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Bat lau dung laai (Chinese: 不漏洞拉 or 北漏洞拉^[1]; Jyutping: bat1 lau6 dung6 laai1) is a Hong Kong Cantonese corruption of the Vietnamese phrase bắt đầu từ nay, meaning "from now on" (bắt đầu = begin, start; từ = "from", nay = "now", Vietnamese pronunciation: [ʔɓat̚˧˦ ʔɗəw˨ tɨ˨˩ naj˧˧]).^[2]

The phrase was made famous in the 1980s and 1990s in Hong Kong, due to a Vietnamese-language radio public service announcement that was broadcast, nearly hourly, on public radio broadcaster RTHK.^[2]

Background of the radio announcement

The broadcast was first made on 16 August 1988, which announced the government's decision to implement a screening policy that would separate refugees from non-refugees (or boat people with economic motivations).^[3] The statement was read by Chung Wai-ming, a well-known RTHK radio personality.^[4] The Vietnamese portion of the broadcast was read by a Vietnamese boat person who was about to be repatriated.^[5]

Content of the announcement

Original text of the announcement

The radio announcement began with a sentence in Cantonese, the most commonly spoken Chinese variant in Hong Kong.

香港[政府]對越南船民已經實施甄別政策。跟住嗰段越南話廣播，就係向佢哋講述呢個政策嘅內容。^[3]
Hoeng1 gong2 [zing3 fu2] deoi3 jyut6 naam4 syun4 man4 ji5 ging1 sat6 si1 jan1 bit6 zing3 caak3. Gan1 zyu6 go2 dyun6 jyut6 naam4 waa6-2 gwong2 bo3, zau6 hai6 hoeng3 keoi5 dei6 gong2 seot6 ni1 go3 zing3 caak3 ge3 noi6 jung4.

This was then followed by a paragraph in Vietnamese.

Bắt đầu từ nay, một chính sách mới về thuyền nhân Việt Nam đã được chấp hành tại Hồng Kông. Từ nay về sau, những thuyền nhân Việt Nam kiếm cách nhập cảnh Hồng Kông với thân phận những người di tản vì vấn đề kinh tế sẽ bị coi là những người nhập cảnh phi pháp. Là những người nhập cảnh phi pháp, họ sẽ không có chút khả năng nào để được đi định cư tại nước thứ ba, và họ sẽ bị giam cầm để chờ ngày giải về Việt Nam.^[3]

After that, the announcement ended with another sentence in Cantonese.

剛才嗰段越南話廣播，係向企圖進入香港嘅越南船民，講述香港對佢哋實施嘅甄別政策㗎。
Gong1 coi4 go2 dyun6 jyut6 naam4 waa6-2 gwong2 bo3, hai6 hoeng3 kei5 tou4 zeon3 jap6 hoeng1 gong2 ge3 jyut6 naam4 syun4 man4, gong2 seot6 hoeng1 gong2 deoi3 keoi5 dei6 sat6 si1 ge3 jan1 bit6 zing3 caak3 gaa4.

Meaning of the announcement in English

The first sentence in Cantonese Chinese:

[The] Hong Kong [Government] has implemented the policy of 'Comprehensive Plan of Action' on Vietnamese boat people. The following Vietnamese-language announcement will elucidate to them the content of the policy.^[3]

The message in Vietnamese:

From now on, a new policy regarding Vietnamese boat people has been implemented in Hong Kong. Hereafter, those Vietnamese boat people seeking to immigrate into Hong Kong as immigrants due to economic reasons will be considered illegal immigrants. As illegal immigrants, they will not have the ability to settle in a third country, and they will be detained until repatriated to Vietnam.^[3]

The final sentence in Cantonese Chinese:

The Vietnamese-language announcement, which has just been broadcast, elucidated the policy of 'Comprehensive Plan of Action' that the Hong Kong Government implements on the Vietnamese boat people who intend to enter Hong Kong.

Use of the phrase in Hong Kong

Due to the frequency of the broadcast, many Hong Kong people came to learn the phrase. Some, however, mistook the phrase as a term of greeting,^[6] similar to sawasdee in Thai.^[2] The phrase eventually became a metaphor for Vietnamese people and even Vietnamese culture.

