Former gang member Tony Hoang urges Tamworth teenagers who are caught up in crime to be aware of their choices and who their friends are.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
"I have massive regrets about my dead friends today," Mr Hoang said.
"There's no amount of money, no amount of joy or anything that can bring them back.
"So I bring that reality to; our choices really do count. And just be aware who your friends are."
Mr Hoang will be standing in front of at least 4500 teenagers and teachers on Friday, November 17, to tell his story at the sold-out Stand Tall event at Tamworth Regional Entertainment and Conference Centre (TRECC).
Mr Hoang's parents emigrated from Vietnam, but he was born in Australia and grew up in the western Sydney suburb of Cabramatta, as one of ten siblings.
His father was an alcoholic, violent and rarely at home.
"I translated that as rejection," Mr Hoang said.
"So, I began to look for acceptance elsewhere. And for me, I found that in a gang."
At the age of 13, he started stealing cars, then doing home invasions with machetes, before gang activity took over and he was bashing people and doing "debt collecting".
"It was also the 'mob mentality', which is often what happens when a bunch of kids get together. They'll do things they wouldn't normally do by themselves," Mr Hoang said.
Mr Hoang was locked-up for a couple of months at the age of 14, but said "that did me no good" because he had no role models when he got out of juvenile detention.
"My role models were gangsters and drug dealers. And the music especially at that time inflamed things," Mr Hoang said of the gangster rap he listened to.
When he was released, he had two choices: go back to school, work hard and make his parents proud; or continue with the life of gangs and drugs.
He chose the latter. He bought a gun at the age of 14, moved out of home at the age of 15, his best friend died at the age of 16, and he was "gunned down" at the age of 19.
By the time he turned 21, three of his friends had been murdered and the other three had died from overdoses.
"Life started spiralling out of control from that moment," Mr Hoang said.
"I had no peace. I didn't have any way out. I had no one to show me any better. So I internalised all my trauma and my pain."
He started self-medicating with the heroin he was selling. But it was not until he almost died from an overdose that he realised he needed to change. He tried psychiatrists and rehab centres.
But eventually, it was the church from his childhood that saved him.
"I went to the church when no one was around, I cried out to God. I said, 'whoever you are, you need to make yourself real to me. Just give me a sign'."
"The next day, I'm walking through Cabramatta and there was this church group handing out flyers. This guy gave me a flyer and it read; 'if you're looking for a sign from God, here it is'."
That was almost 20 years ago.
Today, Mr Hoang is happily married with six children - two are adopted - and he regularly holds talks at schools, believing it is his mission in life to prevent drug addiction, gang initiations and the crime cycle from continuing in young people's lives.
"There's a message in the mess, and a purpose to the pain. So I share my story in an educational way to try to prevent young people from going down that track," he said.
Mr Hoang's advice to parents is to "keep a pulse" on who their children's friends are.
"While parents can have the time and the influence over their children, make the most of it, because it's very time sensitive," Mr Hoang said.
"Kids do come to an age where they will either listen and apply what the parents teach, or they begin take advantage of it and go the other way."
Mr Hoang will also be at the Stand Tall after-party for parents, teachers and other community members, on from 7pm to 9pm at the West Tamworth League Club on Friday, November 17, as one of four speakers.
READ ALSO:
Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content:
- Bookmark northerndailyleader.com.au
- Make sure you are signed up for our breaking and regular headlines newsletters
- Follow us on Twitter
- Follow us on Instagram
- Follow us on Google News