WASHINGTON, June 28 (Bernama) -- Overseas Vietnamese, who fled the communist regime after the fall of Saigon in 1975 in boats or "the Boat People" as they were called, are pleading to the Malaysian government not to destroy the memorial they set up on Pulau Bidong in Terengganu to commemorate their comrades who perished in their quest for freedom.
Derrick Nguyen, 41, who arrived in Pulau Bidong in 1980 with just his shirt on his back, and now a Civil Litigation lawyer in Los Angeles, California, said, "the Vietnamese government pressured the Indonesian government to destroy the memorial set up in Pulau Galang, which they did, and now they are pressuring the Malaysian government to do the same with Bidong."
Malaysian Tourism Minister, Datuk Leo Michael Toyad, at a press conference to promote Malaysia in the US, said in Los Angeles that the Malaysian government were "good friends with the Vietnamese government" and "would look for a solution."
About 850,000 people died on their voyages in little boats while traversing the South China Sea in the 70's and 80's in search of refuge after South Vietnam capitulated to North Vietnam, which marked the end of Vietnam War in 1975. |