Tết Bính Ngọ Statement (And Happy 9th Birthday, PIVOT!)

Many older generation Vietnamese Americans know about this fable called Tái Ông Thất Mã, meaning Border Man Lost his Horse. Once lived an old man whose only horse was to him everything––his working companion, means for transportation, thus his entire wealth. One day, the horse took off and was not seen again. When the neighbors came to commiserate with him about this misfortune that struck right before the lunar new year, the man calmly told them: “It could be my luck!”

Not soon after the horse returned, bringing with it another bigger stallion of incomparable beauty and strength. The neighbors all stopped by to congratulate him for his incredible luck. To each one, the old man replied, “It could be my misfortune,” which, like an omen, turned into reality. The old man’s only son, whose new pleasure was to gallop wildly on this tall riding horse, fell one day and broke his leg. To the neighbors who lamented the man’s ill fate, he said, “This woe could be my new win.” People thought the man had lost his mind, until a war broke out between their country and the neighboring state. Of all able-bodied young men who were drafted, none returned. The old man’s lame son was among the few young people still living.

As we are about to enter the Year of the Fire Horse, what a better way to celebrate than reshare this story for all its meanings that seem to whisper to us the secrets of our resilience and keeping our hope for a better future alive, like a phoenix always rising, flapping its wings to shake off the ashes from which it emerges.

Fifty years ago, our people wept when we lost loved ones to the reeducation camps and to the seas. Some died by suicide. Many abandoned our Motherland to run for their and their children’s lives. Looking back, we have risen stronger, better equipped, and many among us even feel redeemed from the calamity experienced by our parents and their parents. Vietnamese Americans are now proud dwellers and defenders of this new land, sharing borders with different nations. Our neighbors are from all over the world with diverse backgrounds. Some, like us, have fled violence and, like us, choose to forget their traumatic experiences.

Don’t forget that life, like each new moon, is a cycle. Our fortunes and misfortunes are the two sides of the same coin that, once tossed, could land either way.

Lend a hand. Love a neighbor. Open your door to those seeking refuge. Choose to mend divisions and coexist peacefully.

Happy Lunar New Year 2026!

PS: Happy 9th birthday, PIVOT, soon to be a strong teen full of new ideas and ambitions.