The term is now considered to be a derogatory slur for Vietnamese people.^[2]

Portrayal in Hong Kong media

Early portrayal

The first recorded instance of the usage of "Bắt đầu từ nay" in Hong Kong entertainment programmes was during the 1980s, when it was used in a segment of the light entertainment show Enjoy Yourself Tonight. In the segment, a fight in the refugee camp was parodied, and two actors, using the stage names "Bắt đầu" and "Từ nay", roughed up one of the audience (played by an actor) in the "Legislative Council" meeting who was well known for creating commotions during Legislative Council meetings.^[7]

1990s

During the 1990s, some asylum seekers managed to use self-made tools to cut through the fence around the refugee camps and escaped. This incident was replayed on RTHK's news parody programme Headliner. In the video, the phrase was split into the following

Bắt đầu? (不漏?) (phonetically close to "bat lau", which means "leakless?", a reference to the supposedly high security measures in the refugee camp)
từ! (洞!) (phonetically close to "dung", which means "hole!", a reference to the holes that were cut and used as escape routes).
nay! (拉!) (phonetically close to "laai", which means "arrested!", a reference to the eventual arrest of the escapees).

2000s

In the 2000s, Vietnamese cuisine became popular in Hong Kong, and the phrase, which had faded out of memory after the resolution of the refugee problem, resurfaced in an advertising campaign for a Vietnamese restaurant.

2010s

The phrase was used at least twice during the 2010s on books.

2010 travel book on Vietnam used the phrase in its title.^[8]
A Hong Kong émigrée to Canada used the phrase in her 2017 book on Vietnamese boat people, titled bắt đầu từ nay: The Boat People Saga.^[9]^[10]

References

^ "世紀．info：不漏洞拉：港人最熟悉的越南語" [Century Info: Bat lau dung laai, the Vietnamese phrase most well known to Hongkongers]. Ming Pao (in Chinese). 19 June 2017. Retrieved 19 January 2018.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "What Does "Bat Lau Dung Laai" Mean in Hong Kong?". HK Magazine. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. 23 September 2016. Retrieved 19 January 2018.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Chan, Yuk Wah (2011). The Chinese/Vietnamese Diaspora: Revisiting the boat people. Routledge. ISBN 978-0-203-81310-2. Retrieved 19 January 2018.
^ "一代播音皇帝殞落香港電台深切哀悼鍾偉明（1931 – 2009）辭世" [A radio broadcasting king is no more: RTHK mourns the passing of Chung Wai-ming (1931–2009)]. Radio Television Hong Kong (in Chinese). 27 November 2009. Retrieved 19 January 2018. 當年的颱風消息、對越南船民的呼籲等錄音，港人記憶猶新... (Hongkongers still remember [his] typhoon reports of yesteryear, as well as [his] message for Vietnamese boat people...)
^ "回憶「北漏洞拉」" [Remembering "Bat lau dung laai"]. Hong Kong Commercial Daily. 28 November 2009. Archived from the original on 8 December 2015. Retrieved 19 January 2018. 中段的越南語由一位當時即將被遣返回越南的南越船民讀出的。 (The Vietnamese in the middle portion was read by a Vietnamese boat person who, at the time, was about to be repatriated to Vietnam)
^ "香港故事 (VIII) 2009" [Hong Kong Stories (VII) 2009]. Radio Television Hong Kong (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 19 January 2018. 「北漏洞拉」越南語廣播深入民心，更有香港人誤以此為越南招呼語。 ("Bat lau dung laai" Vietnamese broadcasts are well known, and some mistook the phrase as a Vietnamese term of greeting)
^ 開放 Issues 37–42 冲天有限公司, 1990 "「危城 I 北漏洞拉」一.作者:張志强在九七前途與越南船民等問題困擾下,受香港前途所影響,聯想香港會否在回歸中國時變成 8 一個越南?到時香港人的努力成果會否被傲底破壞?."
^ "越南潮遊──不漏洞拉 (Trendy Vietnam Travels - bat lau dung laai)". Red Publishing. Retrieved 19 January 2018.
^ "【流徙的人】港人花四年尋訪越南難民書寫百萬人怒海求生故事" [[Displaced People] Hongkonger spent four years looking for and interviewing Vietnamese refugees, wrote a tale on a million people's take of survival on the angry seas]. HK01 (in Chinese). 22 July 2017. Retrieved 19 January 2018.
^ "bắt đầu từ nay: The Boat People Saga". National Library Board of Singapore. Retrieved 20 January 2018.

External links

A recording of the actual "Bắt đầu từ nay" announcement that was broadcast on RTHK Archived 14 April 2016 at the Wayback Machine

[mingpao-1] "世紀．info：不漏洞拉：港人最熟悉的越南語" [Century Info: Bat lau dung laai, the Vietnamese phrase most well known to Hongkongers]. Ming Pao (in Chinese). 19 June 2017. Retrieved 19 January 2018.

