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Page[0]=new Array("Home About Gary History Culture Topical Poems Short stories Submitted Publications","Dr Gary Yia Lee","A Hmong Anthropologist","Search this site","Welcome to Gary's web site","My ultimate wish is to see my writings acting as a bridge for the many young Hmong now living in different parts of the world to reach out to your culture, and thus your parents and to their past.","Of Hmong origin, I was born in Laos, but went to Australia in 1965 to finish high school.","I later studied social work at the University of New South Wales, and was the first Hmong to have gained a Doctorate of Philosophy degree in anthropology from the University of Sydney in 1981.","I have worked with and carried out much research on the Hmong of Laos and Thailand, and on Indochinese refugees since 1976.","This has resulted in many papers and conference addresses.","I have put up some of them on this website.","My major aim is to bring better understanding and to support studies on Hmong people around the world.","In particular, I want to encourage young students and scholars in this field to share their ideas and to make their findings more widely available – through this and other websites or publications.","Some of my publications are hosted by various websites which can be time consuming for students and researchers to access.","For this reason, this site was created to bring together my papers, including new ones.","I welcome articles by other scholars and researchers whose writings merit better access by the world's scholar community and the Hmong.","Think about promotion through publication in learned journals, but please also think about making your information more accessible to us through this or the Lao Studies Society website.","[link when LSS website becomes available]","I hope that the contents of this site will help readers to understand the Hmong better.","My ultimate wish is to see my writings acting as a bridge for the many young Hmong now living in different parts of the world to reach out to your culture, and thus your parents and to their past.","In this way, you may come to appreciate the common threads you all share with each other through being born Hmong so that you can take pride in your Hmong identity, culture, history, families, leaders and ancestors.","You are the Hmong’s future.","For those who question the use of the name “Hmong” for both the White Hmong or Hmong Der (who pronounce the word with a nasal “H” sound in front), and the Blue Hmong or Mong Leng (who say “Mong” without the nasal “H”, thus preferring to be known as “Mong”), I wish to point out that my writings in this website include both groups under the internationally known generic name “Hmong”.","I also use the name “Green Hmong” (Mong Ntsuab) as it has never carried any negative connotation for me or anyone at the time I wrote my articles, and some Mong Leng even prefer to be called Mong Ntsuab.","A new feature of the site is the inclusion of poetry and short fiction writings.","Submissions in English and RPA Hmong from other Hmong writers, young and old, are most welcome.","They do not have to be about Hmong subjects – just anything that touches your heart.","I put up some of my own creative pieces to start us off in 2004, although I am disappointed that no one has contributed anything.","As they say: “We must write, or we will be erased” (see www.satjadham.org).","I would like to thank my webmaster, Yeu Lee, and the many readers who have written to me with their challenging remarks.","I would also like to acknowledge the unfailing support of my wife, Maylee Lee, for all this intellectual endeavor and the word processing assistance from my daughters, Melinda, Sheree and Debbie Lee.","You are welcome to e-mail me with your questions and comments.","If you wish to know about Hmong history and culture, please read my articles, as I prefer to respond only to inquiries on issues that have not been addressed in this website.","February 2005","Copyright © 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005","You may reproduce the articles in this web site for private study, research, criticism or review,","but you must not present them out of the original context or without making the appropriate references and acknowledgements.","All opinions expressed are those of the authors.","All rights reserved.","Gary's Home page","http://members.ozemail.com.au/~yeulee/index.html","18.1","24 May 2005");
Page[1]=new Array("Home About Gary History Culture Topical Poems Short stories Submitted Publications","Culture","Hmong world view and social structure","Household and marriage in a Thai highland society","White Hmong kinship","Culture and settlement - PDF (New)","Hmong world view and social structure","According to Durkheim (1961), the source of what we regard as sacred or religious lies within our own image.","The deities and spirits we pay respect to are but "society transfigured" for in the final analysis we only worship our society..........","Household and marriage in a Thai highland society","The Hmong have been referred to as semi-nomadic people or "migrants of the mountains" (Geddes, 1976), because they move houses or sometimes entire villages every ten to twenty years after stable residence in a particular place.","...........","White Hmong kinship","According to Graburn (1971: 2), a society structures its members into positions based on a number of principles.","The many persons to whom an individual may relate are classified into categories which determine their behaviour expectations towards one another and maintain them together as a group.","...........","Culture and settlement - PDF (New)","It has been nearly thirty years since the first Hmong families arrived to settle in Australia in March 1976 .......","Culturecontents","http://members.ozemail.com.au/~yeulee/Culture/culturecontents.html","15.2","22 May 2005");
Page[2]=new Array("Home About Gary History Culture Topical Poems Short stories Submitted Publications","Culture","Household and Marriage in a Thai Highland Society","Contents","1 Acknowledgement","2 Residential patterns","3 Marriage & family","4 The household","5 Conclusion","6 References","Household and Marriage in a Thai Highland Society","(Originally published in the Journal of the Siam Society, 1988, no.","76, pp.","162 – 173)","Acknowledgement: this paper resulted from research carried out in Thailand with financial support from the Wenner-Gren Foundation, New York.","I greatly benefited from comments by Prof.","Geddes, University of Sydney, Australia.","Assistance with retyping of this article by my daughter, Debbie Lee, is also much appreciated.","The Hmong have been referred to as semi-nomadic people or "migrants of the mountains" (Geddes, 1976), because they move houses or sometimes entire villages every ten to twenty years after stable residence in a particular place.","The reasons for such migrations are often complex, ranging from lack of farming lands to social -economic factors such as the desire to join relatives in another settlement or the fear of sickness and diseases.","Residential Patterns","A few writers have suggested that the ideal Hmong settlement seems to be one consisting of members of one clan (Cooper,1984).","However, this is not the case, even with the smaller villages of only a few households.","Each village is usually dominated by a particular clan, but no village is completely occupied by any one clan.","The one-clan village is to be expected if e follow the Hmong’s rule of patrilocal residence to the limit, since all newly married or couples with young families are supposed to live in the same household or settlement as the man’s father or male relatives.","However, this rule is not always strictly enforced so that bilocal or neolocal residence is also prevalent with the result that members of a few clans are found living in one settlement.","In some cases, residential preference is decided by social bond with members of the clans from which the wives originate.","Similar religious practice, personal conflicts with one’s own agnates, or business commitments may make it necessary for some Hmong to live in villages dominated by other clans.","Residential patterns are, thus, determined not only by the search for new agricultural prospects but also by social- economic factors such as social members of their own clan or kinship groups, but will adopt matrilocal or neolocal residence when in conflict with their own kinsmen.","In their traditional hill environment, the Hmong tend to live in small groups of five to twenty households, and are rarely found in "big agglomerations" (Savina, 1925: 182).","Houses are built in a random fashion on a village site without any sense of direction or order.","There is no village square, no main street.","There may be fence here and there around the village, but this is only to protect a garden or crops from village animals and does not serve as a defence barrier for the settlement.","Mickey (1947) also does not mention any fortified walls around the Miao village she studied in Kweichow, southern China.","Graham (1937: 22), on the other hand, says that "there were formerly many fortified places… where groups of houses were clustered together for protection".","This is further confirmed by Lombard-Salmon (1972: 118) in her historical study of the Miao in Kweichow in the 18th century.","Today, however and as one French writer puts it, only scrub forms a natural enclosure for a Hmong village (Anonymous, 1952: 31).","A Hmong settlement is a beautiful sight from the distance, but the houses often look like old ruins close- up.","What is striking about Hmong houses is that they are built at random, deliberately to conform to the Hmong beliefs in geomancy and supernatural forces.","No two houses are in line or parallel to one another, even when all the buildings have their fronts facing the downward slope.","Unlike many Green Hmong whose houses have only one door, the White Hmong houses have two doors and sometimes even three, depending on the people’s need (Chindarsi, 1976: 15; Geddes, 1976: 39; and Lam Tam, 1974: 60).","They are variably constructed on earthen floors compressed by the use of water from hewn boards to mud, depending on what is available.","Some houses have timber shingles or thatches as roofing covers, and even tiles or corrugated iron for the better – off families.","Nearly all the Hmong houses are rectangular in shape, although some look almost square.","There is always a veranda running part of the length of the house, generally used to store firewood.","The side door is on the left of the house when looking from the front where another door also exists, although the latter is more often used for the performance of rituals.","The door on the front side of the house is called "qhov rooj tag" (khor daung ta), and the door on the left side is referred to as "qhov rooj txuas" (khor daung txua).","Which door is used for entering and leaving the house depends on how conveniently it is situated, as there is no sanction against using either door.","A typical house measures about 9x7 metres with the walls reaching 1.6 metres in height, and with the centre of the roof about 4 metres from the ground.","Doors are usually 1.8 metres high.","Bedrooms often have only door frames no more than 0.5 metre wide, but usually no doors.","The bedrooms are located alongside the front of the house, with the beds consisting of raised wooden boards about 0.5 metre above ground.","Parents and young children sleep together in the big bedroom while adolescent and grown-up daughters share the second bedroom, and older sons or unmarried male family members occupy a third bedroom further away.","A spare raised timber flooring serves as bed for guests and is sometimes found at one end of the house, near the granaries.","Rapoport (1969: 129) suggests that human settlements and house forms are primarily the physical expression of a people’s culture and way of life, even though climatic conditions and building materials or technology may influence where and how a house is constructed.","House forms and location cannot be understood in terms of their descriptive value only, but must be related to the shared goals and life values or beliefs of the people living in them.","To the Hmong, a house is not only a shelter, but also a place of worship where one’s ancestral cults are observed and protected from outside influences.","It is the sanctuary which unites members of a household into an extended family and later confronts all married male members to form their own separate dwellings.","We will now turn to this process of Hmong household formation and dispersion through marriage and procreation.","Marriage and the Family","As a rule, the Hmong observe clan exogamy in that two persons of the same clan or surname cannot marry each other.","There are some exceptions as stated by de Beauclair (1970: 133) when "the partners do not descend from the same ancestor".","This is true of the Vang clan in certain parts of Laos, and the Yang clan in West and Central Kweichow, China.","Sometimes, individual deviation is found among clans who otherwise practice no clan endogamy.","The violation of this general marriage rule seems to be rare, since it is not mentioned by Binney (1968), Geddes (1976) or Cooper (1976).","Mickey (1947: 50) states that the Cowrie Shell Miao in China prohibit marriage between people "of exactly the same surname", while Graham (1937: 27) writes of the Chuan Miao that it is considered "a crime for two persons having the same family name to marry".","Given that the norm for marriage is clan exogamy, the onus is on Hmong young men to court only girls born into clans other than their own.","For some groups of Hmong in China (where they are generally called Miao), " patrilineal cross-cousin marriage is said to be obligatory" (Chen and Wu, 1942: 20).","Among the Magpie Hmong of southern Szechuan, cross-cousin marriage is favoured but is "by no means obligatory, and sex relations between unmarried cross-cousins are freely permitted" (Ruey, 1960: 146).","Formerly, a young man could marry his father’s sister’s daughter as a matter of course; and if this right was not exercised the girl’s father must pay the boy’s parents for the right to marry her to another man.","This seems true also of the Chuan Miao (Graham, op.cit.: 27).","Such a practice, however, does not occur among the Hmong in Laos and Thailand.","In the past, marriage by capture was allowed and so was the betrothal of small children by parents who are friends or relatives by affinal ties, especially in the case of a brother’s son and sister’s daughter.","However, such marriages are becoming the exception since nearly all parents have now begun to take more account of their children’s wishes rather than their own.","It is today left to the sons and daughters to choose their own marriage partners so long as the latter are of acceptable personal and social standing.","Parents will interfere mainly when a son or daughter decides to marry someone who is considered a bad risk such as an opium addict, a person of loose character or lazy disposition, a married man, a widowed or divorced woman, a spinster or a man whose male relatives have a reputation of using violence on their wives.","The most acceptable marriage process for a Hmong man begins with the courting of a girl, preferably one with an industrious nature.","This must be done in the least conspicuous way, particularly towards the girl’s relatives.","This means that young people are free to meet or court the opposite sex mainly in the evenings in the dark of the night after each day’s work.","The procedure seems to vary from one region to another, and to some extent from one generation to the next.","In the old days when many Hmong lived in isolated pioneering small villages, a young man would have to travel a few hours each evening by himself or with some friends before reaching the girl’s hamlet.","From time to time, such a group might take enough food supplies with them to stay for a few days with relatives in the girl’s village or in the bush in order to court her at night.","Courting also took place when boys and girls spent time working in the neighbouring fields away from home when it was inconvenient to return to their own villages during intensive farming periods.","Much of this tradition is still carried on by the present generation, except that young men today do not travel a long way each evening to see their girlfriends, thus having to return home the next morning for another day’s work on the family farms.","Of course, some may say court in their own village individually or as a group.","Once the courting has been done long enough (from a few days to a few months as the case may be), the girl may agree to marry the young man who will then have to ask permission for the marriage from his parents.","This is necessary because the parents or guardians have to help pay part or all of the bride- price and wedding costs.","If the girl consents to the marriage, her parent’s permission does not have to be obtained beforehand.","A mediator is used to negotiate with the girl’s parents only when she herself has not agreed to the marriage or when the prospective couple do not know each other well enough.","Today, parents are reluctant to force their daughters to marry and will try first to persuade them to agree to a marriage, because the parents wish to avoid being blamed in case the marriage prove unsuccessful.","The groom and his relatives are also apt to treat the bride and her parents with respect if the latter do not consent to her marriage too readily.","If a girl is willing to marry, the man will take her to his home quietly, then send a messenger to inform her parents.","If the man does not live too far away, the girl’s mother may go there to claim her back and may even use violence on her and her intended husband to show her displeasure.","This verbal and physical abuse has to be accepted without retaliation, and has to be manifested even when the girl’s parents secretly approve of her match in order to demonstrate their reluctance to hand over their daughter so that her husband will take better care of her, knowing how highly they valued her.","The man and his relatives will, on their part, lavish verbal promises or money gifts on the mother and in the end, she will return home without her daughter to await the day when the marriage will be celebrated.","Another variation of this procedure is for the man and a handful of male relatives to "abduct" the girl at a pre- arranged place, often with her full knowledge and consent.","She will then scream for help, and her mother will come to her rescue, again full of verbal abuse and brandishing a stick.","If the daughter indicates that she is unwilling to be carried off for marriage, the mother will rain blows upon her abductors and ask her for release.","On the other hand, if the girl shows willingness to go with the men, the mother’s blows will be on her for being too eager to get married.","It should be noted that at this stage of the marriage process, no male relatives of the girl are involved in her so- called rescue from her husband-to-be and his helpers.","They have no roles to play until the wedding when they take full charge of all negotiations and tasks related to it.","Abduction is still deemed preferable to elopement, even when the girl has no objection to marrying her boyfriend, because elopement is seen as worthy only if those girls without self- esteem or respect for their family members.","Abduction is also regarded as a face- saving protection for both the girl and her family should the marriage fail, as she will then be able to say that she was uncertain about the prospect all along and her family, too, can claim that they were not responsible for the failure.","Once the "abduction" or elopement has occurred, the young man’s parents send a message to the girl’s relatives asking for a convenient date to celebrate the wedding.","The wedding itself is a costly procedure, consisting of: (a) the bride price (b) fines (c) miscellaneous expenses for pigs, food and alcohol.","Thus the Hmong wedding is never less than $500 (US) in overall expenses, and can run up to $1500 (US) in the case of the richer or more difficult families.","For this reason, few young Hmong are able to pay for their wedding immediately.","Sometimes, the date set by the bride’s parents may not be convenient to the groom if he and his relatives have not found enough money on time to cover the wedding expenses, and a new date may have to be arranged.","The wedding ceremony is too elaborate to describe in detail here.","It is sufficient to say that it comprises one to two days of negotiations and feasting, firstly at the groom’s house, then at the bride’s house and again back to the groom’s residence.","At least one medium- sized pig and four chickens are slaughtered for meals and rituals at the groom’s house, and two large pigs as well as two chickens for the bride’s relatives.","Many gallons of rice alcohol are also needed.","The bride’s parents on their part have to kill a large pig to feed those who helped them during the wedding feast either with negotiations or other duties.","Each of those helpers, both on the groom’s side and on the side of the bride’s relative, has to be paid in silver coins.","These payments and the cost of food items can amount to $150 to $200 which may have to be outlaid in cash to buy them if the two parties do not have them.","The bride- price, which some Hmong see as the nurturing charge, ranges from $400 to $800.","The fines paid to make up for the past grievances suffered by members of the girl’s clan in the hands of the groom’s clansmen may claim from $5 to $100, depending on how serious or how many are these wrong- doings.","Of the six marriages studied in Khun Wang, Thailand, in 1977 by Lee (1981: 46), one was finalized in the sense that the full bride- price was paid at a wedding ceremony, which took place within a month of the bride going to live with the groom.","Two other wedding ceremonies were carried out, but these were for marriages contracted two to three years earlier.","The remaining three couples only had a small preliminary ceremony with the bride’s parents at which an agreement was made to postpone the wedding either indefinitely or to a later date.","Postponement usually means that the full wedding will never take place and the bride- price never be fully paid.","There is no sanction against such couples living together as husband and wife, or raising a family in a similar fashion to those who have gone through the prescribed ceremonies.","The reason for not formalizing the marriage may be that the husband and his relatives were too poor to afford it at the time, but often no pressure is put on them later by the wife’s parents, or her relatives after they are dead.","The failure to formalize marriage, however, has certain social implications for the husband.","He has no claim on his unpaid wife’s children should she divorce him, nor can his relatives keep her and her children in case of her being widowed and remarrying outside the husband’s kin group.","There are other reasons apart from poverty why bride- price may not have been paid.","The match may be disapproved by the boy’s parents and the young couples are left to their own devices.","In such a situation, the groom may have to do service by staying with his wife’s family and working for them until such time as he can afford the wedding costs.","In normal circumstances, however, a couple usually depends on the man’s parents to pay for both the bride- price and the wedding expenses, They will accept this as a project for their household, provided that: (a) the prospective bride has approved the marriage (b) The groom is a loyal and productive member of the household, and (c) the amount of the bride- wealth required by the bride’ s family is considered reasonable (Barney, 1970: 157).","When the man’s parents have paid his bride- price, the couple will live in his father’s house in order to profit from his advice regarding marriage problems, to show their gratitude by staying with him and helping with all household tasks (Chindarsi, op.cit.: 77).","They remain there until they can set up a house for themselves separately, often when they have two or three children.","Bernatzik (1970: 43) states that this occurs when the husband is thirty years of age.","However, this is not true in all cases.","Segmentation from the parental household can take place any time, depending on how crowded the father’ s house is and whether there are married sons living in it.","It is not easy to determine age correctly as the Hmong do not, as a rule, keep written records of their vital statistics.","Only declared statements can be obtained, usually in connection with certain important personal or national events used as chronological landmarks.","This is no longer true of the younger generations, of course, because parents are now compelled by law to register the births of their children or deaths with local authorities of the countries where they now live.","Based on such time reckoning, Lee (op.cit.: 48) discovered that of the ninety three married persons he surveyed, seventy five persons or 80.6 per cent married between the ages of fifteen and twenty one.","Only four persons or 4.3 per cent were twenty six years or older when they first married while for the remainder the age of marriage could be as early as thirteen and as late as twenty five.","Women tend to marry at an earlier age than men, either through their own will or by obligation such as coercion and capture.","This is not to suggest that all married women are younger than their husbands since the age gap between some couples can be as much as twenty two years, the older being usually the husbands who married more than one wife or who remarried after divorce or widowhood.","Geddes (op.cit.: 80-81) says that among the Green Hmong " boys usually married when fifteen or sixteen years old and girls at about the age of twenty years".","According to him, this is because a Hmong man often marries more than one wife; and the older the first wife, the more respect she is likely to receive from her husband and his other later younger wives.","Lee (op.cit.: 49) finds that this generalisation does not apply to the White Hmong he surveyed at Kun Wang in Chiangmai, Thailand.","There are only a few couples with the wife older than the husband, but this situation has arisen from factors other than deliberate design to conform with any polygynous pattern.","A close analysis of other Hmong settlements will probably reveal that as a rule the husbands are older than their wives when they marry for the first time.","Of the four weddings witnessed by Mickey (op.cit.: 50) in Kweichow, the ages of the couples were: boy thirteen, girl twelve; boy fourteen, girl thirteen; boy sixteen, girl twenty; boy and girl both eighteen.","In each case, betrothal was initiated some years before marriage.","According to Graham (op.cit.: 35), the Hmong of Szechuan often marry at an early age through arrangements made by their parents so that "most children are married by the time they are twelve".","With respect to the Hmong of Thailand, it is worth quoting Chindarsi (op.cit.: 71-72) when he writes that; "The Hmong marry between the age of fifteen and eighteen years.","One of the factors contributing to such an early marriage is the need for (more) people to work in the fields and in the house….","The father of a girl sees that there will not be too wide a gap between the ages of his daughter and prospective son-in-law.","If the girl is older than the boy, he may marry again, hence (girls) avoid such marriages".","It does appear that the Hmong exhibit ambiguity about polygamy (a man marrying more than one wife).","On the one hand, some men approve of it if the husband is rich and the wives can get along with one another "like sisters" so that hardly any conflicts exist between them (which is rare in real life).","However, in the case of poor men, its practice is often frowned upon, particularly by girls of marriageable age and their mothers.","On the whole, it is tolerated if it is done through family obligations as in the case of the levirate (when a widowed woman is taken as an additional wife by the younger brother of the woman’s dead husband to take care of her and her children and to keep the latter within the family).","Polygyny may also occur in cases where the first wife is barren or unable to perform her duties effectively for various reasons.","Thus, polygyny does not seem to be a factor causing the age difference between married partners.","Generally, husbands are older than their wives.","Only in a minority of cases is the first wife older than her husband (such as when a young son is persuaded to marry an older wife because she is industrious or of good character and his parents do not want to lose her to another man).","This is, however, becoming rare, probably because marriage today is the result of romantic courtship rather than parental arrangements as in the old days.","Age is not a major concern so long as both the bride and groom are deemed ready for matrimony and socially suitable to each other.","Another contributing factor to the age gap in Hmong marriages is the requirements for a substantial bride-price which often delays the age of marriage in times of economic decline, particularly for the men (Kunstadter, 1983: 35 and 39).","Most young men will wait until their parents have at least some savings to pay for part of the bride-price and wedding costs.","This delay can be averted if the groom agrees to do service by joining the bride’s family and work off the bride-price, or by incurring long term debts with the bride’s parents and remaining with his own relatives.","Today, some Hmong parents will not ask for a bride-price, because they do not want to be seen as "selling" their daughters off.","Strictly speaking, the so-called bride-price is really a levy or a "nurturing charge" (nqi mis nqi hno – literally, a fee for mother’s milk) from the groom to the bride’s parents in recognition for the many years of love and care they have given her only to see her go to make a life for herself with him.","This "nurturing gift" is found in many other Asian societies, including the Thai and Lao, among whom it is known as "sinsot".","Anthropologists have incorrectly refer to this as bride-price for want of a better term, from the Hmong word "nqi poj niam" which refers to the total costs of getting a wife, including wedding expenses and the "nqi mis nqi hno".","The term "nqi taub hau" is sometimes used, but this is a term which should not strictly be used in regard to weddings as it mainly refers to compensation money for a death through someone else’s fault or negligence.","The costs of marriage aside, whether or not the man will later have other wives is for him and sometimes his first wife to decide, depending on the quality of their relationship and other socio-economic considerations.","It may have been the case that in the past some Hmong parents might have persuaded one of their young sons to marry a much older girl so as to get her economic contributions to the household, knowing that he would likely later acquire another wife of his own or younger gage group.","Such matchmaking, however, is no longer acceptable, as it today considered exploitative and too calculating for a happy marriage.","It is now left to the young man to choose his own wife.","There is usually no regular age discrepancy favouring polygyny.","In general, the relative ages of married couples in Hmong society are similar to those of most other human societies.","The Household","As has been indicated, a young couple does not normally form their own household in the first few years of marriage.","Because only the groom’s parents or guardian can have accumulated enough money to pay for the wedding costs, a newly married couple is expected to remain in the parental household to render service until such a time as they have two or three children when they may then move out on their own..","By then, other sons in the household will have been married and have had children so that the household becomes too overcrowded for them to remain together.","Moreover, friction between some of the wives or disagreement over the allocation of labour are likely to divide the household so that one or more couples will have to establish their separate living quarters.","The factors that lead to actual separation are not so much an ideology of neolocal residence, as strains that develop inside a large household.","This applies equally to polygynous households which often become segmented once the family members have increased in number and the children of the older wives have grown up enough to be able to support themselves and their mothers.","They will then build a house for themselves, usually not far from the father and his household if all is well between them..","This pattern is found particularly with the White Hmong.","Lee (op.cit.: 54) find that fifteen or half of the thirty households in Khun Wang referred to previously are comprised of nuclear families while the remaining fifteen are extended families.","This suggests that the Hmong appear to prefer these two types of households to those complicated by polygyny.","This household pattern appears to be similar elsewhere in other Hmong settlements in Thailand.","At Meto, Chiangmai, for instance, only twenty six of the sixty five households have some form of polygyny, fifteen are polygynously simple households, five polygynously extended, four extended polygynously, and two polygynous extended polygynously (Geddes, op.cit.: 124).","Mark (1967: 57) also notes that the nuclear family is the predominant household form with the Magpie Hmong in China; stem families are next in frequency; and five percent of the households have extended joint families.","Binney (1968: 257, 269A and 273) finds that nineteen of the forty nine White Hmong households in two different settlements in Chiangmai are of the nuclear type, twenty six are extended, and only four are polygynous.","The number of persons in a household usually ranges from six to eight persons.","This seems common among the Hmong, as the Meto figure for the Green Hmong is eight per household (Geddes, op.cit.: 110).","In the three Green Hmong villages studied by Lemoine (1972: 39) in Laos, the average number of household inhabitants is 6.8, 7.9 and 8.1 respectively, giving an overall figure of 7.6.","Due to the prevalence of extended families in Hmong society, household size appears to be bigger than family size, a factor seen by Geddes (op.cit.: 128) and Kunstadter (op.cit.: 38) as important in the Hmong opium economy since the merging of manpower from two or more families into one single unit result in increased agricultural production and cash income.","The figures also attest to most Hmong’s desire and ability to maintain cohesive social groupings at the household level.","The only factors limiting the growth of household size are the lack of money to pay for additional wives to join the group, and thew unsuccessful control by a household head over the disagreements or personal activities of married sons who may move out to live on their own.","It is obvious that by Western standards, the Hmong household is rather large, from six to eleven persons on the whole, and Keen (1978: 210) even found an average of fourteen in Tak province, Thailand.","The largest households in Khun Wang have four to six families with between sixteen and twenty three persons (Lee, op.cit.: 56).","In the nearby settlement of Mae Wak, there is a household of forty four persons and five families, probably one of the biggest in existence.","However, on a family population basis, the average number of persons rages from 4.1 to 8 by clan with a total average of 4.9.","This seems to suggest the Hmong family is not very different from that of many other groups of people.","However, the household tends to be larger because of the Hmong extended family system.","Conclusion","Although some Hmong in Thailand as well as in China, Laos and Vietnam live close to or on lowlands, the majority of them live in mountainous areas, often at altitudes above 3,000 feet.","This is where they have traditionally been located.","Generally, they build their houses at the foot of a hill or on mountain slopes which have running water and fields for crop growing.","The houses always face the downward slope with one door on the front and another on one of the side walls.","Almost all the houses are simply furnished, with only essential farm tools and household utensils maintained in different places.","The buildings are not in line with one another bit because of lack of suitable terrain and deliberate design.","The orientation of the house is influenced by the topography of its site as well as by religious and cultural determinants.","This settlement pattern also reflects the need of clan affiliates or relatives to stay close to one another for mutual protection and assistance, although a few household heads achieve these objectives by settling among relatives of their wives.","Marriage is by clan exogamy and often takes place following a period of courtship.","Some arranged marriages and a few unions by capture or coercion still occur, but the mutual consent of the principals is now more taken into account.","Weddings are expensive, and many young men cannot afford them.","Even among those who have married for many years, a large number of them still have not formalised their marriage owing to the lack of resources to meet the wedding expenses and the bride-price.","The majority of first marriages occur among the sixteen to eighteen age group, although the age of marriage in some cases does vary between thirteen and thirty five years.","In general, the husbands are older than the wives.","There are more households with nuclear families than other types, despite a prevalence of extended families.","The average number of persons per household is 8.4 with an average of six persons per family.","Notwithstanding the occurrence of some polygynous marriages, Hmong family and household size does not appear generally to be greatly different from that found in the majority of human societies.","References","Anonymous "Dans les Montagnes du Haut Laos: les Curieux Tribus Meos" (mimeograph report).","Barney, G.","Analysis of Swidden Cultures in Southeast Asia", Ph.D.","Thesis, Anthropology, University of Minnesota.","De Beauclair, I.","1970 "Tribal Cultures of Southwest China" (Taipei: Orient Cultural Service).","Bernatzik, H.A.",""Akha and Meau" (New Haven: Human Relations Area File Press).","Binney, G.",""Social Structure and Shifting Agriculture of the White Meo".","Final Technical Report to Wildlife Management Institute, Washington, D.C.","Chen, K.C.","and Wu, T.L.",""Studies of the Society of Miao and Yi Tribes of Kweichow" (Kwei Yang: Kwei Yang Wen Shu T’ung Chii).","In Chinese.","Cited by Mark (1967: 57).","Chindarsi, N.","" The Religion of the Hmong Njua" (Bangkok: Siam Society).","Cooper, R.G.",""Resource Scarcity and the Hmong Response.","Ph.D Thesis, Southeast Asian Sociology, University of Hull.","Cooper, R.G "Resource Scarcity and the Hmong Response: a Study of Settlement and Economy in Northern Thailand (Singapore: Singapore University Press).","Geddes, W.R 1976 " Migrants of the Mountains: the Cultural Ecology of the Blue Miao of Thailand" (Oxford: Clarendon Press).","Graham, D.C 1937 "The Customs oif the Ch’uan Miao", J.","West China Border Research Society, 9: 13-71.","Keen, F.G.B "Ecological relationships in a Hmong (Meo) Economy", in Kunstadter P.","et al eds.","Farmers of the Forest (Honolulu: University Press of Hawaii).","Kunstdater.",""Highland Populations in North Thailand", in Bhruksasri, W.","and McKennon, J.","eds.","Highlanders of Thailand (Kuala Lampur: Oxford University Press).","Lam Tam 1974 "A Survey of the Meo", Ethnographic Data (Hanoi: Vietnamese Studies).","Lee, G.","Y 1981 "Effects of Development Measures on the Socio-economy of the White Hmong", PhD Thesis, Anthropology, University of Sydney.","Lemoine, J "Un Village Hmong Vert du Haut Laos (Paris: Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique).","Mark, L.L 1967 "Patrilateral Cross-cousinn Marriage Among the Magpie Maio" American Anthropologist, 69 (1): 55-62.","Mickey, M.P "The Cowrie Shell Miao of Kweichow" (Cambridge, Mass: Peabody Museum).","Rapoport, A.","1969 "Houseform and Culture" (Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall)","Ruey, Y.F " The Magpie Miao of Southern Szecwan", in Murdock, G.P.","ed.","Social Structure in Southeast Asia (Chicago: Quadrangle Books).","Savina, F.M "Histoire des Miao" (Hong Kong: Societe des Missions Etrangeres).","Copyright © 2005","Household and marriage","http://members.ozemail.com.au/~yeulee/Culture/hmong marriage.html","63.2","22 May 2005");
Page[3]=new Array("Home About Gary History Culture Topical Poems Short stories Submitted Publications","Culture","The Religious Presentation of Social Relationships: Hmong World View and Social Structure","Contents","1 Acknowledgement","2 Gender roles and their ritual contexts","3 The family and household","4 Lineage network","5 Clan and sub clan division","6 Conclusion","7 References","The Religious Presentation of Social Relationships:","Hmong World View and Social Structure","(From: Lao Studies Review, No.2, 1994-95, pp.","44- 60.","Reproduced here with kind permission of the Lao Studies Society, PO Box 44, Bonnyrigg, NSW, Australia)","Acknowledgment: The research from which this paper originated was made possible by a grant from the Werner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research, New York, USA.","I have also greatly benefited from original comments by Prof.","W.R.","Geddes, formerly of the University of Sydney, Australia.","This revised version has been enhanced by suggestions from Dr.","Marjorie Muecke, School of Nursing, Department of Anthropology, University of California at Santa Cruz, USA.","Financial assistance from the Indochina Studies Program of the American Social Science Research Council to present the original paper at the Workshop on Kinship and Gender in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia at the University of Northern Illinois, is also gratefully acknowledged.","According to Durkheim (1961), the source of what we regard as sacred or religious lies within our own image.","The deities and spirits we pay respect to are but "society transfigured" for in the final analysis we only worship our society.","It is society which is both the cause and the expression of religious sentiments through regular ritual representations (Aron, 1967: 53) These rights constitute beliefs enacted for the purpose of preserving a sense of belonging for the participants and maintaining them together as a group.","They not only tie the members of the group to each other "but also to the past and the future generations" (Cohen, 1871: 180).","Religious ideas, in the words of Bachofen (Leaf, 1979: 118), define fundamental relations in society, showing internal structures similar to the actual behaviour or the believers.","The supernatural order is in general based on the social relationships of the group.","It validates and regulates these relationships, thereby conserving the social orders.","In this paper, I will discuss the social organisation of the Hmong of Laos and Thailand in relation to their religious beliefs in order to see if the two spheres mutually interact to maintain the broader social system.","It has been said that ancestral spirits are no more than "a projection of the authority system of the living - the lineage elders elevated to a supernatural plane" (Keesing and Keesing 1971: 309).","How true is this of the Hmong? I will attempt to locate the social forces which cement them into distinct clans, lineages and gender categories.","Here, a clan shall be taken to mean a group of people bond together through birth or adoption by a shared surname, but with few or no other identifications.","Members of a clan who can trace decent to a known ancestor are said to belong to a lineage.","My discussion will focus primarily on normative prescriptions, and not actual behaviour patterns since the latter varies greatly from one individual to another and has also been partly dealt with elsewhere (Cooper, 1983: 173 - 186).","The issue examined here are based on my own life experiences as a Hmong from Laos and on information collected in the field in Thailand, Australia and the US.","Like the Han Chinese who have dominated and influenced them over many centuries, the Hmong seem to live constantly "under the ancestors' shadow" (Hsu, 1967).","Close observation of ancestor worship is believed mandatory to the fortune of a family or kin group.","A person's ritual system determines his or her social groupings, and interpersonal relations are assessed in relation to one's ancestral rites.","Such important activities as farming, hunting and gathering often involve people linked to one another by kinship and affinal ties.","As well as the need for religious sacrifices to the dead, special occasions like New Year celebrations, weddings, funerals, new harvests or a major crisis bring together living members of a lineage to discharge their mutual obligations.","While the elders require the moral and practical support of the young, the latter also seek the guidance and wisdom of the former so that both can fulfil their physical and spiritual needs, thus enabling each group to perform functions expected of them.","Gender Roles and their Ritual Contexts","The Hmong value highly a social system with father-right as the norm.","In other words, the male head of the family and those male relatives who represent him in his absence or after his death, have the authority to make decisions affecting the household and the lineage.","Their wishes are to be respected by junior males and the female members of the group.","Accordingly, young married men should live in the house of their father or any senior male relative who has paid for their wedding expenses.","This is a way for them to repay the debt with their services, but in particular to show the need for the wives to be incorporated into the husbands' parental household, together with the willingness of the kin group to guide and to assist the newly married in their marital responsibilities.","After a father has died, his widow who originated from a different clan will normally raise the children among his male relatives and with the latter's aid in order to maintain them within their patrilineal group.","As soon as one of her male children is grown enough to act as head of the family, she will retreat into the background to allow him to fulfil the male duties expected of him.","Although such a young man may still be single, he is judged to be sufficiently mature for such a role when he shows signs of leadership and a sound decision-making ability.","It has been said that " the married woman among the Meau not only loses every connection with the sib from which she is descended...","but also after her death her soul arises anew in the next child of her husband's family" (Bernatzik, 1970: 43).","The belief in this form of reincarnation is not accepted by all Hmong, but there is no doubt that after marriage, a woman belongs exclusively to the spiritual world of the husband in that only members of his lineage offer sacrifices to her soul after her death.","Her inclusion in their ancestral line, however, does not mean that she is no longer of her parents' clan since she continues to maintain her former clan name to the end.","Thus, a married woman in Hmong society still remains physically a member of her clan of birth, but no longer belongs to her parents' lineage and ritual circle because she has already been adopted into her husband's spiritual domain through the rites of marriage.","Should she be divorced or widowed, she can always return to her consanguineous relatives but must live separately as only people with the same ritual system can inhabit the same house.","In so far as affinal ties are concerned, it has been asserted that after the payment of the bride-price a married woman goes to live with her husband and "never gives anything else to her parents again" (Chindarsi, 1976: 131).","Whether it is the Green Hmong of Thailand or the White Hmong elsewhere in Southeast Asia, such a statement is not totally accurate.","She may not give because of the long distance between her new residence and her parents, or because of poverty.","Regardless of these factors, she and her husband are expected to offer occasionally gifts and practical help to her parents and siblings, to pay visit to them during New Year and in special circumstances, and in general to maintain contact with them.","The role expectations of sons and daughters are symbolised by the places where their placentas are buried at birth.","Graham (1937: 39) states that among the Ch'uan Miao of China, another branch of the Hmong, a boy's placenta is "buried deep under a pillar of the house and that of a girl under a door of the house".","Geddes (1976: 53) also reports the burial of a boy's placenta near the central post of the house, and the girl's one under the bedroom floor.","This tradition is attributed to the belief that for the Hmong the central post holds the house structure as well as the household spirits and religious symbols.","A boy's placenta is consigned to this post to represent the role of a male descendant as bearer of the household's ritual responsibility.","A girl's placenta is disposed of under the bedroom floor because this is the most convenient place when a woman gives birth at home.","There is no symbolic meaning to it since a daughter will not perform social functions of importance for the family and the ancestral group.","The Hmong practise marriage by clan exogamy: they must marry only women from a clan different to their own, and women must go to live with their husbands and the latter's kin group after marriage.","Daughters are, thus, often referred to as "other people's women".","They are expected to marry and to belong rightfully to strangers from outside their group of birth.","As we have seen, they are cut off from their parents' ritual system as soon as they are married.","Therefore, they must seek remarriage in the event of divorce or widowhood so that they will have a proper place in the afterlife and avoid becoming "lost souls".","This is unless they already have sons in whose lineage they are included as ancestors.","Although a son can confer lineage status on his mother, it is usually a husband and his lineal relatives who legitimise her entry into the group's spiritual world.","A son can only do it by virtue of his membership in a lineage.","In other words, such a son must be legitimate; and if born out of wedlock, he and his mother must have been adopted into a particular lineage, whether that of his natural father, his mother or some other persons.","Spinsters without male children occupy a rather dubious position in Hmong society.","A daughter who remains unmarried all her life, is considered ominous to the life of her lineage.","Upon her death, the "maum phauj" (or father's sister's husband) will be asked to cast away her spell from the group so that she will not be born again into spinsterhood or influence other female descendants to fall into the same condition.","Despite this belief, unmarried daughters are usually regarded as full members of the family with major economic contributions to make, and not just burden.","Because they are not entrusted with the perpetuation of the family line, the most that can be hoped from female offsprings is their labour assistance.","When a girl marries, a bride-wealth will be required from her husband.","The more industrious she is, the higher the bride-wealth is likely to be.","This bride-price is also referred to by the Hmong as "nqi mis nqi hno" or nurturing charge, implying that a girl's parents bring her up at much cost only to lose her to her husband.","Although male children are given greater significance, this does not mean that daughters are devoid of parental care and affection, or that spinster relatives are not given offerings after death.","Nevertheless, couples without sons may seek to adopt them, or may compromise their monogamy by allowing the husband to marry a second wife in the hope that she will bear him male offsprings to take care of the parents during old age, or to provide them with offerings after they are dead.","The aspirations for male descendants may be strong, but it does not lead all parents to prefer sons over daughters in practice.","In cases where the sons are incapable or unwilling to contribute to the parental household, parents may even care more about their daughters and sons-in- law.","Although the Hmong are usually attached to members of their lineage and value its spiritual protection, these concepts are not absolutely compelling.","A married man, for instance, may fail to live in harmony with his parents and relatives, or may wish to exploit resources elsewhere, and thus move with his family away from the kin group.","A husband who cannot pay the bride-wealth of his wife may also resort to residence near his relatives-in-law to work off the debt by giving service to them.","Thus, it is not unusual to find transgression of residential norms and gender role expectations.","Variation obviously exists where physical distance and cultural divergence are involved.","Graham (op.","cit.: 26), for instance, states that "formerly the husband lived with the relatives of their wives so that the families may have been matrilineal".","De Beauclair (1970: 133) and Mickey (1947: 51) both say that for the Hmong they studied in Southern China, the bride returns to her parents after the wedding and is only visited by the groom until just before the birth of the first child when she joins her husband's household for good.","This practice is unknown among the Hmong in Thailand and Laos where residence is patrilocal.","Ruey (1960: 29-30) further contends that the Magpie Miao of Szechuan display bilateral elements in their social structure in that they maintain "close association" with relatives of both the husband and wife; and among those in Western Hunan, the old tradition of neolocal residence and independent nuclear families is still followed.","From this evidence, he concludes that the present Hmong patrilineal kinship system with patrilocal residence has developed from the influence of the Han Chinese, and that old patterns survive because of poor assimilation of Chinese culture by the Hmong.","Strictly speaking, the Hmong's kinship system is not patrilineal with the inclusion of in-married women into the kin group and the exclusion of daughters who marry into other clans.","Membership is based on descent, affinity and adoption, but not on descent on the male side alone.","Be this as it may, it is clear that gender roles are usually prescribed for sons and daughters, or for husbands and wives, by religious beliefs.","These beliefs centre on the ancestral cult characterised by offerings from all male household heads to the spirits of their dead relatives, especially in any special event requiring the killing of domestic animals as food offerings.","Because of this religious responsibility, men's social roles are more prominent than those of women.","Women serve the important function of meeting the material needs of the family but they do so without the parallel political or religious responsibilities assumed by the men.","The Family and Household","In order of generality, Hmong social relationships consist of ties within the family, the family line, or marriage.","Of course, distance in degrees of relationship cannot be equated with their social importance as this is affected by the nature of physical or emotional proximity and other circumstances.","From this point of view, there is no doubt that the nuclear family and the extended household are the smallest unit of Hmong social structure, and the most important psychologically for all members in term of their commitment to one another.","A household may have more than one family or generation, and more than one wife married to a man.","Household membership, therefore, is not commensurate with memberships of a nuclear family.","The Hmong call people living in the same household "one house people" (ib yim neeg) and regard them as "the strongest category of relationships" in their society (Cooper, 1978: 309).","I will now examine the relationships of the "house people" to one another.","Whether only one or more married couples live in the same house, a husband and his wife or wives often share sleeping quarters with one another and with all younger children.","In a polygamous household, the wives may sometimes have their own separate beds or bed rooms in which they sleep with their children who, upon reaching puberty, move to their own sleeping compartments.","At this primary level, the relationships include those of "husband-wife, father-son, father-daughter, mother-son, mother-daughter and brother-sister" (Geddes, op.","cit: 46).","In their traditional village setting, all Hmong mothers breast-feed their babies, and generally carry them around on their backs in an apron- style embroidered baby carrier, particularly when preoccupied with household chores or farming activities.","In this sense, mothers spend more time on child care than fathers.","However, most fathers also share in looking after small children when their wives are too busy or when there are no older children to help.","With older children, a father's role is primarily to train his sons in the knowledge and performance of male responsibilities in such spheres of life as agriculture, socialising and religious induction.","On her part, a mother teaches her daughters womanly behaviour and tasks related to household work (cleaning and cooking), the procuring of firewood and water, the gathering of food for domestic animals, sewing and embroideries, farming and other activities deemed appropriate for the successful fulfilment of their roles.","It is the mother who admonishes her daughters for any misconduct or shameful acts.","When they are "kidnapped" by suitors for marriage, she will challenge their male abductors rather than the father.","She and other older females in the group are responsible for counselling younger girls in all matters of the heart.","The men will only intervene when matters have come to a head, demanding a major resolution.","Should the parents die before the children are married, their socialisation are passed on to paternal grandparents, a parental uncle and his wife, an older son, or an unmarried daughter (Ruey, op.cit: 154).","Preference in such cases is vested with the parents and male siblings of the dead father, but a lot also depends on who can assume such undertaking.","There are many prohibitions regarding the relationships between fathers and daughters-in-law.","These taboos described by Chindarsi (op.","cit.: 79) for the Green Hmong, apply equally to the White Hmong, especially those with the clan names Vang, Yang and Lee.","Among the Vang people, a married woman and her husband's father cannot enter each other's bedroom, because it is believed that in former time there was violation of the incest taboo between them since the Hmong see a daughter-in-law in a position similar to that of a daughter.","As long as she and her husband continue to share the same house with his parents, she also cannot enter the area separating the family fireplace and the sleeping compartment next to the central post.","This area is know as the southern side of the fire place (qab cub), and is the domain of the household spirits.","It is believed that if a daughter-in-law steps over this area, she will make offend these spirits who may make blind as retribution.","Blindness, of course, is not the only form of punishment by household spirits and women are not the only ones incurring their wrath.","The Hmong believe that illness or disability can be the result of spiritual chastisement - for both men and women.","With the Lee or Yang clans, a daughter-in-law cannot climb onto the ceiling of the house to store and retrieve goods.","To do this, she would have to pass the central beam which is held by the central post, again the domain of all household rituals.","Trespassing this area would amount to showing disrespect to family ancestors, thus bringing harm to her and other members of the household since the house formally belongs to her husband's parents.","Once she has her own house, a married woman can go up to its ceiling without fear or harm, because the house is now hers.","These are some examples regarding the relationships and obligations of parents and their daughters-in-law.","There are other prohibitions applicable to other sets of relationships or other Hmong clans, but these should be sufficient to illustrate role classification and behaviour prescriptions between certain members of a household or nuclear family.","Few Hmong know for long the close ties of the family as an isolated unit.","As soon as a son marries and brings his wife to live in his father's house, the family becomes an extended household.","Thus, we have firstly a nuclear family, then the male siblings take in their wives and children under the same roof, giving the fullest expression to their relationships in the form of the extended household.","This cluster of classificatory brothers will later separate into different households; but they, together with their spouses and children, can become a lineage.","Lineal ties will be remembered so long as this brotherhood is remembered.","If it is forgotten, the sharing of common ancestral rituals will be evoked in reckoning lineage membership with other people.","Ancestral rituals are used to trace membership in an original family or household, because the closer the blood relations between the living the more common the number of dead agnates invoked for offering by them.","In such invocations, a ritual performer begins with the most distant ancestors of the household, followed by each generation of dead relatives on the male side down to the lowest in the line.","Only included in these offering are those dead who were in primary and secondary degree relationships.","Beyond this range, relatives of lesser age status may be omitted as they are in any case taken care of by their own immediate living relatives.","Some members of the original household may have moved to other villages or live a long way away; and with distance over time and space their newborn children will be unknown to those who do not settle close to them.","Thus not all dead or living members of a group can be known and included in one's ritual offerings.","Moreover the Hmong rely almost exclusively on memorising the names of all dead relatives: it is possible and even necessary to overlook some of them from an already long and complex list.","Lineage Network","We have already seen that for the Hmong a lineage is a group of male relatives and their families united around an agnatic core.","The brotherhood group and the father who created it form the core of the lineage with membership spanning across all male descendants, their wives and all unmarried daughters.","A family can give rise to a lineage which is a descent group leading back to a known procreator.","Not all households result in a lineage in a