Other side of a model community

Re “Seeking a son gone silent,” Column One, Dec. 19

This article really hit home with me. I could well be that man in the article. I escaped Vietnam in 1981 when I was 15, without my parents. I understand the heartache and homesickness of a young boy pining for home. I can understand why he got to where he was.

I was luckier than many others to have parents who instilled in me the love of learning and to have met people who showed compassion and concern for me and helped me.

Too often, the Vietnamese community is praised as the model community in which all people are faced with adversity and language barriers and yet come out victorious as successful doctors, lawyers and business people.

Unwittingly, because the Vietnamese are supposed have a model community, the government also may have ignored the plight of those not so successful. Many people still think of mental illness as shameful. I know exactly what the man was saying when he told his own mother: “Why would [she] want to hug a homeless man? Wouldn’t you be ashamed? I am nobody.” For years, I had that same fear -- that I would be a nobody and bring shame on my family. I am sure many young Vietnamese have the same fear. My thoughts and prayers are with the mother and her son today.

THANH VINCENT

HOANG MD

Riverside