Ton That Thien. Wayne Cuddington / The Ottawa Citizen
By Lan Ton
Ton That Thien
Born: 1924 in Hue, Vietnam
Died: Oct. 3, 2014 at his home in Ottawa
In 1975, like thousands of other Vietnamese, my family had to flee communism and leave Viet Nam with only the clothes on our back. We had family in many countries, but my father opted for Canada, a country he knew would offer a warm welcome to refugees, along with freedom and democracy.
My father had never considered leaving Vietnam throughout the years of war, except for study purposes, but in 1975 the Vietnam he knew and loved had left him. The communist regime was an alien culture to the traditions and values that the “old” Vietnam had developed over thousands of years. In a communist Vietnam he would instantly lose his freedom of expression, which he valued more than anything. If his political views had not endangered him in the new regime, then the inability to express his views surely would have killed him. Canada gave him that freedom.