[scmp-2] "What Does "Bat Lau Dung Laai" Mean in Hong Kong?". HK Magazine. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. 23 September 2016. Retrieved 19 January 2018.

[ChanYukWah-3] Chan, Yuk Wah (2011). The Chinese/Vietnamese Diaspora: Revisiting the boat people. Routledge. ISBN 978-0-203-81310-2. Retrieved 19 January 2018.

[4] "一代播音皇帝殞落香港電台深切哀悼鍾偉明（1931 – 2009）辭世" [A radio broadcasting king is no more: RTHK mourns the passing of Chung Wai-ming (1931–2009)]. Radio Television Hong Kong (in Chinese). 27 November 2009. Retrieved 19 January 2018. 當年的颱風消息、對越南船民的呼籲等錄音，港人記憶猶新... (Hongkongers still remember [his] typhoon reports of yesteryear, as well as [his] message for Vietnamese boat people...)

[5] "回憶「北漏洞拉」" [Remembering "Bat lau dung laai"]. Hong Kong Commercial Daily. 28 November 2009. Archived from the original on 8 December 2015. Retrieved 19 January 2018. 中段的越南語由一位當時即將被遣返回越南的南越船民讀出的。 (The Vietnamese in the middle portion was read by a Vietnamese boat person who, at the time, was about to be repatriated to Vietnam)

[6] "香港故事 (VIII) 2009" [Hong Kong Stories (VII) 2009]. Radio Television Hong Kong (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 19 January 2018. 「北漏洞拉」越南語廣播深入民心，更有香港人誤以此為越南招呼語。 ("Bat lau dung laai" Vietnamese broadcasts are well known, and some mistook the phrase as a Vietnamese term of greeting)

[7] 開放 Issues 37–42 冲天有限公司, 1990 "「危城 I 北漏洞拉」一.作者:張志强在九七前途與越南船民等問題困擾下,受香港前途所影響,聯想香港會否在回歸中國時變成 8 一個越南?到時香港人的努力成果會否被傲底破壞?."

[8] "越南潮遊──不漏洞拉 (Trendy Vietnam Travels - bat lau dung laai)". Red Publishing. Retrieved 19 January 2018.

[9] "【流徙的人】港人花四年尋訪越南難民書寫百萬人怒海求生故事" [[Displaced People] Hongkonger spent four years looking for and interviewing Vietnamese refugees, wrote a tale on a million people's take of survival on the angry seas]. HK01 (in Chinese). 22 July 2017. Retrieved 19 January 2018.

[10] "bắt đầu từ nay: The Boat People Saga". National Library Board of Singapore. Retrieved 20 January 2018.

