Item MM 148697 Digital Photograph - Cuc Lam Outside Temple, Tay Ninh, Vietnam, 1970s

Summary

Digital photograph of Cuc Lam outside a temple in Tay Ninh, Vietnam during the early 1970s. Cuc and Minh fled Vietnam in 1978 as part of a massive emigration after the end of the Vietnam War and migrated to Melbourne.

Description of Content

Woman with long black hair standing with shrubbery in background.

Physical Description

Digital photograph

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.