patrilineal society such as that of the Hmong, particularly when there are only daughters born in the group.","Households with only female children (whether married or single) will contribute nothing to the life of the lineage, since only men can perform ancestral worship rituals through which the lineage is remembered and perpetuated.","So long as there are male descendants who adhere to the cult of ancestors, the lineage will survive.","Hence, Hmong parents desire to have sons who will offer sacrifices to ancestral spirits and thus maintain the family line.","The need to have sons is, therefore, dictated by a religious sanction which ensures that the physical and spiritual well-being of the parents are taken care of.","Due to this material and religious need, parents prefer that their unmarried sons remain in their household, or live in their village.","It is only through the father that sons will learn about the lineage and its attendant rituals.","A man who joins his father-in-law does so only in extreme circumstances.","Such a move is considered a betrayal of one's own lineal group, a lack of filial responsibilities towards parental and male relatives, or an indication of major discord in the extended household or lineage concerned.","A man living with his in-laws is spiritually on his own, despite all the practical assistance he obtains from his uxorial relatives.","In ritual matters, he still has to perform his own ancestral ceremonies and revere his own ancestors, since he and his family can never be admitted into the cult of his wife's parents as they are not of the same clan or lineage.","The observation of different ancestral rites in the same house is forbidden in Hmong society.","The problem cannot be resolved by the adoption of affinal ancestors, for this requires that the son-in-law changes his clan to that of his wife, which is a violation of the practice of clan exogamy in marriage and a defiance of the incest taboo.","A Hmong who resides patriuxorilocally, therefore, will have built his own house separately from that of his father-in-law.","Beside the rule regarding clan and ritual differentiation, he will anger the father-in-laws house spirits by having sex with his wife in her parental home.","Even with young couples working off the bride-price with their parents-in-law, the fact that they cannot pay it at a wedding puts them in a lower social-economic position than those who can free themselves of such bondage.","Patrivirilocal residence is the preferred practice, because it allows the continuation of lineage development under the guidance and protection of one's kin group for the interest of its members.","The ancestral cult not only unites the living under one roof or in one settlement through their common ancestors, but also establishes a mutual dependence between the dead and the living descendants through the bond of blood relationships across the generations.","The living members of a lineage are to follow the same ancestral rituals without deviating from the group's norms, and to provide mutual help by virtue of their kinship bonds.","To the dead, they have to pay respect through commemoration and sacrificial ceremonies, to provide their spirits in the other world with food and paper money, and to remember them during feasts and harvests.","On their part, the dead relatives will protect the living from misfortune, but will bring harm or sickness if they are neglected or spurned by their descendants.","As postulated by Radcliffe-Brown (1945: 40), this structuring of social relations with religious rituals give incentives to those who take part in them to have a sense of dependence on their ancestors and to remember them for having given the life, while they are spurred on to bring up their young ones to whom they will one day also became revered ancestors.","It is this scene of duty to the dead as well as the living that creates a direct association between a Hmong religion and his social structure, particularly his lineage.","Ancestral rites are the symbols which express, regulate, maintain and transmit this association from one generation to another, thereby enforcing lineage solidarity and inspiring members to carry out their duties to the living, the dead and those yet to be born.","These rites can be found elsewhere (Chindarsi, 1976) and are not discussed here since this is the purpose of the present paper","With respect to lineage depth, Hmong knowledge rarely goes "deeper than four generations" (Cooper, op.","cit: 308).","Geddes (op.","cit: 52) also discovers that lineage are often of no greater depth than two generations from "the most senior men among the living".","These observations apply equally to other Hmong groups where lineage generation depth is often five to eight generations encompassing the dead and the living members of a lineage.","Lineage heads are usually the oldest living male descendants of the group, except in the case of a woman who assumes the role after her husband's death.","These lineage leaders belong to at least the fourth generation from the lineage founder.","They are not called "tus hau zos" (village headman) as stated by Cooper (op.cit.), but carry the title of "tus coj plaub" (trouble bearers), and "tus coj dab" (ceremonial bearers) for their members.","They may be, but not always, village heads who are formally appointed or elected for the whole village or a group of villages which contain many lineages.","There is only one village headman or woman, but there are many lineage and informal leaders within a settlement.","Space, physical resources, social conflicts, or political upheavals can restrict the expansion of a lineage when some of its members may be forced to move and re-establish themselves in other villages, and more recently even in other countries.","This means that the descendants of a lineage are not necessarily residents of one village, but can be scattered over great distance from one another.","More commonly, this wide dispersion is often the result of intermittent migration caused by the Hmong's practice of shifting cultivation (Cooper, op.cit.: 308 and Geddes, 1970).","The environment in which they depend for their livelihood generally become depleted within ten to fifteen years, and they may have to move elsewhere to seek new land for farming.","However, some of them may choose to remain in the old settlement or may join relatives of the wives in other villages.","After a few generations, these lineage members will lose track of one another from lack of communications and written records.","Their children may be unable to remember the original founders and other descendants of the group, thus forcing some of them to adopt the slightly different ritual practices of neighbouring sub clans in a place of their own.","Lineages are open to division, shrinkage and leadership take- over, as the generation levels increase over time and as its membership disperses in space.","To be preserved in a cohesive group worshipping the same set of ancestors, the member must remain together or be separated for only a short time.","Long distance migration fragments the group, although some descendants may later reunite.","However, unless the original ancestors and rituals are remembered, they may form merely a sub clan rather than a lineage.","In some cases, the ritual difference may be so great that only clan membership remains.","Clan and Sub clan Division","We have seen that members of a lineage honour the same "parental spirits" in ritual ceremonies, which can be traced to a common original male founder.","Above this level, membership of more inclusive groups such as the clan and sub clan also exist.","Clan identification is made on the basis of a common surname.","When two persons have a similar surname, they are said to belong to the same clan.","If they further share similar rituals but without any genealogical connection, than they are of the same sub clan, a grouping intermediate between the sub clan and lineage.","A lineage is known in Hmong as a "cluster of brothers" (ib cuab kwv tij), and a sub clan as "one ceremonial household" (ib tus dab qhas).","One of the distinguishing features between kinship categories is that members of a lineage can die in one another's house and will be given funeral, but not people related only by clan or sub clan membership.","The clan serves as a reference point for the Hmong to recognise one another as kin or non-kin.","It unites them into organised kinship groups, while it also divides them along mutually exclusive patrilineal lines, except for the connections maintained via and wives.","If man is of a particular clan, even if they have never met or known one another before.","Their relationships will be closer still if they are also of the same sub clan.","Persons of the same clan or sub clan without any known blood links refer to each other as "kwv tij" or relatives in the broader sense of the term.","Based on the various surnames found in Thailand and Laos, Binny (1968: 380) groups them into 12 clans: Chang, Hang, Heu, Lee, Lo, Mua, Pang, Thao, Vang, Vue, Xiong and Yang.","Other clan names also exist, but it is difficult to know how many altogether because of the Hmong's wide dispersion across many countries.","The Green Hmong, for instance, share some clan names with the White Hmong, but also have others of their own.","The clan system proscribes marriage between persons of the same clan.","It helps a person to identify the groups with which he or she can count on for closer ties and support, despite the fact that the bond of mutual obligations will not be as strong as that between members of a lineage.","Of the main religious rituals used to establish sub clan connection, the most common are the "door ceremony" (dab roog) and the "ox ceremony" (nyuj dab) as described by Chindarsi (op.","cit: 113- 125).","The door ceremony involves the offering of a piglet every one to two years to the spirit of the household's southern door to ask protection for a family's domestic animal.","The ox ceremony is performed at irregular intervals, depending on when dead ancestors (parents or grand-parents) require an ox offering.","Such requirements will be transmitted to the living through an illness in the family and revealed through shamanic divination.","These two ceremonies are the yardstick by which the Hmong differentiate sub clans, because the number of plates into which the various cooked portions of the pig (door ceremony) or the ox (ox ceremony) are distributed differs from one sub clan to another.","For the door ceremony, the pork can be divided into 5, 7 or 9 plates; and for the ox ceremony, all parts of the ox can be put as small cuts into one big bowl; 30 big and 3 small; and 33 big and 3 small bowls.","The big bowls of meat are for ancestral spirits, and the small plates for the local spirits of places surrounding the village.","One sub clan may divide the pork into 5 bowls, and the ox meat into 13 big bowls and 3 small plates.","A second sub clan may have 9 piles for the door ceremony, and 30 big plates plus 3 small bowls for the ox ceremony.","Any number of combination is possible within the above variations.","If two Hmong discover that they have the same combination, they are said to be of the same sub clan.","There are other criteria employed for the identification of sub clans such as the type of grave construction or the nature of clan taboos.","Hmong graves can be a mond of earth with some tree branches on top to protect the corpse from wild animals, a mond of earth surrounded by a plaited bamboo fence, or a mond of earth protected by boulders.","Each type of grave is strictly observed by each sub clan.","In terms of clan taboos, some sub clans are forbidden to eat animal hearts or pancreas.","Again, people who share common grave construction or clan taboos usually see themselves as members of the same sub clan.","However, it is doubtful whether some sub clan members are related other than by clan name.","Rituals are likely to undergo changes from their original forms over the generations, since they are only verbally transmitted so that small details can become lost or forgotten.","It is believed that originally all Hmong had 33 big bowls and 3 small bowls for the ox ceremony, but smaller numbers had been adopted because some groups could not afford so many bowls and plates.","It is not easy to determine if one's sub clan has resorted to such changes over the generations.","Thus, when a Hmong finds that he has the same set of ritual as another person of the same clan, it can be a coincidence rather than the sharing of a common sub clan origin.","The clan had sub clan rituals discussed do not, therefore, totally reflect the social structure of the Hmong, except at the level of the lineage.","This is despite the fact that they are acknowledged means for identifying clan affinity.","Conclusion","I have tried to show how the Hmong organise their social relationships into gender and kinship categories based on the patrilineal ancestral cult.","Their conception of existence consists of mutual interaction between the living descendants and their dead ancestors, the latter having the power to aid or punish the former who must revere their memories and wishes.","Hmong kinship structure is, therefore, really a ritual structure with religious rites and beliefs specific to each category of relationships such as the household, the lineage, the sub clan and the clan.","Each category carries its own proper ritual prescriptions and performances.","A household is more than just a shelter and the people living in it.","It is a kin group as well a place for worship, with appropriate domain for its living members and for the spirits of the dead relatives on the male side.","In practice, social relationships are not confined to these kin groups and religious sanctions.","The rule of patrivirilocality, for example, does not prevent a Hmong married man from having social contact with relatives of the wife, particularly her parents and brothers.","A special bond may be developed between them when one party is in a more economically advantageous position than the other, although no ritual links are evident.","For this reason, Hmong religious beliefs cannot be said to dominate all relationships.","A man may have obligations towards his parent-in-law and their descendants, but these obligations are not manifested in his rituals.","The Hmong, indeed, maintain close connections with affinal ties, but reserve their ceremonies to agnatic ancestors.","These ceremonies serve to place the lineage dead on a supernatural level while also preserving the power structure and gender relationship of the living.","Because of this, Durkheim's assertion that the source of religion lies within our own image, as stated at the beginning of this paper, only partly applies to the Hmong.","To a large extent, they can be said to worship their own images (represented by their ancestors), but more precisely the images represented only by the male lime of decent.","These worship activities clearly define the position of each Hmong, male and female, within a social system in such a way that both the religious observation and the social mutually reinforce and justify each other's existence.","REFERENCES","Aron, R 1967 Main Currents in Sociological Thought, vol 2 (London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson).","Bernatzik, H.A.","1970 Akha and Meau (New Haven: Human Relations Area File Press).","Binny, GA.","1968 "Social Structure and Shifting Agriculture of the White Meo", Final Technical Report, Wildlife Management Institute, Washington, D.C.","Chindarsi, N 1976 The Religion of the Hmong Njua (Bangkok: Siam Society).","Cohen, Y 1971 Man in Adaptation: the Institutional Framework (Chicago: Aldine Atherton).","Cooper, R.G.","1978 "Unity and Division in Hmong Social Categories In Thailand", in Chen, P.S.J.","and Evers, H.D.","eds.","Studies in ASEAN Sociology (Singapore: Chopmen)","1983 "Sexual Inequality among the Hmong", in McKinnon, J.","and Bhruksasri, W.","eds.","Highlanders of Thailand (Kuala Lumpur: Oxford University Press).","De Beauclair, I.","1970 Tribal Cultures of Southwest China (Taipei: Orient Cultural Service).","Durkheim, E 1961.","Elementary Forms of Religious Life (New York: Collier Books).","Geddes,W.R 1970 "Opium and the Miao", Oceania, XLI (1): 1-11.","1976 Migrants of the Mountains (Oxford: Clarendon Press)","Graham, D.C.","1937 "The Customs of the Chu'uan Miao", J.","West China Border Research Society, 9: 13-71.","Hsu, F.L.K.","1967 Under the Ancestor's Shadow (New York: Doubleday Anchor).","Keesing, R.M and Keesing, F.M.","1971 New Perspectives in Cultural Anthropology (New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston).","Leaf, M.J.","1979 Man, Mind and Science (New York: Columbia University Press).","Mickey, M.P.","1947 The Cowrie Shell Miao of Kweichow (Cambridge, MA: Peabody Museum).","Radcliffe-Brown, A.R.","1945 "Religion and Society", J Royal Anthropological Institute, 75: 33-43","Ruey, Y.F.","1960 "The Magpie Miao of Southern Szechuan", in Murdock, G.P.","ed Social Structure in Southeast Asia (Chicago: Quadrangle Books).","Copyright © 2005","Hmong world view","http://members.ozemail.com.au/~yeulee/Culture/hmong world view and social structure.html","65.6","22 May 2005");
Page[4]=new Array("Home About Gary History Culture Topical Poems Short stories Submitted Publications","Culture","White Hmong Kinship: Terminology and Structure","Contents","1 Terms for members of a family","2 Second degree relationship terminology","3 Third degree relatives","4 Biologically distant relatives","5 Discussion","6 Conclusion","7 References","White Hmong Kinship: Terminology and Structure","(Hmong World, 1, Yale University Southeast Asian Studies, 1986)","According to Graburn (1971: 2), a society structures its members into positions based on a number of principles.","The many persons to whom an individual may relate are classified into categories which determine their behaviour expectations towards one another and maintain them together as a group.","The totality of these expectations and culturally determined relationships forms the group's social structure.","Thus, an understanding of a society's structure necessitates the examination of the ways in which its members form themselves into social groups, the relationships between the groups, and between individual members, as well as the types of ideal and actual behaviour found among them.","Kinship is one of the principles by which human societies develop their social structure.","As defined by Murdock (1960:92), kinship is a "structured system of relationships in which individuals are bound one to another by complex interlocking and ramifying ties".","However, unlike other forms of social organisation such as the family or the village community, the interpersonal relationships of a kinship system do not in all cases lead to the formation of localised social aggregates closely associated with one another.","This is despite the fact that kinship ties are based on affinal (marital) relationships between a husband and his wife, and on consanguineal (biological) relationships between parents and their children who form the nuclear family, "the basis for kinship in nearly all societies" (Schusky, 1972: 7).","These mutual relationships are usually differentiated by the terms used by members of the system to address, or to refer to, one another.","Such kinship terms are essential guides to social behaviour, placing people into categories and assigning them statues and roles .","In the words of Fortes (1969: 54), a kinship term "is a package of definitions, rules and directions for conduct...","a store of information but also a tool of action".","It forms an intricate part of what Murdock (op.","cit .: 97) recognises as the reciprocal behaviour characterising every relationship between kinsmen.","Although many ethnographic accounts exist on the Hmong, little attention has been paid to Hmong kinship terminology, in spite of its importance in understanding Hmong kinship behaviour and social structure.","Graham (1937: 13-71) and de Beauclair (1956: 20-35), in their writing about the Ch'uan Miao (Hmong) and the Red Hmong in South western China, concern themselves mostly with customs in such areas as marriage, funerals, economy and religious beliefs.","Geddes (1976) in his recent book on the Green Hmong of Northern Thailand discusses at length their social relationships and groupings, but does not touch on kinship terminology.","Bernatzik (1970: 48 60) and Heimbach (1969: 493-97) give a list of the most common terms without elaborating on them, while Copper (1978: 297-320) explains Hmong social categories with only a few terms mentioned.","Only Lemoine (1972a: 173-181) and Ruey (1960: 143-155) have attempted to analyse kinship terms used among the Green Hmong of Laos and the "Magpie Miao" of Southern Szechuan.","The literature on the White Hmong so far concentrates on marriage and funeral customs, or on shamanism only (Bourotte, 1943; Grossin, 1926; Moréchand, 1955 and 1969; and Mottin, 1975).","A tentative discussion of White Hmong kinship terms will be done in this article in the hope of filling this void.","COMMON KINSHIP TERMS","The kinship terms given below are mainly reference terms with a few address terms.","For members of a nuclear family, the terms expected to be employed are shown on Chart I, which represents a polygynous household with only primary-degree relationships.","Terms for members of a family","Parents","Fa : txiv.","This can also refer to a husband, depending on who is the speaker.","leej txiv is the term used for the father of a child.","For example, kuv txiv: "my father".","Hu : tus txiv, the husband as in koj tus txiv, "your husband".","Mo : niam, usually used as a term of address, and by extension it can also mean "wife".","leej niam, the mother, eg.","nws (leej) niam is "his mother".","Wi : poj niam.","For example, koj poj niam: "your wife".","Couples with children often address each other as if they are speaking through their children.","Thus, the husband may call his wife koj niam ("your mother"), and the wife may address the husband as koj txiv ("your father").","They can refer to each other as kuv tus txiv ("my husband") or kuv tus poj niam ("my wife"), but have no direct terms of address, except by using name or by resorting to the terms of address employed by their children for them as indicated.","In a polygynous household, the co-wives are referred to or addressed by the husband, their children, any third party, or by one another as:","niam hlob for the first wife.","In the case of the children, the term applies only to those who belong to the other wife or wives.","niam nrab for the second or middle wife.","The word nrab means literally "middle" or "in between", and when used with the word "wife" it refers to all the wives between the first and the last or youngest one.","Thus, no matter how many "middle wives" a man has acquired, they are all called niam nrab.","niam yau for the last wife.","yau means "young" or "junior".","Alternatively, she can be addressed as niam me ("little or junior wife"), and the first wife as niam loj or "senior wife".","Children","me nyuan is the term for children in general when the speaker is merely making reference.","This can be broken into:","me tub: son, as in nej cov tub for "your (plural) sons".","me is an endearing word and is often dropped or replaced by tus meaning "one", eg.","kuv tus tub ("my one son" or "my son".)","me ntxhais or ntxhais: daughter, eg.","tus ntxhais hlob ("oldest daughter").","The terms of reference used by parents are me nyuam as above or tub ntxhais ("sons and daughters").","Although the word me (meaning "small" or ''little'') can be dropped from tub or ntxhais, it cannot be left out of the term me nyuam (for "children") even if the latter are grown-ups.","Br : nus for a female speaker.","Si : muam for a male speaker.","both these two terms yield:","nus muag for "brothers and sisters".","Older and younger brothers are distinguished as nus hlob and nus yau by their unmarried sisters, and as dab laug by the married ones.","The latter, whether married or not, are in turn address as muam hlob (for "older sister") and muam yau ("younger sister") by their brothers, and as muam nrab for any sisters in between.","When brothers refer to one another, the term used are:","kwv tij, for all brothers of the same parents when the speaker is male.","This term is a combination of two other terms:","kwv, younger brother of male speaker, and","tij laug, older brother(s) of male speaker.","For sisters, the terms for mutual address and reference are:","viv ncaus, a term meaning "sisters" and also used by persons other than those involved in such relationship.","Unlike the general term kwv tij for brother, viv ncaus cannot be broken up to designate older or younger sister for the White Hmong.","Apparently, the Magpie Hmong (Ruey, op.","cit., p.","148) adopt the term viv for older sister, and ncaus for younger sister.","The White Hmong, however, know only the referent niam laus for older sister, and niam hluas for younger sister.","As evident in Chart I, there are no distinguishing terms for the children of the different wives of a man.","Though of different mothers (but the same father), the children refer to one another as if they all belong to one mother by the rule that all the sons of a father are kwv tij ("true brothers"), and his daughters are all viv ncaus to one another.","Together, these sons and daughters constitute a group of nus muag.","By extension and in relationship with the sons and daughters of their father's brothers, the whole set forms ib cuab kwv tij or a lineage.","This, however, is in the realm of secondary social relations, and we will now turn to these secondary categories.","Second-degree relationship terminology","In this grouping fall all those relatives who are related to the primary relatives of Ego but are excluded from the latter usually by virtue of the fact that they are born into it.","A person, of course, does not have to be born into a nuclear family to be considered among its members, since he or she can be adopted from outside but still treated as a natural part of the group along with all the social expectations such a membership implies.","Murdock (op.","cit., p.","94) identifies 39 potential secondary relatives for every person, including HuWi (Co-spouse), HuSo or HuDa (by other wives), FaWi (other than Ego's mother), FaSo (the sons of Ego's father's other wives), and FaDa (half-sister).","However, as we have already seen, these categories are included with primary relatives in Hmong kinship terminology, because they are all related to the same husband or father, For our purpose here, we shall exclude them from secondary relationships, and retain only the following terms illustrated in Chart II.","Thus, White Hmong second degree relatives and their corresponding terminology are:","FaFa : yawg, FaMo : pog.","Together, these terms become pog yawg or "grand-parents".","This can also be taken as ancestors more than one generation above Ego's father, as the genealogy knowledge of some Hmong is only of this depth.","FaBr: txiv hlob for "older father", that is the older brother of one's father according to the rule of collateral classification.","If FaBr is younger than one's father, the term used is txiv ntxawm, "junior father".","When it is used as a term of address, the word ntxawm is dropped, and only txiv + name of the younger uncle is the norm.","The same applies to the term of address for txiv hlob, but in this case txiv is dropped and only hlob + name is employed.","To differentiate between txiv hlob and txiv ntxawm, Ego's real father is addressed or referred to simply as txiv with no name or other words attached, as already noted above.","FaSi : phauj.","The term muam phauj (muam meaning "sister") is ordinarily reserved for use during funeral rites to address those sisters of Ego's father attending the latter's funeral or the funeral of his brothers and other classificatory relatives.","Unlike terms used for father's older or younger brothers explained previously, phauj is used for both younger and older sisters of the father.","MoFa : yawm txiv, MoMo : niam tais.","Their combination gives niam tais yawm txiv for parents-in-law or Ego's wife's parents.","MoBr : dab laug, whether older or younger than mother.","MoSi : niam tais, or simply tais + name of the person being addressed or referred to.","Together, the niam tais (MoSi), dab laug, and niam tais yawm txiv as well as all their collateral relatives form mother's neej tsa or affined ties.","SiHu : yawm yij, irrespective of age in relation to Ego.","SiSo: tub.","We have seen with respect to the nuclear family that tub means "son", and it is used for SiSo as well as the sons of all collateral relatives (male and female), because the rule of extension is applied.","Thus, SiSo is regarded as one's own son, or is referred to through one's sister as if it is the latter addressing her own children.","This applies equally to:","SiDa : ntxbais","BrSo : tub","BrDa: ntxhais","WiSo : tub (of a previous marriage)","WiDa : ntxhais (if from a previous marriage)","BrWi : niam tij (if brother is older than Ego).","Niam ntxawm (if brother is younger than Ego).","In this case, the term is used through Ego's children.","As far as Ego is directly concerned, the wife of a younger brother is simply addressed with the word niam (for "mother" or "married woman") followed by her husband's name.","If Ego is female, all brothers' wives are referred to as tis nyab or nyab ("sister-in law")","MoHu: txiv if one's mother remarries after widowhood or divorce irrespective of whether or not the step father has adopted Ego formally as one of his own children.","Ego's mother's husband simply becomes Ego's father through the mother.","In Hmong customs, the new husband usually adopts his wife's children from a previous marriage into his own clan if they are of a different clan, are still dependent on their mother, and are not claimed by the former husband in the case of a divorce or by the latter's male relatives if he has died.","If the new father and the wife's children of another marriage are of the same clan, all that is required is a psychological readjustment between them.","Sometimes this readjustment has to be done through a ceremony or formal acknowledgment.","But such a remarriage is possible only if the new husband is a younger "brother" (in its broad sense) of the former husband.","In this way, the lineage can retain the widow and all her children.","Here, the niam tij become one's poj niam, and the txiv ntxawm ("father's younger brother') becomes txiv.","This practice of levirate is permissible only between widows of older brothers and the younger brothers or younger parallel male cousins.","Marriage is forbidden between a divorcee or widow and males of other categories and generations related to the previous husband .","MoSo: all seen as kwv tij for Ego regardless of whether or not they are of the same father.","This is true also of MoDa (muam).","All of mother's children are related to one another as brothers and sisters since they have the same mother.","The terms of address and rules of behaviour found in a nuclear family apply to all children of remarried parents.","WiFa: yawn txiv","WiMo: niam tais","WiBr: dab laug regardless of age in relation to Wi.","WiSi: niam laus if older than Wi, niam hluas if younger than Wi.","HuFa: txiv","HuMo: niam.","Both HuFa and HuMo are regarded as one's own parents.","HuBr: txiv laus if Br is older than Hu.","If Ego has children, their term of address hlob ("father's older brother") can be used in place of txiv laus; txiv hluas if Br is younger than Hu.","For speaker with children, txiv (ntxawm) ("father's younger brother") is used to refer to her husband's younger brother through the children.","HuSi: no specific term exists, apart from addressing by name.","The term phauj (FaSi) may be used by a married woman to refer to HuSi through the couple's children, particularly if the sister is married.","SoWi: nyab","SoSo: xeeb ntxwv.","The same term applies to SoDa and any other descendants below son's generation onward irrespective of age and sex.","Sometimes, the term","tub xeeb ntxwv is male descendants or grandchildren, and ntxhais xeeb ntxwv for female descendants.","These terms are equally applicable to DaSo and DaDa.","DaHu: vauv.","This completes kinship terminology used by the White Hmong for secondary relatives.","Ideally, the Hmong identify more with relatives on the paternal side than with those related through affinal bonds.","One's kin group is differentiated from other groups by the clan name which one shares with them.","People with a similar clan name are seen as related no matter how biologically or geographically distant they are from one another.","Maternal relatives belong as a rule to a clan different from that of one's father and do not share the same sets of ancestral rites.","Thus, the more different the clan name and the ancestors, the less are the people considered to be related.","A clan name may indicate a common mythical origin, but to be included as a member of a lineage a man has to possess the same ancestor cult as other members of the group.","Moreover, the male relatives will always have more significance than female ones, the latter being regarded as belonging almost exclusively to their husbands' clans after marriage.","Hence, the absence of many kinship terms to differentiate between female relations when compared with those for male.","Third-degree relatives","According to Murdok (op.","cit., p.","95), each secondary relative "has primary relatives who are neither primary nor secondary relatives of Ego, and who may thus be termed tertiary relatives" (emphasis original).","Since there are 151 possibilities of such relationships, it is neither practical nor useful to list them all and to represent then al a chart.","I will confine myself, therefore, to the most common terms for relatives of this category in the White Hmong kinship system.","Among them ran be found the following:","FaFaFa: yawg koob","FaFaMo: pog koob","FaMoFa: yawm txiv as with MoFa and WiFa.","FaMoMo: niam tais, similar to MoMo and WiMo.","MoFaFa: yawm txiv, see FaMoFa, also for MoMoFa.","MoFaMo: niam tais, which is also used for MoMoMo.","FaBrSo: kwv, if younger than Ego, and tij, if older.","Together, they and Ego are kwv tij ("brothers") as if they are all born of the same parents.","FaBrDa: muam, if speaker is male, and viv ncaus if female.","Together with a male Ego, they become nus muag ("brother and sister").","FaSiSo : npawg.","This term applies also to MoBrSo and MoSiSo, provided that speaker is male.","Together, they are cross-cousins.","For a female speaker, the word dab followed by the name of the person being addressed is employed, although today the use of name has become prevalent except for those who are very polite and still observe the old terminology.","FaSiDa : muam npawg, similarly extended to MoSiDa and MoBrDa in the case of a male Ego.","For a female speaker, only the person's name is used, as they are treated as viv ncaus ("sisters") to one another, even if they are actually cross-cousins.","MoSiHu : yawm txiv as opposite of niam tais for MoSi.","MoBrWi : niam dab laug or the dab laug (MoBr)'s wife.","FaBrWi : niam hlob followed by name.","This term should not be confused with niam hlob used for the senior wife of a polygynous union since in this case the name of the person concerned is not attached to the term.","The term niam hlob occurs where FaBr is older than Fa.","If younger, the term niam ntxawn is called for.","FaSiHu : yawg laus, literally "senior man", regardless of whether Si is older or younger than Fa.","BrSo: nyab, similar to SoWi since BrSo and So are considered siblings.","The same term and rule are applied to SiSoWi, although SiSo is a cross-cousin for Ego and is not usually a clan relative, but a relative only through Si.","BrDaHu : vauv, which is used also for SiDaHu, based on the principle discussed in connection with BrSoWi and SiSoWi.","FaFaBr : yawg, as for FaFa","MoFaSi : phauj, as for FaSi","MoFaBr : dab laug, as for MoBr","MoMoSi : niam tais, as for MoSi","WiFaFa : yawm txiv, as for WiFa","WiFaMo : niam tais, as for WiMo","WiMoFa : yawn txiv, as for MoFa","WiMoMo : niam tais, as for MoMo","WiSiHu : txiv laus if Ego's wife is younger than Si and txiv hluas if older.","SiSoWi : nyab, as for SoWi, and is used further for BrSoWi and SoSoWi.","SiDaHu : vauv, as for DaHu and applicable a so for BrDaHu and SoDaHu.","SoSoSo : xeeb ntxwv, as for SoSo, SoDa and SoSoDa discussed earlier.","SoDaSo : the same term as for SoSoSo and SoDaDa.","SoWiFa : yawg cuas, equally used for DaHuFa, often with the word cuas followed by the name of the person.","SoWiMo : pog cuas, as for DaHuMo.","A glance at these kinship terms indicates that the Hmong kinship system is not comparable to the English system, despite the fact that both are patrilineally-based.","In the English model, kinship is looked at through both the father and the mother, and their children (the nuclear family), embracing relatives from both the maternal and paternal sides with the s me classificatory terms with respect to the husband and wife.","The children and the wife assume the father's surname (hence, patrilineal to this extent), but equal importance (or unimportance, for that matter) is placed on FaBr and MoBr who are both referred to as uncle, on MoSi and FaSi both called aunt, on the children of these uncles and aunts, and on the grandparents of both sides.","That the Hmong model is different seems evident by the fact that different kinship terms exist to describe each of these relationships, perhaps with the balance leaning slightly towards those relatives on the paternal side.","Biologically distant relatives","In general, it is not possible for a Hmong to remember relatives for more than four or five generations above or below Ego (Cooper, 1978: 3C8, and Geddes, 1976: 52).","This seems to be true of relatives who are in more than four degree relationship with Ego horizontally.","For this reason, the Hmong do not always have kinship terms for these biologically distant kin.","This applies also to relatives of the third degree or second degree, so long as they are not clan relatives.","For instance, Ego refers to his sister's son as "son" in the same way as he does with his brother's son.","However, SiSo is called "son" only by virtue Ego's relationship with his sister (sibling), and clan and patrilineage.","When a relative is too distant, he or she is often referred to with a kinship term used by the person in closest relationship with the speaker, eg.","MoMoBr = MoBr.","WiMoFa = MoFa, and FaFaBrSoSo = FaBrSo.","Because a person can have hundreds of those distant relatives, the kinship terms given below will be limited to those most commonly found in White Hmong society.","Quaternary relatives:","FaFaFaFa: yawg suab","FaFaFaMo: pog suab","FaFaBrSo: txiv hlob or "older uncle" if Fa is younger; txiv ntxawm if Fa is older.","Both are the same terms as for FaSi.","FaFaBrDa: phauj as for FaSi","MoFaBrSo: dab laug, as for MoBr","MoMoBrDa : niam tais, as for MoSi or MoMo","SoSoSoSo : xeeb ntxwv, as for SoSo, SoDa, SoSoSoDa, BrSoSoSo.","BrSoSoDa, SiSoSoSo, SiDaSoDa, etc....","Quinary relatives:","FaFaBrSoSo: tij laug if older than speaker, and kwv if younger.","Together, they are kwv tij ("brothers" in the sense of parallel cousins), as for FaBrSo.","FaFaBrSoDa : muam for male Ego, and dab + name for female Ego as for FaSiSo, MoSiSo and MoBrSo.","FaFaBrDaDa : muam npawg for male speaker, and viv ncaus for female speaker, as for FaSiDa or MoBrDa (cross-cousins).","Six-degree relations:","FaFaFaFaFaFa: no special term, but included among FaFaFaFa (yawg suab or one of the great grandfather).","At this generation depth, hardly any Hmong remember this ancestor, since they have no written genealogy.","Thus, the lack of terminology.","FaFaFaFaFaFa : pog suab or pog koob, as for FaFaFaMo and FaFaMo.","See remark on FaFaFaFaFaFa.","FaFaBrDaDaSo : tub, as for FaSiSoSo.","FaFaBrDaSoDa : ntxhais, as for FaSiDaDa.","It can be seen that the further removed a relative is from Ego, the more common are terms used for relatives of the second and third degrees.","This suggests that terminology for the more distant relatives is but extension of that existing for the more prevalent or closer relationships, since the system of terminology does not adequately cover those relatives in the fourth to the sixth degree.","As the social distance increases between Ego and his kin, we have to resort to terms employed by those relatives in primary relationship with Ego to refer to relatives in tertiary or quaternary relationship.","Many more combinations of these relationships could be listed, but this is not done here for this simple reason.","DISCUSSION","As stated by Lemoine (1972a: 178), kinship terminology for the Hmong as with other peoples exists to help them in referring to their affines and kin, and to distinguish between these politically, religiously, and economically.","A Hmong marriage unites not only two persons of the opposite sex, but also two families and clans, even though the marriage is not one arranged by the parents of the bride and groom.","A man's social status depends on the number of his patrilineal relatives, those of his wife and mother, and, to a lesser extent, the descendants of the female relatives an his father's side.","A brief examination of White Hmong kinship terms reveals that terminology extension through teknonymy and tekeisonymy seems to be the norm.","It is not my purpose to discover the reasons for the existence of Hmong kinship terms.","Determinants of kinship terminology have been discussed by other writers and summarised by Murdock (op.","cit., pp.","113-183).","I have only tried to list the most common White Hmong kinship terms, and to see from them how the Hmong kinship system is structured.","According to one writer, the terminology is a method of classification and what it shows is how various systems classify kin folk and affines (Morgan, 1870).","It can be seen that the Hmong more or less group their kin, according to the eight criteria deduced by Kroeber (19 9: 77-84): (1) different or same generation; (2) lineal or collateral relation; (3) relative age within the sane generation; (4) sex of relative; (5) sex of speaker; (6) .sex of person who is a link between one relative and another; (7) consanguine or .affinal relationship; and (8) whether a linking relative is dead or alive.","There is a preponderance of kinship terms based on age (eg.","older or younger brother), generation (eg.","father, son, uncle), and sex (brothers, sisters, aunts).","Often, a married woman is an important link between her relatives on her parents' sides and her affines, as when her brother refers to her son as "son", not because SiSo has the same social significance as BrSo or one's own son but because SiSo is referring to through Si; that is, as if one is speaking as Si; that is, as if one is speaking as Si referring to her own son.","When such a linking relative is distant or dead, her affines or descendants are usually forgotten unless they are geographically and socially close to her original kin group, for instance FaFaBrDaDa.","Classification based on age is most obvious between older brother (tij laug) and younger brother (kwv), father's elder brother (txiv hlob) and younger brother (txiv ntxawn).","This importance of age seems less prominent among females relatives, when there are no separate terms for elder sister and younger sister and both are simply referred to as viv ncaus ("sisters").","All FaSi are also collectively called phauj irrespective of whether they are older or younger than Fa This difference in terminology between male and female relatives could be attributed to the fact the Hmong kinship system is patrilineal, considering a daughter as belonging almost exclusively to her husband's clan once she is married (a women once married, can never again live and die under the sane house spirits as her consanguineal kin, whether she later becomes widowed or divorced-she must carry on under her former husband's ancestors and spirits).","Terminology differentiation between brothers and male kin of different ages is perhaps due to the respect for age commonly found among the Hmong and the Chinese, the latter having exerted much religious and cultural influence on the former.","This respect for seniority is also shown in the cult of ancestor-worship, although the Hmong cannot usually remember their ancestors for more than four or five generations and often do not have kinship terms for these relatives.","This is evidenced by the terms yawg ("grandfather') and yawg koob ("great grandfather") which are often used indiscriminately to refer to all ancestors above Ego's father's generation.","More significant than classification based on age and sex is classification based on marriage and descent, or lineal and collateral relatives.","Among relatives classified in this way are three main groups.","In terms of closeness (both with respect to rituals and affection), we have: (1) the patrilineal relatives, all male descendants on the paternal side and their close relatives; (2) the consanguineal and affinal relatives of all females married into the group; and (3) the descendants and affinal relatives of all females originating from the group and having married into other clans.","Thus, we can distinguish one group of patrilineal relatives, and two groups of collateral relatives among the Hmong.","All males of the same generation in the lineal group are referred to as kwv tij ("brothers"), even though they would be more appropriately called male parallel cousins since many of them do not belong to the same set of parents.","Male and female relatives in this category call one another nus muag ("brothers and sisters"); and all female relatives address one another as viv ncaus ("sisters").","It is forbidden for them to marry one another so long as they belong to the patrilineal group and have the same clan name.","Thus, no terms exist for parallel cousins on the male side, eg.","Ego and FaBrSo or FaBrDa (Ego is here either male or female), because all descendants from the males of the patrilineal group are regarded as brothers and sisters, but not cousins.","This rule, however, does not apply to what I referred to above as collateral relatives, or descendants of MoBr, MoSi, and FaSi.","MoBrSo and FaSi are all referred to as npawg ("cousins"), tij npawg if older than male speaker, and kwv npawg if younger.","MoBrDa and FaSiDa are both called muam npawg ("female cousin") by a male speaker, and viv ncaus (npawg) (female bilateral cross-cousins) by a female speaker.","Nus npawg is used by female Ego in referring to MoBrSo and FaSiSo, either of whom can marry Ego.","This means that for the White Hmong at least, a male is allowed to marry either his MoBrDa or his FaSiDa and MoSiDa (all of whom are his muam npawg), but never his FaBrDa who is considered his own sister.","Hence, distinguishing terms exist only for cross cousins.","However, going one generation above Ego and still referring to parallel cousins and cross-cousins, we find that there is no term which the parental generation can use to, refer to their cousins' children.","BrSo and SiSo are both called tub (''son") by both male and female speakers; and BrDa and SiDa are called ntxhais ("daughter").","Here again, the principle of terminology extension through tekeisonymy (the opposite of teknonymy) seems to apply.","The Hmong practice the levirate and it would be logical to expect a BrSo to be seen as one's own son.","But when this term is used with SiSo (who is not related to Ego's clan), this is due to terminology extension, whether the speaker is male or female.","This seems to be a widespread rule in Hmong kinship terminology as has been shown repeatedly in the course of this discussion.","Because White Hmong distinguish between lineal and collateral relatives, it can be said that they have a descriptive kingship system.","They also distinguish MoBr (dablaug) from Fa (txiv) and FaBr (txiv hlob or txiv ntxawm).","FaBr is seen as belonging to the father's generation but is called by a different term from Fa (txiv).","Since FaBr could thus be regarded as Fa, the Hmong could be said to have a bifurcate merging system of kinship (Schusky, Op.","cit., p.","19-20).","Despite this, it is not clear if White Hmong kinship is of the Eskimo, Hawaiin, Sudanese or Iroquois system on the basis of cousin terminology.","Not all cousins are separated from siblings (e.g.","all FaSiSo, FaSiDa, MoSiSo and MoSiDa) as is the case of the Hawaiin system.","It is obvious now that the Hmong do not distinguish cousins between one another and between siblings, according to the Sudanese type.","The Iroquois system equates parallel cousins with siblings, but not cross cousins.","This appears closer to the Hmong system; and yet the Hmong only equate FaBrSo and FaBrDa with siblings, not MoSiSo and MoSiDa unless these happen to be related to Ego because their fathers also are from Ego's clan.","Perhaps, it is not that there is an anomaly within the kinship system of the Hmong, but rather that these four systems are too narrowly defined so that the Hmong system does not fit into any of them.","As Lowie points out, any given system is a complex historical growth that cannot be adequately defined as a whole by some such "catchword" as classificatory, Hawaiin or what not (Lowie, 1917: 116).","Needham echoes this basic issue when he writes (1971: 15):","There really is no such thing as an Omaha terminology, except that of the Omaha themselves, and it leads only to confusion and wrong conclusions to suppose that there is.","CONCLUSION","However we may look at Hmong kinship terms and their importance in the analysis of Hmong kinship structure and classification, there is no doubt that it is first and foremost based on the family unit and the patrilineal clan.","A Hmong person always feels closer to members of his nuclear and extended families, and to members of his clan.","He possesses more rights and obligations within these units than with members of others groups and clans.","This seems reflected to some extent in the kinship terns he uses for his FaBrSo and FaBrDa ("brothers and sisters") as opposed to those for FaSiSo, FaSiDa, MoBrSo, MoBrDa, and MoSiSo and MoSiDa (npawg: "cousins").","This is if we accept Radciffe-Brown's proposition that people who are called by the same term are those who have similar obligations to one another, since the nomenclature of kinship is often used as a means to establish and recognize a category to which a person belongs and by which "the actual social relation between an individual and his relative, as defined by rights and duties or socially approved attitudes and modes of behaviour, is then to a greater or less extent fixed..." (Radcliffe Brown, 1952:63).","A term refers to a category of relatives and different categories will be distinguished by different terms.","REFERENCES","Bernatzik, H.A.","1970 Akha and Meau (New Haven, HRAF).","Bourotte, B.","1943 "Mariages et funérailles chez les Mèo Blancs dans la région de Nong-het (Trân Nirh, Laos)", Institut Indochinois pour l'Étude de l'Homme, Bulletin et Travaux, 6: 35-56.","Cooper, R.G.","1978 "Unity and division in Hmong social categories in Thailand", in Chen, P.S.J.","and Evers, H.D.","(eds.), Studies in ASEAN Sociology (Singapore: Chopmen).","de Beauclair, I.","1956 "Culture traits of non-Chinese tribes in Kweichow Province" Sinologica, V1): 20-35.","Fortes, M.","1969 (Chicago: Aldine).","Geddes, W.R.","1976 Migrants of the Mountains (Oxford: Clarendon Press).","Graburn, N.","(ed.) 1971 Readings in Kinship and Social Structure (New York: Harper and Row).","Graham, D.C.","1937 "The customs of the Ch'uan Miao", Journal of the West China Border Research Society, 9: 13-71.","Grossin, P.","1926 "Les coutumes des Mèos de la région de Long-Het", Extrême-Asie, July/September: 42-47.","Heimbach, E.E.","1969 White Meo - English Dictionary (Ithaca: Cornell University Southeast Asia Data paper No.","75).","Kroeber, A.","1909 "Classificatory systems of relationships", Journal of the Royal Anthropological Insitute, 39: 77-84.","Reprinted in Graburn, N.","(ed.), op.","cit., pp.","59-64.","Lemoine, J.","1972a Un Village Hmong Vert du Heut Laos (Paris: Centre National de Recherche Scientifique).","1972b "Les écritures du Hmong", in Bulletin des Amis Royaume Lao, 7-8: 123-165.","Lowie, R.H.","1917 Culture and Ethnology (New York: Rolt, Rinehart and Winston).","Morechand, G.","1955 "Principaux traits du Chamanisme Mèo Blanc en Indochine", Bulletin de l'École Francaise d'Extrême-Orient (BEFEO), XLVIII(2).","1969 "Le Chamanisme des Hmong", BEFED, LXIV","Morgan, L.H.","1879 "Systems of consanguinity and affinity in the human family" (Washington: Smithsonian Institution).","Cited by Fox, R.","Kinship and Marriage (Penguin, 1967), p.","240.","Mottin, J.","1975 Croyances (mimeographed report).","Murdock, G.P.","1960 Social Structure (New York: Macmillan).","Needham, R.","1971 "Remarks on analysis of kinship and marriage", Needham, R.","(ed.), Rethinking Kinship and Marriage (London: Tavistock).","Radcliffe-Brown, A.R.","1952 Structure and Function in Primitive Societies (London: Cohen and West).","Ruey, Yih-Fu 1960 "The Magpie Miao of Southern Szechuan", in Murdock, G.P.","(ed.), Social Structure in Southeast Asia (Chicago: University of Chicago Press).","Schusky, E.L.","1972 Manual for Kinship Analysis (New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston).","Copyright © 2005","White Hmong kinship","http://members.ozemail.com.au/~yeulee/Culture/white hmong kinship terminology.html","72.7","22 May 2005");
Page[5]=new Array("Home About Gary History Culture Topical Poems Short stories Submitted Publications","History","Ethnic Minorities and National Building in Laos","Contents","1 Acknowledgement","2 Discussion","3 References","Ethnic Minorities and National Building in Laos: The Hmong in the Lao State","(School of Behavioural Sciences, Macquarie University, North Ryde, Australia.","Published in: Peninsule , No.11/12, 1985/86, pp.215-232)","Acknowledgement: I am grateful for financial assistance from the American Social Science Research Council (Indochinese Studies Program), New York, and for the support of Dr.","Timothy Dunnigan, Department of Anthropology, University of Minnesota, USA, and his collaboration with this research project.","This paper is an attempt to reconstruct Hmong history in Laos from the perspective of the leaders and their involvement in Lao politic or their participation in the shaping of the Lao nation.","It is based on data collected from a year of field interviews and supplemented with written sources in Hmong, Lao, French and English.","Some of the chronological events related here are already familiar with many readers, but others are hopefully new.","As this is a very brief overview, it only touches on the essential and thus many other actors or facts have to be unfortunately omitted.","A more detailed account will be made available at a later date.","Discussion","At the beginning, they had only the words of the Chinese trader who twice returned from the South and talked of a vast expanse of land covered in virgin forests and stalked by wild animals.","Few people lived on this southern land as it was inhabited by fierce tigers, wild elephants and rhinoceros.","This sounded indeed like a land of golden opportunities, a land dreamed of by all Hmong and so many times mentioned in their legendary stories.","On the traders' third trip to the South, the Hmong sent their own messengers with him, and again they came back with the same glowing account of this southern country known as "Niag Moos" or the Mother State.","Southwards the Hmong migrated, hoping there were no other people going ahead of them.","They were not sure whether the exhausted grassland they left behind was in Yunnan or Tonkin, because in these northern parts the Chinese were then the rulers everywhere but they did not know who ruled in this land in the South into which they were now moving.","The first group to arrive on this migration to Nong Het, in North-eastern Laos, was the Green Hmong.","They were soon followed by two groups of White Hmong.","The newcomers settled on mountain tops and began clearing their first swiddens out of the choicest virgin forests around their villages.","On a fine day in the middle of the dry season, the Lao farmers living in the lowlands nearest to the Hmong looked up to the highlands.","They saw nothing but thick smoke burning out of green jungles.","This was indeed most unusual, for in all their lives these impenetrable forests had never given up so much grey and black smoke for weeks on end.","Perhaps, the evil jungle spirits were angry and were burning up the hills? As quickly as the Lao villagers could run, they reported the strange sighting to their local overlord who sent a few of his best men up the mountains for a closer inspection.","Cutting their way through uncharted terrain, they reached where the smoke come from.","They discovered that patches upon patches of virgin forests had been cleared, left to dry and then were burned.","Yet no one seamed to be in sight.","After much searching, they then found what appeared to be a human settlement perched on a mountain ridge.","This was, however, no ordinary Lao village, for all the houses were built on dirt floor instead of on stilts.","When the Lao approached the village, all the inhabitants took to the jungle with their children and possessions on the back.","These people must be savages, indeed.","Otherwise, why would they flee at the sight of other human beings? And look at the spoons and bowls on the kitchen shelves: they were all carved from wood.","These foreigners must be really primitive, for no Lao would use wooden kitchen utensils.","The country had probably been invaded again, but this time not by the usual Vietnamese from the East who always come with armed troops.","The King of Xieng Khouang, in whose domain the events took place, was informed in haste.","Instead of being concerned, the King merely said to the emissaries from the Lord of Muong Kham who controlled the Nong Het area: "Return to your master, and tell him not be alarmed.","These forest people are none other than my own subjects.","If they prefer living in the highlands, let them be.","We will pay them our own visit when the time is appropriate".","The King soon sent one of his representatives to see the Hmong, and demanded that they paid taxes in return for permission to live in the hills of the northern State.","Not long after their discovery by the Lao, the Hmong settlers found that they were not living alone in the highlands.","There were Khmu lower down the slopes, the aboriginal race who were pushed up the hills by the incoming Lao many centuries before.","At first, when the Hmong were still only a few families they were tolerated, but once their number increased they were soon in conflict with the slope dwellers over land use.","The Khmu claimed to possess much of the upland forests and did not want the Hmong to clear them for farming.","Many Khmu had also become addicted to Hmong opium and many were reduced to working for the Hmong or Lao in the lowlands.","Resentment soon turned into hostility, and finally armed clashes (Larteguy and Yang, 1979:85).","Using flintlocks, the Hmong had a stronger firepower over the Khmu's spears and arrows.","They also had much longer war experiences with their centuries of resistance against invaders in China.","These skirmishes were to play an important role in subsequent relationships between these two hill minorities.","Many Khmu moved to Luang Prabang province and later joined the communist Pathet Lao (PL) against the many highland Hmong on the side of the Royal Lao Government (RLG).","Those who remained in Xieng-Khouang came to identify with other groups as underdogs of the French colonial authorities and lowland Lao overlords, and tended to unite with the Hmong in their common political struggles.","By the time Laos became a French protectorate in 1893, the Hmong had settled in greater number in Laos and could be found not only in Xieng Kouang, but also in Sameua, Luang Prabang and Phong Saly provinces.","The system of Hmong paying tax to lowland Lao had been well established.","Not only was tax paid in the form of two silver coins per households, but those Hmong chiefs who were given village or clan leadership by the Lao such as the Kiatong, the Xophia, the Photong also had to pay occasional tribute with the product of their hunting and gathering: elephant tusks, rhinoceros horns, deer meats, etc.","without counting a few kilograms of opium (Yang Dao, 1975:45).","The French had only to maintain this tax system.","Because the tax was now paid to the French through local Lao mandarins, the latter were deprived of their traditional source of incomes from the highlander.","They in turn illegally levied their on tax.","Finding themselves now paying double tax without any consultation, the 3 Kiatong Hmong in the Nong Het areas organised an ambush against tax collector and the few guards who accompanied them in 1896 at Ban Khang Phanieng in Muong Kham, Xieng Khouang province (Yang Dao, op.cit.: 46).","Following subsequent negotiations with the French, the first Hmong tasseng (canton administrator) was established and given to the chief negotiator, Kiatong Muas Zoov Kaim.","Another tasseng was also created near Xieng Khouang town with Zam Yaj Hawj assuming the tittle in 1940.","Under the new arrangement, all Hmong leader were to collect taxes from their own people and would have their own autonomy with Hmong village administration, bypassing Lao officials at the Tasseng and Muong levels (Savina, 1924:238).","This was to affect greatly later political events in Laos, for it gave the Hmong leadership a tendency to prefer dealing directly with Western allies (be them French or Americans) instead of the Lao, primarily because of a basic distrust of Lao authorities based on these early administrative conflicts.","The Pa Chay (Batchai) revolt against the French from 1918 to 1921 only served to strengthen the bond between the pro-French Hmong leaders and their colonial masters.","Pa Chay Vue, an orphan, was brought up by on uncle but after his marriage and the birth of his first child he claimed to be called on by god to teach the Hmong to live in good health and harmony with their environment (Yaj Xooj Tsawb, 1984; 29-31).","his mission did not extend to the declaration of war against the Black Thai in Northwest Vietnam where the rebellion first took place.","Nevertheless, Pa Chay was urged to lead the Hmong against oppressive lowland mandarins by his uncle after the latter saw him transform a cotton ball into on exploding grenade at a New Year gathering.","At the time, the Hmong were regularly recruited to work as coolies for Black Thai officials, in addition to tax or tributes requisitioned from them.","Eventually, the French in Tonkin were told that Pa Chay was stirring up Hmong for an uprising.","In January 1918, troops were dispatched to fire at Pa Chay's followers, thus starting the four- year conflict which spread into Lao when the Hmong leader took refuge there after two years of cat-and-mouse war games with the French in Vietnam.","At its peak, the rebellion covered a territory of 40.000 square kilometres, spanning from Dien Bien Phu in Tonkin to Nam Ou in Luang