SPEECH TO VIETNAMESE AMERICAN VALEDICTORIANS AND SALUTATORIANS IN THE HOUSTON METROPOLITAN AREA, 2011

NOBLESSE OBLIGE AND THE STORY OF LORD TRAN HUNG DAO'S ELEPHANT

NOTE:  Law professor and U.S. Fulbright Scholar Wendy Nicole Duong (Nhu-Nguyen) gave the keynote speech to honor Vietnamese American valedictorians and salutatorians in the Houston Area, 2011.  Professor Duong told her story about the bonds she has with her parents, and recounted the tale her father had told her about the elephant of 
Lord Tran Hung Dao...

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Distinguished guests, parents and the graduates:

Thanks for having me here today, a very meaningful occasion for me. I want to start by telling you my personal story.  In 1972, in Vietnam, I was 13 and wrote an essay about my dreams. I wanted to go abroad to tell people about the beauty of the Vietnamese culture. My homeroom teacher made me stand before the whole class to defend my dreams because she thought the girl was just too ambitious for her own good.  Little did I know then that only 3 years later, under very sad circumstances I did go abroad.  I was on a cargo plane for a one-way trip, definitely not as a cultural ambassador, but as a refugee. 
Came the fall of 1980, I was working full time for the Houston Independent School District and going to law school at night. There was no Vietnamese at U of H law school then.  Five years earlier, in 1975, roughly speaking, only U.S. citizens could attend law school in Texas.  On the first day of the semester, I received a call from Memorial hospital.  That day, my mother had gone to the hospital for a test.  Like many Vietnamese mothers, she went by herself and did not tell anyone.  (In 1975, like many Vietnamese parents, my mother, a small woman of 85 pounds and a former schoolteacher, worked in a factory to support all of us.)
Her medical test in 1980 led immediately to a major operation, because my mothers had signed all the consent papers by herself. When they called me, she was in intensive care.  I was 21.  That night, after the first class meeting, I went to the hospital and slept on the floor next to my mother’s recovery bed, my law textbook was my pillow.  The following day, I met with my mother’s surgeon and then her treating physician.  They told me that since my mother’s illness was in the 3d of the 4 stages, the chance of survival was 25%.  That was how life was for my 4 years of law school as an evening student working full time.
Many, many years later, my mother was on Harvard Yard to attend my graduation for my post JD degree.  I stayed in the cheap dorm, no air conditioning, but I booked her room at the Sheraton Commodore in Boston.  She complained: What a waste of money! She said.

I told you this story because today is not only your day, but it is also the day to celebrate your relationship with your parents. Family values to me are the same as the bond to your home culture.  Studies have shown that truly bilingual children do better academically, even if some of them may be economically or socially disadvantaged. This is due to the positive and stimulating aspects of a multicultural, multilingual environment. Studies have also shown that in America, ethnic communities that hold on to the positives of their heritage come out stronger, more independent, more successful. Today, we celebrate that spirit of diversity, through all of you.

As Vietnamese, we all have sad stories to tell: our past sufferings, losses, and hardship.  So in many ways we are the lucky ones. But today is not about luck. It’s not about what’s been handed to you on a golden platter. There is no element of  luck in making all As or a 4.0 GPA. Those are not given. They are earned.  Today is all about what your hard work.  Today is about the fruit and the flower that immigrant parents have planted when they work so hard to put food on the table and to invest in the education of their children.  You are the proof of that fruit and that flower.  Today is the recognition given by your home culture, just like the love given to, and by your family. The gesture may be modest, even confusing, but it is the foundation for everything else.

But today is just the beginning.  If being the top was hard yesterday, then tomorrow will not be easier. Tomorrow is college, then more college, perhaps, then the world of work, a career.  Along the way, you may find injustice, disappointment, even role reversal – you become the caretaker of your parents, for example.  The home culture is there as the intangible that gives you strength, even if at times you may not feel like that.  

But, in all of your achievements, there is still “luck” when you think of those who never made it to shore.  In the dictionary of the American popular culture, there is now a definition for Vietnamese Boat People.  That definition is America’s collective recognition of our presence.  We are either boat people, plane people, or foot people. In each journey, there is a painful story to remember, and pass on. There is pride to assert.  For example, Pulitzer Prize winner Robert Olen Butler said that my book is the voice of one of the most successful immigrant groups in America.  That’s what this famous contemporary writer thinks of us. You are proof of our success.    

