Date: Sun 22nd Jan, 2012
Location: Fairfield School of Arts, 19 Harris St, Fairfield.
Last night was a full on event for "Once Upon A Time In Cabramatta" Episode 3 screening. Up to 100 people from all walks of life gathered together despite the busy Lunar New Year celebrations that coincide it. Additional chairs were pulled out to accommodate for late comers who were keen to watch it in the communal space.
This was possibly the only get together of a large number of people to engage in a particular show. Anyone could watch it in the comforts of their own home or stream it off online. But to bring it to the big screens was another feel. It was somewhat cinematic and moreso important because everyone had the opportunity to see a cross section of reactions and post event met that they can also put forth their opinions.
It was also about bringing the stories back to the community and we were lucky enough to have the presence of Heather Oxfam and Katharine Anderson from SBS mingled with the community and heard them out.
Tony Hoang & Joe Le (interviewees) were also present and gave their honest opinions of what they show had done for them and where they are now.
Other people in the audience also chimed in to give their public comments which adds to the community spirit of contribution in voices.
In summary of the three part series, despite what bitter comments the Once Upon A Time in Cabramatta Facebook endured, or its top 2 trending status on twitter, this is a project that has profound community and nation-wide value. People were empowered, provoked, stimulated to think and reflect. Some may have been enraged. Others have cried, smiled and reminscent. Overall, they talked. Amongst themselves, between their peers, watched their show with their families, shared links on facebook. It was never something that went under the radar. This is the power of "storytelling".
Just a quick note, I wanted to thank my team on the night who helped me pull it together; Thuy Ng (Initiator), Adrian Castro (Live broadcast techie), Wendy La (Video person), Quan Tran (Photographer), Danielle Antaki (Set up) and Andy Ko (Technie).
To watch all 3 parts, click below:
Episode I: As thousands of refugees pour into the Sydney suburb of Cabramatta the first Vietnamese community in Australia is born. But it’s not long before problems arise.
The family structure so important in Vietnamese culture has been obliterated by the War. The security of this life gone, young refugees find a sense of belonging through criminal gangs. A lost generation is born onto the streets of Cabramatta.
Australia is simply not ready to cope with this huge influx of refugees and the problems that arrive with them. And as the cracks begin to show on the streets there is a fracturing of political support for multiculturalism at a national level. The future of Cabramatta and the Vietnamese community in Australia appears precarious.
Episode II: The first political assassination in the history of Australia leaves the Vietnamese people of Cabramatta demonised and vilified – the community and the ideals of multiculturalism itself are in tatters.
9.30pm Monday, September 4th, 1994, police are called to a house at 15 Woods Avenue, Cabramatta following reports of gunshots. They discover the body of John Newman, the state MP for Cabramatta, lying in the driveway of his home. He has been shot dead. The Vietnamese already vilified for propping up a criminal culture are now deemed guilty of committing Australia's first political assassination.
Newman’s killing plays into a wider concern that is brewing in Australia, particularly in conservative politics, that Asians are a threat to the social cohesion of a nation. The police hit back with highly orchestrated campaigns to rid Cabramatta’s streets of drugs and crime. There is limited success.
The only real hope is that the community, so vilified and fractured, will somehow find its own way to overcome its problems.
Episode III: As a new millennium beckons, the streets of Cabramatta remain in the dark ages, infested by drugs and crime but slowly the Vietnamese community, so quiet for so long, find their voice.
The 8.04 ‘junkie express’ pulls into Cabramatta train station. By lunchtime at least one thousand users will have arrived. It’s like this everyday. 100 dealers, many teenagers, buzz around the streets. Self made entrepreneurs in a local black market economy of drugs and gangland crime. The police struggle to keep control. It’s 1999 and Cabramatta’s never had it so bad.
Asians and crime are indelibly linked in the minds of many. Political support for multiculturalism is now a distant memory.
The only hope is that the community itself, so vilified and fractured, will somehow finds its own way to overcome its problems. Slowly but surely they do.
A Parliamentary Inquiry is finally forced and for the first time the problems and needs of Cabramatta are met head on.
The Vietnamese, so quite for so long, find their voice. Cabramatta becomes a community transformed. Australia, a continent changed forever.
Location: Fairfield School of Arts, 19 Harris St, Fairfield.