Prabang, Laos, down south to Muong Cha north of Vientiane, and going north-east to Sam Neua.","Many Hmong took up arms in collaboration with Pa Chay either out of their own personal grievances against lowlanders or in the belief that they were part of a holy war foretold in many of their myths.","In China, the Hmong had staged many such bloody uprisings through the centuries against Chinese domination based on a belief in the coming of o mythical king (Tupp, 1982: 114-127).","The Pa Chay war was originally brought on by discontent with Thai leaders, but it was soon turned against the French when the latter set many of its colonial soldiers on the trail of the Hmong rebels.","As stated by Gunn (1986: 115), the largest military expedition ever organised in Laos "by that date was mounted to break Batchai's rebellion; four companies of tirailleurs were brought in from other parts of Indochina to restore order."","Following the pattern of conflicts between the Hmong and the Khmu established at the beginning of their settlement in Laos, it was the Khmu who in the end killed Pa Chay in his hide-out in Muong Heup, Luang Prabang, on 17 November 1921 (Le Boulanger, 1969: 360).","By this time, many Hmong has surrendered, owing to French military might and mercilles suppression.","Of those who co-operated with the rebels, the leaders were decapitated at Nong Het in front of hundreds of Hmong spectators forcibly assembled there by the French.","Many of the old Hmong told me of this story when I did my research in 1985 still remember being compelled to watch French swords descending on the neck of these Pa Chay prisoners, when they were only children clinging to the arms of their parents.","Those who were not leaders of the revolt had to pay compensation to the French at fifty piastres "for every Lao or Vietnamese killed, not including compensation for loos of house, cattle and crops" (Gunn, op cit.: 120) .","Altogether, 375 kilograms of silver bars and coins were collected from the Hmong.","Many who could not pay had to sell or pawn their children and possessions.","The French were not the only ones benefiting financially from the rebellion.","Lo Blia Yao, who helped the French put down the revolt in Nong Het also gained incredible wealth acting as collector of these war compensations.","The cattle given to him as Kiatong filled a valley which took three hours to walk though, and the money he amassed filled a metal trunk which two strong men could not lift.","It is this wealth resulting from the Pa Chay war which eventually brought an end to the control of Hmong leadership by his family in Nong Het.","Lo Blia Yao's","oldest son was granted the office of canton chief or Tasseng by the French, but Chong Tou neglected his duties and preferred dissipating his father's money and cattle through gambling with local Chinese and Vietnamese traders.","In the beginning, Kiatong Lo Blia Yao's son-in-law and secretary, Lyfoung, had sent three of his sons to study in Xieng Khouang town, followed by secondary studies in Hanoi and South Vietnam.","In 1939, the eldest of Lyfoung's educated sons, Touby returned to Nong Het, the only Hmong who could speak and think as a French.","The previous year, Chong Tou had just lost his Tasseng title to Lyfoung, but the latter died after a few months in office.","The French soon engineered an election for a new Tasseng.","Although one of Lo Blia Yao's sons, Fay Dang, did contest the election with Touby, the latter won (Lee, 1982 200-201).","Fay Dang and his family appealed many times unsuccessfully to the local Lao administrator in Muong Kham, and the French Commissar in Xieng Khouang.","As a last resort, Fay Dang took the long journey to Luang Prabang to ask Prince Phetsarath, the Viceroy, to intervene so that political power in Nong Het could be kept within the Lo clan (Castle, 1979: 53).","Phetsarath assured Fay Dang of this support, and was presented a treasured rhinoceros horn.","However, the Viceroy was apparently too preoccupied with his Lao Issara (Free Lao) movement against French domination of Laos to have paid much attention to the grievances of a distant minor Hmong leader.","On 9 March 1945, Japanese troops occupied Laos and systematically attacked all French military and civilian strongholds.","Many local resistance French officers took refuge with the Hmong who hid them in their mountain fortress.","Fay Dang sided with the Japanese; and soon after Touby was arrested for his past collaboration with the French.","Touby escaped to hide with French officers in the forests near Phu Son, in Muong Kham, from where he directed Hmong militia units to carry out French resistance.","Vang Pao, the first Hmong to become a general in the Royal Lao Army (RLA), served in the guerrilla units, set up by French Para commandos, Bichelot and Gauthier, during their period of hiding from the Japanese.","With the Japanese capitulation on 15, August 1945, Fay Dang found himself without support, while Touby still had his French Para commandos and his militia to protect him.","The French re-occupied Laos in September 1945 with the co-operation of French parachutists and local partisans (Thompson and Adloff, 1955: 99-201).","However, Xieng Kouang town remained in the hands of the Lao Issara who took it over in November 1945.","With Hmong militia under Touby and Lao forces under Tiao Saykhan, Xieng Khouang was taken back for the French on 26 January 1946 (Gunn, 1985: 248).","Tiao Saykham was a member of the Xieng Khouang royal family who was a class mate of Touby and was hiding with the latter during the Japanese occupation.","With the Japanese gone, the French now found themselves confronting a new and much craftier enemy, the Vietminh or anti-French Vietnamese guerrilla units under the control of Ho Chi Minh.","The Vietminh had not only infiltrated North Vietnam, but also North-eastern Laos even before the Japanese surrender.","Touby's Hmong militia were able to repel some of these Vietminh attacks in the Nong Het areas.","For this reason and for his pro-French stand, he was asked by General Salan, Commander-in- chief of the French Expeditionary Forces in Indochina, to organise more Hmong to resist the Vietnamese advance.","The French imposed a new opium tax on all Hmong to be collected by Touby.","This opium would be used to finance a thousand of "armed men in the field" and was to be dispense of through the French mixed airborne Commando troop in South Vietnam (Gunn, op.","cit.","244).","In return for his service to the French, Touby was appointed to the position of Chao Muong or County Governor for the Hmong of Xieng Khouang in September 1946 by King Sisavang Vong of Luang Prabang.","This was the highest office a Hmong had reached at that time, and was largely the result of strong lobby by Raynond, the Commissioner of the French Republic in Laos (Ibid.: 240 and 242).","Tiao Saykham was made Provincial Governor or Chao Khoueng.","A harmonious relationship between the Lao and Hmong ensued in the province, and Tiao Saykham continued to collaborate with Hmong leaders on the RLG side until the PL won the day in 1975.","Against this background, Fay Dang Lo and his supporters were driven into North Vietnam by Touby's militia.","There, they are said to have made contact with the Vietminh for the first time (McCoy, 1972: 85).","With political indoctrination and arm support, Fay Dang was able to recruit Hmong members for his Resistance League, due also in part to the oppressive opium tax Touby had to administer for the French.","Fay Dang probably made contact with Lao Issara leaders such as Nouhak and Kaysone during this time but might not have met Souphonouvong until the latter joined them from Thailand in Vietnam in 1949.","At that stage, these anti-French dissidents were already well trained by the Vietminh, and some had even become Communist (Deuve, 1984: 31).","A people's congress in August l950 resulted in the formation of the Neo Lao Issara or Free Lao Front and a resistance government in which Fay Dang become one of the two ministers without portfolio representing ethnic minorities (the other being Sithon Kommadan, the Lao Theung leader).","Despite this modest beginning, Fay Dang's Hmong and Sithon's Khmu were the grass roots movers in the progress of the Free Lao Front in Northern Laos.","As mentioned by Deuve (op.cit.: 36), the Front had to operate initially in isolated ethnic enclaves, inaccessible frontiers untouched by the Royal Lao Government (RLG) in Vientiane.","By 1956, the Front had gained sufficient popular support in the countryside to be changed to the Neo Lao Hak Sat (NLHS) or Patriotic Front.","Fay Dang was made vice-president of the new organisation.","When the NLHS and the RLG decided on a coalition government in 1958, one of Fay Dang's relative, Lo Foung, was elected to the National Assembly while Touby represented the Hmong on the RLG side.","For a time, there was great hope that the two Hmong groups would live in peace with many other previously antagonistic Lao groups.","However, this was not to be the case.","Two months after the elections, the Coalition Government under Souvanna Phouma collapsed, and a rightist government under Phoui Sananakone was instituted.","By July l959, most NLHS leaders in Vientiane had been arrested by the new government.","Fay Dang, who was in Xieng Khouang, once again fled to Vietnam after the NLHS and the Neutralists took Xieng Khouang in 1961, he returned to live in Nong Het where he remained until 1975.","Although Fay Dang had been with the NLHS from the beginning and his Hmong followers had died in their thousands for the Pathet Lao (PL) cause, he did not get a post in the Cabinet of the new Lao People's Democratic Republic (LPDR).","He and Sithon were offered the ceremonial positions of vice-president in the People's Supreme Assembly, and were not even members of the new Lao People's Revolutionary Party Central Committee "where real power lies" Everingham, 1977: 27).","In the last few years of his life, Fay Dang returned to line as a farmer in his native Nong Het under the watchful eyes of PL guards.","Old and ailing, he died in 1986, but his death was not even announced officially until three months later.","Touby, unlike his cousin and arch enemy Fay Dang, died a lonely death in a re-education camp in Sam Neua in 1978.","It was said that he had to dig his own grave before being executed by PL soldiers for allegedly attempting to arouse camp internees to mutiny.","Following his election to the National Assembly in 1958, he became Minister of Social Welfare in 1960 before joining the King's Council as an advisor on minority affairs, a post he held until the cease-fire between the NLHS and the RLG in 1973.","In the Provisional Government of National Union formed in April 1974, Touby was given the position of Deputy Minister of Post and Telecommunications before being taken away in 1975 to Sam Neua to grow chillies and to sharpen knives for other detainees in an attempt to cleanse their capitalist minds with manual labour.","Apart from Touby and Fay Dang, the other better known Hmong leader in Laos in probably General Vang Pao.","From village militiaman under Touby, he joined the French military police, then went as the first Hmong (under much protest from the Lao) to study at the Military Officers College at Dong Hen in Southern Laos where the instructors were still French in 1951.","After graduating, he served for many years under Lao commanders in the Royal Lao Army in Xieng Khouang.","By l959, he had been promoted to the rank of major with soldiers of all ethnic backgrounds under his command.","He was later made Commander of the Second Military Region in Northern Laos, and became a general in 1964.","In the view of some Western writers (McCoy, op.","cit.: 268-81; and Deuve, op.cit.","255), Vang Pao was no more than a warmonger and opium broker for the CIA, or the commander of a Hmong mercenary army carrying out its own "secret war" in Laos independently of the RLG.","For many other more informed people, however, he symbolised the hopes, not only of the Hmong but also other minorities in Laos in the region under his control, he set up schools for the highlanders, paid the teachers when money was not forthcoming from the government, and organised nurse education through the US Agency for International Development (Garret, 1974: 78-111).","He built dormitories for minority students in Vientiane so that they could pursue higher education in the capital.","More importantly, he ensured that hill minorities were represented in the provincial public Service and in the National Assembly (with 3 Hmong and 1 Khmu members).","One of the two radio stations with minority languages at the time operated from his headquarters in Long Cheng.","In many ways, the highlands minorities had attained a new level of political participation and a new identity under Vang Pao.","He arranged regular visits by leaders of the royal families of Luang Prabang and Champassak, by Buddhist monks and the Lao elite.","He insisted that the Lao shared key positions in civilian or military administration so that in all this endeavour he was assisted by many Lao army officers and troop, as well as minority and Lao public servants.","Although nine out of the fourteen battalions under his command were made up of special Forces paid for by the CIA, these forces were always considered part of the regular army; they were special in so far as the RLG could not train and pay for their upkeep.","It was only some people in the West who referred the Hmong as "mercenaries" in the soil of their very own country.","So much for helping their Western allies fight against Communism!","Along with many other Lao right-wing leaders, Vang Pao had to escape from Laos after 1975.","He was one among four condemned to death in absentia by the new PDRL.","Since his exile in the West, he has organised with a numbers of Lao leaders a resistance movement which includes members of all minorities from Laos.","He is by all accounts one of the most active in this new political activity designed, in his view, not only to regain Laos but also to structure Lao politics in such a way that all ethnic groups would have an equal part to play in a new regime so that contribution to national building could be made by all at every level.","Many Lao refugees, including those from the lowlands, have come to put their hopes and dreams in his efforts along with those of other resistance leaders.","To conclude this short exposition of Hmong political participation in Laos, let me say that I have not tried to put my account in any analytical framework, because our knowledge on the subject is still too rudimentary for synthesis or interpretation.","I merely wish to share what emerge from my research in the hope that a better appreciation can be made of the role of the Hmong played in Lao recent history.","During the civil war from 1961 to 1974, it is estimated that close to 15,000 Hmong died in the battle fields serving the Royal Lao Government.","On the PL side, it is difficult to know how many of them had perished, but its Hmong commanders such as Thao Tou Saychou and General Praseut had paid with their own lives.","The toll was heavy for the military; and the costs were even more hefty for Hmong civilians, especially on the RLG side when more than 150,000 Hmong had been uprooted from their own country and are now living as refugee in different parts of the world.","Considering that there was about 300,000 of them in Laos before 1975, the price the Hmong paid in their contribution to the building of the Lao nation has been particularly high in comparison of other groups.","References","Castle, T.N., 1979 "Alliance in a Secret War the United States and the Hmong of Northeastern Laos", M.A.","Thesis in History, San Diego State University.","Deuve, J., 1984 Le Royaume du Laos : 1949-1965 (Paris : Ecole Francaise d'Extreme-Orient).","Dommen, A.","J., 1964 Conflict in Laos the Politics of Neutralization (London : Pall Mall Press).","Everingham, J., 1977 "The Sithon Flag Is Lowered", in Far Eastern Economic Review, May 27.","Garrett, W.E., 1974 "No place to run : the Hmong of Laos", in National Geographic, January, 145(l): 78-111.","Gunn, G.","C., 1985 "Road through the Mountains : the origins of nationalism and communism in Laos, 1930-1954", Ph.","Thesis in Politics, Monash University.","Gunn, G.","C., 1986 "Shamans and rebels the Ba'chai (Meo) rebellion of Northern Laos and Northwest Vietnam (1918-1921)", in J.","Siam Society, Vol.","74: 107-121.","Larteguy, J.","and Yang Dao, 1979 L'heureuse venture du peuple de l'opium (Paris : Presses de la Cite).","Le Boulanger, P., 1969 Histoire du Laos Francais (Farnborough : Gregg International).","Lee, G.","Y., 1982 "Minority policies and the Hmong", in Stuart-Fox, M.","ed.","Contemporary Laos (St.","Lucia : University of Queensland Press).","McCoy, A.W., 1972 The politics of heroin in Southeast Asia (New York : Harper and Row).","Savina, F.","M., 1924 Histoire des Miaos (Hong Kong : Societe des Missions Etrangeres).","Tapp, N., 1982 "The relevance of Telephone directories to a Lineage-based society : a consideration of some Messianic myths among the Hmong", in J.","Siam Society, Vol.","70: 114-127.","Thompson, V.","and Adloff, R., 1955 Minority problems in Southeast Asia (New York Russell and Russell).","Yej Txooj Tsab, 1984 "La querre de Pa Tyey", in Nouvelle de la Solidarite Hmong (France), June, 8 : 21-51.","Yang Dao, 1975 Les Hmong du Laos face au developpement (Vientiane Editions Siaosavath).","Copyright © 2005","Ethnic Minorities","http://members.ozemail.com.au/~yeulee/History/ethnic monirities and national building in laos.html","47.8","22 May 2005");
Page[6]=new Array("Home About Gary History Culture Topical Poems Short stories Submitted Publications","History","Ethnic minorities and National building in Laos","Minority policies and the Hmong in Laos","Refugees from Laos","Ethnic minorities and National building in Laos","At the beginning, they had only the words of the Chinese trader who twice returned from the South and talked of a vast expanse of land covered in virgin forests and stalked by wild animals.","Few people lived on this southern land as it was inhabited by fierce tigers, wild elephants and rhinoceros..........","Minority policies and the Hmong in Laos","The Hmong first migrated to Laos from China and North Vietnam in the early years of the nineteenth century.","Yang Dao places the earliest arrivals between 1810 and 1820 (1).","By 1850, they are said to have established themselves in many scattered settlements (2).","A French expedition up the Mekong River into Yunnan in 1883 estimated that they had moved to Luang Prabang province less than ten years before (3)............","Refugees from Laos","The only land-locked country in South-East Asia, Laos covers an area of 235,800 square kilometres with an estimated population of 3,600,000 before 1975.","It has border with China in the North, Vietnam in the East, Cambodia in the South and Thailand and Burma in the West............","Copyright © 2005","Historycontents","http://members.ozemail.com.au/~yeulee/History/historycontents.html","12.9","21 May 2005");
Page[7]=new Array("Home About Gary History Culture Topical Poems Short stories Submitted Publications","History","Minority Policies and the Hmong in Laos","Contents","1 The Hmong in Laos 2 Private feuds...","3 The elusive union 4 Socialist order 5 The new policies 6 Hmong resistance 7 Conclusion 8 Footnotes","Minority Policies and the Hmong in Laos","(Published in Stuart-Fox, M.","ed.","Contemporary Laos: Studies in the Politics and Society of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic (St.Lucia: Queensland University Press, 1982), pp.","199 - 219)","The Hmong have been and continue to be a contentious force in Lao polities, though little information has been available about them since the establishment of the Lao People's Democratic Republic.","Occasional news reports and accounts of life under the new regime given by refugees and government officials are equally contradictory.","Hmong have sought refuge in different lands; others seem to encounter no great difficulties in remaining in their own country.","This paper will focus attention on the contribution of members of this minority group to the success of the revolutionary struggle and what has happened to them since 1975.","It will highlight both their past history and the prospects facing them under the new social order.","The Hmong in Laos","The Hmong first migrated to Laos from China and North Vietnam in the early years of the nineteenth century.","Yang Dao places the earliest arrivals between 1810 and 1820 (1).","By 1850, they are said to have established themselves in many scattered settlements (2).","A French expedition up the Mekong River into Yunnan in 1883 estimated that they had moved to Luang Prabang province less than ten years before (3).","This last reference must have been to the later and larger waves of refugees from China, as a result of more than two decades of uprisings against the Chinese, culminating in the Hmong's suppression "with truly barbaric cruelty" by Chinese troops (4).","This defeat led to massive population movements southwards.","In Laos, the Hmong settled in the highlands of Houa Phan and Xieng Khouang, gradually spreading westward to Luang Prabang, Nam Tha and Sayaboury.","In the early 1970s, in all these provinces they totalled some 293 000 persons (5).","For reasons which will be given later, the Hmong of Xieng Khuang have played the most significant role in Lao politics beyond the village level.","This is true in particular of the Hmong in Nong Het, adjacent to the border of Laos and Vietnam.","After their peaceful settlement in the area towards the latter half of last century, a few of their leaders were elected as "kiatong", to administer members of their own clan (6).","Thus there were kiatong for the Lo, Lee, Yang, Vang and Moua clans, with minor leaders acting as "phutong" or heads of smaller groups.","As the French extended their rule over Laos, heavy taxes began to be imposed on the local population.","A number of Hmong refused to pay these taxes, and this led to an armed clash near Ban Ban in Muong Kham, Xieng Khouang in 1896.","This was probably the first instance of open resistance on the part of the Hmong since their initial settlement in Laos.","In the years that followed, the French began to intervene more and more in Hmong local affairs, either by nominating Hmong leaders as kiatong or by encouraging more interaction with other population groups.","A mutual trust gradually developed between the two sides.","Among the leaders during this period before the Second World War were Lyfoung and Lobliayao, the latter a kiatong in the Nong Het region and the former his son-in-law and secretary.","Being more progressive and mindful of his junior status, Lyfoung sent a son of each of his three wives to school in the lowlands.","They were Toulia, Touby and Tougeu, probably the first Hmong in Laos to receive formal education and later to be given positions of influence in the country's administrative system.","The kiatong system was replaced by tasseng or canton administration in 1921, although the kiatong leaders were allowed to carry on with some of their old functions.","For the strategic Nong Het area, the tasseng was administered by Song Tou, Lobliayao's eldest son (7).","In the mid-1930s, the French stationed a military officer in Nong Het, with soldiers of Lao and Vietnamese nationalities, to oversee the Hmong.","In 1938, the French became dissatisfied with Song Tou and began looking for a new Hmong leader to replace him.","Lyfoung, with his previous experience in local administration, offered himself for the position.","The French accepted and dismissed Song Tou.","Seeing the loss of such a prestigious post as a slight to the Lo clan, Lobliayao's widow and her second son, Faydang, appealed unsuccessfully to the Chao muong (district administrator) of Muong Kham and the French commissar in Xieng Khouang.","The following year, Lyfoung died and elections were held for the position of tasseng chief between Faydang and Touby, one of Lyfoung's sons, who had just completed his secondary studies.","Most Hmong voted for Touby because he was the more educated and because Faydang's father had alienated many Hmong in the past through his authoritarian leadership.","There the matter rested until 1941, when the Japanese occupied Indochina.","This new element in the situation immediately was seized upon by Faydang and the Lo clan as a means of opposing Touby's followers and their French backers in the continuing bitter struggle between the two Hmong factions.","Faydang's men served the Japanese as guides and informers .","By the same token, Faydang made early contact with the Vietminh, with whom his guerrillas joined forces to attack Touby's pro-French partisans.","In March 1945, the Japanese reneged on their agreements with the French Vichy government, arrested many French officials in Indochina and declared an end to colonial rule in Laos.","Heavily outnumbered by Japanese soldiers, a number of French officers sought refuge in isolated Hmong settlements or made their escape to China through Nong Het (9).","Touby's subordinates invariably offered them sanctuary and guides, thus attracting reprisals from the Japanese and the Vietminh.","When Prince Phetsarath formed the Lao Issara front and declared Laos to be an independent monarchy, free from French control, most Hmong unwittingly found on the side of the enemy (10).","With the return of the French, (11) Touby began to organise new tassengs for Hmong settlements and to direct anti-Vietminh guerrilla warfare.","He also was responsible for the strengthening of village militia units in and around the Nong Het area, in an attempt to contain military attacks from Vietminh-supported local resistance groups.","Soon he was promoted to the position of Chao muong for the Hmong in Xieng Khouang, and his tasseng title passed on to one of his older half-brothers.","This further committed him and his followers to an anti-Pathet Lao stance and renewed Faydang's determination to do equally well on the other side.","Private Feuds and Public Effects","Despite claims to the contrary (12), it is doubtful whether Faydang had any contacts with the Lao Issara before 1947, when Prince Souphanouvong returned from Thailand to recruit supporters for the "Free Lao" movement.","Faydang used his contacts with the Vietminh to align his so-called Hmong Resistance League with Souphanouvong's cause.","This action arose less out of any nationalistic fervour than from old grievances against Touby and the need to oppose him in public by joining those who worked against the French, Touby's allies.","As Barney reported, whatever "Touby's men do, Faydang's men must do the opposite (13).","This seems to have been the essence of their power struggle.","After a number of armed clashes between the two groups, Touby's followers mustered enough men to drive their enemy into Muong Sen, inside North Vietnam.","The Hmong in Laos were left in relative peace until 1953, when the Vietminh, in a major military drive, captured parts of two north-eastern Lao provinces for the Neo Lao Issara, the new Lao Freedom Front established by Prince Souphanouvong and other Lao leftists in 1950.","Faydang established himself at Nong Het, which remained from then on a Pathet Lao stronghold .","For the next twenty years from the Geneva Agreements of 1954 until the third coalition government of 1974, the Hmong factions maintained their respective alliances - Faydang with the Pathet Lao; Touby with the Royal Lao Government.","In the 1958 general elections to form the first Lao coalition government, both rightists and Pathet Lao participated.","Touby and his brother Toulia Lyfoung were elected deputies to the National Assembly, (14) while Lo Fong Pablia, a member of Faydang's group, represented the PL Hmong.","In 1960, Touby was the first Hmong to gain cabinet rank as Minister for Social Welfare.","After Kong Le's neutralist coup d'etat of August 1960, Touby and his followers joined the rightist opposition led by General Phoumi Nosavan.","When neutralist forces were driven from Vientiane and retreated towards the Plain of Jars, a Hmong major named Vang Pao was one of the few Royal Lao Army officers to attempt to block their retreat.","But the neutralist forces proved too strong for his handful of soldiers.","Vang Pao, a few of officials and their followers withdrew to Padong, on the northern side of the Phu Bia massif.","There they were contacted in early 1961 by American and Thai military advisers, to set up a defence line against neutralist and Pathet Lao forces in Xieng Khouang.","In the following years, the PL Hmong worked hard to recruit Hmong and Lao Theung soldiers into the PL army.","Faydang moved his base from Nong Het to Xieng Khouang town, where he worked with his Hmong military commander, Foung Tongsee Yang, otherwise known by his Lao name as General Paseut.","His forces were joined from time to time by defectors from the RLA and by conscripts or volunteers from tribal minorities in Thailand, thereby swelling further their ranks.","While Faydang became Vice-President of the Neo Lao Hak Sat, superseding the Neo Lao Issara Front in 1956, Vang Pao was made Major-General in 1964 by Prince Souvanna Phouma and given the command of the Second Military Region in north-eastern Laos.","After the fall from power of Phoumi Nosavan in an unsuccessful coup against Souvanna in 1963, Touby joined the King's Council, and thereafter spent more and more of his time in Vientiane, away from major Hmong settlements and refugee centres.","His influence was soon eclipsed by Vang Pao, whose position was greatly strengthened by the direct aid he received from the American Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).","This financial and material assistance enabled him to impress the people with generous gifts to supporters and to students or families in needy circumstances (15).","CIA largesse also provided the necessary resources to maintain a special army of more than 10 000 men, consisting mostly of Hmong, who joined because of the salaries offered and the lack of employment opportunities in other fields.","Thus it was not unusual for these irregulars to be called mercenaries in some Western press reports.","Trained in Thailand by American and Thai military personnel, they were more effective in combat than most RLA forces, since they could operate in independent small units.","However, heavy casualties gradually reduced the number of Hmong and by 1971, more and more Lao Theung and Thai were being enlisted.","Nevertheless, the Hmong on the RLG side came to be identified with this "secret army" and the CIA and hence were accused of having imperialist intentions and other unpatriotic designs.","This was despite the fact that a far greater number of them were soldiers in the RLA regular forces and tens of thousands were not even involved in the war, except as refugees (16).","By 1973, the Hmong formed 32 percent of the 370 000 refugees on government support in Laos, and 70 per cent of the 155 474 in Xieng Khouang province - the biggest ethnic group affected by the war (17).","About 12 000 are believed to have died fighting against the Pathet Lao from 1962 to 1975 (18).","This heavy toll was partly the result of military draft introduced by the RLG in its offensives against PL and North Vietnamese forces.","Losses sustained by civilians were incalculable in terms of human life, property, land and household possessions - so much so that a nativistic cult developed in a number of villages among the Hmong on the non-Communist side.","An American refugee relief worker in Xieng Khouang estimated that 20 per cent of Hmong civilians died in the early 1960s as a result of sickness or enemy attacks during their flight to refugee camps (19).","The USAID relief program could do little more than fend off starvation and hardly met the simple diet the Hmong had before they were displaced.","The Elusive Union","When the Provisional Government of National Union was formed in early 1974, Touby Lyfoung held the position of Deputy Minister for Post and Telecommunications.","Two Hmong were made members of the National Political Consultative Council, to assist the PGNU with its immediate tasks of achieving political integration in the country.","The PL side was represented by Lo Foung.","Dr Yang Dao, the first Hmong to have obtained a doctorate degree from France, was appointed on account of his personal "qualifications", as a neutral acceptable to both sides.","Lo Foung was Vice-Chairman of the Culture and Education Committee, and Yang Dao, Vice-Chairman of the Economy and Finance Committee of the Council.","Over the next year, a series of developments took place that weakened the political position of the Hmong who had supported the RLG.","When the King dismissed the National Assembly in July 1974, the Hmong on Vang Pao's side lost the representation of their three elected members.","Also, as a member of the government, Touby seemed more and more to accept the compromising mood of the Prime Minister.","As a result, he came to be no longer trusted by many anti-Communist Hmong in Long Cheng and elsewhere.","At the end of 1974, the irregular troops attached to Vang Pao's command were disbanded or merged with the RLA forces.","Political and military pressures from the Pathet Lao already had resulted in a decline in morale among right-wing leaders and among the Hmong refugees.","In March 1975, armed clashes broke out between PL soldiers and Vang Pao's troops guarding the ceasefire zone along the road linking Vientiane and Luang Prabang.","The 1973 ceasefire specified that all military activities by either side were strictly prohibited.","However, by April, PL units were advancing towards Vientiane.","Vang Pao retaliated with aerial bombardment which immediately brought accusations from the Pathet Lao that the Hmong were violating the ceasefire, in an attempt to prolong the war and to create a Hmong state of their own.","Angered by these accusations, Vang Pao met Souvanna Phouma in Vientiane on 6 May, to explain that his troops were only defending their positions in the face of advancing Pathet Lao and Vietnamese forces.","The Prime Minister advised Vang Pao to retreat and not to fight.","Knowing he could not retreat any further, Vang Pao resigned from his position by ripping off his General's stars and throwing them on Souvanna Phouma's desk, before going back to Long Cheng.","Souvanna Phouma was said to have told the French Ambassador in Laos that the Hmong had served his purpose wee, but it was a pity that peace in the country had to be achieved at the expense of their extinction (20).","During this period, Yang Dao was on a official tour of socialist countries, as a member of the NPCC.","In East Berlin and in Moscow, high-level officials told him in no uncertain terms that it was because of "these damned Meo" and their resistance against the Pathet Lao that the Lao revolution had taken thirty years (21).","Returning to Laos, he learned of the advance of PL troops towards Long Cheng, and immediately went to see Vang Pao on 11 May, to dissuade the latter from any attempt to resist the Pathet Lao.","Yang Dao believed that any resistance would mean the end of the Hmong, for even royalist and neutralist forces were not supporting them.","Furthermore, Vang Pao's foreign supporters had all withdrawn their aid, leaving him and his troops without necessary supplies.","Realising the futility of any further involvement in Laos, Vang Pao left for Thailand on 14 May, after an emotional appeal to his people to surrender themselves to the new authorities.","A few days earlier, five members of the PGNU cabinet on the Vientiane side had been forced to resign and also had fled to Thailand, where they were joined later by two key right-wing generals, Kouprasit Abhay and Thonglith Chokhengboun.","The Provisional Government of National Union, forerunner to the much-awaited true Government of National Union, thus crumbled a little more than a year after its formation, owing to PL political manipulation of the masses and the demoralisation of ring-wing politicians.","Socialist Order","After the rightist Defence Minister, Sisouk na Champassak fled to Thailand, his post was assumed by his PL Deputy, General Khamouane Boupha.","Khamouane gradually dissolved the mixed police guarding Luang Prabang and Vientiane, thus opening the way for PL troops to enter areas under the control of the Vientiane side.","RLA troops were disarmed and local administrative committees set up to replace the old system of village headmen, tassengs, district and provincial governors.","Indoctrination or "re-education" sessions were conducted for public servants at all levels and for civilians who traditionally had not taken the side of the Pathet Lao.","These compulsory "seminars" and the arbitrary arrests of influential people soon caused thousands of refugees to flee to Thailand, in addition to members of the business community and minority groups.","For three days before his departure, Vang Pao had arranged with the CIA to have a few thousand Hmong flown to Thailand, along with his own family and relatives.","These flights were stopped after he left Laos.","As one informant said, "There was complete demoralisation among those left behind.","In the first few weeks, everything was so quiet that we felt empty, leaderless.","No more planes flying overhead, only people hoping and waiting, with no one to turn to for direction." Despite this, many Hmong quickly organised their own long march towards Thailand, to join their "generous general".","The rich went by motor vehicle, while forty thousand more went by foot, with their children and valuables on their backs.","PL troops by then were stationed all along the route to Vientiane, alongside neutralist forces.","When the first column of Hmong refugees reached Hin Heup, south of Ban Son on 29 May, those ahead suddenly were fired upon by PL guards.","More than 20 men, women and children were killed instantly, and close to a hundred others were wounded (22).","The shooting was believed to have been influenced by Lyteck Lynhiavu, a Hmong senior public servant in Vientiane and young contender for power with Vang Pao and Touby since the late 1960s.","According to McCoy, Lyteck claimed to be a descendant of a long line of aristocrats from China and was trying to reclaim the Hmong leadership (23).","Vang Pao removal from the Lao political scene was seen by him and his relatives as an ideal opportunity to impose their ambitions on the people, whether by persuasion or by force (24).","Although most of Vang Pao's soldiers had discarded their uniforms and weapons, a few Hmong officers in the RLA still held on to their positions, awaiting more instructions.","On 14 May 1975, Colonel Kham Ai, PL commander assigned to the second Military Region, arrived in Long Cheng.","A fortnight later, he called all former right-wing military personnel to his headquarters and disarmed them, because they "no longer had any war to fight and must now participate fully in national reconstruction activities" (25).","In June, they were taken to "re-education" centres on the Plain of Jars and later to Nong Het, where hard labour was the order of the day.","Anyone above the rank of lieutenant was considered a major war criminal, and manual work was deemed an excellent means of atoning for one's sins and cleansing one's mind of capitalist ideas.","The Hmong officers were told that "seminars" could last thirty days or thirty years, depending on the participant's level of co-operation with Vang Pao and the number of crimes he had committed against the Patriotic Forces and their Vietnamese "brothers".","Each officer had to list the dates of armed attacks in which he had taken part, the number of PL or Vietnamese soldiers "murdered" on each occasion, the cattle and livestock killed or stolen, and property damages suffered by civilians.","If the PL officer-in-charge was not satisfied with the officers' "confessions", he would reduce their food ration to 300 grams of rice a day per person and one can of meat for each ten people.","As one survivor recounts, after "six months of seminar we became mere skeletons without strength" (26).","The officers soon realised that their so-called re-education was not political indoctrination but imprisonment.","Some managed to escape, to join resistance groups in Phou Bia or their families in other countries, but the majority either died from physical exertion and malnutrition, or continue to be imprisoned in fear for their lives and for the safety of their families.","Not only were military officers dispatched to "seminars" but also high-ranking public servants and senior leaders of traditional right-wing leanings.","Before the end of 1975, Touby and one of his sons were sent to one of the many re-education centres m Sam Neua, together with thousands of other Hmong and Lao of similar backgrounds.","It is rumoured that Touby died of malaria some time in 1978, after spending three years doing hard labour as part of his political redemption.","Apart from Touby and his sons, other Hmong forced to attend "seminars" included four RLA colonels (Ly Nou , Blong Thao, Moua Pao and Neng Yi), as well as Lyteck and two of his brothers.","Sadly for Lyteck, who eagerly co-operated with the Pathet Lao and who went to his "seminar" willingly, he is reported to have died after undergoing medical treatment for a minor illness.","With the formation of the Lao People's Democratic Republic Faydang became Vice-President of the Supreme People's Assembly, alongside two other minority leaders, Sisomphone Lovansay (Tai Dam) and Sithone Kommadan (Lao Theung).","Nhiavu Lobliayao, Faydang's younger brother, was appointed Chairman of the Nationalities Committee, while Maysouk (Tai Lu) was named Minister of Industry and Commerce.","None of the other Hmong and Lao Theung on the NLHS Central Committee identified by Zasloff in 1973, (27) such as Phiahom Sombat, Nhia Fung, Apheui, Am Lo and Am Vu, was included among the government's thirty-nine members or the Assembly's forty-five.","Two of the Hmong with the NPCC in 1974, Lo Foung and Yang Dao, had disappeared from the Lao political arena by the end of 1975, Yang Dao escaped to France after becoming convinced that the Pathet Lao intended to destroy the Hmong people.","Lo Foung, who had been with the NLHS since its inception, was said to have made contact with Vang Pao by letter a few months after his appointment to the NPCC and was given 500,000 RLG kip by the latter.","Despite their political differences, the two were related by close family ties.","Furthermore, Lo Foung, along with other Hmong on the PL side, was known to have encouraged prominent Hmong leaders to leave Laos because he was not happy with PL treatment of minority groups, despite official statements to the contrary.","In November, he was called back to Phongsavane and has not been seen since.","He is believed to be dead.","Some accounts state that he died from food poisoning after attending a banquet, while others attribute his death to a hunting accident.","The New Policies","Prior to 1975, the RLG had no specific policies towards hill tribes people.","However, it did not openly discriminate against them except in isolated cases.","The most notable of these were the attempt on Vang Pao's life by a group of right-wing Lao officers in Vientiane, the occasional removal of successful Hmong candidates from lists of students examined for study overseas, and the petition to remove Touby's brother, Tougeu Lyfoung, as Director-General of the ministry of Justice in 1964 because he was not a Lao (28).","In general, members of ethnic minorities had the same rights and obligations as other citizens, though this was never verbally stated.","The Pathet Lao, on the other hand, had made a determined attempt to unite all nationalities in Laos in a common struggle against foreign and class domination.","This intention was stated many times in official documents and seems to have been put into practice among minorities in the "liberated zones".","Despite the creation of the Nationalities Committee and the inclusion of ethnic leaders in the SPA, however, the new Lao government has not set out clearly how it intends to bring about unity and "equality" between all groups, as announced by Prime Minister Kaysone Phomvihane in December 1975.","Faydang's functions appear to be largely ceremonial, without any real administrative or policy-making power, as were Sithone's before his death in 1977.","The Lao People's Revolutionary Party does not have separate policies or development plans for tribal people, apart from directing them to resettle in the lowlands in order to adopt a less migratory mode of production.","Cadres and soldiers are to respect the cultural traditions of all ethnic groups and to assist in raising their educational and living standard.","Beyond this, all official pronouncements on indoctrination and development rarely single out any groups for special mention, except to warn the more isolated against enemy infiltration (29).","The Third Resolution of the LPRP Central Committee states, among other things, that it is necessary to encourage the people to grow short-lived and long-lived industrial crops such as beans, potatoes, corn, hot peppers, sesame, tobacco, opium, cotton, coffee, sugar apples, tea, stick lac, dammer, sugar-cane and cinchoma.","It urges that "the people of all nationalities" should be persuaded and helped to earn their own living "and to create conditions for them to take up permanent residence .","to undertake grain farming on terraced and sloping fields, and to map out plans to exploit and nurture forests and set up animal husbandry co-operatives" (30).","To implement these policies, Hmong refugees in the Long Cheng and Ban Son areas who were willing to return to their settlements of origin in Xieng Khouang province were hastily repatriated in 1976, with the assistance of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.","Altogether, about 30 000 people were returned, including many from refugee camps in Vientiane province (31).","Most have gone back to areas within the Plain of Jars or close to Xieng Khouang town, where they have been joined by other family livestock, some Hmong are reported to be happy that "there is no war any longer and we can grow crops and have enough food to eat" (32).","While those on the Plain of Jars are unlikely to be able to cultivate opium poppies because of the low altitude, many Hmong returning to higher mountain regions such as Nong Het and Moung Cha have resumed opium production, with full official sanction (33).","In the opinion of some refugees, the only difference between the new regime and the former RLG has been the political indoctrination and labour collectivisation they now have to tolerate.",""Seminars" for these highland farmers consist mostly of repetitive history lessons on the PL revolutionary struggle against the old government, but involve no hard labour or physical punishment, as has been the case for the more than 70 000 right-wing officials still held at the end of 1980 in isolated re-education centres in Sam Neua.","One informant commented that peasant seminars "are all right, if you can put up with their repetitiveness and are not bored stiff by them."","Some experiments in farm co-operatives have been carried out in the lowlands, but the Hmong have experienced only "work co-operatives" imposed by local authorities.","In the future, however, the new labour system seems likely to be applied to all Hmong settlements under PL control.","Each family still can own its individual fields, but all villagers must work together on each household's plots in all major farming activities such as field-clearing, weeding or harvesting.","The rice harvest has to be divided into three portions: one for the state tax, one for the village rice bank and one for consumption by the household concerned, based on the ration allowed for each household member.","Refugees say that an additional rice tax was levied in 1980, because government troops were in need of supply, and each household was allowed to keep only 25 to 50 kilos of unmilled rice for that year.","In May 1976, Sieng Pasason reported that 2077 tribal families had given up their slash-and-burn agriculture "and had instead taken to paddy fields and terraces to conserve the national forests" (34).","A new military district also had been created near the border of Xieng Khouang and Vientiane provinces, to resettle Hmong farmers in agricultural co-operatives, so that they could participate in, and contribute to, national reconstruction activities.","More to the point, however, such a military zone would keep people within the government's reach and isolate them from the undesirable influences of dissidents and foreign agents.","The people resettled in the district also would have more access to public services, thereby benefiting more from official directives.","Although this initiative was welcomed by some Hmong groups; it was not readily accepted by others.","In reviewing the implementation of development policies set out in 1976 and for the three-year plan (1978-80), Kaysone Phomvihane freely admitted that state trade enterprises "failed to develop in a timely manner and were unable to thoroughly transform the capitalist enterprises" (35).","Because of this, black markets are still prevalent and the distribution of goods has not been equitable in all areas.","Many people have no access to necessary commodities such as medicine and salt, and this applies to nearly all rural farmers and hill minorities.","Transportation to the hills is so poor that no trade is possible between market centres and the highland population.","The Hmong in Phou Bia and other isolated settlements have had to pay black-market prices for salt to Lao peddlers, and they in turn sell it in small quantities at inflationary prices to other Hmong.","Although the government has introduced its own currency, the money used by many Hmong for such transactions is limited to French colonial silver coins and Hmong silver bars.","These means of payment existed before 1975 but were not often used.","In rejecting the government, some Hmong therefore also shunned its new currency.","The most acute shortage is medicine.","More highlanders are known to have died from malnutrition and diseases since 1975 than previously, owing to an almost total absence of basic medical care.","The government states that it has set up small hospitals in 91 of the 102 districts in the country, and that about half of the 840 subdistricts or tassengs have dispensaries.","Altogether, however, there are only 90 trained doctors and medical assistants for the whole nation, and many new medical graduates leave for other countries, despite the desperate need for more personnel (36).","Overall, the death-rate for the Lao population was estimated at 2.5 per cent per annum, among the highest in Asia.","The government's problems in health care clearly arise from the lack of personnel and drugs, compounded by communication difficulties.","The Hmong today have to depend on herbs, opium and other forms of traditional medicine, which are not always effective in combating major illnesses.","Similarly, the lack of transport and open markets has made it almost impossible to obtain materials for clothes and other personal necessities.","Household and farming tools also are difficult to find, unless one has enough money and access to the black market.","Previously, Chinese itinerant traders used to bring these and other items in on horseback to exchange for opium, but this trading system now has disappeared.","The Hmong in the "newly liberated zones" stretching from Long Cheng to Muong Mok are said to have been forced to recycle old clothes acquired before 1975, to the extent that many are now clothed only in rags.","One young man in a refugee camp recently remarked that he had used so many pieces from old blankets to patch up his torn clothes in Laos, that I was weighed down and unable to walk properly every time I had been in the rain".","Strict food rationing, rice tax and low agricultural productivity are other major problems faced by tribes people who have rallied to the government, while those in hiding have found it extremely difficult to farm in the open and have had to subsist on tubers and roots gathered from the jungle.","Many of the latter group have eaten leaves or gone without salt for many months, moving from one mountain-top to another in their search for freedom from the new authorities, For those in "liberated villages", the quantity of rice that goes in tax or for the village rice bank often leaves farmers with insufficient food supplies for themselves and their families.","The situation is aggravated by insecurity in some areas inhabited by the Hmong, since Vang Pao's supporters and other subversive elements sometimes disrupt the agricultural activities of the more settled farmers with their guerrilla attacks.","Those in especially sensitive areas sometimes have to move to safer places and abandon unharvested crops.","Labour conscription also is said to be most detrimental to agricultural productivity.","Some families do not have adequate labour for farming because many young people have fled to Thailand or into the jungle.","Moreover, local officials require each week one able-bodied member from every household to carry rice on foot to PL troops stationed at various outposts in the region, the trip can take up to a week and the rice must be supplied from the villagers' own reserve.","This requisition drains the people of their energy, manpower and food resources.","It affects particularly nuclear families.","Husbands and wives may rarely see each other, for one may have to go just as the other returns from "serving the country", and only the children are left to tend the family crops or to take care of themselves.","According to refugees, it is this labour obligation that forces many people to seek refuge in Thailand or in the forests of Phou Bia.","The Hmong Resistance","After the Pathet Lao took control of Laos, a few former Hmong soldiers and their families went into hiding in inaccessible mountain areas because of a strong fear of retribution from the new regime.","They were joined by other Hmong who were released or who escaped from "seminar" centres.","From their jungle hide-outs, small groups of these men first ambushed a number of PL trucks travelling between Vang Vieng and Vientiane in early 1976, but soon included small units of PL troops in their attacks.","They reportedly used arms and ammunition left hidden by Vang Pao in the Phou Bia region.","Although the United States and Thailand disclaimed any involvement with these tribal dissidents, reports of their skirmishes filtered through to the outside world throughout 1976.","It was even claimed that by 1977, bands of armed Hmong had pushed government troops from their strongholds along Route 13 and at one time thrust as far south as 60 kilometres north of Vientiane.","Armed resistance also was reported in Sayaboury, where Hmong refugees in Thailand were said to return to Laos to carry out their private campaigns against PL and Vietnamese soldiers (37).","Combined with the subversion in Phou Bia, casualties on the government side were believed to include two Soviet helicopters and four crewmen, in addition to "serious losses suffered by Lao military personnel (38).","In Phou Bia, the two major groups of rebels" were under Tsong Zua Heu, a long-standing messianic leader, and Sai Shua Yang, formerly tasseng at Pha Khao, east of Long Cheng.","In 1972, the former joined the revivalist movement among refugees mentioned earlier, when as a sergeant in the RLA, he had virtually turned away from Vang Pao to set up a "true" Hmong society, in anticipation of the return of the legendary Hmong king who would rescue the movement's followers from oppression by other groups.","Sai Shua, on the other hand, only became a dissident leader after the PL take-over of Laos in 1975 and his supporters consist mostly of refugees and ex-soldiers of the old government.","Tsong Zua's leadership attracted a large number of Hmong, and at one stage he was said to have an "army" of 400 or 500 men, operating in units of 20 to 50 against PL forces.","Using their claim to invulnerability and God's guidance, they went to war full of religious fervour, carrying old rifles and their own flag.","Refugees who took part in the group's guerrilla activities stated that they were amazed how few casualties there were among its members, even when they attacked well-armed enemy troops in the open, however, employed more conventional war tactics, especially ambushes.","They used their weapons sparingly and only when sure of their aim, in order to preserve ammunition.","When they ran out of necessary supplies, they took what they needed from their victims.","The government was concerned enough about this resistance movement to send troops to the hills, in an attempt to crush it.","When these proved ineffective against the small bands of "God's disciples" or "Chao Fa" Hmong, four regiments of North Vietnamese soldiers were brought in from their stand-by positions in various parts of the country.","Aerial bombing and gas rockets were also used, along with heavy artillery lifted to the highlands by helicopter.","Many Hmong settlements were burned to the ground by Vietnamese troops, who, as one eye-witness recounts, passed through like a hurricane, destroying everything and everyone in their path.","Deadly chemicals were dropped on those hiding in the jungle and defoliants were sprayed on their crops (39).","Civilians who surrendered themselves to the authorities were sent to resettlement villages" in the lowlands, where they were dispatched to "seminar" centres, imprisonment or execution, depending on the decisions of military officials.","According to one source, only 3500 Hmong in the Phou Bia area were involved in armed resistance against the government, compared to 150,000 in the country (40).","Another reports that the search-and-destroy operations of 1977 resulted in at least 1300 Hmong rebels killed and "thousands" captured in "heavy fighting .","For his part, Vang Pao alleged that 50 000 Hmong died from PL chemical poisoning between 1975 and 1978 alone, and another 45 000 perished "from starvation and disease or were shot trying to escape to Thailand" (42).","It is difficult to confirm the claims by either side.","The truth probably lies somewhere between the two sets of figures given by the government and by Hmong refugees.","There is no doubt, however, that the campaign against Hmong dissidents has increased significantly the number of people crossing to Thailand.","A group of 2500 Hmong, for instance, arrived in Nong Khai refugee camp in December 1977, probably the biggest escape party to reach Thailand It was said to have had more than 8000 members when it first set but from Phou Bia, but a number turned back while many others were captured or shot by PL soldiers along the escape route.","Many old people died from exhaustion or drowning and quite a few children died when the adults put their hands over the babies' mouths, to prevent them from crying when they risked being spotted by the PL soldiers.","Intelligence teams returning to Laos in early 1978 reported frequent sightings of corpses along the way; and in one instance, a young girl of six years old was found still alive near the body of her dead mother, beside a jungle trail.","By 1979, Sai Shau Yang's rebel partisans had split up into small groups, since they were no longer able to withstand the shelling and gassing of their strongholds.","A few months later, most of them reached Thailand with their families, leaving only Tsong Zua an his Chao Fa" followers to roam the forest of Phou Bia, in a hopeless fight to the death in the name of their revivalist cult.","Before Shai Shua's escape, rumours were already circulating, telling of Hmong resistance bands harassing Lao troops near the border of China and Laos.","Vang Pao was said to have made contact with Chinese leaders in August 1978, to work on the creation of a Hmong kingdom in northern Laos and North Vietnam (44).","A handful of Hmong refugees in Thailand who used to serve under Vang Pao are known to have gone to China to help organize subversive activities, Following the capture of a few dissidents bearing Chinese weapons, one prominent Lao official openly commented that "the Chinese have mobilised some Hmong and Lu minority people for a movement against our government .","China's use of tribes people to interfere in Lao internal affairs is still being reported from time to time.","However, there is no conclusive evidence on the extent or effectiveness of this involvement.","What is certain is that Hmong refugees still continue to arrive in Thailand from Laos, though those resettled in areas too far from the frontier or too well controlled to flee, seem to have made an effort to adjust to the new order, in spite of low living standards.","Since the end of 1980, some of the refugees have included people who traditionally had been aligned with the Pathet Lao and many families who had been living in the "new liberated zone" for the past five years.","Since the first group of 25 000 Hmong reached Thailand in May 1975, the number has steadily increased to about 60 000 towards the end of 1979, when close to 3000 were crossing the Mekong each month.","It is estimated that 35 000 Hmong refugees have been resettled in the United States, 6000 in France and more than 2000 in Canada, Australia, Argentina and French Guyana.","The total number of Hmong refugees in Thailand in March 1980 was 48 937, with 998 new arrivals during that month.","Despite departures for other countries, there were still 46 218 Hmong registered for UNHCR support in five camps in northern Thailand in February 1981, although the number of new arrivals had dropped to 408 a month (46).","Their reasons for leaving Laos are similar to those given by previous groups of refugees, namely political persecution against remnants of Vang Pao's soldiers and RLG officials, gassing, the heavy rice tax and labour conscription, extreme economic deprivation and arbitrary arrests of people suspected of political crimes or disloyalty.","None of the prominent Hmong taken to "seminar" centres in Sam Neua have been released, or heard of, which has added further to Hmong distrust of the PL authorities.","Conclusion","Despite the continual escape of Hmong to Thailand, the Lao government appears to have made a genuine attempt to incorporate minority groups into the new People's Democratic Republic of Laos, at least in so far as policy-making is concerned.","Those displaced by the war prior to the 1973 ceasefire either have returned to their old settlements or were resettled in new villages.","To increase the people's productivity, labour co-operation and other changes in the relations of production have been tried, but the means of production remain much as in the RLG days.","The capitalist economy m Vientiane has been dismantled to a great extent, severing almost all trading links with the domestic economy of the highlands.","This has caused severe economic hardship among the Hmong, especially since government development policies have failed to achieve desired results.","These difficulties have been due partly to environmental destruction by the war and the lack of human and natural resources, and partly, as