Have I Swallowed Your Dreams

This is a fictional story inspired by my family’s immigration journey. When my parents were teenagers, they left their homes in Vietnam and Cambodia respectively to go to China for free education. I could imagine the big dreams they must have had when they first landed in China. Then life’s journey altered those dreams. After my brother and I were born, my parents decided to leave everything behind to start a new life in Hong Kong. My father worked as a construction worker in Hong Kong instead of utilizing his degree in architecture because his mainland Chinese degree was not recognized in Hong Kong. Life was tough but good until in the 80’s when talks of returning Hong Kong to China started. My parents knew that the meaning of freedom would not be the same once China took over. So once again, we left our home in Hong Kong and immigrated to North America, hoping for a better future. But life as immigrants is full of challenges. Language barrier, economic hardship, racism, to name a few. That made me wonder, is it all worth it?
Now that I have two children of my own, I understand the choices and sacrifices a parent has to make for the family. Sometimes I struggle to make those choices. That was when I got inspired to write a poem, showing first the point of view of a daughter, feeling guilty that she has swallowed her mother’s dreams, and then the surprising different point of view of her mother. Animation is the perfect medium because it lets me tell this mother-daughter story in an imaginative and visually interesting way.
I believe this film will help light a spark for one to reflect on their relationships with their parents, children or loved ones. Also, by sharing one immigrant family’s experience, I hope to create room for empathy and understanding amongst people.