The attack stabbing a court interpreter at the Longueuil courthouse caused shock waves in the legal community, and more particularly among his colleagues, who were full of praise for him.
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“Hai Thach is not just an excellent, very professional performer, he is also someone who is involved with the community, who wants to help and give back. I’m in shock, we spoke again this morning [mardi]», affirmed to the Newspaper Angela Huang, a court interpreter.
Another colleague, who has known Mr. Thach for 30 years, since the time when they translated immigration files, recalls the extent to which he is appreciated by those involved in the justice system, due to his professionalism and his kindness.
“At 68, he could retire, but he loves his work so much,” explains Jérôme Achsen. He told me recently that he didn’t want to stop.”
Outstanding translator
At the Montreal courthouse, where Mr. Thach is used to working, everyone who knows him was worried about his state of health. Whether they are judges, lawyers or employees, all the stakeholders met by The newspaper were shocked to learn that he had been stabbed in what appeared to be a gratuitous attack.
This is because Mr. Thach is a well-known figure in the courthouse. Able to translate into French, English, Vietnamese and Mandarin, he is recognized for the quality of his translations, to the point that judges sometimes insisted that he be assigned to their cases. And with good reason, assure his colleagues, who describe him as a reference in the field.
And as if being able to translate into four languages wasn’t enough, he was in the process of learning Japanese. During breaks at court, he is often seen with small books in order to master the Japanese language.
To help
But if Mr. Thach continued to work, it was not so much for the salary as to help his community, he explained to a representative of the Newspaper just a few weeks ago, when he returned from a trip to Vietnam, where he grew up.
Moreover, in addition to legal translation, he was involved with the Chinese community in Montreal. For a long time, he was an administrator for the Chinese School (Mandarin) of Montreal, in addition to being involved with newcomers.
And this involvement is not new, maintains her colleague Angela Huang, recounting a coincidence which had a lasting impact on her.
“33 years ago, when my father arrived in the country, it was Mr. Thach who was there to help him translate the papers,” she remembers. And as luck would have it, it was also him who showed me how the courthouse worked when I became a court interpreter.”