Vietnamese community needs $2M for museum

By Josh McJannett

Members of Ottawa’s Vietnamese community plan to launch a $2-million fundraising campaign later this year to establish a permanent museum dedicated to the Vietnamese Boat People in Canada.

“The Boat People are a great example of how (Canada) has helped people in need,” says Diep Trinh, executive director for the Vietnamese Canadian Federation. “This is something that needs to be showcased. We’re not worried about raising the money, if you have a good cause people will contribute.”

The federation plans to launch a fundraising campaign by July among its 150,000 members across Canada. The campaign may eventually also solicit support from governments and the private sector.

Organizers are confident there is significant support for the idea among the Vietnamese community and meeting fundraising targets will not be difficult.

Trinh says he hopes the museum will double as a community centre complete with conference rooms and meeting halls to ensure the site’s long-term viability.

The project will likely house a collection of artifacts, photographs, newspaper clippings, personal accounts and even an authentic small boat used by fleeing refugees.

“Any group that can promote Canadian history by preserving their past and invite other Canadians to participate in their culture and their history will facilitate greater cultural understanding,” says Ban Seng Hoe, curator of Asian Canadian studies at the Canadian Museum of Civilization. “This (proposal) fits in that kind of an effort to promote intercultural understanding.”

In 1998, the Museum of Civilization hosted an exhibit called “Boat People No Longer,” highlighting the experiences of South Asian refugees in Canada and the compassionate response of the Canadian public. He says he supports plans to establish a permanent exhibit in Ottawa.

Organizers say the museum will honour and preserve the memory of thousands of Vietnamese refugees who fled to Canada by boat throughout the 1970s when South Vietnam fell to the Communists.

While the idea to establish a permanent collection was first discussed in 1995 following the unveiling of the “Refugee Mother and Child” monument at the corner of Preston and Somerset streets, Trinh says organizers are more determined than ever to see the project realized.

The renewed determination follows a large turnout and critical acclaim for a smaller exhibit at the Plant Recreation Centre last year celebrating the 25th anniversary of Project 4000, a local initiative which brought more than 4,000 Vietnamese refugees to the Ottawa area at the height of the South Asian exodus in 1979.

“(The exhibit) was a big draw for the local Vietnamese community,” says Colleen Koza, facility manager at the centre. “The pieces that were brought in and the things they had on display as exhibition pieces were outstanding, they certainly have value as (permanent) museum pieces.”

While a site for the museum has yet to be selected, Trinh says Centretown would be an ideal location because of the role the area played in accepting refugees and because of the large Vietnamese population that remain.

He says he hopes a permanent exhibit and cultural community centre will help future generations of Vietnamese-Canadians better understand their heritage and will serve as a reminder to all Canadians of the extraordinary experience of more than 160,000 south Asian refugees who began new lives in Canada.