ephemeral. /əˈfem(ə)rəl/
adjective
1. lasting for a very short time.
Sài Gòn used to be a place where it fought for its independence from the Japanese and the French. However, it had gone through another war, desperately fighting to retain its independence. The life in Sài Gòn and its people, even during the war, stood their ground and retorted with resilience. Unfortunately and disappointingly, the Americans left South Vietnam to fend for itself. The struggle was not only apparent in South Vietnam, but also the aftermath of the Fall of Saigon in 1975. People who had fled–were now the Boat People. Risking their lives to escape a regime, they took to the open waters and took a leap of faith to find a better life. In a sense, the independence that South Vietnam rightfully earned had been short lived. The love that was once there is no longer alive. Ephemeral. That experience alone can sometimes be unheard because of the trauma it possesses, but subsequently, it is an experience that many refugees and undocumented immigrants go through because of war and bloodshed. In this case, if it was short lived… What was it like back then? What was going on during the fall? What happened when they were seeking refugee on these islands? How did they survive the difficult journey? Special thanks to my dad for helping me translate. And a thank you to Fish Sauce to Ketchup for translations. (Vietnamese is such a hard language to translate to English)
Courtesy of Alexander Phuc Khang Nguyen
