Fleeing a Vietnam ruled by a cocky and oppressive communist regime was an unhappy experience for an 11-year-old Don Lam. Twenty-eight years later the founder of Vietnam's most dynamic asset management group still remembers the refugee camp in Hong Kong. "So boring, so suffocating, so hopeless."

When the family was able to migrate to Canada, with the sponsorship of a church group, his life started to roll. Profits from the family convenience store were enough to put four children through college.