Nguyen, who has come to be known as Tam the tailor, still runs Tam Custom Tailor on Ellice Avenue and formerly ran Tam s Pho on Portage Avenue.
He does something every year to mark the anniversary of his escape and survival, and to share his joy for landing in Winnipeg.
This year, he chose to make 100 Vietnamese sandwiches, known as banh mi, because he said he knows what it feels like to go without. He recalls crossing the ocean between Vietnam and Malaysia in a small boat, roughly two meters wide and 10 meters long. It was scary, so I know how it feels [to be] hungry, how it feels [to be] thirsty, he said. So I try to remember back.