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Note: This story discusses anti-Asian racism. I came to Regina on November 18, 1979. Because we are from Vietnam, I took an escape from Vietnam, from the communist regime. I left Vietnam by boat and spent six days and six nights on the South [China] Sea before we landed in Malaysia. We were the first wave to come to Canada. Do you remember, Pierre Trudeau? He decided to bring 60,000 Vietnamese people from all over refugee camps, to come to Canada. We were the first wave to come here, to come to Canada. And oh my God, the cold. I tell myself, “People living here, why not me?” We learned to live with the cold, and now I love it, the cold … but not too cold! I worked in restaurants, I did the cleaning, the welding, I did everything. I worked days, nights and after 10 years, we had some money. This store, in 1989, [the owners] decided to sell it, and I applied and I got it. I’m not speaking English too much, but they know I like to work, I love to work, and I work hard. I run this business with all my heart. The customers are like friends and we have a beautiful relationship with our customers. They come day, they come night, they come every week. And we make friends with them. We only had one slow month; April 2020 was a little bit slow. But I tell my staff, I say, “When it’s hard times or good times, we work together. Now in hard times, we have to spend it together.” And they stay with me. I don’t close, I don’t cut the food, I don’t cut the product, and I keep everything open from 4:30 in the morning to 11 p.m. even when it’s slow. After that, everything goes better. People rely on me, that I’m still open. I still take care of everything, and they come back. ⬇️ (1/2) - continued in the comments Vuong Pham is the owner of Country Corner Donuts in Regina. May is #AsianHeritageMonth and to celebrate, we’ve profiled Asian-Canadian businesses from across the country that are at the hearts of their communities. Follow #ProudlyAsianCanadian for more stories.⁣

May 10, 2022