Do also tells about almost not being allowed into a venue where he had been booked to do a stand-up comedy routine the security guard did not want to allow him into the club, announcing, ‘We don’t really like your types in here’ (p.
104) and the racist comments from the opposing football team: ‘I’m going to smash the gook’ (p. Do does not dwell on such experiences, but he does provide brief glimpses, such as when he explains the racism of his Year 9 history teacher (p. Unfortunately, some Vietnamese arrivals were the victims of the xenophobia of some Australians, who were racist, prejudiced and abusive. Until the arrival of Vietnamese people, Asian families living in Australia had not been common, due to the White Australia Policy not being abolished until 1973 and the introduction of the Racial Discrimination Act 1975 which aimed to “promote equality before the law for all persons, regardless of their race, colour or national or ethnic origin, and make discrimination against people on the basis of their race, colour, descent or national or ethnic origin unlawful.” Given the family’s hardships, Do recounts of his family’s exigent experiences, including some encounters with racism. This quote shows astounding bravery from Do’s father as he could potentially have been sentenced to death if he was caught. Do describes, “My father walked my uncles out of the camp, right out the front gate” (pg. This was shown by Anh’s father when he dressed up as a high- ranking communist officer at a re-education camp and freed his two brothers despite putting himself at risk of extreme danger. Moreover, the experiences of a Vietnamese refugee brought many traits that Do describes, one of which was bravery.
The United Nations’ 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees defines a refugee as someone who has a “well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion.”
The huge number of refugees in this period caused the international community to define refugees. One of the largest waves of migrants to Australia was immediately after World War II. Anh Do’s The Happiest Refugee tells of one Vietnamese family’s terrifying boat journey, the turbulent family history, traumatised adolescence, impoverished teenage years, a boisterous account of an unconventional career and, against all odds, a happy life.
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