Kaysone Phomvihane admitted, to "insufficient practical experience in socialist transformation and construction (47).","There continue to be sporadic anti-government activities in different parts of the country, but these do not appear to threaten the stability of the new regime, since none of the resistance groups seems well enough equipped or organised.","Nonetheless, the government still has to contend with Hmong dissidents in the area around Vang Pao's old headquarters at Long Cheng.","Strategies used to win their support have included leaflet drops, radio appeals in the Hmong language and relocation of formerly inaccessible villages.","Official publications such as the KPL Bulletin Quotidian and Sieng Pasason often urge cadres and state employees at the provincial and local levels to pay special attention to the needs of minorities, to raise their political consciousness and to ensure just distribution of necessary goods such as salt and utensils for all groups (48).","In his annual New Year messages, Faydang repeatedly has stressed the need for solidarity among the Hmong against the "Chao Fa bandits" and "exiled reactionaries", and also has called Hmong refugees or dissidents to "return to the homeland" (49).","These official policies appear to had some effect where the Hmong have been traditionally on the side of the Pathet Lao.","Few of these have escaped to other countries.","A number of refugees also are known to have returned voluntarily to Laos, but it is not known exactly how many or what has become of them.","Some reports suggest that they have been well received and have encountered no official reprisals (50).","It is estimated that about 200 000 Hmong still remain in Laos, despite the endless exodus to Thailand (51).","The flow of refugees across the Mekong was very high during the government's military campaign to wipe out Hmong dissidents between 1977 and 1979, but since has declined to a few hundred a month.","However, the gassing, the military draft, the rice tax and simple poverty continue to force many families to risk their lives in escaping to Thai refugee camps, Dissident activities virtually have ceased, at least south of the Plain of Jars (52).","The government now has introduced its first five-year development plan (1981-85), with more emphasis on economic and agricultural productivity than on internal political consolidation.","The unity of all ethnic groups is still seen as one of the conditions for the success of the new plan.","This unity has been difficult to achieve so far because the political bases of the masses have not been well established, and because.","in Kaysone Phomvihane's opinion, cadres and soldiers "have abused their power by intimidating the people" with political persecution and arbitrary arrests (53).","More co-operation from the masses would have been forthcoming if these "unlawful acts" could have been curbed.","More importantly, the people now know that what is said on paper and in large public meetings is not always what is done at the grass-roots level.","Until stated policies are matched by action, there is little possibility for an improvement in the lot of the Hmong and other minority groups in Laos.","Footnotes","Yang Dao, Les Hmong du Laos au Development (Vientiane: Editions Siaosavath 1975), p 7","Le Boulanger, Histoire du Laos Francais (Paris: Plon, 1931), p 212","P Neis, "Voyage dans le Haut Laos", Tout du Monde 50 (1885): @-80","Military Research and Development Centre, Thailand, Meo Handbook (Bangkok, 1969), p.","13.","Yang Dao, Hmong du Laos, op.cit., p.","30.","This title is often written as "Kaitong", but is pronounced ""kiatong" by Hmong speakers.","Dasse stated that Nong Het was allocated two tasseng, one for the Lo clan under Song Tou and one for the Lee under Lyfoung's oldest son.","This was, however, incorrect according to Nhia Long Lee, who was closely involved in the political events of the time (pers.comm., 1980).","The allocation was based on geographical boundaries, not clan lines.","See M.","Dasse, Montagnards, Revoltes et Guerres Revolutionaires en Asie du Sud-Est Continentale (Bangkok: DK Book House, 1976), p.","124.","H Toye, Laos Buffer State or Battleground (London: Oxford University Press, 1968), p.","70.","Larteguy and Yang Dao, La Fabuleuse Aventure du Peuple de l'Opium (Paris Presses de la Cite, 1979) pp.","143-57.","10.","Faydang is said to have earlier given Prince Phetsarat a rhinoceros horn as bribe in return for a position in his government, but it could have been merely a gift to show respect.","11.","With Hmong assistance, Toulia Lyfong, Touby's half-brother, led the fifty-man Hmong force that helped the French recapture Luang Prabang.","Toulia and his troops remained long enough in Luang Prabang for him to marry a Lao wife, reportedly a princess, although the marriage later ended in divorce.","12.","W G Burchett, Mekong Upstream (Berlin: Seven seas Publishers, 19590, p.","230.","13.","L G.","Barney, "The Meo of Xieng Khouang Province, Laos", in Southeast Asian Tribes, Minorities, and Nations, ed.","Peter Kunstdter (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1967), p 275.","14.","Toulia was responsible for getting the RLG to adopt the terms "Lao Soung" to refer to Hmong and Yao hill-top dwellers, "Lao Theung" for those inhabiting the lower slopes and "Lao Loum" for the Lao of lowlands.","These official designations, however, have become popular only with the Pathet Lao.","Also they can be rather misleading, since there are more than sixty ethnic groups in Laos and some could be equally well described by different terms.","[p.","218]","15.","Because of his generosity, Vang Pao did not become wealthy through his involvement in the war economy of Laos, unlike some other of his subordinates or colleagues.","Apart from gifts to gain political support, he also married five new wives, in addition to his original one, in order to create further alliances and strengthen his position.","16.","Larteguy and Yang Dao, Peuple de l'Opium, op.cit., p.","266","17.","Ly Yia, "War Refugees in Laos" (Master's thesis in Social Work, University of New South Wales).","18.","Hamilton-Merritt, "Poison-Gas War in Laos", Readers Digest, October 1980, p.","36.","19.","Branfman, "Presidential War in Laos, 1964-1970", in Laos: War and Revolution, ed.","Nina S.","Adams and Alfred W.","McCoy (New York: Harper & Row, 1970), pp.","252-53.","20.","Larteguy and Yang Dao, Peuple de l'Opium, pp.","237-38.","21.","Ibid., p.","238.","22.","Yang Dao, "Guerre de Gaz: Solution Communiste des Problèmes des Minorites du Laos", Temps Modernes, no.","402 (January 1978): 1210.","23.","Alfred W.","McCoy, Cathleen B.","Read and Leonard P.","Adams II, The Politics of Heroin in Southeast Asia (New York: Harper & Row, 1972), p.","81.","24.","Any Hmong reading Lyteck's claim to aristocracy in McCoy et al., Politics of Heroin ( p.","392), or Dassé, Montognards (p.","122) would find it extremely difficult to believe.","If there was ever any documented aristocracy among the Hmong, then only Lyteck and his relatives seemed to know about it, for no other Hmong in Laos could remember its existence, except in their legendary remote past of many hundreds of years ago.","25.","Yang Dao, "Guerre de Gaz", p.","1213.","26.","Ibid., p.","1216","27.","Joseph Zasloff, The Pathet Lao: Leadership and Organization (Lexington, Mass.: D.C.","Haeth, 1973), pp.","5-6.","28.","Yang Dao, Hmong du Laos, p.","52.","29.","Zasloff, Pathet Lao, pp.","123-30","30.","Vientiane Mai (Daily Newspaper in Lao), 18 May 1975.","31.","and M.","Hiebert, "Laos Recovers from America's War", Southeast Asia Chronicle, no.","61 (march-April 1978): 8.","32.","FEER, 11 July 1980","33.","According to data provided by Lao authorities ( W.","Worner, pers.","comm., 1981), the official price per kilogram of opium was set as follows:","Before December 1979 (KIP)...........","After December 1979","First quarter........................","180...................................................","700","Second quarter ..................","150 ..................................................","600","Third quarter ......................100 ..................................................","400","Considering that the average output of a household is 8 kilos per year, the new pricing would yield as little as 3200 kip annually.","This is far below the cash needs of any one family when a 100 kg bag of rice costs 3000 kip and meat is 50 kip/kg on the open market.","Opium-growers may prefer to sell their crop on the black market, where it will fetch a much higher price The above price fixing, however, is considered necessary, and the government is determine to return many Hmong to the cultivation of opium poppies, so that it can monopolise the opium trade in the years ahead.","See FEER, 30 April 1976.","34.","Far Eastern Economic Review (FEER) , 8 September 1978.","35.","JPRS/TSEA, no 808.","19 March 1979, p.","32.","36.","FEER, 6 May 1977","37.","FEER, 13 February 1976.","38.","FEER, 10 September 1976","39.","For more detail on the chemical warfare against the Hmong in Laos reports prepared for the US Senate, Reports on the Use of Chemical Weapons in Afghanistan, Laos and Kampuchea (Washington, 1980), pp.","31-101.","Also the submission on Indochinese refugees by the Hmong-Australia Society (Sydney 1980) to the Australian Senate Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and Defence obtainable from the author.","40.","U S News and World Report, 2 June 1980.","41.","Asia Week, 16 December 1979.","42.","Hamilton-Merritt, "Poison-Gas War in Laos", p.","37.","43.","Asia Week, 10 March 1978.","44.","MacAlister Brown and Joseph Zasloff, "Laos 1978: The Ebb an Flow of Adversity", Asian Survey 19, no.","2 (1979): 98.","Also FEER, I September","45.","FEER , 8 December 1979.","46.","UNHCR Month Statistics, March 1980 and February 1981","47.","Kaysone Phomvihane, "Report to Joint Session of the SPA and Council of Ministers", FBIS, Supplement, 17 March 1978, p.45.","48.","PL Party leaders frequently remind officials of the contributions made by ethnic minorities to the revolutionary struggle in Laos, and the tasks that need to be done in order to extend government services to these isolated groups.","The Hmong, in particular, are urged to follow the lines of the Party and not to be misled by imperialists and reactionaries intent on creating division among minority groups.","See e.g., editorials and speeches published in KPL/BQ, 29 December 1978, pp.","5-8; 25 September 1979, pp.","4-5; 6 November 1979 pp.","6-7; 12 November 1979, pp 2-3, and 21 November 1979, pp.","1-2.","49.","FEER, 6 February; also KPL/BQ, 13 November 1979, pp.","1-2.","50.","J.M.","Yoder, "Refugees Who Returned", Southeast Asia Chronicle.","no 61 (March-April 1978): 14.","51.","Asia Week, 5 October 1979.","52.","Despite their lack of co-ordination, it is worthy of note that a group of these Hmong dissidents succeeded in assassinating General Paseuth or Foung Tongsee Yang, who replaced Thao Tou in 1963 as commander of PL Hmong troops.","This occurred at Pha Khe, near Long Cheng, in 1976.","53.","Kaysone Phomvihane, "Report", op.cit., p.","27.","Copyright © 2005","Minority policies","http://members.ozemail.com.au/~yeulee/History/minority policies and the hmong in laos.html","94.4","22 May 2005");
Page[8]=new Array("Home About Gary History Culture Topical Poems Short stories Submitted Publications","History","Refugees from Laos: Historical Background and Causes","Contents","1 Introduction","2 Early history","3 French domination","4 The Indochina war","5 North Vietnamese...","6 Deepening civil war","7 American bombing","8 Peace settlement","9 Communist rule","10 Resistance ...","11 Conclusion","12 References","Refugees from Laos: Historical Background and Causes","(Ethnic Affairs Commission of New South Wales, Australia)","Original article based on research on the impact of the Indochina War on Laos conducted in 1971-72, with supplementary field research in refugee camps in Thailand during 1985.","The latter was made possible by an Indochina Studies grant from the American Social Science Research Council (NY), which is here gratefully acknowledged.","The views expressed here are those of the author, and not of the Ethnic Affairs Commission where he is currently employed.","Introduction","The only land-locked country in South-East Asia, Laos covers an area of 235,800 square kilometres with an estimated population of 3,600,000 before 1975.","It has border with China in the North, Vietnam in the East, Cambodia in the South and Thailand and Burma in the West.","As a country with many neighbours, Laos has often witnessed population movements across its borders at different stages of its history.","These have usually been in the form of migration by farmers in search of new lands, or refugees fleeing political persecution from countries such as China or Vietnam.","In Laos itself, internal migration by farmers and people affected by war or economic recession has also frequently occurred.","However, at no times had these population movements been so massive, involving tens of thousands of people, as has been the case of refugees during the Indochina War which ended with the communist victory in 1975.","Modern warfare, continuous antagonism between dissenting political groups, fear of reprisals against those on the losing side of the war and many other factors contributed to make people seek freedom both within and outside Laos.","When peace negotiations began in 1973 between the Lao warring factions 750,000 of its 3,000,000 population had become displaced by the war.","Since 1975, more than 300,000 Lao had sought asylum in Thai refugee camps.","Although 25,000 have been repatriated to Laos, most of these refugees had been resettled in other countries – with an estimated 200,000 in the USA; 25,000 in France; 5,000 in Canada; 1,600 in Australia and smaller numbers in Germany, Argentina, New Zealand, Japan and other countries, while more than 40,000 remained scattered in different parts of Thailand.","This pattern of population displacement arising from foreign interference, internal power struggles and animosities between neighbouring groups has persisted over the centuries in Laos.","An examination of the past may, thus, help us to better understand one of the tragic consequences of this unyielding power play, the country's recurrent refugee problem during the last 30 years.","Early History","The Lao are believed to have migrated from South China some time in the thirteenth century A.D.","and established themselves along the Mekong and Me Nam Rivers where Thailand and Laos stand today.","Legend has it that the first Lao King, Khun Borom, descended from heaven and had seven sons, each of whom was given a portion of this occupied territory.","In 1353, Fa Ngum, a Lao prince exiled to the Court of Angkor (Cambodia) and a convert to Buddhism, returned to Laos with a small army and fought his way up the Mekong river.","He established his court at Muong Swa on Upper Mekong, which he later named Luang Prabang (city of the Golden Buddha) after the name of a golden Buddha statue, Prabang, brought by Fa Ngum from Angkor.","In the following years, he conquered the neighbouring principalities, consolidating them into the Kingdom of Lan Xang (Million Elephants), with Luang Prabang as capital and Buddhism the official religion.","This kingdom extended beyond today's Laos to include the western province of Vietnam and northeast Thailand where Lao place names and Lao-speaking inhabitants can still be found today.","Fa Ngum was succeeded in 1373 by his son, Sam Sen Thai, whose reign was marked by the building of many Buddhist temples and the creation of a new system of local governments, under which local administrators were selected by the King or a council of notables, with power being centralized in an army of 150,000 men supported by a supply corps of 20,000 persons (Dommen, 1964:6).","After the death of Sam Sen Thai in 1416, the kingdom became prey to internal dissension and foreign incursions.","Vietnamese troops invaded Lan Xang in 1478 and captured the capital of Luang Prabang, but were later pushed back.","There were also other incursions from the Burmese and the Thai from the West, which forced the capital to be moved from Luang Prabang to Vientiane in order to avoid capture by Burmese troops.","The first Westerners to arrive in Lan Xang were missionaries and traders, who saw little prospects for commerce or evangelical work during the care-free reign of Souligna Vongsa in the mid-seventeenth century.","Souligna Vongsa died in 1694, following which internal dissension brought about a split of the country into three separate kingdoms Luang Prabang, Vientiane and Champassak.","Each of the kingdoms were intermittently invaded by neighbouring Siam (Thailand), Burma and Annam (Vietnam).","After several years of war, the kingdom of Vientiane became a tributary state to Siam, and was annexed by the latter in 1825 following an unsuccessful uprising by its ruler Chao Anou.","As a result, tens of thousands of Lao were forced to move from Laos to settle along the west bank of the Mekong for easier control by the Thai.","Today, there are more Lao-speaking people in north eastern Thailand than in Laos.","In 1832, Annam annexed the principality of Xieng Khouang in north eastern Laos, and Siam took control of the Kingdom of Champassak in the South.","All that was left of Lan Xang was Luang Prabang, which was by then paying tribute to Siam but claimed as a tributary state by Annam.","The French made their first colonial trust into Indochina in 1862, with the armed occupation of the western provinces of Cochin China, today's South Vietnam on the pretext of protecting French missionaries.","They pushed towards Cambodia the following year, leaving Laos alone until after their conquest of Vietnam and Cambodia.","In 1885, Siam felt threatened by the setting up of French military outposts along the Annamite Mountains overlooking Laos, and decided to send troops to occupy the Plain of Jars in central northern Laos.","Thai officials were then dispatched to Luang Prabang to supervise the Kingdom's affairs, whereupon the French sent a warning note from Hanoi to Bangkok and asked for joint supervision of the Luang Prabang Kingdom, claiming that the latter and Xieng Khouang were originally under the sovereignty of the Court of Hue, now a French protectorate.","Siam agreed for France to post a vice-consult to Luang Prabang.","August Pavie arrived in Luang Prabang in 1887 and, as Wilfred Burchett (1970: 69) put it, "started the long process of intrigues and demonstration of force by which France gradually positioned herself for the complete take-over of Laos." French rule from 1893 to 1949 saw the split of Laos in two: the Kingdom of Luang Prabang and the Kingdom of Champassak.","French Domination","According to a treaty signed by Siam with France on October 1893 all of Laos east of the Mekong was to be ceded to France while that along the west bank remained with Siam.","Subsequently certain regions west of the river in the South and on the North were also transferred to France giving Laos its present shape and size.","The French established the new colony's administrative centre in Vientiane maintaining Luang Prabang as the royal capital with King Sisavang Vong on the throne and as the Head of all Laos.","The French controlled all the Lao principalities and kingdoms of Luang Prabang, Xieng Khouang, Vientiane and Champassak by 1905 thereby giving them the name of Laos or many Lao.","French control also put an end to incursions from Siam, Annam and Burma.","Internally the French had to cope with revolts among the tribes sparked by French taxation and interference in tribal affairs.","The Kha rebellion in 1901 took six years to stop and was led by a Kha chief in the Bolovem Plateau in southern Laos, Kommadam whose surviving sons later joined the communist Pathet Lao In 1945 (Burchett op.cit.: 70-71).","The second insurrection by Tai tribes in Phong Saly Province took place in 1914 and the Hmong started another uprising in Sam Neua in 1919 both of which took two years to settle and cost many lives .","Because Laos was believed to offer little short-term economic gains, the French did not attempt to introduce economic changes to the country.","They relied on existing systems of local government and avoided upsetting Lao traditions by manifesting their presence mainly in fiscal control judicial organization and education.","French became the accepted language in administration and among the middle and upper classes in Lao society.","Most of today's older generation Lao elite received their education in France.","By the late 1930s about 600 French officials were looking after the welfare of more than one million natives in Laos (Dommen op.cit.: 12-13).","The French began losing control over Indochina in 1940 when France fell to Germany and agreed for Japan to station troops in Indochina in exchange for the safe return of its resident citizens.","This agreement was ruptured by the Japanese in March 1945 after they imprisoned French troops and declared an end to French rule in Indochina.","In Laos, the Japanese persuaded King Sisavang Vong and Prince Phetsarat, Premier and Viceroy to proclaim the independence of the Kingdom of Luang Prabang on April 1945.","After the surrender of the Japanese in August, Phetsarat announced the reunification of Luang Prabang and Champassak into one Laos and asked Allied Powers to recognize its independence.","However a handful of French officers managed to return to Luang Prabang and requested the King to dismiss Phetsarat.","The former Viceroy then formed a resistance group with other young Lao nationalists known as Lao Issara or the Free Lao movement.","This group denounced all treaties with France, deposed the King for his continued submission to French rule and put up Phetsarat as head of a Provisional Government whose Defence Minister was Phetsarat's half-brother Prince Souphanouvong.","In October 1945, they further signed a treaty of friendship and alliance with North Vietnam (NV).","However French troops re-occupied Laos in early 1946 after defeating small armed resistance units organized by the Lao Issara with NV assistance.","Phetsarat and his followers fled to Bangkok, Thailand where they set up a government in exile (Adams, 1970: 100-120).","Supported by French, King Sisavang Vong and his son, Crown Prince Savang Vathana formed a new cabinet known as the Royal Lao Government (RLG).","An agreement was signed in August 1946 merging the rest of Laos with Luang Prabang under King Sisavang Vong.","A constitution was proclaimed in 1947 to give Laos a parliamentary system of government with a popularity elected National Assembly.","By July 1949 Laos was given the status of an independent state within the French Union.","Prince Souvanna Phouma, Souphanouvong's half-brother and 25 other members of the Bangkok government in exile decided to compromise with the French and returned to Laos to join the RLG.","Phetsarat and Souphanouvong disagreed on this arrangement and remained in Thailand, preferring complete independence from France even at the expense of a shift to the left in order to fight the French with the support of Ho Chi Minh, the NV communist leader.","In February 1950 France transferred sovereignty to Laos which was by then also recognized by Great Britain and the United States.","Another treaty with France in 1954 made Laos a fully independent state.","By the end of 1954 all French administrative and military power was relinquished to the Lao authorities.","The Indochina War","In 1950, Souphanouvong left Thailand for northeast Laos where he established a resistance government under the control of his newly formed left-wing political organization, the Pathet Lao (PL) or Lao State.","To broaden support for his resistance activities, he formed alliance with NV and Cambodian liberation groups.","With the help of NV troops and tribal leaders already in opposition to the RLG, Souphanouvong was able to expand guerrilla activities along the entire border of Laos and Vietnam, from Phongsaly Province in the north to the Bolovens Plateau in the south.","In March 1953, Vietminh forces swept into northern Laos, and occupied the province capital of Sam Neua, making it henceforth the PL headquarters.","Alarmed by the Vietnamese offensive in the direction of the Mekong, Thailand tried to call for United Nations intervention, as happened in South Korea in 1950, but this was not supported by the United States.","President Eisenhower, seeking to draw Laos into a military alliance, preferred to press France to give full independence to the country while continuing to assist financially French military activities against Indochinese anti-colonial guerrillas.","The Viet Minh incursion into north and south Laos were stopped by December 1953.","In the spring of 1954, however, General Giap's Viet Minh troops moved west again, threatening the town of Luang Prabang and helping the Pathet Lao to enlarge further their liberated zones in the north-east and other areas along the Mekong in Laos (Devillers, 1970: 41).","The advance of the Viet Minh and their PL counterparts allowed the guerrillas to spread propaganda and greatly extend their territories.","This situation was made all the more possible by the battle of Dien Bien Phu, North Vietnam which called for France to commit its finest soldiers to defend a position far removed from Laos.","The Viet Minh won this most decisive battle and did not, therefore, hesitate to continue their military involvement with the Pathet Lao in north-eastern Laos in order to liberate all of Indochina from foreign domination.","Following the French defeat in Dien Bien Phu in May 1954, an international conference to end the First Indochina War was held in 1954 in Geneva, Switzerland, jointly chaired by Great Britain and the Soviet Union, and attended by the United States, China, Cambodia, North Vietnam, South Vietnam and Laos.","Among other things, the Geneva agreements called for an end to hostilities in the Indochinese states, and gave the RLG sovereignty over the whole of Laos.","The Pathet Lao were, however, allowed temporary control of two north-eastern provinces, Sam Neua and Phong Saly, to be used for regrouping its forces, pending its integration with the RLG through general elections.","All foreign troops were to be withdrawn from the country, except for a small French mission to assist the RLG with its military training.","A permanent International Control Commission consisting of Indian, Canadian and Polish representatives was created and charged with supervising the cease-fire and the neutrality of Laos.","North Vietnamese and American Involvement","In 1950 when France withdrew its troops from Lao, to defend the Viet Minh's attacks from North Vietnam, Laos had to form its own army to counter PL and NV offensives.","The Royal Lao Army (RLA) was, thus, organized under French instructions and with funds supplied to France mainly by the US.","Since 1949 American policy-makers believing that Chinese communist expansion in Southeast Asia must be stopped, had been helping the French and Indochinese anti-Communist groups in their fight against left-wing guerrillas (Foreign Area Studies 1967: 31).","Despite negotiation attempts by the US, French authorities would only allow direct economic assistance in the form of material grants to Indochina, assuring American negotiators that the war would be brought to a successful conclusion if only the United States furnished France with the wherewithal" (Dommen op.cit.: 35).","In September 1951, the US signed an economic assistance agreement with the Pro-French RGL headed by Phoui Sananikone, an agreement which was to remain the basis for American aid to Laos for the years to come.","The cost of fighting the independence war against French colonial rule in Indochina was estimated to be US$ 954 millions most off which went to help meet the needs of French military requirements towards the end of the Indochina War.","By September 1953, the US was believed to be paying for fully 70 per cent of the cost of the war, mostly in the forms of ammunitions, vehicles, naval crafts, planes, and small arms (Dommen, op.cit.: 46).","Two hundred American ground personnel were also stationed in Indochina to assist the French with the repair and maintenance of aircraft in January 1954.","Because of this massive support, American leaders were deeply disturbed when French forces were defeated at their last stand in Dien Bien Phu.","When the Geneva agreements were signed in July 1954, American military and economic aid worth US$ 25 million was aboard ships bound for Indochina.","At the Geneva Conference, John Foster Dulles, the American Secretary of State, suspicious oft the communists not adhering to the agreements, stated that his country did not consider itself bound by them, thus opening the way for further American intervention in the region (Dommen, op.cit.: 56).","The French withdrawal from Indochina after the Geneva cease-fire was seen to leave it and the rest of Southeast Asia unprotected against communist invasions.","The US, therefore, stepped in by offering collective security through the formation of the South-East Asian Treaty Organization (SEATO) in September 1954 with Britain, France, Thailand, Pakistan, the Philippines, Australia and New Zealand as members.","The Treaty, signed in Manila, would guarantee South-East Asian countries of speedy SEATO and American intervention in the event of any military threat from China.","Despite the fact that Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam were declared neutral by the Geneva agreements, SEATO nevertheless extended its protection to the three Indochina states, thereby involving them directly in the cold war between communist and the Free World superpowers.","Soon after SEATO was formed, the Lao cabinet suffered a severe crisis, following the assassination of its Defence Minister who was a strong advocate of the Geneva Accords.","The Lao government which was headed by Prince Souvanna Phouma, another advocate of the neutrality of Laos, resigned due to "foreign interference" (Thee, 1970: 129).","A new cabinet was formed in November 1954 under Katay Don Sasorith, a SEATO supporter.","This was followed by the opening of the United States Operation Mission in Vientiane on 1 January 1955, to channel American aid directly into Laos.","American advisers were sent to put in place the necessary arrangement for the US to use its foreign assistance to expand the size of the RLA into 25,000 men.","These Lao troops would act as the first line of defence against possible communist incursions long enough to allow intervention by SEATO members (Cousins and McCoy, 1970: 340).","In the meantime, the PL were maintaining a tight grip on the two north-eastern provinces of Sam Neua and Phong Saly, expanding its army with the assistance of NV military and political cadres, who replaced the Viet Minh soldiers fighting in Laos prior to the Geneva Conference.","The RLG, with encouragement from American advisers, sent troops into PL zones and frequent military clashes occurred between the two sides (Langer and Zasloff, 1970: 62).","Under these circumstances, negotiations for national integration between the RLG and the PL often resulted in dead-lock.","The RLG wanted to integrate PL armed forces into the RLA first, while the Pathet Lao insisted on military integration only after a political compromise had been reached.","The general elections for national consolidation scheduled by the Geneva agreements for August 1955 took place in December without the involvement of the PL.","The results however showed a strong neutralist majority and Prince Souvanna Phouma the neutralist leader resumed office as Prime Minister in Vientiane.","He again tried to negotiate with the PL pledging to work for national unity and friendly relations with all countries including North Vietnam and other communist states.","In July 1956 Laos was formally recognized by the Soviet Union.","After talks between the Royal Lao Government and the newly formed PL Patriotic Front or Neo Lao Hak Sat (NLHS) in August, Souvanna Phouma and Souphanouvong decided on a Government of National Union with PL representatives.","This government would adhere to the five principles of peaceful co-existence, the pursuit of a neutralist foreign policy, the prohibition of military alliances and the withdrawal of foreign troops from Laos.","By November 1957, Souphanouvong agreed to transfer the two northern provinces under his control to the Kingdom of Laos, in return for which he and another Pathet Lao members, Phoumi Vongvichit, were admitted as cabinet ministers in the RLG.","Deepening Civil War","At the elections held in May 1958, the Neo Lao Hak Sat and its allies won 13 of the 21 contested seats in the National Assembly.","Souphanouvong became Minister of Economic Affairs in the new government.","This re-alignment of political power was seen as a threat to the privileged positions of American-supported politicians and the new class of wealthy officials and businessmen.","They therefore decided to form a political pressure group, the Committee for the Defence of National Interest (CDNI) reputed to have the backing of the American Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) (Ackland 1970:149).","The US in turn stopped all payments to the RLG, a hard blow to an economy that had come to rely heavily on American aid.","On July Souvanna Phouma lost a vote of confidence in the National Assembly and was forced to resign.","He was succeeded by Phoui Sananikone, who formed a new cabinet with the support of CDNI members.","The Pathet Lao were no longer represented in the new pro-American government.","After taking up office, Phoui Sananikone and his ministers shifted Lao policy to the right dissolved the National Assembly and denounced the 1954 Geneva truce.","Attempts were also made to disperse and neutralize PL soldiers who had been integrated into the RLA a few months earlier.","However the last PL battalion which was still awaiting integration managed to escape and recapture Phong Saly and Sam Neua provinces, their former strongholds.","The elections of April 1960 resulted in all 59 seats in the National Assembly going to right-wing candidates.","This was followed by the arrest of Souphanouvong and his deputies but they subsequently escaped from jail a month later and went back to Sam Neua.","Civil war was thus resumed between the RLG and the PL with the former charging North Vietnam with aggression against Laos through its military assistance to PL and the latter denouncing supporters of US imperialism.","Phoui Sananikone resigned under right-wing military pressure and handed all power to General Phoumi Nosavan, the head of the RLA.","In August 1960, a neutralist Lao army captain Kong Le dissatisfied with this pro-American stance overthrew the Nosavan government and re-instated Souvanna Phouma as Prime Minister.","Nosavan and his supporters fled to southern Laos to set up their own government in Savannakhet under Prince Boun Oum Na Champassak.","Backed by U.S.","aid, Nosavan soon launched a military attack on the neutralist government of Souvanna Phouma in Vientiane, forcing the latter to accept aid from the Soviet Union.","By the end of 1960, Nosavan forces were able to recapture Vientiane and the right-wing Boun Oum government was transferred there.","Kong Le and his neutralist forces retreated north and joined forces with the PL, further exacerbating military clashes between Neutralist-PL forces and Nosavan troops.","In order to settle the conflict an international conference was again convened in Geneva, Switzerland in May 196l.","After much negotiations all three parties (leftist, neutralist and rightist) agreed on the formation of a coalition government with Souvanna Phouma as Prime Minister.","However, troops of the three factions still continued fighting one another, ignoring the directives of the re-activated International Control Commission first set up to supervise the 1954 Geneva agreements.","Souvanna Phouma, Boun Oum and Souphanouvong undertook a new series of talks in Laos in June 1962 and again decided to form a coalition government.","A Lao delegation with representatives from all three factions was sent to Geneva in July 1962 to attend another International conference on the cease-fire and neutralism in Laos.","A neutrality declaration was issued and agreed to by all interested parties, including the US, the Soviet Union, China and Great Britain.","Despite this new progress towards peace, the idea of a neutralist coalition government did not work when Laos continued to be the buffer zone between communist North Vietnam and pro-American Thailand (Toye, 1968).","Right-wing politicians on the RLG side were not prepared to cooperate with the Neutralist or the Pathet Lao.","Each side maintained its own soldiers in the areas under its control.","Relations between the three groups deteriorated and military incidents went on the increase.","In an attempt to reach a compromise in their political differences, the leaders of the three factions met once more in April 1964 on the Plain of Jars which had been under Neutralist forces but now controlled by the PL.","The meeting failed to produce the desired result, and Souvanna Phouma resigned as head of the government but was asked to take office again a few months later when no other suitable leader could be found.","During August and September, another meeting was held in Paris, but it also failed to bring about national unity to Laos.","By then, civil war prevailed throughout the country, with the PL receiving large amount of military aid and troops from North Vietnam while the anti-communist RLA was given substantial financial and material assistance from the United States.","The PL and the RLG each now controlled haft of the country with Neutralist forces occupying small pockets of northern Laos.","American Bombing","Between 1955 and 1963, American support for the Royal Lao Government had been limited to development grants (totaling US $8 million), government budget support (US S320 million), and military assistance (US $152 million).","According to Dommen (op.cit.: 104-105), this made Laos the biggest foreign aid recipient in the world at the time in terms of number of population (3,000,000).","In 1964, this support was extended to include "unarmed" reconnaissance flight by American aircraft based in Udom Thani, Thailand, and in South Vietnam, carried out to see whether NV troops and war materials were sent to Laos","As American bombing raids on Vietcong supply routes increased in early 1965, North Vietnam began using the Ho Chi Minh trail linking North and South Vietnam through Laos.","PL forces sought to extend their control over the areas along the Ho Chi Minh trail, and in doing so clashed with RLA troops , American planes were then diverted to bomb the trail, but the bombing was soon extended to PL controlled areas in northern Laos, involving strikes at enemy supply routes and troop concentrations and offering close tactical air support for RLA troops during ground battles (Branfman, 1970: 231).","This pattern soon formed the normal military engagement in Laos: government troops would move into an area only after it had been cleared of enemy forces by American bombing.","The result was that Laos was subject to the most intense aerial bombardment, especially in the northeast where most of the offensives took place.","Large areas became depopulated and scarred by bomb craters, and many historical places such the provincial town of Xieng Khouang were for ever obliterated.","Unexploded ammunitions dropped by American planes and mines planted by soldiers also littered the ground and continue to kill or maim civilian population even today.","In February 1965, General Phoumi Nosavan (Commander of the Royal Lao Army) and General Siho (Head of the Lao National Police) led a coup against the Souvanna government in Vientiane.","They were unsuccessful and fled to Thailand for political asylum.","Again without the participation of the PL, new elections were held in July and Souvanna Phouma was returned to head the new government, now consisting of many anti-communist members.","The PL, with the backing of NV troops, attacked many RLA positions in the north and the greatly outnumbered government troops were forced to retreat.","With American support, the Royal Lao Air Force was reinforced with old American T-28 bombers and used in co-ordinate ground-air operations against PL and NV forces.","The PL announced in October 1965 that it had decided to call its army the Lao People's Liberation Army.","They resolved to wage "an unflinching struggle against U.S.","imperialism" by launching a series of offensives against RLG positions in southern Laos (FEER, 1966: 215).","In September 1966, Souvanna Phouma's government suffered a budget defeat.","The National Assembly was dissolved and new elections were scheduled for early 1967.","The situation became further confused by Air Force General Thao Ma, who sent 13 of his pilots to bomb army headquarters in Vientiane after he was dismissed from his post of commander of the Royal Lao Air Force.","Thao Ma fled to Thailand for political asylum.","Late that year, Kong Le, Commander of the Neutralist forces, also resigned in protest against the integration of his troops into the rightist Royal Lao Army, and left Laos to settle in France.","A new National Assembly was set up, following the new elections of January 1967.","Again, Souvanna Phouma was asked to head the new government.","Insurgent activities intensified in response to increased American bombing of PL territories, often averaging 100 strikes per day (FEER, 1967: 252).","By the end of 1966, U.S.","personnel in Laos were estimated to be more than 200, with 30 reported killed or missing.","Many of this personnel were attached to the CIA and worked under code names as military advisers in civilian clothes.","By August 1967, pilots of the Royal Thai Air Force were also flying bombing missions to Laos against PL and NV positions which now included all of Phong Saly and Sam Neua provinces, the Plain of Jars and areas along the Vietnamese border in the south.","Towards the end of January 1968, RLG positions east and north-west of Luang Prabang, the royal capital, were taken by PL forces.","PL offensives were also directed against the town of Lao Ngam on the Bolovens Plateau, Saravane and Attopeu provinces.","By July, anti-government forces were estimated at 40,000 NV and 25,000 PL, compared to the Royal Lao Army of some 50,000 men.","Seven battalions of Thai mercenaries were also reported to be fighting around the Plain of Jars in support of the Special Forces of about 15,000 local guerrillas supported by the CIA (FEER, 1969: 213-214).","Following President Johnson's announcement of American bombing halt over North Vietnam in October 1968, U.S.","aircraft switched their targets to Laos, with between 17,000 to 27,000 sorties a month to the PL zone (Committee of Concerned Asian Scholars, 1970: 49).","On some days, 800 sorties were flown "dropping napalm, phosphorous and antipersonnel bombs ...","on everything, buffaloes, cows, schools, temples, houses and people (Lewallen, 1971: 40).","This increased bombing only made the PL more determined to counter-attack on the ground, resulting in many RLG strongholds being lost to them and traffic cut off between many RLG areas along the Mekong River.","Most of these PL victories were, however, reversed in September by U.S.","bombing and counter-attacks from the Special forces, which drove communist troops out of Xieng Khouang, the Plain of Jars and Muong Phone on the Ho Chi Minh trail, the Pathet Lao military headquarters for southern Laos.","Although the North Vietnamese Ambassador to Laos had talks with the Lao King and the Prime Minister, further attempts to arrive at a peaceful settlement of the Lao conflict were dimmed by the escalation of military activities.","In America, the US war efforts in Laos which were so far hidden from the world, received wide coverage in the media, leading to many public protests and a US Senate Committee Inquiry in October 1969.","Peace Settlement","During the first two months of 1970, many of the important positions captured by the Special Forces a few months earlier were lost again to the enemy.","Pathet Lao leaders then published a plan "for the political solution to the Lao problem proposing the ending of U.S.","bombing, the withdrawal of pro-American troops from certain regions of the country and the formation of a provisional coalition government.","In July, Souphanouvong, the PL leader, sent a member of the NLHS Central Committee, Prince Souk Vongsak, to hold discussion with Prime Minister Souvanna Phouma in Vientiane.","An agreement was then reached for talks to begin officially between representatives of both parties at the Plain of Jars.","By September, however, procedural difficulties had halted further negotiations for peace.","On the military front, a new offensive by the Special Forces and the Royal Lao army recaptured the former neutralist base of Moung Soui near the Plain of Jars, while persistent U.S.","bombing made Laos the most heavily bombed country in the new Indochina War with more than 300 sorties a day.","Early in 1971, a conspiracy in southern Laos to overthrow the Vientiane government on behalf of rightist exiled Phoumi Nosavan was discovered, and the conspiracy leader, Colonel Bounleut Saikosy, fled to Thailand.","The following April, the government foiled another attempted coup by junior Lao military officers, allegedly said to have the backing of conservative strongmen in the Thai government.","Incursion by American and South Vietnamese troops into southern Laos to search for NV arm caches in February 1971 drew only a mild protest from Souvanna Phouma.","The RLA took advantage of the occasion to proclaim a nation-wide state of emergency.","The North Vietnamese retaliated by attacking Long Cheng which served as the base of CIA Special Forces under General Vang Pao, the commander of the RLA Second Military Region.","In March, NV troops seized Attapeu in the south of Laos, and also harassed Luang Prabang with rockets.","By mid-May, NV soldiers had overrun almost the entire southern Laos.","The RLG counter attacked with Vang Pao's Special Forces against the Plain of Jars in the north, and with Lao-Thai troops against the Bolovens plateau in the south, driving most of the enemy from these areas by September.","With PL territories largely depopulated, American bombing decreased to about haft of the previous year, although an average of 300 sorties a day was still carried out intermittently from Thailand throughout 1971.","In August, the American State Department announced that the United States considered itself "entitled to withhold complete compliance" from the 1962 Geneva agreements because of massive NV violations with close to 60,000 troops engaged in active combats in Laos.","It also acknowledged the presence of Thai armed forces in the country but did not mention that they were financed by the Central Intelligence Agency (FEER, 1972: 226-227).","Peace negotiations were resumed during the summer of 1972.","On the military front, it was a bad year for the RLG: the enemy took more of the initiative, their offensives lasted longer and that fighting was more intense (Zasloff, 1973: 60).","NV troops again forced the Special Forces off the Plain of Jars, after continued fighting throughout most of the dry season.","The Vietnamese also seized more than 100 kilometres of highway territory between Luang Prabang and Vientiane.","In the south, most of the provinces of Attapeu, Saravane, and Sedone were lost to the communists.","Although both sides suffered heavy casualties, the PL and their NV allies had taken more territory than ever before from the RLG.","There were also renewed flows of refugees, mostly in the direction of RLG areas, with many of them forcibly evacuated to prevent their control by the PL.","The military situation did not improved until the end of October, the date set for the beginning of the Vietnam cease-fire agreed to by Dr Kissinger and Le Duc To in their negotiation talks in Paris.","Laos also witnessed a significant political change in 1972 after the January elections brought 41 new members to the National Assembly of 59, drawn mainly from lower socio-economic groups.","Voters seemed to prefer new candidates unconnected with those responsible for prolonging the war: an indication of the general dissatisfaction with a self-concerned antiquated leadership of the past prevalent in the educated and politically entrenched upper classes (Zasloft, 1973: 67).","Despite efforts by right-wingers on at least two occasions to topple Souvanna Phouma, he was retained as Prime Minister.","The United States, the Soviet Union, China, North Vietnam, France and Britain made known their preference for the government of Souvanna Phouma as the only "neutralist" force capable of bringing peace to Laos.","This neutralist appearance notwithstanding, the RLG continued to survive on foreign aid, particularly from the US which was spending about ten times the Lao national budget on military and economic activities in Laos (Zasloff, 1973: 69).","As North Vietnam and the United States were moving towards accommodation in South Vietnam, negotiations for peace in Laos were resumed in Vientiane on 17 October 1972 with ten representatives on each side.","Despite many break-downs, the delegates were able to work out a cease-fire (Brooke, 1973: 49-53).","This was to be effective from mid-night 21 February 1973, following which all American bombing and foreign military activities were to stop.","However, as in South Vietnam, the cease-fire was not observed.","Military clashes continued to occur as a result of post-ceasefire offensives by the PL, necessitating calls for American air strikes in retaliation from Thailand.","The US was, by now tired of the war in Indochina and threatened to reduce aid to the RLG if peace could not be settled quickly with the PL.","The RLG was forced to make many concessions to its enemy without reciprocal gains.","These concessions included "giving the Pathet Lao equal power in a new coalition government; allowing foreign troops to remain on Laotian soil for 90 days after the ceasefire; referring to American and Thai presence in Laos while not specifically mentioning the North Vietnamese; and agreeing to the neutralisation of both the administrative and royal capitals" (New Leader.","1973: 12).","The war also imposed heavy social and economic burden on the RLG and the US which had to resettle and support 370,000 refugees displaced by military activities in various parts of the country.","The Hmong which formed the backbone of the RLG defence in northern Laos, suffered the most casualties.","Although numbering about 300,000 at the time, they made up 32% of this total refugee population, and 70% of the 155,000 displaced persons in Xieng Khouang province.","More than 12,000 are said to have died fighting against the PL from 1962 to 1975 (Hamilton-Merritt, 1980: 36).","This heavy toll was partly the result of military conscription by the RLA in its efforts to maintain military strength against PL and NV troops, and partly voluntary enlistment because the war made it impossible to carry out farming or to find other means of livelihood.","Civilian casualties and loss of lives were also high due to sickness, malnutrition and military attacks on villages or refugee camps.","Communist Rule","After the signing of the ceasefire, speculations circulated about a possible coup by right-wing military men, many of whom were dissatisfied with the RLG's handling of peace negotiations with the communists.","This coup did occur as predicted on 20 August 1973 when exiled former General Thao Ma and Colonel Bounleut Saykosi returned from Thailand and tried to overthrow Souvanna Phouma.","However, RLG troops who were expecting this turn of events, managed to arrest and execute Thao Ma together with many of his 60 collaborators.","Again, the RLG was disturbed to learn that Thailand, fearing a communist take-over of Laos, had been behind Thao Ma's move.","A Government of National Union was to be set up 30 days after the cease-fire, but disagreement on portfolio allocations between the two sides delayed this until 14 September, when both finally signed an agreement on a coalition government with 5 portfolios allocated to the RLG, 5 to the PL and 2 to independent candidates.","The Provisional Government of National Union (PGNU) was eventually formed in early 1974, along with a National Political Consultative Council (NPCC) to assist in the immediate political integration of the country.","Despite this arrangement, it proved difficult to implement the agreements.","The National Assembly, the RLG Parliament in Vientiane, had no left-wing representatives and was not recognised as a legitimate body by the PL.","In special circumstances, the King could dissolve the National Assembly, but in such cases new elections must be held within 90 days.","However, it was not possible to do this with such short notice when most of the 750,000 persons displaced by the war continued to remain in RLG areas.","Repatriation was slowed down by procedural disagreements between the two sides.","The PL insisted that these internal refugees should be returned home permanently while the RLG wanted them to have the freedom to choose whether to be repatriated or to stay where they were (Brown and Zasloff, 1975: 179).","While this issue remained, members of the right-wing National Assembly took to the streets to protest against the continued presence of North Vietnamese troops in Laos when Thai and American military personnel had withdrawn according to the 1973 cease-fire agreements.","This public action prompted the PGNU Prime Minister, Souvanna Phouma, to dismiss the National Assembly in July 1974, thus further eroding the political strength of the right-wing faction.","At the end of 1974, the Special Forces were disbanded or merged with RLA forces.","At the same time, mass student protests by left-wing political groups swept across the country against members of the old RLG.","In March 1975, armed clashes broke out between PL soldiers and Vang Pao's RLA troops guarding the cease-fire line between Vientiane and Luang Prabang, when PL units tried to advance towards Vientiane In violation of the 1973 agreements which prohibited military activities by the parties involved in the conflict.","Vang Pao, however, was told to retreat by the Prime Minister who preferred to accommodate to the PL.","Knowing that American military aid had been stopped and that no further retreat was possible, Vang Pao resigned his commission.","On 14 May 1975, he left for Thailand where a few days previously five members of the PGNU cabinet on the RLG side had sought refuge, after their dismissal by Souvanna Phouma.","They were soon joined by two other key RLA generals, Kouprasit Abhay and Thonglith Chokbengboun.","After the escape from Laos of Sisouk Na Champassak, the right-wing Defence Minister, his post was assumed by the PL Deputy Minister, General Kham Ouane Boupha.","Kham Ouane gradually dissolved the mixed RLA and PL police guarding Luang Prabang and Vientiane, slowly opening the way for PL troops to enter areas under the Vientiane side.","RLA soldiers were disarmed, and new administrative committees "elected" to replace the old system of village headmen, district chiefs and provincial governors.","Even before the PL take-over was complete, indoctrination or "re-education" sessions were conducted for public servants of all levels and for civilians who had not traditionally been under the communists.","These compulsory "seminars" and the arbitrary arrests of influential people soon caused thousands of refugees to flee to Thailand.","Many refugees belonged to the business community and minority groups, but the majority consisted of RLG senior public servants, army personnel and their families.","Although many Hmong soldiers had discarded their weapons, a few still held on to their positions awaiting more instructions from the new government.","In May 1975, Colonel Kham Ai who was the PL commander assigned to the Second Military Region arrived in Long Cheng, Vang Pao's former headquarters.","A fortnight later, he called all former right-wing military officers to an assembly and disarmed them because they "no longer had any war to fight and must now participate fully in national reconstruction activities" (Yang Dao, 1978: 1213).","In June, they were taken to "re-education" centres in the Plain of Jars and later to Nong Het and Sam Neua where hard labour was the order of the day.","Anyone above the rank of lieutenant was considered a major war criminal.","They were told that their "seminar" could last 30 days or 30 years, depending on the severity of their crimes.","Not only were military officers despatched to "seminars", but also high ranking public servants and well-known community leaders on the RLG side.","On 2 December 1975, the People's National Congress, formed by the Pathet Lao a few months previously, decided to replace the PGNU and the NPCC with a new Council of Ministers and a People's Supreme Assembly.","King Savang Vathana was forced to abdicate and the monarchy abolished.","With the advent of the People's Democratic Republic of Laos, the Government now consisted of 12 ministries, one Committee of Planning, one Committee of the Nationalities, a National Bank and the Prime Minister's Office with four Ministers in charge.","To the surprise of most people, the post of Prime Minister went to Kaysone Phomvihanh who was until then unknown outside the PL central committee.","He was allegedly put in power by North Vietnam because he was half-Vietnamese and was thus more trustworthy, although he has proved to be most able and charismatic in his own right.","Souphanouvong was made President, a nominal position which carries little decision-making power.","Resistance and Refugees","Fearing retributions from the new regime after the PL control of Laos, many former RLA Hmong soldiers and civilians who could not flee to Thailand went into hiding with their families in inaccessible mountain areas.","They were joined by others who were released or who escaped from "seminar" centres.","From their jungle hide-outs, small groups of these men first ambushed PL trucks travelling between Vang Vieng and Vientiane in early 1976, but soon included PL troops in their attacks.","They repeatedly used arms and ammunitions left hidden by Vang Pao’s supporters in Phu Bia or collected from their dead victims.","Although American diplomats in Laos disclaimed any involvement with these tribal dissidents, reports about their skirmishes filtered through to the outside world throughout 1976.","Armed resistance was also reported in Sayaboury where refugees in Thailand were said to return to Laos and carry out their separate campaign against PL and Vietnamese soldiers (FEER, 13l2176: 32).","Initial casualties on the Government side were believed to include two Soviet helicopters and crew, in addition to "serious losses" suffered by village militia and local military personnel (FEER, 10/9/76: 13).","The Government decided to send troops to the hills to crush this resistance When they proved ineffective, four regiments of NV soldiers were brought in from other parts of Laos.","Many Hmong settlements were burned to the ground, sometimes accompanied by mass execution of their inhabitants.","Aerial bombing was carried out along with heavy artillery lifted to the highlands by helicopters.","Poisonous chemicals were alleged to have been dropped on civilians hiding in the jungles and defoliants were sprayed on their crops.","Those who surrendered themselves to the authorities were taken to "resettlement villages" in the lowlands where their leaders were selected for "seminars", imprisonment or executions, depending on the decisions of the military.","This pattern of resistance and government counter-attacks persists even today, and was one the major causes of the refugee movement to Thailand until the late 1980’s.","The resistance has been further fuelled by political groups formed by Lao refugees who have resettled in the West, among which was the United Front for the Liberation of Laos under Vang Pao's leadership.","Border Thai intelligence officers had also played an ongoing role in this resistance by supplying small groups of refugees with arms and sending them back to Laos to gather military information, thereby putting into jeopardy the lives of villagers who come into contact with these teams.","The only recourse for such villagers is to escape to Thailand with their families in order to avoid persecution by PL officials.","Official estimates put the number of Hmong dissidents killed in the military operations of 1977 at 1,300 and "thousands" captured in "heavy fighting" (Asia Week, 16/12/79: 16).","On his part, Vang Pao alleged that 50,000 Hmong died from PL chemical poisoning between 1975 and 1978, while another 45,000 perished "form starvation and diseases or were shot trying to escape to Thailand'' (Hamilton Merritt, op.cit.: 37).","Whatever the number of casualties, there is no doubt that the campaign against Hmong and other dissidents had significantly increased the number of people crossing to Thailand.","One group of 2,500 Hmong, for instance, arrived in Nong Khai refugee camp in December 1977 (Asia Week, 10/3/78: 38).","This was the biggest single escape party which was said to number more than 8,000 members when it first set out from Phu Bia, but a number of them changed their mind and return to their jungle hide-outs while many others were captured, died from exhaustion, shot by PL troops along the escape route, or drowned trying to swim across the Mekong river.","Since 1980, some of these refugees have included people who had traditionally aligned with the PL and many families which had been living in the 'new liberated zone'.","From the first group of 25,000 Hmong reaching Thailand in May 1975, the number had steadily increased to 60,000 towards the end of 1979 when close to 3,000 persons crossed the Mekong a month.","It is estimated that by 1990, more than 90,000 Hmong refugees have gone to live in the United States; 6,000 in France; and 3,000 in Canada, Australia, Argentina and French Guyana.","Another 60,000 lowland Lao have also been resettled in the West, mostly in the United States (35,000); France (16,000); Canada (4,000), an Australia (8,600).","About 3,000 had voluntarily been repatriated to Laos under UNHCR auspice, but some are known to have escaped to Thailand again.","The total number of Hmong refugees in Thai camps in March 1980 was 48,937 persons with 998 new arrivals during that month.","Despite departures for resettlement in other countries, there were still 46,218 Hmong registered for support by the United Nations High Commission for Refugees in five camps in Northern Thailand in February 1981 (UNHCR Monthly Statistics, March 1980 and February 1981).","About 75,000 Lao refugees were known to be in Thailand in 1987, the largest group of Indochinese refugees under UNHCR protection.","Of this number, 54,095 were hill tribe people, mostly Hmong being held at Ban Vinai and Chiang Kham camps (Feith, 1988 32).","At the end of 1990, there were still 22, 000 lowland Lao refugees in Ban Napho camp; 40,000 Hmong at Ban Vinai (including 10,000 unregistered new arrivals); 22,000 in Chiang Khan and another 5,000 awaiting to go to third countries in Phanat Nikhom camp.","The reasons for refugees continuing to leave Laos have remained much the same since 1975: persecution against former RLG officials, military offensives directed at resistance groups, heavy rice tax, military and labour conscription extreme economic deprivation, and arbitrary arrests of people suspected political crimes or disloyalty.","Many of the right-wing politicians, army officer and public servants taken to "seminar" centres have been released, with some subsequently escaping to join their families in Thailand and the West.","Other internees, including the former King and Queen and the Crown Prince, are known to have died from hard labour and the harsh conditions of the re-education camps, and about 200 still remain in detention.","Conclusion","The Pathet Lao have taken control of Laos since 1975, but refugees continue to flow to Thailand, especially the hilltribes.","This is despite many deterrents put in place by the Thai government such as keeping refugees in closed camps with no access to resettlement in other countries in order to prevent further flows from Laos; the tightening of the definition of the term "refugee" and classifying most Lao as "economic" rather than political refugees; and forcing people back to Laos after they have crossed into Thailand.","Since 1987, there has been a relaxation in the Lao government's policy with family businesses and commercial enterprises being allowed to flourish, more freedom of movements in and out of the country, and more tourism and trade with Thailand.","This new policy, however, has been affected by the recent political change in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union which used to be the major aid donors and ideological supporters of the Pathet Lao.","During the second half of 1990, the government decided to return to a stricter rule with many arrests of senior officials suspected of "liberal" thinking, and a tighter control of population movements due to increased insurgency activities by resistance groups across the country.","In October 1990, large numbers of refugees still emerged in Ban Vinai camp looking for UNHCR protection because of heavy fighting in Xieng Khouang and Vang Vieng provinces in northern Laos.","So long as the country's leaders do not learn to accommodate to each other but only see armed intervention and arbitrary arrests as the solutions to their differences, Lao refugees will continue to be generated and require international assistance.","References","Ackland, L E:1970: "No Place for Neutralism: the Eisenhower administration and Laos", in Adams, N and McCoy, A W (eds.) Laos: War and Revolution (New York: Harper and Row).","Adams, N S:1970: ''Patrons, Clients and Revolutionaries: The Lao Search for Independence, 1g45-1954", in Adams, N and McCoy, A (eds.), op.cit., pp.","100-120.","Asia Week, 1978 "In the Hills, the Meo's Last Stand", 10 March, pp.","37-38.","Asia Week, 1979 "Laos: Under the Gun", 5 October, pp.","23-2b and 31-34.","Branfman, F:1970 "Presidential War in Laos, 1964-1970", in Adams, N S and McCoy, A W (eds.), op.cit.","Brooke, Sen.","E W:1973 "The United States and the Rehabilitation and Reconstruction of Indochina: A Summary Report" (Washington DC: US Senate Committee on Appropriations).","Brown, MacA.","and Zasloff, J J:1975 "Laos 1974: Coalition Government Shoots the Rapids".","Asian Survey, February, XV (2):174-183.","Burchett, W:1970 Second Indochina War: Cambodia and Laos Today (London: Lorrimer).","Committee of Concerned Asian Scholars:1970 The Indochina Story (New York: Bantam Books).","Cousins, J W and McCoy, A W:1970 "Living it Up In Laos: Congressional Testimony on US Aid to Laos in the 1950's", in Adams, N S and McCoy, A W (eds.).","op.cit.","Devillers, P:1 970 "The Laotian Conflict in Perspective", in Adams, N S and McCoy, A W (eds.).","op.cit.","Dommen, A J:1964 Conflict in Laos: the Politic of Neutralisation (London: Pall Mall).","Far Eastern Economic Review (FEER): 1966, 1966 Year Book, 1967 1967 Year Book, 1969 1969 Year Book, 1972 1972 Year Book.","1976 "Meo Tribesmen Resist the New Regime", 13 Feb., pp 32-33.",""The Gradual Revolution", 10 Sep, pp 12-14.","Feith, D:1988 Stalemate: Refugees In Asia (Parkville, Vic: Asian Bureau, Australia).","Foreign Area Studies:1967 Area Handbook for Laos (Washington DC: US Government Printing Office).","Hamilton-Merritt, J:1980 "Poison-gas War in Laos", Reader's Digest, Oct., pp 19-27.Langer, P F and Zasloff, J J:","Langer, P.F.","and Zasloff, J.J.: 1970 North Vietnam and the Pathet Lao: Partners in the Struggle for Laos (Cambridge, Mass: Havard University Press).","Lewallen, J: 1971 Ecology of Devastation: Indochina (Baltimore Penguin Books).","Thee, M: 1970 "Background Notes on the 1954 Geneva Agreements On Laos", in Adams, N S and McCoy, A W (eds.), op.cit.","Toye, H 1968 Laos: Buffer State and Battleground (London: Oxford University Press).","Yang Dao:1978 "Guerre des Gaz: Solution Communiste des Problemes des Minorites au Laos?", Temps Modernes, Janvier, J.02: 1208-1222.","Zaslolt, J J:1973 The Pathet Lao (Lexington, Mass.","Lexington Books).","Copyright © 2005","Refugees from Laos","http://members.ozemail.com.au/~yeulee/History/refugees from laos.html","94.3","22 May 2005");
