Vietnam Life 
 Social Matters, Economics, Culture, Politics and Religion
 

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Religion Vietnamese temples (or Pagodas) are for a foreigner a little confusing. There are a variety of devoted figures, Buddha statues, statues from diverse local deities and patron saints beside sucessful generals of the Vietnamese history, dragons and demons.  Vietnamese religious belief is influenced from  Buddhism Daoism  Confuzism Animism (belief in demons, spirits, oracels, patron saints) Ancestor worship You can´t range Vietnamese people in one or two of this categories, it is an individual mixture of all. A Vietnamese possibly call himself Buddhist, but he will pray to a Taoism deitiy if he is ill, he will ask the deitiy of the earth for backing, when he build his house, he will ask a Bhuddist monk for blessing at marriage and he will put incense sticks on the domestic altar of the ancestors at grandfathers obit. There is no God that punish or forgive, no story of the Creation or the last Judgement, only cyclic reocurrence and a heaven. From heaven was the power off the ancient Emperors deducted. If he failed, he could lose his power, which is indicated by clear signs from heaven (e.g by natural disasters).  Language Vietnamese is a tonal language and is written in Roman script. There is hardly grammar, words never change their form and therefore there are no forms of future, past, articles, sex and plural. If you want to express the past, you have to add circumstancial words (e.g.: "I go week before ").  Vietnamese treats every syllable as one word (sai gon). The difficulty of Vietnamese learning is, that there are six ways of  pronouncing a word, and every pronunciation has its different meaning. "ma"= "Ghost";  "mà"= "mother" ; "má" = "which". The sentence order is like in English, French or German  subject-verb-object. But personal pronoms are different. If you want to say "you" you have to distinguish if you speak to an older, junger, married , teacher or very old person. "bà" is spoken to an old married woman, "chi" for an elder lady, "có" for a single woman or teacher, "em" for a younger woman and "no" for a child. But if you are an male, don´t call an adult woman "em", even if they are much younger, people could think, you are lovers, "có" is better.  The third person "she" is the same but you add "ay" e.g.: " bá ay", "chi ay", "có ay", "em ay" etc.  In former times Vietnamese was written in Chinese characters. It was the merit of the French Jesuit scholar "Alexandre de Rhodes" (1591-1660), who invent the Latin based scripture "quoc ngu" of modern Vietnamese. For his work he is very respected in Vietnam, a memorial statue is standing in central Saigon.  to top Government Vietnam is ruled by the Vietnam Communist Party. Other independent parties are not allowed. Politic matters are coordinated at a party congress every five years, the leaders of the party committee are holding a meeting every six month. Politicians and leaders are more chosen by relationship than by election.  Economics and "Doi Moi" After the country slided down in the 80th to the fourth poorest countriy in the world, the Communists break with Socialism and started "Doi Moi", the Vietnamese variation of the "Perestroika" in 1986. Private investors were welcome and tax-empted, workers wages weren´t fixed by the state. Since "Doi Moi" private business is allowed and the government usually don´t interfere in the daily company business. This has worked and Vietnam has taken the economical upward trend. Vietnamese are known as hard workers and clever business men, but it lacks sometimes on accuracy, transparency and orderness.  On the other hand people have to pay since "Doi Moi" for education, medical care and though without a working tax system the loser are the poor, ill and weak persons. The rich can do all for the education of their children and therefore a class system is growing that is worse than western capitalism standard.  People have to work in foreign sweatshops for very few money and are exploited, without getting a reasonable share of the profit from the goods they help to produce under partly unhealthy conditions.  If Vietnam don´t invest more money for the education of their people, like the Irish have done some ten years ago, the country won´t change its situation of a sweatshop for adiddas and co. And the government has to change into an institution that has work hard for the people, regulation stands not for itself, but for a certain purpose that has to be checked always. Germany today also do this reported mistakes and you can see every year that the economy is sliding more and more down. to top Education School is free for the first two years. After that school fees are raised. Very poor people could apply for remission but that is granted only by way of exception. The salaries of teachers in public schools are very low, many skilled teacher live also from private lessons or work in the tourist industry. Therefore the education in public school is not very good, which is a future handicap for the developement of the country. There are private schools that are better, but they are not affordable for normal workers. On the other hand Vietnamese are busy and interested in learning things. Many students work after lessons in University in the tourist industry to earn money for the university fees and their living. Granted loans or scholarships like in western countries don´t exist yet. For purpose of integration in society hill tribe people are exempted from all scholar or University fees.  