Muoi Dai Ung, a Chinese-Vietnamese refugee, didn’t live in Monterey Park, but she felt a strong connection with the city.

“Much like our community she was complicated, messy, easy to love and sometimes hard to understand from the outside,” her family said in a statement. “She loved going to Monterey Park not only because she loved to dance. She came to Monterey Park because this is where her community was … she knew this is where the heart of the Asian American community beats strongest.”

Ung, 67, loved to dance. “She also loved to eat and gamble. Sometimes … she tried to do all three at the same time,” the family said.

It took over 30 years before Ung and her family were able to migrate to the United States, reuniting with family who sought refuge from Vietnam in the 70s and 80s.

“This past month my auntie was reunited with my cousin, her daughter, whom she had not seen in the years after they both migrated to different countries,” the statement read.

“My cousin has come to see her mother and now bury her.”

This week, signs with hearts and personal messages for each victim were hung at a memorial outside the Monterey Park Civic Center.

“Keep dancing with the angels,” read a message for Ung.

“We hope that we move forward in the coming weeks and months and years as a community with love and kindness as antidotes to the violence that we have experienced,” the family said.

Related links

10 killed in Monterey Park mass shooting as Lunar New Year is celebrated
72-year-old identified in Monterey Park mass shooting killed himself in Torrance, authorities say
Monterey Park mass shooting stokes fear among Asian communities in Southern California
How to help people, families affected by Monterey Park mass shooting
City’s vigil for Monterey Park mass shooting victims honors those ‘dancing in heaven’

Related Articles

” ]