But the standard of success must be defined by you, and not by an external world.  This is called freedom of choice, the essence of the American ideals.  It is hard in the Asian values to let our children go in search of their own dreams and make their own mistakes.  For the graduates, the family bond also means meeting parental expectations. These are complex issues as our culture blends with the larger society. In that regard, I want to say this:

Cultural conflicts may never be resolved, but in defining success, please think of the less fortunate.  Please think of the losses that we have endured individually and as a culture.  I want to speak of a phrase that has made its way from French to English.  It’s called noblesse oblige. It’s about a self-imposed duty that those who have achieved, like you, will undertake for the public good.  It’s embedded in President Kennedy’s famous saying: Ask not what your country can do for you, but ask what you can do for your country.  As the top students of your school, in defining the goal for your success, please add to it:  this sense of noblesse oblige.  Ask yourself what you can do for the less fortunate.     

After decades of living in America and working so hard, I have not become…Bill Gates!  Perhaps you can.  I am asking you to dream past today’s success.  About dreams:  Remember Dr. Martin Luther King’s famous speech: I have a dream – his dream was about a world where men and women are not judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.  Dr. King, too, was speaking of noblesse oblige.

So, in closing, I want to tell you another personal story.  This time, it’s about my father.

A former school teacher, he is now in his late 70s. Lately, he kept telling me the story of Lord Tran’s elephant.  Lord Tran was the Vietnamese historical figure who defeated Khan’s army in the 15^th century.  Lord Tran’s elephant died on the way to combat.  Before the animal died, it looked at Lord Tran, lowered its head, and teared.  Lord Tran took the opportunity to draw his sword, pointed at the sun, and told his army that even the elephant, an animal, had a sense of noblesse oblige.  Surely, after that, the motivation was so high, and the spirit so strong, that Lord Tran’s army delivered complete victory.  Listening to this story, I renewed my bond with my father, because I understood the old Vietnamese immigrant who understood the story of Lord Tran’s elephant.

In a way, I think I have achieved the dreams that I wrote about in 1972.  As the self-made woman who alone straddled two cultures to write my own definition of success, I consider it one of the most meaningful although poignant moments of my life when I knew I understood my father’s love and pride in his home culture.  With that understanding, I think I have become the bridge between cultures and generations.  I have become that story teller who, in my modest way, can translate the beauty of our home culture as we stand here in America the Beautiful. That beauty – the beauty of Vietnam brought to one beautiful America --  is what I consider to be the source of strength for all of you to reach your fullest potential and to write your own definition of success in the days and years ahead.    

Kinh thua quy vi phu huynh:

--toi da ke cho cac em nghe tam guong cao ca cua me toi khi ba, mot phu nu yeu duoi truoc kia la nha giao, da dung suot ngay lam viec trong xuong tho de nuoi chong con an hoc trong nhung ngay dau den Hoa Ky.

--toi da ke cau chuyen cua chinh toi: con gai dau long trong mot gia dinh dam bac, da chien dau voi nghich canh rat nhieu trong duong da`i hoc van va cong danh o nuoc My. 

--toi da ke cau chuyen cua bo toi, mot nha giao nguoi Viet Nam. Khi tuoi xe chieu ong da say sua ke cho con gai lon cua minh nghe ve guong hy sinh cua con voi theo hau duc Tran Hung Dao khi ngai xuat quan ra tran. 

[doan nay, sau ngay doc bai dien van, dien gia da viet ro them cho doc gia nguoi Viet cua bon bao, the theo loi yeu cau cua than phu]    

Sau mot ngay duong bo, den bai dam lay truoc khi vao song Bach Dang, con voi vo phuoc da sa lay truoc khi tran chien bat dau. Quan si xuong tinh than vo cung, va duc thanh Tran bat buoc phai bo con voi trung thanh cua minh de mot minh tien quan. Con voi hieu duoc quyet dinh cua chu, da phuc xuong truoc Dai Vuong, nho nuoc mat va cui dau sat xuong da^`m lay de san sang chiu chet cho ngai thanh than buoc di.  Duc thanh Tran da tuot guom thieng, chi ve phia mat troi. Duoi anh ta duong thanh kiem long lanh nhu menh lenh tu Troi ban xuong. Ngai da sang sa?ng noi rang: den con voi kia con biet y nghia cua chu “nghia vu” ma trung thanh chiu chet voi chung ta, thi ngay nay, neu khong thang tran nay, quyet khong quay tro ve con duong hay khuc song nay nua.” 

