The Star: September 26, 2019

The Star Thursday September 26 2019
22
THEATRE/ARTS
Latest Canterbury news at starnews.co.nz
Miss Saigon brings back war memories
• By Georgia O’Connor-
Harding
IT WAS April 1975 and Vietnam
was in turmoil.
The country’s devastating
war had split Vietnam in half,
inflicting destruction, tragedy
and pain on its people.
With the war coming to an
end and Saigon (now known
as Ho Chi Minh City) on the
verge of collapse, Minh Lengoc,
a tutor at the National Institute
of Agriculture knew he could no
longer stay in the city he called
home.
It is why Dr Lengoc, now 72,
made the risky decision with his
late wife Dung to secretly escape
by air to the island of Guam
with the help of a former United
States GI.
“I made the decision to leave
because it would not have been
very safe for me to stay. We
did not know what they (the
communists) would do to us,”
he said.
Having witnessed first-hand
the devastation of the war, the
opening of the award-winning
musical Miss Saigon this week
will mark a poignant moment
for the Vietnamese Society of
Christchurch spokesman.
As part of the lead-up to the
opening of the musical produced
by Showbiz Christchurch,
Dr Lengoc, who has lived in
Christchurch for 43 years, was
invited to share his story with
the theatre company.
Days before the end of the war,
Dr Lengoc and his wife were
two of 108 South Vietnamese
“adopted” by his wife’s employer,
American John Riordan, of
Citibank Saigon, who organised
the escape for all of his staff and
their relatives.
“He said whoever wants to go
just put their name down and he
organised the exit. Everyone was
to wait until someone knocked
on the door of your house and
you had to leave within a few
minutes. No warning at all,” Dr
Lengoc said.
The day before he was due to
go through with the escape, Dr
Lengoc married his wife at a
wedding registrar so his name
could be added to the list of
relatives seeking to escape the
country.
The couple along with the
other refugees were taken to
a secret location – a house Mr
Riordan was renting – where
they were told to wait to be
BRAVE: Vietnamese Society of Christchurch spokesman Minh Lengoc and his wife Thao
flanked by Miss Saigon performers Marcus Rivera and Tina Bergantinos-Panlilio.
PHOTO: SHOWBIZ CHRISTCHURCH
picked up and taken to Tan Son
Nhut International Airport.
While men between the ages
of 18-45 were drafted to join the
frontline of the South Vietnam
army, Dr Lengoc was exempted
due to the excellent grades he
was achieving while studying
a bachelor degree in animal
science.
Initially, the plan was for the
escapees to flee on a Boeing 727
Mr Riordan had hired from
Hong Kong.
But the pilot who was set to
take the refugees was unable
to obtain permission from the
Vietnamese authorities to land
in Saigon. Dr Lengoc could see
the window of opportunity to
escape was narrowing.
“No one knew how many more
days we would have. Once the
communists took over Saigon,
no planes would be allowed to
leave.”
But Mr Riordan quickly set up
another plan, co-ordinating with
the United States Air Force to
take the refugees to the island of
Guam.
Women and children were
given first priority, while the
men were last to leave.
Knowing the evacuation
would have to be stopped when
the communists took over, the
men had a higher risk of being
trapped in Vietnam. Dr Lengoc
recalls the fear he felt when he
was taken to the airport.
“At the time, the soldiers
understood some people were
leaving the country and were
jealous, we didn’t know how
angry they would be if they
knew we were leaving for the
airport.”
The bus was stopped at least
twice by Vietnam soldiers and
police.
Not knowing what the soldiers
were thinking, Dr Lengoc
contemplated the prospect of
being shot or harmed.
“We all had our head down
so they couldn’t see through the
window. I looked down and John
(Riordan) was saying something
to the soldiers and policeman
and handed over American
dollars and then we were allowed
to leave.”
They were taken to Guam on a
Lockheed C-130 Hercules.
“As soon as the door of the
plane closed I felt so relieved,” he
said.
The refugees stayed at a
naval base in Guam, which was
converted into camp, for 10
days. Due to the United States
immigration laws, the group
was then taken to another army
camp in California.
Dr Lengoc described feeling
very “un-welcomed” and feared
for his safety.
Fortunately before the fall
of Saigon, he was granted a
scholarship in 1970 to study
a post-graduate diploma and
master’s degree in agriculture
and a master’s degree in animal
science at Massey University
in Palmerston North, which he
finished in 1973. During his time
there, Dr Lengoc became friends
with Jim Mann.
Mr Mann became a medical
technologist at Palmerston
North Hospital before he served
in Vietnam with the New
Zealand medical team for a year.
After a call for help, Mr Mann
arranged through the Ministry
of Foreign Affairs and Trade for
Dr Lengoc and his wife to travel
to New Zealand. The couple
stayed with Mr Mann for two
weeks in Palmerston North,
where Dr Lengoc got a job as a
garment presser.
Nine months later, he found
a job teaching at Lincoln
University where he completed
his post-graduate doctoral
degree.
He then went on to work at
biotechnology company, Life
Technologies, for 25 years before
Miss Saigon opens on
Friday and runs until
October 12 at the Isaac
Theatre Royal. To book
tickets go to www.showbiz.
org.nz/miss-saigon
retiring in 2012.
Dr Lengoc remained good
friends with Mr Mann and
visited him every year until he
passed away last month. In 2009
he suffered another great loss
when Mrs Lengoc passed away
following a five-year battle with
bowel cancer. But before she
died, Mrs Lengoc arranged for
her husband to marry one of her
friends, Thao, so he would not be
alone.
The couple were friends with
Thao when while studying at
university. Thao had a boyfriend
at the time, but lost contact with
him following the war and never
married. Before Mrs Lengoc
died, the couple arranged a trip
to Vietnam in 2008 to reunite
with Thao.
It was following the trip, Mrs
Lengoc told her husband: “You
go remarry Thao when I pass
away. Don’t remarry anyone else,
Thao is a good person.”
Dr Lengoc initially declined,
as he was preoccupied with
his wife’s failing health. But
following her death, he travelled
back to Vietnam before
organising for Thao to come to
New Zealand.
“She has been with me
since 2010, we are very happy
together,” Dr Lengoc said.
Dr Lengoc is one of 14 siblings.
Following the war, three of his
brothers who served in the South
Vietnam army were sent to reeducation
camps.
Another sister tried to escape
by boat over the South China
Sea but was never seen again.
His other siblings weren’t in the
army and weren’t harmed.
Having lived the conflict of the
war, what Dr Lengoc appreciates
most about Christchurch is the
friendliness and peacefulness
of the people. When he retired
he established the Vietnamese
Society of Christchurch which
has 363 members.
Dr Lengoc and Thao have been
invited to attend the opening of
Miss Saigon this week.
While he has not seen the
show before, he said what
women endured during the war
is often overlooked and this show
will depict this hardship.
OPENS FRIDAY
A global musical sensation
set in Vietnam during the
‘70s when conflicting
cultures and political
ideologies meet tragically
in one city: Saigon
The
Season
Showbiz Christchurch
PRESENTS
A new production of
Book Now: 0800 842 538 ticketek.co.nz/showbiz
27 Sept-12 Oct
Isaac Theatre Royal