Abstract: activities of ex-patriate Vietnamese who have travelled back to the homeland: ba Trinh's shots of family reunions, family dinners, family picnics, the urns of parents, old friends, familiar places, tourist attractions and shopping expeditions summarized a typical returnee's itinerary. Like most Vietkieu ('overseas Vietnamese') who left their homeland as adults, ba Trinh and Ong Minh enjoyed their return visit. Ong Minh, a boat person who has lived in New Zealand since 1985, was particularly enthusiastic. Vietnam was home, that was where his familywas,�andeightweeksfartooshortastay.�Butclearlythereweredefinite� tensions for returning Vietkieu. As we looked through the photos it was evident thatNewZealand-VietnameselikeBaTrinhandOngMinhwalkedafineline� when they returned 'home'. There was a pressure to appear successful, but boastfulness was not appropriate; Vietkieushould be generous, but retain their modesty; shopping was a must, but be careful that shopkeepers do not know you are Vietkieu — they will hike up the price. I gathered that the couple had developed their own tao of return migration. On the one hand this involved acts of considerable generosity to friends and family, among whom they distributed money and gifts, including more than 12 kilograms of New Zealand chocolate. Equally important was an unassuming manner.�LeafingthroughthephotoalbumBaTrinhpointedouthowshehad� deliberately dressed like a Vietnamese — and not a Vietkieu. She said that Viet� kieuhaveamixedreputationinVietnam,�andshedidnotwishtoconfirmorbe� subject to negative stereotypes. Large numbers of New Zealand's adult Vietkieu have returned to Vietnam in the last decade. Their travels are possible because of a political turnabout by theVietnameseStateanditserstwhilecitizens.�Until�1986,�refugeeslikeOng� Minh had been barred from return. The Vietnamese Communist Party (VCP) regarded boat people as traitors. Many refugees, in turn, were emphatic that they would not go 'home' until the communist regime was deposed. but in the late 1980s, as this ostensibly socialist nation's monetary policy swung to the right, officialassessmentsofrefugeessoftened.�Inabidtoattractoverseascapital,�the� VCP's DoiMoi�(literally 'renovation') reforms opened the way for the return migration of the former boat people. In the dozen years since refugee homecomings became normal, a web of political,�financialandemotionalsensibilitieshaswovenitswaythroughreturn� migration experiences. As ba Trinh's comportment in Vietnam suggests, returning embroils Vietkieu and homelanders in issues of belonging and difference. In fact, for most Vietnamese in New Zealand (and throughout the West), the tensions of belonging and difference were the hallmark of 'going home'. Throughout the 1990s, at the same time as the relationships between Vietnam and countries of
Publication Year: 2003
Publication Date: 2003-01-01
Language: en
Type: article
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Cited By Count: 1
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