Since moving to the Upper Hunter in 2012 Harmony Day has become so much more important to Truong Vu Nguyen and his family as he loves to share his culture and learn about others.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
With Saturday being Harmony Day, Mr Vu Nguyen was happy to share his story with The Scone Advocate as he believes every day should be a day of sharing and cultural integration.
Truong is an Australian citizen and he now lives in Murrurundi with his wife Lucy and their two children, Anastasia, three, and Francis, one.
The young couple moved to the Upper Hunter about three years ago when Mr Vu Nguyen accepted a position as assets and geographical information systems officer at the Upper Hunter Shire Council.
After living in Scone for a short time, they bought their home at Murrurundi and love being part of the community where Truong now cooks Vietnamese inspired food for the Murra County Pop-up dinners, which provide a free cultural meal to people who may not get out a lot and allow them to enjoy others company.
Truong was born in a refugee camp on the coast of the Gulf of Thailand, however he only lived there for just over a year before his father, mother, sister and himself came to Australia on a boat 29 years ago.
Mr Vu Nguyen (Snr) was a Vietnam veteran, and Truong said as everyone that fought for South Vietnam were forced to leave the country, they had to leave.
“Dad was sponsored to go to America, but his cousin had moved to Australia and told him how good the country was and the similarity of the climate to their home land, so he decided to wait and come to Australia,” he said.
As a young boy, Truong grew up at Villawood and was educated a Fairfield in West Sydney before university.
Truong said Harmony Day has become more important to him after moving to the country.
“When you’re living in Western Sydney, everyone is from a different culture, whereas in the country you can promote the good side of your culture.
“To me, Harmony Day is about showing the best of my culture and a big part of Vietnamese culture is food,” Truong said.
“I think the more you open up about your culture the better, as everyone has a different story and if you be frank and nice, others are the same.
“I’m pretty proud of where I came from, and now I come from Murrurundi, so it’s home now,” he said.
Truong said he has lived all over Australia, including up north and out west at Geraldton, however he is yet to experience any racism.