Page[9]=new Array("Home About Gary History Culture Topical Poems Short stories Submitted Publications","About Gary","Dr Gary Yia Lee","A Hmong Anthropologist","Gary was born in Ban Houei Kouang, Muong Mok,","Xieng Khouang, Laos, in 1949.","Gary received his early education in Xieng Khouang city where his father was serving in the Lao military and later in the provincial police force.","Following the civil war in Xieng Khouang in 1961, his family became displaced and joined other Hmong refugees in Vientiane where he resumed high school studies at the Lycee de Vientiane before going to Australia in 1965 to pursue further education under the Colombo Plan, sponsored by the Australian Government.","He has lived in Australia since 1975, and is now an Australian Citizen.","He is fluent in English, Lao, Hmong, Thai and French.","Gary received his Ph.D.","in social anthropology/community development, from the University of Sydney, Australia, in 1981.","He also has a Master by research (1975) and a Bachelor degree in Social Work (1972) from University of New South Wales, Australia.","He was a visiting fellow in anthropology to the Australian National University, Canberra, Australia in 2001-2002.","From 1987 to 2000, he Wales, Australia, dealing with migrant and refugee communities from Asia, the Indian sub-continent, Europe and the South Pacific.","Previous to this, he was teaching social work at the University of New South Wales (1974-75), and social anthropology at Macquarie University, Sydney (1986-87).","He had also worked with Indochinese young refugees and children on both paid and voluntary basis since their settlement in Australia in 1975.","He currently works as a bilingual welfare service coordinator with the Cabramatta Community Centre, Sydney, Australia.","Gary has been as a member of the management committees of many organisations, including: the Indo-China Refugee Association (NSW); the Multicultural Access Advisory Committee of Fairfield City Council, Sydney; the Management Committee of Service for Treatment and Rehabilitation of Torture and Trauma Survivors; the Ethnic Communities Council of New South Wales; the Chinese Studies Group of the University of Sydney; the Asian-Australian Resource Centre; the Mt.","Druitt Ethnic Communities Agency; the Bonnyrigg Youth Centre; the Public Service Association of NSW; the Research Institute for Asia and the Pacific, University of Sydney; the Independent Teachers Association; the South East Asian Community Assistance Centre (now Cabramatta Community Centre); the Refugee and Social Welfare Subcommittees, Ethnic Communities Council of NSW; the Francis Street Centre (Refugee Youth Refuge) of the Wesley Central Mission in Sydney; the Centre for Asian Studies, Sydney University; the Australia-China Friendship Society; Austcare (Australia Care for Refugees); the Australian Council for Overseas Aid; the Australian Council of Social Service; and the New South Wales Council of Social Service.","He was the Founding President of the Lao Students Association in Australia (1971), and a foundation member of the Hmong Australia Society (1978).","The Hmong is Gary’s major research area, but he has also carried out research on community development and the Ethnic Affairs Commission of NSW (1991), Pacific Islander Migrants in New South Wales (1990), Indochinese youth in Sydney (1981), highland economies of Southwest China (1980), evaluation of UN crop replacement projects among highland opium growers in Northern Thailand (1977-78), and on war refugees generated by the "secret war" in Laos (1974).","Apart from being currently editor of the Lao Studies Review for the Lao Studies Society, he has been a referee for the Journal of Asian and Pacific Migration (Quezon City, Philippines) and the International Review of Migration (New York, USA).","Gary has assisted in the convening of conferences on Indochinese and Hmong refugees, and has been invited to speak on this subject at many national and international forums.","Among his publications (with most reproduced in this web site) are:","Dust of Life; A True Ban Vinai Love Story (novel) (St.","Paul, MN: Hmongland Publications, 2004).","The Hmong of Australia: Culture and Diaspora, editor with N.","Tapp (Canberra: Pendanus Books, 2004).","“Refugee Settlement and Culture: the Present Situation of the Hmong in Australia”, in N.","Tapp and G.","Lee above.","The Miao-Hmong of Asia, editor with J.","Michaud, C.","Culas and N.","Tapp (Chiangmai: Silkworm Books, 2004).","“Transnational Adaptation: Overview of the Hmong of Laos”, in Michaud et al.","above.",""The Hmong" J.","Jupp ed.","Encyclopedia of the Australian People, 2nd edition, (Melbourne: Cambridge University Press, 2001).",""Indochinese Refugee Families in Australia: A Multicultural Perspective" Families and Cultural Diversity, NSW Ethnic Affairs Commission, 1997.",""Cultural Identity in Post-modern Society: Reflections on What is a Hmong" J.","Hmong Studies, 1 (1), 1996.",""Multiculturalism in Australia: an Asian Perspective" with Charles Khoo, HREOC State of the Nation Report, Australian Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission, 1994.",""The Articulation of Social Relationships" Lao Studies Review, 1993/94, Vol 2.",""THE HMONG" With R G Cooper, N Tapp and G S Kohl (Bangkok: Artasia Press, 1991).",""Pahawh Hmong Writing" (Book review), Southeast Asian Refugee Study Newsletter, University of Minnesota, Spring 1991.",""The Ethnic Affairs Commission of New South Wales and Pacific Islanders" (Sydney: Ethnic Affairs Commission, 1990).",""Working out of Anthropology" Sydney University Anthropology Newsletter, July 1989.",""Household and Marriage in a Thai Highland Society" J.","Siam Society, 1988, 76: 162-173.",""The Hmong" In Jupp, J.","et al eds.","THE AUSTRALIAN PEOPLE (Sydney: Angus and Robertson, 1988).",""Ethnic Minorities and National Building in Laos: The Hmong in the Lao State" Peninsule, France, 1988.",""The Hmong in Sydney: Community Profile and Educational Needs" Outreach Report, (Sydney: Wetherill Park College of TAFE, 1987).",""White Hmong Kinship: Terminology and Structure" Hmong World, 1, Yale University Southeast Asian Studies, 1986.",""Culture and Adaptation: Hmong Refugees in Australia" In Hendricks, G.","et al eds.","THE HMONG IN TRANSITION (New York: Centre for Migration Studies, 1986).",""Minority Policies and the Hmong" In Stuart-Fox, M.","ed.","CONTEMPORARY LAOS (St.","Lucia: Queensland University Press, 1982).",""Traumas of Refugees in Australia" Austcare Bulletin, August 1976.","Reprinted in Poussard, W.","ed.","TODAY IS A REAL DAY (Blackburn, Vic: Dove Communications, 1981).",""Migrant and Refugee Youth: a New Challenge" An occasional paper, Ethnic Communities Council of NSW, 1981.",""Refugees: It's Like Being Deaf and Dumb" (Not my own title), Migration in Action, Autumn 1976, 11(4): 19-20.","His professional interests include consultancy, community studies and development, helping people/casework, management and technological change, multiculturalism, migrant and gender studies, child and youth welfare, bilingual education, social work, welfare sociology, ecology and social adaptation, life span studies, oral history, transationalism and Hmong media, Hmong diaspora and globalisation, health and healing, research and teaching.","Copyright © 2005","Gary's biography","http://members.ozemail.com.au/~yeulee/Misc/biography.html","37.3","22 May 2005");
Page[10]=new Array("Home About Gary History Culture Topical Poems Short stories Submitted Publications","Publications","DUST OF LIFE: A TRUE BAN VINAI LOVE STORY","Hmong/Miao in Asia","The Hmong People of Australia: Culture and Diaspora","There have been a number of books published recently on the Hmong.","For a full list, please see: http://www.hmongstudies.org/.","In 2004, three publications I was involved in as author or editor were released and are available from their publishers, or from www.hmongabc.com.","They are:",".....................................................................................................................................","DUST OF LIFE: A TRUE BAN VINAI LOVE STORY (novel)","by Dr Gary Yia Lee","$12.95 (HmongABC bookstore)","It was 1977 and Ban Vinai had just been set up as a refugee camp for thousands of Hmong who fled the new communist regime in Laos to the safety of Thailand.","Mua, a young Hmong man, had recently completed his university studies and was living in Minneapolis, Minnesota.","He was asked by Pafua, a Hmong girl in Ban Vinai refugee camp, Thailand, to help sponsor her and her family to settle in the United States.","Although he hardly knew her, he travelled to Thailand to see what he could do.","It was agreed that if they got on well, he would marry her and apply for her and her family to come and live with him in America.","In the meantime, he went to work on a Thai government project with Hmong opium growers in Chiangmai where he met a young Thai woman named Phorn.","She was the opposite to the Hmong girl in many ways and he became inadvertently involved with her.","After a few months of visits and courtship, Moua asked Pafua for marriage.","To his dismay, her mother refused him her hand.","Hurt and disappointed, he turned to Phorn but would soon learn that she was very different from what he understood her to be.","Shattered by these events, he returned to the US where he continued to work for Hmong refugees.","It was not until many years later when Mua went to Australia, where Pafua and her mother had gone to live, that he discovered the awful truth about her refusal to marry him - a discovery that would profoundly affect him for the rest of his life.","This novel is both a mystery and a love story.","It is about the Hmong as much as the Thai people and their cultures.","The author, who is an anthropologist, has woven many facts into the book that will help the reader appreciate different facets of life among the poor in Thailand, the recent history of the Hmong refugees from Laos, their difficult life in the refugee camp of Ban Vinai and their rich traditions.","The novel can also be seen at a metaphorical level as a representation of the Hmong people who, like the male protagonist in the story, live in many different worlds going from one country (or woman) to another and never feeling fully welcome.","He wants to become Westernised to be accepted in America but loses his Hmong heritage in the process – again like the Hmong in the diaspora who are forced to assimilate into other cultures only to lose their very own.","Readers’ comments:","“Dust of Life, great book! Well written for a first time Hmong author.","I fell in love with Pahua.","I found myself in Mua.","THe descriptions were amazing and poetic.","4/5 stars for Hmong Author”.","(Dai Thao, 7/19/04).","“I stayed up and read it until 1 AM.","It was very well written and easy to read.","The poetry is beautiful.","I was so absorbed by the story.","Is it based on the author's own life? I could not forget it for 4-5 days after I finished the book.","I told my friends about it and they all want to read it.","We are so pleased it was written by one of our very own" (Manivong, 12/28/04).",".....................................................................................................................................","Hmong/Miao in Asia","Edited by Nicholas Tapp, Jean Michaud, Christian Culas, and Gary Yia Lee","[Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2004]","$30.00 (Amazon.com)","This volume presents the most comprehensive collection of research on Hmong culture and life in Asia yet to be published.","It compliments the abundant material on the Hmong diaspora by focusing instead on the Hmong in their Asian homeland.","The contributors are scholars from a number of different backgrounds with a deep knowledge of Hmong society and culture, including several Hmong.","The first group of essays addresses the fabric of Hmong culture by considering issues of history, language, and identity among the Hmong/Miao from Laos to China.","The second part introduces the challenges faced by the Hmong in contemporary Thailand, Laos, and Vietnam.","Nicholas Tapp is senior fellow in anthropology at the Australian National University.","Jean Michaud is associate researcher in Asian studies at Université de Montréal.","Christian Culas is a member of the National Center for Scientific Research in Marseille.","Gary Yia Lee was a former senior ethnic liaison officer for New South Wales government in Australia.","Table of Contents:","Foreword","Introduction","Part 1: Issues of History, Language and Identity","History","The State of Hmong Studies (An Essay on Bibliography) - Nicholas Tapp","From Culture Circle to Cultural Ecology: The Hmong/Miao as reflected in German and Austrian Anthropology - Christian Postert","A Contribution to the Study of Hmong (Miao) Migrations and History - Christian Culas and Jean Michaud","Innovation and Tradition in Rituals and Cosmology: Hmong Messianism and Shamanism in Southeast Asia - Christian Culas","Language","Pa-hng and the Classification of the Hmong-Mien Languages - Barbara Niederer","Vocabulary of Environment and Subsistence in the Hmong-Mien Protolanguage - Martha Rafliff","A Note on the Ethno-Semantics of Proverb Usage in Mong Njua (Green Hmong) - Thomas Amis Lyman","Problems in the Interpretation of Hmong Surnames - Kao-ly Yng","Identity","The A Hmao in Northest Yunnan and Northwest Guizhou Provinces: Perspectives on the Encounter with the A Hmao from some Western Protestant Missionaries - R.","Alison Lewis","10.","Miao Identity in Western Guizhou: China during the Republican Period - Cheung Siu-Woo","11.","Hmong/Miao Transnationality: Identity beyond Culture - Louisa Schein","Part 2: Current Issues","Vietnam","12.","Hmong and the Land Question in Vietnam: National policy and Local Concepts of the Environment - Claes Corlin","13.","The Hmong and Forest Management in Northern Vietnam's Mountainous Areas - Vuong Duy Quang","Thailand","14.","Ntoo Xeeb: Cultural Redefinition for Forest Conservation among the Hmong in Thailand - Prasit Leepreecha","15.","Following Hmong Cultural Pathways for the Prevention of HIV/AIDS: Notes from the Field - Patricia V.","Symonds","16.","Hmong Marriage Patterns in Thailand in Relation to Social Change - Peter Kunstadter","17.","Rape: Perceptions and Processes of Hmong Customary Law - Robert Cooper","Laos","18.","Transnational Adaptation: An Overview of the Hmong of Laos - Gar Yia Lee","19.","The Hmong and Development in the Lao People's Democratic Republic - Jan Ovesen","Epilogue","20.","Hmong Refugees from Laos: The Challenge of Social Change - Yang Dao","Index and Notes on Contributors",".....................................................................................................................................","The Hmong People of Australia: Culture and Diaspora","Edited by Tapp, Nicholas, & Lee, Gary (Canberra: Pandanus Books, 2004), 217pp, ISBN 1740760417 - (softcover)","AUD$31.78 / GST: AUD$34.96 (ANU bookshop)","The Hmong first arrived in Australia in 1975 from war-torn Laos, settling in Australia as a small population of under 2,000.","In Australia, as in other resettlement countries, the Hmong have been active in founding local and national associations, and there is alarm about the younger generation's loss of traditional cultural heritage.","The Australian Hmong is a small community, but a dynamic and rapidly changing one.","This collection of interdisciplinary papers - ranging across anthropology and linguistics, musicology, material culture, gender issues and sociology - gives the general reader an introduction to this fascinating and relatively unknown community as well as an understanding of the wide range of issues which research on the Hmong in Australia has covered to date.","Both editors have extensive experience of Hmong populations in Asia and bring this experience to bear on a project that deals solely with the Hmong in an Australian context.","The contributors to the book represent virtually all the serious researchers who have devoted their attentions to the Hmong in Australia.","In many ways the book is a tribute to the richness and importance of the cultural system the Hmong of today have inherited.","In other ways more abstract issues to do with the effects of globalisation on local communities, social changes and the relationship of minority groups to the state, are also addressed.","As such, this collection contributes to general understandings of processes of social change among recent immigrants to new countries of settlement, the relations they may hold with homelands and the new relations forged with other diasporic communities overseas.","© Pandanus Books, Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies (RSPAS) CRICOS Provider Number: 00120C.","Please direct all comments or suggestions to the maintainer, rspas-web@anu.edu.au","Copyright © 2005","Publications","http://members.ozemail.com.au/~yeulee/Misc/publications.html","28.6","22 May 2005");
Page[11]=new Array("Home About Gary History Culture Topical Poems Short stories Submitted Publications","Submitted articles","Asian Settlement and the Media in Australia","Contents","1 Introduction","2 Impact of negative media on individuals","3 Effects on the collective settlement efforts of ethnic communities and on racial harmony","4 Impact on government policy","5 Positive reporting","6 Media and Australia's cultural and social future","7 Conclusion","Asian Settlement and the Media in Australia","(An address written for the public conference on "The Influence of the mainstream media on the settlement of migrants and refugees", part of the Multicultural Celebration 1997, hosted by the Vietnamese Community in Australia/NSW Chapter, on Friday 28 November 1997)","Introduction","It is not easy to measure or see in a tangible way all the effects of the media on migrant and refugee settlement, especially the positive aspects of media influence on this long process of adjustment to a new life in a new country like Australia where freedom of speech means that the media can publish any opinions it deem being "good" for a democratic community.","We may begin first with what we are more familiar with – negative media reporting and its effects on refugees and migrants after their arrival in Australia.","This negative reporting may have been done on purpose with the aim to harm the community concerned, or it may be done without bad intent but the effects on the community may be equally similar and long-lasting.","It seems to be the norm that bad news are good stories for the media, and some newspapers appear to relish in even embellish their stories to make things look worse than they are.","Good news only make it occasionally to the pages of newspapers where politics, controversial issues or personalities, crimes, drugs, suicides and murders dominate.","For migrants and refugees, settlement needs and services are often mentioned by the media.","Although these needs and barriers are real and have to be addressed, their regular reporting may make some readers overlook the migrants’ qualifications, the rich talents and traditions that they bring to this country.","It may create the impression that migrants and refugees are a group of whingers who have little to give to this country, but only expect to be given hand-outs and services, or to take and take and take (as the One Nation Party of Pauline Hanson describes it in a recent 60 Minutes report).","Features on settlement problems such as long-term unemployment, lack of English proficiency or occupational skills and welfare dependency experienced by migrants and refugees are useful in themselves.","They inform governments and the public about the needs of new settlers in this country, and what needs to be done to assist these people.","However, where those from a particular birth place are often associated with a particular problem, then the media has an important impact on both the public and the community concerned.","For example, the Centre for Population and Immigration Research at Monash University, publishes in its journal "People and Place" many articles on Vietnamese welfare dependency, migrant residential concentration, or the welfare impact of family reunion migration.","These articles usually send out alarming messages which are almost always picked up by the mainstream media which may go out searching for their own stories to confirm the academics’ debates.","This chain of events has created the perception that Vietnamese and other similarly placed migrant groups are unable or unwilling to become self-supporting, because they are alleged to see Australia as a "welfare paradise".","The fact that many of them – more than 80 per cent of the total Vietnamese population here – are employed or running successful businesses is often ignored.","Stories about welfare dependency and unemployment are, however, one thing.","More common in the print and electronic media are negative stories which depict migrants and refugees as being involved in a large range of undesirable activities – from cheating on social security to being major importers of illicit drugs such as heroin and cocaine.","Obviously many of these stories are also real, like the settlement needs and problems.","But racially based headlines and sensational media reports tend to lead the public at large to associate certain ethnic groups with certain criminal activities.","This is despite the fact that such activities are undertaken by only a few individuals within those communities.","Examples of such headlines include "Asian drug cartel back on streets" (Daily Telegraph, 13.11.97, p.","21), or "Asian gangs spread fear in Cabramatta" (Sunday Telegraph, 5/6/88, p.","143).","Migrants and refugees, especially Asians, settling in Australia, therefore, have a public image problem: the problem of too much negative media exposure.","Not a week or month goes by without the media carrying prominent stories on Asians or other migrants doing something undesirable or illegal.","Sometimes, these reports may refer to members of a particular nationality like Vietnamese or Korean, but often suspects are lumped together as, for example, having "Asian" appearance.","The same is also done when referring to immigration - with such broad term as "Asian migration" or "Asian migrants".","This lumping together of people from 23 countries in the Asian region (according to DIMA definition) means that certain images are identified for the whole group in the mind of the general public.","Often, these are not flattering images, when connected with crimes or when put forward by anti-immigration groups.","Criminal elements exist among Asians in Australia as they exist in other communities.","The difference is that Asian offenders are almost always described by the local police and the media in the most colourful and racist terms.","Vietnamese shootings in restaurants or in the streets of Cabramatta are described as "street warfare", "gang-land shoot-out" or "organised crimes" even when a lone gun-man is involved or may have done it for personal reason.","Most of these colourful terms are often direct quotes from the police making the investigation.","Chinese illegal gaming or shootings are seen as being the work of "the Triad".","Japanese tourists in Queensland face screaming headlines about the Yakuza in the Courier-Mail such as " Japanese Organised Crime in Battle for the Gold Coast" or "Asian Gang Preys on Japanese" (16/11/91).","Asian residents in Cabramatta, going about their normal business like in any other suburbs, often find their life experiences at odd with the Sydney newspapers’ big headlines like "Terror as Asian Gangs Rule the Streets" (Sun-Herald, 30/5/93), "Chinese, Key to Heroin" (Telegraph-Mirror, 11/12/91), "Bandits Hit Rich Asians" (Sunday Telegraph, 21/3/93), and "Terror Gangs Target Asians" (West Australian, 16/3/93).","This is only a small sample of these headlines, often on the front page, that any casual visitor to Australia would easily come across.","Again not denying that these crimes do occur, what is common to these newspaper headlines is their direct mention of the term "Asian" along with the crimes.","When these newspapers report on crimes committed by Anglo-Australians, the ethnicity of the offenders is rarely mentioned in the headline.","This aggregation or lumping together of people from many ethnic and language backgrounds can be at the detriment of the whole group or of particular member community.","For instance, I am told that Khmer or Lao young people caught by the police for illegal activities Cabramatta may tell the police that they are Vietnamese – because of the inability of the police to tell the difference between a Lao or a Vietnamese.","The media will then be informed that Vietnamese young people are involved, and the Vietnamese community is dealt another blow by the process.","There is a tendency for the mainstream media to use an "us/them" approach to reporting on people of ethnic backgrounds.","Such an approach often resorts to myth, stereotypes and sensationalism without the need to check for accuracy or sensitivity.","For instance, recent reporting on problem gamblers, Casino loan sharks, and crimes in the Kings Cross area attribute them to members of the Korean community.","Some of these stories could not be confirmed or involved only a few individuals.","This has, of course, to be acknowledged and dealt with, but sensational reporting on them by the media often compounds the situation as it can lead to increased racism against members of the groups in question, thus making it difficult for them to get accepted in their new country.","This is particularly the case when the issues are picked up by television current affairs programs or by the talk-back radio stations.","This negative press or media reporting has affected migrants and refugees in a number of ways, both at the individual and the group levels.","Impact of negative media on individuals","At the individual level, the most profound impact seems to involve second-generation young people.","Because this group tends to read and understand English better, they are well informed about what is being said or perceived about their community by the media and the public at large.","This negative group perception can give rise to negative self-perception and low self-esteem.","These in turn can lead to feeling rejected by the host community.","The young person may then react to this rejection by rejecting in turn one’s own group (some of whose members are the cause of community problems such as drug dealings or murders, which attract the bad publicity in the first place).","The impact of such negative self-image may also lead to rebellion against one’s family or against society.","For example, it is said that youth drug dealings in Cabramatta are seen by some of the young people involved as a way of "pay back" to schools for treating them harshly and causing them to drop out of these schools, or as "pay back" to society for being unable to give them decent jobs or to find them any kind of employment.","On the other hand, negative media reports may also have positive impact when youngsters try to refute the negative group identity by trying to over-achieve or outperform peers from other communities in order to be accepted as equals or to feel that they too can make it in their new country.","Effects on the collective settlement efforts of ethnic communities and on racial harmony","Migrant and refugee leaders have tried to counter these negative stories about their communities by going to the Press Council, consulting with the Anti-Discrimination Board or the Ethnic Affairs Commission.","Some have undertaken research and educational projects in order to counteract what they see as the media onslaught.","Others have undertaken training on how best to handle media issues.","One organisation, the Australian Arab Council, even goes so far as presenting annual media award to the best and most positive reports in the mainstream media about the Arabic and Muslim communities.","All these efforts obviously are the result of the effects of negative publicity on the different ethnic groups in Australia whose attempts at peaceful settlement have been perceived by them to be put in jeopardy by the media.","All migrants and refugees wish to be able to pursue their new life successfully, to contribute socially and economically to their new country.","They have no wish to see their community’s name and reputation tainted by racially based allegations or by media reports on members’ misdeeds or settlement difficulties.","To assist members to overcome these difficulties, many ethnic communities have formed their own self-help organisations.","There is no doubt, however, that many of these groups feel hampered in the provision of their services by negative media reporting.","For example, a common feature found in the major mainstream newspapers are columnists’ comments and reviews on topical issues of the day.","In regard to the current government non-discriminatory immigration policy, critics are often quoted by the media as saying that the increased ethnic diversity of the Australian population would eventually lead to race riots and break-down in social cohesion.","Britain and the United States are often cited as examples where the "melting-pot" has boiled over into race rioting such as the one in Los Angeles in 1992.","Critics also fear that large concentrations of a particular ethnic group in one area will create "ethnic ghettoes" and prevent the group’s integration into the Australian community.","Such ghettoes will also become breeding ground for gang crimes and other undesirable behaviour.","Cabramatta in Sydney and Richmond or Springvale in Melbourne are been named as such examples involving Vietnamese.","As recent as September 1997, this issue has been raised in the print media following analysis of ethnic concentrations in Melbourne and Sydney, based on the results of the 1996 census, again published in People and Place by the Centre of Population and Immigration Research at Monash University.","One paper (by Healy) raises confirm the continuing high number of Vietnamese in Cabramatta, prompting the following headline in the Melbourne Herald Sun, "Migrant ghetto concern" (24/9/97, p.","14).","Another paper by Professor Viviani of Griffith University dismisses the idea of ghetto in Cabramatta.","Again, this was widely reported by the mainstream media, for example: "Ghetto theory blasted" (SMH, 30/9/97), and "Vietnamese ghetto paranoia is strictly for the xenophobic" (Australian, 24/9/97).",""Potential ghettoes" are residential areas or housing estates where there are large numbers of disadvantaged residents living in a confined space with problems such as high unemployment, delinquency, drug addiction and the reputation as "problem neighbourhoods".","If these needs and problems are attributes of "potential ghettoes", Cabramatta in Sydney as depicted in some media may be perceived as one such area.","With its large concentration of Vietnamese refugees and other recently arrived migrants, the number of unemployed people is often higher than in other local government areas.","There are also many young people who spend most of their time in the streets or local game parlours, who have been subject to police strip searches or are said to be passing drugs.","Illegal gaming, prostitution, gold chain and handbag snatching incidents in Cabramatta are all faithfully reported in the local English language newspapers.","Past and present local aldermen in Fairfield Council have been quoted to say that Cabramatta is "unsafe" at night.","Similar comments and reports are not known about other areas.","Racial harmony will not be achieved if the local council take Vietnamese shop-keepers to court for breaching the Clean Food Act and then issue media releases to newspapers to gain the maximum publicity on these prosecutions.","Nor will racial harmony come to pass if local politicians call for recruitment of "culturally appropriate" police from Hong Kong to deal with the local Vietnamese population every time a robbery takes place.","This political point-scoring will only reinforce racial prejudice against Asian migrants in Australia by members of the community at large – helped in large measure by reports on these issues by the media.","Impact on government policy","There is no doubt that this negative media reporting has also affected government policies towards refugee and migrant intakes.","Following many critical reports and studies published on different aspects of Australia’s immigration program in last ten years, many significant changes have been made to the program such as the introduction of medical bonds, the need for assurance support, the balance of family principle, the two-year wait for permanent residence for fiances and overseas brides, the point-test with emphasis on English proficiency, the more recently introduced two-year wait for social security support, and heavily reduced family migration.","As the Sydney Morning Herald recently stated, the "welcome mat is wearing thin", (6/11/97, p.","17), as "Australia’s open door is only slightly ajar" (Illawarra Mercury, 7/1/93, p.","9).","Most of the recent changes to Australia’s immigration program have been explained by the Government as attempts to save money and bring the most benefits from the program to the country.","More to the point, however, these cuts have been directly influenced by media publicity and the Government’s fear of losing electoral support from a better informed public which has increasingly questioned the Government’s immigration policy.","Positive reporting","So far, attention has focused on negative media reporting and its effects on migrants and refugees.","Like everything else, of course, the media has its positive side – although probably not enough of it.","In the early years of the Communist take-over of Indochina, the media reacted positively to large intakes of Indochinese refugees from refugee camps in Southeast Asia, or to "boat people" from Vietnam who were often seen as brave survivors of perilous journeys across the seas.","Migrant centres were opened to accommodate them/ Government and non-government resources were mobilised to provide the necessary settlement services during this early period from 1976 to 1985.","Gradually, however, there is a shift of attitude towards this sympathetic reception as petty crimes and high unemployment surfaced, and the flow of refugees from Indochina appeared to see no end.","Today, the print media appear to be more sensitive to reporting on ethnic issues.","Largely through much criticism from the ethnic communities themselves and the intervention of bodies such as the Anti-Discrimination Board or the Ethnic Affairs Commission, more sensitive headlining can now be found and self-regulation by some section of the media seems to be in place.","A recent report in the Daily Telegraph (12/11/97, p.","24), for example, carried the simple headline of "gang sought over murder" in a story involving a group of Asian youth sought for a stabbing murder in Campsie.","The word "Asian" is not in the headline - as expected in previous years.","Another recent story called "Investors in Misery: Heroin dealers jailed after police uncover a fortune" was published by Daily Telegraph (14/11/97, p.15) with a photograph of an Asian-looking woman involved in the case.","Only the names of the accused were mentioned without any reference to their ethnic origin or nationalities.","This is, of course, what should be the case.","And still on the more positive approach by the media, we have all the hypes about migrant and refugee students in the top ten of the HSC results each year.","There are also the occasional success stories of refugee families who have made it in Australia, particularly during Refugee Week, with headlines such as "Peasant migrants our new yuppies" (Daily Telegraph, 24 Sept 97, p.","15), or "Migrants find life is rich in the promised land" (Courier Mail, 24/9/97, pp 1 and 2), and "The mighty migrants" (The Bulletin, 30 April 1995).","As you would all agree, we need more reporting of this positive nature.","Not only do these positive stories enhance the settlement of migrants and refugees in this country, but they also contribute to racial harmony and make us feel good to be in a new country, good about ourselves and good about others around us.","Media and Australia’s cultural and social future","If we look at the current Australia population and its cultural diversity, there is no doubt that the mainstream media is not reflecting cultural diversity.","This is true of the print media as well radio and television.","Ethnic broadcasting and newspapers are available, but they are run as special services or ethnic-based businesses.","They are not part of the mainstream.","Research has found that members of the ethnic communities see the ethnic media and SBS radio/TV mainly as the source programs in their own languages, or homeland news.","For general entertainment and news within Australia, commercial television is usually used.","However, here they often find stereotypes about themselves or stories involving crimes and killing within their communities.","This negative and superficial version of themselves in the mainstream media not only let down these migrant and refugee groups but also the wider community by reinforcing false and often undesirable images.","Even SBS TV has been seen as catering mainly for middle-class Australians and the larger ethnic communities.","The challenge for SBS and the mainstream TV stations is to make their programs relevant and identifiable by all Australians, regardless of their language and ethnic backgrounds.","A publication by the former Bureau of Immigration and Population Research called "Media and Immigrant Settlement’ (1992) found that the media, especially radio and television, is not effective in conveying settlement information to new migrants, or in teaching them English.","However, it can be useful in informing about where information could be obtained, or in helping migrant communities to maintain their cultures.","If this is the case, it is obvious that the media does have a positive role to play in the settlement of migrants and refugees.","However, much change in attitudes and reform are needed, especially with the mainstream media, in order to help foster more positive representation of ethnic communities.","Some strategies for change have been suggested in a book edited by Professor Andrew Jakubowicz of the University of Technology, Sydney, entitled "Racism, Ethnicity and the Media" (1994).","Among these strategies is the need for more research which will lead to criticism and advocacy to overcome institutional barriers to participation in the mainstream media by members of minority groups.","Until the latter takes place, misrepresentation of ethnic people and issues will continue to occur.","Conclusion","The Broadcasting Services Act 1992 aims among other things to: (1) promote broadcasting services which develop and reflect a sense of Australian identity, character and cultural identity; (2) encourage broadcasting providers to be responsive to the need for a fair and accurate coverage of matters of public interest and for appropriate coverage of matters of local significance.","However, these codes of practices were to be developed by broadcasters themselves and their observation is voluntary.","This provides little for those who wish to obtain more equitable and positive portrayal of minority groups in the mainstream media.","They may help in making media people more sensitive to ethnic issues, but without effective sanctions for breaches, broadcasters are free not to adhere to these codes of practice.","One thing is certain, however: more research clearly needs to be done into the needs of ethnic audiences, and on the impact of media on their lives.","Some initial research has been undertaken, but too little is known on this issue at present.","Asian settlement and media","http://members.ozemail.com.au/~yeulee/Other/asians n media.html","53.5","22 May 2005");
Page[12]=new Array("Home About Gary History Culture Topical Poems Short stories Submitted Publications","Submitted articles","Hmong Textiles and Costume of North Vietnam","Contents","1 Hemp","2 Hemp processing","3 Hmong batik","4 Finishing process","5 Hmong stitches","6 Hmong garments","7 Personal experience","8 Hmong jewellery","9 Education","10 Clothing accessories","11 Tourism","12 Bac Ha valley","Hmong Textiles and Costume of North Vietnam","(This article was written by Valerie Kirk, a lecturer in textile at the Australian National University in Canberra.","It is published here with her express permission)","The Hmong are the eighth largest minority group in Vietnam with a total population of about 600,000.","They belong to the Sino-Tibetan language family and specifically the Hmong - Dao language group.","They migrated from Southern China into North Vietnam over the last 250 to 300 years.","They have mainly settled in the remote, mountainous areas of the North West , near the Lao and Chinese borders.","The Hmong minority group has been sub-divided into branches classified by women's costume, dialect, relationships and customs.","The Hmong of Sa Pa are called " Black Hmong " or Hmong Den in Vietnamese, because of their predominantly black clothing, and they make up 52% of the population of the district.","They inhabit the scenic foothills of Mount Fansipan, 1650 meters above sea level, an area which was occupied by the French, who developed Sa Pa as a health resort.","Hemp","Hmong clothing is mainly made from locally grown Hemp, which has a physical structure and chemical composition similar to linen.","Although hemp is one of the oldest known fibre crops, it has attracted a great deal of media attention in recent years.","The debate today is based in the political and economic struggle of the wood pulp industry in the U.S.A.","where a campaign against Marijuana, the Mexican slang term for the drug, was launched connecting use of the drug to violence and crime.","The beneficial properties of hemp have been rediscovered and farmers, manufacturers and consumers are campaigning to change the inappropriate laws that prohibit fibre hemp production in many countries.","It can be grown and processed without the chemical treatments needed for other plant materials and gives three times as much raw fibre as cotton.","A low drug variety of the plant grows around Sa Pa and the local people laugh at the tourists who search out the Cannabis plants to smoke - it does nothing for them.","Hemp processing","In Hmong society, the entire hemp process, from sowing the seeds through to weaving the cloth is clearly defined as women's work, along with digging and planting other crops in the fields, collecting firewood, cooking, looking after the family, carrying heavy loads to market and walking many kilometres back home.","The baste fibre is obtained from the stalk of the male plant which is about 1cm in diameter, and comes in lengths of 30 to 40 cm.","They are cut and tied into bundles to dry in front of a fire or against fences and walls of houses.","Once the stalks are thoroughly dry they are stored in the rafters of the houses till the women strip off the fibrous outer layer, known as baste fibre.","These short pieces of fibre have to be joined to make a continuous length for weaving.","Young through to very old women are involved in this activity and as the work is easily transported, they carry it with them, joining fibres as they walk to market or sit on the pavement in town.","The material is wound in a figure eight ball held in the hand.","A substantial wooden loom with a bamboo reed is set up for the weaving process.","The size of the reed dictates the width of the finished cloth which is usually about 30cm and the finished plain weave, measures eight to ten meters in length.","It is woven in the natural hemp and can then be treated with wax for a batik design or dyed with Indigo.","Hmong batik","The pattern for batik is drawn onto the cloth with a tool made by the Hmong blacksmiths which holds small amounts of bees wax.","Unlike Indonesian batik, which is usually curvilinear, the Hmong patterns are made up of short, straight lines forming crosses, zig-zags and repeating motifs.","The batik is produced in long lengths, dyed in a cold Indigo vat then the wax boiled off.","This resist patterned fabric is made into jackets, baby carriers and skirts.","Indigo plants are cultivated in neat plots on the hillsides near the houses.","The plant grows to about 60 cm high and can yield 2 crops each year.","The dye is contained in the leaves which when allowed to ferment and then oxidise produce a blue powder that is insoluble in water.","This can be stored as a paste or powder.","There are various ways of preparing the Indigo vat with substances that make the Indigo soluble.","The urine of children, particularly boys is a common additive as well as lye, lime and rice wine.","When the dye bath is bubbling strongly it is ready to use.","The fabric is emersed in the dye vat and worked for about half an hour then hung up to oxidise into the distinct blue colour.","Subsequent dippings and oxidations will darken the colour and the black of the Hmong fabrics is achieved by repeating the process twice a day, each day for a month.","Finishing process","" Beetling " or " Calendering " is a finishing process which flattens the threads and fills in the spaces between warp and weft.","The cloth becomes finer, smoother, softer and more lustrous - almost with a metallic sheen.","The women use a well worn, rounded, log which sits flat on the ground and a flat , long shaped rock which sits on top.","Maybe the rock I saw being used was petrified wood as the woman I was with indicated it was the same as the wood.","The fabric is placed over the wood and the rock, treated with beeswax, placed on top.","The woman balances on top of the rock with her feet apart and moves side to side in a see saw action back and forward.","At the same time the cloth moves to the left of the wood so that the length can be worked in a continuous process.","The log and rock are considered to be a couple - the wood representing female and the stone the male.","If either object breaks this is said to symbolise divorce and a woman's husband is free to choose another wife.","Before knowing this superstition I was having a go at calendering the fabric, encouraged by the Hmong woman I was with, but I had this terrible fear of breaking the stone, a heavy Westerner with all my weight on a thin rock.","I thought at the time it must be because the stone seemed so old and well worn.","What would the women do if I broke the rock? But maybe subconsciously I had picked up on the significance of the objects.","Hmong stitches","The Hmong women are known for their embroidery and fit this work between other daily chores.","The main stitches used here are chain stitch and cross stitch.","These are often used in combination with applique, where small pieces of fabric are stitched onto a backing cloth, edges sewn under, to make a coloured pattern.","Reverse applique, where the top fabric is cut away to make a pattern of the backing cloth is also worked by the White Hmong.","Both the embroidery and the applique can be extremely fine, although some work now uses thicker threads and is less detailed.","In the market women are interested in each other's work and the finest work is well appreciated.","Hmong garments","The main seams of garments are sewn by treadle machine, sometimes carried on someone's back many kilometres from the town.","A decorative running stitch is used to top stitch the edges of the jackets and waistcoats.","Here a pair of leggings are being made of triangular strips of cloth.","They are wrapped around the calves and tied in place with commercial braids.","The everyday clothing of men, women and children is almost entirely the darkest blue hemp with both male and female wearing trousers - usually full length on men and knee length on women.","Children wear exact scaled down versions of adult clothing.","The men pictured are part of a road works gang upgrading the road to Dien Bien Phu.","They wear long waistcoats like the example in the exhibition " Migrants from the Mountains ".","The collar is the only area of decoration worn by men every day.","It sits discretely at the back of the neck on the long, polished hemp waistcoat.","The older collars tend to be finer in the work and more subdued in colour, whereas some of the new collars are extremely bright with vivid green thread and may be coarser in the embroidery.","Women wear layers of hemp clothing tied at the waist with a belt.","They have a simple headdress made of woven plant material wound with a long strip of Indigo hemp.","Some women wear no headdress but have their hair neatly wound in a roll around their head, held in place with combs.","Everyone wears the same style of practical, brown plastic sandals.","Personal experience","On my last trip to Sapa, a women I had previously met, asked me to visit her house at Lao Chai village, about four hours walk from the town.","A Russian jeep part way along the track helped shorten the journey , then a steep descent on pure mud slopes to the river and a short walk across fields to the settlement.","Everyone was there waiting for us.","We went to a house where they had collected together the best of textiles from friends and family to show us.","Two of the women dressed in their ceremonial clothes - heavily embroidered jackets with shining hemp waistcoats on top, wrapped tightly at the waist with a belt embroidered at both ends.","The pleated, embroidered and appliqued skirt commonly worn by other Hmong groups was worn, plus elaborate silver jewellery.","There are no aprons, common to other Hmong costumes, but the long waistcoat panels at front and back have a similar effect.","They looked spectacular.","The raised work of the embroidery and applique gives an encrusted or low relief quality.","The yellow-green embroidery is a less common style with solid weave stitch making the pattern.","Hmong jewellery","All Black Hmong people wear elaborate jewellery made of silver (sometimes from old French coins) or alloys.","It has spiritual significance, keeping the soul with the body and helping to ward off evil spirits.","Babies are given a simple metal band with a little bell on it, men and women wear neck rings with or without chains and women have large, decorative, earrings.","A jeweller works near Sa Pa demonstrating his craft to passers by, beating the metal and engraving patterns from the natural world.","Other modern day objects have been incorporated into jewellery - silver safety pins are common, Catholic crosses and occasional badges and trinkets from tourists are worn with pleasure.","Education","Children are encouraged to go to school , which is free, but in 1994 only 3% of minority children in the Sa Pa area attended school.","Parents are reluctant to send children, needing them to work at home or look after the younger brothers and sisters.","They also worry that they will become, " Vietnamesed ", losing their language and culture.","At the minority school the Black Hmong children always wear their own distinct clothing and other children have their costume for special occasions.","Clothing accessories","Umbrellas are commonly used for protection from rain and sun, but sun hats are also used like this woven and painted version of the conical hat.","Well worn clothing is freshened up by another dip in the dye bath and the totally worn out clothing is suspended on bamboo poles, high above the crops as bird scarers.","Tourism","Tourists have been able to visit Sa Pa for 4 years and already Western culture and tourism is changing the production and use of textiles .","Worn clothing is now dyed in bright chemical colours and remade into shirts, jackets, hats and shorts to sell.","Old collars are taken from waistcoats and sewn together to make shoulder bags and girls embroider small bags for tourists.","After a weekend in Sa Pa every visitor wears something Hmong.","The women are enterprising and carry large baskets of textiles around the market, engaging with tourists in friendly barter.","But, how long can they keep up the production for a rapidly growing market and still clothe themselves with hand-made textiles? Will the quality of work continue? In an area of difficult terrain with floods and landslides producing enough food for subsistence is difficult.","Only one rice crop per year can be grown and at the most this will last for four to eight months of the year.","Additional income can provide food and western health care, fresh water supply and hydro-electric power.","Making and selling textiles brings an income to families who might otherwise rely on government handouts of rice.","I also hope the interest of discerning visitors will help conserve the textile heritage and confirm the pride of the women in their work.","Bac Ha Valley","Bac Ha is a in a fertile valley near the Chinese border.","In this area there are 10 minority groups and the Flower Hmong make up 65% of the population.","People travel long distances into town from the surrounding area, often using pack horses to carry goods to and from market.","The blacksmiths wear typical male clothing - plain black trousers, waistcoats and jackets, with many styles of hats and some green military style clothing, which is cheap and available in the market.","The women stand out in their bright colours and full skirts which sway seductively as they walk.","The area is rich and prosperous through the cultivation of stone fruits and the changes from a commune system to individual land ownership.","The people say they have become wealthy and for textiles this means that no-one weaves anymore or works batik on cloth.","Everything can be purchased in the market.","Skirts for sale are made of a printed cloth replicating the indigo batik.","They have no pleating, but are gathered like a dirndl skirt and the elaborate embroidery and applique traditionally in a deep band around the hem has been replaced with pieced velvet and floral fabric.","Aprons and collars are decorated with machine embroidery in bright designs.","Hems of skirts have combinations of hand and machine embroidery, pieced work and applied commercial braids.","The young women like the sparkling, pink, green, yellow beads dangling in strands.","They buy them by the appropriate length and apply to the blouse.","Their dress is the most vibrant and spectacular.","All the women wear the commercially woven checked scarf over a fibre, shaped, form, or just over their hair.","Babies are carried by women, sometimes older children and occasionally men in comfortable cloth baby carriers.","They are functional items, securing, reassuring and protecting.","The baby becomes an extension of the person carrying it and travels up the mountain paths, out to the fields or down to market.","The styles vary greatly, but usually blend in with the mother's clothes.","They are usually decorative with patterns worked in embroidery, batik or applique which can offer symbolic protection against evil spirits.","Often the only part of the baby that can be seen is the top of the head and this is covered with a special hat of auspicious symbols.","The bright fabrics, threads and coins on the hats are said to confuse evil spirits who mistake the heads for flowers.","The blouses are made of heavy satin, velvet or synthetic, patterned velour with machine embroidery and commercial braids around the neck and sleeves.","Even in 40 degrees heat women still wear these thick garments.","Historically the Hmong came from extremely cold climates to the north, but it is surprising that adaptations to cooler materials and thinner fabric constructions have not been made.","Baskets are another practical item made by the Hmong, mainly by men for use by women.","They are large and strong, woven from natural plant materials, sometimes with horse hair or leather straps.","In the fields and working at home women wear the same style of dress.","- more worn and faded than their best.","Skirts are washed or hung up to air in the open and for storage they are rolled vertically and tied at the waistband by the straps to hang up in the house.","Textile production is no longer such a large part of women’s lives here, but the Hmong style has been retained.","Work for financial gain has taken over, growing plums and nectarines and tending animals, but the division of labour seems to continue, women still work harder and longer hours and women walk back home up the mountain paths after a day at market while men, with a few glasses of rice wine, too many, ride home on the horse.","The costume of the Flower Hmong is an outward display of strong cultural identity and pride in tradition.","The modern day adaptations have allowed a style or look to continue through changing economics and social expectations.","The looms and batik tools have gone, but the prosperous Hmong of Bac Ha, reflect a contemporary world of electric colour and synthetic fabric, vibrant combinations they have creatively made their own.","Hmong textiles of North Vietnam","http://members.ozemail.com.au/~yeulee/Other/costviet.html","45.3","22 May 2005");
