MELBOURNE – A fundraising dinner was held on Saturday to help raise money for victims affected by the floods in central Vietnam.

Over 500 people attended the function at the Happy Receptions restaurant in Melbourne’s suburb of Ascot Vale.

The fundraising campaign was organised by Australia’s peak body representing Buddhist monks and nuns from various traditions – The Unified Vietnamese Buddhist Congregation of Australia and New Zealand.

Venerable Thich Phuoc Tan explained the reason behind the event.

“One after another calamities have hit central Vietnam. Now, every year this has come about in a different location but three of the provinces in central Vietnam has been hit twice [this year] – man-made and natural disaster.

“We think that the sufferings are very extensive for the people,” he said.

Half-way through the fundraising dinner, over $103,000 dollars had been raised.

“We think the figure will keep on increasing, but compared to the suffering back in Vietnam, it’s just huge. So we will support whatever we can tonight,” Venerable Thich Phuoc Tan added.

Venerable Thich Phuoc Tan (L) and Venerable Thich Thien Tam (R) representing The Unified Vietnamese Buddhist Congregation of Australia and New Zealand, talk to TiVi Tuan-san in an interview at Happy Receptions restaurant, Ascot Vale, Melbourne. (Photo: Reuters)

Since Vietnam’s first flood in mid-October, the Buddhist congregation has been meeting urgently, to plan ways to support Vietnam’s flood victims.

Dr Pham Phuc Nhan, who is part of the fundraising committee, said many donations have already been made from the Vietnamese community in the state of Victoria.

Vietnam’s central provinces are still reeling from an environmental disaster earlier this year in which tens-of-millions of fish died along the country’s central coast.

“Formosa is the steel company in Ha Tinh (which) caused a very big damage to all the person in there,” Dr Pham said.

“About one million persons suffered from toxication and massive amounts of killings of fishes… so they have disaster for them.”

According to official figures, at least ten people have died and five more are reported missing in central Vietnam after flooding returned to the region over the past few days.

Vietnam’s most recent flooding comes just two weeks after flash floods caused by a tropical depression hit the country’s central Quang Binh and Ha Tinh provinces.

The previous downpours in mid-October killed more than 30 people, inundated more than 100,000 homes and left tens of thousands displaced.

– TiVi Tuan-san