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My presence here today started with the kindness and generosity of the Australian people, true to the spirit of our nation’s anthem:
“For those who've come across the seas
We've boundless plains to share,
With courage let us all combine
To advance Australia fair”
I am standing here today to deliver my first speech in this Chamber. My journey to Parliament has been long and winding. To truly understand a person, one must dig deep and learn his or her journey rather than his or her destination. And so I beg your indulgence.
Before coming to Australia, life was all about survival for my family. My parents escaped from the communist held North Vietnam and fled to South Vietnam in an act of survival and to live a life without fear. They both joined a paratrooper division in the Republic of South Vietnam’s Military, where they met. This was before conscription, mind you. They felt so strongly about protecting freedom that they volunteered to enlist. More so remarkable for a woman in that era to voluntarily join such an elite and dangerous unit.
I was their first child, and in what seemed to be a continuation of horrid luck for my parents – I was diagnosed with a critical illness.
They prepared to sell whatever they had and do whatever it took to cure me. All of the biggest hospitals in Saigon refused to take a chance on what was seen as a hopeless case. Except one. Except one French hospital, perhaps out of mercy or an intrigue to experiment on an unusual illness.
On the day of the operation, without money for a cab ride, my parents walked kilometres with me, a baby, in their arms. They arrived at the hospital only to learn that the operation was cancelled so that the surgeons could celebrate the coming Christmas.
As fate had it, the relative of another patient overheard the conversation and suggested to my parents to try a doctor specialising in herbal medicine. Out of desperation, my parents sought out the doctor, thanks to whom I survived, without any surgery.
As a child I went to bed not with the harmonies of lullabies, but amidst the sound of explosions from artillery and bombs. I was mostly fed not on the milk of my mother, who was often away on missions, but with sweetened condensed milk bought from army
supplies.
In my childhood, I witnessed the violence and atrocities of the war around me. Death and destruction felled upon so many around me that soon I perceived everything from the shudder of explosions, and the echoes of gunfire as lesser than extraordinary, and rather, as simply ‘ordinary’.
Then 1975 came. The communists took over South Vietnam. But the war did not end there. The victors opened up another front on the people of the South. They sent hundreds of thousands to the so-called “re-education camps” in the most remote corners of the country.
There were no sentenced terms, the detained had to stay in the camp until deemed sufficiently re-educated at the pleasure and mercy of the authorities.
Some were there for decades. Many did not survive. To this day countless bodies have never been found.
Meanwhile, their families were not spared either. They were stripped of their livelihood, their houses confiscated and the people sent to new-economic zones to endure hardship. Education and employment were dished out based on personal history, the history not just of oneself but of one’s three generations. Opportunities were reserved only for Party
members and their families.
It was a realisation of Orwell’s world: “All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.”
We simply had to find a way to escape Vietnam by whatever means for a life of freedom, a life without oppression and fear. We tried so many times. All failed.
On two occasions, out of despair and desperation, we tried a petrol tanker with a tank of about 8 metres long and 2 metres high, divided into three chambers. We planned to drive the tanker into the sea and float the tank as a vessel with a fitted an engine and propeller to the end chamber. The daring escape did not eventuate. The tanker did not make it to the waters, as it became bogged down in the sand. It may still be on display today somewhere in Central Vietnam.
On another occasion, a boat capsized with more than 30 of my close relatives on board. Most did not make it.
In the end, we split up and I boarded a small boat only 13 metres long and 4 metres wide together with 107 other souls. We endured five days and five nights at sea with very little food and water. Each person received about two canteen capfuls of water per day. To further exasperate matters, we were attacked by pirates not once but twice. Not short of a miracle, we somehow made it to the shores of Malaysia.
Yet we were the lucky few. Others have gone through unimaginably horrendous stories. Many perished at sea because of starvation, of thirst, or by the hand of pirates. There is no way to know the exact number of those who died. Some estimates put it at hundreds of thousands of men, women and children.
