Da Lum Da Lam
1.
My maternal family,
originally from Teochew
x
2.5 generations live in Vietnam
=
not quite Vietnamese
2.
Teochew at home
+
Mandarin at school
+
Vietnamese and various Chinese dialects
in the streets of Rạch Giá
=
strong sense of pride in being Chinese
3.
2,000 years of Chinese
settlement in Vietnam
x
Vietnamese culture
=
“All of it comes from China,”
says my mother, born to a Chinese merchant family in Vietnam
4.
Chinese families owned many businesses
during the war, historically
+
Growing anti-Chinese sentiment with the rise of socialism after the fall of Saigon
+
Vietnamese government cracks down on Chinese businesses
=
My mother and her family leave Vietnam by boat
5.
Da lum da lam
x
I think I am pronouncing it right
x
That’s definitely not how you write it
=
Vietnamese for messy, untidy, in disarray
6.
“How do you say ‘da lum da lam’ in Teochew?”
+
my mother takes a moment to think
=
“I don’t know.”
