Ex-refugees hold prayers, Vietnamese group remembers dead countrymen
BY K. SUTHAKARPULAU REDANG: “Thank you so much - we would not have been alive today if not for the generosity of the Malaysian Government and its people.”
These were the kind words uttered with deep emotion by former Vietnamese refugees here who went on to resettle in the United States.
One of them is Kathleen Nguyen, 38, the chief executive officer of Little Saigon Radio in California, who stayed for four months in Pulau Tenggol, Dungun, in 1980.
“It is an emotional trip now ... I owe my success to Malaysians,” said Nguyen, who acquired the radio station six years ago.
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PRAYERS FOR THE DEAD: Chief Monk Thich Giac Nhien chanting and throwing flowers into the sea in Pulau Redang near Kuala Terengganu Sunday. |
About 30 Buddhist monks, who were mostly former refugees themselves, conducted the prayers in two boats.
Relating her ordeal, Nguyen said her mother, sister and her fled Saigon on a boat with 53 people.
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Nguyen: Fled Saigon in a boat with 53 people. |
“The authorities gave us food and water and told us they would take us to an island for refugees.
“Our boat was pulled to the high seas and we were abandoned as they didn’t want us,” she said.
Another thankful former refugee is Ngoc Tran, 55, a former helicopter pilot in the then South Vietnam air force.
He was detained in April 1975 after Saigon fell to the invading Vietcong army. Tran was subsequently jailed for seven years.
After his release, he left in a 7m boat carrying 54 people, which landed in Merang in February 1984.
“We were exhausted after the seven-day trip as our supplies had run out within two days. It was the local fishermen who gave us food and water,” he said.
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