Winnipeg tailor's flight from Vietnam compared to Syrian migration

WinnipegtailorTam Nguyenknows whatSyrians fleeing conflict in tiny boats over dangerous waters are facing he's done it himself.

Nguyen's flight from a repressive Vietnamese regime in 1980is portrayed ina mural being painted on the side of his convenience store in Winnipeg's Osborne Village.

The painting marks the 40th anniversary of the arrival in Canada of what were called "boat people" from Vietnam. Nearly two million people fled Vietnam after the fall of Saigon, now Ho Chi Minh, to communist North Vietnamese forces in 1975.

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The mural, currently being painted on Joy's Convenience on River Avenue by Manitobaartist Sarah Collard, was planned long before the Syrian migrant crisis exploded into headlines, but the parallels between those who left Vietnam and the Syrian war refugeesare hard to miss. Like the Syrians, the Vietnamese fled their war-torn country in tiny boats and many died when the crowded vessels capsized.

Nguyen, who now owns several businesses in Winnipeg,was 23 whenhe put his life and his future into a tiny boat headed from Vietnam to Malaysia. He spent five days on the crowded boat, surviving on raw fish and a single container of water after his two-day supply of food ran out.

It was freedom or die. We wanted something better.- Tam Nguyen

"It was freedom or die. We wanted something better," Nguyen said.

Even beinga fashion-savvytailor Nguyen's professionhad carried risksin Vietnam.Bell-bottoms were forbidden for being "too American," but Nguyenwore them anywayuntilhe was stopped at a checkpoint.

"They cut off my pants from the knee down. I had to go home and get new clothes so I could go to work," he said.

Unwilling to give up thestyle, he madehis own pants with a zipper thatlet the leg in and out so he could get through checkpoints but still look fashionable once he was past.

Nguyen went into hiding for three years to avoid conscription in 1977.

"I had seen enough killing, enough fighting," he said.

When his mother was accused of hiding him and jailed for a week, he knew he had to leave. Heclimbed into one of the many boats fleeing Vietnam andended up in a refugee camp in Malaysia, where he stayed for six months before coming to Canada.

That journey is the theme of the mural, but artist Collard sees in her work the plight of Syrian refugees today.

"As an artist and also as a muralist ... I enjoy it when I can look in the newspaper and see parallels to what I'm working on," she said. "I'm really proud of the fact that I'm a Canadian ... that we welcome Canadians and we've done that for years, first with the boat people and now hopefully with others."

Tom Ethans of Take Pride Winnipeg, which started the process by asking Nguyen if a mural could be painted on his building, also sees the parallels.

"We saw that the building had been gettingtagged over the years and we thought it was a good location for amural," Ethans said."It turned out tobe good timing with everything that is happening with Syria right nowand the problems those refugees are facing."

Nguyen, who employs many immigrants at his businesses,said he hopes Canada continues to welcome refugees.

"Canada is strong. We have all nationalities here. We have always done it before. ... They can raise themselves up like I did," he said.