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SBS Australia
12-06-2025
- General
- SBS Australia
'Not just for me': Why Tam preserved 30 years of radio programs across 2,000 cassette tapes
A listener has preserved more than 30 years of SBS Vietnamese programs on over 2,000 cassette tapes, safeguarding cultural history for future generations. SBS has helped Vietnamese migrants navigate life in Australia since their arrival after the end of the Vietnam War 50 years ago. As SBS celebrates its 50th anniversary, young Australians are still tuning in to stay connected to their heritage. For more than 30 years, Tam Hanh has recorded and preserved more than 2,000 cassette tapes of SBS radio programs. Hanh said it offered her connection and comfort after coming to Australia as a refugee. "I remember when I first arrived in Australia, I would sit beside my Singer sewing machine every day, waiting for SBS Vietnamese radio," she recalled. "I placed over 10 tape recorders around my house to record my favourite programs. I was busy, and sometimes I couldn't listen carefully, so I recorded them to replay later. Over time, it became a habit. "There were also important programs I wanted to keep, such as those about Vietnamese history, the Vietnam War, or scientific advancements. That's how I started recording to preserve them for the future." Tam Hanh classifying her cassette tapes. Credit: SBS Vietnamese Hanh regards these cassettes as significant cultural keepsakes and a way to preserve the contributions of the Vietnamese community in Australia for the next generations. This was not just for me, it also helped others who couldn't tune in live. When I first came to Australia, my English was limited, so I had to learn as much as possible. Tam Hanh "Now, I see the significance of preserving these programs to help future generations understand the contributions of Vietnamese people to the community." Broadcasting in Vietnamese SBS expanded its programming to include the Vietnamese language in 1977. To this day, it serves as an important resource for many, fostering a connection to language and culture. In the years following the end of the Vietnam War in 1975, an estimated two million people fled to countries including the United States, Canada, France, and Australia, significantly growing Australia's Vietnamese community. The Australian Vietnamese Women's Association (AVWA), a community organisation serving the Vietnamese community since 1983, is led by Nicky Chung, who left Vietnam by boat and arrived in Australia in 1979. "SBS was easy to hear, easy to understand. We watched the news every night as a family. My dad always emphasised how important it was to have a trusted source of information so we could integrate faster and build a successful life in Australia," Chung said. Nicky Chung, CEO of the Australian Vietnamese Women's Association. Credit: SBS Vietnamese SBS services continue to provide practical guidance on areas like healthcare, employment, education, and legal matters, helping migrants and refugees transition smoothly into Australian society. "Broadcasting in Vietnamese and other languages shows Australia's commitment to multiculturalism. We are all seeking a sense of belonging, and SBS reaffirms that we are part of the Australian fabric, despite our displaced history," Chung said. Connecting communities: The role of SBS for new arrivals Khanh Tho arrived in Australia in 1986 after spending 11 years attempting to flee Vietnam and being repeatedly stopped by authorities. "Our small wooden boat, just 23 metres long and a little over 10 metres wide, carried 230 people. We endured seven days and nights adrift without an engine, battered by towering waves and fierce winds, as water flooded our boat," Tho said. "We had seven encounters with pirates, we suffered robbery, beatings, and assaults. The terror was indescribable as we watched our loved ones being taken. "Yet, on the afternoon of 10 December, 1987, a sudden storm arose, miraculously carrying our boat to shore in Pattani Province, Thailand." Khanh Tho is a Vietnamese language teacher and former principal of the Truong Vinh Ky language school. Credit: SBS Vietnamese Tho said the SBS Vietnamese program had played a vital role in helping herself and her family navigate life in Australia. "When we left our homeland, we never imagined that one day we would be able to listen to Vietnamese-language radio broadcasts, especially from a station funded by the Australian government," she said. "Every evening, we became loyal listeners of SBS, where we could stay updated with news from around the world, our homeland, and the Vietnamese-Australian community. SBS has played a vital role in strengthening emotional bonds and fostering understanding between generations, especially in families like ours, where grandparents, parents, and children live together under one roof. Khanh Tho "The programs are rich and diverse, address important social issues that parents and grandparents often struggle with due to language barriers and cultural differences, for example, understanding and supporting children who identify as LGBTIQ+." Tho, who has worked as a Vietnamese language teacher since 1987, said the SBS Vietnamese program was a key linguistic and cultural resource for her students. "As a teacher and a mentor, I always strive to enrich teaching and learning materials for both teachers and students, and SBS has been an invaluable resource," she said. "The station features clear pronunciation from announcers representing all three main Vietnamese accents — north, central, and south — as well as some speakers with a slight Australian accent." Tho said that recording segments of broadcasts on history, current events, and famous landmarks to incorporate into lessons had been a great way to keep students connected with what was happening around them and in the world. "Short educational and cultural videos, often shared by students themselves in Vietnamese, help them take pride in their heritage and identity," she added. Tho said SBS Vietnamese continued to be a pillar for the community, preserving language, culture, and the voices of those who had come before.
