What we are going to present today is an Act from a Broadway musical, Miss Saigon.

Set during the Vietnam War, Miss Saigon begins in 1975 when the conflicting cultures and
ideologies of the world seemed to meet violently in one city: Saigon. It’s an epic and tragic story
of a young couple in love, caught in a world at war.
Miss Saigon tells the story of Chris, an American soldier, who falls in love with Kim, a young
Vietnamese orphan. When the city falls, the lovers are separated and Chris eventually returns
to the US leaving Kim where she was bounded to marry her cousin, Thuy. In Vietnam, when Kim
and Chris were together, they conceived a son, Tam who is Bwee Doy, in English, it means “dust
of life”.
Three years have passed since the North Vietnamese also known as “the morning of the
dragon” took over Saigon. The Engineer, the man who has been the boss of Kim when she was
still working in a bar, was brought in by two soldiers. He was taken as a prisoner and sent to a
reeducation camp, forced to endure hard labor. Although his captors attempted to brainwash
him, they have been unsuccessful. He is led before Thuy, now the Commissar and cousin of Kim
where she was sworn to marry. Thuy demanded the Engineer’s assistance in finding Kim and
gave him forty-eight hours to accomplish this deed.
The Engineer appeared with Thuy. Thuy wanted to forget Kim’s transgression and marry her as
their parents decreed. She said she is still bound to Chris. Thuy called her a fool and summoned
his men into the room, where they threatened Kim and Engineer. Thuy again demanded that
Kim agree to his wishes. The engineer was sent out of the room and Kim revealed her secret to
Thuy: her two-year-old son, Tam. Thuy said, she can’t keep the child since he intends to marry
her. He called the child his enemy and draws his knife to kill the boy. Kim pulled out a gun and
threatened to shoot him. Thuy will not relent so Kim kills him to protect Tam.

From this point of view, we can deduce that the mother will face anything even her own peril
just to protect and save her child, Tam. May we all reflect not only as mothers but as human
beings who will not tolerate violence in any forms.