The event on July 14, 2007 at the Milpitas Community Library was a book signing of Life, Poetry, and Prison--Cuoc Song, Thi Van, va Tu Day by Nguyen Chi Thien, the Vietnamese dissident poet.  When presented with a commendation for his lifework by Mayor Jose Esteves, the mayor also publicly supported the petition for the name "Little Saigon Business District" in San Jose. 
Mr. Thien spoke in English and Vietnamese at the event.  He was asked to describe history of Father Nguyen Van Ly, a founder of Bloc 8406 Progression Party in Vietnam, in both languages.  He stated "Father Ly is my friend.  I was with him in prison, at Ba Sao, in 1991.  He always shared the food that was brought in by his supporters with other prisoners.  That is how we stayed alive in the deliberate starvation policy of the Vietnamese gulag."  Mr. Thien went further to describe the growing support for freedom in Vietnam by Vietnamese people.

Photo by Jean Libby, VietAm Review