Anh Do: The Happiest Refugee
Another significant refugee story is that of famous Vietnamese-Australian comedian Anh Do. Do and his family fled to Australia as refugees in 1980. In his 2010 autobiography, The Happiest Refugee, Do tells of how his family survived five days in a leaky fishing boat nine and a half metres long and two metres wide. During the trip his family and the rest of the passengers were attacked by two different bands of pirates. The Happiest Refugee has won many awards, including the 2011 Australian Book of the Year, Biography of the Year and Newcomer of the Year, as well as the Indie Book of the Year Award 2011, Non-fiction Indie Book of the Year 2011, and it was shortlisted for the 2011 NSW Premier's Literary Awards, Community Relations Commission Award.
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Anh Do’s The Happiest Refugee tells of one Vietnamese family’s terrifying boat journey, the turbulent family history, traumatised adolescence, impoverished teenage years, a boisterous account of an unconventional career and, against all odds, a happy life.
One of the largest waves of migrants to Australia was immediately after World War II. The huge number of refugees in this period caused the international community to define refugees. The United Nations’ 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees defines a refugee as someone who has a “well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion.” Moreover, the experiences of a Vietnamese refugee brought many traits that Do describes, one of which was bravery. This was shown by Anh’s father when he dressed up as a high- ranking communist officer at a re-education camp and freed his two brothers despite putting himself at risk of extreme danger. Do describes, “My father walked my uncles out of the camp, right out the front gate” (pg. 8). This quote shows astounding bravery from Do’s father as he could potentially have been sentenced to death if he was caught. Given the family’s hardships, Do recounts of his family’s exigent experiences, including some encounters with racism. Until the arrival of Vietnamese people, Asian families living in Australia had not been common, due to the White Australia Policy not being abolished until 1973 and the introduction of the Racial Discrimination Act 1975 which aimed to “promote equality before the law for all persons, regardless of their race, colour or national or ethnic origin, and make discrimination against people on the basis of their race, colour, descent or national or ethnic origin unlawful.” Unfortunately, some Vietnamese arrivals were the victims of the xenophobia of some Australians, who were racist, prejudiced and abusive. Do does not dwell on such experiences, but he does provide brief glimpses, such as when he explains the racism of his Year 9 history teacher (p. 104) and the racist comments from the opposing football team: ‘I’m going to smash the gook’ (p. 105). Do also tells about almost not being allowed into a venue where he had been booked to do a stand-up comedy routine; the security guard did not want to allow him into the club, announcing, ‘We don’t really like your types in here’ (p. 179). The Happiest Refugee aims to help the reader to understand other people and their lives. Reading about Do’s family—their sense of connection and support, their determination and hard work, and their heartfelt gratitude for the lives they now have—helps the reader to appreciate and recognise what is really important in life. Furthermore, kindness was one of the main character traits shown throughout the book. When Anh’s mother demonstrated this when she invited people to her home to live with her and her family offering kindness and helping others even if she wasn’t in the greatest position, such as when she says “Mum and Dad naturally seemed to attract these people... my mother would hear about people with nowhere to go and simply say ‘Send them to me’.” (pg. 45). This proves that she was kind as she knew how it felt to have nowhere to go so she let people stay with her. The way Anh’s mother lets other people into her home is an example of kindness demonstrated through Anh’s life. Another positive character trait that was demonstrated through Anh’s life in The Happiest Refugee was generosity. Two nuns from St Vincent de Paul demonstrated this when they gave the Do family bags of clothes free of charge when they first arrived to Australia with no money. “One of the first things that happened was two smiley nuns from St Vincent de Paul came and gave our family a huge garbage bag stuffed full of clothes. No charge. For free!” (pg. 28) This quote proves that Anh grew up around generous people throughout his childhood and it resulted in him being generous towards people. By the nuns giving their family clothes for free, shows a positive character trait that Anh grew up with. Therefore, The Happiest Refugee takes the reader into the world of a family that overcomes extreme adversity to come to Australia. Their difficulties are not over when they arrive, but their optimism, humour, resilience and gratitude are truly endearing. |