Qua nhu loi Hung Dao Dai Vuong da khich le tinh than binh si bang cach tuot guom duoi anh ta duong, noi len menh lenh va loi the, tran Bach Dang dem ve toan thang, va cau chuyen ve su hy sinh cua con voi da tro thanh bieu tuong cho suc manh tinh than cua nguoi Viet.

--Toi cung da nhac den loi cua co tong thong Kennedy noi ve nghia vu cua nguoi dan My, va giac mo cua Muc Su Martin Luther King trong cuoc tranh dau dan quyen cho quoc gia nay. La nguoi ti nan, chung ta phai tro tranh nhung cong dan tot cho nuoc My.  Cai tot that su chu khong phai la cai tot cua vo be ngoai gia hieu, boi vi, “Tien Hoc Le, Hau Hoc Van,” thi chu Le tien quyet cua hoc va^’n phai la “CAI LE CUA TAM CAN.” 

Neu khong co cuoc tranh dau cho dan quyen da mang den nhung cai cach trong long nuoc My, thi nguoi ty nan chung ta da khong co duoc nhung co hoi de tien than trong doi song Hoa Ky ngay hom nay. Cuoc chien dau cho dan quyen ay chinh chung ta va con chau chung ta phai tiep tuc bang cach co gang thuong yeu, bao ve nhan tai,  va bao ve lan nhau thay vi chia re.

Toi da nhac cho cac em nho y nghia cua ngay hom nay: nhung co gang vuot buc do chinh cac em lam ra, va su hy sinh cua gia dinh va bo me trong van hoa cao dep cua VN da va se tro thanh can ban cho su thanh cong cua cac em.

Toi da nhac cac em rang tieu chuan thanh cong phai la do chinh cac em dat lay. Do moi la y nghia cua chu “tu do” ma chung ta mong co duoc trong cuoc hanh trinh cua nguoi di dan. Cac bac cha me cua A Dong se phai du`ng tinh thuong yeu vi tha de huong dan cac em, dong thoi ton trong giac mo cua cac em trong quyet dinh tuong lai.

Toi da nhac cac em dung tu man, vi hom nay chi la ngay bat dau.  Tren con duong truoc mat, toi xin cac em mot dieu:  trong khi theo duoi cong danh va giac mong Hoa Ky, xin luon nho den tinh yeu thuong gia dinh va nguon coi, vi do la suc manh chung cua chung ta. Cung xin nho den nhung nguoi kem may man hon minh.  Chu “thuyen nhan VN” da duoc dinh nghia trong tu dien van hoa pho thong cua Hoa Ky, noi len su co mat cua tat ca chung ta, du di bang thuyen, bang may may, hay duong bo.  Moi chuyen di la mot kinh nghiem song can nhac mai cho the he tuong lai.

Toi cung da chia xe voi cac em y niem thanh cong cua chinh ban than minh.  Sau bao thap nien sinh song o My, toi da khong di theo guong nha ty phu Bill Gates.  Vay ma niem vui lon lao trong doi cua toi la ngay toi hieu tam long va cau chuyen ma bo toi da ke cho toi nghe ve con voi cua Duc Thanh Tran Hung Dao.   Va toi biet rang minh da dat duoc phan nao nhung giac mo cua ngay con di hoc o  VN:  hinh nhu toi da tro thanh nhip cau giua cac the he,  giua hai nen van hoa, vi toi da thong hieu tham thia duoc y nghia trung hieu, cau chuyen con voi cua duc THD, de gop phan dem mot chut cai dep cua van hoa VN ve suc manh tinh than cua nguoi Viet vao long nuoc My, va de toi co the bao toan va ghi lai tam long vua bo toi…

…mot nguoi tri thuc di dan den tu Viet Nam.

Xin cam on quy vi.

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