Health System Medical treatment is though the claimed Socialism of the country not free, neither in state run hospitals. The doctor is to be paid, even if people are poor. The family has to come up for their kids and kins. If people are very serious sick and can´t effort any medical treatment, they can apply for help of the government that is granted after a ceck up of the financial situation of the applicant and his family. People could buy a health insurance that however cover not all possible medical treatment (e.g. not hospital). to top American-Vietnamese War After the Franco-Viet Minh war (1946-1954) the Viet Minh struggled independence from France in North of Vietnam. At the Geneva Peace Conference 1954 the country was divided in two zones (border was the DMZ) The North was ruled by Ho Chi Minh and  the South by some western influenced dictators and military rulers. Free elections nationwide should be holded, but never happened in the South. It was feared that Ho Chi Minh devotees could win also there. Meanwhile the North supported the FNL (Vietcong), the sourthern communist movement. The US-Government  feared a domino effect, that more and more countries after China and Korea could become communist countries, therefore they engage themselves by supporting the western influenced dictators as a bulwark against Communism. The situation escalated by some attacks of the Vietcong and the US sent troups from 1964. After the "Tet Offensive" in 1968 the war turned from a guerilla war to open battles with counterattacks of the US by bombing and shelling heavily populated cities. The war also was clandistine extended to Laos and Cambodia. Public tolerance of the Vietnam War diminished in the US and Europe after the killings and war crimes were revealed and turned to massiv protests and demonstrations. De to this protests and internal political affairs (watergate) the US withdrawed more and more their engagement in Vietnam since 1973, but a heavy equipped southern army was left. Though war was still going on since the North defeated the South in 1975. to top War Crimes The My Lai Massacre 504 inhabitants (of these were 173 children, 76 Babies and 60 very old ) were killed by a "search and destroy" action by Lieutnant Calley and his 30 soldieres without coming under any fire. The only wounded US soldier shot himself in the feet, because he refused to take part in this massacre. In My Ke more than 100 people were killed at the same day in the same way and the Vietcong had claimed of  31 more massacre places like My Lai. The "search and destroy" action was celebrated at first as victory over the Vietcong in US Newspapers, but after the truth was revealed by the soldier Ron Ridenhour and some persistent journalists, the puplic became indignant and Lieutnant Calley was sentenced for murder in 102 cases to life imprisonment. Other participants weren´t accused not at all. Calley became Martyr, because people were thinking: "our soldiers were nice American guys before, they were ordered to kill by politics and they had only done, what was their orders" and his commander Henderson remarked:  "every brigade had its My Lai, but not traitor like Ridenhour".  Calley was as the most priviliged prisoner amnestied after 3,5 years. A casual labourer before, he became rich and famous and he could have stated later:" The victims of My Lai never were haunting me". Chemical weapons " Agent Orange" App. 1 - 2 Mio people were killed and 2-4 Mio. people were seriously healthy damaged by the use of the dioxinous weapon "Agent Orange". This herbizide should bare the jungle, that was a shelter for the Vietcong,  of all its leaves and also the rice paddies, food for the enemy should be destroyed. Many tenthousands of children after the war were born with deformities. Also Vietnam veterans were suffering from this weapon.  After it was clear that the toxity was known by the responsibilities a claim for damages from  Vietnam-Veteranes was settled by paying compensation by means of a compensation fond for Veterans. Vietnam victims didn´t receive any penny yet. Killing of civilians It was the war strategy to bomb "Vietnam back to the Stone Age", if they don´t surrender. Though the US-troops don´t spare the civilian population from bombing and killing. Triple of bombs as in the Second World War was thrown down in Vietnam, vast areas were tapistried by bombs.  After all the knowledge of these kind of warfare was the trigger of protests of the American people, that ended the Vietnam War. Despite of the past Americans are as welcome as other visitors in Vietnam, there are no resentments. to top Human Rights: In Vietnam dissident opinions are peresecuted. Recently Tran Dung Tien was sentenced to10 month jail, because of abusing democratic freedom. He has only criticized corruption in the Vietnam Communist Party.  