‘Live to contribute to humanity’

Chong (standing) with the ‘baby’ all grown up. Dr Thanh Cao now pays Chong’s good deed forward by working with the Vietnamese refugee community in the United States.

ON an oil rig in the Gulf of Thailand, a remarkable tale began in August 1988 when Andy Chong’s offshore installation manager decided to rescue a boat filled with Vietnamese refugees that had drifted nearby.

This decision set off a chain of events that led to Chong helping a Vietnamese couple and their newborn baby and, many years later, an emotional reunion with the family of three in Malaysia.