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@@ Line 3: / Line 3: @@
 [[Image:Whitehead camp 2008.jpg|right|thumb|Whitehead Refugee Camp, HK disused in 2008]]
 [[Image:HK CFCSC HQ.JPG|right|thumb|The old RAF headquarters on Kwun Tong Road, Kai Tak, which housed boat people until 1997]]
-'''Bat lau dung laai''' ({{zh|c=不漏洞拉|j=bat1 lau6 dung6 laai1}}) is a [[Cantonese]] corruption of the [[Vietnamese language|Vietnamese]] phrase ''bắt đầu từ nay'' used in Hong Kong. The Vietnamese phrase means "beginning from now" or "from this point forward" (''bắt đầu'' = begin, start; ''từ'' = "from", ''nay'' = "now").
+'''Bat lau dung laai''' ({{zh|t=不漏洞拉 or 北漏洞拉<ref name="mingpao">{{cite news|title=世紀．info：不漏洞拉：港人最熟悉的越南語|trans-title=Century Info: Bat lau dung laai, the Vietnamese phrase most well known to Hongkongers|url=https://news.mingpao.com/pns/dailynews/web_tc/article/20170620/s00018/1497894904950|accessdate=19 January 2018|work=[[Ming Pao]]|date=19 June 2017|language=Chinese}}</ref> |j=bat1 lau6 dung6 laai1}}) is a [[Hong Kong]] [[Cantonese]] corruption of the [[Vietnamese language|Vietnamese]] phrase ''bắt đầu từ nay'', meaning "from now on" (''{{wt|vi|bắt đầu}}'' = begin, start; ''{{wt|vi|từ}}'' = "from", ''{{wt|vi|nay}}'' = "now", {{IPA|vi|ʔɓat̚˧˦ ʔɗəw˨ tɨ˨˩ naj˧˧|help=no}}).<ref name="scmp">{{cite news|title=What Does "Bat Lau Dung Laai" Mean in Hong Kong?|url=http://www.scmp.com/magazines/hk-magazine/article/2038282/what-does-bat-lau-dung-laai-mean-hong-kong|accessdate=19 January 2018|work=HK Magazine|publisher=South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd.|date=23 September 2016}}</ref>
-The phrase was made famous in a frequently broadcast Vietnamese-language radio [[public service announcement]] on [[Radio Television Hong Kong]] (RTHK) in Hong Kong during the late [[1980s in Hong Kong|1980s]] and early [[1990s in Hong Kong|1990s]].<ref> Economic bulletin: Issues 17–34 Jing ji dao bao she, 1994 "北漏洞拉"一葫因重台魔播政府封船民的玫策而家博卢晓·孟思是徒今天起。五年前越南眼昆其北郸大哥中团藉阴放政革·樱宿辞展一日干里·途亦决定敌弦易瓷限制·更合外查有不少懂惯。目而越南的诲外投管者中,台洱居首,香港次之。二者有截然不同的投查策略·丽者多 ..."</ref> The frequency of the broadcast (nearly once every hour) allowed many [[Hongkongers|Hong Kong people]] to learn the Vietnamese phrase without knowing its actual meaning. It was often mistaken as a greeting, and the phrase eventually became a metaphor for [[Vietnamese people]], but it may also be considered as [[derogatory]] by Vietnamese people in Hong Kong. The announcement was also communicated to Vietnamese in detention centres in Hong Kong, such as the [[Chi Ma Wan]] Detention Centre.<ref>Soeur Christine Mỹ Hạnh [http://www.chimawanhongkong.com/bv-10.html Tỵ Nạn Việt Nam tại Hồng Kông] "Chương Trình "Comprehensive Plan of Action" được chính thức bắt đầu từ 1994. Trên thực tế từ cuối thập niên 80 đến đầu 90 chính phủ Hong Kong đã đọc nhiều thông cáo trên các cơ quan truyền thanh. Thông cáo được đọc: "Bắt đầu từ nay chính phủ Hong Kong sẽ giam giữ những người đến Hong Kong." "</ref>
-{{TOC limit|2}}
-== Background of the radio announcement ==
-In 1988, the British colonial Government of Hong Kong announced the policy of [[Comprehensive Plan of Action]] (CPA) in an attempt to stop the continuing influx of [[Indochina|Indochinese]] [[Vietnamese boat people|boat people]] after the communist takeover in [[Vietnam]] and [[Laos]]. After the "cut-off day" on 16 June 1988, the Indochinese people who fled to Hong Kong would no longer automatically be considered as ''prima facie'' [[refugees]], but only [[asylum seeker]]s. They had to be screened to qualify for refugee status. Those who were screened-out would be sent back to [[Vietnam]] and [[Laos]] under an orderly and monitored [[repatriation]] program.<ref>Immigration and asylum: from 1900 to the present: Volume 1 – Page 667 Matthew J. Gibney, Randall Hansen – 2005 "In response,Hong Kong, from June 16, 1988, implemented a policy to treat all new arrivals as illegal immigrants unless, ... "</ref>
