Philip Crouch and family pose for a photo during the Phu My Bridge Fun Run on September 6

Philip Crouch, General Manager of Personal Banking ANZ Vietnam, has applied the Vietnamese tradition of respecting family values in educating his three children during his more than eight years here.

“Blake, Hamilton and Alexander always feel homesick when they are on their annual holiday overseas.”

His eldest son Blake, 10, shares his parents’ hobby by collecting antiques like Bat Trang ceramics, while his brother Hamilton, 8, likes Dong Ho woodcuts.

Their youngest boy Alexander, just over two, is now even able to understand Vietnamese and speak the language better than his parents.

“We are fortunate to have lived in the country’s two largest cities, Hanoi and then HCMC. They have their own specific features,” he said.

Phil and his family have enjoyed six Tet in their eight years in Vietnam, and he and his wife give red envelopes of lucky money, a custom called li xi in Vietnam, to their boys every Lunar New Year, or Tet in Vietnamese.

“I really don’t want to think of the day I must leave Vietnam as it has made such an impression on us,” he said, “I am sure that my children will come back here to remember their wonderful childhood and meet their beloved Vietnamese friends.”

Nostalgic for Hanoi

His first sight of the country was in 1996, when he was appointed chief operating officer of ANZ Hanoi, as he flew into Noi Bai Airport.

“My very first impression of Vietnam was the ripe, yellow paddy fields on the way from the airport to Hanoi,” he said.

Bicycles and cyclos were common in the capital, so the air was fresher, he said.

“Hanoi in the late 1990s was largely unexplored. Walking around the old quarter was an unforgettable experience,” Phil said.

“Hanoi in autumn is filled with romantic ambiance. The yellow leaves scattered on the surface of Sword Lake are what I like the most.”

Phil and his family left Hanoi in 2000 to return to Sydney, then came back in 2005 to a new position in Ho Chi Minh City as General Manager of Personal Banking ANZ Vietnam.

Reported by Vinh Bao