MVSA Exploring the Vietnamese Diaspora
in Hamilton, Ontario
The political and social upheaval in Vietnam during the 1970s led to waves of refugees leaving the country, known as the “Boat People Crisis.” During this time, Canada, guided by its embrace of multiculturalism and open-armed immigration policies, became a welcoming sanctuary for these refugees. Hamilton, Ontario emerged as an embracing environment, welcoming government-sponsored Vietnamese families and fostering a dynamic Vietnamese-Canadian community (Dam & Eyles, 2012).
Like other immigrant groups, Vietnamese-Canadians incorporate lifestyle practices from both Vietnam and Canada to their daily lives, creating a unique cultural identity that bridges their heritage and their new home. This formation of cultural identity is not static but rather a fluid balance between their Vietnamese roots and their Canadian present, resulting in a distinct, evolving Vietnamese-Canadian cultural identity. However, the generational divide in the Vietnamese diaspora means younger members struggle to connect with elders to learn their cultural roots or discuss sensitive topics.
Our Story
We wish to explore the delicate challenges that McMaster Vietnamese students face in staying bound to their cultural roots. For second-generation students, the Vietnamese language often feels like a dream difficult to recall - familiar yet fleeting, its syllables slipping away before they can fully form. The mother tongue, not deeply imparted by immigrant parents navigating a new world. Traditions, like fragments of a fading dream, remain out of reach, their stories quietly escaping the mind in the effort to belong in a new life. Meanwhile, international students may feel a sense of detachment from their homeland, further complicating their cultural identity. In both cases, assimilation into Canadian society often takes precedence. Through these stories, MVSA aims to encourage Vietnamese and non-Vietnamese students alike to reflect on what it means to connect with and embrace their culture—whether it was instilled in childhood or rediscovered in adulthood.
References
Dam, H., & Eyles, J. (2012). Journeys to home and liminal spaces among former refugees: exploring identity and belonging among Vietnamese-Canadians. Przestrzeń Społeczna, 73-101.
Lina Le (she/her)
Lina is a dedicated second-generation Vietnamese Canadian and currently serves as the Vice President External for MVSA. Her family’s experiences, especially growing up with immigrant parents who owned a restaurant business, have shaped her sense of responsibility and connection to Vietnamese culture.
My parents lived off of survival, whereas we're trying to build our own identity.
Q: Can you share how you personally connect to Vietnamese culture? Is it something you feel closely connected to, or is it something you’re rediscovering?
Lina’s connection to Vietnamese culture is centered around the warmth of food, a key element of her upbringing from her family owning a Vietnamese restaurant. When growing up, her family engaged in some Vietnamese traditional events, but primarily focused on building the restaurant. She connected with Vietnamese culture by celebrating Vietnamese holidays with traditional dishes, yet as she got older, Lina found herself drifting from the culture. Realizing this, she is now actively looking to reconnect and rediscover, learning how to prepare Vietnamese dishes so she can preserve these traditions in her future.
Take a look at Lina's family restaurant <3
Q: Have you felt any pressure, either from family or society, to assimilate more into Canadian culture? If so, how has this affected your cultural identity?
Growing up with immigrant parents who ran a family business, Lina often took on extra responsibilities, specifically those that require a strong understanding of English to handle contracts and government paperwork to help her parents whose first language is not English. This responsibility put her in a unique position where she served as a cultural and linguistic bridge for her family, which exposed her to Canadian norms at a young age, shaping her path that helped her “fit into society” and align with her career goals.
Lina has sensed a subtle pressure from her family members, like many immigrant parents, who emphasized how important it is to be stable and successful in Canada. Furthermore, her family sometimes prefers to communicate with her in English, reinforcing a shift towards Canadian culture in their own lives to practice the language. While being well-intentioned, it often meant that her family encouraged her to prioritize work and practical skills over engaging profoundly with Vietnamese language and traditions. Over time, this led to a gap between her daily life and her Vietnamese heritage, however, Lina acknowledges that while she has successfully adapted to Canadian society, she still remains eager to reconnect with her roots.
Q: For second-generation students: Do you feel there are parts of Vietnamese culture that are unfamiliar or inaccessible to you? How does this make you feel?
For Lina, the Vietnamese culture she knows is based on the family memories she holds close but is tinted with a sense of incompleteness. Growing up, her parents prioritized creating and maintaining a stable life in Canada, working hard to secure a future for their children. This dedication meant their household leaned towards a more private, reserved way of celebrating Vietnamese culture. Traditional gatherings—like the big, loud karaoke-filled family parties she imagines happening in other Vietnamese families—were never really part of her experience. Her parents were often preoccupied with the practical aspects of daily life, leaving little time or energy to engage in these social and cultural events.
As a young child, she would attend festivals with her family, but as she got older, these experiences became more distant, leaving her to wonder what it would be like to participate more fully in the culture that many others seem to celebrate so openly. She feels a bittersweet sadness about this gap—she knows her parents' focus on survival and success was out of love, yet she feels a bit removed from a cultural heritage she wishes she knew better.
Q: In what ways has MVSA helped you feel part of a community? Has this sense of community strengthened your cultural identity?
MVSA has played a crucial role in helping her feel part of a community that relates to her experience as a Vietnamese Canadian. Through MVSA, she has found a community of students who are navigating the path of rediscovering Vietnamese culture in ways that feel fitting in their lives.
Growing up in a time where daily life is dominated by social media, Lina makes note that her generation is attempting to connect with their heritage differently than their immigrant parents did. While many in the older generation centered their lives on survival and establishing themselves in Canada, Lina and her peers are prioritizing the building of their identities through cultural connection. She sees this approach reflected in MVSA’s efforts to engage in both the Vietnamese and broader communities. For instance, MVSA’s involvement in large-scale multicultural events like Carassauga fosters connections with the larger Vietnamese and non-Vietnamese Canadian community, and fundraising initiatives that support causes in Vietnam. MVSA’s efforts make Lina feel proud to be part of a group that unites together with a common purpose of sharing their heritage but also building a supportive and culturally enriching environment that embraces being Vietnamese in a Canadian environment.
Being in MVSA for the past 4 years makes Lina feel that her time in it has strengthened her cultural roots. Even though she might not speak Vietnamese everyday, her participation in MVSA has helped her stay closely connected to her heritage and to help spread Vietnamese culture among McMaster university peers.
