Helene Chung Martin

Mai Ho and her two baby daughters huddled together in a crowded Vietnamese refugee boat. In the dark hull, they could sec equally frightened strangers. The nineteen-year-old mother thought of the husband she had left behind and of her future in a foreign land: Her two dishevelled little girls lay across her bosom and the taint of their urine blended with the sour odour of her dress. ‘They wou ... (read more)

When five Chinese set themselves ablaze in Tiananmen Square in January 2001, Falun Gong made world headlines. Horrified disciples of the spiritual and qigong (like t’ai chi) organisation claimed that none of the five was a member and dissociated themselves from the tragedy, in which one person died. Today, Falun Gong still sees itself as a victim of a government conspiracy to discredit its 100 m ... (read more)

One sun-filled Saturday in spring 2000, I wandered through Salamanca market, in and around the historic sandstone buildings on Hobart’s waterfront. After a long absence, I expected the arts and crafts, antiques, and books amid tourists and the local caffe latte set. What surprised me were stalls of beautiful fresh fruit and vegetables, grown and sold by smiling ethnic Hmong. The bright front cov ... (read more)