Page[13]=new Array("Home About Gary History Culture Topical Poems Short stories Submitted Publications","Submitted articles","Indochinese Refugee Families in Australia: A Multicultural Perspective","Contents","1 Introduction","2 Indochinese family concepts and values","3 Indochinese refugees in Australia","4 Impact of settlement on the family","5 Needs and challenges","6 Multiculturalism and Indochinese families","7 Conclusion","8 References","Indochinese Refugee Families in Australia: A Multicultural Perspective","(Published in Cultural Diversity and the Family (Ashfield: Ethnic Affairs Commission of NSW, 1997), Volume 3, as part of the International Year of the Family Project)","Introduction","First among the nine priority issues proposed for discussion during the International Year of the Family (IYF) in Australia is the need "to recognise the diversity of families in Australia in terms of their composition, life stage, culture and race, and to celebrate their central contribution to Australia's social and economic welfare and cultural heritage" (IYF National Council, "Issues in Brief", 1994: 4).","This paper aims to address this important issue in relation to refugee families in the context of Australia as a multicultural society.","It is an attempt to reflect on the impact of cultural diversity, both as a reality and a government policy, on families of refugee background due to their traumatic life experiences and generally more disadvantaged backgrounds, using the Indochinese as the focus of discussion.","After some preliminary discussion on multiculturalism, the paper will look at the resettlement of refugees and more recently migrants from Indochina (Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos), their settlement patterns, labour force participation, social and residential mobility, traditional family concepts and values; and the effects of migration to Australia on the family system, the kinship and social networks, and on major areas of needs.","The general impact of multiculturalism on Indochinese families will be briefly assessed before discussion is made on their prospects for the future after nearly 20 years of settlement in a predominantly Western society.","Although reference is made to Indochinese in Australia in general, the situation in New South Wales will also be discussed where relevant.","1.1.","Multiculturalism and Refugees","Multiculturalism is now seen as the acknowledgment of the demographic diversity and social reality that is today's Australia.","More importantly, it is a government policy to promote social justice by taking into account the ethnic composition of the nation's population and by responding to their diverse needs and aspirations in order for them to achieve equal access and participation in the life of the community (AIMA Council, 1984: 13-14; and OMA, 1988: vii).","As Dunn (1993: 242) puts it, multiculturalism in Australia "is a policy which demands social, economic and political integration by way of celebrating cultural diversity".","According to the Department of Immigration and Ethnic Affairs (DIEA, Current Issues, May 1993: 1)), immigration (including the Refugee and Humanitarian Program) is closely related to multiculturalism, as both provide a platform from which the skills and resources within a culturally diverse population can be developed and used as assets for the forging of a fully Australian identity.","Multiculturalism will also foster economic, social, political and cultural growth, providing links with the rest of the world, especially in the Asia-Pacific region.","This recognition has also been given at State level, especially in New South Wales where the State Government introduced as a government policy the Charter of Principles for a Culturally Diverse Society in 1993 and is in the process of implementing it through the NSW Ethnic Affairs Commission.","Multiculturalism is thus the foundation on which the settlement, hopes and aspirations of the Indochinese and other refugees or migrants in Australia are built.","1.2 Indochinese Migration to Australia","The settlement of Indochinese refugees has been of major "historic importance" to Australia which has not previously taken such a large number of refugees and migrants from Asia (Viviani 1980: 2).","Numbering more than 150,000 persons so far since 1975, the Indochinese represent for the first time the largest number of such settlers whose languages and cultures are markedly different from previous waves of refugees from Europe.","Their presence has generated intense and ongoing debates in political and academic circles about the long-term effects of increasing ethnic diversity on the social cohesion of the nation, about their ability to integrate into a predominantly European society, and their high level of unemployment - averaging three times the national rate (Blainey, 1984, 1994a and 1994b; and Lewins, 1987: 261-273).","The Indochinese are also significant in the history of refugee resettlement in Australia, because they largely gave rise to Australia's current Refugee, Humanitarian and Special Assistance Program with its many policy issues, long application forms and complicated processing.","No such bureaucratic procedures for refugees existed previously.","After the communist victory marking an end to the Vietnam War in April 1975, thousands of refugees scrambled out of Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam.","While the Lao and Cambodian refugees went by land to Thailand, many of the Vietnamese escaped by boat to other neighbouring countries such as Hong Kong, Malaysia and Indonesia.","Some of these "boat people" also took the risk of coming directly to Australia (Viviani, 1984; and Grant, 1979).","Faced with this situation, the Australian Government decided to put in place for the first time in 1976 an "articulated" refugee policy and administrative "mechanisms" to implement it "as a matter of humanity and in accord with international obligations...","towards the solution of world refugee problems" (MacKellar, 1976: 44).","Indochinese refugees are selected for settlement here by Australian immigration officials from Southeast Asian refugee camps under the Refugee, Humanitarian and Special Assistance Program (RHSAP), and from Vietnam and more recently Cambodia in the case of family reunion under the Orderly Departure Program (ODP).","The latter was introduced in 1979 to allow Vietnamese residents in Australia to sponsor relatives from Vietnam in order to stop them from becoming "boat people" and come directly to Australia.","Starting with 691 Indochinese refugees (676 Vietnamese, 12 Lao and 3 Cambodians) being accepted in 1974/75 under the RHSAP, the number steadily increased to 132,178 persons (10,5046 Vietnamese; 16,479 Cambodians and 9,488 Lao) by 1993/94.","During this period, more than 2,000 Vietnamese and Cambodians also arrived in Australia directly by boat.","Except for the more recent "boat people", these earlier arrivals were mostly allowed to remain.","The Indochinese in Australia consist of a number of ethnic groups.","Apart from the main ethnic Vietnamese, Lao and Khmer, there are also smaller minority groups such as the ethnic Chinese from the three countries of Indochina, the Black Thai and the Hmong from Laos, the Nung and the Khmer Krom from Vietnam.","The proportions of the minorities today are unknown as ancestry was not included in the 1991 census.","An analysis of Indochinese ancestry from the 1986 census (the only such data available) shows the ethnic Chinese to form 34% of those from Vietnam in 1986, 41 per cent of those from Cambodia and 18 per cent of those from Laos (Viviani, Coughlan and Rowland, 1993: 21).","The ancestry of the remaining Indochinese from the 1986 census were: 52% Khmer and 8% Khmer-Chinese for those born in Cambodia; about 73% Lao, 5% Vietnamese and 2% Lao-Chinese for those born in Laos; and about 63% Vietnamese and 3% Vietnamese-Chinese for those born in Vietnam, (Coughlan, 1988: 24).","The ethnic Vietnamese from Indochina now form "the second largest Asian community in Australia after the ethnic Chinese" (Coughlan and Walsh, op.cit.: 1).","As the number of eligible people in refugee camps dwindles, the refugee component of the Indochinese intakes has decreased from about 15,000 a year in the early 1980's to only 2404 in 1993/94.","However, the ODP component has increased significantly from 2000 in 1981 from Vietnam to 9,914 (9592 Vietnamese and 322 Cambodians) in 1991/92 and 6361 (5434 Vietnamese and 927 Cambodians) in 1993/94 (BIPR, Migration Update, June 1994: 22 and 31).","The number of Indochinese accepted under the RHSAP is expected to decrease markedly and to stop in the next few years with the recent decisions by the UNHCR to close the refugee camps in Southeast Asia and to repatriate the all remaining Indochinese asylum seekers to their home countries.","Indochinese new arrivals in Australia will eventually be mainly migrants under the Family Reunion program, especially from Vietnam.","This is already starting to occur.","Of the total Vietnamese arrivals of 7,732 in 1993-94, for example, only 29.7% were refugees and the remainder were concessional family migrants.","When the RHSAP and ODP components are combined with the number of second generation Australian-born, it is estimated that there are now at least 200,000 residents of Indochinese background in Australia.","The 1991 Australian Census of Population and Housing showed a total of 149,614 Indochinese-born people in Australia with 122,325 (81.8%) being Vietnamese, 17,643 (11.8%) Cambodians, and 9,646 (6.4 %) Lao.","The Australian-born Indochinese were estimated in 1991 to have added another 30,000, with 25,151 being Vietnamese of whom 97.4% were under the age of 15 (BIPR, 1991 Census Community Profiles: Vietnam Born, 1994: 38).","Of those born in Indochina, 77,654 were males and 71,960 females, yielding a sex ratio of 108:100 (ABS, 1991 Census Birth Place State Comparisons, pp.","1-12).","INDOCHINESE FAMILY CONCEPTS AND VALUES","Despite some similarity in functions, families can differ from one culture to the next in terms of their definition, membership and place in the wider society.","In Australia, for instance, couples of the same sex are also seen as constituting families by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (OMA, 1994: 29).","The Chief Justice of the Family Court of Australia, Justice Alastair Nicholson, recently called for the law and society to recognise "homosexual couples and their children" as families, because he saw the family "less as a question of law or a question of birth than a deep sense of bonding or affiliation" (Sydney Morning Herald, 4/1/95, p.","1).","The concept of family is, thus, not confined to a married couple and their offsprings.","2.1 Definitions of the Family","With the Indochinese, the family is part of the household and the kinship network in which it is traditionally embedded.","These three structures form an integral system, but have been severely disrupted in many cases by the demands and effects of war and migration such as the difficulty of keeping the family system intact during forced displacement as well as the separation arising from the stringent selection criteria imposed by the refugee-receiving countries.","For these reasons and the fact that families can be formed and changed during different phases of a person's life, the "family" in a cross-cultural context is "an extremely elusive" concept (Morrissey, Mitchell and Rutherford, 1991: xii).","The Australian IYF National Council, for instance, has adopted a broader definition, seeing families as "generations of care where kinship and love are the central factors binding people together" (Edgar, BIPR Bulletin, April 1994, p.","14).","For migrants and refugees, there are no typical families, because they may "consist of single men living with a relative or friend, who later marry and have children, or bring wives and children from their countries of birth, and who after some settlement period sponsor dependent parents, siblings, even aunts, uncles, cousins and grandparents" (Storer, 1985: 13-14).","As with other communities, Indochinese concepts of the family are based primarily on religious and cultural values, often referring to what is ideal rather than what exists in reality.","For the Vietnamese who practise ancestor worship, the family consists of the living (the father as family head, his wife and young children, his parents, older married sons and their wives) as well as the dead within the male family line (Phung, 1979: 117).","In accordance with Confucianism, family traditions are maintained through the male descendants.","Daughters are expected to marry and move out of the parental home to fulfil their role of "other people's women": married daughters are thus excluded from their paternal family structure.","For the Lao and Cambodians who are more influenced by Buddhism with its ancient Indian mythology stressing individual merits, the traditional family is a more inclusive concept.","They are furthermore still steeped in local traditions from the old countries, and see the family as consisting of all the living members of a household who can span across two or three generations represented by a number of married couples or nuclear families closely related by blood ties, including married daughters and their husbands (Whitaker et al., 1972: 48).","This is true especially in the rural village context where more than 80 per cent of the people in Laos and Cambodia are found.","The Vietnamese used to have a family system, like that of the Lao and Cambodians today, where married daughters remain in the parental household until the birth of 2 or 3 children before they move out with their husbands to establish their own household (Coughlan and Walsh, op.cit.: 3).","In practice, only the well-to-do can accommodate large households with at least three generations living under one roof.","With increasing population, the lack of farming land in rural villages had forced many young families to move to urban areas to seek paid employment, especially in Vietnam.","As the war intensified from 1968 to 1973 in Indochina, thousands of rural people were forcibly moved to safer urban areas, further disrupting the traditional extended family.","Thousands of men, conscripted into military service, were killed, and many others were imprisoned or interned in re-education centres after the war in 1975, leaving their wives to act as household heads or "family generals" at home.","These factors and the high costs of living in cities meant that families of the nuclear type and single-parent families became very common in urban areas in Indochina, well before many refugees arrived in Australia in 1975.","2.2 Family Roles and Beliefs","In terms of family values, the three Indochinese communities are influenced by their traditional subsistence agricultural economy, Buddhism, Confucianism, Daoism and local spiritualism.","In addition, old sayings and proverbs are the means by which people not only base their personal conduct, but also resolve their personal problems: a respected and persuasive elder or conflict mediator in the village often use proverbs to argue for a solution to a family conflict rather than the written law of the court in the cities.","Human societies in Indochina, even in modern times, are basically agrarian with centuries of farming traditions.","More than 80% of the population live on the land, the village or hamlet nestling among bamboo groves and palm trees surrounded by irrigated rice fields, the houses haphazardly built next to each other surrounded by chicken coops and buffalo pen with the family garden next to them, and sometimes a Buddhist temple on a prominent site in some of the bigger villages.","For the Indochinese refugees of the older generation, this is the life they remember "within the depths of their hearts", even after having moved to the cities or "crossed the Pacific Ocean" for a new way of life (Nguyen XT, 1990: 32).","It forms their fondest memories, the source of their nostalgia.","From this subsistence agrarian base, the Indochinese learn that mutual cooperation between members is crucial for the survival of the household, whether it has only one family or a number of families living together.","Household members, in addition to their gender-based roles, are expect to observe this rule as soon as they are physically able to carry out household tasks such as cleaning, cooking, getting water and firewood, and helping with agricultural activities.","The family head has the role of coordinating the members and their day-to-day responsibilities in the family, including religious worship in the family house or at the temple.","As a corporate and production unit, the family needs as much labour contributions from all members as possible: the more workers, the more productivity.","For this reason, the subsistence farming system also means that large families are preferred over small ones "because children had economic and social values" (Hassan et al., 1985: 269).","The majority of Cambodians, Lao and Vietnamese believe in Buddhism, although the first two communities follow the more strict Theravada tradition (Little Wheel) while the Vietnamese, influenced by the Chinese, adopt the more liberal Mahayana (Big Wheel) tradition.","Essentially, Buddhism sees life as a vast sea of suffering created by ignorance, anger and greed.","Happiness can only be attained by overcoming these desires and by doing good through the four precepts of: (1) not destroying life, (2) not taking that which is not given, (3) not indulging in unlawful sexual intercourse, and (4) not uttering that which is untrue.","Buddhists believe in re-incarnation and the pre-determination of life (Karma or fate): a person's present life is influenced by his or her good and bad deeds in the previous life, and he or she will continue the cycle of birth and death until all earthy desires have been overcome and the person attain spiritual liberation or Nirvana.","With Buddhism, "father and mother should be considered as the East, for they are the foremost.","Wife and children should be considered as the West, for they are subsequent to you" (Subasinha, 1993: 20).","The Buddha also taught about the obligations between parents and children, stating that the parents' obligations are to: (1) restrain their children from committing sin, (2) establish them in virtuous deeds, (3) educate them in the arts and sciences, (4) have them provided with suitable husbands and wives, and (5) give them their inheritance at the proper time.","On their part, the children have to: (1) support and protect their parents and supply their wants, (2) perform the duties devolving upon their parents, (3) maintain the good name of the family, (4) conduct themselves in such ways as to deserve the inheritance of the parental property, and (5) give alms in the name of their parents when they are dead, and make them participate in the merits accruing from this deed (Ibid.: 15)","It is of interest to note that these prescriptions are very similar to those given by Confucius whose teachings are closely observed by the more traditional Chinese and Vietnamese.","Among other things, Confucianism institutes ancestor worship where the spirits of the dead of different generations in family are remembered (not revered) through food and paper money offerings during important occasions such as New Year, harvest, birth, marriage and funeral.","On each of these occasions the dead are invoked to take part in the joy and celebrations of the family.","More importantly, the spirits of the dead are believed to have the power to protect the living and to bring them good fortune or to make them sick: the more they are remembered, the more their positive influence.","Confucianism, in the family context, is really "a way to maintain the extended family together" (Nguyen VH, 1993: 2).","Thus, filial devotion, obedience and respect of the dead are highly valued, for they are believed to bring rewards to the living, as taught also by Buddha.","Obedience is expected between ruler-subject, father-children, and husband-wife.","For other family members, this translates further as obedience of grand-parents by parents and their children, father by sons, mother by daughters, older siblings by younger siblings.","Family happiness is achieved when harmony exists in the family, and family harmony is essential for harmony in society.","This is illustrated by a Vietnamese proverb which says "contented husband, contented wife: together they can drain the water of the South China Sea".","In addition, Confucianism prescribes that for a man, value should be placed on (a) self-improvement so that (b) he can manage his family successfully, before (c) he can rule the country, and finally (d) pacify the world (On Lien, 1993: 88).","However, the ideal woman should uphold the "Four Values" of good house-keeping skills, gracious appearance, pleasant speaking, and virtuous conduct.","She should also observe the "Three Submissions": to her father when single; to her husband when married; and to her son when widowed.","As Pham (1990: 2) puts it, this belief system means that "a woman is born to cook, sew, keep the house clean, shopping, budgeting and raising children...","A man would degenerate if he washes dishes or change nappies..."","In addition to Buddhism and Confucianism, the Vietnamese and Chinese also believe in Taoism, another Chinese philosophical system which believes in duality of nature represented by the concept of Yin (negative) and Yang (positive), respect for and living in harmony with nature, patience, simplicity, and moderation in behaviour.","To a large extent, Taoism also plays a big influence on people's conduct.","Although it does not touch directly on the values and social interactions between members of a household, it prescribes how they should relate to other people and the physical world around them.","These religious and cultural beliefs exert strong influences on Indochinese attitudes to family life.","Although they serve as ideal life models for their adherents, they may also be impediments to actions in a legalistic Western context.","For example, the Buddhist belief in Karma (fate) means that Lao or Cambodian parents may explain the birth of a disabled child as punishment for their past deeds and may regard the child as an embarrassment to be hidden away.","The belief in women's submission to men in Confucianism may mean that a Vietnamese wife prefers to put up with domestic violence for as long as possible before seeking help from relatives or outside authorities.","The Taoist belief in maintaining harmony with nature by "doing nothing" may mean inaction in the face of a grave injustice or disruptive conflicts in the family.","This would, of course, apply only to older Indochinese who have assimilated these beliefs, but not the younger people who have adopted more liberal Western ideals.","These family roles and value systems belong to the ethnic Vietnamese, Chinese, Cambodians and Lao.","There are, however, small numbers of ethnic minorities from Indochina living in Australia who have other family values in addition to those they share with the majority groups.","Minorities with their own distinctive language and culture are the Hmong and the Black Thai from Laos, and the Nung and Khmer Krom from Vietnam.","There are probably "montaignards" (highlanders) among the Vietnamese but so far they have not identified themselves by forming their own association or informal social network.","In general, many members of the minorities from Indochina have assimilated the family values and religious beliefs of the majority society into their own cultures, unless they lived isolated from the latter and could still maintain their own autonomous traditions.","The Hmong, for example, see the family in much the same way as the Chinese, having migrated originally from Southern China.","However, they do have their own system of kinship and social structure which see the lineage and the clan as the basic unit of society rather than the family.","When two Hmong persons get married, they not only acquire each other as husband and wife but also members of their respective clan and lineage as close affinal relatives (Lee, 1986: 26-27).","A Hmong, thus, has equal obligations to these relatives as to members of his own family.","A man's social position depends not only on how well he manages his family but also how well he relates to his patrilineal relatives, those of his wife and mother and, to a lesser extent, the descendants of his paternal female relatives.","Among the Black Thai who believes in animism, women play an important role in ritual performance, and are seen as the keepers of family traditions.","Like the Lao and Cambodians, theirs is a matrilineal society where inheritance of the family property is passed to the youngest daughter and her husband.","The Chinese, Vietnamese and Hmong have many clearly demarcated clans and clan names after which all the children of a married man are named and identified.","The Lao do not have such system, and children used to be given only a first name until recently when surnames were invented in the fashion of Western societies.","The use of only a given name is still prevalent among rural people today.","This means that children in this setting are identified neither with the father's family group nor the mother's, but only with the procreating couple concerned.","2.3 Traditional Family Functions","In the confines of the traditional village , the family is the basic social and economic unit, a micro-society onto itself.","For the Vietnamese, Chinese and the Hmong who all practise ancestor worship, the family is not only a cluster of people united by blood ties, but also a shelter and a place of worship.","The allocation of physical space inside the house to various categories of household members reflects the importance given to different generations, gender and age groups in the family.","The sleeping quarters of grand-parents are usually at the right-hand side at the rear of the house, and those of the parents and younger children on the left next to the grand-parents (Nguyen XT, 1990: 32-33).","Male and female older children sleep in separate quarters at the front part of the house next to the entrance and the family fireplace so that daughters can get up early in the morning to clean and cook, and sons can feed the family horses and buffaloes without disturbing the rest of the household.","The family altar is located in the most sacred part of the house, the back middle wall opposite the middle door.","Next to the middle door is the second most important place in the house, the reception area for guests.","The Vietnamese and Chinese house, thus, acts as the physical means by which the family fulfils its functions of: worshipping its ancestors, teaching family moral code and proper behaviour to its children, mediating and resolving disputes, looking after its aged, caring for sick family members, providing childcare and assistance to the new-born, and finally performing rituals to the dead before burial (Ibid.: 33).","Thus, the family dwelling, often with at least 3 generations under its roof, becomes "the source of a person's identity, support, guidance, well-being and welfare, the cradle where all members learnt the value of Vietnamese culture, where the historical, literacy and cultural heritage was transmitted to the following generations" (Nguyen T, 1994: 72).","As in other societies, Indochinese families serve functions which ensure the maintenance of the social structure through the kinship network at the broader level and, within the family, the allocation of power and tasks based on age and gender such child-rearing, physical and emotional support.","Members of the household are given their specific roles and functions to fulfil, based on their positions in the household such as grand-parents, father, mother, children, aunt or uncle.","Ideally, the male head of the household is the decision-maker, and other members carry out his directives, including his wife.","Beyond this role and task differentiation for its members, the family serves as the focus of kin-based solidarity and social integration for the individual (Levy, 1966: 377-403).","For Indochinese steeped in Confucianism, the family is custodian and transmitter of family and social traditions, culture and moral values though ancestor worship and the need to maintain the male family line honour rather than any individual pride.","Thus, a Vietnamese or Chinese would more readily identify exclusively with a family and kinship group than with an organisation of his own ethnicity.","The family's reputation and welfare are more important than the personal desires of its individual members (Vu, 1976: 18-19).","Apart from providing child-rearing, physical and emotional support for its members, the family is also a model for wider social roles and stratification in Indochinese societies.","This is evident by the fact that terms of address prescribing social obligations, status and positions are based on those used in the family.","A person is not addressed merely by his or her name but always by the position within the family, such as Uncle Ho or Younger Brother Chu.","Relationships are thus expressed linguistically with appropriate terms used in conjunction with a person's given name.","By extension, this form of address is also used with strangers based on the other person's age and gender.","A stranger is called uncle, older brother or nephew, depending on which age group he looks like belonging to.","A learned person or someone in high office is always accorded a higher status by being addressed as "big brother" even though his age may be lower than oneself.","Thus, many Khmer Rouge members called Pol Pot "Big Brother Pol Pot".","Where one wishes the relationship to be closer, first-degree kinship terms such as "father" or "mother" may be used with an unrelated person.","Thus, terms used in the family pervade other spheres of social relationships in Indochinese communities, not only to denote the importance of family ties and their extension to other people to make one's relationship with the outsider closer, but also to see all members of that society as an inclusive single family nation.","INDOCHINESE REFUGEES IN AUSTRALIA","Indochinese tend to settle more in certain States and local government areas of Australia than in others.","In Sydney, for instance, the more educated and wealthier recent migrants from Hong Kong, Taiwan, India, Korea and Malaysia tend to settle in more expensive or longer established areas in the Hills and Northern districts, while most of the Indochinese live in less exclusive Inner West and South western suburbs whose residents tend to concentrate in low-skilled "working class" occupations.","3.1 Settlement and Residential Mobility","Based on 1986 census figures, Coughlan (1992:87-89) stated that 76% of 103,707 Indochinese born residents in Australia lived in New South Wales and Victoria, with almost 17% concentrating in the Fairfield/Liverpool area of Sydney.","The situation is not very different today.","The 1991 Australian census reveals that in terms of distribution in different States, New South Wales and Victoria still have by far the largest number of Indochinese with 61,624 persons (41.8%) and 53,314 (35.6%) respectively, a combined total of 114,948 persons or 77.4% of the Indochinese population in Australia.","This was followed by 11,472 (7.6%) in South Australia; 9,603 (6.4%) in Queensland; 8,931 (5.9%) in Western Australia; 2,935 (1.9%) in the ACT; 500 (0.3%) in the Northern Territory; and 385 (0.25%) in Tasmania (ABS, 1991 Birth Place Comparisons, op.cit.).","Within New South Wales, the 1991 census again shows that the Indochinese are found mostly in the Fairfield Local Government Area (28,617 persons or 46.4% of Indochinese in the State), followed by Bankstown (6,746 or 10.9%), Canterbury (4,891 or 7.9%), Marrickville (3,955 or 6.4%), Auburn (3,450 or 5.6%), Liverpool (2,378 or 3.8%) and Campbelltown (1,689 or 2.7%).","These areas have been traditionally preferred by Indochinese and other recently arrived refugee groups, because of their proximity to the former migrant hostels where they used to be housed after arriving in Australia.","As a result of these settlement concentrations, the central business districts of some of these suburbs have developed to cater for the consumer needs of the Indochinese and other Asian groups.","Many specialty shops have been set up, attracting further migration to these districts.","This is true of Cabramatta and Bankstown in Sydney, and Springvale in Melbourne.","According to Viviani, Coughlan and Rowland (op.cit.: 22-29), Indochinese residential concentration is influenced by three major factors: the time of arrival in Australia, migration status and length of residence.","Time of arrival can influence how quickly refugees can get into the labour market: during a period of economic boom, it will be easier to obtain employment in contrast to a period of economic recession.","Migration status as refugees may qualify entrants for more government support services, but restrict them from accessing a wider range of jobs due to their low level of occupational and English language skills.","On the other hand, the longer Indochinese refugees have been living and working in Australia, the more likely they are to be able to save money to buy houses and move to other areas.","Being refugees without adequate means, most Indochinese families depend largely on public transport to commute to work and prefer to settle near railway lines, bus routes and readily available services.","Indochinese who could find employment have been able to move from rented accommodation into private houses, in many cases five years after arrival in Australia.","These moves, however, tend to be in suburbs adjacent to their original area of settlement.","In Brisbane, for example, the ethnic Chinese from Vietnam appear to move out and own their homes faster or in "new suburbs" than the ethnic Vietnamese who tend to buy in "old" areas where they initially settled (Viviani, Coughlan and Rowland, op.cit.: 74).","Dunn (op.cit: 237-38), in his study of Vietnamese concentration in Cabramatta, finds that "Vietnamese families are keen to buy housing" but the new home purchases tend to be in new housing estates within the Fairfield Local Government Area where Cabramatta is located.","Apart from housing being more affordable in these areas than elsewhere in Sydney, proximity to Cabramatta seems to be preferred because of the many services available there rather than the desire to isolate from the mainstream society.","It is said of the Cambodians, for example, that their concentration in the Fairfield, Liverpool and Campbelltown Local Government Areas has been influenced by: (1) the location of English language classes and other settlement services such as CES and DSS in the South western Sydney metropolitan region; (2) the allocation of public housing by the Department of Housing and housing affordability in these areas; (3) employment opportunities; and (4) the existence of the extended family network and community facilities such as their own temples and community facilities giving them a sense of common identity with other local Cambodians (Henderson, 1993: 38).","These ethnic concentrations do not mean that some Indochinese refugees will not attempt inter-state migration.","Almost all Cambodian and Lao refugees originally settled in Tasmania have moved to mainland States in search of employment.","Of the 1,200 Hmong from Laos in Australia, a quarter have migrated from Sydney, Melbourne and Hobart to Innisfail and Cairns in Queensland during the past five years.","The trend is continuing with another six families leaving Hobart for Toowoomba in December 1994 to do market gardening there.","These are the more enterprising who have accumulated sufficient capital after many years in the southern States.","In addition to factors such as length of residence, occupational skills, availability of employment and the accumulation of capital for home purchases, family reunion has also played a major role in the Indochinese distribution in Australia.","As more Indochinese refugees are settled here, family reunion cases also increase, but mainly from Vietnam and Cambodia.","Of the new arrivals in 1992-93, for example, 5,651 were family migration entrants from Vietnam compared to 1,902 refugees.","For Cambodians, the intake for the same year was 343 migration cases and only 5 refugees.","These family reunion arrivals, sponsored under assurance of support by already established refugee relatives in Australia, tend to find accommodation close to their sponsors or in the familiar suburbs occupied earlier by the latter such as Cabramatta and Bankstown in Sydney, or Fitzroy in Melbourne.","The result is that although many Indochinese have moved elsewhere, these suburbs continue to experience concentration with the more recent arrivals, making them appear to change little in their demographic composition.","3.1.1 Consequences of Current Settlement Patterns","Critics of the current government non-discriminatory immigration policy have argued that the increased ethnic diversity of the Australian population would eventually lead to race riots and break-down in social cohesion.","Britain and the United States are often cited as examples where the "melting-pot" has boiled over into racial wars in the streets such as the Los Angeles riot in 1992.","Beyond the concerns over numbers, critics also fear that large concentrations of a particular ethnic group in one area will create "ethnic ghettoes" and prevent the group's integration into the Australian community.","Such ghettoes will also become breeding ground for gang crimes and other undesirable behaviour.",""Potential ghettoes" are residential areas or housing estates where there are large numbers of disadvantaged residents living in a confined space with problems such as high unemployment, delinquency, drug addiction and the reputation as neighbourhoods with many needs.","Based on this concept and new figures from the 1991 Australian census, Birrell (1993: 26-31) argues that Cabramatta with its 19,407 Vietnamese residents qualifies as an ethnic ghetto, because it has the largest number of Vietnamese in Australia and conveys a negative image of crimes and high unemployment in the minds of outsiders.","This is despite the fact that the Vietnamese there live dispersed among houses and units in many streets in the area.","They do not live insulated from the general community, and have not dominated or taken over whole blocks of living space for their exclusive control (shops, schools and other amenities).","The Vietnamese made up only 11% of the total population of Fairfield municipality of 175,145 in 1991, and it is difficult to say that they have formed a ghetto among such a large mix of culturally diverse people.","To test the existence of ethnic ghettoes in Australia, Jupp, McRobbie and York (1990) analysed data on local government population distribution from the 1986 census, supplemented with field work in Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne and Wollongong.","They concluded that there were "almost NO GHETTOES in metropolitan Australia" but certain areas could become "potential ghettoes" (Vol.","1: 72-73).","In their view, suburban commercial centres dominated by Chinese and Vietnamese businesses such as Cabramatta in Sydney or Footscray in Melbourne provide "focal points" which make the Asian presence more visible, but they are not ghettoes or places which produce poverty and crimes.","Such "focal points" of shopping activities should not be discouraged as they are "economically and financially very beneficial" to the local community (Ibid.: 76).","Dunn (op.cit.: 242-43) sees Cabramatta as a manifestation of the success of multiculturalism in Australia, a cultural expression with many positive aspects.","To many Indochinese and Asian residents, it provides socio-economic adjustment to a new society as well as making a "spatial contribution" to cultural diversity.","3.2 Socio-economic Mobility","In general, Indochinese refugees came here without financial assets, and usually depend initially on relatives, government services and welfare agencies within their own communities or on mainstream charity organisations such as the Smith Family or the St.","Vincent de Paul Society for general assistance with orientation, housing, clothing and used furniture after moving out from government migrant hostels.","Once employed, they soon establish themselves in the community and become self-sufficient within 3 to 5 years of arrival.","Government bodies and community organisations may continue to serve many Indochinese refugees, but these service users consist mainly of recently arrived people and the long-term unemployed who lack proficiency in the English language.","3.2.1 Educational Attainment","In the 18 years since their settlement here, many Vietnamese have graduated from universities and are now establishing themselves as professionals in medicine, dentistry and engineering.","Among first generation Vietnamese aged 15 and over, 8% did not attend any school at all, 13% left school before the age of 16, 79.7% had no qualifications but 57.7% continued their education after the age of 16 compared to 50.4% among the total national population.","While only 3.1% of the Vietnamese had basic vocational training, 6.8% held post-secondary qualifications (7.6% for men and 5.8% for women), compared to 13.9% among the Australian-born population (BIPR, Vietnam-born Community Profile, 1994, p.","18).","The level of education is much lower for the Lao and Cambodian: 20% of the Lao in NSW did not go to school or had left school at an early age - the figure for Lao-born females being even higher at 60%.","Overall, 80% of the Lao had no formal qualifications (Yamine, 1994: 18).","Apart from disruption by long years of war and living in refugee camps, the lack of formal qualifications is due to the fact that Indochina did not have many educational facilities, especially in rural areas where many refugees now in Australia came from.","At best, there might be a junior primary school in some of the larger villages, but high schools and tertiary institutions are found mainly in the bigger cities.","For this reason, only a few parents who are well-off can send their children to the cities to pursue further education or vocational training, despite the literacy rate being reportedly 25% for Cambodia, 16.1% for Laos (Economist, 1990: 210) and 15% for Vietnam (Fraser, 1992: 78).","On the whole, boys have more opportunity for further education than girls, due to the belief that men are the providers and women the home-makers.","Despite this traditional attitude, Indochinese women have found it necessary to join the labour force in Australia in order to help supplement the family incomes, usually in low-paid unskilled jobs as a result of having had less education than men.","3.2.2 Labour Force Participation","Being refugees with low levels of English and work skills, the Indochinese have experienced a high unemployment rate, generally more than three times the national average.","According to the 1991 census, the unemployment rate was 39.8% for Vietnamese-born people over the age of 15 (44.9% among females and 36.1% among males), 36% for Cambodian-born and 33% for Lao-born, compared to 11.6% among the total Australian population (BIPR, Vietnam-born Community Profile, op.cit.: 20; and Yamine, op.cit.: 19).","The unemployment rate for all Vietnamese females was 44.9% compared to 36.1% for males, probably because fewer women have traditionally been given less opportunity for formal education than men.","Furthermore, the Vietnamese show a "twin-peaks" age-related unemployment pattern: highest among those aged 15-24 with 45-65% being unemployed, and those aged 40-65 with an unemployment rate of 40-65% (Viviani, Coughlan and Rowland, op.cit.: 50-51).","This "twin-peaks" phenomenon would equally apply to the unemployed in the Lao and Cambodian communities.","Indochinese who are employed are found mostly in low-skilled manufacturing jobs.","The 1991 census shows that 89% of the Lao-born in New South Wales were wage and salary earners in low skilled or unskilled jobs, while fewer Vietnamese were in this category with 60.7%.","For the Cambodians, this category of occupation is represented by more than 90% of those in the work force.","Only 4% of Vietnamese in NSW were managers and administrators with another 11.7% being professionals and para-professionals, compared to 3.7% and 7.9% for the Lao.","Vietnamese tradespersons were represented at 14.2% in 1991 with 18.1% being males and 7.9 females.","No statistics are available on the Lao or Cambodians who are self-employed or employers, as very few are found in these categories.","These figures indicate that the Indochinese are much like other Asian groups in their employment patters, a few highly educated in middle-class occupations and a large group with less education in working-class occupations (Jayasuriya and Sang, 1990: 12).","Apart from lack of proficiency in English and work skills, the high rate of unemployment can be partly attributed to the current economic recession in Australia and to fundamental structural changes in the Australian economy, resulting in severe cuts in the numbers of unskilled and semi-skilled jobs in the manufacturing sector in the late 1980's.","In response to this process, many women have taken up self-employment through setting up small business and shops, or doing part-time work.","Some have become full-time "outworkers" in such industries as textiles, footwear, electronics, food and grocery packaging, sometimes assisted by their husbands and children.","Indochinese women have, thus, joined in this general trend, making the home and the family garage into "outwork" premises.","In a survey of 224 women outworkers in NSW in 1987, it was found that 38% were doing paid work in the clothing industry, involving mainly migrant and Indochinese women (NSW Women's Directorate/EAC, 1987: 12).","3.2.3 Mobility Blockage and Class Formation","Given the current economic situation in Australia and the educational backgrounds of Indochinese refugees discussed above, what can be said about their social mobility since their first arrival here in 1975? Unfortunately, there have been very few studies on this issue relating to the Lao and Cambodian communities, as most research so far has focussed on the Vietnamese and other larger groups (Wooden, 1991; and Campbell, Fincher and Webber, 1991).","These studies generally support the argument that there has not yet been substantial social mobility in the Australian Vietnamese community.","A small number of Vietnamese doctors and professionals have had their qualifications recognised through further re-training in Australia.","The Vietnamese "had achieved Australians' levels of university attendance by 1986...","and are likely to have exceeded these since then" (Viviani, Coughlan and Rowland, op.","cit.: 90).","There have been many hundred Vietnamese university graduates in various fields compared to the half dozen Lao and Cambodian young people with tertiary education .","This small number is largely because the latter two communities are so much smaller than the Vietnamese and are also more educationally disadvantaged.","Those in the medical profession are the most visible with private practices in many areas dominated by Indochinese, but the majority of computer and science graduates have found it difficult to get work.","The number of Vietnamese in professional and white-collar positions are still relatively small and thus have not made significant impact on Vietnamese social mobility.","Coughlan (1994: 16-17) found that among 450 Vietnamese households he surveyed in Melbourne during 1990-91, 52.4 % experienced "no occupational mobility", 25.7% upward mobility and 21.8% downward mobility.","The exception seems to be the ethnic Chinese males, of whom 56.6% have changed occupations since their arrival.","Most of the Vietnamese employed either continued with their first unskilled jobs or remained in the same line of manufacturing work, and those with downward mobility had become unemployed by choice or through retrenchment.","Much the same mobility pattern is found with a survey of 393 Vietnamese households in Brisbane which concluded that "clear signs of social mobility" were identified "for a minority" but there are "several groups...","who have done poorly in relative terms" such as the young unemployed, single parents, and families dependent on long-term welfare support (Viviani, Coughlan and Rowland, op.cit.: 89).","Tran and Holton (1991: 174-75), on the other hand, argue that based on a sample survey of 403 adult Vietnamese in Sydney and 225 in Adelaide there has been "a significant degree of upward mobility between first job and current job in Australia", particularly for those with previous work experience in Vietnam who are more likely to be employed in administrative and professional positions.","However, they find that women tend to do less well "in virtually every aspect of social mobility".","Ip (1993: 57-71) in his study of Asian small business in Sydney and Brisbane found that many of the owners were "reluctant entrepreneurs" who were unable to obtain employment in their professional fields after migrating to Australia, either because of non-recognition of their qualifications or unemployment.","Faced with "blocked mobility" and a drop in socio-economic status, they decided on a new direction by becoming self-employed through small business.","Despite the long hours and hard work required, many find much satisfaction in "being their own boss".","Many Indochinese former professionals and public servants who venture into small business, are also prompted by the same barriers to mobility.","Arriving as refugees with little capital, most spent at least their initial years in Australia working in factories to save enough to get into business in order to remain employed and prepare their children for better prospects in white-collar employment.","In a study of 165 ethnic small business owners (including 36 Indochinese) in Marrickville, Leichhardt and Western Sydney, Castles (1992: 185) finds that one fifth of the sample had experienced unemployment through retrenchment in the manufacturing industries.","He argues that it "is clearly not the case" where ethnic people get into business because of "a cultural predisposition", but "downward social mobility" and the lack of suitable employment which motivate the setting up of a small business (Ibid.: 188-189).","The number of Indochinese small business operators is, however, small compared the rest of the Indochinese population.","The 1986 census, for instance, only recorded 4.3 % of Vietnamese males and 5.6% females as being self-employed, and 2.8% and 3.3% respectively as being employer out of a total of 83,048 Vietnamese in Australia (Ibid.: 183).","No figures were available on the self-employed from the 1991 census, but Vietnamese managers and administrators were recorded as being 4.7% for males and 3.8% for females, a slight increase from the 1986 figures.","Although this small number of Vietnamese self-employed and employers cannot be said to represent marked social mobility, they provide casual employment opportunities for women and young people who may not otherwise find employment in the mainstream labour market.","An analysis of the incomes and labour force participation rates of Indochinese from the 1976, 1981 and 1986 censuses leads Coughlan (1991: 53-54) to the conclusion that they have now emerged as "four distinctive economic classes".","Included in the first, the upper class, is a small number of educated professionals and business people with high incomes and successful careers.","The second larger group, the middle class, consists of people with long-term employment and stable average incomes, either in blue-collar or office work positions.","The third group, the marginal class, are those living "marginally above the poverty line" with unstable employment due to their lack of skills and low level of English proficiency, easily retrenched during by any down-turns in the Australian economy.","The fourth class of Indochinese is the "poverty class" whose members live under the poverty level, usually subsisting on long-term social security support with little prospects of escaping from their present predicament, because of age or characteristics similar to those in the marginal class.","In Coughlan's view, the first group is expected to grow in size as more young Indochinese become educated and enter the professions while the second group will decrease with the difficulty of obtaining long-term stable jobs in a fast-changing Australian economy.","The third and fourth groups will also increase with the addition of unemployed young people and an ageing Indochinese first generation.","This "mobility blockage" over time, at least for the first generation, seems to be supported by research on Indochinese refugees in resettlement countries such as the United States, Britain, France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany and Switzerland.","Reviewing this international literature, Gold and Kibria (1993: 34) conclude that "the optimistic media presentation of the Vietnamese economic situation" is not supported by these studies, and "many Vietnamese appear to be mired in poverty and situated in sectors of the economy that offer little chance for movement into the mainstream".","In summary, it can be said that despite media reports on individual success stories, the overall employment and social mobility of Indochinese refugees in Australia are still fraught with barriers.","Recent DSS figures reveal that 55.3% of Vietnamese arriving in Australia in 1989-90 and 70.0% of those in 1990-91 were receiving unemployment benefits in May 1994, despite having been here for 3 to 4 years.","This has occurred largely because they have to compete for work with other recently retrenched workers and with "large numbers of other new arrivals" (Healey, 1994: 50).","Although migrants of non-English speaking background represented only 14% of the work force in May 1994, they made up 27% of the long-term unemployed in Australia.","This trend could have in turn lead to the development of ethnic-based under-classes as suggested above.","IMPACT OF SETTLEMENT ON THE FAMILY","In a recent feature article in Time Magazine (8 April 1991, p.","23) on the impact of Indochinese settlement in Australia, it was stated that:",""The average Indochinese refugee family still lives in an overcrowded flat or a small house, the husband labouring in, perhaps, a car or soft drink factory; the wife a lowly paid piece worker in the garment industry; the parents unemployable because of their age and lack of English; the children, who may have missed years of schooling, struggling to master the language while at the same time attempting to keep up in a class in which most other pupils are native speakers.","In such struggling families, tension can run high.","Children can become near-suicidal over their inability to fulfil their parents' expectations.","Some find their way into street gangs that hang around the pinball parlours of predominantly Indochinese suburbs".","How accurate is this media stereotype of Indochinese families and their children? Coughlan and Walsh (op.cit.: 1), writing about Vietnamese families in Australia, also observes that the substantial differences in the culture, economy, environment, politics and social institutions between Vietnam and Australia mean that "the Vietnamese family institution in Australia has been subjected to enormous forces which have caused metamorphosis in this institution...","and relations within the family, especially power relations, are continuously being reaffirmed and renegotiated.","The remoulding...","has not been painless, and has frequently been a cause of anguish for family members".","In Indochina, the family was the basis of society in which parents and elders are responsible for decision-making for the family in economic production and allocations, child rearing, the provision of emotional and material security, and the general welfare of family members.","The family acts as a channel for the transmission of cultural values and religious beliefs from one generation to the next.","A person's identity and position in society are determined by his or her family's reputation, and socio-economic status.","In Australia, these functions do not always operate to the same extent.","Despite the rhetoric, the family here is taken less into account by the society at large which places the economic production function in the hands of one or two able-bodied members of the family, relegates child care to professionals, and regulates family power relations through myriads of legislations.","The functions of cultural transmission and teaching of social values are vaguely left to formal institutions like the school, the media or the Church.","Parents, weighed down by the law, often do not know where to turn for help.","This transition from a society where the family has all-encompassing functions across the generations and in all areas of basic human needs to one where family members only come together at nights and weekends but rarely communicate because of differences in interests and immersion in television-watching or electronic games, has greatly affected the Indochinese refugee families, their division of labour, the roles of individual members and their traditional family values.","This will now be looked at in the following sections, beginning with Australia's immigration policy which prescribes what kind of families and which family members can be accepted for resettlement.","4.1 Impact of Asylum and Settlement Policy","Like all refugees who escaped in stressful circumstances, a large number of families experienced separation between various members during escapes, with the male family heads or able bodied young people leaving first to be followed a few months or years later by the rest of the family members.","Most had to make a number of unsuccessful attempts before finally being able to get away (Ly, 1976: 5-7; and Tran, 1988: 56-65).","In many cases, husbands had been separated from their wives and children by military service and could not escape with them.","For others, family members might have been killed through the mass extermination campaign of the Pol Pot regime (Osborne, 1980: 7-20; and Henderson, op.cit.: 77-85).","Still others might have starved to death or endured untold hardships during long months of hiding out from the enemy, waiting for a chance to escape to a safe neighbouring country (Xiong and Donnelly, 1986: 201-244).","Many Vietnamese drowned while escaping in leaky boats on the high seas: women and young girls on these risky sea journeys were also raped by pirates while the men were thrown overboard (Carrington, 1992: 85-94).","Long periods of camp life also imposed their toll on families (Poussard, 1981: 25-51) as Indochinese women in Thai refugee camps became prey to local Thai civilians or camp guards, and some were abandoned by their husbands because of the stigma attached to rape victims.","A few Vietnamese families sent their young sons ahead in the hope of being able to join them at a later stage but many could not do so, thereby leaving the young boys in the care of relatives or strangers in refugee camps.","These boys usually ended up being "unaccompanied minors" or wards of State once accepted for resettlement in another country.","Without support from their natural families, some of these young people have become involved in petty criminal activities within the Indochinese community.","Despite this, the majority of Indochinese families eventually come to live together, at least as nuclear families in Australia through the Family Reunion Migration Program.","A few have managed to bring an elderly grand-parent with them, but members of the extended family network have often been left behind or had to accept resettlement elsewhere.","Today, many Indochinese have joined the global immigrant community and, thus, have close relatives scattered in Europe, America or other parts of the world.","Apart from problems due to war and the difficulty of escaping as complete families, the selection criteria used by resettlement countries also contributed to this scattering of Indochinese refugees across the globe, or the fragmentation of the extended network.","After the first few years of intakes, refugee fatigue and the huge demand for resettlement places forced many governments to introduce more stringent procedures to screen genuine refugees, and to apply more selective criteria on the Indochinese and other subsequent refugee groups.","Because of the family reunion requirements upon which Indochinese and other refugee intakes to Australia have been based, many married children or independent siblings of sponsors already in Australia have found themselves excluded as ineligible.","Families with less education or with disabled children or elderly members have little opportunity of being accepted when preference is given to younger able-bodied families with at least one adult member possessing some degree of English language or job skills.","These selection criteria and the traumatic uprooting of the refugees have many consequences for Indochinese families and their settlement outcomes.","Once in Australia, for instance, many Indochinese refugees had to re-examine their concept of the family, especially the three-generation extended household they used to have in Vietnam.","They now only have a nuclear family, or at best an incomplete extended family with some members left behind or dispersed elsewhere.","This affects their settlement and family obligations in two ways: (1) the need to find employment in order to have money to fulfil their filial duties towards parents and other relatives left behind in Indochina or the refugee camps in Southeast Asia; and (2) strong guilt feeling for those with extended family members still in the old country and with no prospects of returning for a visit.","This financial and psychological "double burden" becomes a source of tension within the family, preventing members from enjoying the peace and freedom they find in Australia, when both the husband and wife have to work to fulfil these obligations.","The tension is exacerbated when the husband tends to send more of the family income to help his parents overseas than those of his wife because of a strong sense of filial duty, This also tends to create resentment in the wife when some of this money is earned by her.","Family separation, thus, continues to be the main concern of those refugees who have no prospects of reunion with other members now living in other parts of the world (NSW Ethnic Affairs Commission, 1979: 17).","Another effect of government refugee resettlement policy and the trauma of escape is on the family structure of the Indochinese refugees.","There is little research on Indochinese family structures prior to 1975 so that it is not possible to know what proportion of the population in rural and urban areas have extended or nuclear families in Indochina.","Coughlan and Walsh (op.cit.: 7) cite a study by Hendry in the late 1950s which found that out of 157 people surveyed in various work places in Saigon in South Vietnam, 43.9% were living with nuclear families, 43.9% with extended families, 5.7% with friends and relatives, and 6.4% were boarders.","This at least indicates that in urban South Vietnam, nearly half the people in the sample still lived in extended families, and this proportion could be expected to be much higher in rural areas.","In Australia, the 1991 census figures show that Indochinese households with more than one family only comprise: 5.9% for the Cambodians, 5.5.