Owner Anna Demirbek outside Uncle Ho. Credit:Robert Shakespeare "Our business will be closed today to ensure the safety and security of our team and our customers. "As an Australian business with Australian and international employees, we believe in freedom of speech. Bullying and threatening behaviour, however, is against the moral fabric of the society we love." The post also took the opportunity to defend the restaurant's name, pointing out it is not the only business in Australia registered under that name. "We are, and have always been, fully conscious that the brand Uncle Ho would be sensitive. It is not, for the record, the first or only business in Australia bearing such a name," the post said.

An instagram post from Uncle Ho in Fortitude Valley "Our company is an Australian company, the business name approved and registered with the Australian Government as a legal trading name without question or query." A search of ASIC's business name register showed two other cancelled records for businesses bearing a similar name. The post, signed off by the restaurant's owner Anna Demirbek, claims that staff and diners from Vietnam have never found the name offensive.

"We employ many Australians. We have employed many Vietnamese nationals as well, who find no offence in the brandname (sic)," the post said. "Similarly we have had many Vietnamese Immigrants dine at the venue already, who have loved everything about our quality of food, beer and the venue. They too have commented that the brandname is inoffensive to them (sic)." The restaurant has only been open for 17 days and offers a casual street-food style Vietnamese beer cafe (bai ho) experience. On Sunday more than 100 members of Brisbane's Vietnamese community gathered to protest the usage of Ho Chi Minh's name in such a way.

Earlier



A Vietnamese-inspired restaurant in Brisbane has provoked outrage within the local Vietnamese community over its name. Uncle Ho, which sits on East Street just off Ann Street, draws its name from communist dictator Ho Chi Minh, and members of the local Vietnamese said they are disgusted by the decision to pay tribute to him. "The caucasian owners have named it after a dictator whose communist regime is what Australia fought against during the Vietnam War​," Jade Pham told Fairfax Media. "I am outraged by the lack of respect for history and the people it affects​ in Australia​ to this day." Millions fled Vietnam in the 60s and 70s as a result of Ho Chi Minh's brutal dictatorship, including Ms Pham's father who fought against the Viet Cong and was a prisoner of war under the regime.

"Seeing 'Uncle Ho' so lightly thrown around is like a slap in the face, adding insult to injury," she said. "My dad risked his life fleeing on a boat so my siblings and I could have a better chance at life in fair Australia." The restaurant has used images of the dictator in some of its marketing material. Fairfax Media has approached the restaurant owners for comment. Members of Brisbane's Vietnamese community have organised a protest for the corner of Wickham and East Street on Sunday at 11am.