Mosses Thang said the first impression of America he got was through the movies he watched as a teen in Malaysia. What he remembers are the images of skyscrapers and daydreaming what it might be like to one day live in a big city.
Thang, 30, is of Burmese descent. When he was about 15, his family moved to Malaysia as undocumented immigrants to escape oppression in Myanmar in the mid-2000s. The family came to the United States as refugees and in 2008 moved to Austin.
Thang and his mother, Vung Cing, have been helping families from Myanmar who now live in the Austin area. They told the American-Statesman that living conditions for Burmese families in the area have improved compared with 10 years ago, with many saving enough money to buy houses.