The first
census ever done was in the 1300s by the Royal Lao government.
At the time of this writing, the most recent census was taken in 1995 by the communist
Lao government. They concluded there were 4.3 million Lao
people living in Laos. Based on that most recent data and
the data from prior years the UN acquired an average percentage
increase of the growth of the population which they use to predict what the population is now and what it will be in subsequent years (as census taking is time and money consuming).
This is
why many people now quote the estimated population of Laos
to be around 5.2 million, even though there has no been no
official census taken in recent times.
Lao people
are recent immigrants into foreign countries like Canada,
US, France and Australia. I'm always quick to remind people
on these types of issues that change and success take time.
Moreover you simply don't see/read/hear about some of the success stories in the community.
I
think it also has to do with education. Many of the older
generation were the first immigrants and their children were
raised or were born in a non-Lao country. Some of the original
immigrants were not educated or some tended to struggle financially
a bit more or were not willing to take more risks and opportunities
in the foreign lands they were in. I'm not saying that it
is like that with every Lao family but just an example.
When we
bring in other groups into the discussion, such as other Asian
groups like Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Vietnamese, many of
their people have been in Canada as early as the late 1800s. So some of their groups have had almost a whole century headstart in establishing a foothold in the foreign country compared to Lao people. Their people and their communities
have had a lot more time to adjust to Western lifestyles.
And even those recent immigrants have large communities to
turn to when they want a piece of home.
Additionally,
you see certain groups become more well represented as they
get bigger or richer. The Chinese community is broad and overall
has a good financial situation as a whole. To that end, they
can bring in lots of money to do community things, build temples,
create their own newspapers, support each other in times of
need, additionally they acquire political clout and economic power, etc. The Jewish community has an interesting way
of supporting their community. When a young man or girl reaches
a certain age the parents arrange for a B'armitsfa (a kind
of social gathering to celebrate the young person's coming
of age). The friends and relatives then pool thousands of
dollars that will be most likely used by the young girl/boy
in the future (ie. school, investments, business, etc.). Imagine
the flexibility of having a head start in life like that!
Additionally many groups know that if they become successful
that they don't forget their community or people they represent
- there's an expression in the West that says it's a good
thing to "spread the wealth" among many people.
As Lao people, we can learn from these examples, become learned
individuals, remember and contribute to the community because
in the end we will all benefit and so will our posterity.
We still
have a long way to go but in time it'll get better for the
communities as whole. It just takes time and a willingness
to work hard.