+The phrase was made famous in the [[1980s in Hong Kong|1980s]] and [[1990s in Hong Kong|1990s]] in Hong Kong, due to a Vietnamese-language radio [[public service announcement]] that was broadcast, nearly hourly, on public radio broadcaster [[RTHK]].<ref name="scmp"/>
-One way for the Hong Kong Government to propagandise this policy was to make an announcement in Vietnamese on [[Radio Television Hong Kong]] (RTHK), which is a radio corporation operated with funding from the Government. The Government intended to use this radio announcement to inform the Indochinese boat people that they might be repatriated, and to discourage them from coming to Hong Kong.
+== Background of the radio announcement ==
-The radio announcement was broadcast several times in a day. Although most Hong Kong people didn't know Vietnamese, they gradually memorised the pronunciation of the announcement.
+The broadcast was first made on 16 August 1988, which announced the government's decision to implement a screening policy that would separate refugees from non-refugees (or [[Vietnamese boat people|boat people]] with economic motivations).<ref name="ChanYukWah">{{cite book|last1=Chan|first1=Yuk Wah|title=The Chinese/Vietnamese Diaspora: Revisiting the boat people|date=2011|publisher=[[Routledge]]|isbn=978-0-203-81310-2|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QgnDAgAAQBAJ&q=b%E1%BA%AFt+%C4%91%E1%BA%A7u+t%E1%BB%AB+nay+hong+kong&pg=PT24|accessdate=19 January 2018}}</ref> The statement was read by [[Chung Wai-ming]], a well-known RTHK radio personality.<ref>{{cite web|title=一代播音皇帝殞落 香港電台深切哀悼 鍾偉明（1931 – 2009）辭世|trans-title=A radio broadcasting king is no more: RTHK mourns the passing of Chung Wai-ming (1931–2009)|url=http://app3.rthk.org.hk/press/main.php?id=209|website=[[Radio Television Hong Kong]]|accessdate=19 January 2018|language=Chinese|date=27 November 2009|quote=當年的颱風消息、對越南船民的呼籲等錄音，港人記憶猶新... (Hongkongers still remember [his] typhoon reports of yesteryear, as well as [his] message for Vietnamese boat people...)}}</ref> The Vietnamese portion of the broadcast was read by a Vietnamese boat person who was about to be repatriated.<ref>{{cite news|title=回憶「北漏洞拉」|trans-title=Remembering "Bat lau dung laai"|url=http://www.hkcd.com.hk/content/2009-11/28/content_2437403.htm|accessdate=19 January 2018|work=[[Hong Kong Commercial Daily]]|date=28 November 2009|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20151208135922/http://www.hkcd.com.hk/content/2009-11/28/content_2437403.htm|archivedate=8 December 2015|quote=中段的越南語由一位當時即將被遣返回越南的南越船民讀出的。 (The Vietnamese in the middle portion was read by a Vietnamese boat person who, at the time, was about to be repatriated to Vietnam)}}</ref>
 == Content of the announcement ==
 ===Original text of the announcement===
-The radio announcement began with a sentence in [[Cantonese language|Cantonese Chinese]], the most commonly spoken Chinese variant in Hong Kong.
+The radio announcement began with a sentence in [[Cantonese language|Cantonese]], the most commonly spoken Chinese variant in Hong Kong.
-<blockquote lang="zh-yue" xml:lang="zh-yue">香港[政府]對越南船民已經實施甄別政策。跟住嗰段越南話廣播，就係向佢哋講述呢個政策嘅內容。</blockquote>
+<blockquote lang="zh-yue">香港[政府]對越南船民已經實施甄別政策。跟住嗰段越南話廣播，就係向佢哋講述呢個政策嘅內容。<ref name="ChanYukWah"/><br>{{Zh|j=Hoeng1 gong2 [zing3 fu2] deoi3 jyut6 naam4 syun4 man4 ji5 ging1 sat6 si1 jan1 bit6 zing3 caak3. Gan1 zyu6 go2 dyun6 jyut6 naam4 waa6-2 gwong2 bo3, zau6 hai6 hoeng3 keoi5 dei6 gong2 seot6 ni1 go3 zing3 caak3 ge3 noi6 jung4.|labels=no}}</blockquote>
-This was then followed by a paragraph in Vietnamese, spoken with a Cantonese Chinese accent:{{citation needed|date=December 2013}}
+This was then followed by a paragraph in Vietnamese.
-<blockquote lang="vi" xml:lang="vi">Bắt đầu từ nay, một chính sách mới về thuyền nhân Việt Nam đã được chấp hành tại Hồng Kông. Từ nay về sau, những thuyền nhân Việt Nam kiếm cách nhập cảnh Hồng Kông với thân phận những người di tản vì vấn đề kinh tế sẽ bị coi là những người nhập cảnh phi pháp. Là những người nhập cảnh phi pháp, họ sẽ không có chút khả năng nào để được đi định cư tại nước thứ ba, và họ sẽ bị giam cầm để chờ ngày giải về Việt Nam.</blockquote>
