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Tag: boat people

Gone off the rails

June 28, 2026 / / 0 Comments

by Trần Trung Tín

Entering the Unknown

As one of the ‘Boat People’ escaping communism in Vietnam, I spent a year in a refugee camp on Galang Island, Indonesia, before departing for resettlement in November 1982. Back then, I intended to hit the ground running as soon as I got to the U.S. But when I boarded the plane, the pilot was speaking over the intercom about all sorts of things in English. I strained to listen, but the only phrase I could catch was: ‘Fasten your seat belts.’ Right then, I got a sinking feeling. I realized that if I couldn’t even understand a standard flight announcement before we had even taken off, my goal to start working had officially ‘gone off the rails!‘

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Pair of Eyes

August 21, 2025 / / 10 Comments

In honor of the forever unforgotten souls who suffered through the Vietnam War — and to my daughter, Trần Thy Patricia.

May this story, drawn from my life, illuminate the blessings around us and inspire gratitude.

April 2025 — Fifty years after the fall of Saigon
-Trần Trung Tín

The Unfinished Art

In the 1960s, a Vietnamese student was sent by his family to France to study architecture. After a year of dedicated study, he realized that his true passion lay not in architecture — but in painting.

He knew all too well that if he wanted to pursue a subject his father disapproved of, he would have to do it on his own. His best option was to apply to an art school that offered full scholarships.

To be admitted, he needed to submit an application and pass the entrance exam.

That year, the exam was a nude drawing, with a young model posed artfully in the flower garden behind the school.

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