THE VIET COMMUNITY? just one. and do you think for one second bill dalton gives a rats ass about this girl? he’s just pandering for votes in his false outrage. and by the way jung kim, how do you “serve your communityt”? can you be specific other than your pointless name calling that you would never say to somebody if you were face to face with them. you f-ing little coward.
jose licka solorio butt, stinky browny flat lip can yap all you want with anti viet community slurs…. only to make your parents really disappointed.
Get lost ….got it?
jose licka solorio butt… only “f” word is in inside of your mouth with jose solorio’s fart scent.
anti viet community slurs? when have i been anti viet community? i’m anti commie regardless of what race people are. but you still havent answered my question you little communist filth, how do you “serve” the viet community?
jose de chip munk face, anti viet community slurs include purely negative thoghts toward our community leadership with “wet pants attitude”.
Yes, nothing makes you happy when you are a sorry hole. We serve our community by cleaning up your pee stains around town.
jose de solorio’s butt imprint only knows one word ……. communist this and communist that!
This idiot must have been raised by a abusive communist baby sitter.
hey wormboy*, you still havent explained how you “serve” the viet community? why not? please explain?
Jose s says “NAME ME ONE VIET ELECTED OFFICIAL WHO IS A REAL LEADER IN THE VIET COMMUNITY?”…
I ve seen this fricking phrase so many times it actually get on my nerve, why do you think the Viet community consider politicians like Janet Nguyen and Tran thai Van our leaders?..And you claim that you live and breath in Little Saigon, knowing this Viet community like the back of your hand?…
First you call everything and anything in sight communist filth, but refused to understand what Communist is, and never had a taste of commi. Oh well.
Now talking about leadership, let me slip a little insights within the Viets of the first generation just for you my friend.
Most our older folks DO NOT encourage their kids, like Janet and Van, to be no stinking politicians….but rather be a doctor or pharmacist or engineer, do you see the over saturated Viet professionals in those field?..Please say you do. But politicians are totally different, it does require a little ass-kissing, kick down, kiss up kind of person…knowing a trick here and there to pull votes and deceive the general public…And it does need some wicked talent and knowledge….but please don t say that being a city cousilman or even governor is superior to a nurse, let alone doctors……………and you consider those politicians LEADERS?…You ever go to UCLA to check seeing what it takes to get in a nursing program?…
IT S MUCH EASIER TO START A CAMPAIGN TO RUN FOR CONGRESS..
We all know Obama s our President, but that doesn t mean he s superior in general knowledge compared to all African Americans?..
By the way, some cops just want to have the false sense of being superior because he or she had in possesion the badge and gun, strip those?..And you got just a paranoid nobody like any joe out there, no more no less.
Same as these so-called leaders, strip those titles and what you got?..I personally do not think Janet Nguyen or Tran Van or Dina are any better than the thousands of other Viets out there.
THEY SIMPLY DO THEIR JOBS AS PART OF A RUNNING SYSTEM, NOT OUR LEADERS LIKE YOU THINK BUDDY JOSE…
There goes 30 minutes break again…………..
Sonny Tran, holding an elected official title does not make one better than others ……….and somtimes people with titles can be worse( lesser quality of character) than our normal citizens.
Having said that, it takes great courage and ambition to become a political candidate and I do like certain number of our local elected viet officials serving our community today.
I know that Jung Kim……That s why i just wanna make it clear that those political officials are doing their jobs in a different field, not nescessarily make them everybody s leader…or judging a particular race based on their rep?…But our beloved Jose s. seems to think so…..fricking dude always make it sound like ” Any real Viet leaders, please stand up….WTF?”
And give credit for courage and ambition?…I must say San Jose s Madison Nguyen takes that title…poor chick must really devote to her job, talking about a big mess.
sonny, seriously, you need to spend your breaks doing something other than blogging here because once again you make no sense. your time would be better spent eating lunch. and dont think i havent forgotten you calling me a beaner you racist pig. once again you failed in telling me of one (1) viet elected official who is worth a shi* and is a real leader in our community? why is that? you mention people who have sided with the communist protesters who are hellbent on closing down a newspaper in america how is that “american”? you bring up obama and cops why?
are you saying the viet elected officials took the easy way out and running for office instead of being doctors? if thats true what does that say about them? and i dont call everybody a communist filth, just the people who are communist filth in my opinion. the ones who dont realize how good they have it here and are ungrateful for the freedoms we have here. the ones who are enjoying the freedoms that other people have fought and died for so they can behave badly. it’s insulting and you still havent given me that “leaders” name?
Ooops….I again broke my own motto that i live by..
“Never argue with an idiot, they will drag you down to their level, then they will beat you with experiences..”
Sorry again for me.