Summary

Electoral card for Cuc Lam (Tran Thi Cuc), issued in Vietnam in 1977. This type of card was standard issue in Vietnam after the fall of Saigon in 1975. These cards, replaced the identity cards, used by the previous government. Cuc brought the card with her when she fled Vietnam in May 1978. After their escape from Vietnam, Cuc and her husband spent several weeks in a refugee camp in Malaysia before being granted refugee status by the Australian Government.

Physical Description

Cream card with blue print, red stamps and blue ink details filled in. Details recorded in Vietnamese: city, municipality, district number, voting location, name, age, male/female, ethnicity, address. Stamp 'Da Bau 15-05-1977 records voting date.

Significance

Statement of Historical Significance:
This collection demonstrates the risk and desperation involved in the refugee experience. It is extremely rare to acquire objects from refugees, as by the very nature of the experience, people carry little if anything with them, and what they do is usually lost or thrown away. It helps tell the story of Vietnamese immigration, which has played a significant part in the history of immigration to Australia, and assists in representing the period post 1975, when Australia's new political and social policies of multiculturalism were being implemented. This collection also provides further insights into life in one of Melbourne's principal migrant hostels - Midway in Maribyrnong. Finally the collection traces a life beyond the immediate refugee and settlement experience to demonstrate how migrants find their way in a new country, establish lives and assume leadership roles in their local communities.

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