Vietnamese-French opera singer takes pride in wearing ‘ao dai’
Born in Vietnam, Badillo was adopted and grew up in France. She thought that she was very ‘French’ before she returned to Vietnam for the first time. After three times of coming back to her homeland, she met her biological mother and felt that she belongs to Vietnam, especially when she dons ao dai . Her Vietnamese name is Bao Ngoc. Badillo recounted that she was adopted by a married couple who could not have a child when she was five months old. The couple traveled to Vietnam to pursue dentistry when they decided to adopt a child. Her biological mother could not afford to raise her, thereby sending her to a local orphanage in Ho Chi Minh City. “I smiled at my adoptive mother when I first met her, so she was so touched,” she said, adding that her mother told her that story. “I knew that I was an adopted child when I was young. My parents often told me about Vietnam, took me to a Vietnamese restaurant each week, and allowed me to join Vietnamese festivals such as Tet in France.” ...