+<blockquote lang="vi">Bắt đầu từ nay, một chính sách mới về thuyền nhân Việt Nam đã được chấp hành tại Hồng Kông. Từ nay về sau, những thuyền nhân Việt Nam kiếm cách nhập cảnh Hồng Kông với thân phận những người di tản vì vấn đề kinh tế sẽ bị coi là những người nhập cảnh phi pháp. Là những người nhập cảnh phi pháp, họ sẽ không có chút khả năng nào để được đi định cư tại nước thứ ba, và họ sẽ bị giam cầm để chờ ngày giải về Việt Nam.<ref name="ChanYukWah"/></blockquote>
-After that, the announcement ended with another sentence in Cantonese Chinese.
+After that, the announcement ended with another sentence in Cantonese.
-<blockquote lang="zh-yue" xml:lang="zh-yue">剛才嗰段越南話廣播，係向企圖進入香港嘅越南船民，講述香港對佢哋實施嘅甄別政策㗎。</blockquote>
+<blockquote lang="zh-yue">剛才嗰段越南話廣播，係向企圖進入香港嘅越南船民，講述香港對佢哋實施嘅甄別政策㗎。<br>''{{Zh|j=Gong1 coi4 go2 dyun6 jyut6 naam4 waa6-2 gwong2 bo3, hai6 hoeng3 kei5 tou4 zeon3 jap6 hoeng1 gong2 ge3 jyut6 naam4 syun4 man4, gong2 seot6 hoeng1 gong2 deoi3 keoi5 dei6 sat6 si1 ge3 jan1 bit6 zing3 caak3 gaa4.|labels=no}}''</blockquote>
 ===Meaning of the announcement in English===
 The first sentence in Cantonese Chinese:
-{{Quote|[The] Hong Kong [Government] has implemented the policy of 'Comprehensive Plan of Action' on Vietnamese boat people. The following Vietnamese-language announcement will elucidate to them the content of the policy.}}
+{{Quote|[The] Hong Kong [Government] has implemented the policy of 'Comprehensive Plan of Action' on Vietnamese boat people. The following Vietnamese-language announcement will elucidate to them the content of the policy.<ref name="ChanYukWah"/>}}
 The message in Vietnamese:
-{{Quote|From now on, a new policy regarding Vietnamese boat people has been implemented in Hong Kong. Hereafter, those Vietnamese boat people seeking to immigrate into Hong Kong as immigrants due to economic reasons will be considered illegal immigrants.  As illegal immigrants, they will not have the ability to settle in a third country, and they will be detained until repatriated to Vietnam.}}
+{{Quote|From now on, a new policy regarding Vietnamese boat people has been implemented in Hong Kong. Hereafter, those Vietnamese boat people seeking to immigrate into Hong Kong as immigrants due to economic reasons will be considered illegal immigrants.  As illegal immigrants, they will not have the ability to settle in a third country, and they will be detained until repatriated to Vietnam.<ref name="ChanYukWah"/>}}
 The final sentence in Cantonese Chinese:
 {{Quote|The Vietnamese-language announcement, which has just been broadcast, elucidated the policy of 'Comprehensive Plan of Action' that the Hong Kong Government implements on the Vietnamese boat people who intend to enter Hong Kong.}}
-== Use of the phrase to refer to Vietnamese people ==
+== Use of the phrase in Hong Kong ==
+Due to the frequency of the broadcast, many [[Hongkongers|Hong Kong people]] came to learn the phrase. Some, however, mistook the phrase as a term of greeting,<ref>{{cite web|title=香港故事 (VIII) 2009|trans-title=Hong Kong Stories (VII) 2009|url=http://app1.rthk.org.hk/php/tvarchivecatalog/episode.php?progid=606&tvcat=5|website=[[Radio Television Hong Kong]]|accessdate=19 January 2018|language=Chinese|quote=「北漏洞拉」越南語廣播深入民心，更有香港人誤以此為越南招呼語。 ("Bat lau dung laai" Vietnamese broadcasts are well known, and some mistook the phrase as a Vietnamese term of greeting)|archive-date=2 April 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402173600/http://app1.rthk.org.hk/php/tvarchivecatalog/episode.php?progid=606&tvcat=5|url-status=dead}}</ref> similar to [[Thai greeting|sawasdee]] in [[Thai language|Thai]].<ref name="scmp"/> The phrase eventually became a metaphor for [[Vietnamese people]] and even [[Culture of Vietnam|Vietnamese culture]].
+The term is now considered to be a derogatory slur for Vietnamese people.<ref name="scmp"/>
