Dr. Tristan Nguyen- PFAC Palawan Son
"I'd
like
to convey my deepest gratitude to all PFAC teachers and international volunteers. They are heroes of the
modern world. They deserve all our love and respect. God bless all of
them."
Andrew: Good
morning Ladies and Gentlemen! I'm
sitting here with Tristan Nguyen, who flew all the way to Palawan from Munich,
Germany to take part in our amazing, wonderful, emotional 2015 PFAC Palawan
Grand Reunion. Tell us, Tristan... when
exactly did you come to the refugee camp and when did you leave?
Tristan: I
arrived in PFAC Palawan in May 1985 and I stayed in the camp for a little over
six months.
Andrew: So you
stayed here for over six months? And where
did you resettle?
Tristan:
Munich, Germany!
Andrew:
Munich! Wow. Munich is a beautiful city. And so when you resettled in Germany what was
your next step?
Tristan: I went
to a language school to learn German.
Andrew: Right. When you look back to your time in the refugee camp, what do you remember most?
Tristan: I
remember the highly dedicated teachers who taught me English. They were very kind to me. I remember you Andrew, who used to come to
our billet every Saturday to give us free English pronunciation and vocabulary
lessons. I remember the beautiful beach,
the domestic airport and the tears from the eyes of my countrymen as they said
good bye to friends and volunteers in the camp. I also remember the mini
cinemas in the camp where we used to watch Vietnamese and American movies.
Andrew: Oh yeah? What
exactly do you do in Germany? What's your
profession?
Tristan: I'm a
university professor for economics and finance.
Andrew: That's
amazing. If the refugee camp were still
open today, do you think you would go back and work as a volunteer? Why and why not?
Tristan: It's a really
difficult question to answer. Well, of
course I would spend some months to help my compatriots. But sometimes I think
it's really hard to come here because I have my private life in Germany. The
reason why I really admire the former volunteer teachers and international
volunteers for coming here to help the refugees is because it's not easy to do
what they did for the refugees but they did it with all their hearts.
Andrew: You're
absolutely right. Please name three people who
had touched your life during your stay in the camp?
Tristan: I think
I remember Jane, I think she was from Scotland.
Andrew: Jane's
from England.
Tristan: Oh, she's
from England? Hmmm. Well, the one thing I remember about Jane is
her blond hair. Yeah. Jane has blond hair and I like blond
hair. The second one I remember is Boy.
I don't really remember his real name but we just call him Boy. I'm very happy that he is here with us. And last but not least is Andy. I remember he used to sing "Hello, is it me your looking
for?" At that time I didn't
understand English very well. And when
he sang, "And in my dreams I've
kissed your lips a thousand time", I thought I heard "slip"
instead of "lips".
Andrew : That's
hilarious. Tristan, many Vietnamese have
chosen to resettle in the United States, Canada, Australia, Switzerland or France. Why did you decide to
immigrate to Germany?
Tristan: In my
case it was not a choice; it was destiny.
My father was rescued by a German ship and was resettled in Germany many
years before I came to the camp. That's
the reason why I came to Germany... to be reunited with my father.
Andrew: Oh I
see. Do you have any regrets about going
to Germany?
Tristan: Oh I love Germany and I'm extremely proud to be a German citizen. Germany is my country and I have
no regrets. Not at all. As I said, it
was destiny. In the beginning it was
hard for me to learn the culture and language but five years after I came to
Germany I got used to the German culture and society.
Andrew: Do you
have any message to the former teachers and volunteers in the camp who gave up
their precious times in order to help the Vietnamese refugees?
Tristan: I'd
like to convey my deepest gratitude to all of them. They are heroes of the modern world. They deserve all our love and respect. God bless all of them.
Andrew: How do
you feel being a part of this beautiful and touching PFAC Palawan Grand
Reunion?
Tristan: I'm
extremely happy and at the same time very emotional to see all the people and
some of the teachers again after so many years.
Andrew: I know
how you feel. Okay, Tristan, thank you
very much for sharing your heart with us.
Good luck to you. Continue to
shine. You are an asset to the
Philippines, to Vietnam, to Germany and to the world in general. I hope you can
join us again in our future reunions.
Tristan: You will definitely see me again. No doubt
about it.
Tristan in PFAC Palawan in 1985 with his family and friends. This picture was photographed by Andrew Taylor.
OOOOO
