Summary

In this chapter, I discuss the myriad motivations influencing the decision of second-generation Viet Kieu or overseas Vietnamese to relocate to Vietnam. Members of this generation generally left Vietnam as children at the end of the Second Indochina War (or what is popularly referred to in the West as the ‘Vietnam War’), following the Communist takeover of South Vietnam in 1975. What makes this generation interesting is that they are going back to a country still governed by the political regime they once fled, against the backdrop of the politics of remembrance (i.e. anti-communist politics) in the exile community. Over the last decade, increasing numbers of Viet Kieu have been returning to Vietnam to live and work. The first section provides a brief introduction to the ‘lost generation’ who are moving to Vietnam. The second part examines the diverse motivations influencing the second generation’s decision to relocate to Vietnam. The discussion aims to demonstrate that this generation's decision to ‘return’ to their ancestral homeland was for the most part not a spur-of-the-moment decision, but motivated by cumulative life experiences growing up in their home countries.

The ‘Lost Generation’

I first met Long (39 years old) in early April 2008, at a social event in Ho Chi Minh City. Long had relocated from Oregon in the summer of 2007, after his request to be posted to Vietnam was approved by his employers, a multinational software company. Prior to this move, Long had visited Vietnam a few times: first, with his family when he was in his late teens, and later by himself and with friends. During these trips, Long said that he felt a certain connection to the country, as a place where his ancestors came from, and as an indelible part of his cultural identity.