78-11-B7
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A Refugee Success Story
TranscriptMillions of immigrants have arrived in America believing that with hard work and fair dealing they can build a decent life for themselves. Among the latest to prove it is a Vietnamese named Nguyen Huy Han. I'll be right back. Five years ago, Nguyen Huy Han held a very important position. He was Director of Taxation for all of South Vietnam, one of the top administrative posts in his country. But with the fall of South Vietnam to the communists, Nguyen Huy Han fled to America, determined to build a new life for himself in a strange land. He settled in Pontiac Michigan and opened an unusual restaurant. It's called the West East Ethnic Restaurant and in addition to Vietnamese and American dishes, he offers such extras as Mexican enchiladas and Indian curry. His customers like it. In fact, they like it so much that he now has more than fifteen hundred of them as regulars. One reason they like it is that Nguyen Huy Han has instituted what may be the only customer profit sharing plan in the restaurant business. In 1977 Mr. Han had a good year. He decided that his steady customers should share in his rewards, so after putting aside reserves for emergencies and giving himself a reasonable return on labor and capital, Han allocated ten thousand dollars for the people who are responsible for his good fortune, his customers. Every time his steady customers pay for a meal, the cashier credits a running account kept by a customer number. At the end of the year, customers get a patronage refund amounting to as much as twenty percent of the amount they've paid for meals. Mr. Han's customers naturally appreciate the rebate in addition to the good food, but there's more to it than that. Americans can't help but admire and respect a man forced out of his native land who starts over again and works so hard to become an independent and responsible citizen in a new country. His customers know that Mr. Han lives with a sister an 84-year old mother and three nephews more than a mile from the restaurant. They know he walks back and forth to work every day of the week and spends 15 hours a day making his restaurant a success. They admire that kind of spirit. Mr. Han may be unusual in Pontiac, Michigan but his story is typical of many in California where many Asian refugees have settled. Under the most difficult circumstances, thousands of new Asian-Americans have worked long and diligently to stand on their own feet and build a better life for their families and their communities. They have set to work with a will and I thank God that the American system is still free enough that their dedication brings deserved rewards to them. Mr. Han and many others like him are showing all of us a bright example of the virtues of freedom and opportunity. We should be working together to keep that freedom and opportunity alive. This is Ronald Reagan. Thanks for listening. |
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