Ways Done in the Past - Hawkins Road Refugee Camp

A Vietnamese refugee camp at 25 Hawkins Road, Sembawang, Singapore was setup almost two decades ago. The Vietnam War - a conflict that lasted from the mid 1950’s - 1975. A conflict that went on for 20 years.

A Forgotten Past – Vietnamese Boat People in Singapore , with credit and thanks to RemSG on this blog about the "Boat People" during the Vietnam War. So many sad stories of these war refugees have been written and posted on the Internet.

A former Vietnamese refugee reader on his blog commented:  "Spore is the most humane. I came back to visit Spore back in 05. It’s hard for Spore to deal with the refugees since Spore had its own problem such as space. Whatever Spore and its citizens did for us we are grateful and I came back to visit Spore just because of this".

Vietnam as an independent, sovereign country today changed the lives of a people in a free world after the war. The Vietnam War was escalated in the 1960s by the former President Lyndon B. Johnson (LBJ).
 

For these Vietnames refugees from St John's island, it was the end of a long wait and the beginning of a new life.  Looking tired but happy, 26 of them landed at South Quay on their way to the airport to board a flight to their new home in France.  The group, the latest to be given the green light to emigrate had their travel papers checked at the Immigration Depot before proceeding to the airport, where they were seen off by the ambassador Mr Jacques Gasseau.  The refugees said they were looking forward to settling down happily in France.  (Description edited by NAS.  Date:  22/07/1975).

The latest country profile of Vietnam at UNdata for more information.

Source credit from the National Archive of America with acknowledgement and thanks, also viewed directly here .

Please watch the thought-provocative interview of former Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew. in 1967.  Was  his personal insight and frank worldviews expressed  45 years ago about the Vietnam War to meet the press on NBC still valid?

National Archives - Interview with Lee Kuan Yew in 1967 - National Security Council. This film is footage of an interview in which the Prime Minister of Singapore spoke on the Vietnam War and the problems of Southeast Asia.