Vietnam is one of 42 countries, that are most hostile to the freedom of the press (state 2003).  Link: (only in German):  www.reporter-ohne-grenzen.de Ho Chi Minh nicknamed "Uncle Ho" (1890-1969) was founder of the Vietnamese Communist Party and Preseindent of North Vietnam from 1946 to 1969 who fought as Leader of the Viet Minh Front independence of Vietnam from the French colonial rulers.  His father was teacher and Ho himself worked as teacher in Hué as well, but was sacked because of "anti French agitation" worked as a teacher in Hué, but started soon travelling from 1911, at first as a cook apprentice on a French ship, then in Europe in different casual jobs for example as a kitchen help in the Hotel Carlton in London.. During this time he learned different languages such as English, French German and Mandarin and was starting discussions about the independence of Indochine. Though he presented an indepence plan for Vietnam to US President Wilson in 1919. He moved from London to Paris, where he was becoming a Communist. He was also trained in Moscow and sent to China , where he founded the beginnings of the structure of the Vietnamese Communist Party. In 1930 he was put in jail in Hongkong for his political activities and after his release his was travelling through the USSR and China.  "Ho" returned to Vietnam in 1941, there he helped to found the Viet Minh Front, that obtained independence of some parts of Vietnam in 1946 from France and Japan.  The French came back and he fled to the North. The French was defeated  in 1954 at Dien Bien Phu. Till his dead in 1969 he was the leader of North Vietnam, but don´t outlive the victory of the North over the South.  "Ho" was a pragmatist, the independence and welfare of Vietnam was his main concern. He was beside of the ideas of the Communism also attired to the ideas of the French Revolution and the American thinking of Liberty and Freedom. Communism was not his only choice for the future of Vietnam. But in my opinion he is to blame to tolerate too much victims for fighting against a superior equipped enemy. He once told to the French: "You can kill 10 of my men for every one I kill of yours, but you will loose even at this odds". Human life obviously didn´t count either of the American nor the Vietnamse strategical thinking. The last wish of "Uncle Ho" was to be cremated and his ashes should be scattered in the mountains, where trees should be planted in memory to him. But "Uncle Ho" has to wait until Vietnamese people will reach real independence and freedom, meanwhile his emblamed corpse is displayed to the public in the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum in Hanoi.  Rumours were started, that he had a son to a Tay Woman and several wives and love affairs are said of him, but nothing could be proofed as true yet.  to top some more of Vietnamese history  is minted by the resistance against the Chinese. Every child learn in school the 10 defence battles and the six victories against the Chinese. Also after the victory in 938 A.D. the Vietnamese had to make tribute payments to the Chinese until the French arrived in the 19th century. There was recently a 16 days war in 1979 Chia against Vietnam to weaken the position of Vietnam in the South East of Asia. Today both nationes struggle about the Spraytl- and Paracel isles in the Southern Chinese Sea, where oil is supposed to be.  Though the political struggle the Vietnamese adopted much from the Chinese culture (religion, science, technic) and immitate a lot from China today (dictatorship and economic neo liberalism)     It is better to sniff for some more time the shit of the French than to eat for the rest of our days the shit of the Chinese   Ho Chi Minh  some  Vietnamese national heroes:  Hai Ba Trung: sisters, who drive out the Chinese occupants in the 1st century for a while Le Loi: did the same in 1428 A.D. Ngo Quyen: beat the Chinese in 938 A.D  Ho Chi Minh: see above history in fast motion 3rd millenary B.C.: Au Lac with capital "Co Loa" in the north was first association in Vietnam  111 B.C - 938 A.D. : Chinese rulers 938 A.D: "Dai Viet" after the victory or warlord  "Ngo Quyen" over the Chinese 1010-1040 A.D capital Tha Long (Hanoi), ruled by governmental Mandarines, movement to the South, battles with the Cham, Buddhism is getting national religion 1408-1420  again Chinese ruling by the Ming dynasty 1627-1771  seperation into "Dai Viets" by the Trinh and Nguyen rulers in North and South Vietnam 1771-1802  Tay Son Revolte, reconquerattion of the South by Nguyen  1802-1945   Emperor of the family Nguyen, French colonialsm  1945  acclamation of independence by Ho Chi Minh 1946-1954 Franco-Viet Minh war (1946-1954) 1964-1975 American-Vietnamese War Feedback, Criticism, News and Pointing out Mistakes in grammar and orthography are welcome!  Mail me please! I am also interested in feedback from Vietnamese people!    kambodschajoe@hotmail.com     to top