2023-May-19

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A Second Chance at Life

BY BY EMILY TA · PROGRAM MANAGER · UNITED STATES

WITH HELEN GALL AND KRYSTAL CHENG

4 MINUTE READ · 6 MINUTE LISTEN

My name is Emily Ta. I am a 1.5-generation Chinese immigrant — a first-generation immigrant who migrated to the new country before their early teens. I was around 11 years old when I came to the United States.

I joined Cisco in 2014 as a program manager. Cisco’s culture and my active participation in Cisco’s Connected Asian Affinity Network (CAAN) helped me realize that it is OK to be proud of my heritage, where I came from, and who I am.

This is the first time outside of my close friends and family that I have spoken of my family’s journey and the hardships we endured to become U.S. citizens and begin a new life.

I want to share this message as a celebration of life, to show gratitude we share for what we have, to remain proud of our heritage, and to be kind to one another.

My family is ethnically Chinese but settled in Vietnam. We do not speak of our past life in Vietnam or our journey. Shortly after the fall of Saigon on April 30, 1975, the United States abandoned its mission in Vietnam, leaving all of South Vietnam to be taken over by the Viet Cong.

My family began our plot to escape Vietnam in 1975. During our sixth attempt in 1978, — our last possible attempt because we had spent our savings on prior attempts — we finally succeeded in crossing the Vietnam Sea border.

On this attempt, my oldest uncle chartered the boat and brought along many relatives. The fake fishing boat was about 15 meters (50 feet) long and six meters (20 feet) wide. We had more than 70 people packed under the deck of the vessel like a floating can of sardines.

Fortunately, we made it out of the Vietnamese Sea and into international waters this time. This was just the beginning of a treacherous voyage. Each day and night seemed so long.

After crossing from the Vietnamese-controlled sea, people were allowed to come up to the deck for air and light. On the fifth night, we encountered a tremendous storm that almost sunk the boat.

We threw many things overboard, like water, rice, and other heavy items, to lighten the load and avoid sinking. Several elderly people sadly didn’t survive this ordeal.

The storm raged all night and into the morning hours. We thought we would all be the sharks’ supper, but miraculously, we survived the storm. We floated along the South China Sea without food or water. Children cried from hunger pains. Both engines were submerged in salty seawater. The captain was lost.

Then, from far, far away, we saw what looked like land.

Around mid-day, we saw two smaller boats in the distance. We hailed them for help. While the crew on smaller boats helped us, they were pirates. We were robbed with guns, jungle knives, and axes. With a little fortuitous help from the pirates and the wind still pushing us along, we were much closer to the land we had seen earlier.

We approached what we later learned was the Pulau Bidong Island and refugee camp in Malaysia six days later. The tiny camp was about the size of a football field on an island of less than one square mile.

Initially, we were turned away because the camp was full. But later that day, we were accepted because we sank our boat and we couldn’t float back to the open sea.

That night, we slept on the sand after being given a basic meal — fresh food and water were in short supply. The next day, November 14, 1978, each of us had our photos taken, and we were allowed to remain on the island.

The camp had a capacity of 4,500 refugees. Yet sometimes, it sheltered almost 40,000 people. We survived by planting bean sprouts and selling desserts. It took about 15 months for us to get a sponsor to resettle in the United States.

This experience taught me empathy, humility, kindness, and perseverance — all of which shaped me into the person I am today.

Over the past 43 years in the United States, I was able to graduate from university, obtain several master’s degrees, have a family, and build a successful career in tech.

I am an active member of Cisco CAAN, which has helped me grow confident in showing up as my true self at work.

I encourage you to join the 7th Annual World CAAN Celebrations happening in May, where different events will honor our past, claim our present, and own our future.

Employee Resources

• CAAN Inclusive Community
• 7th Annual World CAAN Celebrations
• Employee and Family Assistance Program
• Join an Inclusive Community
• Global Wellbeing Community

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