SBS Australia
11-06-2025
- General
- SBS Australia
Vietnamese radio fans celebrate SBS 50 anniversary
Ms Tam Hanh presses play on the cassette player, as SBS Vietnamese program plays. For more than 30 years, Ms Tam Hanh has recorded episodes of the SBS Vietnamese radio program. "Sometimes, I'm afraid that listening once isn't enough—that I might not fully understand everything the first time. Or there are so many valuable things, that I see our Vietnamese broadcasters, who know English, collecting and sharing with those who don't understand English." She says it gave her a connection to her homeland after coming to Australia in 1985, and a way to preserve the contributions of the Vietnamese community in Australia for the next generation. "I want to record them and share them with as many people as possible." SBS expanded its programming to include the Vietnamese language in 1977. To this day, it serves as an important resource for many, fostering a connection to language and culture. In the years following the end of the Vietnam War in 1975, its estimated two million people fled to countries including the United States, Canada, France and Australia. This significantly grew Australia's Vietnamese community. This is Nicky Chung, the CEO of the Australian Vietnamese Women's Association. "When we first arrived, there was a lot of isolation for new refugees and migrants. And I'm really grateful for the fact that my parents were able to stay connected with what was happening in Vietnam, in the world. When I spoke with my parents about our experience with SBS, it was very much about being able to have a very trusted media source." Khanh Tho arrived in Australia in the late 1980s after spending more than 10 years attempting to escape Vietnam. She was repeatedly stopped by authorities and even threatened by pirates, while fleeing by boat to seek refuge in Thailand. "We all said 'we are alive, thank God, we survived now'. We just have to believe it is a miracle and that we got the hand of God to help us, otherwise we can't be here." She says the SBS Vietnamese program played a big role in helping her and her family navigate life in Australia. "SBS just gives me the feeling that Australia is my second home, and it's place to belong to." Khanh Tho now works as a Vietnamese language teacher. She says the SBS Vietnamese program is a linguistic and cultural resource for her students.
CBC
31-05-2025
- General
- CBC
This man can't return to his homeland of Vietnam. Still, he's proud of his heritage
Fifty years after the fall of Saigon, Dong Van Tran is grateful for the life he has in Canada. His journey to Saskatoon wasn't easy.
