source: own picture
Charlie Tremendous Jones once said, “You will be the same person in five years except for the people you meet and books you read”. Reflecting on what he said, there is no doubt that The Happiest Refugee by Anh will become one of the most changing and influential books in your life.
This book is filled with an inspiring story that portrays the journey of a refugee from Vietnam that seeks a better life and eventually becomes a successful and prominent Australian comedian.
Not only an inspiring story, but this masterpiece is also a motivational book as Anh Do, the author as well as the main character depicts the hardships he had encountered and how he patiently strives his best to gain a secure and steady life. There is a myriad number of lessons we can learn throughout this story.
The very first lesson we can learn is to not give up regardless of how hard life treat you. At the beginning of this book, he narrates the story of his family that flew after the Vietnam war (1954-1957) upon a leaky boat that’s rarely attacked by pirates. They have frequently faced some occasions where they suffer from hunger, dehydration, and disease as they drifted for days.
Even though all these matters they have experienced have desperately made them distraught, their determination to get a better life in a country they have dreamed of will not cripple them just then. Furthermore, the next lesson this book teaches us is to study properly.
Anh is depicted as a savvy boy that goes to a private school with 50% off school fees from a scholarship. However, the rest amount his mum needs to pay isn’t a trivial matter, and left his mum, the only figure who raise Anh struggling. This made Anh feel guilty as he often witnesses his mum sacrifice her sleep to saw garments the whole night to get extra cash.
There is one moment where Anh Do ask if he could just move to public school to lessen his mum’s burden to pay an excessive amount for educational institution. However, his mum insists and says “You’re doing well, son. Just a couple more years and you will have the marks to choose a profession that you’ll love, and you will not have to do a crappy job like me” (page 84).
The reason why his mum says that is because she wants Anh to get the best education, chance in the best school and shoot for as many opportunities as Anh like. She simply doesn’t want her son to end up having a life like hers, since she truly knew how hard life has been treating her for the past years. For her, she would do anything to provide all facilities she could, even if that means sacrificing her own life. Considerate Hien Do.
From the book named The Happiest Refugee, I can tell that Anh Do's parents' hard work left me mesmerized. They both have an enormous impact and become good role models for Anh do itself.
His mum has successfully taught the readers that nothing is impossible as long as you have effort and strong intention to make your expectation comes true. Anh’s mum always have a mammoth dream for three children that she raised by herself in Australia.
She hopes that all her children in the future will grow and become strong figures that can live the best and gain opportunities that she was not able to have back then in Vietnam. It’s a tough and highly tiring job for Anh Do’s mum to make a living for 3 children by herself when she just moved from Vietnam and have no idea about a stable job in Australia. This had sweetened, struggled, and worked herself to the bone.
Moreover, it also surprised me that regardless of how incredibly tough Anh mum's circumstance is, she still constantly helps people who are in need. It was stated within the story that her mum gives free rent to a stranger refugee she just met that have nowhere to stay.
At first Anh Do wasn’t agree with her mum's decision but she keeps insisting and tell Anh Do that those people remain herself from the old days when she was new to this land.
She will let those people live in the house until they eventually find a proper job and house. The second role model to look up to in this book is Anh Do’s father. Anh do’s father isn’t a perfect depiction of a father since there was a moment when he just went missing for an unknown reason, leaving Anh Do, his 2 little brothers, and his mum itself in Australia.
However, sometimes life just drives you to unexpected moments and at the end of the day, if they are meant for you, they will there for you. Same just like that, not long after Anh Do getting marry, his dad just shows up and all Anh Do can do is forgive him cause after all he is still his father. It doesn’t take forever for Anh Do to get well with his father again, and when Anh Do encounter some dilemma as a young adult, his father was there to give advice and stand with him.
From what I learned from this story, Anh do’s father is a really wise man that we can tell just from what he said that he has been through many hard occasions. Here are some words of wisdom Anh’s dad gave when Anh Do hit the rock bottom in his phase of life. You always have to make decisions in your life, Anh. And don’t kid yourself, when you don’t decide, it’s a decision.”
“When you know it is right for you, but it scares you, it means you have the most to gain from doing it.” Those words have shaped Anh and woke him up to a better personality Anh is. It made him value how precious time is and realize him as well that not everything has a second chance. Through it all, The Happiest Refugee by Anh Do is a must-book to read.