“Those are the deaths I will live for”, so I vowed to myself. Years later I had the chance to dedicate my PhD thesis at the University of Edinburgh “To my parents, my teachers and to my high seas companions –the Boat People.”
The Australian’s came to the Malaysian refugee camp, took us in on humanitarian grounds and gave us safe passage to Brisbane in 1980.
When I first arrived in Australia, I could not believe that there could exist such a humane society outside of fairy tales. Opportunities were abundant, and I took them with open arms.
Starting right away I took a job as a labourer working with asbestos for some time before barging my way into the University of Queensland, where I was awarded the University Gold Medal upon graduation. The Commonwealth Scholarship and Fellowship Plan then took me to the University of Edinburgh for my PhD studies.
After that I spent three years as a research fellow at the University of Oxford before returning to Australia to take up a fellowship at the University of Melbourne in 1991. Then a position at the CSIRO, professorial fellowships at Swinburne University of Technology and Melbourne University.
My mathematical background has also afforded me the opportunity to dabble in financial algorithmic trading, in data science and artificial intelligence.
Science has been my passion and still is one of the loves of my life. Science is full of wonders and order, the kind of orderliness that I often sought refuge in during my teenage years in Saigon. Science was an escapism to get away from the surrounding chaos and cruelty.
Science has taken me to many magnificent institutions around the globe –as a Fulbright Scholar at Columbia University, to visiting scientist at MIT and Princeton Institute for Advanced Study. I have made many life-long friends in the scientific circles. I have had my fair share of discoveries, and of course controversies.
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Given that background, I am very much interested in science issues and policies for our State.
Australia is often regarded as a lucky country with abundant raw resources. But in our time and age, we have to compete in an environment of increasingly sophisticated science, technology and innovation. The low-hanging fruits have been harvested. Genetic engineering, data science and artificial intelligence, to name a few, are now crucial for new
economic growth.
Quantum computers, quantum algorithms and quantum technologies in general are advancing at great speed thanks to large investments in advanced economies. They will be paying huge dividends in not too far a future, if not already, in creating new applications and markets.
Science and technology have been impacting many aspects of our lives, our living standards, our culture and even social justice. Advances in renewable energy technologies and extreme climate management, in particular, will be coming from scientific research and technological breakthroughs.
Science and technology together co-evolve in a symbiotic manner. Victoria leads not only the nation but also the world in some fields of scientific research. We need to nurture and expand our scientific advantage. Research and development is expensive but it is not only an investment in our state, but the world itself.
The Victorian Labor governments over the last two decades have invested heavily in R&D which has given our state undeniable advantages in scientific advancement, but we could always do more or shift our resources to suitably targeted areas as the times in which we live in now present global catastrophes as a commonplace concern rather than a rarity.
Our own supply of skills in science and technology is in serious shortage. The trend indicates a steady decline in the number of young people having an interest in the subjects of STEM – science, technology, engineering and mathematics. To arrest the decline we need to start with high school students, if not younger. We need to encourage more participation in STEM as subjects of excitement and intrigue as well as of relevance and for all genders.
As a person driven to science at a relatively young age thanks to the influence of my teachers, I appreciate very much their role in guiding and imparting not only their knowledge but also their passion to students. I will fight to have more teachers not only given the resources to become highly skilled in educating students in the field of STEM, but also ;to foster a climate where their passion and interest is undeniably contagious to their students.
Furthermore, another pursuit that I have endeavoured upon pertains to the importance of multiculturalism. In our state of Victoria, nearly 50% were born overseas or have at least one parent born overseas. The South Eastern Metropolitan Region that I represent is the most culturally and linguistically diverse region of Victoria, with people coming from 160 ethnic groups and nationalities; and more than 200 languages spoken. Springvale, in particular, boasts a diverse populace, where more than 70% of people were born outside Australia. The City of Greater Dandenong is the most multicultural and multi-faith place on
earth.