-The announcement was aired frequently on RTHK, one of the most popular radio channels in Hong Kong. Because the announcement was in a [[foreign language]], it drew the attention of a lot of the audience in Hong Kong. Gradually, a lot of Hong Kong people remembered the pronunciation of the first phrase, "Bắt đầu từ nay". They often transliterated the phrase in Cantonese Chinese as "北漏洞拉" or "不漏洞拉", although the Northern Vietnamese [[pronunciation]] is closer to "不度隊泥" and the Southern Vietnamese [[pronunciation]] is closer to "北逗隊奶". As more and more Hong Kong people learnt this Vietnamese phrase, they started to use its Cantonese [[transliteration]] to represent Vietnamese people.
+==Portrayal in Hong Kong media==
-The context of this phrase is disputed. Although it is possible some Vietnamese in Hong Kong may jokingly say that "I'm going to Bắt đầu từ nay", meaning that I'm going to Vietnam, it is sometimes regarded as [[derogatory]]. However, as many Vietnamese boat people in Hong Kong are of Chinese origin and are often [[Cantonese people|Cantonese]], the phrase is seldom considered "racist". Some Hong Kong people that do not know the meaning and the background of this Vietnamese phrase think that it has a positive meaning like "sawatdee" (the Thai greeting), or as "dear friends", "dear compatriot", "dear [[comrade]]s", or even "[[hello]]". If they use this Vietnamese phrase to greet a Vietnamese person, the Vietnamese person would probably either be offended, or not understand what is going on.
-==Portrayal in Hong Kong Media==
 ===Early portrayal===
 The first recorded instance of the usage of "Bắt đầu từ nay" in Hong Kong entertainment programmes was during the 1980s, when it was used in a segment of the light entertainment show ''[[Enjoy Yourself Tonight]]''. In the segment, a fight in the refugee camp was parodied, and two actors, using the stage names "Bắt đầu" and "Từ nay", roughed up one of the audience (played by an actor) in the "[[Legislative Council of Hong Kong|Legislative Council]]" meeting who was well known for creating commotions during Legislative Council meetings.<ref>開放 Issues 37–42 冲天有限公司, 1990 "「危城 I 北漏洞拉」一.作者:張志强在九七前途與越南船民等問題困擾下,受香港前途所影響,聯想香港會否在回歸中國時變成 8 一個越南?到時香港人的努力成果會否被傲底破壞?."</ref>
 ===1990s===
-During the 1990s, some asylum seekers managed to use self-made tools to cut through the fence around the refugee camps and escaped. This incident was replayed on [[RTHK]]'s news parody programme [[Headline News (RTHK)|Headline News]]. In the video, the phrase was split into the following
+During the 1990s, some asylum seekers managed to use self-made tools to cut through the fence around the refugee camps and escaped. This incident was replayed on [[RTHK]]'s news parody programme [[Headliner_(TV_programme)|Headliner]]. In the video, the phrase was split into the following
-*'''Bắt đầu? (不漏?)''' (phonetically close to "but lau", which means "leakless?", a reference to the supposedly high security measures in the refugee camp)
+*'''Bắt đầu? (不漏?)''' (phonetically close to "bat lau", which means "leakless?", a reference to the supposedly high security measures in the refugee camp)
-*'''từ! (洞!)''' (phonetically close to "dong", which means "hole!", a reference to the holes that were cut and used as escape routes).
+*'''từ! (洞!)''' (phonetically close to "dung", which means "hole!", a reference to the holes that were cut and used as escape routes).
-*'''nay! (拉!)''' (phonetically close to "lai", which means "arrested!", a reference to the eventual arrest of the escapees).
+*'''nay! (拉!)''' (phonetically close to "laai", which means "arrested!", a reference to the eventual arrest of the escapees).
 ===2000s===
-In the 2000s (decade), Vietnamese cuisine became popular in Hong Kong, and the phrase, which had faded out of memory after the resolution of the refugee problem, resurfaced in an advertising campaign for a Vietnamese restaurant.
+In the 2000s, Vietnamese cuisine became popular in Hong Kong, and the phrase, which had faded out of memory after the resolution of the refugee problem, resurfaced in an advertising campaign for a Vietnamese restaurant.
-====Spoof announcement====
+===2010s===