CBS News
26-05-2025
- General
- CBS News
San Jose leaders to ask nonprofit to add South Vietnam flag to emoji list
As people continue to use emojis more and more frequently, the options are becoming even more important. San Jose leaders are now asking a nonprofit that standardizes emojis to include the flag of South Vietnam. The flag is already prominent in the city. At the Vietnamese Heritage Garden, three flags billow overhead: the American flag, the California flag, and a yellow flag with three red stripes representing South Vietnam. Many refugees, like District 7 City Councilmember Bien Doan, still resonate with it. "By having this freedom flag, it means so much to them," said Doan about some of the Vietnamese community. Doan immigrated to the U.S. back in 1975, right around the end of the Vietnam War. "We had to," Said Doan about his experience. "The communists had taken over Saigon and if we didn't get out, my father would have been imprisoned for a long time." It's a story shared by many Vietnamese immigrants from that time. The flag of South Vietnam is no longer an official flag, but still remains a powerful symbol of anti-communism and cultural heritage. But on most standard smartphones, the only option is the flag representing the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. Doan's team found this out the hard way. "It started out with a mistake," explained Doan. "One of my vendors punched up Vietnam and an emoji popped up with the red flag and the yellow star, and the community got a little upset about that. Within five minutes, we pulled it down, but by having that it brought it to my attention." He realized just how many people felt a lack of representation. That encouraged him to lead an effort to formally request that the nonprofit that standardizes emojis, Unicode Consortium, based in Mountain View, add the flag of South Vietnam. "We got 11 of us to sign on," said Doan. "Meaning all of the councilmembers, including the mayor." There are already more than 200 flag options on the emoji keyboard. He says this isn't about taking away the Vietnam flag that's already there, but adding another choice. "If you look at many other emojis, you have many, many different options, and why can't we have that?" questioned Doan. "The freedom of choice, and that's what America is all about." Next, the city manager's office will bring the request to Unicode. Doan hopes to meet with leaders there. "We'll have a meeting with Unicode as well and tell them what is the story, how proud we are, what is the sacrifice," said Doan. "How do we bring this forward so when people punch up Vietnam, they will have a choice?" Unicode Consortium clients include tech companies like Apple, Google, and Microsoft. They did not respond at the time of this report.
BBC News
12-05-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
Poland has evidence Russia behind shopping centre fire, says minister
Poland's foreign minister says his country has evidence that Russia recruited people on the Telegram messaging service to carry out last year's massive shopping centre fire in to the BBC in an exclusive interview, Radek Sikorski said Moscow's actions were "completely unacceptable" and that a second Russian consulate in Poland had been closed as a result. His comments come after a Polish investigation concluded that the Marywilska shopping centre fire was orchestrated by Moscow's intelligence denied its involvement, with Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov accusing Poland of being "Russophobic". The May 2024 fire destroyed 1,400 small businesses, with many of the staff there belonging to Warsaw's Vietnamese community."We have evidence that they commissioned people living in Poland, they commissioned them on Telegram and paid them to set fire to this huge shopping mall," Sikorski said on Monday. "It was by miracle that nobody was hurt, but this is completely unacceptable."The foreign minister told the BBC he had decided Russia's presence in Poland must be "further curtailed" and that Russia's consulate in Krakow had now been closed in order to try and make it harder for Moscow to "spy" on Poland. "We will take further decisions if they continue these hybrid attacks," Sikorski warfare is a term used to describe how a hostile state carries out an anonymous, deniable attack, usually in highly suspicious circumstances. It will be enough to harm their opponent, especially their infrastructure assets, but stop short of being an attributable act of one consulate now remains open in Poland, alongside the embassy. The mission in the city of Poznań was closed last year after Warsaw accused Russia of acts of sabotage and cyberwarfare. When asked on Monday why Poland did not just sever all diplomatic ties, Sikorski said: "I hope it doesn't come to that."Responding to the closure of the Krakow consulate, Peskov said: "All these accusations are absolutely groundless, baseless."There are a lot of different accusations against Russia being voiced in Poland. This part is absolutely Russophobic and unfriendly towards our country."He added: "As for the reduction of Russia's diplomatic presence in Poland, these are integral parts of a common chain aimed at curtailing the already deplorable state of bilateral relations. Poland chooses hostility and unfriendliness towards us."Since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Poland has detained and convicted several people accused of sabotage on behalf of Russian intelligence foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, meanwhile, told state media: "Warsaw continues to deliberately destroy relations, acting against the interests of citizens". Poland carried out a year-long investigation into the shopping centre incident, before concluding the fire was organised by an unnamed person in Prime Minister Donald Tusk on Sunday said that some of those responsible were already in custody, while all the others alleged to have been involved had been identified and were being searched workers lost important documents and large sums of cash in the fire, which were kept at the shopping centre due to fear of break-ins at shopping centre in Warsaw, Modlinska 6D, was opened in October last year, with traders relocating their businesses to the new site.
