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Key Points
- In the decades following the Fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975, thousands of Vietnamese moved to Australia, many as refugees.
- Bao Hoang, founder of Roll’d restaurants, says his parents’ sacrifices inspired him to make a mark in their new home.
- For Daniel Hoang, the son of refugees, joining his family’s business helped him reconnect with his heritage.
According to Bao, the founder and CEO of the Roll’d Vietnamese restaurant chain, this decision was inspired by a kind Australian his mum had encountered in her home village in southeast Vietnam.
Bao’s mum and dad were among more than 80,000 Vietnamese people who moved to Australia in the decade following, many as refugees.
Desperate South Vietnamese clamber aboard barges in the port of Saigon in an attempt to escape from advancing North Vietnamese troops on the day of the Fall of Saigon that ended the Vietnam War. Credit: Nik Wheeler/Corbis via Getty Images
But early life down under wasn’t easy.
“The sacrifices they made really shaped a lot of what we went through as we grew up in Australia, not having too much, having to work very, very hard to put food on the table and then obviously to give us and the rest of the kids an education,” he told SBS Vietnamese.
Sharing Vietnamese food with Australia
Instead, he graduated as a physiotherapist from the University of Melbourne, which led him to being involved in allied health franchises and finding his passion in business.
Bao Hoang’s mother and father arrived in Australia in the 1970s. Credit: Supplied/Angela Hoang
“Sometimes it’s a challenge to challenge your parents on what you think might be the right thing to do, but doesn’t make you happy. Ultimately … you’re always going to be better off if what you are doing is what makes you truly happy,” Bao said.
Today, Roll’d has 130 stores nationwide, with a group turnover of more than $150 million, and awareness of Vietnamese dishes like pho, banh mi and rice paper rolls has never been greater.
The family business celebrating their 100th store. Credit: Supplied/Angela Hoang
Thirteen years ago, Bao’s mission was to share Vietnamese food with Australia. Today he harbours global aspirations.
But family remains at the heart of his personal and professional life, whether it’s weekly dinners or celebrating Tet (Vietnamese Lunar New Year).
The central part to what I see as Vietnamese culture is always around food and family, and that’s what we always just try to pass down to our kids all day, every day.
Bao Hoang, founder and CEO of Roll’d
Bao highlighted the role of his mother, the family cook who is the last to sit at the dining table, and the first to leave and clean up.
Bao Hoang, pictured with his mother Phien, says ‘food is everything to our family’. Credit: Supplied/Angela Hoang
When asked how he felt about his parent’s journey to Australia, he expressed his “awe” at their level of bravery.
When he visits Vietnam now, Bao said he feels “immense pride” at the resilience shown by a country that had undergone a major civil war 50 years ago.
Fleeing a country for freedom
Born and raised in Da Nang, Dinh Hoang was the son of a South Vietnamese soldier.
Dinh Hoang, Hong Kong (1991). Credit: Supplied/Daniel Hoang
After the Fall of Saigon in 1975, his family was monitored constantly, police officers raiding their home and watching them eat.
“She would always repeat this one line,” Daniel said. “Hồi lúc đó quá khổ (it was so hard back then).”
Daniel’s mother and father, Lan To (left) and Dinh Hoang (right), at a refugee camp in Hong Kong (1991). Credit: Supplied/Daniel Hoang
She eventually left Vietnam in 1991, travelling north by bus through China to reach Hong Kong.
There, she met Dinh. Together, they spent time in a refugee camp in the Philippines before settling in Australia in 1993, months before Daniel’s eldest brother was born.
From sewing machines to semi-trailers
“He didn’t want to work for another boss, he wanted to work for himself,” Daniel said.
Daniel didn’t join the family business right away, uncertain of its longevity, but spent six years studying a double degree in engineering and worked in the field for three more.
Most kids back then were either studying to be lawyers, doctors or engineers. Those were the three golden careers for Vietnamese kids growing up.
Daniel Hoang, Core Logistics
“It’s been such a rewarding journey to reconnect with family in a different way,” he reflected. “It made us closer.”
The spirit of resilience
“They get their heads down and work hard at it, they don’t have a plan and they try their best,” he said.
Daniel Hoang (front left) with his siblings Wesley (far left), James (middle) and Allen Hoang (front right) at the family office. Credit: Core Logistics Group
Reflecting on his family’s story, he expressed admiration for his parent’s courageous journey.
“There’s this big disconnect between my understanding and feelings towards it versus what my parents would have. But I just find it so amazing to see the amount of resilience and courage it took my parents to leave Vietnam at such a young age, too,” he said.
A Vietcong guard in May, 1975, in front of the Presidential Palace shortly after the Fall of Saigon. Credit: Jean-Claude LABBE/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images
In cities across Vietnam, 30 April will be observed as Reunification Day.
They said the country “has implemented various policies to facilitate connections between the Vietnamese diaspora and their homeland, such as legislation regarding land, real estate, investment, ID cards, and visa exemptions and will continue to promote these initiatives.”
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