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Published: August 29th 2010
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Together with some friends, we did some more exploring of the Sydney suburb of Cabramatta, which is home to the largest Vietnamese community in Sydney. Cabramatta is located about 30kms south-west of the Sydney CBD.
The primary reason for our return visit to Cabramatta was to show our friends Chung and Ha around as they were keen to see the area they had been told about back in Vietnam. We met them at Cabramatta railway station and took a walk past the Friendship Arch, which is located in the Freedom Plaza. We then headed to a shopping arcade where Terence knew of a good eatery run by a friend’s family. We shared a nice lunch, with a variety of foods and did lots of people watching, as shoppers busied themselves looking at the fruit and vegetables and nearby fish market.
Ha commented that she had never visited Ho Chi Minh City, but now felt like she had made a quick trip to a “small corner of Saigon”. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics about 31% of Cabramatta’s population was born in Vietnam and 34% speak Vietnamese as the main language in their homes. The majority of these folks
come from or are descended from people from the south of Vietnam.
After lunch we took a walk through the flower market area and then along the main street, browsing in the many interesting shops. One of the shops was particularly intriguing as it stocked a lot of votive items for people to burn for their ancestors. You could purchase items such as a cardigan and shirt set, beer cans, money, various food type items, all made from paper or cardboard for burning and sending to your ancestors. We also came across a shop front selling drinks made from crushed sugar cane, which is a very popular and refreshing drink in Vietnam. We all had to have one of these.
After exploring the shops we made our way by car to the Minh Quang Temple, in nearby Canley Vale. This temple was really lovely and well worth a visit. The architecture is very unique for a Sydney suburb, the temple looks like it was uprooted from a city like Hue and then replanted here in Canley Vale. Inside the main temple there are statues depicting the emotions which bind us to this life and hinder our enlightenment, such
as greed, jealousy, lust, etc. At the back of the complex Sunday school lessons were being conducted. The lessons were being given in Vietnamese. We commented that it was great that these people were doing their best to keep this part of their culture alive and well.
One of the caretakers at the temple was only too happy to answer our questions about the building and some of the statues. The statue of the female Buddha with a thousand eyes and hands was particularly interesting. The legend goes that the woman was a princess, her father was very ill and she gave her own hands and eyes to try and help him. She also denounced the royal life and devoted herself to Buddhism. When she became enlightened she was give a thousand eyes and hands.
At the front of the main temple building is a really lovely, happy Buddha statue, carved from one tree trunk. Chung suggested that there are some similarities between this statue and me. I am sure she meant that we are both always smiling?
You can get more information about the temple at their website …
here Ha has now returned to
her home town of Hanoi, we will hopefully get to see her again in the near future. Chung is studying in Sydney for the next year or so and told us that the day was a welcome distraction from her studies. She has been finding the study very demanding, mainly due to the fact that it is all conducted in English, which is her second language. We admire her efforts a great deal.
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anonymous
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Interesting
i have been to Sydney a couple of times, and may in fact visit a 3rd time. It would be interesting to make this trip to this corner of Saigon. Thanks for this blog!