


In a wonderland called Footscray, a girl named Alice and her. Instead, Kuan rubs Alice’s feet when she is upset and teaches her that Adam, not Eve, is the one who is really responsible for the fall of man. Nor does it contain any wild swans or falling leaves. He is very different from his own father, An Pung, who values only sons and is bored by daughters. He builds his business “up from scratch,” and achieves the “Great Australian Dream.” Kuan spends most of his time at work, and even though he is strict, he and Alice share a close and comfortable relationship. He works several jobs before managing to open his own electronics store, and after years of hard work, he finally owns two Retravision franchises. He takes classes to learn the English language and even works as a translator at the Migrant Hostel. Kuan is fully committed to assimilating to Australia culture when he arrives safely in Victoria after a year in a Thai refugee camp. He is kind and funny, and deeply in love with his wife. Kuan escapes the Killing Fields of Cambodia and walks through three countries with his wife, mother, and sister, just to try to have a better life away from the death and suffering of Southeast Asia. Unpolished Gem is a book rich in comedy, a loving and irreverent portrait of a family, its everyday struggles and bittersweet triumphs. Alice’s father, Kien’s husband, and Huyen Thai’s son.
