VHM_0055

This model of a refugee boat gifted to the donor's husband in 1984 by a group of Vietnamese refugees who had interviewed with him for resettlement in the United States at Pulau Bidong refugee camp in August 1977. They had been interned by the Malaysian government on the island of Pulau Bidong off the coast of the eastern state of Tengganu. The boat is a model of, and is named for the fishing boat they used to flee Vietnam the year before ("MH2467"). This group of Vietnamese boat refugees made it from pieces of wooden crates originally used to transport vegetables and fruits (gỗ thùng rau) to the island, preserving a tangible memory of their journey and how they arrived.