Chu Văn Hợp

Chu Văn Hợp (18 July 1947 - 5 June 1995) was a Vietnamese-Australian man who came to Australia via boat in 1978 following the Fall of Saigon. In Australia he saw the need of the growing Vietnamese population in Australia and he started a Vietnamese language newspaper Chuông Sài Gòn (Bell of Saigon) and he was later also an advisor to the New South Wales Government on Ethnic Affairs and a business person with a focus on industry within Vietnam.

Biography Chu was born in Haiphong, a northern part of Vietnam, and Chu Van Hoa and Nguyen Thi Vy. When he was a young child the family moved to Saigon, now Ho Chi Minh City, and this move was likely motivated by their Catholocism. After completing his studies he was offered a place to study medicine and pharmacy at the University of Saigon and did so for the next year. The newspaper was edited by Chu and contained news articles as well as short stories, poetry, people's life stories and commentary by Chu. It was initially published fortnightly but was soon published weekly and, never been financially beneficial, Chu sold it in 1982. In 1987 Chu was also made a special advisor to Barrie Unsworth, the then Premier of New South Wales with whom he was a friend. His body was returned to Australia and he is buried in Rookwood Cemetery.