I read this historical fiction to my kids as part of our study on communism in Asia.
A grandfather and his two grandchildren, Mai and Loc, whom he had cared for after their own parents died, lived in a remote village on the farthest point of South Vietnam. The Vietnam War had ended and the communist government had moved into the South, though it had taken some time to get into this particular area.
The day the government officials made their way into the village, it was apparent they meant to make changes immediately, instituting the confiscation of half of everything the villagers manufactured, produced, sold, or caught from the sea. If one did not agree or comply, he must attend a re-education camp. That is precisely why they intended to take Grandfather since he knew too much already.
However, before the officials could take him away, Kien (his adopted teen grandson), along with Mai and Loc, encouraged him to escape by way of the village fishing boat, Sea Breeze. Only Grandfather knew how to navigate the stars at night and the sun by day. With his knowledge and Kien's fishing skill, they could make it to Thailand. With very little food or supplies, they evaded the officials and headed west, hopeful to make a temporary home elsewhere with the promise to return to Vietnam in the future.
They became known as the Boat People.
It is estimated between 800,000 to two million South Vietnamese escaped between 1975 to 1995. They fled to Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Indonesia. Some were turned away and countless died at sea.
Why did people flee Vietnam after the Vietnam War? Because communism is incessant and promises only hell on earth. The South Vietnamese feared retaliation, re-education (brainwashing), and imprisonment (torture). They would rather face death on the open sea -- dehydration, starvation, sharks, storms, and shipwreck -- than fall into the hands of an ideology that is cruel, wicked, and inhumane.
While I was reading this book, I was sure it was a true story, but it is not. At best, it is an historical fiction. Sadly, Vietnam still embraces Marxist/Leninist ideologies and is governed by only Communists, but today it is considered to be a Socialist Republic. I do not know much more about what it is like to live there now and I wonder if any Boat People returned to Vietnam, like Grandfather had hoped to.
Grandfather had never made it back to Vietnam. And he never got to see his grandchildren rescued at sea.
* * *
No comments:
Post a Comment
Share your thoughts...