HELEN HUYNH

I was brought upon the project disguised as a writer, but the grim reality was far more complex than that. You see, my true role in Children of the Dragon was more as a secret agent. My work involved the gathering of intelligence as well as the channelling of peoples’ energies into what we shall just call The Script.

Employing sophisticated, state-of-art technology imported directly from China, our Bic pens documented the outrageous ideas flowing out of peoples’ bodies and brains through the workshops, which were facilitated by the suave and always stylish Mr. Huu Tran, Mr. Tony Le-Nguyen, Mr. Kha Tran, Mr. Phong Nguyen and Mr. Dung Nguyen.

The participants honestly had no idea what hit them. Huu, I must say, did a marvellous job pacifying them in between harmless games of indoor soccer and improvisation. Harmless, or so they thought. Gradually their barriers of self doubt and restraint started collapsing around them. We pursued this process in a ruthless fashion, until all poisonous “I-can’t-act” and “I’ve-never-done-this-before” thoughts were collectively purged from their systems. I do not think for a moment that, at the outset, anybody had contemplated themselves on stage in mid-November. Seemingly, they were all there for the soccer… Fools!

*diabolical laughter*

On a serious note though, this work, which will be tenderly dubbed Children of the Dragon for now, in case it gets into the wrong hands, serves as an important memoir for the Vietnamese-Australian community, as well as a reminder to the second generation of their cultural heritage. At no other point in history would there be such a marked gap between two consecutive generations, the former brought up in Vietnam and the latter brought up in Australia. For us as the second generation, we have no conception of the Vietnam War or the ensuing refugee experience. This project sought to bridge that immense but not insurmountable gap.

Prospective generations will surely look back in retrospect and compare their boringly peaceful existences with this period of great change and uncertainty. We, here and now, are living out one of the most dynamic and exciting phases in Vietnamese-Australian history. I think the participants have come around to realising this, and certainly we have all emerged with a greater understanding about what it means to be Vietnamese-Australian.

I hope that, through my particular contribution to this project, I have somehow made a difference to this corner of the world, which contains all the fantastic people in it that I know. I believe, with fervour and great passion, that there is yet much more that we can still offer to the wider community. But for what has been offered to us, however, we will walk away with a lifetime of cherished memories and friendships. I thank everybody for that, including all the wonderful people who have come to support us on the night. Thank you all again, and may the future be truly bright and good.