They are taken to a refugee camp in chapter three, where they experience their first taste of Australian culture. Partially due to Anh’s father’s ingenuity and determination, the family survives with only one casualty along the way. In chapter two, the family stages a daring escape from Vietnam on a ramshackle boat, encountering communist patrol boats and vicious pirates along the way. The reader is introduced to her family, who suffered greatly during the war. His father, who comes from a large family, soon charms her and her family. His mother and father meet in the aftermath of the war when his father saves his mother from being caught as an illegal vendor by communist police. He has also acted in television series and films, written screenplays and is a sought-after keynote s.After a brief prologue flashing forward to Anh’s reunion with his father, chapters one through three focus on Anh’s family history in Vietnam. Anh's story will move and amuse all who read it.Īnh Do is one of Australia's leading comedians. Tragedy, humour, heartache and unswerving determination - a big life with big dreams. He was going to be a comedian! The Happiest Refugee tells the incredible, uplifting and inspiring life story of one of our favourite personalities. 'Four,' the answer came back, and that was it. His mother's sacrifice was an inspiration to Anh and he worked hard during his teenage years to help her make ends meet, also managing to graduate high school and then university.Īnother inspiration was the comedian Anh met when he was about to sign on for a 60-hour a week corporate job. Things got harder when their father left home when Anh was only nine - they felt his loss very deeply and their mother struggled to support the family on her own. But there was a loving extended family, and always friends and play and something to laugh about for Anh, his brother Khoa and their sister Tram. Life in Australia was hard, an endless succession of back-breaking work, crowded rooms, ruthless landlords and make-do everything. But nothing - not murderous pirates, nor the imminent threat of death by hunger, disease or dehydration as they drifted for days - could quench their desire to make a better life in the country they had dreamed about. His entire family came close to losing their lives on the sea as they escaped from war-torn Vietnam in an overcrowded boat. Anh Do nearly didn't make it to Australia. The laugh-out-loud, reach-for-your-hanky story of one of Australia's best-loved comedians. The Happiest Refugee : My Journey from Tragedy to Comedy

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