% for the Lao and 4.9% for the Vietnamese.","In other words, Indochinese families in Australia are mostly of the nuclear type, which accounts for 88.8% of the Cambodian households, 87.4% of the Lao and 86.0% of the Vietnamese (BIPR, Immigrant Families, 1994: 7 and 9).","When compared with 74.7% for the Australian average and with 73.5% for the Australia-born, the Indochinese clearly have significantly more nuclear families.","This is a pattern which is contrary to their traditions or to the sensational stories in the media about large Vietnamese refugees overcrowding Australian suburban apartments.","However, this pattern of Indochinese family structure is not unexpected, given the traumatic circumstances under which they escaped and were selected for resettlement in Australia.","Of those living in vertically extended households (with parents and married children), 67.2% were Cambodians, 71.1% Lao and 63.7% Vietnamese.","For horizontally extended households, 18.9% consist of Cambodians, 21.1% Lao and 21.5% Vietnamese.","More than 20% of all Indochinese households have 6 or more people in them in 1991, and 17% of the Cambodian and Vietnamese families are one-parent families (Ibid.: 3), the latter reflecting the problem of family separation or the death of the family head in the war as mentioned previously.","It is clear that the Indochinese in Australia have lost their extended family network, because of the effects of displacement, government refugee selection criteria, and economic imperatives.","This loss has been further reinforced by the nature of accommodation in Australia where almost all dwellings are built with 3 bedrooms on the assumption that they will be occupied by typical nuclear families consisting of a couple and their two children.","This makes it difficult for new arrivals to establish preferred traditional extended households.","Moreover, it is not always possible to find housing close to each other, and families have to be scattered in various streets or suburbs, thus further weakening the extended family network.","4.2 Influences of Work Patterns and the Mainstream Society","Refugee parents working shift work or shop-owner parents often put in from 10 to 15 hours a day away from their families, leaving little time to provide adequate supervision or support to their children.","In many cases, this has affected the children's school performance when parents cannot participate in their learning activities.","This lack of appropriate support in the home is often compounded by academic and social problems young Indochinese encounter at schools such as racism, harassment, lack of motivation from repeated failures, boredom and lack of cross-cultural counselling services for both parents and students.","Furthermore, many parents may not have the English skills or the education background to assist their children with the latter's studies.","These parents are sometimes keen to learn how to support their children, but do not know where or how to obtain help.","Often, such help is not available within the system, as most youth workers focus on young people, and few actually work with the parents to provide the support they need.","Parents are sometimes worried about the fact that the moral guidance and support for the older of their children can be taken over by the state through government-funded youth workers, often without their awareness of what transpire between these young people and the workers, especially when many youth workers have ear rings and long hair - the very kind of attributes parents do not want in their youngsters.","There are other less tangible, but equally powerful factors which have significantly affected many aspects of the Indochinese families.","They include the mainstream school education system, the media (especially television), the law, and the welfare system.","The school system is seen to teach only academic subjects without any attempt to inculcate any moral values in children, and in some cases, may even be perceived to be against parents by reporting harsh disciplinary actions to the police.","The media constantly project consumer messages which encourage children to demand the most expensive personal items which the parents could not even afford for themselves such as Reebok shoes and design clothing.","The legal system is perceived to encourage rebellion by having law to protect children and women against the slightest signs of violence and discipline.","Finally, the welfare system is further seen by the more traditional patriarchal Indochinese as adding the final blow to parental authority with its easy social security benefits and its refuges for victims of domestic violence or homeless children.","The system is thus seen as working against the family by seemingly giving children many rights and freedom while restricting parents in the exercise of their customary ways of dealing with family conflicts and marital discords.","Being aware of the existence of these outside support networks is seen by many Indochinese as sufficient to encourage some young people to resist their parents, or wives to disobey their Confucian husbands.","The alleged victims have only to telephone the police or the Department of Community Services, and they will be taken away from the families without the alleged offenders having any opportunities to explain themselves or to use their own social networks to arrive at a reconciliation.","This use of the law to take away family members for the latter's own protection is seen as heavy-handed and destructive to family life in Australia, for it involves protracted court appearances and legal expenses without necessarily improving family relationships.","The influences of these systemic factors, compounded by the demands of the rigid work patterns of working parents, have brought about changing division of labour and role relationships in the Indochinese families in Australia.","To begin with, the traditional roles of grand-parents as carers of grand-children and as respectful elders of the family no longer apply in most instances in Australia.","Having the aged pension or other government financial benefits, they no longer depend on their married children for material support.","Thus, some of the older parents may not feel the obligation to assist in child care as much as they used to in Indochina.","Their Eastern wisdom and life experiences may also be seen as being less relevant to the new Western life style of the younger people in Australia.","More importantly, few grand-parents can speak English when their older grand-children may be able to speak English only, making communications between the two generations difficult.","This has lead to a reversal of roles: young people now have the information and knowledge to help the family through its day-to-day activities while the older members become dependent on them for guidance or assistance with English and accessing services outside the family.","In such a situation, relationships cam become strained when the younger people resent socially dependent family members, or when they manifest a clear lack of respect for the cultural values espoused by their conservative parents and grand-parents.","Another major area of change is in the division of family labour.","We have seen the subsistence agricultural base of the old country has lead to the development of strong mutual cooperation as a survival strategy involving all members of the family, with clearly defined tasks and obligations for grand-parents, parents, husband, wife, sons and daughters.","Role allocation is based on age, family positions and gender.","In Australia, mutual assistance cannot always be expected when family members have their own separate tasks to perform in their own individual spheres.","Young people spend most of their time at schools, studying in their rooms.","listening to Western music or watching television, instead of being with other members of the family.","Girls may still be required to help with household chores, but not boys.","Family members go their different directions and pursue different interests rather than working together in the rice fields as in the old countries.","Although there is still a sense of mutual obligations, family members no longer feel very dependent on each other when each now can earn their own living, and often keeps their earnings to themselves.","In Indochina, the husband is usually the provider of the family, although in rural areas all members of the household participate in economic production .","In Australia, the husband tends to be the only breadwinner/producer while the rest of the family are consumers.","Often, the wife may share in this responsibility when one income is not sufficient to meet the needs of the family.","In the case of some Indochinese families, however, the husband may find it difficult to get employment and the family may depend entirely on the earnings of the wife.","This reversal of their traditional roles can have debilitating psychological and social effects on both parents and their children such as loss of self-esteem and respect for the male family head as he now assumes household duties while his wife becomes the bread-winner with the children acting as the source of information or advice for their parents and grand-parents.","Wives may become decision-maker while husbands have to share in household chores such as cleaning, cooking and washing dishes.","Confucian values may cause family tension when traditional autocratic, male-dominated decision-making changes to individual free choice and democracy as female family members are given equal rights to assert themselves by the Australian community at large.","The allocation of power shifts when the functions of traditional elders as family conflict mediators become lost as women and older children prefer outside formal channels to sort out their difficulties by seeking protection from the law or escaping to temporary refuges in their moments of crisis.","Often, however, the legal and welfare systems cannot support the victims indefinitely because of lack of resources and cultural sensitivity.","In addition, racism from other refuge residents and delay in obtaining longer term public housing may also mean that many women or run-away young people have to return to their own community without having their needs satisfactorily addressed.","In some cases, having gone to the system for assistance, the victims may even face being ostracised by their own community after their return because they are seen to have brought shame to their own people by "going public" with their "ethnic" private problems.","Many young Vietnamese who have been in detention centres for criminal offences, for example, have been disowned by their parents, and have no family home to return to after their release.","4.3 Changing Family Functions: Private Problems and Public Responsibilities","Indochinese in different States of Australia have established their own organisations for mutual support as a replacement of the traditional extended family networks they had lost and as a means of channelling their cultural and religious contributions to the new country.","It has been said that "whilst reliance on friends and kin decreases with time, informal networks remain the single most important support for most Vietnamese and are the most important social resources within the Vietnamese community" (Nguyen T, 1994: 92).","Although formal groups and regional associations are not new to many urban Indochinese, this becomes a matter of necessity in Australia in order for the members: (1) to provide mutual help to each other in the face of an alienating and unfamiliar environment; and (2) to rediscover their identity, and re-assert their cultural values after the displacement and resettlement trauma they went through, using the formal group to fulfil the traditional functions of the family.","These formal organisations give the refugees a sense of community, and "personal identity defined in family terms now also becomes defined in terms of the economic community" with the associations being seen as a "surrogate for the homeland" and the extended family they have lost (Viviani, 1984: 181).","The 1992 Directory of Ethnic Community Organisations in Australia, published by the Department of Immigration, Local Government and Ethnic Affairs, listed no less than 130 Indochinese organisations, including 29 in New South Wales and 52 in Victoria.","Many other groups were not listed but are known to exist.","For instance, there are more than 40 Vietnamese associations of various kinds in NSW, and 16 Lao community groups.","Government funding to a number of the bigger organisations has assisted them in such activities as providing information and settlement assistance to new arrivals, aged accommodation, child care service, community development, family and youth support, or simply presenting their rich cultures at major cultural events.","The Indo-China Refugee Association in various States and other mainstream welfare agencies have joined with Indochinese over the years to implement numerous projects such as sponsorship of new refugees to settle in Australia, women's health, AIDS education, juvenile justice, drug and alcohol education, youth camps, school support, English classes and employment-related training.","Many of these activities still continue today.","These formal organisations have greatly affected the Indochinese family and its functions in Australia.","They were set up in response to the erosion of family roles relating to the provision of material and emotional support which was traditionally assumed by the extended family.","These organisations in turn change the roles and expectations of the family by supplanting them with formal services and activities such as the representation of culture to the community at large through organising cultural events, counselling, the resolution of family conflicts and support for women subject to domestic violence, and more commonly assisting anyone with emergency material needs.","From being a total economic production unit with all members playing various productive roles, the Indochinese family in Australia now becomes a unit of consumption.","Only one or two adult members now work for incomes and produce for the needs of the whole group, unlike in the old country where all members help in the rice growing or the fishing and gathering of food.","As stated in the IYF National Council Discussion Paper (1994: 3), the private caring and responsibilities of the family are put in the public domain through the formal intervention of community agencies and government departments.","Whereas in Indochina, most of the refugees operated within a kinship group, they are now in a new society which stresses nonkinship orientations (Levy, 1966: 430-433).","The Indochinese refugees have adapted, in turn, by forming their own informal support networks as well as more formalised community structures.","NEEDS AND CHALLENGES","Settlement in Australia has undoubtedly provided Indochinese families with better life chances and living conditions.","There remains many challenges and needs, but there are also many improvements, especially for those with the incentives and the skills to help themselves.","In the initial stages, however, Indochinese, like other refugee groups, experience a great deal of unsettling change to their lives, when faced with the enormous cultural and linguistic differences between Indochina and Australia.","In particular, the more disadvantaged like the elderly, women and middle-aged men often go through long periods of adjustment in the absence of the traditional extended family and other support networks.","For many of them, it is not unlike "fleeing the tiger only to meet the crocodile" (Ngaosyvathn, 1993).","Faced with no other options, the answer is not whether to flee the danger paused by the crocodile, but how to deal with it for maximum beneficial effects.","5.1 Employment and Training","Employment, above all other human activities, is the first priority for people, because it gives them not only economic security by being able to earn a wage, but also their self-respect and dignity.","This is very important for refugee families which have lost nearly everything and which are forced to depend on the generosity of governments, non-government agencies and the United Nations High Commission for Refugees while in transit to a country of resettlement or waiting to find asylum in a refugee camp.","Once accepted for resettlement, many refugees are usually eager to be on their feet, to be able to support their families, and accept the first jobs on offer.","As has been pointed out earlier, many of these early arrivals now find themselves confined to these early menial jobs with little prospects for advancement or change.","Others have found it extremely difficult to obtain employment, due to many personal factors and barriers.","Under the refugee and family migration programs, settlers are not selected primarily on the basis of their qualifications or knowledge of English.","Moreover, many professionals find their overseas qualifications unrecognised in Australia, but continue to look for work in their professional field, however long that may take, rather than being employed in unskilled jobs.","Faced with limited job opportunities in their fields of preference, Indochinese refugees in America, for example, are said to have become "discouraged workers", and have withdrawn from the labour force, with labour participation rate dropping from 55% in 1983 to 39 % in 1987 (US Office of Refugee Resettlement, 1987: 131).","Only 31% of Indochinese American households "are fully self-supporting, with the remainder experiencing a high rate of welfare dependency.","The low level of welfare payments means that 64% of those who depend on them live below the poverty line (Gold and Kibria, op.cit.: 30).","According to Iredale and D'Arcy (1992: xiii), the average refugee in Australia tends to stay in the same industry and the same job, putting in 40 hours or more working hours per week, mostly involving non-professional blue/white collar occupations which require little formal training.","Some have tried to supplement their incomes with second or third part-time jobs, often in the so-called informal cash economy (shops and small business) within their own ethnic communities (Time, op.cit.: 23).","Like the "outworkers" who put in between 40 and 60 hours a week to earn only $5,000 to $15,000 a year (NSW Women's Directorate/EAC, op.cit.: 32), these "underground" workers may earn a certain amount of money annually for their long hours of "moonlighting", but may not appear in any official records.","Similarly, some of the unemployed may sometimes manipulate the welfare and cash economy system without getting into full-time jobs (Gold and Kibria, op.cit.: 32-33).","Viviani, Coughlan and Rowland (op.cit.: 90) find that apart from the lack of jobs, the high rate of Vietnamese unemployment has been partly the result of those refugees aged 45 or over tending to leave the work force voluntarily before retiring age because of "exhaustion" (from, for example, doing two jobs for 10 years to pay off the mortgage), ill-health or "the effects of long-term stresses related to previous trauma" such as being imprisoned for many years in re-education camps in Indochina.","For these reasons, it is possible that some Vietnamese calculate the physical and financial costs of continuing with earning low wages in factories against the incomes from unemployment benefits based on the size of their families, and decide "like other Australians" that it is more cost-effective to become unemployed.","Thus, the period of residence, job quality options and level of skills appear to correlate with the rate of unemployment for many refugee groups, with a higher rate of unemployment for the less skilled and more recent arrivals, and a lower rate for the more qualified and longer residents.","This pattern is reflected in the number of Indochinese on social security benefits.","A recent study by Birrell (1993: 20) reveals that 32.6% of migrants who arrived in 1989-90 still did not have work and were on Job search or Newstart benefits.","For those arriving in 1990/91 and 1991/92, the rates were 30.7% and 31.1% respectively.","Figures were not available for Lao and Cambodian new arrivals, but the study found that for Vietnamese arriving here in 1989-90, 59.6% still remained on unemployment benefits in May 1992, compared to those arrivals with better English and job skills from the United Kingdom (19.6%), Hong Kong (3.4%) and China (12.5%).","In Australia.","English classes and job training have been provided to many new arrivals in order to help them get into the labour market, but there is a long waiting list for such training in areas with large number of new migrants.","In some communities, this means that only a small number of people have undertaken these courses.","For example, its is estimated that based on English class enrolment figures available in October 1993, only "12% of the Indochina Chinese community with low level English language skills have undertaken English language courses" (Migliorino and Chan, 1994: 29).","The current employment crisis in Australia has hit hard those refugees and migrants who lack English skills and who do not know how to access services and so are forced to remain unemployed, or to confine themselves to long-term employment in menial work in factories (Campbell, Fincher and Webber, op.cit.: 190-191).","The Refugee Council of Australia (1993: 46-49) has suggested in a recent paper on refugee unemployment that attempts to improve the employment prospects of refugees will need to involve: (1) improving existing settlement provisions for all entrants of non-English speaking background to Australia, and (2) meeting the special needs arising from the refugee experience.","For this to occur, Australia will need to: (a) recognise refugees as being different from voluntary migrants, (b) develop a consistent policy on the selection of refugee and humanitarian settlers, and (c) take a rational integrated approach to their resettlement.","On a more localised level, Coughlan (1991: 54-55) suggests the development of community-based employment programs which will use the skills of Indochinese refugees that "are not readily useful in Australia" such as family and community farming projects for those refugees with farming skills, or handicraft cooperatives for women and the elderly.","In the United States, such ethno-specific self-sufficiency schemes have brought "enormous benefits", including financial rewards so that refugees are no longer a drain on State welfare.","There are also personal and psychological benefits in such schemes which allow the regaining of self-esteem, and help Indochinese refugees to integrate into their new country.","5.2 Racial Discrimination","Refugee settlers have benefited much from their new life in Australia, but sometimes this can be dimmed by negative reactions from sections of the host society, especially if this is persistent over time.","Although there are incidents of open racism in the form of verbal abuse, indirect discrimination through the media or in employment is more common.","For example, while criminal elements exist among Indochinese as with other communities in Australia, Indochinese offenders are almost always described by local police and the media in the most colourful and racial terms.","A shooting in a restaurant may be described as "gang warfare" when there may be only one gun man.","The presence of Indochinese and other Asians in Australia has frequently aroused debate in certain quarters about threats to social cohesion with an increasing multicultural population.","Illegal gaming by Asian residents, prostitution, gold chain and handbag snatching incidents by half a dozen Asian youth in Cabramatta are often used by the media to taint the whole community, especially the Vietnamese (Waxman, 1993: 94-96).","Statements are often made that Cabramatta is "unsafe" at night, or that the Vietnamese and Asian communities are creating problems in Australia by adding to unemployment, violence, rising real estate prices in some suburbs and declining prices in others, environmental degradation, urban decay, exploitation of the welfare system, crimes and urban decline.","While other migrant groups are urged to take up Australian citizenship, negative criticisms have been levelled at Vietnamese refugees for their high rate of becoming Australian citizens with 71.7% of all Vietnamese living in Australia compared to 61.4% for all overseas born (BIPR, 1991 Vietnam Born Community Profile, p.","14).","For some critics, this has not been a sign of Vietnamese commitment to their new country, but rather another way to exploit Australian social welfare and other benefits.","It is not unusual to find in the Sydney newspapers big headlines like "Terror as Asian Gangs Rule the Streets" (Sun-Herald, 30/5/93), "Chinese, Key to Heroin" (Telegraph-Mirror, 11/12/91), "Bandits Hit Rich Asians" (Sunday Telegraph, 21/3/93), "Crime and Culture in Cabramatta" (Sydney Morning Herald, 27/4/93), "CIB targets Asian rackets" (Perth Sunday Times, 21/2/93), and "Terror Gangs Target Asians" (West Australian, 16/3/93).","This is only a small sample of the most colourful headlines, often on the front page, that any casual visitor to Australia would easily come across.","What is common to these newspaper headlines is their direct mention of the term "Asian" along with the crimes, most invariably referring to Vietnamese in the case of home invasions, despite the fact that people of other ethnic backgrounds may also be involved.","Although Cabramatta is branded by the media as a "crime capital", this has not been evident from national crime and prison statistics.","Francis (1991) in a study of prison statistics between 1947 and 1966 showed that Asian and African-born migrants had much lower criminal rates than migrants from the U.K., Canada and New Zealand.","Figures from the 1986 national prison statistics also show that the Asian-born had a low rate of conviction and incarceration at approximately 1.6 per 100 prisoners.","Jayasuriya and Sang (op.cit.: 11) notes that the aggregate data with regard to almost all the major social indicators such as crime rates, fertility levels, divorce rates, health status and educational performance suggests that there are no significant differences between Asian and other migrant groups in Australia.","What is at issue is the tendency by the mass media to locate Asian criminal activities within the culture and ethnicity of the individual perpetrator while ignoring other major contributing factors in the society at large.","From the standpoint of local Asian residents, the cause of Vietnamese criminal activities does not lie in some cultural explanation but has more to do with the local high unemployment, communication problems, frustration and occupational blockages, structural prejudices, and distrust of the police and legal system due to their high costs or negative personal experiences.","The negative image depicted in the mass media and the political point-scoring on criminal activities in Cabramatta by politicians help to reinforce stereotypes about Indochinese and Asian migrants in Australia in the mind of the community at large.","They have also alienated the Indochinese and Asian communities from the mainstream society by making them feel unwanted or undesirable.","Above all, such negative attitudes make Indochinese question whether their commitment should be to their new country and community at large, or to their local ethnic group.","5.3 Youth and Education","Employment and education are the most important issues for migrant and refugee families: the first is to secure a job that provides an income to meet the basic necessities of life in the family, and the second is to allow one's children "to enjoy a greater range of employment opportunities and a better standard of living than their parents" (Milne and Zelinka, 1991: 5).","Like many first-generation migrants, Indochinese parents hold high hopes that their children will achieve what they cannot: getting a good education in Australia and having a well-paid satisfying job.","Many encourage the love of learning and provide as much support as they know how for their children.","For this reason, Vietnamese parents are sometimes perceived by teachers as pushing their children too hard, although this "push" has paid off well for the few who make it through Year 12 in the top 20 in the State, or who score enough marks to be admitted to universities.","In 1992, for example, six of the top ten High School Certificate students in South western Sydney were Asian, mostly Indochinese (Liverpool Leader, 3 March 1993).","In 1994, two Vietnamese students were on this list.","These success stories, however encouraging, only tell the story of a very small number of achievers when considered in the context of the total student population in the State who are not high performers.","Identified through the language spoken at home, students from the larger Asian communities (Chinese, Indian, Indonesian, Japanese, Khmer, Korean, Lao, Filipino and Vietnamese) in 1990 totalled 36,842 persons or 5% of the overall enrolments in public schools in New South Wales (16,455 or 44.6% being in high schools).","With increased migration from the Asian region, enrolment of Asian students also increase to 48,565 or 6.4% of total student numbers in 1992, of which 21,907 or 45% were in high schools (NSW Department of School Education: Students of Non-English Speaking Background, June 1990 and Mid-Year Census 1992).","Students from smaller Asian communities were included under the "Others" category and cannot thus be identified.","There are also no comparable figures for HSC students, or tertiary enrolments.","Despite this lack of data, it is obvious that there are many Indochinese and Asian students in government schools.","With university and other tertiary entrance now requiring higher entrance scores and the payment of fees, it is possible that many of these students will end up missing out on tertiary education, because they cannot afford to pay these fees or cannot reach the tertiary entrance rank required.","Some will eventually enrol in TAFE courses, but most tend to leave the education system after Year 10 or Year 12.","Indochinese refugee parents often see only university studies as worth pursuing, and often fail to appreciate the value of tertiary courses in TAFE colleges or other specialist tertiary institutions.","This contrasts with their attitudes to studies at the primary and secondary levels with no preference towards any particular institution: the majority are satisfied with having their children in the public school system at these levels.","In general, Vietnamese students achieve more of their educational aspirations than Lao or Cambodian students, due to the importance placed by parents on "hard work, family cohesion and moral rectitude" as central Vietnamese social values (Viviani, Coughlan and Rowland, op.cit.: 38).","On the other hand, there are also many Vietnamese young people who, like their Lao and Cambodian counterparts, cannot cope with the Australian educational system.","Reasons for this include the disrupted education as a result of years of war in the old country and a lack of appropriate support services for parents and students in Australia, especially in relation to conflicts within the family.","Indochinese parents perceive many problems within the educational system in Australia where children are not taught to love and respect their country through the daily saluting of the national flag, to hold certain core moral values which help maintain order in society, and above all to have discipline.","Schools are seen as too free and powerless with students, with too many laws preventing school staff from acting on unruly behaviour by students.","The problem of lack of discipline is one that is of great concern to a great many Indochinese parents who find it impossible to teach their children to have patience and to be persistent in their efforts in the face of "freedom", readily available social security support and many other attractions outside the family home.","A Vietnamese proverb illustrates this point well: "loving a child is to give him discipline, hating a child is to give him sweet words" (Nguyen V H, 1993: 5).","For some parents, attempts at disciplining their children are met with much resistance from the young people themselves, and parents who inflict corporal punishment fear incurring the wrath of various authorities such as doctors, community workers, the school, the police, the courts and the Child Protection Council.","As one father whose three sons had all failed to get into university stated recently, parents have no rights and no hope for their children in this country with so many legal barriers; all parents can do is to feed their children; things like school and work success are a matter of luck when parents are not allowed to discipline their children and when children show little respect for authority figures as they can easily get government support.","Many Indochinese parents are also frustrated by their inability to help with their children's studies, due to their own low level of education, and lack of awareness of their children's schooling needs.","The educational needs of young Indochinese and their family conflicts will be greatly alleviated if parents receive more support and parenting education in their own languages which relates to the Australian setting.","Many Indochinese young people readily adopt Australian social values, but their parents often resist such values or are unaware of them.","Parents have high expectations for their children to succeed in the mainstream society.","However, as put by a Lao refugee, the parents "want their children to take in 50% Australian culture and 50% Laotian culture...","but this is not happening...","the children want to forget about their background" (Yamine, op.cit.: 36).","This has resulted in inter-generation clashes, with some of these young persons dropping out of school, running away or becoming involved in gang activities.","5.4 Access to Services","Generally speaking, all three Indochinese communities in all the States of Australia have been able to establish their own ethno-specific services to meet their welfare, education, religious and cultural needs, and to help their communities to become self-reliant and to integrate into the Australian society.","Thanks to support from local members and to government financial or land grants, many Asian Buddhist groups have also been able to build temples or community centres with matching funds raised within their communities.","There are now four Buddhist temples in Sydney for the Lao community, two for the Cambodians and two for the Vietnamese.","The ethnic Chinese from Indochina have also built two temples which incorporate the worship of Buddha with Chinese ancestral practice.","5.4.1 Government-funded Services","In NSW, most of the ethnic-based community facilities are in the Fairfield local government area where many Indochinese live.","As there is no suitable emergency accommodation, some of the temples have also acted as refuge for a number of young people without family or for the aged who have problem with their married children.","Due to the large number of Indochinese, the NSW Department of Housing under the Local Government and Community Housing Program has so far provided the following grants to the Indochinese communities: $360,000 for an Indochinese women's refuge; $593,000 and land worth $400,000 to build home units for Vietnamese residents; and $667,300 for eight semi-detached cottages for Lao aged (Department of Housing, Annual Report, 1991-92).","In the area of welfare and community services, the Department of Immigration and Ethnic Affairs provided $11 million in 1994-95 for 214.5 grants for ethnic organisations to employ grant-in-aid (GIA) workers in different Australian States, and 93 smaller projects under the Migrant Access Projects Scheme (MAPS) for office equipment or research projects.","Of this number, ten GIA grants were made for services in NSW (two for Indochinese in general, one Lao, two ethnic Chinese from Indochina, three Khmer and two Vietnamese).","The MAPS funding consisted of one in NSW (for Vietnamese), two in Victoria (one for Vietnamese and one for Hmong), three in South Australia (one for Cambodian, one for Indochinese and one for Vietnamese), one in Tasmania (for Vietnamese), and one in the ACT (for Lao).","Annual welfare grants from the NSW Ethnic Affairs Commission to Indochinese organisations totalled fourteen in 1994 and 1994/95 for a total amount of $260,000 out a $3 million grant budget.","Of this number, one was a community development grant to the Indo-China Refugee Association for a family support pilot project, one to the Indochina Chinese Association for an aged project, five to the Lao community (including one capital and two cultural grants), two to the Cambodian community (one capital and one community development), and six to the Vietnamese community - all community development grants for women, youth and general welfare activities (EAC, 1993-94 Annual Report, pp.","102-131).","There are other government funding sources, but the above are the two main funding bodies for Indochinese and other migrants.","Most of these grants, however, are for community development projects while individual settlement assistance (casework) and family support have been given low priority.","Although these two areas have the biggest number of people in need, especially recent arrivals with little English and familiarity with the service system in Australia, the emphasis has been to give seeding grants to projects which address needs at the group and community level and which have a short life expectation of only one to three years.","Specialised direct services are available from mainstream community agencies such as Burnside and Care Force also have services and projects which are aimed at Indochinese in resolving family conflicts or helping the unemployed, the aged, women, sole parents, people suffering from substance abuse, and the disabled.","For these special needs groups, however, services are not always available from their own ethnic organisations which tend to offer more general settlement assistance such as emergency relief, form-filling, information and referrals.","To access the more specialised services, Indochinese families need to be fluent in English or have an interpreter.","Because of language and cultural barriers, many of these specialised services are not always used.","Relatively speaking, Indochinese refugees tend to use their children, relatives and friends to help with family needs, and will only go to seek outside assistance as a last resort, and then mainly with organisations of their own ethnic backgrounds because of language problem.","This means that the few funded Indochinese organisations are hard pressed to serve a large number of clients, especially with the sizeable Vietnamese population.","Funding is often inadequate and services are insufficient, especially in relation to casework.","5.4 Access Difficulties","At the level of their own communities, Indochinese welfare organisations exist to provide services for all settlers from Indochina.","In practice, however, they are mainly accessible to members of the majority groups.","In other words, a Vietnamese or Cambodian welfare agency is used by ethnic Vietnamese or ethnic Khmer, but not ethnic Chinese or other minorities from Vietnam or Cambodia.","This is due to language and cultural barriers between these distinctive groups, particularly with older people who might not have interacted much with the Vietnamese or Cambodian society at large before coming to Australia.","As stated by Phoumindr (1993: 77) in relation to the Lao refugees:",""in terms of access and equity (for minorities within the Indochinese communities), the services provided directly by the Government or funded to the community sector, may not reach them effectively, due to the many complex social layers which exist in the Lao community.","There is no easy solution to the problem, and the problem is not unique to the Lao".","The Hmong from Laos, for instance, lived in the highlands isolated from the lowland majority: only the younger generation had any Lao education and could speak Lao.","Hmong elderly refugees in Australia cannot go to a Lao welfare worker for assistance as they do not speak Lao and will need an interpreter, just as they would do with a mainstream agency.","Because of this and the fear of being ridiculed by untrained workers in a small community, some minority members prefer not to seek formal assistance from a majority agency (Yamine, op.cit.: 25-26 and 30-31).","In the United States, attempts to remedy the situation by appointing multi-lingual workers from Indochinese minorities have not been successful, because the language and ethnic barriers are compounded by social class differences and prejudice.","Members of the majority ethnic Lao or Vietnamese would not lose face by seeking assistance from a Hmong or Chinese from their own country because they regard such a worker as belonging to an inferior minority, and some have not hesitated to make their views known to the funding authorities.","On a broader level, the Lao and Cambodians, being so much smaller in numbers than the Vietnamese, also experience major problems with regard to accessing services and sharing resources being dispensed by government departments which often provide demand-driven rather than need-based services.","This means determining service provisions on the basis of numbers rather than individual needs.","Thus, services that target Indochinese refugees in one broad brush often end up reaching mainly Vietnamese.","For example, Indochinese youth work often concentrate on Vietnamese youth, although Lao and Cambodian young people experience the same needs and are involved in similar offences in Cabramatta.","There are more than Indochinese 15 youth workers in Sydney, but only two of them work with Khmer and Lao youth.","The Lao are characterised by "humbleness, non-aggressiveness and silence in the face of injustice" and these values "serve to bring adverse results to the community when they have to compete in the society at large" (Phoumindr, op.cit.: 77).","The same can be said about the Cambodians, but there is more general awareness of their plight in Australia because of the mass media publicity on the genocide under Pol Pot and the recent "boat people" from Cambodia.","What is of concern is that as pointed out previously, government funded projects tend to be of a policy and community development nature.","Ethnic groups are funded to lobby for more and better services from government and mainstream community agencies, while the latter are funded to support ethnic community workers to be more skilled in their lobbying and policy activities rather being skilled in their own direct service provision.","Examples of funding for such mutual development are Care Force, Indo-China Refugee Association, Burnside and the Cabramatta Community Centre working with Cambodian, Lao and Vietnamese community workers.","The Indochinese refugees who really need direct services and on whose behalf these funded organisations all claim to work are lost and forgotten in the merry-go-round of endless meetings between workers inside the confines of their offices.","While the needs of many refugees have been met through such projects, the settlement problems of others have not always been solved by the myriad of funded workers but by their relatives and the passing of time.","5.5 Housing","In the area of emergency or crisis accommodation for Asian women in Sydney, two refuges were established in 1992, one for Indochinese women set up by the Vietnamese Women's Association, and another for young Asian women under the Cabramatta Community Centre.","Funding was also recently approved for a third Asian women's refuge, again being auspiced by the Vietnamese Women's Association in Liverpool.","The Association is said to deal with at least three domestic violence referrals a week involving Vietnamese women.","Emergency or crisis accommodation often takes up to 3 months to obtain, but this is mostly available to women who experience domestic violence and have been living temporarily in women's refuges.","Many Asian women living in mainstream women's refuges sometimes find the racist treatment they receive from other residents more distressing than the situation they left behind in their own home.","They are, thus, reluctant to use this type of crisis accommodation.","Despite the high need for emergency housing, 1991-92 figures from the NSW Department of Housing revealed that, although 29% of applicants for crisis accommodation were of non-English speaking background, 75% of them were culled out at the first stage compared to 61% of English-speaking background applicants.","In terms of general access to public housing, Federal and State cost-sharing arrangements in housing should mean that government housing is readily available.","However, there is still a long waiting list, which can vary from one State to another.","In New South Wales, the waiting period is at least six years for government in a preferred area and 4 years in any other areas, compared with six months to a year in Victoria and other States.","Refugees are not given no preference as such over other applicants.","The numbers of Indochinese in public housing are not known.","In general, newly arrived refugees apply for housing assistance as soon as they can but are not given any special treatment.","If they meet all the eligibility criteria, they are placed on the waiting list for the area they nominate.","Among the Lao, for example, Coughlan (in press, p.","14) reports that, based on the 1991 census, 44.2% were in rental accommodation, of whom 54% are in government-owned dwellings - giving an overall high 23.2% in government housing.","Many Indochinese are aware of "the poverty trap" brought about by being tenants in government housing (Wulff and Burke, 1993: 23-27).","This is caused by the requirement that employed tenants pay full market rents, but the unemployed only pay about a quarter of the full amount.","This may make some tenants reluctant to obtain employment in order not to pay full rent, and may lock the latter into a cycle of poverty.","For this reason, many Indochinese families have tried to buy their own homes, often in cheaper new estates at the outskirts of Sydney, rather than waiting for or remaining in government housing.","For instance, among the 1991-92 NSW Homefund borrowers, 271 were from Vietnam, 28 Laos, and smaller numbers from other Asian countries (NSW Department of Housing: NSW HomeFund Loans, 1991-92).","According to the 1991 census, the Indochinese home-ownership rate is 13.3% for Vietnamese and 14.7% for the Lao for those who own their homes outright, compared to 41% of the total Australian population.","The rate for those who are purchasing or paying off their houses was: 26.2% for the Lao, 37.2% for the Vietnamese, and between 7% to 70% for the Cambodians (BIPR, Immigration Update, June 1994: 42).","These rates appear low when compared to the Australian average of 68.3%, 90.3% for those born in Italy, and 78.1% for those from Eastern Europe (Hellwig et.","al., 1992: 78).","Most Indochinese refugees have settled here only since the mid-seventies, and have not yet paid off their mortgages or saved enough to buy a house outright.","Asian-born residents in Australia commit 18.6% of their incomes to household purchase payment, second only to the Oceania-born (Ibid.: 42 and 60).","Many of them are known to have been able to discharge their mortgages within 7 years.","This financial outlay has sometimes resulted in households, especially with Vietnamese, undergoing what is called "housing stress" when their wages are in the lowest 40% but they commit more than 30% of their incomes to housing payments (Junankar et al., 1993: 50-51).","Nevertheless, this financial sacrifice, even if the family bread-winner may have to work on two jobs, has meant that some of the refugee families have also sold their first house and are now moving up into their second and better one.","However, most of the more recent arrivals still depend largely on the rental market.","Figures from the 1991 census also indicate that the median size for all family households in Australia is 2.6 persons, 4.2 for the Cambodians and 3.9 for the Lao and Vietnamese (BIPR, Immigrant Families: A Statistical Profile, 1994 : 10).","Given that the average dwelling occupied by Indochinese has 3 bedrooms, accommodation for the Indochinese may be more crowded than the average Australian-born households, with 1.4 person per bedroom for the Cambodian-born, and 1.3 for the Lao and Vietnamese born.","However, according to Coughlan (in press: 15), this does not suggest crowding as a major problem by Australian standards.","In reality, many Indochinese households live in more crowded condition than the Australian norm.","This is because households headed by a person born in Indochina are ten times more likely to have two or more families in them than households with an Australian-born reference person (BIPR, op.cit.: 8).","In 6.0% of all Vietnamese households, more than one in nine persons live in households with eight or more residents (Coughlan and Walsh, op.cit.: 13-14).","5.6 Family Reunion","Like earlier immigrant groups to Australia, Indochinese refugees have sponsored their relatives under the Family Reunion program to join them in Australia.","The Family Reunion program consists of two components: the Preferential Family category and the Concessional Family category.","Preferential Family migration includes a spouse, a fiance, an unmarried dependent child, a parent who meets the "balance of family" test, a child under 18 coming for adoption, an orphaned unmarried relative under 18, a relative capable of helping an Australian resident in special need of assistance, an aged relative dependent on the sponsor, and a last remaining sibling or non-dependent child of the sponsor.","Concessional Family migration includes: a non-dependent child, a parent who does not meet the "balance of family" test, a brother or sister, and a nephew or niece.","In 1988, the Australian Government introduced a tightening of the parent category with the "balance of family test ", followed by further restriction on the spouse/fiancee category because of its potential for exploitation and the tendency for certain migrant groups to marry within their own groups, thus not mixing with the larger community.","The changes have arisen largely as a result of concerns over these issues and the large number of Family Reunion cases during the 1980's, mostly brothers and sisters in the Concessional category.","This leads Birrell (1990: 14-15), for instance, to suggest that unless a more restrictive policy was adopted, Australia would end up with many low or unskilled migrants from Third World countries in Asia and the Middle East.","He argued that Family Reunion migration was like "the chains that bind", because of its snow-balling effects and the large number of siblings common to Third World families.","Once one of these siblings are in Australia, the pioneer settler would sponsor as many of his or her siblings as possible and the spouses of the latter would then in turn sponsor their parents and siblings.","One chain, thus, leads to another, and forever continues.","In response to these concerns, the Australian Government introduced a refundable maintenance guarantee bond of $3,500 for each principal applicant and $1,500 for each adult dependent, a non-refundable health care levy of $822 per sponsored person, together with English class fees for Family and Independent Entrant applicants in 1992, further making it difficult to access the program.","For a family of four, such financial outlay can amount to over $10,000, which is a large amount of money for sponsors, especially former refugees without large incomes or financial assets.","The result is that many refugees will "lose their families twice": once by the separation and need for reunion, and once by the Australian maintenance guarantee bond which many cannot afford to pay (NSW Grant-in-Aid Cooperative, 1992).","Another barrier, introduced on 1 January 1993, was the imposition of the waiting period of 26 weeks before newly arrived migrants can claim Social Security benefits, which means that sponsors who are unable to support their sponsored relatives for 6 months after their arrival will be reluctant to lodge applications for them to come and settle in to Australia, especially during periods of high unemployment.","Despite these restrictions, Indochinese and other Asians place special social meaning on the Concessional category of relatives, and will try to sponsor those willing to come and settle in Australia.","Most parents in Indochina usually have 5 to 7 children and it is often the case that only one or two of these grown-up children live in Australia.","Parents who have less than an equal number or more of their children in Australia are unable then to come to Australia.","These changes in policy appear to have lead to a reduction in the number of family reunion arrivals.","According to BIPR (Immigration Update, June 1994: 22), the overall number for migration arrivals from Vietnam has decreased markedly since the introduction of the assurance of support bond and the health care levy, from 9,592 in 1991-92 to 5,651 in 1992-93 and 5,434 for 1993-94.","When we look at the top 10 source countries of Australian migrants, Hong Kong (with 12,913 in 1991-92 and 6,520 in 1992-93) has overtaken Vietnam since the adoption of these rules for the Family Migration program.","The less developed source countries like Vietnam and Cambodia have been affected by these policy changes which seem to have been based on "anecdotal evidence, poorly interpreted statistics, unjustified expectations of an anti-immigration backlash, and plain fear of being ripped off" (Einspinner, 1994: 4).","MULTICULTURALISM AND INDOCHINESE FAMILIES","At the Federal level, multiculturalism is implemented through the Access and Equity Strategy which seeks "to ensure that equitable access to government programs and services by all members of the Australian community is not impeded by barriers related to language, culture, race or religion" (OMA, 1992: 2).","Its aim is to achieve better services and fairer outcomes from government programs for all Australian residents.","The 1992 Access and Equity Evaluation Report notes that the impact of the Access and Equity Strategy ha been variable for both clients and government departments.","The Strategy had bought about an awareness "among managers and a climate conducive for" changes to occur (Ibid.: 10).","There have been improvements in language, information services and cross-cultural awareness.","Many departments have included access and equity as part of their corporate plan and culture in an attempt to implement the Government's social justice policy, of which the Access and Equity Strategy is one element.","A recent study of the Lao community and multiculturalism in Australia concludes that in the short time span since its formal adoption in 1989, multiculturalism has helped further the promotion and the appreciation of cultural diversity as a national asset by assisting ethnic groups to maintain and share their cultural heritage through government funding and participation in the cultural life of the nation.","It has served to promote tolerance of ethnic differences.","However, it has not been able to reach the grassroots level, particularly with ethnic communities which are ridden with intra-community conflicts as these conflicts have not been prevented through the policy (Phoumindr, op.cit.: 76-77).","How much have Indochinese families benefited from multiculturalism in Australia ? It is difficult to make an evaluation of their overall impact on all the major areas of needs within the Indochinese communities discussed above since there has been no systematic examination of this issue.","The following is an attempt to look at three areas of needs to see if the three objectives of multiculturalism have been reached with Indochinese refugees: language maintenance, government language service, and equal employment opportunity.","6.1 Cultural diversity and Language Maintenance","In the area of cultural maintenance, only 5 of the 166 community managed ethnic schools in New South Wales provide Indochinese language classes in languages other than Chinese.","Many Chinese from Indochina, however, have their own ethnic schools, especially in Western Sydney run by the Indochina Chinese Association or the Australian Chinese and Descendants Mutual Association.","Altogether, Chinese language schools account for 50% of the total number of ethnic schools in NSW, with an enrolment of more than 9,800 students, although only a small percentage of their students are from Indochina.","These ethnic schools have been able to carry on mainly through the dedication of its members, supported by small Federal and State government grants.","The NSW School Education Department also conducts Saturday community language classes in selected areas.","Of the 12 priority languages other than English (LOTE), for example, five are Asian: Mandarin, Indonesian, Japanese, Korean and Vietnamese.","Thus, two of these five languages, Chinese and Vietnamese, cater for the need of the Indochinese.","The NSW goal is that half of the Higher School Certificate students will study an Asian-Pacific language by the year 2000.","Currently, however, few government schools make Asian languages part of the mainstream courses, due to lack of teaching resources and qualified teachers compared to traditional languages such as Italian, German and French.","This has meant that in NSW, for instance, only 1,306 students enrolled in Chinese in Years 7-10 in 1991.","There is no course at this level in Vietnamese, although enrolment for Years 11-12 was 141 for the same year (a 33 per cent increase since 1988).","The introduction of Asian languages, however, reflects Australia's desire to establish closer trade links with the Asian region more than their relevance to the number of speakers living in Australia.","Language maintenance as a means to foster pride in one's cultural heritage and to improve communications across the generations within the family has not been promoted or seen as a priority.","Many schools, thus, continue to offer only French and German "taster" language courses in junior high schools and then report them to be the most "in demand", although overall there has been a decrease in enrolment of 30% and 32% respectively in these two languages from 1988 to 1991.","At present, parents in suburbs with a large number of Asian residents who wish their children to be given locally relevant language studies such as Chinese or Vietnamese are often advised to move their children to areas where these languages are taught instead of waiting for the schools to introduce the new courses.","For this reason, many Asian parents still have to set up and operate their own ethnic schools outside the mainstream school curriculum in order to teach literacy in their own languages to their children, and to maintain their cultural and linguistic heritage.","The problem is that very few ethnic school grants are now given to new groups so that newly arrived groups such as those from the Indian Subcontinent cannot form their own ethnic schools.","Thus, older established communities have more access to government assistance.","Another concern with ethnic schools is the lack of recognition by and linkage with mainstream language studies in high schools.","This results in few ethnic schools with developed curriculum for advanced levels of language studies which could be integrated into courses in public schools; and few students pursuing ethnic school courses beyond their primary school years.","A recent review of the program has made recommendations which will address these issues, but progress in the implementation of these recommendations is very slow and uneven because many ethnic schools depend on volunteers who are not necessarily professional language teachers capable of devising curriculum and linking up with mainstream courses.","The School Education Department also appear to give this very low priority, and will only move at its own pace.","6.2 Social Justice : Access to Language Service","As has been pointed previously, Indochinese and other refugees without proficiency in English face the difficult task of learning English, and having to adapt to a bewildering new socio-linguistic environment.","Among the Vietnamese population of 119,859 persons in 1991, 22.2% of those aged less than 25 reported not speaking English well, while another 2.8% could not speak English at all.","Of those aged 65 and over (3,835 persons), 90.7% spoke English "not well" or "not at all".","For those aged more 25 years, 43.9% reported speaking English "not well" and 12.3% "not at all" (BIPR, 1991 Census Vietnam-born Community Profile, 1994: 32).","To give all residents equity and social justice in government service provisions, both Federal and State governments provide language service to those who need them as a matter of policy.","Many government departments endeavour to use interpreters when necessary.","Many have also translated information materials on their services into Indochinese and other community languages.","At the Federal level, language service is provided mainly through the Translating and Interpreting Service (TIS).","State government agencies provide most of their interpreting and translation services through the Ethnic Affairs Commission and through the employment of multi-lingual staff.","There are also private commercial interpreters and translators which can be engaged on a fee-for-service basis.","This has been a great step forward.","However, some major concerns remain, particularly in regard to access and availability.","Firstly, some languages are not available.","The most readily available languages are those with large number of speakers and users such as Chinese and Vietnamese.","For smaller communities like the Cambodian and the Lao, it is difficult to access interpreting service, especially in an emergency, because there are only casual interpreters in these languages and they are not always available for emergency situations.","This applies to both Federal and State language services.","For Indochinese minorities like the Hmong or the Ngung people, no service is available because of the small demand and the lack of accreditation facility in these languages, thus forcing families to rely on their own members, friends and relatives.","While the problem.","The second area of concern is the impact of government policy on user-pay in relation to State and Commonwealth government language service.","TIS raised almost $3 million from this cost-recovery scheme during 1991-92 (DIEA, Fact Sheet, 12 May 1993).","This figure was expected to increase to $5.7 million in 1992-93 when TIS would be providing services through 2,000 professional interpreters in more than 100 languages and dialects.","Figures from the Ethnic Affairs Commission of New South Wales reveal that the number of translation assignments at its head office has decreased since the user-pay system came into effect, from 7808 in 1989-90 to 5902 in 1990-91, and 5248 in 1991-92 (EAC, Annual Report, 1989-90 : Appendix 10; and 1991-92: 83).","Interpreter assignments, on the other hand, have increased from: 12031 in 1989-90 to 17110 in 1990-91 and 19737 in 1991-92 (Ibid.: 73).","The reason for increased interpreter use is most likely due to increase in demand from the large number of new migrants rather than the fact that service agencies now pay the charges instead of the clients having to do it.","With translations, the clients have to pay themselves and, thus, only have documents translated if they are really essential, thus reducing the number of translating assignments.","Regardless of these interpreter figures, many government agencies still use clients' children, relatives and friends as interpreters because of time and budget constraints,.","This is true in particular in emergency situations with the police or hospitals.","The lack of training on how to obtain interpreters also lead some departmental officers such as DSS and DOCS to ask clients what country they came from rather what language they speak.","The result is much wastage of money, time and resources when a Vietnamese interpreter, for example, is called for a Cantonese-speaking aged person who hardly speak Vietnamese because the latter happen to come from Vietnam.","The interpreter has to be paid for, a new interpreter has to be arranged, and another appointment needs to be made, thus wasting money and the time for both client and staff.","This is one of the major concerns.","To compound the problem further, some interpreters are known to give clients lectures or to make racially based comments on clients from another ethnic background with service providers such as nurses and doctors.","Some service providers are also reluctant to meet the scheduled cost-recovering fees charged for language services.","State government departments such as the Police Service and School Education, for example, receive special language service allocations from State Treasury but may not spend them because of the unpredictable nature of their contacts with clients, the advanced notice required to obtain an interpreters or the amount of paper work involved.","The third problem relates to finding a mechanism to distribute translated information materials so that they reach those who need them most.","The smaller Indochinese groups such as the Lao and Cambodians are already suffering from lack of translated government information, as the decision to translate is usually based on demands and the size of the community.","However, even for the bigger communities with translated materials available, migrant resource centres or their ethnic welfare agencies have been used as the best distribution points, but this only reaches those who go to these organisations.","Even if these materials get to the people, many find them difficult to understand as they contain bureaucratic jargons, or literal translations which are not easy to grasp.","This is especially the case for many elderly Asians who may not be literate in their own languages.","Thus, written translated materials need to be supplemented by verbal information assistance, but this is not always available.","The final concern in language service provision is the lack of coordination between service providers such as TIS/DIEA, the Ethnic Affairs Commission, and the Health Translation Service.","Each of these agencies operate in their own defined areas of jurisdiction.","TIS mainly deals with Federal departments, EAC on State matters, and HTS for hospitals and government health matters only.","There are services areas, especially in private sector, which are not catered for e.g.","doctors.","Clients are often left by some government departments to sort out which language service to call upon for what needs.","Amid this confusion, those who speak little English sometimes give up their quest for professional interpreting service and will use whoever they can find.","It would be of great benefit to them if there was a coordinated approach to information on the subject with the availability of a single pamphlet on all language services, for instance.","6.3 Economic Efficiency: Equal Employment Opportunity","A major component of the Australian Government's multicultural agenda is the promotion of economic efficiency through the maximum use of the skills possessed by the residents of Australia, regardless of their cultural and ethnic backgrounds.","This will allow for fuller participation by migrants and refugees in the labour force.","The question of recognition of overseas qualifications has often been raised in relation to attempts to help new arrivals with foreign training find employment in Australia.","Although refugees are not accepted for resettlement with their occupational skills as a prime consideration, the Australian Government's refugee selection criteria are sufficiently strict to ensure that Indochinese family heads are educated enough in their own countries in order to be able to cope with life in Australia.","For this reason, there are many professionals among the Indochinese refugees, and many Vietnamese have high school and university education.","In Australia, 4.4.