Lai Huu Thong (born 1965, Tay Ninh province) was born into a family of eight siblings. Yet he did not grow up in the care and closeness of his brothers and sisters.

When he was only 11-12 years old, he ran away from home and lost contact with his family for 50 years. Before drifting through many places, Thong’s family lived in the Ho Bo area (former Cu Chi district, HCMC).

Before 1975, Lai Huu Ngan (Thong's father, deceased) moved the family to the city center. In 1976, Ngan and his wife, Vu Thi Hien (deceased), took their eight children: Ha, Yen, Thong, Minh, Lien, Bay, Hai, and Manh to Bao Loc (former Lam Dong province), the new economic area.

No matter where they were, Thong's siblings were worried about being frequently abused by their biological father. Ngan had a habit of drinking alcohol. Whenever he was drunk, he became a different person, often beating and scolding his children without reason.

Hien tried to advise her husband and protect her children. However, the woman's intervention only made her husband angrier. The mother was abused because she protected her children.

Thong recalled: "Whenever he was angry or drinking, father would force my siblings and me to lie down and use a rattan whip to beat us. Once, I was beaten so hard that my leg was dislocated, and I had to limp.

“My eldest brother named Ha and my sister named Yen also left home because they were beaten by father. As for me, after being in Bao Loc for half a month, I also left home after a beating."

Leaving home, Thong caught a bus back to Bay Hien intersection (Tan Binh district, former HCMC) because his uncle's house was there. He lived a wandering life, becoming a street child.

His mother, Hien, was rushing to look for him. She went to her husband's brother's house in HCMC to find her son but did not meet him.

She could not imagine that the information about her looking for him would make the son even more terrified, deciding to hide far away. Thong confided: "Once, I was so hungry that I went to my uncle's house to ask for food. At that time, my uncle said my mother had just come to look for me.

Hearing that, I feared that mother would find me and take me home to be beaten by father again, so I continued to flee. At that time, I thought about hiding as far as possible, and only when I grew up did I feel regret because I missed mother, father, and my siblings."

An emotional reunion

Thong said in tears that after getting married and having children, he wanted to find his biological relatives to ease the regret in his heart. However, he did not have many memories of the old residence.

He only remembered that when they went to Bao Loc, their house was near a large church. Every morning, he would go with his mother to this church for service. He also often carried his younger sibling there to play.

When his second child was born, Thong was determined to find his biological family. Once, he and his wife's uncle went to Bao Loc with the hope of finding relatives. However, after a week of traveling, he returned without any news.

This was because not long after the children ran away, Ngan’s family had also left Bao Loc to live in former Can Tho. At that time, Ngan stayed at home cooking while his wife sold rice and the children worked as hired laborers.

Two years later, Ngan quit drinking and changed his temperament. He no longer beat his wife and children. Instead, he showed affection for them and often mentioned Thong’s disappearance, urging the children to search for him.

In Tay Ninh, after a time of failing to find his biological family, Thong wrote a letter asking the TV program "Nhu Chua He Co Cuoc Chia Ly” (As If There Were No Separation") for support. With much effort, the program connected and found Thong's biological brothers and sisters.

Recently, on the program's stage, Thong's siblings reunited in happiness. In tears of joy, Thong called out the names and hugged each of his brothers and sisters.

Ha Nguyen