But such a success does not just happen by chance. It demands the deep commitment of all the people involved. It requires the unity in common values of liberty, justice and equality of opportunity.
“Our workforce and our entire economy are strongest when we embrace diversity to its fullest, and that means opening doors of opportunity to everyone,” as Tom Perez put it.
Labor acknowledges that migration promotes significant long term social and economic benefits to our society. Labor welcomes migrants into our community - including many who come as refugees or people seeking asylum.
Labor understands the need to raise awareness of the benefits of a vibrant and tolerant community that balances cultural identity with the need to recognise and respect the beliefs of others.
Victorian Labor Government’s multicultural policy with its supporting campaign “Victorian. And proud of it” has reaffirmed our government’s commitment to the ideals of multiculturalism and continued to provide a positive way forward for maintaining our strong and socially inclusive society.
We too must remember that the cultures that make up a multicultural society have their own needs. Take the Indochinese community as an example, many young people came to these shores escaping their war torn countries of Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos in the 70’s and 80’s. They have worked hard and contributed extensively to their family, community and country. Now, more than 40 years later, they and their parents are reaching the stage of their lives where care, whether it is home care, residential care or health care in general, is needed.
Aged care is a growing problem of demand and supply for our society, as our population is ageing fast, particularly with the baby-boomer generation. And more so for the ethnospecific aged care requirements. The care provided must be appropriate to their culture, religion, language and dietary needs. This will ensure that both their welfare and dignity are
cared for.
The Andrews Labor Government already has long-term plans and investment commitments to support ethno-specific aged care. But with the coming wave of care requirements for the post 1975 refugees from Indochina, further consideration and planning will be needed urgently.
Above mentioned are some areas of my passionate interests, and I look forward to working with the concerned ministers and all parliamentary members to make further progress in these domains.
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The Buddha has taught us that gratitude is necessary for integrity.
Today is the second day of the Lunar New Year of the Pig. It is, in our custom and tradition, the occasion to pay respect to our ancestors on this day; and I would like to add to that those who fought and died or are still fighting for freedom and for basic rights for humans.
I am beholden to my parents for all the sacrifices they have made. I am grateful to all my teachers and mentors who have shown me the possibilities, turning a sometimes wayward boy to the person I am. I am a better person thanks to you in no small part.
I simply cannot name all the individuals who have helped me. But I want to specifically thank Hung Tran, Loi Truong, Trung Doan, Tuan Dao, Hung Doan, Kim Doan, Daniel Mulino, Anthony Byrne, Adem Somyurek, Ben Davis, Steve Michelson, Declan Williams, and especially Luke Donnellan for introducing and unflinchingly supporting me in my political endeavours and for their instrumental help for my campaign.
I also want to acknowledge the help from the Australian Workers’ Union, the community, the supporters, volunteers, and my friends, of whom many are here today in the Gallery.
Thank you. I am so glad that our paths have crossed. Words are insufficient to express my debt and gratitude to my wife of 39 years for everything, from giving up her food ration in the refugee camp to feed an exhausted and hungry husband to sharing with me all the burdens and hardships that life has thrown at us. Without her love, encouragement, support and understanding I would not be where I am today.
To my beloved daughters, I am proud of you.
I am honoured to be a part of the Labor movement, it is unflinching in its elevation of inclusiveness, progressiveness and the right for everyone to find opportunity equally.
I have participated in social and community activities for nearly my entire life. From volunteering during my student days to eventually founding multiple volunteer media organisations, some lasting over 20 years. My participation in politics at this stage of my life, even though I have never dare to dream or believed it was possible when first setting
foot in Australia, is yet another attempt to repay this country.
I am humbled to be elected and I take with utmost seriousness my responsibility, for the community as well as for my constituency, who has bestowed upon me the great honour and privilege to serve.
I have had a second life full of possibility, all thanks to Australia. For that I am eternally grateful. I owe this country an unrepayable debt. All I can do is try to reduce that debt, and I assure you that I will do my best.