+The phrase was used at least twice during the 2010s on books.
-During the 2003 [[SARS]] epidemic in Hong Kong, [[Eric Kot]], a local comedian, phoenetically spoofed the original refugee policy announcement to parody the SARS crisis.
+*2010 travel book on Vietnam used the phrase in its title.<ref>{{cite web|title=越南潮遊──不漏洞拉 (Trendy Vietnam Travels - bat lau dung laai)|url=http://www.red-publish.com/big5/book/1647|website=Red Publishing|accessdate=19 January 2018}}</ref>
+*A Hong Kong [[émigré]]e to [[Canada]] used the phrase in her 2017 book on Vietnamese boat people, titled ''bắt đầu từ nay: The Boat People Saga''.<ref>{{cite news|title=【流徙的人】港人花四年尋訪越南難民 書寫百萬人怒海求生故事|trans-title=[Displaced People] Hongkonger spent four years looking for and interviewing Vietnamese refugees, wrote a tale on a million people's take of survival on the angry seas|url=https://www.hk01.com/%E7%A4%BE%E5%8D%80/106612/-%E6%B5%81%E5%BE%99%E7%9A%84%E4%BA%BA-%E6%B8%AF%E4%BA%BA%E8%8A%B1%E5%9B%9B%E5%B9%B4%E5%B0%8B%E8%A8%AA%E8%B6%8A%E5%8D%97%E9%9B%A3%E6%B0%91-%E6%9B%B8%E5%AF%AB%E7%99%BE%E8%90%AC%E4%BA%BA%E6%80%92%E6%B5%B7%E6%B1%82%E7%94%9F%E6%95%85%E4%BA%8B|accessdate=19 January 2018|work=HK01|date=22 July 2017|language=Chinese}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=bắt đầu từ nay: The Boat People Saga|url=http://www.nlb.gov.sg/biblio/202995754|website=[[National Library Board]] of [[Singapore]]|accessdate=20 January 2018}}</ref>
-The format of the spoof was similar to the original announcement.
-<blockquote lang="zh-yue" xml:lang="zh-yue">越南政府已經向香港市民入境限制。越南政府已經向香港疫民實施隔離政策，以下嘅一段廣東話廣播，係向企圖進入越南嘅香港疫民，講述呢個政策嘅內容:</blockquote>
-(Translation: The Vietnamese Government has initiated entry restrictions on Hong Kong citizens. The following Cantonese announcement is intended to announce the policy to those Hong Kong epidemic area citizens who are attempting to enter Vietnam)
-This was then followed by a paragraph in Cantonese (with a comical Vietnamese accent).
-<blockquote lang="zh-yue" xml:lang="zh-yue">一入就拉，疊起一堆，莫問到越南，驗疫執行大行動。唔理肥瘦，請勿進越南，遵守入境奉告，強闖者入境隨時係咁大，帶銀來入境照「烹」，藏匿者將公刊樣貌，發現會被控，兼大碌竹蹦，傳播者被監禁，之後照踢出越南！</blockquote>
-(Translation: [All visitors will face] Immediate arrest upon entry and be stacked up in a pile. Don't even think about coming to Vietnam, [as there is a] giant campaign to enforce the quarantine. [We] Don't care whether you are fat or thin, don't enter Vietnam. Follow [this] immigration advice. Those who force their way into Vietnam will end their life right there and then. We will drive away even those who bring money into our borders. [Those who] hide will have their looks published [in public gazettes]. [Those who are] Discovered will be charged [with a crime], and be beaten silly by a war club. Spreaders [of the illness] will be imprisoned, and evicted from Vietnam forthwith!)
-After that, the announcement ended with another sentence in normal-toned Cantonese Chinese.
-<blockquote lang="zh-yue" xml:lang="zh-yue">以上係越南政府已經向香港嘅市民入境檢疫嘅政策。</blockquote>
-(Translation: The preceding announcement was from the Vietnamese Government in an effort to elucidate its policy of immigration quarantine to the Hong Kong people)
 ==See also==
 *[[Comprehensive Plan of Action]]
-*[[Vietnamese boat people]]
 *[[Vietnamese people in Hong Kong]]
-*[[Wai Ming Chung]]
 *[[Soramimi]]
 ==References==
 {{reflist}}
 ==External links==
-*[http://www.rthk.org.hk/classicschannel/audio/80s_0030.asx A recording of the actual "Bắt đầu từ nay" announcement that was broadcast on RTHK]
+*[http://www.rthk.org.hk/classicschannel/audio/80s_0030.asx A recording of the actual "Bắt đầu từ nay" announcement that was broadcast on RTHK] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160414205613/http://www.rthk.org.hk/classicschannel/audio/80s_0030.asx |date=14 April 2016 }}
-*[http://www.bradfordlee.com/fun/vietnam.wma A recording of the spoof "Bắt đầu từ nay" announcement by Eric Kot]
-[[Category:Media in Hong Kong]]
+[[Category:Mass media in Hong Kong]]
 [[Category:History of Hong Kong]]
 [[Category:Vietnamese diaspora]]