% of the Vietnamese described themselves as managers and administrators for the 1991 census, with another 10.9% being professionals and para-professionals.","However, only three are known to occupy prominent managerial positions in the Federal and State public sector.","For Indochinese who are in white-collar jobs, the issues of concern centre around promotion opportunities and work experience.","The effects of EEO legislation has been patchy for many immigrant groups.","Niland and Champion (1990: 28), in their review of EEO programs in New South Wales, had expected to find model programs in the NSW public sector given that equal opportunity plans for staff of non-English speaking background had been mandatory for the last 10 years, but they found few examples.","In the private sector, there were even fewer firms with formal EEO policies and programs for immigrant workers.","The 1990 EEO survey of the NSW public sector by the Office of the Director of Public Employment shows much improvement since 1985, although 12% of female NESB staff and 18.2% of NESB male staff experienced racially based harassment at work (ODEOPE, 1992: 137).","Language accents continue to be cited as a major barrier to promotion for NESB staff (Niland & Champion, op.cit.:108; and Public Service Commission, 1990: 15).","Thus, the skills of many migrants and refugees in Australia remain untapped, due to these personal and structural barriers.","Chapman and Iredale (1992: 379) find that "immigrants with no formal Australian training are treated very similarly to each other in the Australian labour market", regardless of whether a migrant has got a Ph.D.","or dropped out of high school in the old country.","In other words, immigrants are only given some recognition through better jobs and wages after they have obtained additional formal Australian skills.","Stromback et al.","(1992: 15) found that Vietnamese males with good English language skills had "a distinctly lower unemployment rate than groups with lower levels of proficiency" but unemployment rate among Vietnamese women bears no correlation with knowledge of English.","This finding, however, is not reflected in the level of Vietnamese unemployment and English proficiency, as revealed in the 1991 census.","Vietnamese females aged 44 years and over were less proficient in English than males: 47.5% did not speak English at all compared with 20.9% of the men (BIPR, 1991 Census Vietnam-born Community Profile, 1994: 32).","The unemployment rate for all Vietnamese females was 44.9% compared with 36.1% for males, with unmarried females being the highest at 50.7% (Ibid.: 20).","There is, thus, an obvious correlation between English proficiency and unemployment.","The question of language skills aside, Coughlan (1992: 94-101) suggests that Indochinese and other humanitarian entrants have not been as successful in the labour market as other migrant groups, because they suffered disruption to their education and professional careers, and wasted long periods in refugee camps without acquiring useful job skills.","A 1994 study by the Centre for Population and Urban Research at Monash University suggests that recent refugees and migrants have not been able to find employment because of lack of appropriate support and programs which would meet their low skills and need to become proficient in English (Riley, Sydney Morning Herald, 12/9/94, p.","3).","According to the Monash University study, the Australian Government's 1994 White Paper on employment, by focusing on high worker mobility and ongoing retraining, assumes that unemployed people are able to access such retraining programs.","This has also been found to be incorrect in a recent report on retrenched workers' rights by the NSW Ethnic Affairs Commission and the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (1993: 21-36).","Due to language barriers, many Indochinese do not have the ability to retrain, and many are also not aware of retraining schemes available to them.","They are thus likely to become part of the marginalised jobless and ethnically based under classes in Australia.","One solution is to put less stress on retraining and to create more jobs in industries which can be taken up by low-skilled people from non-English speaking background.","Unemployed people find little point in being on one training scheme after another when there are no jobs available.","In summary, the Federal Government's Access and Equity Strategy initiated in 1985 and extended in 1989 as part of the social justice objective still has much ground to cover before Indochinese and other refugees in Australia can have equitable access to government services and the opportunity to participate fully in Australian society.","The 1992 evaluation of the Strategy shows that many barriers still remain, including the unavailability of interpreters, the inappropriate use of interpreters, and the inappropriate use of media for information dissemination.","What is of most concern is that "very few Commonwealth departments collect comprehensive ethnicity data on either their clients or their employees" ( Milne and Zelinka, 1991: iii).","Without such data, appropriate services cannot be planned and delivered to ethnic clients.","In some areas like social security, immigration and settlement services, much confusion prevails due to ever-changing government regulations, making it difficult to keep up-to-date.","OMA (1994) has now published a new guide called "Achieving Access and Equity" to assist government departments implement the Strategy with better outcomes.","Among the new initiative is the promotion of client participation in the policy formulation, design and delivery of government services.","CONCLUSION","The Indochinese are not only refugees who arrived here in traumatic circumstances, but more importantly they are also Asians with their own ethnic division into ethnic Vietnamese, ethnic Chinese, Lao, Khmer, and smaller distinctive minorities.","Viviani (1984: 173-74) notes that these two factors have a crucial bearing on the outcomes of their settlement in Australia.","Despite these concerns, there is no doubt that the majority of Indochinese families have been able to re-establish their lives in Australia, even though they had to wade through many deep waters and strong currents.","Many who came here originally with only themselves and few belongings have bought their own houses, and nearly all possess at least a car, and some families now even have two cars.","In the space of fifteen years, some have moved from working in factories to running small business for themselves.","In the public arena, the Indochinese may not have made much inroad into Australian society, but the Vietnamese have been the first to have entered local government politics in greater numbers than other longer-established Asian groups: there are currently four Vietnamese local councillors across Australia.","Although the Indochinese and other Asians living in Australia are the focus of much negative media attention, this public image will become more positive as their contributions to their new country increase over time.","The first generation, despite higher than average unemployment rates, are at least finding the peace and freedom they had sought in their escape from totalitarian regimes in Indochina.","They are now establishing a new base, albeit at the bottom of the socio-economic ladder, but from this foundation the second generation will be able to enjoy many more job opportunities and a better life style.","In doing this, their families have changed from being predominantly extended to one family households, from a hierarchical autocratic family system to one where there is now more democratic decision-making between husband and wife, parents and children - for many, not without much social and emotional pain.","There is no doubt that living in Australia has considerably reduced the relevance of the traditional family beliefs and functions of the Indochinese.","Mutual cooperation by family members can no longer be expected when they stay together less and spend more time away from each other due to each having different tasks to perform and different work commitments.","Religious beliefs based on Buddhism and Confucianism become less influential, from lack of interest as parents are more absorbed with trying to provide materially for their families than to instil moral values in their children.","Parents are more eager to re-establish themselves in their new country so that their children will have a better life, but this has been at the cost of losing much of their cultural heritage and traditional values.","In addition, the law in Australia gives more equality, freedom and protection to women and children, with the result that traditional Indochinese role expectations of women and children have been adversely affected.","Women no longer have to submit to their father, husband, or brother, as prescribed under Confucianism.","Nevertheless, the Indochinese and their families have been able to re-establish themselves here and are now accepted as part of the mosaic of cultures which comprise Australia today.","This is largely due to the impact of multiculturalism.","It is true that at this stage of the process, multiculturalism still face many challenges.","Many government and mainstream services still lack cultural relevance to ethnic people, and some are not easily accessible to people of non-English speaking background.","This has lead to under-utilisation by groups like Indochinese who in turn set up their own service organisations.","While this will enrich the country with a diversified and culturally sensitive system of service provisions, it may also lead to the marginalisation of ethnic services.","In order to avoid this in the long-term, there needs to be more involvement by local neighbourhood centres and gender-based service providers (Morrissey et al.","(1991: xiii and xiv) so that ethnic organisations are not left to shoulder the responsibilities of look after their own communities by themselves.","Despite this, there are many positive indications that, as a government policy, multiculturalism will assist in the process of integration by Indochinese families into the Australian society, if the policy is nurtured carefully to steer the nation in a creative and rewarding direction.","As Wallace-Crabbe (1992: 6) states, multiculturalism should serve as a vision to blend the diverse cultures of the people together so that they live in harmony as a nation.","Although this is a major challenge it also attests to the tolerance of all Australians for the reality of cultural diversity in this country.","The experience of the Indochinese refugees has largely shown that this vision is being pursued and, to a great extent, achieved despite some shortcomings and resistance from certain quarters of the mainstream community.","REFERENCES","Birrell R.","(1990) The Chains That Bind: Family Reunion Migration to Australia in the 1980s Canberra: AGPS.","(1993a) 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Year of the Family, Sydney: Ethnic Child Care Unit.","Nguyen V H (1993) "Vietnamese Culture and Family Values", paper presented at the Seminar on Vietnamese Culture and Settlement Issues, Bankstown, 25 February.","Nguyen X T (1990) "The Vietnamese Family Moral Code" J.","of Vietnamese Studies, 1(3): 32-36.","NSW IYF Secretariat (1994) Celebrating the International Year of the Family in Your Community - A Handbook Sydney: Social Policy Directorate.","NSW GIA Co-operative (1992) "Losing Your Families Twice " a paper for submission to the Department of Immigration, Local Government and Ethnic Affairs.","Niland C and Champion R (1990) EEO Programs for Immigrants: The Experience of Thirteen Organisations Canberra: AGPS.","Office of the Director of Equal Opportunity in Public Employment (1992) 1990 EEO Survey Report for the New South Wales Public Sector Sydney: ODEOPE.","Office of Multicultural Affairs (1989) Agenda for a Multicultural Australia Canberra: AGPS.","(1992) Access and Equity: Evaluation Summary Canberra: AGPS.","(1994) Diversity Counts ; A Handbook on Ethnicity Data Canberra; AGPS.","(1994) Achieving Access and Equity Canberra: AGPS.","Office of Refugee Resettlement (1987) Report to Congress Washington DC: US Government Printing Office.","On Lien (1993) "Marital Problems in Vietnamese Partners Presenting to a Bilingual Psychiatric Service", J.Vietnamese Studies, 6: 87-93.","Osborne M (1980) "The Indo-Chinese Refugee Situation: a Kampuchean Case Study" in Refugees: the Challenge of the Future Canberra: Academy of the Social Sciences of Australia.","Phoumindr P (1993) "Multiculturalism, Social Control and the Lao Community in Australia" Lao Studies Review 1: 67-77.","Phung Thi Hanh (1979) "The Family in Vietnam and Its Social Life" in Whitmore J K ed An Introduction to Indochinese History, Culture, Language and Life Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.","Poussard W (1981) Today is a Real Day: Indochinese Refugees in Australia Blackburn, Vic: Dove Communications.","Public Service Commission (1990) Maximising Diversity: A Report on the Employment of People of Non-English Speaking Background in the Australian Public Service Canberra: AGPS.","Refuge Council Of Australia (1993) "Refugees and Unemployment", BIPR Bulletin 9: 46- 49.","Storer D (1985) ed.","Ethnic Family Values in Australia Sydney: Prentice-Hall.","Stromback T, Chapman B, Dawkins P and Bushe-Jones S (1992) The Labour Market Experience of Vietnamese, Maltese and Lebanese Immigrants Wollongong: Multicultural Studies Centre.","Subasinha D J (1993) Buddhist Rules for the Laity Taipei: Buddha Educational Foundation.","Tran M V and Holton R (1991) Sadness is Losing Our Country, Happiness is Knowing Peace: Vietnamese Social Mobility in Australia, 1975-1990 Wollongong: Centre for Multicultural Studies.","Tran T H (1988) "In Search of Freedom", J.","Vietnamese Studies 1(1): 55-65.","Viviani N (1980) The Vietnamese in Australia: New Problems in Old Forms Nathan: CSAAR, Griffith University.","(1984) The Long Journey Melbourne: Melbourne University Press.","Coughlan J E and Rowland (1993) Indochinese in Australia: The Issues of Unemployment and Residential Concentration Canberra: AGPS.","Vu K H (1976) "Traditional Vietnamese Culture and Behaviour", Migration Action, III (2-4): 17-19.","Wallace-Crabbe (1992) "The Ethnic Red Herring" in D Goodman, D J O"Hearn and C Wallace-Crabbe eds.","Multicultural Australia: the Challenges of Change Newham, Vic.: Scribe Publications.","Waxman P (1993) "Aggregation is a Distortion of the Facts" J.","of Vietnamese Studies, 6: 94- 107.","Whitaker D P et al (1972) Area Handbook for Laos Washington DC: US Government Printing Office.","Women's Directorate and Ethnic Affairs Commission (1987) Self-Employed or Employee? Sydney: Department of Industrial Relations and Employment.","Wooden M (1991) "The Experience of Refugees in the Australian Labour Market" International Migration Review, pp.","514-535","Wulff M and Burke T (1993) "Public Housing and Poverty Traps" People and Place 1(1): 23- 27.","Yamine and Associates (1994) A Small and Emerging Group: Laotians in New South Wales Bankstown: Indo-China Refugee Association.","Indochinese refugees","http://members.ozemail.com.au/~yeulee/Other/indochinese refugees.html","269.8","22 May 2005");
Page[14]=new Array("Home About Gary History Culture Topical Poems Short stories Submitted Publications","Submitted articles","Multiculturalism in Australia: An Asian Perspective","Contents","1 Historical perspectives","2 Perspectives on Employment","3 Perspectives of Racism","4 Perspectives on Access and Equity","5 Perspectives on Ethno-specific Services and Self-help","6 Perspectives on Immigration and Refugee Intakes","7 Perspectives on the Future","8 References","Multiculturalism in Australia: An Asian Perspective","(Asian-Australian Resource Centre, Sydney, Australia.","Paper submitted to State of the Nation Report (Sydney: Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission, 1994 ))","This article was jointly written by Charles Koo and Gary Yia Lee.","Historical Perspectives","Since the nineteenth century, Asians have been immigrants to Australia.","In 1861, they comprised nearly 3.5% of the Australian population (Price, 1983).","However, with the White Australia Policy, the Asian component of the Australian population had dropped to 0.4%.","This percentage was to remain at a low level until the mid sixties when the barriers against the entry of skilled non-Europeans and part-Europeans (those of mixed descent) was relaxed.","The aim then was to only allow low numbers of middle-class non-Europeans into Australia.","Their numbers were kept small to make them socially invisible and subject to the availability of preferred White immigrant groups (Castles, 1993:56).","The decision of the Whitlam Government in 1973 to remove ethnicity as a condition of entry enabled greater number of migrants of Asian decent to call Australia home.","In a way, it was also a recognition of the economic and political significance of the Asian Pacific region to Australia's future economic and political interests.","In the 1976-77 period, immigrants from Asia grew from 15% of the total intake to 34% of the intake in 1986-87.","While the migratory patterns are related to decolonisation and modernisation, the backgrounds and motivations are not homogenous (Castles, 1993:58).","It ranges from unqualified asylum-seekers from Indochina to highly educated professionals from Singapore, Malaysia, India and Hong Kong.","Today, Asian Australians who migrated to Australia comprise about 4.1% of the Australian population.","2.2% of the population (377,751) come from Southeast Asia, which comprises of, Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.","1.2% of the population (199,288) come from Northeast Asia, which comprises of, China, Hong Kong, Japan, North Korea, South Korea, Macau, Mongolia and Taiwan.","0.7% of the population (110,811) come from Southern Asia, which comprises of, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.","Perspectives on Employment","As a developed country, Australia pulls in highly qualified people from around the world and also low-skilled migrants to service the 'haves'.","This is reflective of the emerging polarisation of the labour markets in the developed world.","As the demand for specialists and those with capital increases, there also exists growing numbers of low-skilled jobs in unregulated and non-unionised sectors of the market in such areas as light manufacturing, retail and catering (Castles,1993:52).","These sectors have limited security of employment and are generally non-unionised and tend to be filled by refugees, NESB migrants and women.","The revival of the garment industry in Western Europe, the USA and Australia is borne on the backs of migrant women whose wages approximate that in Asia and South America (Castles, 1993:53).","The employment pattern of Asian Australians is complex and often contradictory.","For example, the 1986 census shows that women born in Vietnam, Turkey, Yugoslavia and Greece were three to four times more likely to be employed in manufacturing than the average for women in the labour force.","Likewise, in the clothing industry, women born in Vietnam, Turkey, Cyprus and Greece were over-represented by eight to twelve times (Collins, 1988:82-85).","In the early 1980s unemployment went above 10% for the first time in fifty years, the overseas born was about two percentage points above the locally born population (Collins, 1988:163).","In 1987, 36.8% of males and 36.9% of females born in Vietnam were unemployed, compared to 8.1% of males and 8.2% of females born in Australia.","Part of the reason for this laid in the fundamental structural changes going on in the Australian economy with declining numbers of unskilled and semi-skilled jobs available in the manufacturing sector.","As part of this process, there has been an increase in the number of part-time work among women and an increase in the number of 'outworkers' in such industries as textiles, footwear, electronics, packing, food and groceries (Centre for Working Women Co-operative, 1986).","At the other end of the spectrum, there are highly skilled migrants from Asia who are highly represented in managerial, administrative and professional occupations.","Jayasuriya (1990: 12) notes that the percentages of Asian migrants in middle-class white collar jobs is similar to that of Australian and UK born migrants.","The figures from the 1981 and the 1986 data has not altered the occupational structures of the Asian groups as a whole, namely, Asian migrants fall into two main categories, those highly educated and in middle-class occupations and those less highly educated in working-class occupations (Jayasuriya, ibid.).","For the former group, the issues of concern centre around promotion opportunities and the recognition of overseas qualifications and experience.","The effects of EEO legislation has been patchy for many immigrant groups.","Niland and Champion (1990: 28) had expected to find model programs in the NSW public sector given that equal opportunity plans for staff of non-English speaking background have been mandatory for the last 8 to 9 years.","However, they note that there were hardly any examples.","In the private sector, they note that even fewer firms have formal EEO policies and programs for immigrant workers.","In the 1990 EEO survey of the NSW public sector conducted by the Office of the Director of Public Employment, 12% of female NESB staff and 18.2% of NESB male staff experienced racially based harassment at work (ODEOPE, 1992:137).","Accents continue to be cited as a major barrier to promotion for NESB staff (Niland & Champion, op.cit.: 108 and PSC, 1990:15).","Perspectives of Racism","The original intent of post-war immigration policy had been to strengthen the 'British character' of Australia (Castles, 1993:68).","When they arrived, Eastern and Southern Europeans had to overcome considerable hostility and had to prove their economic and cultural worth to the nation.","With the abolition of the White Australia policy in 1973, and with a greater presence of Asian Australians, a variant of the process is being repeated.","While in historical terms it was the yellow and red perils that was external to Australia, in the recent past, the Asian Australia presence had been portrayed by some quarters as a socio-economic takeover and is being blamed for such items as being a threat to social cohesion, unemployment, violence, rising real estate prices in some suburbs and declining prices in other suburbs, environmental degradation, urban decay and exploitation of the welfare system, crime and urban decline.","The presence of Asians in Australia has frequently aroused debate within certain quarters, the more recent ones being the Blainey debate in 1984, the 1986 comments by Mr.","John Howard about threats to social cohesion with an increasing multicultural population.","Research by Jayasuriya notes that the aggregate data with regard to almost all the major social indicators such as crime rates, fertility levels, divorce rates, health status and educational performance suggests that there are no significant differences between Asian Australians and other migrant groups (Jayasuriya, 1990:11).","Fertility rates among Asian Australians range from 1.9 to 2.1 per women, rates similar to Australian-born population (Evans, 1985).","In the educational area, evidence suggests that Asian Australian students are performing well in educational institutions (Bullivant, 1986 and Birrell, 1986).","While one frequently see numerous Asian Australian names in top 100 HSC results, one needs to be cautious in generalising this to all Asian Australian groups or to exclude other possible variables.","For example, Chinese Australian and Vietnamese Australian students seem more likely to achieve their educational aspirations than Lao or Cambodian students.","Reasons for this include the disrupted education as a result of years of war and a lack of support services for parents and students.","Educational success has also generated competitive fears over access over limited educational resources (Jayasuriya, 1990:11).","In the area of criminality, Francis in a study of prison statistics between 1947-66 showed that Asian and African-born migrants had much lower criminal rates than migrants from the U.K., Canada and New Zealand (Francis, 1981).","Figures from the 1986 national prison statistics show that the Asian-born had a low rate of conviction and incarceration at approximately 1.6 per 100 prisoners (Jayasuriya, 1990:11).","In recounting criminal activity by Asian Australians, the emphasis given by the mass media is to locate it within the culture and ethnicity of the individual and not discuss such factors as the local environment, the current economic recession, occupational blockages and structural prejudices.","Criminal elements exist among Asians in Australia as they exist in other communities.","The difference is that Asian offenders are almost always described by local police and the media in the most colourful and racial terms and usually in monolithic terms, for example, headlines like "Terror as Asian Gangs Rule the Streets", "Bandits Hit Rich Asians", "Crime and Culture in Cabramatta".","When these newspapers report on crimes committed by Anglo-Australians, the ethnicity of the offenders are rarely mentioned in the headlines.","On the issue of racist violence against Asian Australians, the National Inquiry into Racist Violence in Australia noted that the intensity of prejudice was influenced by the types of contemporary political debate, the national economic situation and the current media focus (HEROC, 1991:140).","Second or third generation Australians of Asian descent were equally likely to face racism.","There was a reluctance of publicising of anti-Asian sentiment as it leads to greater levels of resentment.","Perspectives on Access and Equity","The 1992 Access and Equity Evaluation Report noted that the impact of the Access and Equity Strategy was variable and on both clients and departments.","The Strategy had bought about a 'consciousness among managers and a climate conducive for them to occur' (OMA,1992:119).","There had been improvements in language, information services and cross-cultural interaction","but barriers still remained.","This included the unavailability of interpreters, the inappropriate use of interpreters, the inappropriate use of the media for information dissemination (OMA, 1993:10).","For Asian Australians with a limited command of English, the most readily available languages are those with a large number of speakers and users such as Chinese and Vietnamese.","For smaller communities like Korean, Urdu, Cambodian, Lao or Thai, it is difficult to access interpreting services, especially in an emergency, because there are no full-time interpreters in these languages.","This applies to both Federal and State language services.","For minorities like the Hmong or the Ngung people, the situation is drastic.","Although government agencies are supposed to arrange interpreters and pay for them, this is not always possible and many clients still rely on children, relatives and friends.","Another problem relates to finding a mechanism to distribute translated materials so that it reaches its targeted audience.","This is especially the case with many elderly Asian Australians who may not be literate in their own languages.","As such, written translated materials need to be supplemented with verbal information.","Another concern in language services is the lack of coordination between service providers such as the Telephone Interpreter Service, the State Ethnic Affairs Commissions or Bureau of Ethnic Affairs and the Health Translation Service.","Each of these agencies operate in their own defined areas of jurisdiction.","This leaves many clients having to sort out which service to call upon and they are often shuffled from one agency to another in search of the right interpreters.","Amid this confusion, many Asian Australians who are not fluent in English give up their quest for services.","Perspectives on Ethno-specific Services and Self-help","Many of the new arrivals have established self-help organisations for mutual support and as a means of channelling their contributions to the host community.","The 1992 Directory of Ethnic Community Organisations in Australia listed no less than 102 Asian community organisations in New South Wales alone, compared to 84 in 1989.","Many other groups are not listed but are known to exist.","Some of the organisations receive government funding while the majority depend on the goodwill of volunteers.","On a nation-wide basis, 18 Asian community organisations were beneficiaries of settlement grants from the Department of Immigration and Ethnic Affairs in 1992-93, ranging in monetary value from $16,000 to $46,000 out of a total grant budget of $3.4 million (DILGEA, Media Release, 14/1/93).","Annual welfare grants from the NSW Ethnic Affairs Commission to Asian organisations totalled 7 in 1989 (worth $57,000) and 6 in 1993 with a monetary value of $66,000 or 6.6% of the total allocation of $1 million (NSW Minister of Ethnic Affairs, Media Release, 27/1/93).","Four Asian Australian groups received 2-3 year Federal grants in 1991 compared to 2 in 1993.","While on the surface, this represents an increase in funding, it is worth remembering that between 1986 and 1992 the number of Asian-born residents in Australia has increased by 40% from 413,187 to 687,850 (Census Applications, Small Area System Comparison 1986-1991, Table 7).","More than 40% of the new arrivals are estimated to have settled in New South Wales, the magnet for new migrants.","In the educational area, 66 of the 166 community managed ethnic schools in New South Wales provide Asian language classes.","Chinese ethnic schools account for 50 per cent of this number with an enrolment of more than 9,800 students.","These ethnic schools have been able to carry on mainly through dedication of its members, supported by small Federal and State government grants.","Much of the current government grants have community development on a high priority while individual assistance (casework) and family support have lower priority, in particular those involving youth problems and family conflicts.","In the area of emergency or crisis accommodation, Asian Australian organisations have also assisted in establishing ethno-specific services.","An example would be the establishment of an Indochinese women's refuge and a young Asian women's refuge in 1992 in Sydney.","The Vietnamese Women's Association in Liverpool, Sydney, deals with at least 3 referrals a week involving women in situations of domestic violence.","The 1991-92 figures from the NSW Department of Housing shows that 29% of applicants for crisis accommodation are of non-English speaking background.","75% of NESB applicants culled out at the first stage of the selection process compared to 61% of English-speaking background applicants.","Asian communities have also obtained grants to set up childcare centres and aged people's homes and matching grants to build temples and community centres.","A number of Asian and mainstream welfare agencies have implemented projects targeting Asian clients in relation to women's health, AIDS education, drug and alcohol education, and employment-related activities.","In the area of accommodation, for example, the NSW Department of Housing under the Local Government and Community Housing Program provided the following matching grants in 1990-92: $360,000 for an Indochinese women's refuge; $593,000 and land worth $400,000 to build home units for Vietnamese residents; and $667,000 for 8 semi-detached cottages for Lao aged in Sydney (NSW Department of Housing, 1992, Appendix 1).","Perspectives on Immigration and Refugee Intakes","Australia, as a signatory to the UN Convention on Refugees (1968), accepts people to come and live on its soil if they satisfy the UN Convention's definition of a refugee, namely: someone who is outside his or her country of origin and is unable or unwilling to return to it, owing to well-founded fear of persecution because of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion.","Those who do not meet the UN Convention definition but who nevertheless had suffered "gross violations of their human rights may be accepted under the Special Humanitarian component.","A third component, called Special Assistance, is aimed at people overseas who have experienced "hardship and suffering" such as being in serious danger in war-like situations and who have close links with Australia.","The number of intakes under this Refugee, Humanitarian and Special Assistance Program is based on quota set each year by DILGEA.","Quota for the program in 1991-92 was 10,000 (actual intake 7,157), 12,000 for 1992-93, and 13,000 for 1993-94 to accommodate the number of displaced persons in former Yugoslavia and Eastern Europe (Media Release, Minister for Immigration and Ethnic Affairs, 26 May 1993).","Of particular relevance to Asian Australians under this program are the Indochinese refugees from Vietnam and Laos and the smaller numbers of "eligible people" from recognised countries in the region such as Sri Lanka, China, Indonesia, and Myanmar.","The number of Asian arrivals under the Refugee, Humanitarian and Special Assistance Program totalled 6,807 for 1989-90 and 3,136 for 1991-92 (BIR, ? :31-32).","Before 1989, most refugees were off-shore applicants, with an average of only 300 on-shore applications a year.","After the Australian Government granted 4 year temporary residence in Australia to Chinese nationals after the Tiananmen Square incident in June 1989, close to 10,000 applicants were received for 1991-92.","This includes more than 300 from "boat people" from Cambodia and China.","Since the system could process only 295 applications to the primary stage ( ? & in what time frame? ), 23,066 people were still left waiting for decisions on their refugee applications at the end of 1991.","Most applicants have to wait 2 or more years before their applications are processed.","Despite an injection of additional funds from $8.7 million in 1991/92 to $25.1 million in 1992/93 and the streamlining of the refugee determination process to reduce the waiting period to 2 months at the primary stage, many thousands of people are still awaiting government decisions on their status.","This is in addition to those who have been granted temporary residence.","The Commonwealth Government has also introduced legislation which cancels "denial of natural justice" as grounds for appeals against official decisions.","It also enacted laws to restrict payment of compensation for detention of boat people or border claimants.","What is most anomalous about the Australian Refugees, Humanitarian and Special Assistance Program is that on-shore refugees with temporary residence status are eligible to work, to use Medicare and to sponsor immediate family members.","(however, if the relationship between a couple breaks down, the sponsored partner is subject to deportation).","They can obtain financial assistance from charity organisations with special funds given by the government, but are not eligible to apply for government housing or Social Security benefits.","In comparison, those in detention centres like the Cambodian "boat people" have to languish in Villawood, Melbourne or Port Hedland because of complex legal process and slow bureaucratic procedures.","If the system is convoluted and takes years to complete the determination process, then border-claimants should not be put in detention centres but released to be in the community like the rest of the on-shore claimants.","Perspectives on the Future","Although much remains to be done under Australia's multicultural policy, many Asians have made much inroads into Australian business, political and professional life.","In the educational area, Asian Australian students are performing well, often gaining a reputation for being high achievers or over-achievers (Bullivant, 1986).","While Asian Australian names are found each year in the top 10 of the Higher School Certificate results, caution is needed when looking at Asian students in general.","There is, for example, a high rate of school drop-out among the Vietnamese, Lao and Cambodian refugee students, largely due to lack of support and the refugee background of the parents.","There are now politicians of Asian background in local governments and in Federal and State Parliaments.","The number of Asian personalities in the entertainment industry, the arts and the media is also increasing.","Despite the exaggerated depiction of Asian criminal activities by the print media, local and national English language newspapers now also carry stories of success on Asian shop-keepers or entrepreneurs (Thomas, 1993: 31-37).","Buddhist pagodas, Hindu temples and Asian churches have been set up in many Australian capital cities, often against much opposition from local residents.","Refugees from Vietnam have "experienced a significant degree of upward mobility between first job and current job in Australia" with the ethnic Chinese more concentrated in manual work and small business than the Vietnamese (Tran and Holton, 1991: 174).","It is expected that this trend will continue for many Asian Australians if opportunities are shared and participation can be made under principles of social justice and equality.","In a sense we have on our doorsteps a very successful model of cultural diversity, given the massive changes in our population profiles in such a short time.","Beyond making economic and cultural contributions, improvement in access and equity will further enable Asian Australians to gain a real sense of Australian identity and to help nurture Australia's cultural diversity for the mutual benefits of all residents and future generations.","As the contributions of Asian Australians increase and evolve over time, the reality of what it is to be an Australian will change, at a point in Australian history when we are all negotiating multiple realities for the future and visions that are inclusive of minority and majority aspirations.","References","Birrell, R.","(1986), The Ethnic Problem in Education, Research Conference, AIMA, AGPS, Canberra.","Bullivant, B.","(1986), Getting a Fair Go : Studies of Socialisation and Perspectives of Discrimination (Canberra: HREOC).","Castles, S.","(1992), The 'New' Migration and Australian Immigration Policy.","In Asians in Australia edited by Inglis C., Gunasekaran S., Sullivan G.","and Wu, C., Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Allen and Unwin, Sydney.","Centre for Working Women Co-operative Limited, Women Outworkers: A Report Documenting Sweated Labour in the 1980s, Footscray.","Collins, J.","(1988), Migrant Hands in a Distant Land, Pluto Press, Sydney.","Evans, M.","(1985), New Blood : A Social Portrait of Australia's Recent Immigrants, RSSS, ANU, Canberra.","Francis, R.","(1981), Migrant Crime in Australia, QUP, St.","Lucia.","Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (1991), Racist Violence, Report of the National Inquiry into Racist Violence in Australia, AGPS, Canberra.","Jayasuriya L.","and Sang D.","(April 1990), Asian Immigration Past and Current Trends, Current Affairs Bulletin.","Niland C.","and Champion R.","(1990), EEO Programs for Immigrants: The Experience of Thirteen of Thirteen Organisations, Bureau of Immigration Research, AGPS, Canberra.","Office of the Director of Equal Opportunity in Public Employment (1992), 1990 EEO Survey Report for the New South Wales Public Sector, ODEOPE, Sydney.","Office of Multicultural Affairs (1993), Access and Equity Evaluation Summary, AGPS, Canberra.","Public Service Commission (1990), Maximising Diversity : A Report on the Employment of People of Non-English Speaking Background in the Australian Public Service, AGPS, Canberra.","Price C.","(1974), The Great White Walls Are Built, ANU Press, Canberra.","Thomas, T.",""Small Buiness, the Vietnamese Way", Business Review Weekly, 15 January 1993: 30-37","Tran, M.","and Holton, R.","Sadness is Losing our Country, Happiness is Knowing Peace: Vietnamese Social Mobility in Australia, 1975-1990 (Canberra: Office of Multicultural Affairs, 1991).","Women's Directorate in NSW, Self-employed or Employee? A Survey of Women in New South Wales doing Paid Work at Home (Sydney: NSW DIRE and EAC, 1987).","Multiculturalism in Australia","http://members.ozemail.com.au/~yeulee/Other/multiculturalism in australia.html","55.5","22 May 2005");
Page[15]=new Array("Home About Gary History Culture Topical Poems Short stories Submitted Publications","Submitted articles","Indochinese refugee families in Australia","Asian settlement and the media in Australia","Multiculturalism in Australia","Hmong textiles of North Vietnam","Indochinese refugee families in Australia","First among the nine priority issues proposed for discussion during the International Year of the Family (IYF) in Australia ...","Asian settlement and the media in Australia","It is not easy to measure or see in a tangible way all the effects of the media on migrant and refugee settlement......","Multiculturalism in Australia","Since the nineteenth century, Asians have been immigrants to Australia.","In 1861, they comprised nearly 3.5% of the Australian population (Price, 1983)......","Hmong textiles of North Vietnam","The Hmong are the eighth largest minority group in Vietnam with a total population of about 600,000......","Submitted articles","http://members.ozemail.com.au/~yeulee/Other/othercontents.html","13.9","22 May 2005");
Page[16]=new Array("Home About Gary History Culture Topical Poems Short stories Submitted Publications","Poems","Lub siab tsis teb","Lub Siab Tsis Teb","(By Gary Yia Lee)","Tsis xav hais tias ntau niaj ntau xyoo tau nrhau tag","Los kuv tseem xav txog koj ua kuv siab tsis kag","Tsis xav tau tias ntau caij ntau xyoo tau nrhau los","Ua cas kuv thiaj tseem nco koj ua hnub ua hmo tos","Tsis paub hais tias yog kuv hlub koj tsis ua siab coob","Tsam no kuv puas yuav nug lub siab tsis txawj thoob","Vim nug lub siab los lub siab teb tsis cuag ncua","Nug lub tsws los lub tsws tsis paub teb kom txua","Yuav ua zaj twg koj thiaj rov tau los rau kuv ntsib","Vim lub caij tsis ua kom wb kev hlub rov los sib pib","Yuav ua li cas koj thiaj yuav hais lus rau kuv hnov","Vim lub caij nyoog ntsiag to tsis ua ib suab ib xov","Yuav hais npaum cas wb kev plees thiaj li nyob ruaj","Kuv nug lub caij los lub caij teb tsis tau kom muaj","Yuav hais li cas thiaj rov pom wb kev hlub kev hluas","Kuv nug npaum twg los lub nyoog tsis teb tsis xyuas","Tej zaum vim wb tau tso kev sib hlub tseg tiag lawm","Nrhiav npaum cas los lub caij nyoog teb tsis tawm","Vim wb tau quas wb kev plees kev raug tiag sis hlo","Rov tshawb li cas los lub caij lub nyoog thiaj ntsiag to","Copyright © 2005","Lub siab tsis teb","http://members.ozemail.com.au/~yeulee/Poems/Lub siab tsis teb.html","12.8","22 May 2005");
Page[17]=new Array("Home About Gary History Culture Topical Poems Short stories Submitted Publications","Poems","Lub siab tsis teb","The lost beloved","To a distant muse","While you sleep","Search for the dream","Time is silent","To our children","Why do you ask","Lub siab tsis teb","Tsis xav hais tias ntau niaj ntau xyoo tau nrhau tag........","The lost beloved","You are born like a young orphaned sparrow........","To a distant muse","You are my inspiration with lofty sights .......","While you sleep","Looking at you sleep in the calm evening......","Search for the dream","Here I am, looking at you, Young, smiling and bright.......","Time is silent","As I was looking at the cold winter rain........","To our children","On a beautiful day you suddenly appear.........","Why do you ask","You ask why I keep wanting your love........","Poems contents","http://members.ozemail.com.au/~yeulee/Poems/poemcontents.html","18","22 May 2005");
Page[18]=new Array("Home About Gary History Culture Topical Poems Short stories Submitted Publications","Poems","Searching for the Dream","Searching for the Dream","(By Gary Yia Lee)","Here I am, looking at you,","Young, smiling and bright","Like the shining summer dew","Drizzling in the morning light.","For one long moment we stare","Two lovers passing in the night","Wishing for the heart to dare","Longing for the soul to fly.","You are kind, you are loving","Together we grow and thrive","Our love is warm and willing","Our hearts are strong and alive","But why the good days do not last","As all too quickly time flies past?","It seems we only meet yesterday","But destiny has its separate way","Once more I stand here alone","Watching the years coming undone","But always my love remains strong","For it’s with you that I belong","But you have left me to wander","When time leaves us asunder","Here I am, searching for love anew","Striving once again to hold onto you","Grasping at the dream one last time","I want to reach for love sublime","Will you give us one more chance","So we can renew life’s lasting dance?","Copyright © 2005","Search for the dream","http://members.ozemail.com.au/~yeulee/Poems/Search for the dream.html","13.4","22 May 2005");
Page[19]=new Array("Home About Gary History Culture Topical Poems Short stories Submitted Publications","Poems","The Lost Beloved","The Lost Beloved","(By Gary Yia Lee)","You are born like a young orphaned sparrow","You want to fly high above the green trees","But your wings are small, and your eyes dewy","You find the going rough and your steps slow","Your mother is too frail to care for you alone","You do not know your father who has long gone","You have no one to lean on when you stall","Only your mother picks you up when you fall","What you will grow up to be, you do not know","You suffer much but you try hard not to show","Yet all through these years you have survived","You are tough and you are fighting to stay alive.","Your young life you spend in a little grass house","Perched on a mountain top covered in misty haze","It’s cold at night as the wind blows through the grass","The house timber is old and the walls have cracks","You have no blankets to cover your small frame","Your clothes are thin and your mattress the same","Your bed is hard, your pillow only a pile of rags","Your shirt is adorn but your pants look like bags","Your women raise every day before dawn to cook","From dawn to dusk, they feed, they work and toil","Your men, they labor, they wait and they look.","Your poor children, they play but only with soil.","Your ancestors, you believe they are in Heaven","But where are they really now, your brethren?","You give them food, you make them offering","But they are quiet, they do not see your suffering.","Some of your people live on strangers’ charity","Wondering how they can ever keep up to form","Yet you are like the lone flower under a canopy","The single palm tree battling in a heavy storm","You want a home, you look for somewhere bright.","You are cold in the shadow, you need some light","You want a tiny patch to wake up on at dawn","Yet you can find little, little to call your own.","Many of your sons have lost their ways, undone.","Your daughters are forgotten, brushed aside, alone","Your elders are confused, with traditions denied","Yet they keep going, for fear they will all soon die.","You have no past, your past is only in your mind","You search for a future, hoping it will be kind","To your men, their wives and their many children.","But they only have the present, a present ill-begotten.","Your traditions are rich, but you have lost many.","You feel scared, you know soon no one will know any.","Your young prefer the odd customs of foreigners","Soon they will to each other become but strangers.","You keep calling everyone to stay together, to unite.","You want the flock unbroken, the doors to shut tight.","But the floods have broken through all your fences","You call for help, but no one comes to your defences.","Where to from here, what can you do, you ask?","Why has God given you such a heavy task?","Are you alone in your struggles and will you survive?","On Reckoning Day, how many of you will arrive?","Before parting, my good people, I want you to know","Sad is my heart, dark is my soul, so filled with sorrow","But so happy, so grateful I am to be part of you","Your love is deep so much like the oceans blue","I thank you for being so welcoming and so true","The world and its unyielding time continue to spin","I want to say: “do not to give up, and never give in","You have the strength that comes from deep within","Keep up your good cause, hang on to your strong will.","Do it, do it and one day your dreams may all be real”.","Copyright © 2005","Lost beloved","http://members.ozemail.com.au/~yeulee/Poems/The lost beloved.html","19.2","22 May 2005");
Page[20]=new Array("Home About Gary History Culture Topical Poems Short stories Submitted Publications","Poems","Time is Silent","Time is Silent","(By Gary Yia Lee)","As I was looking at the cold winter rain","I asked myself many times over again","What was it that made me feel this way.","Where have all my Hmong gone today?","Had my love for them not been that dear","Had my feelings for each not been so clear","That all had to go without saying goodbye","I asked my heart but it too had no reply.","What could I have said so they would stay","Tell me what would make their hearts sway","I ask the time but it did not seem to hear","I ask the past but it pretended not to be near.","God, were you afraid to see your children cry","Perhaps you knew but did not want to say why?","I keep asking the past but it gave me no answer","The past was silent as if it had nothing to offer.","I ask History, but it too remains a mystery","Time says your people left nothing in writing","But the Heart urges me to keep on searching","Will I find you again and be out of this misery?","Copyright © 2005","Time is silent","http://members.ozemail.com.au/~yeulee/Poems/Time is silent.html","12.8","22 May 2005");
Page[21]=new Array("Home About Gary History Culture Topical Poems Short stories Submitted Publications","Poems","To a Distant Muse","To a Distant Muse","(By Gary Yia Lee)","You are my inspiration with lofty sights","And bountiful ideas that caress the soul","And take the mind to new heights,","Giving it strength to be beautiful,","To hear music so soft and so light.","I see you as pure and divine,","For you help bring me the sunshine,","And the smile on your wondrous face","Renders life so much easier to embrace","When you give all without haste.","You are like the wings of life","That make the flying a soaring experience","And the climb easy, without resistance.","You inspire, you give great thoughts","To me where before there well was naught.","Thank you once more for your light","Leading me by the hand along the night","Under your torch beaming from on-high","You help me find the will and the resilience","To carry on in my weary existence.","Copyright © 2005","Distant muse","http://members.ozemail.com.au/~yeulee/Poems/To a distant muse.html","12.3","22 May 2005");
Page[22]=new Array("Home About Gary History Culture Topical Poems Short stories Submitted Publications","Poems","To Our Children","To Our Children","(By Gary Yia Lee)","On a beautiful day you suddenly appear","Knocking gently on our door, you say","“Here we are, coming from far and near.","You are our home, and with you we will stay”","Greeting your smile, quickly we all embrace","“Welcome to your home, your little place”","Your father and mother are so happy","Knowing how we are blessed and lucky","“We will make restful your every day","For you have come such a long way.","We will give you all our love and care","You will get all that we have to share”","You come down from riding on a cloud","To you all, we can now say out loud","“We are never so pleased or proud","Our home, you will become a loving part","Our family you will help make a great start.","Welcome, welcome into our waiting heart”","Copyright © 2005","To our children","http://members.ozemail.com.au/~yeulee/Poems/To our Children.html","12.1","22 May 2005");
Page[23]=new Array("Home About Gary History Culture Topical Poems Short stories Submitted Publications","Poems","While You Sleep","While You Sleep","(By Gary Yia Lee)","Looking at you sleep in the calm evening","I cannot but look back in humility","To the time of our very first meeting","When you were so young yet full of maturity","I took you under my wings and into my arms","I nurtured your youth and you kept me warm","You gave me hopes, you were my red rose","You brought jubilation, you gave life a purpose","We had good times, we had many memories","Of our days spent roaming in the woods","Of times we told each other our life stories","The heart breaks and the joy of childhood","As time passes, our love grows together","Two free spirits holding dear to each other","Our hearts much wiser, our steps bolder","And the good years did not make us older","When I feel the cool breeze of yesterday,","I see the fortunes that came our way","I know your hard work and your devotion","I am grateful, I am filled with elation.","Tonight I am with you and you are with me","Together we will overcome all enmity","Your love will not make my heart empty","I am all you need, you are all that I see","I would not have changed in any way","All that we have shared to this day","Anything we did I’d have done again","Over and over until life’s very end","I am thankful when I look at your tranquil face","I want to hold and keep you in my embrace","Hoping that if there really ever is a next life","You will return and be again my loving wife","Copyright © 2005","While you sleep","http://members.ozemail.com.au/~yeulee/Poems/While you sleep.html","14.1","22 May 2005");
Page[24]=new Array("Home About Gary History Culture Topical Poems Short stories Submitted Publications","Poems","Why do you ask?","Why do you ask?","(By Gary Yia Lee)","You ask why I keep wanting your love","When all you can see is yourself","Young who feel like a little white dove.","And you say that when I hold you so dear","It is too much for you to accept and bear.","No, you can have it all and will get more.","But your modesty will not let you be bold","For what you have let me take and hold","Has given my life all the difference","Thanks to your generous sustenance.","Your sensitivity and wonderful nature","About life and love, young and old,","Men and women, flowers and creatures","Have carried me to a new fold","My body now strong and my mind assured.","I am no longer the humble grass trampled on","By the merciless feet of passers-by,","But a tapestry of life, a string of lullabies,","Red roses tied together by threads of wire","Scented for all and sundry to desire.","So stop wondering why I ask for you.","I seek, I call, I reach out for your fire,","For your innocence and youthful edge,","Your beauty and your knowledge.","Is not that enough why I admire?","Why must you ask what do I see","When I already know you and you me?","I see the splendor of your nights","And the red flames of your dreams.","Is not that enough why I make my plea?","Why is it that you must think","We need to know each other long","Before we can share our destiny","And convey our innermost thinking?","Or converse on a plane we enjoy doing?","I have no other I can do the talking with,","Or enjoy the soaring of my spirit","Trying out somewhere soft for a landing.","I am like the lost swallow looking","For a hollow in the tree to stay the night.","I have flown and looked far and wide.","Now I have found my nest and my furrow","In your expansive tree and your shade.","Won’t you let me dry my feathers,","Put down my wings and rest for the night?","For when the sun shines again tomorrow","I will feel strong and without sorrow.","I will be ready for the day’s new flight","And take you as my heroine and my light.","Can you see now why I want you in my life?","Copyright © 2005","Why do you ask?","http://members.ozemail.com.au/~yeulee/Poems/Why Do You Ask.html","15.4","22 May 2005");
Page[25]=new Array("Home About Gary History Culture Topical Poems Short stories Submitted Publications","Short stories","Summertime at the sea","Summertime at the Sea","A teenage short story first published in The Cranbrookian,","Cranbrook School, May 1968, XLIX (3)","The days were bright and hot; and the sky was blue like the clear water beneath your feet.","When you looked at the dim horizon, you could hardly tell where the sea ended and the sky started.","They were so blue and so big the mere sight of their misty outlines in the distance made you feel unusually small.","When you looked at the beach, it was always packed with people.","Each summer I would often come in my swimming trunks, and stroll along the beach, listening to the sound the waves made against the rocky shore.","Sometimes, I would come with my easel and do some seascape painting at a lonely spot.","One afternoon I saw a girl in a yellow bathing suit sitting on my favourite rock.","She was gazing out to sea; her hair, almost golden by the sunlight, was floating in the sea breeze.","I could not see her face.","Only her delicate features against the huge sky told me of her schoolgirl beauty.","I stared at her; and she turned around, her sun-tanned face looking puzzled.","Then she got up, but slipped and fell over one side of the rock.","I ran down to her and said to myself: “If she is hurt, you will be responsible for everything.” I had expected the worst, because the rock was about seven feet high and beyond the rock was the battling sea.","But she was not hurt at all, except for a small bruise at her elbow.","She was leaning awkwardly with her back against the rough edges of the rock.","And when I asked if she was all right she looked as thought I really scared her.","I wanted to run away and leave her to herself, but a new wave was coming towards us and I felt more helpless.","I did not know what I should do, so I held out my hand to her.","She grasped it.","Then I led her to the dry land.","I said I was sorry, I had not meant to cause her any such accident.","She replied it was nothing, that all was her fault and that I should not worry about it anymore.","I did not know how, but before I realised anything, we were already sitting on the grass and I still held her hand.","I let it go and moved myself a little farther from her.","She looked more beautiful than ever, and I heard myself asking:","“Would you like me to take you home?”","It astonished me that I should have let myself talk to her that way, but she did not show any surprise or anything at all.","She just looked at me and smiled.","Then she said she would not like to bother me, and she added:",""I guess I could go home all right.","It isn’t far from here.","All the same, thank you for the help.”","She glanced up to me and smiled, and I though