Last night was a full on event for "Once Upon A Time In Cabramatta" Episode 3 screening. Up to 100 people from all walks of life gathered together despite the busy Lunar New Year celebrations that coincide it. Additional chairs were pulled out to accommodate for late comers who were keen to watch it in the communal space.
This was possibly the only get together of a large number of people to engage in a particular show. Anyone could watch it in the comforts of their own home or stream it off online. But to bring it to the big screens was another feel. It was somewhat cinematic and moreso important because everyone had the opportunity to see a cross section of reactions and post event met that they can also put forth their opinions.
It was also about bringing the stories back to the community and we were lucky enough to have the presence of Heather Oxfam and Katharine Anderson from SBS mingled with the community and heard them out.
Tony Hoang & Joe Le (interviewees) were also present and gave their honest opinions of what they show had done for them and where they are now.
Other people in the audience also chimed in to give their public comments which adds to the community spirit of contribution in voices.
In summary of the three part series, despite what bitter comments the Once Upon A Time in Cabramatta Facebook endured, or its top 2 trending status on twitter, this is a project that has profound community and nation-wide value. People were empowered, provoked, stimulated to think and reflect. Some may have been enraged. Others have cried, smiled and reminscent. Overall, they talked. Amongst themselves, between their peers, watched their show with their families, shared links on facebook. It was never something that went under the radar. This is the power of "storytelling".
Just a quick note, I wanted to thank my team on the night who helped me pull it together; Thuy Ng (Initiator), Adrian Castro (Live broadcast techie), Wendy La (Video person), Quan Tran (Photographer), Danielle Antaki (Set up) and Andy Ko (Technie).
To watch all 3 parts, click below:
Episode I: As thousands of refugees pour into the Sydney suburb of Cabramatta the first Vietnamese community in Australia is born. But it’s not long before problems arise.
The family structure so important in Vietnamese culture has been obliterated by the War. The security of this life gone, young refugees find a sense of belonging through criminal gangs. A lost generation is born onto the streets of Cabramatta.
Australia is simply not ready to cope with this huge influx of refugees and the problems that arrive with them. And as the cracks begin to show on the streets there is a fracturing of political support for multiculturalism at a national level. The future of Cabramatta and the Vietnamese community in Australia appears precarious.
Episode II: The first political assassination in the history of Australia leaves the Vietnamese people of Cabramatta demonised and vilified – the community and the ideals of multiculturalism itself are in tatters.
9.30pm Monday, September 4th, 1994, police are called to a house at 15 Woods Avenue, Cabramatta following reports of gunshots. They discover the body of John Newman, the state MP for Cabramatta, lying in the driveway of his home. He has been shot dead. The Vietnamese already vilified for propping up a criminal culture are now deemed guilty of committing Australia's first political assassination.
Newman’s killing plays into a wider concern that is brewing in Australia, particularly in conservative politics, that Asians are a threat to the social cohesion of a nation. The police hit back with highly orchestrated campaigns to rid Cabramatta’s streets of drugs and crime. There is limited success.
The only real hope is that the community, so vilified and fractured, will somehow find its own way to overcome its problems.
Episode III: As a new millennium beckons, the streets of Cabramatta remain in the dark ages, infested by drugs and crime but slowly the Vietnamese community, so quiet for so long, find their voice.
The 8.04 ‘junkie express’ pulls into Cabramatta train station. By lunchtime at least one thousand users will have arrived. It’s like this everyday. 100 dealers, many teenagers, buzz around the streets. Self made entrepreneurs in a local black market economy of drugs and gangland crime. The police struggle to keep control. It’s 1999 and Cabramatta’s never had it so bad.
Asians and crime are indelibly linked in the minds of many. Political support for multiculturalism is now a distant memory.
The only hope is that the community itself, so vilified and fractured, will somehow finds its own way to overcome its problems. Slowly but surely they do.
A Parliamentary Inquiry is finally forced and for the first time the problems and needs of Cabramatta are met head on.
The Vietnamese, so quite for so long, find their voice. Cabramatta becomes a community transformed. Australia, a continent changed forever.
I just finished watching this doco on sbs' iview. Stumbled across your blog when looking up more information about the doco. What an amazing guy thang ngo is and how brave of tony, joe and son, and their families to share their stories.
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