The reporter of Sai Gon Giai Phong Newspaper met with Mrs. Ngoc Cam although she was very busy with huge volume of tasks at that time.
She agreed to share her story and sentiment. Aside from being Honorary Mayor of Seoul, she is responsible for six other positions as Chairwoman of the Vietnamese Association in the Republic of Korea, Director of Vietnamese Translation and Interpretation Center, Chairwoman of Vietnamese Communities Association, Chairwoman of South-Korea – Vietnam Friendship Association, Member of the Seoul Foreigner Representative Committee, Member of the Board of Directors of the Seoul Foreign Labor Center.
Mrs. Cam has tried her best fulfilling tasks that the leaders of Seoul have granted her to deserve with the faith and longing of the foreigner communities here. She humbly shared: “I got married with a South Korean living in the countryside of this country for 15 years and stayed in Seoul for five years. Despite not being here for a long time, I whole-heartedly devoted for the community.”
It is no coincidence that the honor came to her as many foreigners in Seoul are better than her in terms of expertise and foreign languages such as professors, doctors. Honorary Mayor of Seoul acknowledged her dedications during her tenure as Chairwoman of the Vietnamese Association in the Republic of Korea.
As the mayor of the city, Mrs. Cam became the bridge between the foreigners who are living, studying and working in Seoul with the city authorities, brought their voices closer to the authorities in order to build a more worth-living environment for them.
For more than a year, she has always listened to ideas, contributions, and put forwards policy proposals related to foreigners. Through her work, she has helped the Vietnamese community in the Republic of Korea a lot. Whenever the communities made problems or got questions, they directly contacted her to solve difficulties.
Talking about the difficulties of immigrants and Vietnamese laborers when they come to Korea for living, working or studying, Mrs Cam said that the language is the huge barrier. Many Vietnamese are not fluent in Korean and have little knowledge of Korean culture and lifestyle leading to unnecessary conflicts.
In order to avoid unexpected problems, Vietnamese people need to learn Korean, cultivate knowledge about Korean customs and habits to better understand the native speakers and easily adapt to Korean society.
In the coming time, her job is to support Vietnamese people in Korea such as counseling and helping them as well as organizing cultural festivals, traditional Tet holiday, football tournament, physical education activities. Besides, she will also continue to mobilize donations to help people with difficult circumstances, illness as well as activities towards the country.
As the Lunar New Year (Tet) is coming, Mrs. Cam remembers that she did not enjoy Tet Vietnam for the past 20 years.
She did not remember the taste of square glutinous rice cake, jams and other traditional dishes at all.
Anyway, like many people living overseas, she plans to welcome c the Tet holiday together with the Vietnamese community in Seoul and the special moment is a motivation for her to continue helping Vietnamese people to integrate into this country.
