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George Miller – US Democrats Congressman – in Malaysia greeting children at a Vietnamese refugee camp.

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Monsoon fury – image credit Thejas Panarkandy

Monsoon – image credit 5particle.

22 Jun 1979, Kuantan Beach, Malaysia: Refugees aboard beached boat from Vietnam. – Image by © Bettmann/CORBIS

Pulau Bidong island.

Refugees transported to Pulau Bidong island walking on the jetty.

Refugees having picture taken for ID.

Refugees having ID photo taken.

Waiting outside resettlement hall for interviews with Western delegations on Pulau Bidong

Inside interviewing room on Pulau Bidong.

Refugees registering at the Puerto Princesa camp in the Philippines (1980).
(United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees)

Video clip about Pulau Bidong made in May 1979 by Jim Laurie television correspondent for ABC news in the US.

At the front of Pulau Bidong island.

Waiting to get letters from Malaysian Red Crescent.

The path from zone C to zone D on Pulau Bidong island.

Hanging clothes to dry.

Growing sweet potatoes. The leaves were on sale and a luxury only afforded by those with US dollars or gold.

The path to Sick Bay, church and temple on Pulau Bidong.

A Catholic Church built on Pulau Bidong.

A temple on Pulau Bidong.

Outdoor cinema on Pulau Bidong.

Waiting for the weekly fresh water and food supply from the ferry on Pulau Bidong.

Receiving firewood supply.

Receiving fresh food supply.

Dividing fresh food supply amongst people of the same boat.

Divide fresh chicken between individuals. Individual ration was a palm-sized piece of chicken.

Three sardine cans were included in weekly food ration.

Small chicken pieces packed in three cans were part of the weekly food ration.

Three cans of peas were included in the weekly food ration.

Handful-sized of sugar was in the weekly food ration.

The weekly ration included a handful-sized mung beans or soybeans. With mung beans, refugees made sweet mung bean soup (a dessert) with the few spoons of sugar supplied each week or they made mung beans congee (rice soup) from it.

Handful-sized soybean was given to refugees as part of their weekly food ration. They either made soybean sprouts from it or sold it to tofu makers then buy tofu or other things.

Refugees making tofu from soybean sold to them by individuals then resell them to other refugees. On the island, there were also bakeries where bread making material were bought from mainland Malaysia.

Can opener.

Can openers.

Monthly ration was a fistful-sized piece of cabbage.

Unaccompanied minors in front of their support group house.

Support group house Âu Cơ for unaccompanied minors.

Daily queue for fresh water on Pulau Bidong.

Taking water from the well for bathing and washing on Pulau Bidong.

Watching other refugee boats arriving in Pulau Bidong.

Latrines on Pulau Bidong in the early days. Later, a block of ten or twenty enclosed latrines with door were built. However the chronic problem was no toilet papers supplied and newspapers were used instead but even they were scarce.