To subscribe, call 904.829.6586 Order Home Delivery Online Order or renew daily and Sunday home delivery of the Record for one year. The sounds of Saigon Radio, muggy summer weather, mangoes and guava have combined to make Florida a home away from home for thousands of Vietnamese and other Asians. The sounds of Saigon Radio, muggy summer weather, mangoes and guava have combined to make Florida a home away from home for thousands of Vietnamese and other Asians. In the past decade the state's Asian population has increased by almost 78 percent, according to new 2000 census figures released Wednesday. It is obvious the Vietnamese have made an impact on the city.
Asian restaurants abound, offering everything from sub sandwiches to steaming bowls of pho.
Video rental stores boast of their selections of karaoke CDs. Much of the Asian influx into Florida comes from Vietnamese who lived in other large American cities, such as New York and Chicago, but found winters too cold there. The Vietnamese presence in Orlando has reached such a mass that it can support Saigon Radio, a two-hour program airing six nights a week on an AM station. Run by Nguyen, Saigon Radio is the first program in the state dedicated to the Vietnamese community. According to the Census figures, the Vietnamese population in Florida increased 103 percent over the decade from 16,346 in 1990 to 33,190 in 2000.