A member of the Australian Baha’i community has family links to the first Baha’i national administrative body to be elected in Vietnam in 33 years.
Tahirih Hong Le, who lives in Sydney, is the daughter of Loc Le, who was elected as one of the nine members of the re-constituted National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’is of Vietnam.
In the 1960s and until 1975, Mr Le served terms as chairman and secretary of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’is of Vietnam.
This year’s election took place at the first national Baha’i convention to be held in Vietnam since unification of the country in 1975.
The event was held in March with the approval of the Government of Vietnam, which sent representatives to observe the occasion. Other officials from central, provincial and district governments were also present.
For the Baha’is of Vietnam, restoration of their National Spiritual Assembly is a key achievement in the process to gain government recognition. A major step was taken a year ago when authorities issued a certificate recognizing Baha’i activities.
Excitement
Mrs Le recently visited her parents in Vietnam and shared in the excitement of the milestone reached by the Baha’is of Vietnam.
“It was the best news for all the local Baha’is and for the Baha’i international community,” said Mrs Le.
“Emails of congratulations were arriving every day,” she said.
“There was good coverage of the event on the television and radio and in newspapers in Vietnam,” she said.
Big community
Mrs Le, 36, grew up in the Baha’i centre in Saigon (now Ho Chi Minh City) and remembers that the centre was always a busy place when she was a child. There were more than 100,000 members of the South Vietnamese Baha’i Community in the 1970s.
She said that throughout the past 33 years, the Baha’is of Vietnam had been steadfast in their faith, and strictly observed the Baha’i laws of obedience to the government of their country and of non-participation in political activities.
A finance manager with a Sydney firm, Mrs Le came to Australian three years ago with her husband Tuan Nguyen and their three children, Haifa, Karmil and Bahji.
“The children have enjoyed their education and Baha’i activities here,” she said.
“We plan to return to Vietnam shortly where the children can be closer to their grandparents.”