Peter Nguyen
Encyclopedia
Peter Nguyen Van Hung is a Vietnamese Australian
Catholic
priest and human rights
activist on Taiwan
, recognised by the U.S.
Department of State
as a "hero acting to end modern day slavery".
, with two brothers and five sisters; his father was a Fisherman
, but died after a long battle with illness, forcing his mother, a devout Catholic with roots in the country's northern half, to become the family's main breadwinner. Hùng himself absorbed his mother's faith and devotion to helping the less fortunate from an early age; he was an admirer of Francis of Assisi
, and often stole food from his own family to feed to the poor. He left Vietnam in 1979 on an overcrowded boat
; rescued by a Norwegian
-flagged ship after just 36 hours and taken to Japan
, he joined the Missionary Society of St. Columban
upon his arrival. He lived in Japan for three years, studying and taking a variety of jobs to support himself, including as a highway repairman, steel factory worker, and gravedigger. He first came to Taiwan in 1988 as a missionary, after which he went to Sydney
, Australia
to study at a seminary
there. He was ordained
in 1991. The following year, he came to Taiwan again.
. Vietnamese American
radio station Little Saigon Radio and others helped him to rent the second floor of a grammar school; two seventy square foot rooms offer sleeping space, while two others are used for office space. They provide Mandarin classes, room and board, and legal assistance. His exposure of abuses against foreign labourers and brides led the U.S. State Department to list Taiwan as a "Tier 2" region alongside countries such as Cambodia
due to their lack of effort in combating human trafficking
, which proved a major international embarrassment for the island's government. His work has also made him the target of intimidation in Taiwan, as a result of which he no longer goes out at night. Though he feels has personally received a friendly reception by people on Taiwan, he harshly criticises the classism of the society which leads people to treat manual labourers and domestic workers like "servants" and justify a variety of abuses of them.
and painting Chinese painting
s. His mother lives in Sydney.
Vietnamese Australian
A Vietnamese Australian is an Australian either born in Vietnam or is an Australian descendant of the former. Communities of Overseas Vietnamese are referred to as Việt Kiều or người Việt hải ngoại.-History in Australia:...
Catholic
Catholicism
Catholicism is a broad term for the body of the Catholic faith, its theologies and doctrines, its liturgical, ethical, spiritual, and behavioral characteristics, as well as a religious people as a whole....
priest and human rights
Human rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
activist on Taiwan
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
, recognised by the U.S.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Department of State
United States Department of State
The United States Department of State , is the United States federal executive department responsible for international relations of the United States, equivalent to the foreign ministries of other countries...
as a "hero acting to end modern day slavery".
Early life
Hùng grew up in a lower-middle class family outside of Binh Tuy ProvinceBinh Tuy Province
Binh Tuy Province was a province of South Vietnam. It now mostly corresponds to the western part of Binh Thuan Province, including Hàm Tân, Hàm Thuận Nam, Tánh Linh, Đức Linh districts and La Gi town....
, with two brothers and five sisters; his father was a Fisherman
Fisherman
A fisherman or fisher is someone who captures fish and other animals from a body of water, or gathers shellfish. Worldwide, there are about 38 million commercial and subsistence fishermen and fish farmers. The term can also be applied to recreational fishermen and may be used to describe both men...
, but died after a long battle with illness, forcing his mother, a devout Catholic with roots in the country's northern half, to become the family's main breadwinner. Hùng himself absorbed his mother's faith and devotion to helping the less fortunate from an early age; he was an admirer of Francis of Assisi
Francis of Assisi
Saint Francis of Assisi was an Italian Catholic friar and preacher. He founded the men's Franciscan Order, the women’s Order of St. Clare, and the lay Third Order of Saint Francis. St...
, and often stole food from his own family to feed to the poor. He left Vietnam in 1979 on an overcrowded boat
Boat people
Boat people is a term that usually refers to refugees, illegal immigrants or asylum seekers who emigrate in numbers in boats that are sometimes old and crudely made...
; rescued by a Norwegian
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
-flagged ship after just 36 hours and taken to Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, he joined the Missionary Society of St. Columban
Missionary Society of St. Columban
The Missionary Society of St. Columban , also known as "The Columbans", is a missionary, Catholic religious order, founded in Ireland in 1916 and approved by the Vatican in 1918. Initially it was known as the Maynooth Mission to China...
upon his arrival. He lived in Japan for three years, studying and taking a variety of jobs to support himself, including as a highway repairman, steel factory worker, and gravedigger. He first came to Taiwan in 1988 as a missionary, after which he went to Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
to study at a seminary
Seminary
A seminary, theological college, or divinity school is an institution of secondary or post-secondary education for educating students in theology, generally to prepare them for ordination as clergy or for other ministry...
there. He was ordained
Ordination
In general religious use, ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart as clergy to perform various religious rites and ceremonies. The process and ceremonies of ordination itself varies by religion and denomination. One who is in preparation for, or who is...
in 1991. The following year, he came to Taiwan again.
Work in Taiwan
Hùng established the Vietnamese Migrant Workers and Brides Office in Taoyuan County in 2004 to offer assistance to Vietnamese immigrants in TaiwanVietnamese people in Taiwan
Vietnamese people in Taiwan form one of the island's larger communities of foreign residents. Of the roughly 80,000 Vietnamese workers who resided in Taiwan as of 2006, 60,000 are employed as domestic helpers, 16,000 work in factories, 2,000 in marine-based industries, and the remainder in other...
. Vietnamese American
Vietnamese American
A Vietnamese American is an American of Vietnamese descent. They make up about half of all overseas Vietnamese and are the fourth-largest Asian American group....
radio station Little Saigon Radio and others helped him to rent the second floor of a grammar school; two seventy square foot rooms offer sleeping space, while two others are used for office space. They provide Mandarin classes, room and board, and legal assistance. His exposure of abuses against foreign labourers and brides led the U.S. State Department to list Taiwan as a "Tier 2" region alongside countries such as Cambodia
Cambodia
Cambodia , officially known as the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia...
due to their lack of effort in combating human trafficking
Human trafficking
Human trafficking is the illegal trade of human beings for the purposes of reproductive slavery, commercial sexual exploitation, forced labor, or a modern-day form of slavery...
, which proved a major international embarrassment for the island's government. His work has also made him the target of intimidation in Taiwan, as a result of which he no longer goes out at night. Though he feels has personally received a friendly reception by people on Taiwan, he harshly criticises the classism of the society which leads people to treat manual labourers and domestic workers like "servants" and justify a variety of abuses of them.
Hobbies
Outside of his work, Hùng enjoys playing the guitarGuitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
and painting Chinese painting
Chinese painting
Chinese painting is one of the oldest continuous artistic traditions in the world. The earliest paintings were not representational but ornamental; they consisted of patterns or designs rather than pictures. Early pottery was painted with spirals, zigzags, dots, or animals...
s. His mother lives in Sydney.